Proposal of screening method for intestinal mucus adhesive lactobacilli using the enzymatic activity of glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH)

Adhesion tests are complex, time‐consuming and expensive, while the most important criterion for a probiotic lactobacilli is the ability to adhere to the human intestine. Thirty lactobacilli isolates from human intestinal tissues were measured for cell surface glyceraldehyde‐3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) activity using a microtiter plate screening method. GAPDH activities were detected in 21 out of 30 samples from 12 h cultures and in all samples from 18 h cultures. This suggests GAPDH is universally expressed on the bacterial cell surfaces from many lactobacilli. A statistically significant positive correlation was shown between GAPDH activity and adhesion using the BIACORE adhesion assay (P < 0.01). The new screening method using GAPDH enzymatic activity without an adhesion test may be possible due to the significant positive correlation of GAPDH activity with adhesion of lactobacilli derived from the human intestine.     

Effect of combined water and salinity stress factors on evapotranspiration of Sedum kamtschaticum Fischer in relation to green roof irrigation

In dryland areas, secondarily treated municipal wastewater could be used in extensive green roof systems. In this study, the effects of water and salt stress on a crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) plant, Sedum kamtschaticum Fischer, was evaluated under intermittent saline irrigation. The salinity of irrigation water varied from 6.0 to 18.0 dS m^?1. A reduction in soil water content and an increase in soil water electrical conductivity (EC) were observed during the irrigation interval (5–17 d) as a result of evapotranspiration (ET). The effect of soil water potential (SWP) on reduction of the ET ratio (ET_r) was successfully described with an equation that could be applicable to a wide range of soil salinities and water contents, to estimate ET. In this study, the stress factor was defined as the integration of solute potential, and matric potential less soil water content for optimum growth (less than ?0.1 MPa) with elapsed time. The stress factor rapidly reduced total ET in CAM plants but effectively increased water-use efficiency (WUE). Thus, by using CAM plants for green roofs under intermittent saline irrigation, the need for irrigation water is reduced without a considerable loss of plant biomass.     

Conditioning effect of a hair conditioner containing lugworm autolysate

A conditioner containing lugworm autolysate was prepared, and its feasibility as a new conditioner was investigated. The treatment of hair with the conditioner, before and after dyeing showed positive effects on the thickness, weight, and amino acid contents of the hair. These properties were significantly enhanced, and similar results were obtained by hair surface examination by using scanning electron microscopy and tensile strength measurements. The surface of the cuticles in the experimental group was smoother than that of the control group, and the arrangement of the hair scales was maintained even after shampooing for 20 times. The hair tensile strength of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The significant treatment effect of the conditioner containing lugworm autolysate could be attributed to the synergistic effect of adhesive strength and effective film formation properties of lugworm autolysate.     

Adhesion, proliferation, and gene expression profile of human umbilical vein endothelial cells cultured on bilayered polyelectrolyte coatings composed of glycosaminoglycans

This study characterized human umbilical vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) adhesion, proliferation, and gene expression on bilayered polyelectrolyte coatings composed of an outermost layer of glycosaminoglycans (hyaluronan, heparin, or chondroitin sulfate), with an underlying layer of poly-L-lysine or chitosan. The proportion of cells that adhered to the various polyelectrolyte coatings after 1 and 2 h incubations was quantified by the WST-8 assay. Interchanging poly-L-lysine with chitosan resulted in significant differences in cellular adhesion to the outermost glycosaminoglycan layer after 1 h, but these differences became insignificant after 2 h. The proliferation of HUVEC on the various bilayered polyelectrolyte coatings over 10 days was characterized using the WST-8 assay. Regardless of whether the underlying layer was poly-L-lysine or chitosan, HUVEC proliferation on the hyaluronan outermost layer was significantly less than on heparin or chondroitin sulfate. Additionally, it was observed that there was more proliferation with poly-L-lysine as the underlying layer, compared to chitosan. Subsequently, real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to analyze the expression of seven genes related to adhesion, migration, and endothelial function (VWF, VEGFR, VEGFA, endoglin, integrin-α5, ICAM1, and ICAM2) by HUVEC cultured on the various bilayered polyelectrolyte coatings for 3 days. With poly-L-lysine as the underlying layer, biologically significant differences (greater than twofold) in the expression of VWF, VEGFR, VEGFA, endoglin, and ICAM1 were observed among the three glycosaminoglycans. With chitosan as the underlying layer, all three glycosaminoglycans displayed biologically significant differences in the expression of VWF and VEGFR compared to the chitosan control. CT-HA displayed the highest level of expression of VWF, whereas expression levels of VEGFR were almost similar among the three glycosaminoglycans.     

