Deformation monitoring at mount st. Helens in 1981 and 1982

For several weeks before each eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1981 and 1982, viscous magma rising in the feeder conduit inflated the lava dome and shoved the crater floor laterally against the immobile crater walls, producing ground cracks and thrust faults. The rates of deformation accelerated before eruptions, and thus it was possible to predict eruptions 3 to 19 days in advance. Lack of deformation outside the crater showed that intrusion of magma during 1981 and 1982 was not voluminous.     

Yield and chemical composition of red clover and ladino clover as affected by phosphorus and calcium

In Japan red clover and ladino clover are a popular forage. These clovers are adaptable to a wide range of soil conditions, and respond well to fertilization. They are often grown on relatively infertile soils with the aid of complete fertilizers.¹     

Quality of eggs and spermatozoa of rainbow trout fed an n-3 essential fatty acid-deficient diet and its effects on the lipid and fatty acid components of eggs, semen and livers

ABSTRACT: The effect of an n-3 essential fatty acid (EFA) -deficient diet on spawning and on the lipid and fatty acid contents of eggs, semen and livers of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss was investigated. Fish were split into two groups and fed either of two diets for a period of 4 months prior to the start of the spawning season. The control group was fed a commercial diet, containing n-3 EFA, whereas the experimental group was fed an n-3 EFA-deficient diet. Fish were 3 years old at the time of spawning. Eggs and semen were stripped off five females and five males from each diet group and cross-fertilized. Two of the five males fed the deficient diet showed a lower sperm motility, resulting in slightly lower mean hatching rates when crossed with eggs of either group. Higher lipid contents in the EFA-deficient diet were reflected in the egg and semen lipid contents, whereas the lipid contents of male livers of both diet groups were higher than those of female livers. In livers and eggs, the main polar lipid was phosphatidylcholine accompanied by phosphatidylethanolamine in sperm polar lipids. The non-polar lipids of eggs were mainly triacylglycerols but in livers and semen, free fatty acids and free sterols were more abundant. Essential fatty acids, namely n-3 highly unsaturated fatty acids and linolenic acid, were generally lower in eggs, semen and livers sampled from the EFA-deficient diet group. These results indicate that the fertilization, eyed and hatching rates obtained from crossings with males fed the EFA-deficient diet were slightly lower because of the dietary effect on sperm motility. Moreover, lipids of eggs, semen and livers of male and female rainbow trout were influenced greatly by their dietary availability.     

Ovarian follicle maturation and ovulation: an integrated perspective

Numerous studies with teleosts have addressed the regulation and mechanisms of oocyte maturation, but largely at the exclusion of ovulation. A smaller but still considerable number of studies have focused on ovulation, and ignored maturation. Consequently, little is known about the mechanistic linkages between these two events. New information is presented here indicating that luteinizing hormone regulates the acquisition not only of oocyte maturational competence, but also ovulatory competence. The thesis is presented that maturation and ovulation are closely integrated and overlapping events that are best viewed conceptually and experimentally as parts of a functional whole.     

Fruit fall in five warm- and cool-temperate forests in Yakushima, Japan

Quantification of fruit fall is the only way to compare fruit food availability among different studies.This study aims to reveal the general characteristics of fruit fall in temperate forests, which should offer indispensable information for using fruit fall data as food availability for frugivores.Fruit fall in three warm-temperate and two cool-temperate forests on Yakushima, an island in southwestern Japan, were studied for two years in one cool-temperate plot of 50 m × 50 m in size and for four years in other plots of 100 m×50 m in size.The elevations of the plots ranged 170-1200 m a.s.l.Fruit fall was highest in the lowland forests (599 and 564 DW kg·ha-1·year-1 and lowest in the mid-elevation forest (198 DW kg·ha-1·year-1).Fleshy fruits and food-fruits for Japanese macaques constituted 3-37% and 4-87% of the total fruit fall, respectively.When only fleshy-fruit fall was compared, it was higher in the western lowland forest (222 DW kg·ha-1·year-1) than in any other forests (9-66 DW kg·ha-1·year-1).The pulp of fleshy fruits, presumably the edible parts for frugivores, was only 1.1-12.7% of the total fruit fall.The edible parts for Japanese macaques constituted 3-54% of the fruit fall, showing a high value where acorns are abundant.Half of the fruit-fall biomass consisted of only one or two non-fleshy-fruited species, which are usually dominant in many other temperate forests, such as Quercus and conifers.These variations agreed with the variations in occurrence of frugivorous (such as Japanese macaques).     

