ID and Cyanide Poisoning Flashcards
Sorghum halepense
Sundan grass
Linum lewisii
Wild blue flax
Triglochin maritima
Arrowgrass
Cercocarpus montanus
Mountain mahogany
Trifolium repens
White clover
Avena fatua
Wild oat grass
Chenopodium album
Lambsquarter
Cirsium arvense
Canda thistle
Convolulus arvensis
Field bindweed
Echinochloa crus-gali
Barnyard grass
Kochia scoparia
kochia
Salsola tragus
Russian thistle
Helianthus annuus
common sunflower
Delphinium geyeri delphinium occidentale delphinium barbarbeyi
Larkspur spp.
Aconitum columbianum
Western monkhood
Conium maculatum
poison hemlock
Cicuta douglasii
western water hemlock
apocynum cannibinium
dogbane or indian hemp
apocynum androsaemifolium
spreading dogbane
Asclepias speciosa
showy milkweed
asclepias incarnata
swamp milkweed
asclepias viridiflora
green comet milkweed
zigadenus elegans
mountain death camas
zigadenus venenosus
meadow death camas
Sorghum halpense
Sudan grass
-short grass prairie
Prunus virginiana
Western chokecherry
-Dry washbed
Amelanchier alnifolia
Western serviceberry
-river bank; sloping sidehill
Linum lewisii
Wild blue flax
-rocky or sandy soil
Triglochin maritima
Arrowgrass
-along stream through sand dunes
Cercocarpus montanus
Mountain mahogany
-abundant in hills
Trifolium repens
White clover
-meadow in draw
Avena fatua
Wild oat grass
-slope of river and roadside
Chenopodium albun
Lambsquarter
-roadside and disturbed areas
Cirsium carvense
Canadian thistle
-along wet drainage
Convolvulus arvensis
Field bindweed
-sandstone hogbacks and slopes
Echinochloa crus-galli
Barnyard grass
-roadside irragation ditch
Kochia scoparia
Kochia
-sagebrush slope and streamside
Salsola tragus
Russian thistle
-sedintary slopes
Helianthus annuus
Common sunflower
-sedintary slopes with wet spots
Delphinium
Larkspur spp.
-above treeline in rock skree and alpine turf
aconitum columbianum
Western monkhood
-along stream
Conium maculatum
Poison hemlock
- weedy openings in forest
Cicuta douglasii
Western water hemlock
-canyon bottom
Apocynum cannabinum
Indian hemp or Dogbane
-along sandy dry wash
Apocynum androsaemifolium
Spreading dogbane
-gravely uplands
Asclepias
Milkweed spp
- canyon bottom; riparian
Zigadenus
Death Camas
-beside trail near water
SOPs
- “step-by-step instructions for carrying out complex, routine operations”
- Increase efficiency
- quality output
- uniformity of performance
Log Sheets
- Long term record-keeping
- accountability
- traceability
Why are wildlife poisonings overlooked?
Not fresh
individuals hard to detect
Don’t care
Lack of toxic recognition
indirect effects
What are some metabolic similarities and differences between plants and animals and why is this important?
- Similarities
- complex biochemical pathways
- waste production
- base needs; nutrients, water, shelter, temp control
- Differences
- excretion
- urine, feces
- accumulates in plants
- excretion
- Important because secondary plant chemicals (metabolites)
What are some medicines derived from toxins?
Aspirin, Taxol, Lidocaine, Morphine,
Atropine
What are some benefits of SPC (toxins)?
- herbivory
- large herbivores/small herbivore physical defenses– thorns spines, etc
- Insects- toxins for chemical defenses
- Microbes– bacteria, fungi, viruses
- attract pollinators
- drought resistance
- reproduction
- communication
Looking at insects vs. large herbivores, differentiate their coevolution.
- insects
- short lifespan
- high fecundity
- specialists
- quickly adapt
- Large herbivores
- long life spans
- few offspring
- generalists
- slow adaptation
What is the Red Queen Hypothesis?
You have to keep running to stay in place
Insects become resistant, plant makes toxin, insects become resistant, etc etc.
How do animals cope with injurious plants?
- Avoidance- learned behavior; genetic; behavior modification
- Dilution- eat lots of non-toxic plants; internal mechanisms
- Degradation- in GI tract; break down toxin
- Detoxification- after absorption from GI
What are some ecological impacts of poisonous plants?
- lower fitness, reduce species, reduce predators
- die offs
- natural selection, increased fitness
- plants overgrow
- restoring populations, expose animals to unfamiliar toxins
What are some disadvantages for livestock?
- not native- we move them
- inability to migrate
- not apprehensive
- limited forage supply, lower variety
- overgraze/degrae rangeland
- resistance
- no learned behavior
- modify their behavior
What might cause increased wildlife poisonings?
- degradation of critical habitat
- disrupted migration
- translocaational
- climate change
- non-native species
What is the USDA timeline?
- USDA 1862
- Local offices- early 1900s
- USDA poisonous plant research lab 1955
What is a natural toxicant?
Toxin produced by living things
What is acute toxicity?
Adverse effects from single or multiple exposures w/in 24 hrs or less
What is chronic toxicity?
Long term exposure (intermitten or continuous)
What is subacute toxicity?
adverse effects from single or multiple exposures w/in 24 hrs to 28 days
What is subchronic toxicity?
Up to 90 days or <10% of lifespan
What is LD50?
Lethal dose that can kill 50% of test subjects (don’t always know for every substance)
What are some direct and indirect impacts of toxicants in agriculture?
- Direct
- death, abortion, etc
- indirect
- Weight loss, withdrawl times, infertility, forage loss (due to avoidance), etc.
