Nicholas Nils Jonsson

Nicholas Nils Jonsson
University of Glasgow | UofG · College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences

BVSc PhD MRCVS

About

181
Publications
41,415
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Introduction
Nutritional and metabolic diseases in livestock. Sustainable management of parasites in livestock and wildlife. Particularly interested in ecology of diseases in farmed livestock and the genetic basis of host-pathogen-drug interactions. Scope of research ranges from curiosity-driven to applied.
Additional affiliations
November 2009 - present
University of Glasgow
April 2001 - November 2009
University of Queensland
June 1996 - April 1999
Queensland Government

Publications

Publications (181)
Research
Full-text available
Bovine erythropoietic protoporphyria (BCEPP) is a rare genetic disorder predominantly affecting Limousin and, sporadically, Blonde Aquitaine cattle. It arises from diminished or absent ferrochelatase activity, causing the toxic buildup of protoporphyrin in tissues. This accumulation leads to photosensitivity and seizures upon exposure to sunlight....
Article
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The skin is the primary feeding site of ticks that infest livestock animals such as cattle. The highly specialised functions of skin at the molecular level may be a factor contributing to variation in susceptibility to tick infestation; but these remain to be well defined. The aim of this study was to investigate the bovine skin transcriptomic prof...
Article
There has been little information about the proteome of bovine faeces or about the contribution to the faecal proteome of proteins from the host, the feed or the intestinal microbiome. Here, the bovine faecal proteome and the origin of its component proteins was assessed, while also determining the effect of treating barley, the major carbohydrate...
Article
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A wide spectrum of disease severity associated with cryptosporidiosis has been described, ranging from asymptomatic to fatal in both human and animal hosts. The reasons for the variations in severity are likely to be multifactorial, involving environmental, host and parasite factors. This paper describes two experimental infection trials in lambs,...
Article
This observational study aimed to describe the diurnal pattern of reticuloruminal contraction rate (RRCR) and the proportion of time spent ruminating by cattle, using two commercial devices equipped with triaxial accelerometers: an indwelling bolus (placed in the reticulum) and a neck collar. The three objectives of this study were firstly to deter...
Article
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Introduction Breeding for tick resistance is a sustainable alternative to control cattle ticks due to widespread resistance to acaricidal drugs and the lack of a protective vaccine. The most accurate method used to characterise the phenotype for tick resistance in field studies is the standard tick count, but this is labour-intensive and can be haz...
Article
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Background Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) is a congenital syndrome of mammals affecting organs and tissues of ectodermal origin characterized by absence or hypoplasia of hair, teeth, and eccrine glands. The disorder has been reported in several species, including humans, mice, dogs and cattle, associated with variants in genes affecting th...
Conference Paper
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Interest in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) as a proximity sensor has increased in recent years, but few studies have investigated its potential in an outdoor environment or as a means of localisation. A purpose-built device was designed for the study, which aimed to conduct a calibration to assess the relationship between the Received Signal Strength I...
Article
When dairy cows produce little or no colostrum, calves are likely to suffer from failure of passive transfer (FPT). Volume of colostrum produced by the dam may be affected by: nutrition; environmental conditions; time from calving to milking; parity; dry period length; calving difficulty; calf weight; calf sex; calf viability; cow BCS / body weight...
Article
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Background: Disease emergence and production loss caused by cattle tick infestations have focused attention on genetic selection strategies to breed beef cattle with increased tick resistance. However, the mechanisms behind host responses to tick infestation have not been fully characterised. Hence, this study examined gene expression profiles of...
Article
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High-moisture cereal grains are often treated with ammonia to prevent spoilage and for perceived animal performance advantages, but there are few reports on the effects of ammonia treatment of cereal on cattle performance. This study was carried out on 101 Charolais cattle to quantify the effects of feeding ammonia-treated maize on the performance...
Article
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High levels of supplementation with cereal increases production rates in cattle but can increase incidence of disease, ranging from mild indigestion to acute ruminal acidosis and death. Therefore, there is motivation to determine biological markers which can be used to identify whether animals have been, or are being fed, sufficient or excessive ce...
Article
Bovine faecal composition is complex and a knowledge gap exists in the understanding of the bovine faecal proteome. In the present study, in-gel sample preparation (IGSP) of faecal samples prior to proteomics showed an increase in the number of proteins identified in faecal samples compared to those processed by filter-aided sample preparation (FAS...
