Inhibition of DNA synthesis and decreased reproductive capacity in cattle maintained on semi-arid rangeland with Acacia species as a major component of available browse.
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The ability of bovine lymphocytes to initiate in vitro blastogenesis in response to mitogen stimulation or to initiate DNA excision repair after treatment with a mutagen was evaluated as a function of the differing environmental conditions under which donor animals were maintained. Crossbred Brahman-Hereford F1 females were held on either a humid, coastal bermudagrass, improved pasture at Overton, TX, or in low or high grazing pressure herds on a semi-arid rangeland (Acacia-dominated shrubland) at Uvalde, Tx. Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from these animals were examined to determine their in vitro ability to engage in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated blastogenesis and to initiate excision repair of DNA damage after exposure of the cells to the model polynuclear hydrocarbon carcinogen 7,8-dihydrodiol-9, 10-epoxy-benzo(a) pyrene (BPDE). PBL from cattle at both locations were compared, with significantly decreased blastogenesis and DNA excision repair observed in PBL from Uvalde high grazing pressure cattle. Cattle in the Uvalde high grazing pressure herd also exhibited significantly decreased reproductive efficiency. The data indicate that ingestion of sufficient quantities of palatable, but toxic, forage species available at the Uvalde test site is sufficient to decrease DNA synthesis associated with either mitogen-stimulated blastogenesis or DNA excision repair in bovine PBL, and suggest that the reduction in PBL DNA synthesis may be correlated with the changed reproductive efficiency in animals ingesting an increased ratio of forage from Acacia species.
