Effect of row type,flowering type and several other spike characters on resistance to Fusarium head blight in barley

Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease of barley. The genetics and expression of resistance to FHB in barley is complex, and various spike characters are thought to possibly influence resistance. Tests using spray-inoculation of Fusarium graminearum at anthesis in greenhouse environments showed that two-rowed and cleistogamous varieties from Japan belong to the highest resistance group, while six-rowed and chasmogamous varieties are mostly susceptible. In order to evaluate the effect of such spike characters, including row type and flowering type, on FHB resistance, near-isogenic lines (NILs) differing in these characters were tested for their resistance. Two testing methods were used: the pot-plant and cut-spike methods, in which spikes at anthesis were spray-inoculated in greenhouse environments. The chasmogamous NILs and some six-rowed NILs were significantly more diseased than cleistogamous and two-rowed parent lines, respectively, and the difference in FHB severity was greater and more stable between cleistogamous/chasmogamous NIL pairs than between two-/six-rowed pairs. Slight or no differences were observed in glaucous/non-glaucous, normal/dense spike, normal/uzu type and normal/deficiens NIL pairs. The results indicate that the contribution of cleistogamy and/or the genetic background toward FHB resistance is more than that of row type and the other tested spike characters. Further, it should be possible to develop six-rowed varieties with FHB resistance nearly as good as that of the two-rowed varieties.     

DaizuBase,an integrated soybean genome database including BAC-based physical maps

Soybean [Glycine max (L) Merrill] is one of the most important leguminous crops and ranks fourth after to rice, wheat and maize in terms of world crop production. Soybean contains abundant protein and oil, which makes it a major source of nutritious food, livestock feed and industrial products. In Japan, soybean is also an important source of traditional staples such as tofu, natto, miso and soy sauce. The soybean genome was determined in 2010. With its enormous size, physical mapping and genome sequencing are the most effective approaches towards understanding the structure and function of the soybean genome. We constructed bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries from the Japanese soybean cultivar, Enrei. The end-sequences of approximately 100,000 BAC clones were analyzed and used for construction of a BAC-based physical map of the genome. BLAST analysis between Enrei BAC-end sequences and the Williams82 genome was carried out to increase the saturation of the map. This physical map will be used to characterize the genome structure of Japanese soybean cultivars, to develop methods for the isolation of agronomically important genes and to facilitate comparative soybean genome research. The current status of physical mapping of the soybean genome and construction of database are presented.     

Relationship between body temperature and ovarian cycle in Asian and African elephants

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether changes in body temperature are related to the ovarian cycle in elephants. Rectal, tongue or fecal temperature was measured for 2 Asian and 5 African elephants using an electric thermometer. Evaluation of ovarian cycles was based on the changes in serum or fecal progestin. The mean +/- SD values of the rectal, tongue, and fecal temperatures were 36.3 +/- 0.3 (2 Asian), 36.2 +/- 0.5 (1 African) and 36.5 +/- 0.3 C (4 African), respectively; the fecal temperature was the highest of the 3 temperatures (P<0.01). The longitudinal changes in body temperatures correlated with the ovarian cycle, with higher temperatures occurring during the luteal phase. The fecal temperatures of one acyclic African elephant did not change cyclically. These results suggest that measurement of body temperature can be used to easily evaluate the ovarian cyclicity of an individual animal, although it might not be able to determine the ovarian cycle length.     

Real-time PCR genotyping assay for canine trapped neutrophil syndrome and high frequency of the mutant allele in Border collies

Trapped neutrophil syndrome is an autosomal recessive inherited neutropenia in Border collies. The causative mutation is a 4 base pair deletion in exon 19 of the canine VPS13B gene. In this study, a real-time PCR assay was developed and a genotyping survey was carried out in Border collies in Japan. The carrier frequency was 11.1%, suggesting that the mutant allele frequency is high enough to warrant measures to control and prevent the disease.     

Spatial and seasonal variations of radiocesium concentrations in an algae-grazing annual fish,ayu Plecoglossus altivelis collected from Fukushima Prefecture in 2014

Fisheries Science - To elucidate spatial and seasonal variations of radiocesium (134Cs and 137Cs) concentrations in ayu Plecoglossus altivelis, amphidromous fish samples were collected both from...