A trial of intrauterine insemination using a fiberscope in the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)

An intrauterine insemination technique using a fiberscope was investigated in the giant panda. A septal wall was present about 5 cm from the vulva, the external urethral orifice was present in the ventral region, and the entrance (pseudocervix) to the vagina was present in the dorsal region. The uterovaginal region protruded in the dorsal region about 15 cm from the pseudocervix. The external uterine orifice was present in the uterovaginal region, revealing that intrauterine insemination can be easily performed. This technique may greatly contribute to artificial reproduction of the giant panda.     

Treatment of prostatic abscesses by aspiration of the purulent matter and injection of tea tree oil into the cavities in dogs

Ultrasonography-guided transabdominal needle aspiration was carried out to remove 3 to 14 ml of purulent matter from the cavities of prostatic abscesses in 6 dogs, and the same volume of tea tree oil was injected into the cavities to treat the abscesses. The same treatment was repeated 3 weeks later in 4 dogs, and subsequent disappearance of the purulent matter in the cavities and a marked reduction in the volume of the cavities were observed. These findings indicate that the treatment of prostatic abscesses by aspiration of the purulent matter and injection of tea tree oil into the cavities is very effective in dogs.     

Microtubule-severing activity of Shigella is pivotal for intercellular spreading

Some pathogenic bacteria actually invade the cytoplasm of their target host cells. Invasive bacteria acquire the propulsive force to move by recruiting actin and inducing its polymerization. Here we show that Shigella movement within the cytoplasm was severely hindered by microtubules and that the bacteria destroyed surrounding microtubules by secreting VirA by means of the type III secretion system. Degradation of microtubules by VirA was dependent on its alpha-tubulin-specific cysteine protease-like activity. virA mutants did not move within the host cytoplasm and failed to move into adjacent cells.     

Oligomeric procyanidins in apple polyphenol are main active components for inhibition of pancreatic lipase and triglyceride absorption

Inhibitory effects of apple polyphenol extract (AP) and procyanidin contained in AP on in vitro pancreatic lipase activity and in vivo triglyceride absorption in mice and humans were examined. AP and procyanidin considerably inhibited in vitro pancreatic lipase activity. However, polyphenols, except for procyanidin, in AP (i.e., catechins, chalcones, and phenol carboxylic acids) showed weak inhibitory activities on pancreatic lipase. Procyanidins separated by normal-phase chromatography according to the degree of polymerization were also examined. Inhibitory effects of procyanidins increased according to the degree of polymerization from dimer to pentamer. On the other hand, pentamer or greater procyanidins showed maximal inhibitory effects on pancreatic lipase. These results suggested that with respect to in vitro pancreatic lipase inhibition, the degree of polymerization was an important factor and oligomeric procyanidin mainly contributed. Next, we performed a triglyceride tolerance test in mice and humans. Simultaneous ingestion of AP and triglyceride significantly inhibited an increase of plasma triglyceride levels in both models. These results suggested that the oligomeric procyanidins contained in AP inhibited triglyceride absorption by inhibiting pancreatic lipase activity in mice and humans.     

Intraspecific phenotypic variation associated with nuclear DNA content in Lolium perenne L.

The variation in nuclear DNA content and its association with phenotypic traits were examined in 15 cultivated populations of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), including herbage and turf populations. Nuclear DNA contents of 15 populations were measured by a flow cytometric method using DAPI (4′-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) as a fluorochrome. DNA contents were also measured using PI (propidium iodide) for six populations that showed large differences in DAPI values to confirm the difference. There were significant differences in nuclear DNA contents among the populations for both dyes. Of the total variation in nuclear DNA content measured with DAPI, 29% was ascribed to the inter-population variation, 46% was ascribed to the intra-population variation, 24% was ascribed to the random error variation. Herbage populations tended to have larger DNA content than did turf populations. 2C DNA content was positively correlated with cell size, seed size and single leaf size, although significant correlations were mainly due to a small number of populations with large and small DNA contents. These results suggest that intraspecific variation in nuclear DNA content plays important roles in determining phenotypic differences between cultivated populations of L. perenne. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Quantitative trait loci for whiteness of cooked rice detected in improved rice cultivars in Hokkaido

Improving the eating quality of cooked rice has been one of the most important objectives in rice breeding programs. Eating quality of cooked rice is a complex trait including several components, such as external appearance, taste, aroma, and texture. Therefore, dissection of these components followed by marker-assisted selection of detected QTL(s) may be a useful approach for achieving desirable eating quality in rice breeding. Whiteness of cooked rice (WCR) is an important factor related to the external appearance of cooked rice. WCR is known to be associated with the amylose and protein contents of the endosperm. However, the genetic basis of WCR remains unclear. In this study, we evaluated phenotypic variation in WCR among recently developed rice cultivars from Hokkaido, Japan. Then, we developed doubled haploid lines (DHLs) derived from a cross between two cultivars from Hokkaido, Joiku No. 462 (high WCR) and Jokei06214 (low WCR). Using the DHLs, we detected two QTLs for WCR, qWCR3 and qWCR11, on chromosomes 3 and 11, respectively. We also examined the dosage effect of the two QTLs based on both the categorized segregants in the DHLs and the relationship between the WCR phenotype and inheritance around the QTL regions in cultivars from Hokkaido.     

Black tea polyphenols, theaflavins, prevent cellular DNA damage by inhibiting oxidative stress and suppressing cytochrome P450 1A1 in cell cultures.

Tea polyphenols have been demonstrated as chemopreventive agents in a number of experimental models. However, less is known about the mechanism of chemoprevention by black tea compared with that of green tea. Some beneficial properties of theaflavins, the black tea polyphenols, were investigated in the present study. Theaflavins showed inhibitory effects on H(2)O(2)- and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (tBuOOH)-induced cytotoxicity (evaluated by tetrazolium bromide reduction), cellular oxidative stress (detected by oxidation of 2', 7'-dichlorofluorescin), and DNA damage (measured by amount of 8-OHdG and comet assay) in rat normal liver epithelium cell RL-34 cell lines. In addition, theaflavins also exhibited suppression of cytochrome P450 1A1 induced by omeprazole in the human hepatoma HepG2 cell line. Furthermore, when HepG2 cells were pretreated with omeprazole to induce CYP1A1, then exposed to benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), DNA damage was observed using the comet assay. However, theaflavins could inhibit this DNA damage. These results indicated that theaflavins could prevent cellular DNA damage by inhibiting oxidative stress and suppressing cytochrome P450 1A1 in cell cultures.     

Inhibitory activity of corn-derived bisamide compounds against alpha-glucosidase

Bioassay guided fractionation from corn gluten meal, a byproduct of a starch manufacturing plant, gave N-p-coumaroyl-N'-feruloylputrescine (1) and N,N'-diferuloylputrescine (2) as alpha-glucosidase inhibitors. Some structure-activity relationships were studied by comparing the inhibitory activity by preparing some related compounds, and it was revealed that the hydroxyl group was important for the inhibitory activity of bisamide alkaloids, but not the redox potential.