Effects of chlorine, iodine, and quaternary ammonium compound disinfectants on several exotic disease viruses

The effects of three representative disinfectants, chlorine (sodium hypochlorite), iodine (potassium tetraglicine triiodide), and quaternary ammonium compound (didecyldimethylammonium chloride), on several exotic disease viruses were examined. The viruses used were four enveloped viruses (vesicular stomatitis virus, African swine fever virus, equine viral arteritis virus, and porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus) and two non-enveloped viruses (swine vesicular disease virus (SVDV) and African horse sickness virus (AHSV)). Chlorine was effective against all viruses except SVDV at concentrations of 0.03% to 0.0075%, and a dose response was observed. Iodine was very effective against all viruses at concentrations of 0.015% to 0.0075%, but a dose response was not observed. Quaternary ammonium compound was very effective in low concentration of 0.003% against four enveloped viruses and AHSV, but it was only effective against SVDV with 0.05% NaOH. Electron microscopic observation revealed the probable mechanism of each disinfectant. Chlorine caused complete degeneration of the viral particles and also destroyed the nucleic acid of the viruses. Iodine destroyed mainly the inner components including nucleic acid of the viruses. Quaternary ammonium compound induced detachment of the envelope of the enveloped viruses and formation of micelle in non-enveloped viruses. According to these results, chlorine and iodine disinfectants were quite effective against most of the viruses used at adequately high concentration. The effective concentration of quaternary ammonium compound was the lowest among the disinfectants examined.     

Long-term growth analyses of Japanese cedar trees in a plantation: neighborhood competition and persistence of initial growth deviations

The individual growth of tree diameter at breast height (dbh) is analyzed in an even-aged plantation of Cryptomeria japonica from stand age of 45 to 94 years, to examine how the growth of individual trees has been affected by the changes in spacing resulting from thinning operations. At any age, a significant proportion (0.37–0.46) of the variation in dbh growth during a 5–11-year period was explained by dbh at the beginning of the period, probably due to greater leaf mass of larger trees. Next, either one-sided or two-sided competition was added to the model, by calculating the basal area (BA) of neighboring trees around each tree within a given radius or BA for trees having larger dbh than the focal tree within the radius. After preliminary analyses, a radius of 8 m was selected as the critical range for tree competition. Although both types of competition explained a significant proportion (0.09–0.43) of growth variation, one-sided competition was not significant at ages greater than 54 years. Based on the model at 45 years of age, the initial deviation of growth rate for each tree from the predicted rate was calculated and added to the models as a third variable. This raised the coefficient of determination up to 0.50–0.74. These findings have practical significance for forest plantation management, particularly for controlling the growth of standing trees via thinning, to produce high-quality timber in the future.     

Time course of the incidence/multiplicity and histopathological features of murine colonic dysplasia,adenoma and adenocarcinoma induced by benzo[a]pyrene and dextran sulfate sodium

Benzo[a]pyrene (BP) is mutagenic but noncarcinogenic in the murine colon. Recently, we reported rapid induction of colonic tumors by treatment of CD2F₁ mice with BP (125 mg/kg for 5 days) followed by a colitis inducer, dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) (4% in drinking water for 1 or 2 weeks). However, there are no reports on detailed time course and histopathological features of colonic proliferative lesions in this model. Here, we show the detailed time course of colonic dysplasia, adenoma and adenocarcinoma induced by treatment with BP, DSS, and a combination of the two (BP/DSS). In the colon of mice exposed to BP/DSS, 14.6 dysplastic foci per mouse were present one week after DSS treatment (week 4). The number of dysplastic foci decreased with time to 3.1 at week 9 and thereafter remained almost constant. At week 4, 1.5 adenocarcinomas were also observed, with a marked increase in numbers with time, reaching 29.3 at week 14. In contrast, the number of dysplastic foci induced by DSS alone showed a time course similar to that following BP/DSS treatment; however, only a few tumors appeared. Neither dysplastic foci nor neoplastic lesions were induced by BP only. In mice exposed to BP/DSS, β-catenin was demonstrated immunohistochemically in the nucleus and/or cytoplasm of the tumor cells, and this translocation from the cell membrane was evident in subsets of dysplastic foci. In dysplastic foci induced by DSS alone, β-catenin was absent in the nucleus/cytoplasm. These finding suggest that aberrant β-catenin accumulation in dysplastic foci is associated with tumor progression in this BP/DSS model.     

