Anthracnose of belmore sentry palm (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Howea belmoreana</Emphasis> Becc.) caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Colletotrichum gloeosporioides</Emphasis> (Penzig) Penzig et Saccardo

Severe leaf spots were found on the ornamental plant, belmore sentry palm (Howea belmoreana), grown in pots in a greenhouse in Ibusuki, Kagoshima, Japan in 2006. The isolated fungus caused the same symptoms after artificial inoculation and was identified morphologically and molecularly as Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. In this first report of the disease, the name anthracnose of belmore sentry palm (kenchayashi-tanso-byo in Japanese) is proposed.     

Determinants of the daily rhythm of blood fluidity

Background  

Numerous processes in the living body exhibit daily rhythmicity. In this study, we characterized a daily rhythm of blood fluidity and identified its determinants.     

Establishment of heterologous expression of polygalacturonase S63PG1 from nonpathogenic isolate S63 of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Geotrichum candidum</Emphasis>

Previously, we established an expression system of polygalacturonase (PG) S31PG1 and S31PG2 from Geotrichum candidum pathogenic isolate S31 using the fission yeast Shizosaccharomyces pombe and clarified the importance of S31PG1 in the pathogenicity of G. candidum S31 on lemon fruit. In the present study, we established an expression system for S63PG1 from the nonpathogenic isolate S63. When S63PG1 was expressed, only PG activity was detected, whereas both PG and protopectinase (PP) were active when S31PG1 was expressed. Furthermore, S63PG1 had no ability to cause soft rot, while S31PG1 did. These results indicate that the PP activity of PG is a key to the pathogenicity of the fungus.     

Prey availability and daily growth rate of juvenile Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus at a sandy beach in the central Seto Inland Sea,Japan

The aim of this study was to characterize a nursery ground (Ohama Beach, Hiuchi-nada) for the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in the central Seto Inland Sea having insufficient availability of mysids, Nipponomysis ornata and Iiella oshimai. We examined daily growth rates of wild juveniles; this measure can be used as an index of quality of a nursery. Juveniles consumed not only mysids, but also Crangon uritai and fishes. Mysid availability was lower at the study beach than in the nursery in the Sea of Japan; however, mean growth rates (MGRs) from May to June varied from 0.75 to 1.84 mm day^?1 and equaled that in the nursery with sufficient availability of mysids in the Sea of Japan. Prey availability was high from May to June and decreased after July. Additionally, water temperatures after late July were higher than the optimal temperature. Multiple regression analysis suggested that the low availability of prey and high water temperatures reduced the MGR after July. The results indicate that the optimal season for releasing hatchery-reared juveniles is from May to June, a period characterized by high availability of prey.     

Regulatory network of hrp gene expression in Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

Like other plant-pathogenic bacteria, Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, the causal agent of bacterial leaf blight of rice, has hrp genes that are indispensable for its virulence. The hrp genes are involved in the construction of the type III secretion (T3S) apparatus, through which dozens of virulence-related proteins, called effectors, are directly secreted into plant cells to suppress and disturb plant immune systems and/or induce plant susceptibility genes. The expression of hrp genes is strictly regulated and induced only in plants and in certain nutrient-poor media. Two proteins, HrpG and HrpX, are known as key regulators for hrp gene expression. Great efforts by many researchers have revealed unexpectedly that, besides HrpG and HrpX, many regulators are involved in this regulation, some of which also regulate the expression of virulence-related genes other than hrp. Moreover, it has been found that HrpG and HrpX regulate not only hrp genes and effector genes but also genes unrelated to the T3S system. These findings suggest that the expression of the hrp gene is orchestrally regulated with other virulence-related genes by a complicated, sophisticated regulatory network in X. oryzae pv. oryzae.     

