Catalog of Micro-Tom tomato responses to common fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens

Lycopersicon esculentum cultivar Micro-Tom is a miniature tomato with many advantages for studies of the molecular biology and physiology of plants. To evaluate the suitability of Micro-Tom as a host plant for the study of pathogenesis, Micro-Tom plants were inoculated with 16 well-known fungal, bacterial, and viral pathogens of tomato. Athelia rolfsii, Botryotinia fuckeliana, Oidium sp., Phytophthora infestans, and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum caused typical symptoms and sporulated abundantly on Micro-Tom. Micro-Tom was resistant to Alternaria alternata, Corynespora cassiicola, and Fusarium oxysporum. When Micro-Tom was inoculated with 17 isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum, many isolates induced wilt symptoms. Agrobacterium tumefaciens also was pathogenic, causing crown galls on stem tissue after needle prick inoculation. In Micro-Tom sprayed with Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato, P. s. pv. tabaci, or P. s. pv. glycinea, bacterial populations did not increase, and yellow lesions appeared only on leaves sprayed with P. s. pv. tomato. Tomato mosaic virus, Tomato aspermy virus, and Cucumber mosaic virus systemically infected Micro-Tom, which developed symptoms characteristic of other cultivars of tomato after infection with the respective virus. These results indicated that Micro-Tom was generally susceptible to most of the important tomato pathogens and developed typical symptoms, whereas certain pathogens were restricted by either hypersensitive resistance or nonhost resistance on Micro-Tom. Therefore, an assortment of Micro-Tom–pathogen systems should provide excellent models for studying the mechanism of susceptible and resistant interactions between plants and pathogens.     

Short-term performance of mitral valve replacement with porcine bioprosthetic valves in dogs

Porcine bioprosthetic valves cross-linked with glutaraldehyde and polyepoxy compound were newly developed for mitral valve replacement (MVR) in dogs. Five beagle dogs were performed a left thoracotomy and underwent MVR using the porcine bioprosthetic valves during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A vein catheter inserted into right atrium and a vent catheter inserted into the right ventricle to drain. The hemodynamic conditions of CPB were excellent during surgery. The left atrial pressure was measured before and after MVR; there was no significant difference and it was normal. Thrombosis and the prosthetic valve regurgitation were not observed one week after MVR. Pressure half time (PHT) prolonged significantly (P<0.05) from 31.40 +/- 4.0 msec presurgery to 99.20 +/- 19.4 msec at seven days after MVR, although it indicated the normal range as the bioprosthetic valve. The symptom of the prosthetic valve failure was not observed. This study indicated that the MVR using porcine bioprosthetic valves under CPB might have been effective in dogs as a short-term evaluation.     

Estimation of daily urinary potassium excretion using urinary creatinine as an index substance in prepartum dairy cows

In the present study, the daily excretion of potassium (K) in urine (urinary K(UK)) was estimated from a 6 h urine sample using urinary creatinine (UC) as the index substance. All urine was collected from six pregnant Holstein cows at 6 h intervals for 24 h on 3 days of the 4th, 2nd and final week before the expected date of parturition. In total, 72 6 h urine samples were obtained. Daily UC excretion (mg/day per kg bodyweight (BW)) was almost the same for the three sampling days. Daily UC excretion varied among cows from 22.1 to 24.3 mg/day per kg BW with a mean of 22.8 mg/day per kg BW with no significant difference. Thus, daily UC excretion was confirmed to be constant throughout the prepartum period with no differences among individuals. The concentration ratios of K to creatinine ((UK mg/dL)/(UC mg/dL) (UK/UC)) correlated strongly to the hourly K excretions (mg/h per kg BW) (r = 0.952, P < 0.01) in the 6 h urine samples. The differences in the UK/UC ratio between sampling periods were not significant within each cow. Therefore, daily UK excretion (mg/day) can be estimated using the equation: daily UK excretion (mg/day) = daily UC excretion (mg/day per kg BW) × BW (kg) × 6 h urine sample UK/UC, where daily UC excretion can be a given value.     

Comparison of extracapillary and endocapillary blood flow oxygenators for open heart surgery in dogs: efficiency of gas exchange and platelet conservation

The goal of the current study was to compare the efficiency of gas exchange and platelet conservation of a new extracapillary blood flow oxygenator versus an endocapillary blood flow oxygenator during open heart surgery with extracorporeal circulation in dogs. Dilation and remodeling of the right ventricular outflow tract of dogs was performed using a patch graft technique to simulate pulmonary stenosis. Sequential pre- and post-operative blood analysis revealed that gas exchange efficiency and platelet conservation was significantly greater with the extracapillary blood flow oxygenator than with the endocapillary blood flow oxygenator. However, the priming volume of the extracapillary blood flow oxygenator was significantly greater, leading to hemodilution. We conclude that while the extracapillary blood flow oxygenator provided benefits in terms of gas exchange and platelet conservation, development of a smaller extracapillary blood flow type oxygenator to reduce hemodilution effects would be beneficial.     

