RETRACTED ARTICLE: Abundance of Collembola collected from ectomycorrhizal hyphal mats and fruiting bodies of Tricholoma matsutake

Collembolans collected from hyphal mat soil and fruit bodies of Tricholoma matsutake were examined to investigate whether mycophagous microarthropods are a potential insect pest of this fungus in forest soils. The number of collembolans collected in hyphal mat soil did not differ significantly from that in adjacent nonmat soil. Fungal materials contained in the gut of collembolans consisted mostly of hyphal fragments of dematiaceous fungi and unknown basidiomycetes. There were few collembolans on the fruit bodies of T. matsutake, which has the largest fruit body of the fungi at the study site. Our findings suggested that collembolans are not significant feeders on the hyphal mat and fruit body of T. matsutake. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Hyperbaric air therapy in dogs for clinical veterinary medicine: a basic study

Hyperbaric air therapy (HBA) is a treatment in which an animal is exposed to air pressurized to about 1.3 atmosphere absolute (ATA). Although HBA has already been administered to humans in medical applications, it has not been reported in clinical veterinary medicine. Therefore, we aimed to determine a safe protocol for dogs. To elucidate oxygen dynamics during HBA, we measured partial pressure of arterial oxygen, oxygen saturation of tissue, and partial pressure of transcutaneous oxygen in dogs. HBA could be performed safely with a protocol of pressurizing speed up to 0.1 ATA/min, maximum chamber pressure of up to 1.3 ATA, and pressure duration of around 45 min per treatment. Under these conditions, tissue was adequately oxygenated during and after treatment.     

Degradation of flumioxazin in illuminated water-sediment systems

The aerobic aquatic metabolism of flumioxazin was studied in two water-sediment systems under illumination and in darkness to investigate its degradation profiles. (14)C-Flumioxazin separately labeled at the 1- and 2-positions of the tetrahydrophthalimide moiety or uniformly labeled at the phenyl ring was applied to a overlying water at a rate equivalent to 600 g ai/ha by assuming uniform distribution in the water layer to a depth of 100 cm. Flumioxazin was rapidly degraded at 20 °C in the overlying waters irrespective of irradiation with half-lives of 0.1-0.4 day. Both various modes of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy analyses showed four major degradates under irradiation. Two of them were formed via successive hydrolysis of the cyclic imide ring, and the others were 2-arizidinone derivatives via photoinduced rearrangement. The presence of sediment under illumination greatly reduced the formation of these degradates and accelerated their degradation. The partitions of flumioxazin and its degradates to the bottom sediment not only reduced their fractions in the water layer subjected to hydrolysis and photolysis but also enhanced their microbial degradation in the sediment. The illuminated water-sediment systems were considered to more adequately represent the behavior of flumioxazin and its degradates in the environment than the corresponding studies of aqueous photolysis and water-sediment in darkness.     

Improved uptake models of nonionized pesticides to foliage and seed of crops.

The residual amount of nonionized pesticides incorporated to foliage and stem (foliage) and seed (fruit) of crops via root hairs from the water phase was estimated using the uptake models newly including metabolic parameters by which the amount of intact pesticide remaining in crops was considered with its proportion in a transpiration stream. A new parameter was also introduced for the seed model that accounts for the pesticide loss by adsorption to the inner surface of xylem tissue. Validation of the model was conducted using six pesticides with soybean and spinach plants. The ratio of the predicted concentration of pesticide to the measured one was 0.44-1.49 and 0.57-2.93 with foliage and seed models, respectively, showing that these improved models would be effective as a prediction tool.     

Chemical composition,in vitro protein digestibility andin vitro available iron of blue green alga,Nostoc commune

Blue-green alga,Nostoc commune, contained moderate amounts of protein and iron. Itsin vitro protein digestibility was 43–50%. The soluble and ionic iron from the alga was extractable to some extent at pH 1.5 but was not detectable at pH 8.0. The digestion by protease did not affect the iron detection. Heat processing at 100 and 120°C failed to increase the digestibility and the content of available iron. The dietary fiber in the alga may be responsible for low protein digestion and low iron availability.     

Metabolism of the insecticide metofluthrin in cabbage (Brassica oleracea)

The metabolic fate of metofluthrin [2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-4-(methoxymethyl)benzyl (E,Z)-(1R,3R)-2,2-dimethyl-3-(prop-1-enyl)cyclopropanecarboxylate] separately labeled with (14)C at the carbonyl carbon and the α-position of the 4-methoxymethylbenzyl ring was studied in cabbage ( Brassica oleracea ). An acetonitrile solution of (14)C-metofluthrin at 431 g ai ha(-1) was once applied topically to cabbage leaves at head-forming stage, and the plants were grown for up to 14 days. Each isomer of metofluthrin applied onto the leaf surface rapidly volatilized into the air and was scarcely translocated to the untreated portion. On the leaf surface, metofluthrin was primarily degraded through ozonolysis of the propenyl side chain to produce the secondary ozonide, which further decomposed to the corresponding aldehyde and carboxylic acid derivatives. In the leaf tissues, the 1R-trans-Z isomer was mainly metabolized to its dihydrodiol derivative probably via an epoxy intermediate followed by saccharide conjugation in parallel with the ester cleavage, whereas no specific metabolite was dominant for the 1R-trans-E isomer. Isomerization of metofluthrin at the cyclopropyl ring was negligible for both isomers. In this study, the chemical structure of each secondary ozonide derivative was fully elucidated by the various modes of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy together with cochromatography with the synthetic standard, and their cis/trans configuration was examined by the nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) difference NMR spectrum.     