Cyanogenic glycosides produces what?
HCN
Hydrogen cyanide gas
Cyanogenic glycosides use what mechanism?
Enzymatic hydrolysis
Amygdahlin (laetrile) is found in what?
Choke cherries, mountain mahogany, service berries
(have prunasin too)
Prunasin is found in what?
Bracken
Dhurrin is found in what?
Sorghum spp
Johnson and sudhan grass
Triglochinin is found in what?
Arrowgrass
Linamarin is found in what?
Flax (linseed), white clover, cassava
What are some toxins that are cyanogenic glycosides?
- Amygdalin (laetrile)
- Prunasin
- Dhurrin
- Triglochinin
- Linamarin
Explain how cyanogenic glycoside poisoning works
problem happens when process gets overwhelmed and HCN builds up
What increases cyanogenic potential?
Plant or microbial enzymes, chewing, frost or drought increase cyanogenic potential
What is the mechanism of enzymatic hydrolysis?
Where is the highest content of CN found?
- new shoots
- new growth
- regrowth
- Don’t want to eat these
What are some factos that effect concentration of CN in plants?
- stage of growth
- time of year (winter) early spring
- soil mineral (high nitrates) and moisture content
- time of day
How can you increase conversion of nitrate to cyanogenic glycosides?
- cool, moist growing conditions
- Nitrate fertilization
- Drought/frost
- herbicides (2, 4-D)
If you were a toxin, where would you interupt this process? HCN
- Compete w/ O2 for binding w/hemoglobin
What is some differential effects in ruminants vs. non-ruminants of HCN?
How was HCN used on humans?
Nazi’s used on jews
gas chambers
Chronic toxicosis for cyanide toxicity is called what? Is there a chance at recovery? What are the symptoms in Horses, Foals/Calves, pregnant ewes? What is affected in animals
- Lathyrism: neurotoxin (sweet pea)
- Recovery is possible if caught early
- Symptoms
- Horses: skeletal defomities, aortic rupture (sweet pea)
- Foals/Calves: Skeletal deformities, severe degradation of brain and spinal cord (sorghum spp.)
- Pregnant ewes: goiter
- Affected animals- posterior alaxia, urinary incontenance, cystitis
What are some symptoms of acute cyanide poisoning?
- Sypmtoms in 15-20 min
- Clinical signs
- rapid breathing
- frothing at the mouth
- dilated pupils
- ataxia
- muscle tremors
- convulsion
- regurgitation of rumen contents
- Sudden death in 1-2 hrs
- Postmortem signs
- cherry red blood (venous)
- dark colored musculature
- hemorrhage in heart and lungs
- “bitter almond” smell in rumen
- Clinical signs
What is done to treat cyanide poisoning?
- Sodium Nitrite (NaNO2)
- generate methemoglobin
- restart ETC
- Sodium thiosulfate (NaS2O3)
- cleaves CN off Hb
- Converts to sodium thiocynate which is easily excreted
How can you prevent cyanide poisoning?
- Avoid NEW growth
- Graze sorghums/sudangrass/hybrids when over 2 ft tall
- Rotational grazing and heavy stocking
- Supplement sulfur to reduce toxicity
- Adequate phosphorus supply in soils
What is missing from the chemical structure?
Cyanide
“65 cows die of fodder poisoning in Kutch”
Miller fodder from outside area
Gvt. assistance during drough
Distributed all over the area
Drinking water after exposure was determined to be deadly
WHY?
Hydrolysis
Explain what is shown by this graph. Which treatment is most effective? Why?
- Change in blood cyanide concentrations over time following high cyanide dose and treatment with saline (control), glycine, thiosulfate, or glycine/thiosulfate combo
- Thiosulfate most effective because exploits natural mechanism of HCN conversion
What are two cyanide plants that are grasses? What is the toxin found in them?
- Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense)
- drought resistant perennial
- Sudan grass (Sorghum sudenense or bicolor)
- annual
- Toxin
- Dhurrin
- Can get cyanide free hybrids (cultivars)
- cost: nitrite toxicity
Describe the cyanide plant Prunis virginiana and what toxin is found in it?
Western chokecherry
- Rhizomatus shrub/tree –> 16 ft high
- Toxin
- Seeds –> amygdalin
- Leaves, bark, shoots –> prunasin
- 368 mg/100 g in fresh leaves
- .25% of BW in <1hr
- Important for wildlife
Describe the cyanide plant Amelanchier alnifolia and its toxin.
- Western serviceberry
- small shrub/tree–> 22ft tall
- Toxin: Prunasin
- Not very problematic unless nothing else is available
- reclamation, wildlife, watershed, shelter belts
Describe the cyanide plant linum lewisii and its toxin.
- Wild blue flax
- perennial subshrub
- Toxin: Linarmarin
- high in seed and seedling tops (910 mg/100g)
- Most problematic
- usitatissimum
- used for linseed production, pressed for oil and linseed cake is leftover which is often fed to cattle, but MUST be boiled first
- usitatissimum
Describe the cyanide plant Triglochin maritima and its toxin.
- Arrowgrass
- perennial forb/herb
- Toxin: Triglochinin
- really difficult to ID w/o seeds/flowers
- most toxic when green or stressed
- 0.25-3# can kill a 600# animal
Describe the cyanide plant cercocarpus montanus and its toxin.
- Mountain mahogany
- Toxin: Cyanogenic glycoside
- common shrub
- deer commonly browse
Describe the cyanide plant trifolium repens and its toxin.
- White clover
- Toxin: Linamarin
- not palatable in summer
- low cyanogenic varieties