Identification of endotrypanum species from a sloth,a squirrel and Lutzomyia sandflies in ecuador by PCR amplification and sequencing of the mini-exon gene

PCR amplification and nucleotide sequencing of the mini-exon gene revealed that four strains isolated from a sloth (Choloepus hoffmanni), a squirrel (Sciurus granatensis) and two sandflies (Lutzomyia hartmanni) in Ecuador were indistinguishable from Endotrypanum monterogeii. Another strain isolated from Lu. hartmanni showed the high sequence similarity to E. schaudinni. Since three of these strains have been previously identified as Leishmania (Viannia) equatorensis, the results demonstrate that L. (V.) equatorensis is genetically closely related to the genus Endotrypanum. The present study also indicates that Endotrypanum species are distributed in arboreal animals and sandflies in Ecuador, and that mini-exon gene amplification is useful for epidemiological studies of Leishmania and Endotrypanum in the New World.     

Synthesis and insecticidal activity of benzoheterocyclic analogues of N'-benzoyl-N-(tert-butyl)benzohydrazide: Part 3. Modification of N-tert-butylhydrazine moiety

Nineteen analogues were synthesized by modifying the tert-butylhydrazine moieties of N'-tert-butyl-N'-(3,5-dimethylbenzoyl)-5-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxine-6-carbohydrazide and N'-tert-butyl-N'-(3,5-dimethylbenzoyl)-5-methylchromane-6-carbohydrazide (chromafenozide), and the synthesized analogues were evaluated for their insecticidal activity against Spodoptera litura F. While all of the synthesized analogues had insecticidal activity inferior to those of the lead compounds, several of the analogues nonetheless showed high insecticidal activity. Chromafenozide has shown very high selectivity toward lepidopteran species.     

Development of a PCR test for the identification of Staphylococcus intermedius based on the 16S rDNA sequence

The development of a PCR assay based on the 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) sequence was carried out for the identification of Staphylococcus intermedius. Sixty-six strains of S. intermedius, 70 of Staphylococcus aureus and 2 of Staphylococcus hyicus were examined for the assay. The 16S rDNA, of which the PCR target fragment makes up 901 bp corresponding to the sequence data of the gene, was detected in all strains of S. intermedius, but it was not detected in any strains of either S. aureus or S. hyicus. These results suggest that the PCR allows a simple and precise identification of S. intermedius.     

Evaluation of cytokine messenger RNA expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from dogs with canine demodicosis

Using RT-PCR and semi-quantitative PCR, mRNA expression for canine interferon (IFN)-gamma, interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was examined in dogs with or without demodicosis. mRNA expression for IFN-gamma as well as TNF-alpha in dogs with demodicosis (localized (LD) and generalized (GD)) was slightly lower than those in dogs without demodicosis (healthy controls). Expression of IL-5 mRNA in dogs with demodicosis was higher than that in control dogs, but there were no significant differences in IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA expression levels among the three groups. On the other hand, expression levels of TGF-beta mRNA in dogs with GD were higher than those in control dogs and dogs with LD. The expression levels of IL-5 and TGF-beta mRNA decreased in all three dogs with GD which showed resolution of the clinical signs. Taken together, these results suggest that the Th2-like response in PBMCs from dogs with demodicosis is up-regulated, and that subsequent increased expression of IL-5 and TGF-beta mRNA in dogs with GD is reversible after treatment. Therefore, these cytokines, particularly IL-5, might be a useful clinical index of the clinical course in demodicosis. Also, increased TGF-beta mRNA expression might be a key factor for revealing the difference in the mechanism of onset between LD and GD.     

Isolation and species distribution of staphylococci from animal and human skin

From April 1999 to December 2000, a survey was made on the distribution of Staphylococcus species on the skin of 7 kinds of animals and humans. Staphylococci were isolated from 12 (100%) of 12 pigs, 17 (89.5%) of 19 horses, 30 (100%) of 30 cows, 73 (90.1%) of 81 chickens, 10 (40%) of 25 dogs, 23 (76.7%) of 30 laboratory mice, 20 (52.6%) of 38 pigeons, and 80 (88.9%) of 90 human beings. The predominant staphylococci isolated from a variety of animal species were novobiocin-resistant species, S. xylosus and S. sciuri regardless of the animal host species. The novobiocin-resistant species including S. xylosus and S. sciuri were only occasionally isolated from human skin. The predominant staphylococci found on human skin were novobiocin-sensitive species, S. epidermidis (63.8%), followed by S. warneri (28.8%) and S. hominis (13.8%). The results suggest that the staphylococcal flora inhabiting animal skin are different from those of human skin in regard to the predominant species isolated. In this study, we used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to examine the chromosomal polymorphisms of S. epidermidis isolated most frequently from human skin. Strains of S. epidermidis showed the greatest genomic diversity in their fragment patterns.