Establishment and characterization of a canine sebaceous epithelial cell line derived from an eyelid mass

Little is known about the pathological roles of sebaceous glands in canine skin diseases, as most examinations have been conducted with cultured human sebaceous epithelial cell lines. To our knowledge, there is no available canine sebaceous epithelial cell line. The purpose of this study was to establish a canine sebaceous epithelial cell line and characterize it. An eyelid mass in a dog was surgically resected for treatment, and it was histologically diagnosed as sebaceous epithelioma. Collected tissue was conducted for culture, and the growing epithelial-like cells were passaged. The cells showed continuous proliferation for over 6 months. After 40 passages, the cells were named CMG-1. Lipid droplets in the cytoplasm of CMG-1 cells were confirmed by Oil Red O staining. As reported in studies with human sebaceous epithelial cell lines, lipogenesis in CMG-1 cells was promoted by linoleic acid, whereas transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) suppressed it. Additionally, real-time PCR revealed that the expression levels of chemokines and cytokines, including CC chemokine ligand (CCL)-2, CCL-20, CXCL-10, Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin (IL)-1α, IL-1β, and IL-8, were significantly increased in CMG-1 cells following treatment with lipopolysaccharide. In conclusion, we successfully established a new canine sebaceous epithelial cell line. Our data indicated that lipogenesis and inflammatory responses were quantitatively evaluable in this cell line. CMG-1 cells could be useful for the pathological analysis of sebaceous gland diseases in dogs.     

Physiological role of potassium in the carbohydrate metabolism of plants (part II)

Potassium is a macronutrient still shrouded in mystery despite considerable effort to elucidate its role in the plant growth. Many investigators have demonstrated that a high carbohydrate content in the plant is associated with a love potassium content. Among them, WALL showed using tomato plants that this high carbohydrate content in plants with love potassium characterized the first stage of potassium deficiency (1).     

The relationship between common scab severity and reducing sugar contents in the peel of potato tubers

Summary Total sugar, reducing sugar, glucose, fructose, and sucrose of scabbed (Streptomyces scabies) and scab-free harvested tubers of several potato cultivars were analysed in four portions (pell and tube flesh separtely, from basal and apical halves), and also in small whole growing tubers. The peel of scabby harvested tubes had higher reducing sugar (glucose and fructose) contents than that of corresponding scab-free tubers. The sugar contents in the flesh and in small growing tubers did not show significant difference beween the scabbed and scab-free state. Tubers of scab-susceptible cultivars had more scab and a higher reducing sugar content than those of resistant cultivars. The results indicate that the contents of reducing sugar (glucose and fructose) in tuber peel are positively correlated with scab severity.     

Identification of a bacterium isolated from galls on carrot and weeds

In 2004, bacterial galls were found on the roots of carrots in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Galls were about 0.1–2 cm in diameter, light brown in color and had rough surfaces. In 2005, similar galls were found on the roots of three weeds: henbit (Lamium amplexicaule L.), Persian speedwell (Veronica persica Poir.) and leaf mustard (Brassica juncea L.). A bacterium that forms white, rough colonies was isolated from the carrot and weeds galls. The bacterial isolates had properties identical with Rhizobacter dauci Goto and Kuwata. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that the carrot isolate had the highest homology (similarity of 100%) with that of the type strain of R. dauci. Rep-PCR genomic fingerprinting using BOX A1R primer showed that the carrot and weeds isolates were nearly identical. Pathogenicity of the isolates was confirmed by inoculating the roots of carrots and the weeds. After 2–5 weeks, they formed galls on the roots of the original host species and on other plant species tested. The galls were indistinguishable from those formed naturally, and the inoculated bacterium was reisolated. Thus, the causal bacterium of carrot and weeds gall was identified as R. dauci, and the bacterium was found to have a wider host range than previously known. These weed hosts may serve as inoculum sources for carrot bacterial gall disease.     