Article
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Although Nematodirus battus is a serious threat to the health and survival of young lambs, there are few options to control this parasite. Bayesian Monte Carlo Markov Chain modelling with a zero-inflated Poisson distribution was used to estimate the heritability of egg counts in both June and July for each of five consecutive cohorts of 200 Scottis...
Article
We aimed to estimate 1) the marginal effect of liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) infection on productivity of Scottish beef cattle, and 2) the associated greenhouse gas emissions intensity (GHG EI). Data comprised 240,065 abattoir records from NE Scotland from 2014-2017, including the presence or absence of lesions typical of liver fluke in the liver...
Article
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A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Ectoparasiticide Acaricide Miticide Insecticide Ectoparasite Guideline Ruminants Therapeutic efficacy Persistent efficacy A B S T R A C T This second edition guideline was prepared to assist in the planning, conduct and interpretation of studies to assess the efficacy of parasiticides against ectoparasites of ruminan...
Article
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The protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type-C (PTPRC) gene encodes the common leukocyte antigen (CD45) receptor. CD45 affects cell adhesion, migration, cytokine signalling, cell development, and activation state. Four families of the gene have been identified in cattle: a taurine group (Family 1), two indicine groups (Families 2 and 4) and an Af...
Article
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Current techniques for measuring feed intake in housed cattle are both expensive and time-consuming making them unsuitable for use on commercial farms. Estimates of individual animal intake are required for assessing production efficiency. The aim of this study was to predict individual animal intake using parameters that can be easily obtained on...
Article
Previous studies have applied genomics and transcriptomics to identify immune and genetic markers as key indicator traits for cattle tick susceptibility/resistance; however, results differed between breeds, and there is lack of information on the use of host proteomics. Serum samples from Santa Gertrudis cattle (naïve and phenotyped over 105 days a...
Article
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BACKGROUND Meeting the energy and nitrogen (N) requirements of high‐performing ruminants at the same time as avoiding digestive disturbances (i.e. rumen acidosis) is a key priority in ruminant nutrition. The present study evaluated the effect of a cereal ammoniation treatment, in which barley grains are combined with urea and enzymes that catalyze...
Article
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The growth in wirelessly enabled sensor network technologies has enabled the low cost deployment of sensor platforms with applications in a range of sectors and communities. In the agricultural domain such sensors have been the foundation for the creation of decision support tools that enhance farm operational efficiency. This Research Reflection i...
Article
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The experiment reported in this research paper aimed to determine whether clinical and subclinical effects on cattle were similar if provided with isoenergetic and isonitrogenous challenge diets in which carbohydrate sources were predominantly starch or sugar. The study was a 3 × 3 Latin square using six adult Jersey cows with rumen cannulae, over...
Article
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Host resistance to ticks can be explored as a possible approach of combating tick infestations to complement the existing unsustainable tick control methods. Thirty-six beef cattle animals were used, consisting of Angus, Brahman and Nguni breeds, with each breed contributing 12 animals. Half of the animals per breed were artificially challenged wit...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Beef production is under threat from tick infestation problems, which have so far not been successfully controlled because of shortcomings in chemical and vaccine usage. The variation in resistance to ticks among breeds provides an opportunity to determine the mechanisms that underlie resistance to ticks. Brahman, Nguni and Angus animals were used...
Article
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Sub-acute ruminal acidosis ( SARA ) can reduce the production efficiency and impair the welfare of cattle, potentially in all production systems. The aim of this study was to characterise measurable postmortem observations from divergently managed intensive beef finishing farms with high rates of concentrate feeding. At the time of slaughter, we ob...
Article
In Great Britain, red-billed chough (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) breed in discrete populations along the west coast: on Islay and Colonsay, in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland; on the Isle of Man; in Wales; and in Cornwall. Chough are dependent on pastures grazed by sheep or cattle, and their survival therefore depends on sympathetic management of grass...
Article
Background Lameness is a major health, welfare and production-limiting condition for the livestock industries. The current ‘gold-standard’ method of assessing lameness by visual locomotion scoring is subjective and time consuming, whereas recent technological advancements have enabled the development of alternative and more objective methods for it...
Article
One of the most common causes of calf diarrhoea is the parasite Cryptosporidium parvum. Two longitudinal studies were carried out on a dairy farm Scotland to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium species and subtypes in a group of calves and to determine whether dams were a possible source of calfhood infection. Fecal samples were collected f...
