At5g54160 gene encodes <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis thaliana</Emphasis> 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-methyltransferase

The function of an Arabidopsis thaliana gene, At5g54160 annotated as a caffeic acid O-methyltransferase CAOMT gene was characterized. The recombinant enzyme of this gene (AtOMT1) catalyzed the O-methylation of phenylpropanoid and flavonoid substrates. The specificity constants (k _cat/K _m) for 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde (5-HCAld) and quercetin were both 0.11 μM⁻¹·min⁻¹. On the other hand, lignins of At5g54160-knockout Arabidopsis mutants lacked syringyl units. In addition, we showed that the gene silencing also resulted in significant accumulation of caffeyl alcohol (CaAlc). These results strongly suggested that At5g54160 gene is involved in syringyl lignin synthesis for the methylation of both 5-hydroxyconiferaldehyde and 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl compound(s). Part of this work was presented at the Annual Meeting of Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry, March 24–27, 2007     

Dynamic excitation and static loading tests of glulam lattice floor

A wooden lattice floor with high stiffness and damping capacity has been developed to solve noise problems in wooden apartment houses. The lattice floor consisted of Douglas fir glulam beams with inserted steel plate joints and drift pins. To examine the structural performance of the floor, dynamic excitation and static loading tests were conducted on the full size floor. The first and second order resonance frequencies of the floor were 13.5Hz and 27.0Hz, respectively. These frequencies are similar to the peak frequency of a conventional wooden floor and the combined floor fabricated from glued laminated timber and iron. The maximum static load of the floor was 127kN. The apparent flexural rigidity was less than half the value of several floors studied in the past. However, it is considered that the stiffness is improved by constructing panels and this floor has almost equivalent performance. Relative deflection was not affected by the loading history.Part of this study was presented at the International Wood Engineering Conference, New Orleans, October 1996.     

Reddish coloration of Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis) procyanidins during heat treatment and effect on antioxidant and antiinfluenza viral activities

To investigate the effects of processing Chinese quince fruit on the denaturation of phenolics and their food functions, fruit phenolic extracts were heated together with organic acid for up to 12 h. Chinese quince phenolic (mostly procyanidins) solution subjected to heat treatment changed from almost colorless, pale yellow, to a reddish color. Before heat treatment, the absorption spectra of polymeric procyanidins were observed only around 280 nm; after heat treatment, absorption occurred between 400 and 600 nm, which is related to the reddish color appearance. Thioacidolysis of denatured reddish phenolics showed that (-)-epicatechin subunits decreased during heat treatment and, in contrast, cyanidin increased. In addition, novel substances that could not be degraded by thioacidolysis were formed. Meanwhile, antioxidant activities, assessed by linoleic acid peroxidation, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), Folin-Ciocalteu, and FRAP methods, increased during heat treatment. The antiinfluenza viral activity of denatured reddish phenolics was inferior to that of intact fruit phenolics; however, they retained moderate activity. These results indicate that red coloration of fruit products of Chinese quince was mainly due to the spectral (i.e. structural) changes of procyanidins accompanied with formation of cyanidin. Increasing the length of heat treatment increased the antioxidant capacity of phenolics, and the resultant reddish phenolics retained moderate antiinfluenza viral activity.     

Purification and characterization of a corrinoid compound from Chlorella tablets as an algal health food

Vitamin B(12) content of an algal health food, Chlorella tablets (Chlorella sp.), was determined by both Lactobacillus leichmannii ATCC 7830 microbiological and intrinsic factor-chemiluminescence methods. The values of 200.9-211.6 microg/100 g dry weight determined by the chemiluminescence method were similar to the values (201.3-285.7 microg/100 g dry weight) determined by the microbiological method. A corrinoid compound was purified to homogeneity from the Chlorella tablets and characterized. The purified corrinoid compound was identified as vitamin B12, on the basis of silica gel 60 TLC, C18 reversed-phase HPLC, 1H NMR spectroscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy.     

Cytosolic glutamine synthetase is present in the phloem sap of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The presence of glutamine synthetase (GS) in the rice sieve tube was examined. Proteins in the rice phloem sap from leaf sheaths were separated by sodium dodecylsulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, transferred to polyvinylidine difluoride membranes and immunoblotted with anti-GS1 antibody. A cross-reacting band, thought to be GS1, was detected in the phloem sap. Moreover, the phloem sap contained a significant amount of GS transferase activity. Previous studies have shown that the concentrations of substrates and cofactors in the rice phloem sap are sufficient for cytosolic GS reaction. These data suggest that physiologically active GS1 is present in rice phloem sap, which might convert glutamate to glutamine in vivo .     

Effect of calcium concentration in nutrient solution before and after inoculation with Ralstonia solanacearum on resistance of tomato seedlings to bacterial wilt

We previously reported that calcium (Ca) nutrition in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) significantly affected the resistance to bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum Smith. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying the Ca-dependent resistance, the effect of the Ca concentration in the nutrient solution applied before and after inoculation with the pathogen on the resistance of tomato seedlings to bacterial wilt was studied. One week before inoculation, seedlings were transferred to nutrient solutions containing Ca at concentrations of 0.4, 4.4, or 20.4 mM. Soon after inoculation, the seedlings that were treated with each concentration of Ca before inoculation were transferred to solutions containing the same three concentrations of Ca. Although the disease development was not affected by the concentration of Ca in the solution before inoculation, a higher concentration of Ca after inoculation reduced the disease severity. This result suggests that the concentration of Ca in the host, especially in the cell walls, before infection may not be directly involved in the Ca-dependent resistance of tomato seedlings to bacterial wilt.     

