Occurrence of a temperate coastal flatfish,the marbled flounder Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae,at high water temperatures in a shallow bay in summer detected by acoustic telemetry

Fisheries Science - The marbled flounder Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae, a flatfish found in temperate coastal waters, is an important commercial species in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, but little...     

Occurrence of Pacific bluefin tuna Thunnus orientalis larvae off the Pacific coast of Tohoku area,northeastern Japan: Possibility of the discovery of the third spawning ground

Recently, based on the histological studies it is suggested that Pacific bluefin tuna (PBF) spawns in the Kuroshio–Oyashio transition, off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, in addition to the previously identified two spawning areas of the northwestern Pacific around the Nansei Islands and the Sea of Japan. Distributional surveys for PBF larvae have not been conducted in the Kuroshio–Oyashio transition, and thus, we conducted PBF larval surveys at twenty stations in this area in early August 2018 to obtain evidence for the spawning of PBF. Twelve PBF larvae (3.9–7.2 mm in body length) were collected at six stations where sea surface temperature ranged from 27.2 to 28.2°C. Otolith microstructure analysis indicated that age of these larvae ranged from 4 to 11 days after hatching and the larvae hatched in late July. Growth of the collected larvae was comparable to those in the other two spawning grounds. Therefore, PBF spawns, hatches, and at least survives to the postflexion stage, 11 days after hatching in the Kuroshio–Oyashio transition. This fact potentially has a large impact on recruitment processes of PBF if they survive to recruitment in this third spawning ground.     

Prevalence of honeybee viruses in Apis mellifera in Gifu prefecture of Japan

Viral infection damages honeybee colony health. Viruses can be carried by queen bees and apicultural production materials when imported from foreign countries. We investigated seven honeybee viruses in worker bees (Apis mellifera) from 26 healthy apiaries in Gifu, Japan between 2018 and 2019. Black queen cell virus (BQCV) was detected in 23 (88.5%) of the apiaries, followed by Israeli acute paralysis virus (42.3%), deformed wing virus (DWV) (38.5%), and sacbrood virus (3.8%). In phylogenetic analysis, BQCV and DWV in Gifu were related to those in China and South Korea. Additionally, a high prevalence of BQCV was observed among worker bees in BQCV-positive colonies. Therefore, BQCV horizontal transmission among worker bees may contribute to the high prevalence of BQCV in Gifu.     

Composites of wood andtrans-1,4-isoprene rubber 1: Mechanical, physical, and flow behavior

The modification oftrans-1,4-isoprene rubber (TIR) with maleic anhydride (MAH) was conducted in a kneader at 150°C, 30–70 rpm, for 10 min without using peroxide. The resultant MAH-modified TIR (MTIR) was then evaluated as a compatibilizer for TIR-wood flour (WF) composites. A control composite composed of TIR and WF only was also prepared. The presence of WF in the TIR-WF composite worsened the tensile and some physical properties. The addition of 5% MTIR as a compatibilizer to the whole composite improved the mechanical and the physical properties and increased the flow temperature and the melt viscosity. The improved composite had a 2.5 times increase in tensile strength and absorbed considerably less water than did the control composite. The SEM micrograph proved that interaction and adhesion between TIR and WF could be improved by the MTIR compatibilizer. The composites of TIR-MTIR-WF melts were of pseudoplastic nature, and their flows obeyed the Ostwald de Waele power law equation.     

Biobleaching of unbleached and oxygen-bleached hardwood kraft pulp by culture filtrate containing manganese peroxidase and lignin peroxidase fromPhanerochaete chrysosporium

Unbleached and oxygen-bleached hardwood kraft pulp (UKP and OKP), respectively, were bleached with a culture filtrate containing manganese peroxidase (MnP) and lignin peroxidase (LiP) fromPhanerochaete chrysosporium Burds. The brightness increases of UKP upon biobleaching with the culture filtrate with and without MnSO₄ were the same. The brightness increase of OKP with MnSO₄ decreased to about half that seen without MnSO₄. Changes in the brightness of UKP and OKP by treatment with the culture filtrate were determined. The brightness increased sharply by about eight points during the first 3h. The 3-h treatment was repeated seven times. The brightness increased linearly with the bleaching of UKP. On bleaching of OKP, the brightness increased slowly and stopped at about 78%.Part of this report was presented at the 62nd Pulp and Paper Research Conference of the Japan Tappi, Tokyo, June 1995     

Analysis of chemical structure of wood charcoal by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Wood charcoal carbonized at various temperatures was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffractometry to investigate the changes of chemical structures during the carbonization process. From the infrared spectra, the carbon double bonds and aromatic rings were seen to form at a carbonization temperature of about 600°C. From the XPS spectra, the ratio of aromatic carbons increased in the temperature range 800–1000°C and over 1800°C. The condensation of aromatic rings proceeded as carbonization progressed. The drastic reduction of electrical resistivity of charcoals was observed in almost the same temperature range. It was found that the condensation of aromatic rings had some relation to the decline in electrical resistivity. Wood charcoal carbonized at 1800°C was partly graphitized, a finding supported by the results of X-ray diffraction and XPS. The functional groups containing oxygen diminished with the increase in carbonization temperature.This paper was presented at the 45th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society in Tokyo, April 1995 and at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society in Kochi, April 1997     