Article
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Conservation efforts have preserved the southern white rhinoceros (SWR) in protected areas and have resulted in substantial overall growth in population size, but in small, fragmented populations in which inbreeding is an important risk. However, field observation of breeding often lacks sufficient accuracy to inform translocation strategies that a...
Article
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Macrocyclic lactone treatments for livestock can have detrimental effects on the arthropod populations in livestock faeces. For the last twenty years, avoidance of these products has been a standard recommendation on livestock farms that are managed for wildlife by the Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB). However, the continued decline in...
Article
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Reticuloruminal function is central to the digestive efficiency in ruminants. For cattle, 17 collar-and ear tag-based accelerometer monitors have been developed to assess the time spent 18 ruminating on an individual animal basis. Cattle that are ill feed less and so ruminate less; thus the 19 estimation of the time spent ruminating provides insigh...
Article
Full-text available
A multiplex PCR test to identify four common cattle-adapted Cryptosporidium species - CORRIGENDUM - Volume 5 - Sarah Thomson, Elisabeth A. Innes, Nicholas N. Jonsson, Frank Katzer
Article
The application of pH observations to clinical practice in dairy cattle is based on criteria derived primarily from single time-point observations more than 20 years ago. The aims of this study were to evaluate these criteria using data collected using continuous recording methods; to make recommendations that might improve their interpretation; an...
Article
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Infestations with the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus microplus, constitute the most important ectoparasite problem for cattle production in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide , resulting in major economic losses. The control of R. microplus is mostly based on the use of conventional acar-icides and macrocyclic lactones. However, the intensive u...
Article
Lameness is a significant problem for performance horses and farmed animals, with severe impact on animal welfare and treatment costs. Lameness is commonly diagnosed through subjective scoring methods performed by trained veterinary clinicians, but automatic methods using suitable sensors would improve efficiency and reliability. In this letter, we...
Article
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The Teladorsagia circumcincta P-glycoprotein-9 (Tci-pgp-9) gene has previously been implicated in multiple-anthelmintic resistance in this parasite. Here we further characterise genetic diversity in Tci-pgp-9 and its possible role in ivermectin (IVM) and multi-drug resistance using two UK field isolates of T. circumcincta, one susceptible to anthel...
Article
Aims: This study investigated the local immune response at larval attachment sites in Santa Gertrudis cattle with low and high levels of tick resistance. Methods and results: Skin samples with tick larvae attached were collected from Santa Gertrudis cattle at the end of a period of 25 weekly infestations, when the animals manifested highly diver...
Article
Amitraz is an important product for the control of cattle ticks around the world. In comparison with other products for the control of ticks, it is quite affordable and it has a rapid knock-down effect. It binds with and activates adrenergic neuro-receptors of animals and it inhibits the action of monoamine oxidases (MAO). Resistance to amitraz has...
Article
Amitraz is an important product for the control of cattle ticks around the world. In comparison with other products for the control of ticks, it is quite affordable and it has a rapid knock-down effect. It binds with and activates adrenergic neuro-receptors of animals and it inhibits the action of monoamine oxidases (MAO). Resistance to amitraz has...
Article
Full-text available
Ticks are able to transmit tick-borne infectious agents to vertebrate hosts which cause major constraints to public and livestock health. The costs associated with mortality, relapse, treatments, and decreased production yields are economically significant. Ticks adapted to a hematophagous existence after the vertebrate hemostatic system evolved in...
Article
Reticuloruminal pH has been linked to subclinical disease in dairy cattle, leading to considerable interest in identifying pH observations below a given threshold. The relatively recent availability of continuously monitored data from pH boluses gives new opportunities for characterizing the normal patterns of pH over time and distinguishing these...
Article
Control of parasitic gastroenteritis in cattle is typically based on group treatments with anthelmintics, complemented by grazing management, where feasible. However, the almost inevitable evolution of resistance in parasitic nematodes to anthelmintics over time necessitates a reappraisal of their use in order to reduce selection pressure. One such...
Article
Resistance to cattle tick infestation in single-host ticks is primarily manifested against the larval stage and results in the immature tick failing to attach successfully and obtain a meal. The present study was conducted to identify immune responses that characterise the tick-resistant phenotype in cattle. Thirty-five tick-naïve Santa-Gertrudis h...