Influence of soil-drying under field conditions on exchangeable manganese,cobalt, and copper contents

Abstract

The changes in the exchangeable Mn (Ex-Mn), exchangeable Co (Ex-Co), and exchangeable Cu (Ex-Cu) contents by air-drying of soils were reported in our previous paper. The drying effect, however, was not analyzed in the field. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of soil-drying under field conditions on Ex-Mn, Ex-Co, and Ex-Cu levels. Two paddy soils (Tsukuba and Yawara) were collected at four different soil depths (0?1, 1?5, 5?10, and 10?20 cm) under three different soil moisture conditions i.e., after harvest, after successive sunny days and after rainy days. After sunny days, Ex-Mn and Ex-Co contents in the surface soil layer markedly increased and drastically decreased after rainfall, while they remained almost unchanged in the lower soil layers. Ex-Cu contents slightly increased in the surface soil layer after sunny days. A similar tendency was observed in soil column experiments. The contents of Ex-Mn, Ex-Co, and Ex-Cu increased 12, 12, and 2 times in the upper layer of soil columns that had been sampled from the Yawara field and stored in a dark room for 8 d. The increase of the Ex-Mn and Ex-Co contents in the upper layer could not be explained by the capillary rise of soil water from the lower layers of the columns. In a soil-drying experiment under laboratory conditions, Ex-Mn and Ex-Co contents began to increase when the water content of the Yawara soil was lower than 0.09?0.13 kg kg^?1. The water content of the surface soil of the Yawara field after sunny days was 0.08 kg kg^?1. Ex-Cu content did not change apprecially with the water content. It is concluded that the increase of the Ex-Mn and Ex-Co levels in field surface soils after sunny days can be ascribed to soil-drying. Some of the excess Ex-Mn and Ex-Co is expected to leach down into lower layers due to rain, which may contribute to plant uptake of Mn and Co.     

Extractability of manganese and iron oxides in typical Japanese soils by 0.5 mol L−1 hydroxylamine hydrochloride (pH 1.5)

We investigated the extractability of manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) oxides from typical Japanese soils (Entisols, Inceptisols, and Andisols) by 0.5?mol?L^?1 hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH₂OH-HCl) extraction (pH 1.5; 16?h shaking at 25°C; soil:solution ratio 1:40), referred as to HH_mBCR, which is Step 2 (used for the reducible fraction) of the modified BCR (Community Bureau of Reference) sequential extraction procedure. The HH_mBCR procedure extracted almost all Mn oxides from the non-Andisol samples, but failed to extract a part of the Mn oxides from some Andisol samples. The procedure extracted most short-range ordered Fe oxides from non-Andisol samples, but it extracted only 7.5% and 13% of the short-range ordered Fe oxides from allophanic and non-allophanic Andisol samples, respectively. This remarkably low extractability of Fe oxides suggests that the HH_mBCR method is not suitable for extracting oxide-occluded heavy metals from Andisols. Since the extraction rate of short-range ordered Fe oxides from various soils with the extractant was negatively correlated with the amounts of oxalate- and pyrophosphate-extractable Al even when the variability of the extraction pH was reduced by increasing the soil:solution ratio from 1:40 to 1:500, the extractability of Fe oxides would be negatively affected by the presence of active Al, including allophane/imogolite, amorphous Al, and Al-humus complexes. Because these Al constituents are abundant in Andisols, they would be at least partially responsible for the lower extractability of Fe oxides by HH_mBCR from Andisols.     

Bacteriological evaluation of composted manure solids prepared from anaerobic digested slurry for hygienic recycled bedding materials for dairy cows

Changes in mastitis‐causing pathogens, pH and water content in composted manure solids (CMS) prepared from digested slurry were evaluated during turning at 2‐day intervals for 8 days (C1–C4). The numbers of streptococci, coagulase‐negative staphylococci and coliforms were 2.6 × 10¹, 1.7 × 10² and 1.0 × 10¹ colony‐forming units (cfu)/g in CMS (C4) (summer), and these counts were markedly lower (P < 0.05) than those in CMS (C0 and C1). The bacterial counts ranged from 10¹ to 1.7 × 10² cfu/g in CMS (C4) (summer) and were within approved levels, <1 × 10⁶ cfu/g, indicating a minimal mastitis risk. The temperatures in CMS (C1–C4) increased to 63°C–74°C in summer and 67°C–70°C in winter. The mean pH values in CMS (C0–C4) were 9.2 in summer and 8.7 in winter, and water contents ranged from 61.7% to 69.6% in summer and 73.2% to 66.2% in winter. The significant decrease of pathogenic bacteria in CMS appears to be closely related to temperature >63°C for 8 days, pH 8.7–9.2, and water content 62% to 73%. This study demonstrates that prepared CMS has value as a recycled material with the potential to alleviate udder health issues in dairy cows.