Transgene manipulation in rainbow trout using Cre recombinase

Cre/loxP-mediated cell targeting is considered to be a powerful tool for biotechnology in farmed fish. As a first step toward establishing cell targeting in salmonids, we analyzed the functionality of the Cre/loxP system in rainbow trout. We first established stable transgenic strains carrying the DsRed gene, which was flanked by loxP sites and further spliced with the EGFP gene. By microinjecting Cre complementary RNA (cRNA) into fertilized eggs of the transgenic trout, the functionality of the Cre/loxP system was evaluated. The results showed that all of the embryos exhibited green fluorescence in at least some of their cells. While 19 out of 20 embryos comprised cells showing both green and red fluorescence, the remaining embryo showed only green fluorescence. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers designed to recognize sequences outside of the two loxP sites revealed that, in addition to long intact fragments, the 19 individuals carried short fragments that were equivalent in length to the loxP-excised fragments. The remaining green embryo carried only this short fragment. DNA sequencing of the short fragment revealed that it lacked the DNA fragments flanking the loxP sites and the spliced fragments did not contain any sequence rearrangements. These results suggest that the Cre/loxP system is functional in rainbow trout.     

不同成熟采收期对清水白桃果实达到完熟时品质的影响(英文)

以软溶质水蜜桃清水白桃为试材,分别在树上完熟的前6、4和2d采样,贮藏于25℃,相对湿度90%的环境条件下至完熟,与树上完熟果实相比较,调查了果实的生理变化、色泽和果汁品质性状,并对完熟果实进行了风味评定。结果表明,贮藏期间的果实乙烯释放量以完熟前2d采收的果实增加最快并在果实完熟时达到最大,树上完熟的果实乙烯释放量最少。树上完熟前6d采收的果实,果皮亮度、果汁的蔗糖含量、“果香型”内酯类物质含量均低于后3次采收的果实,其中以树上完熟前2d采收的果实为最高。相反滴定酸、柠檬酸、天冬酰胺和“清香型”香气物质含量以树上完熟前6d采收的果实最高。完熟果实的风味评定也显示了树上完熟前2d采收的果实综合评价最高,早期采收的果实即使贮藏后达到完熟果肉硬度,甜度和香味少、酸味重。另外,树上完熟的果实肉质粗,酸度低,有怪香味,综合评价不高。     

Application of surrogate broodstock technology in aquaculture

Fisheries Science - Surrogate broodstock technology facilitates the production of donor-derived gametes in surrogates, and comprises transplanting germ cells of a donor into recipients of a...     

Development of a simple method for sperm cryopreservation of Scombridae fishes in outdoor environments

We developed a simple dry shipper method for cryopreserving the sperm of Scombridae fish in outdoor environments. First, we undertook a preliminary study to optimize the sperm cryopreservation conditions using bullet tuna, Auxis rochei (Risso, 1810) sperm. We found that the optimum cryomedium contained 90% foetal bovine serum (FBS) or 300 mM trehalose as an external cryoprotectant and 10% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as an internal cryoprotectant. Under these optimized conditions, the post‐thaw sperm had a duration of motility of 500 s and a motility rate of >70%. We then performed practical trials of the optimized protocol in various outdoor environments (e.g., fishing boats and ports) using the sperm of five Scombridae species: chub mackerel, Scomber japonicus (Houttuyn, 1782); blue mackerel, S. australasicus (Cuvier, 1832); skipjack tuna, Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758); longtail tuna Thunnus tonggol, (Bleeker, 1851) and Pacific bluefin tuna, T. orientalis (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844). The post‐thaw sperm of all five of these species had a duration of motility of 650 s and a motility rate of >70%, indicating that this simple method can be used to obtain high‐quality cryopreserved sperm of various Scombridae species in outdoor environments.     

Production of triploid eastern little tuna,Euthynnus affinis (Cantor, 1849)

Herein, we developed a triploidization method using spawned eggs collected immediately after spawning of eastern little tuna (ELT), Euthynnus affinis. ELT broodstock induced the spawning by hormonal treatment in the tank, with the resulting spawned eggs being used for the triploidy induction. Under optimal conditions, the mean ± SEM triploidization and hatching rates were 97.2 ± 2.8% and 84.5 ± 10.3%, respectively. Although triploid ELT showed growth performance equivalent to that of diploids, the triploids died at a higher rate than the diploids during 2–4 weeks post‐hatching when triploids and diploids were reared in the same tank. Therefore, we propose that it would be necessary in a practical operation to use triploid‐only ELT seedlings to avoid selective cannibalism by the diploids. The ELT triploids exhibited an all‐female phenotype. Because previous studies have reported that female triploids show a greater probability of sterility than male triploids, this characteristic could be a major advantage. Since this triploidization method, using spawned eggs, can be performed without handling the broodstock, it is possible to avoid the physical damage caused by the process of artificial insemination, making it possible to repeatedly produce triploid populations without valuable broodstock loss. Thus, we have developed an efficient method to produce ELT triploids, although further study is essential to evaluate sterility of the triploid ELT.