Letter from the Editor

From the Editor

Take note of the Virtual Meeting-in-Miniature: the deadline is not until April 21 and a meeting date of May 1. The rescheduled DFW Virtual meeting will take place on March 26. At first, I thought my favorite paper was the analysis of prehistoric dental calculus and how much we can learn from it…”the human mouth is full of interesting molecules: DNA and enzymes in saliva, proteins and lipids from bits of food stuck between teeth, the bacterial citizens of the oral microbiome. Under the right conditions, those molecules can be preserved in dental calculus for thousands of years…”. But then I read the paper about termite gut microbes and the breakdown of lignin in straw and plant waste; it is much harder to break down lignin than the polysaccharides found in such waste. Previously, enzymes from fungi were used to break down lignin but a bacterial enzyme would be much easier to produce...thus the peering into the gut of termites. Gut bacteria, or gut flora, are always interesting...turns out that Wolbachia, a bacteria found in the gut of heartworms, is symbiotic with the heartworms. Killing these bacteria with doxycycline results in ultimate death of the heartworms, although over an extended time period...1 year plus. (If you are interested in the mechanism of this, todaysveterinarypractice.com has a discussion including journal references.) Be safe: mask up, socially distance, and get on a vaccination list (or lists), and go to those virtual meetings!