Improved physical control of glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) on rice paddy levees in Japan

Italian ryegrass ( Lolium multiflorum Lam.) is a non‐native annual winter grass that has seriously infested rice paddy levees and wheat fields in Japan. Recently, glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass was found on paddy levees in central Japan, thereby making control of the grass by using glyphosate less effective. In this study, physical control methods were tested that combined the timing and frequency of mowing in order to more effectively control glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass on rice paddy levees. A 3 year field experiment was conducted from 2012 to 2014 in a western region of Shizuoka Prefecture, where glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass has become dominant. Five treatments were tested: (i) mowing once before the flowering of the grass (i.e. conventional mowing measure); (ii) mowing once during flowering; (iii) mowing twice during flowering; (iv) glyphosate application before flowering (i.e. one of the conventional mowing measures); and (v) no treatment. The above‐ground biomass, seed production, soil seed bank and seedling occurrence of Italian ryegrass were measured to determine the effectiveness of these treatments. Mowing during the flowering period resulted in reduced above‐ground biomass, seed production and soil seed bank when compared with the other treatments. Additionally, mowing twice during the flowering period resulted in a lower seedling density than mowing once. The results suggest that, in this region, physical control by mowing during the flowering period would be more effective than conventional measures for controlling glyphosate‐resistant Italian ryegrass.     

Development of Cotton Candy Method for High Productivity Polypropylene Fibers Webs

The cotton candy method (CoCAM) is developed for high productivity of polymer micro-and nano-fibers. Polypropylene was molten in a single screw extruder of the CoCAM at air pressures of 0.2-0.5 MPa with nozzle temperatures of 280-350 °C and the constant air temperature of 600 °C. The distance from the nozzle to the collector was set at 10-90 cm. Thermal images informed the accumulation of PP fibers flows at shorter collector distance. The diameters of PP micro-fibers decreased with increasing the air pressures and the nozzle temperatures. Crystallinity of the PP micro-fibers increased when increasing the nozzle temperature due to higher occasion of molecular orientation. The degree of the fiber entanglement in the PP micro-fibers decreased when increasing the collector distance, which affected on the declination of tensile strength. Ductility of the PP micro-fibers improved at high collector distances. The optimum condition of the PP micro-fibers was found at the average diameter of 2.3 μm at 0.5 MPa with the nozzle temperature of 340 oC collected at 60 cm. The productivity of the PP micro-fibers webs from the CoCAM was 144 g/h.     

Development of a Rapid Throughput Assay for Identification of hNav1.7 Antagonist Using Unique Efficacious Sodium Channel Agonist,Antillatoxin

Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are responsible for the generation of the action potential. Among nine classified VGSC subtypes (Na_v1.1–Na_v1.9), Na_v1.7 is primarily expressed in the sensory neurons, contributing to the nociception transmission. Therefore Na_v1.7 becomes a promising target for analgesic drug development. In this study, we compared the influence of an array of VGSC agonists including veratridine, BmK NT1, brevetoxin-2, deltamethrin and antillatoxin (ATX) on membrane depolarization which was detected by Fluorescence Imaging Plate Reader (FLIPR) membrane potential (FMP) blue dye. In HEK-293 cells heterologously expressing hNa_v1.7 α-subunit, ATX produced a robust membrane depolarization with an EC₅₀ value of 7.8 ± 2.9 nM whereas veratridine, BmK NT1, and deltamethrin produced marginal response. Brevetoxin-2 was without effect on membrane potential change. The ATX response was completely inhibited by tetrodotoxin suggesting that the ATX response was solely derived from hNa_v1.7 activation, which was consistent with the results where ATX produced a negligible response in null HEK-293 cells. Six VGSC antagonists including lidocaine, lamotrigine, phenytoin, carbamazepine, riluzole, and 2-amino-6-trifluoromethylthiobenzothiazole all concentration-dependently inhibited ATX response with IC₅₀ values comparable to that reported from patch-clamp experiments. Considered together, we demonstrate that ATX is a unique efficacious hNa_v1.7 activator which offers a useful probe to develop a rapid throughput screening assay to identify hNa_v1.7 antagonists.     

治沟骨干工程台阶式泄水建筑物的消能防冲研究

进行了可用于治沟骨干坝的3种不同坡度的台阶式泄水建筑物的模型试验。结果表明,在跌落水流时,消力池跃前断面单位能量随斜坡变陡和相对坝高Hdam/yc增加而增大,但当Hdam/yc增加到某一值后,逐渐趋于平缓。消力池跃前断面底部压力yp与堰上临界水深yc呈现正比线性相关,yp大小与台阶个数N无关。比较跃前断面压力修正系数λ>1和λ=1时的消能率,当Hdam/yc=10左右时,其消能率相对误差可达7%左右,但当Hdam/yc≥70时,其相对误差则降至1%。试验结果也同时显示出λ与yp/y1同样有着很好的线性关系,其相关系数r=0.99999。