Invertase Activities in Sheath-blight Infected Rice Selection Lines and Fungus Culture Filtrates

Infection of rice plants with Rhizoctonia solani, the sheath blight fungus, at the flowering stage resulted in an increase in acid invertase activity. Activity of the invertase(s) with optimum pH at 3.5 and 4.5 was higher in the susceptible plants compared to resistant plants. Healthy control plants had no change in invertase activity. An invertase of fungal origin produced in sheath blight fungus culture filtrates had an optimum acidic pH of 3.5. The increase in invertase activity observed in the later stages of infection in the susceptible plants compared to the resistant plants demonstrated a relation to fungal growth. These results suggested that the fungus produced an invertase for the hydrolysis of sucrose that resulted in alterations of source-sink relationships in the colonized cells. Thus, the increased invertase activity in the susceptible plants regulated the ratio of hexose to sucrose. This observation is further supported by the lack of a significant invertase increase in the resistant plants. Received 14 July 1999/ Accepted in revised form 9 December 1999     

Effects of growing leafy daikon (Raphanus sativus) on populations of Plasmodiophora brassicae (clubroot)

Control of some soilborne pathogens may be achieved by use of decoy or catch crops. These stimulate the germination of resting spores, resulting in limited expression of disease symptoms. Results achieved using this approach are reported here using leafy daikon (radish, Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus ) for control of Plasmodiophora brassicae , the cause of clubroot disease of Brassicaceae. Disease indices of Chinese cabbage plants grown in pots that had previously contained leafy daikon were lower compared with pots where no plants had been grown before (control pots). Numbers of resting spores of P. brassicae in soil in pots after cultivation with leafy daikon were reduced by 71% compared with control pots when resting spores were recovered and counted directly. In a field experiment, numbers of resting spores were reduced by 94% compared with the start of the experiment when leafy daikon was grown in advance of Chinese cabbage, but there was no reduction in disease severity in the Chinese cabbage. Plasmodiophora brassicae infected the root hairs of leafy daikon and those of Chinese cabbage, but no clubs were found on leafy daikon roots. The results from pot trials indicate that leafy daikon may be useful as a decoy crop for the control of clubroot disease in field crops.     

Effects of silvering state on induced maturation and spawning in wild female Japanese eel <Emphasis Type="Italic">Anguilla japonica</Emphasis>

ABSTRACT:   The effects of silvering state of wild female Japanese eels Anguilla japonica on the success of induced maturation and the following spawning were examined. Thirty-eight females, collected in Mikawa Bay, were divided into four stages based on their silvering state: yellow (Y1), late-yellow (Y2), silver (S1) and late silver eels (S2). Despite injections of salmon pituitary extract (SPE) through the standard technique, Y1 and Y2 eels did not respond to the treatment with undeveloped gonad (gonad-somatic index [GSI]: 0.3–0.9), and all these females died by 5 weeks, probably due to an abnormal physiological condition. Most S1 (81%) and S2 eels (100%) matured completely (GSI: 17.8–51.4), and finally spawned successfully (69% for S1, 89% for S2). S2 eels fully matured with oocytes of over 750 μm in diameter by significantly smaller number of injections of SPE (5–6 times) than the case of S1 eels (6–8 times). The amount of eggs released by S2 eels (0.65 ± 0.11 g/fish per body weight [BW]) was significantly larger than those by S1 eels (0.54 ± 0.09 g/fish per BW). There was no difference in fertilization and hatching rates between eggs released by S1 eels and those of S2 eels. These results indicate that the success of induced maturation and spawning in wild female Japanese eels depends on their silvering state, and matured eggs can be obtained efficiently through the use of S2 eels rather than other stages.     

Supplemental effect of cholyltaurine and soybean lecithin to a soybean meal-based fish meal-free diet on hepatic and intestinal morphology of rainbow trout <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oncorhynchus mykiss</Emphasis>

The supplemental effects of cholyltaurine and soybean lecithin to a defatted soybean meal (SBM)-based fish meal-free diet on the hepatic and intestinal morphology of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss were investigated. A fish meal-based diet (FM), three fish meal-free diets supplemented either with soybean lecithin (SL), bovine gall powder (BG) or cholyltaurine (C-tau) and an unsupplemented fish meal-free diet (NFM), were given to fish (−11 g) for 10 weeks. The growth was the lowest in fish fed diet NFM, intermediate in fish fed diet SL and the highest in fish fed diet FM, BG and C-tau. Hepatocytes of fish fed diet NFM were atrophied, and the distal intestine of these fish showed abnormal features: disintegrated microvilli and fatty degeneration in epithelial cells and increased amount of connective tissue in the submucosa. Hepatic and intestinal histological features in fish fed diets SL, BG and C-tau were similar to those in fish fed diet FM. These results indicate that soybean lecithin, bovine bile salts and cholyltaurine have similar effects on normalizing the hepatic and intestinal morphologies of rainbow trout fed the SBM-based diet, although growth promotion effect was limited in the soybean lecithin.