Trillium grandiflorum height is an indicator of white-tailed deer density at local and regional scales

High densities of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the U.S.A. and Canada are reducing or preventing forest regeneration, and as a result, deer function as a keystone species in some sites. Management decisions about deer require reliable population density data, which are challenging to obtain at both regional and local scales. We tested the broad-scale applicability of the indicator species approach in which forage plant height was used to estimate deer density. The maximum heights of marked and unmarked plants of the widely distributed, spring-flowering polycarpic herb, white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) were measured across southern Ontario, Canada, over a 15-year period. A significant negative relationship was found at 10 sites between maximum plant height and estimates of deer population densities, which were derived from counts of live or culled animals and varied from 7 to 40 deers km⁻². Maximum plant height could be reliably measured within a 4-week period. The underlying mechanism driving the negative relationship between plant height and deer density was attributed to deer preferentially selecting taller plants that grew less than ungrazed plants in the subsequent year. In 16 additional sites with locally high deer populations, the mean maximum height of T. grandiflorum appeared to be a more reliable indicator of deer density than estimates based on hunter returns across the broader regional scale of the Wildlife Management Unit. The ability to assess local scale white-tailed deer densities based on measuring heights of an easily identifiable, widespread plant, provides local residents and landowners with a tool for estimating the potential impacts of deer browsing and grazing in local woodlots and forests, improving local knowledge about herbivory pressure.     

Effects of a dietary organic acids blend and oxytetracycline on the growth,nutrient utilization and total cultivable gut microbiota of the red hybrid tilapia,Oreochromis sp., and resistance to Streptococcus agalactiae

A 20‐week feeding trial was conducted to measure growth, nutrient utilization and faecal/gut bacterial counts in triplicate groups of red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp., when fed diets supplemented with 0.5% organic acids blend (OAB), 1.0% OAB, 0.5% oxytetracycline (OTC) or a control diet (no additives). At the end of the feeding trial, tilapia were challenged with Streptococcus agalactiae for 22 days. Fish fed the OTC diet had significantly higher (P < 0.05) growth than the control treatment, while growth between fish fed the OTC or OAB diets was not significantly different (P > 0.05). Phosphorus, dry matter and ash digestibility were significantly higher in the 1.0% OAB diet than the control diet. Fish fed the OAB diets had significantly lower colony‐forming units of adherent gut bacteria compared to the control or OTC treatments while those fed the 1.0% OAB diet had the lowest total faecal bacterial counts. Tilapia fed the 0.5% OTC or OAB diet had significantly higher resistance to S. agalactiae than those fed the control diet. This study indicates that dietary organic acids can potentially replace OTC as a growth promoter and antimicrobial in tilapia feeds.     

Yellow tailflower mild mottle virus and Pelargonium zonate spot virus co‐infect a wild plant of red‐striped tailflower in Australia

Isolates of an Australian indigenous virus, Yellow tailflower mild mottle virus (YTMMV‐Kalbarri), and an exotic virus, Pelargonium zonate spot virus (PZSV‐SW13), are described from Anthocercis ilicifolia subsp. ilicifolia (red‐striped tailflower, family Solanaceae), a species endemic to Western Australia. This is the first report of either virus from this plant species. The complete genome sequences of YTMMV‐Kalbarri and of PZSV‐SW13 were obtained. YTMMV‐Kalbarri shared 97% nucleotide pairwise identity with the sequence of the type isolate YTMMV‐Cervantes. The sequence PZSV‐SW13 shared greatest sequence identity with the partial sequence of an Australian isolate of PZSV, also from a wild plant, and with a sunflower‐derived isolate of PZSV from Argentina. An experimental host range study was done of YTMMV‐Kalbarri using cultivated and wild solanaceous and non‐solanaceous plants. Most solanaceous plants became systemically infected, with symptoms of systemic infection ranging from symptomless to whole plant necrosis. Based on these studies, it is suggested that YTMMV has the potential to become a pathogen of commercial species of Solanaceae. This study provides further evidence that PZSV is present in wild plants in Australia, in this case an indigenous host species, and possible routes by which it invaded Australia are discussed.     

Effects of Dietary Probiotics on the Growth and Feeding Efficiency of Red Hybrid Tilapia,Oreochromis sp., and Subsequent Resistance to Streptococcus agalactiae

An eight-week trial was performed to evaluate three commercial/prototype probiotics supplemented in red hybrid tilapia, Oreochromis sp. diets. Triplicate groups of tilapia were measured for growth performance, feeding efficiencies, and whole-body composition. After the feeding trial, duplicate groups of tilapia were assessed for their resistance to Streptococcus agalactiae over 23 days. Six diets were supplemented with 0.1% or 0.3% PB₁ consisting of Bacillus subtilis, 0.1% or 0.3% PB₂ consisting of B. licheniformis or 0.1% MPB consisting of Bacillus sp. and Pediococcus sp. Probiotics had no effect (p > 0.05) on growth or feeding efficiencies, although whole-body crude protein was significantly higher in the PB₁ 0.3% treatment. Tilapia in the probiotic treatments had a higher resistance to S. agalactiae and, with the exception of the PB₂ 0.1% diet, were all significantly higher than the control treatment. Although the tested probiotics were not growth promoters, dietary B. subtilis was the most effective prophylactic against pathogenic bacteria.