Spatiotemporal variations in nutritional status and feeding habits of immature female bighand thornyhead <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sebastolobus macrochir</Emphasis> off the Pacific coast of northern Honshu,Japan

Nutritional status and feeding habits of immature female bighand thornyhead Sebastolobus macrochir were assessed based on Fulton’s condition factor K, hepatosomatic index (HSI), and stomach observations. Fish were obtained from bottom trawl samples taken seasonally during 2006/2007 in the Tohoku area, off the Pacific coast of northern Honshu, Japan. Results of the generalized linear model (GLM) indicated that fish condition deteriorated with depth, and small fish had a lower K, HSI, and percent stomach content index (SCI) than larger specimens. The empty stomach rate was higher in deeper waters in northern Tohoku (except for small fish from spring to autumn) and in southern Tohoku (spring/summer). Changes in the index of relative importance (%IRI) showed that the main prey items changed from nutritionally high to low prey items with depth. This suggests that deeper waters, where fish with the lowest condition values occur, are a poorer quality habitat for immature bighand thornyhead and that small fish are subordinate to larger fish. The effect on growth, due to variations in nutritional status and feeding habits, produced by the distributional changes in bighand thornyhead is also discussed.     

Locus-specific EPIC-PCR primers for four distinct calmodulin genes of the Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844)

International Aquatic Research - Nucleotide sequences of four distinct calmodulin genes (designated as CaM-A to -D) of the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis) were compared. Nucleotide...     

Mass spectrometric evidence for the existence of oligomeric anthocyanins in grape skins

The fractionation of a grape skin extract by multilayer countercurrent chromatography coupled with step gradient elution allowed the preparation of a fraction almost devoid of free anthocyanins. This fraction appeared to be almost exclusively polymeric, as judged by liquid chromatographic-mass spectrometric (LC-MS) analysis, color-bleaching tests with sulfur dioxide, and thiolysis. Electrospray mass spectrometric analysis indicated that the pigmented material in this fraction was chiefly composed of direct condensation products of anthocyanin extending up to trimers. With regard to their linkages, the anthocyanin units in the oligomers were possibly linked by either an A-type (by both carbon-carbon and ether bonds) or B-type (by carbon-carbon bond) linkage, like proanthocyanidins. The terminal anthocyanin unit of the oligomers is consistently in the flavylium form but the extension units are in the flavan form for the A-type oligomers and in the flavene form for the B-type oligomers. Although their linkages still need to be defined rigorously, this is the first mass spectrometric evidence confirming the existence of anthocyanin oligomers in the grape skin extract.     

Fractionation of grape anthocyanin classes using multilayer coil countercurrent chromatography with step gradient elution

Grape anthocyanins from rosé wine pomace and grape skins were fractionated by multilayer coil countercurrent chromatography (MLCCC). Tert-butyl methyl ether/n-butanol/acetonitrile/water acidified with trifluoroacetic acid (2/2/x/5) was chosen as the solvent system because of its demonstrated efficiency in separating anthocyanins. A method combining MLCCC and step gradient elution has been developed. This method enabled the fractionation of anthocyanins as series of glucosides, and the corresponding acetylated, coumaroylated, and caffeoylated derivatives. The different anthocyanins were identified on the basis of their UV spectra, their elution time on reversed-phase HPLC as well as by mass spectrometry. A polar-colored fraction free of anthocyanin monomers and corresponding to the material remaining in the stationary phase after the completion of the gradient was recovered.     

Screening for potential pigments derived from anthocyanins in red wine using nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Red wine extracts were screened for potential wine pigments derived from anthocyanins, using a combination of nanoelectrospray tandem mass spectrometry techniques. Fourteen aglycons were considered to be of anthocyanidin origin on the basis of their MS/MS spectra. The proposed structures of the aglycons were anthocyanidin C-4 substituted with vinyl linkage between C-4 and the hydroxy group at C-5. The anthocyanidin derivatives identified in the wine extracts were vinyl, vinylmethyl, vinylformic acid, 4-vinylphenol, 4-vinylguaiacol, and vinylcatechin adducts of malvidin as well as vinylformic acid and 4-vinylphenol adducts of peonidin and petunidin. The presence of vinyl alcohol, 4-vinylcatechol, and 4-vinylsyringol adducts of malvidin was also proposed.     