Necessity of dietary taurine supplementation for preventing green liver symptom and improving growth performance in yearling red sea bream Pagrus major fed nonfishmeal diets based on soy protein concentrate

The necessity of dietary taurine supplementation for preventing green liver symptom and improving growth performance of red sea bream Pagrus major fed nonfishmeal (non-FM) diets was investigated. Yearling red sea bream (initial body weight, 580 g) were fed for 36 weeks on non-FM diets based on soy protein concentrate (SPC) supplemented with taurine at levels of 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%. Specific growth rate (SGR) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of fish fed the taurine-unsupplemented SPC diet were markedly inferior. In these fish, incidence of green liver was markedly higher and was accompanied by a decrease of tissue taurine concentration and an increase of hepatopancreatic bile pigment content. The green liver symptom was mainly caused by an increase of hemolysis since the erythrocytes became osmotically fragile due to taurine deficiency. Physiological abnormality and growth performance (SGR and FCR) were markedly improved by taurine supplementation to the SPC diets. These results indicate that dietary taurine supplementation is necessary for yearling red sea bream fed non-FM diet based on SPC to maintain normal physiological condition and growth performance.     

Prebiotic effect of glycerol galactoside isolated from color-faded nori in rats

Glycerol galactoside (GG; floridoside: 2-O-glycerol-α-d-galactopyranoside, and isofloridoside: 1-O-glycerol-α-d-galactopyranoside) is known to be a component of edible red seaweed nori. Recently, we have found that low-quality nori (color-faded nori), which has a low protein content, contains a large quantity of GG. From further studies, we have also found that GG has prebiotic characteristics in vitro. In this study, we evaluated the in vivo prebiotic activity of GG in rats. Dietary GG selectively increased the cecal Bifidobacterium count in rats. Other indices of prebiotics, such as pH of cecal content, organic acid concentrations, and fecal weight, also supported the existence of prebiotic activity of GG. The present data will also contribute to the development of a new method of utilizing color-faded nori as a health-promoting foodstuff.     

Glycosphingolipid receptors for pathogenic vibrios in intestines of mariculture fish

Vibrios are highly motile, facultatively anaerobic bacteria that are ubiquitous in aquatic environments and part of the normal intestinal microflora of healthy fish, but some species can cause vibriosis. The adherence of vibrios to host fish intestines is a significant event not only for their survival and growth, but also in terms of pathogenicity. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the adhesion of vibrios to the intestinal tract of fish is not fully understood. We report here the identification of intestinal glycosphingolipid (GSL) receptors to which pathogenic vibrios attach in typical mariculture fish. Thin-layer chromatography overlay assays using five species of ³⁵S-labeled vibrios and intestinal glycosphingolipids of seven species of mariculture fish revealed that all of the fish tested possessed GM3 (NeuAcα2-3Galβ1-4Glcβ1-1′Cer) and/or GM4 (NeuAcα2-3Galβ1-1′Cer) as major acidic intestinal GSLs and that all of the vibrios tested specifically adhered to GM3 and/or GM4. Our results demonstrate that these GSLs were able to function as a receptor for the various vibrios tested. Analysis of the relationship between sugar structure and receptor activity for vibrios revealed that ‘NeuAcα2-3Galβ1-’ is required at the non-reducing end of glycosphingolipids for the bacteria to attach.     

Isolation and characterization of the rbcS genes from a sterile mutant of Ulva pertusa (Ulvales,Chlorophyta) and transient gene expression using the rbcS gene promoter

We isolated two different genomic DNAs (UprbcS1 and UprbcS2) encoding the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and portions of the 5′- and 3′-flanking regions from sterile Ulva pertusa Kjellman. The UprbcS1 and UprbcS2 genes had three introns in the coding region. Each predicted UprbcS polypeptide was a 180-amino-acid (AA) residue including a 38-AA transit peptide, although the 104th AA residue was replaced. The nucleotide sequences of UprbcS cDNAs isolated from a cDNA library corresponded to that of the UprbcS1 gene, suggesting that the UprbcS1 gene was predominantly expressed in sterile U. pertusa compared to UprbcS2. Southern blot analysis showed that each UprbcS gene was a single-copy gene in the sterile U. pertusa genome. Northern hybridization indicated that the expression of UprbcS was induced and repressed by dark and light treatments, respectively. When sterile U. pertusa cells were transformed with an expression vector containing the UprbcS1 promoter and terminator sequences fused with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene, GFP fluorescence was observed in the cells transformed. These results suggest that the UprbcS1 gene promoter is light regulated and highly active in the sterile U. pertusa cells and is available for genetic transformation system in the alga.