Expression of Aldo-keto Reductase 1C23 in the Equine Corpus Luteum in Different Luteal Phases

Regression of the corpus luteum (CL) is characterized by a decay in progesterone (P₄) production (functional luteolysis) and disappearance of luteal tissues (structural luteolysis). In mares, structural luteolysis is thought to be caused by apoptosis of luteal cells, but functional luteolysis is poorly understood. 20α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (20α-HSD) catabolizes P₄ into its biologically inactive form, 20α-hydroxyprogesterone (20α-OHP). In mares, aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C23, which is a member of the AKR superfamily, has 20α-HSD activity. To clarify whether AKR1C23 is associated with functional luteolysis in mares, we investigated the expression of AKR1C23 in the CL in different luteal phases. The luteal P₄ concentration and levels of 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) mRNA were higher in the mid luteal phase than in the late and regressed luteal phases (P<0.05), but the level of 3β-HSD protein was higher in the late luteal phase than in the regressed luteal phase (P<0.05). The luteal 20α-OHP concentration and the level of AKR1C23 mRNA were higher in the late luteal phase than in the early and mid luteal phases (P<0.05), and the level of AKR1C23 protein was also highest in the late luteal phase. Taken together, these findings suggest that metabolism of P₄ by AKR1C23 is one of the processes contributing to functional luteolysis in mares.     

Capsule thickness and amounts of a 39 kDa capsular protein of avian Pasteurella multocida type A strains correlate with their pathogenicity for chickens

Capsule thickness of avian Pasteurella multocida type A strains was determined by transmission electron microscopy after labeling with polycationic ferritin and compared with their pathogenicity for chickens. The capsule thickness of P. multocida strains Pm-18 and X-73 was 81.4 and 50.1 nm on average, respectively. These strains were highly virulent for chicken, whereas the less virulent strains Pm-1 and Pm-3 had a thin and irregular capsule, 21.0 and 29.8 nm on average, respectively. However, the thickest capsule was observed in strain P-1059, 101.2 nm on average, and the strain revealed moderate virulence. The noncapsulated variant P-1059B, which was derived from strain P-1059, revealed low virulence. The six P. multocida strains were examined with regard to protein content on the capsule of organisms. Amounts of total proteins of crude capsular extract (CCE) from capsulated strains were approximately twice those of the noncapsulated strains. The amount of an antigenic 39 kDa protein in the CCE were found to correlate with the capsule thickness, since heavily capsulated strains exhibited the greatest amount, whereas noncapsulated strains including noncapsulated and low virulent variant P-1059B possessed little 39 kDa protein. The results demonstrated that the capsule thickness and the quantity of a 39 kDa capsular protein of avian P. multocida type A strains correlated with their pathogenicity for chickens.     

Characterization of a 39kDa capsular protein of avian Pasteurella multocida using monoclonal antibodies

The role of a 39kDa protein of avian Pasteurella multocida in pathogenesis of fowl cholera was investigated using monoclonal antibodies (Mabs). Mabs were prepared by immunization of BALB/c mice with a crude capsular extract (CCE) of P. multocida strain P-1059 (serovar A:3). Totally eight hybridomas producing Mab were obtained. Immunoblot analysis of the hybridomas revealed that all the Mabs recognized a 39kDa protein of CCE. Treatment of CCE antigen with proteinase K or periodic acid indicated that the epitope recognized was proteinaceous. The Mabs reacted with a major 39kDa protein of CCE from encapsulated strains but not with any protein of non-capsulated strains indicating that a direct correlation between encapsulation and the 39kDa protein. Immunoelectron microscopy on strain P-1059 and the non-capsulated derivative P-1059B (serovar -:3) reacting with the Mabs and gold-labeled anti-mouse IgG indicated that the protein is associated with the capsule. The Mabs significantly inhibited the adherence of encapsulated P. multocida strains to chicken embryo fibroblast cells, but only slightly that of non-capsulated strains. Mice passively immunized with the Mabs were protected from lethal challenge with virulent strains P-1059 and X-73 (serovar A:1). Thus the capsular 39kDa protein was determined to be an adherence factor and a cross-protective antigen of avian P. multocida type A strains.     

A case of atypical canine lymphoma with oral mass and multiple osteolysis

An 8-year-old female Golden Retriever had an oral mass and lameness. Multiple osteolysis of the systemic skeleton without monoclonal gammopathy was shown on electrophoresis of serum and urine samples. Cytological and histopathological examinations of the oral mass revealed atypical polymorphic cells similar to myeloid cells, and bone marrow aspiration indicated that these abnormal cells also might have invaded the bone marrow. These cells were negative to peroxidase and non-specific esterase staining, and clonal expansion of B lymphocytes could be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for antigen receptor gene rearrangement. The case was diagnosed as atypical lymphoma and treated by multi-drug chemotherapy. On the 142nd day after the first admission, the case had remission and the oral mass and multiple osteolysis were improved.