New phenolic grape skin products from Vitis vinifera cv. Pinot Noir

Anthocyanins and their related compounds were extracted from grape skins of Pinot noir, using 50% aqueous methanol, and purified by solid phase extraction chromatography using XAD-7 resin to obtain a pigment-rich fraction. This fraction was subjected to multilayer coil countercurrent chromatography (MLCCC) using a quaternary solvent system consisting of tert-butyl methyl ether/n-butanol/acetonitrile/water acidified with 0.01% trifluoroacetic acid (2:2:0.1-1.8:5) (v/v/v/v) in a step gradient elution to separate anthocyanin oligomers from grape anthocyanins. In the process of the characterization of the MLCCC fractions by electrospray mass spectrometry, two noncolored anthocyanin derivatives were found and characterized on the basis of their mass spectral data. As a result, these compounds have been tentatively identified as coupling products between both hydrated malvidin-3-glucoside and peonidin-3-glucoside, with 2-S-glutathionyl caffeoyl tartaric acid (GRP). It is therefore proposed that grape skins contain this new class of coupling product, and a possible chemical pathway for their formation is suggested.     

Growth response of cabbage plants to arsenic and antimony under water culture conditions

Recently some attention has been paid to arsenic and antimony because these elements are polluting our environment (1, 2). The responses of crops to arsenic have been studied mainly from the view point of reduced growth due to arsenic toxicity (3). However little information on plant-antimony relations is available, although the chemical properties of arsenic are analogous to those of antimony. Thus, the present experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of widely graded-levels of arsenic an antimony in a culture solution on the growth of cabbage plants, which were selected as the experimental plant because their inner leaves are eaten by human beings.     

Coleoptile cuticle of barley is necessary for the increase in appressorial turgor pressure of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Blumeria graminis</Emphasis> for penetration

To determine whether the cuticle of the barley coleoptile is responsible for a rise in appressorial turgor pressure in Blumeria graminis, we determined the appressorial turgor pressure by measuring cytorrhysis and plasmolysis in the presence of PEG6000. Appressorial turgor pressure significantly increased 13–14 h after inoculation. On the other hand, when the cuticle was completely removed from the barley coleoptile surface with diethyl ether, turgor pressure did not increase. Moreover, when we then recoated the surface with the exogenous barley cuticle fraction, appressorial turgor pressure significantly increased 12–13 h after inoculation. These results suggest that the cuticle on the surface of the barley coleoptile is necessary for the increase in the appressorial turgor pressure.     

Improvement of ovulation induction by additive injection of 17,20β‐Dihydroxy‐4‐pregnen‐3‐one after human chorionic gonadotropin administration in a pelagic egg spawning marine teleost,nibe croaker Nibea mitsukurii (Jordan & Snyder)

This study aimed to develop the consistent ovulation induction method in a pelagic egg spawning marine teleost, nibe croaker Nibea mitsukurii. Attempts to induce oocyte maturation and ovulation in nibe croaker using human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG; 0.5 IU g^?1) resulted in the normal progression of oocyte maturation and hydration, but a failure to induce ovulation in many individuals. This ovulation disorder was similarly observed even when the dose of hCG was increased 10 times (5 IU g^?1) or decreased to one tenth (0.05 IU g^?1), indicating that it cannot be completely overcome solely by hCG administration. However, this ovulation disorder could be completely overcome by subsequent administration of 17,20β‐dihydroxy‐4‐pregnen‐3‐one (DHP) at the appropriate dose (0.5 μg g^?1) and time (20 h after hCG administration). An increase in the number of individuals that ovulated due to DHP administration led to an increase in individuals producing larvae, resulting in an approximately threefold increase in the estimated number of larvae produced compared with the group of fish administered hCG alone. Thus, this ovulation induction method using DHP administration after hCG was demonstrated to overcome the ovulation disorder in nibe croaker and could be applicable to commercially important species with similar ovulation problems.