Poster
Full-text available
The southern cattle fever tick (CFT), Rhipicephalus microplus, is regarded as the most economically important ectoparasite of livestock, principally cattle, worldwide. The U.S. officially declared the eradication of this invasive tick species in 1943. However, outbreaks still occur in the Permanent Quarantine Zone spanning a region in south Texas t...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus is an economically important parasite of livestock. Effective control of ticks using acaricides is threatened by the emergence of resistance to many existing compounds. Several continuous R. microplus cell lines have been established and provide an under-utilised resource for studies...
Article
Exposure to hot environments affects milk yield (MY) and milk composition of pasture and feed-pad fed dairy cows in subtropical regions. This study was undertaken during summer to compare MY and physiology of cows exposed to six heat-load management treatments. Seventy-eight Holstein-Friesian cows were blocked by season of calving, parity, milk yie...
Article
Full-text available
Cryptosporidium is a well-known cause of neonatal enteritis in cattle worldwide. Cattle are commonly infected with four different species of Cryptosporidium but only one of these, Cryptosporidium parvum , is associated with clinical disease. Identification of species in cases of calf scour can give an indication if Cryptosporidium is the causative...
Article
The veterinary profession needs to become more successful in producing the next generation of clinician scientists, say Richard Mellanby and others, who set out a roadmap for future academic postgraduate clinical training.
Article
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Subject Areas: health and disease and epidemiology, ecology, environmental science The rhythm of life on earth is shaped by seasonal changes in the environment. Plants and animals show profound annual cycles in physiology, health, morphology , behaviour and demography in response to environmental cues. Seasonal biology impacts ecosystems and agricu...
Article
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Background There is a need for an integrated genotyping approach for C. parvum; no sufficiently discriminatory scheme to date has been fully validated or widely adopted by veterinary or public health researchers. Multilocus fragment typing (MLFT) can provide good differentiation and is relatively quick and cheap to perform. A MLFT tool was assessed...
Chapter
The bovine genome consists of about 22 000 protein-coding genes, coded by about three billion base pairs (2.87 Gbp), organised into 30 chromosomes (29 autosomes plus X, Y), giving a diploid number (2n) of 60 chromosomes. Domestication, formation of breeds, and selection of animals within breed for milk production or other traits, have caused tight...
Article
Full-text available
Anti-tick vaccines based on recombinant homologues Bm86 and Bm95 have become a more cost-effective and sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides commonly used to control the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. However, Bm86 polymorphism among geographically separate ticks is reportedly associated with reduced effectiveness of the...
Article
Resistance to Rhipicephalus microplus infestation in cattle has many effector mechanisms, each of which is likely to be modulated by complex, interacting factors. Some of the mechanisms of host resistance and their modulating factors have been identified and quantified, although much remains to be explained. The variation in resistance to tick infe...
Article
Full-text available
Nasal secretion (NS) was investigated as a source of information regarding the mucosal and systemic immune status of cattle challenged by respiratory disease. A method for the collection of substantial volumes (~12 ml) of NS from cattle was developed to establish a reference range of analytes that are present in the NS of healthy cattle. Biochemica...
Article
Full-text available
Significance Amitraz is a widely used acaricide for the control of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus microplus , an important parasite of cattle in the tropics and subtropics. Here we describe in detail the evolution of amitraz resistance in replicated populations of ticks in the field, using divergent selection pressures with amitraz. We also demonstr...
Article
The immuno-staining patterns of skin leukocytes were investigated in three breeds of cattle: Holstein-Friesian, Brahman and Santa Gertrudis of similar age before and after tick infestation. The antibodies specific for CD45 and CD45RO reacted with cells in the skin of all Holstein-Friesian cattle but did not react with cells in the skin of any Brahm...
Article
'Broken mouth' periodontitis (BMP) is a painful condition of sheep grazed on rough pasture and involves periodontal infection of the incisor teeth and progressive tooth loss. This can reduce the efficiency of grazing of sheep, which contributes to malnutrition, weight loss, systemic health problems, poor quality of life and early culling from flock...
Article
Freezers in research institutions often contain a plethora of samples left over from studies performed years or even decades ago. Along with samples stored in biobanks, these could prove to be treasure troves for metabonomic research. Although the influence of sample handling and short to medium term storage on conventionally determined blood param...