Effect of pH on the gelation of walleye pollack surimi and carp actomyosin pastes

ABSTRACT: The effect of pH on thermal gelation and transglutaminase (TGase; EC2.3.2.13)-induced suwari (setting) of surimi and actomyosin pastes was investigated. A strong and elastic gel was produced from walleye pollack surimi paste at pH 7.0 in the presence of Ca²⁺ using a two-step heating method. In contrast, walleye pollack actomyosin paste formed a weak gel under the same conditions as a result of the low concentration of endogenous TGase. In the presence of EGTA [ethyleneglycol bis(2-aminoethylether) tetraacetic acid], weak gels were formed at pH values of 7.0 and 6.0. Non-proteolytic modori (gel weakening) occurred extensively in the course of actomyosin gelation, but not in surimi gelation. Maximum TGase-induced myosin heavy chain cross-linking was observed at a slightly higher pH of 7.5 than at the optimal pH of endogenous TGase activity; the difference being derived from different substrates. Gelation of carp actomyosin paste at pH values of 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 and 7.0 was monitored by measuring storage modulus (G') and loss modulus (G"). A weak gel was formed at all pH values, but a slightly rigid and less elastic gel was obtained at lower pH values. The addition of microbial TGase (MTGase) formed strong elastic gels at pH 7.0 and 6.5. MTGase cross-linked myosin heavy chains even at pH 5.5, but contributed neither to suwari response nor strong gel formation. Overall, results suggest that the optimal pH for the gelation of surimi paste from easy-setting fish species is a compromise between the pH-optima of TGase activity and of preferable actomyosin conformation for myosin cross-linking.     

Vertical movements of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) associated with islands, buoys, and seamounts near the main Hawaiian Islands from archival tagging data

To learn more about the movement patterns of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), we deployed archival tags on 87 fish ranging in fork length from 50 to 154 cm. Thirteen fish were recaptured, from which 11 archival tags were returned, representing in aggregate 943 days‐at‐liberty. We successfully retrieved data from 10 tags, representing 474 days in aggregate. The largest fish recaptured was 44.5 kg [131 cm fork length (FL)] and the smallest 2.8 kg (52 cm). The deepest descent recorded was 817 m, the coldest temperature visited 4.7°C, and minimum oxygen level reached ～1 mL L^?1. Fish spent little time at depths where water temperatures were below 7°C and oxygen levels less than ～2 mL L^?1. Five fish were recaptured near the offshore weather buoy where they were tagged. Based on vertical movement patterns, it appeared that all stayed immediately associated with the buoy for up to 34 days. During this time they remained primarily in the uniform temperature surface layer (i.e. above 100 m). In contrast, fish not associated with a floating object showed the W‐shaped vertical movement patterns during the day characteristic of bigeye tuna (i.e. descending to ～300–500 m and then returning regularly to the surface layer). Four fish were tagged and subsequently recaptured near Cross Seamount up to 76 days later. These fish exhibited vertical movement patterns similar to, but less regular than, those of fish not associated with any structure. Bigeye tuna appear to follow the diel vertical movements of the deep sound scattering layer (SSL) organisms and thus to exploit them effectively as a prey resource. Average night‐time depth was correlated with lunar illumination, a behaviour which mimics movements of the SSL.     

Molecular and genealogical analysis of grain dormancy in Japanese wheat varieties,with specific focus on MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 on chromosome 3A

In the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivar ‘Zenkoujikomugi’, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the promoter of MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 on chromosome 3A (MFT-3A) causes an increase in the level of gene expression, resulting in strong grain dormancy. We used a DNA marker to detect the ‘Zenkoujikomugi’-type (Zen-type) SNP and examined the genotype of MFT-3A in Japanese wheat varieties, and we found that 169 of 324 varieties carry the Zen-type SNP. In Japanese commercial varieties, the frequency of the Zen-type SNP was remarkably high in the southern part of Japan, but low in the northern part. To examine the relationship between MFT-3A genotype and grain dormancy, we performed a germination assay in three wheat-growing seasons. On average, the varieties carrying the Zen-type SNP showed stronger grain dormancy than the varieties carrying the non-Zen-type SNP. Among commercial cultivars, ‘Iwainodaichi’ (Kyushu), ‘Junreikomugi’ (Kinki-Chugoku-Shikoku), ‘Kinuhime’ (Kanto-Tokai), ‘Nebarigoshi’ (Tohoku-Hokuriku), and ‘Kitamoe’ (Hokkaido) showed the strongest grain dormancy in each geographical group, and all these varieties, except for ‘Kitamoe’, were found to carry the Zen-type SNP. In recent years, the number of varieties carrying the Zen-type SNP has increased in the Tohoku-Hokuriku region, but not in the Hokkaido region.     

On atmospheric loss of oxygen ions from earth through magnetospheric processes

In Earth's environment, the observed polar outflow rate for O(+) ions, the main source of oxygen above gravitational escape energy, corresponds to the loss of approximately 18% of the present-day atmospheric oxygen over 3 billion years. However, part of this apparent loss can actually be returned to the atmosphere. Examining loss rates of four escape routes with high-altitude spacecraft observations, we show that the total oxygen loss rate inferred from current knowledge is about one order of magnitude smaller than the polar O(+) outflow rate. This disagreement suggests that there may be a substantial return flux from the magnetosphere to the low-latitude ionosphere. Then the net oxygen loss over 3 billion years drops to approximately 2% of the current atmospheric oxygen content.