Evaluation of several wild tuber-bearingSolanum species for scab resistance

One hundred accessions of 18 wild diploid potato species were screened for resistance to scab through three cycles of selection, from which a total of 322 clones were selected as resistant. The putative ancestral species of the cultivated potatoes (Solanum bukasovii, S. canasense andS. multidissectum) produced resistant clones with significantly higher rates. Thus, these are primary gene sources for conferring scab resistance to cultivated potatoes.     

Clinical evaluation of urinary liver-type fatty acid-binding protein for the diagnosis of renal diseases in dogs

Liver-type fatty acid-binding protein (L-FABP) is a biomarker for the early detection of renal diseases in humans. L-FABP is a cytotoxic oxidation product secreted from the proximal tubules under ischemic and oxidative stress conditions. First, L-FABP gene expression in the kidney and liver was evaluated. Next, the urinary L-FABP concentrations in dogs with or without renal diseases were measured using a novel enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Urinary L-FABP was normalized relative to urinary creatinine (uCre) concentrations (µg/g uCre). Finally, the relationships between urinary L-FABP and renal biomarkers used in canine medicine or serum alanine transaminase (ALT) as an indicator of liver damage were examined. Serum and urine samples from 94 client-owned dogs including 23 dogs with renal diseases and 71 dogs without renal diseases were used for analysis. Relative L-FABP gene expression was confirmed both in the liver and kidney. Dogs with renal diseases had a significantly higher urinary L-FABP than those without, and its predictive cutoff value was 26 µg/g uCre. Urinary L-FABP was significantly correlated with serum creatinine (r=0.4674, P<0.01), urea nitrogen (r=0.4907, P<0.01), urine specific gravity (r=−0.5100, P<0.01), and urine protein/creatinine ratio (r=0.7216, P<0.01), but not with serum ALT. Hence, dogs with a high urinary L-FABP value were more likely to have renal diseases.     

Genetic selection for resistance to mycoplasmal pneumonia of swine (MPS) in the Landrace line influences the expression of soluble factors in blood after MPS vaccine sensitization

We recently developed a Landrace line that is resistant to mycoplasmal pneumonia of swine (MPS) infection by genetic selection for five generations, and we reported that the immunophenotype of this line is different from that of the non‐selected line in terms of changes in peripheral blood leukocyte population after MPS vaccination. This study followed up previous findings demonstrating changes in soluble factors in blood, namely, hormones, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae‐specific immunoglobulin G (IgG), and cytokines. These two lines were injected with MPS vaccine on days ?7 and 0 after blood sampling on those days, and blood samples were collected on days ?14, ?7, 0, 2, 7 and 14. We found changes in the levels of many hormones and cytokines in both lines. However, we found that only growth hormone (GH) and interferon (IFN)‐γ levels were statistically different between these two lines. GH concentration was reduced (day 0) and IFN‐γ concentration was increased (day 14) in the MPS‐selected line compared with the non‐selected line, despite unchanged IFN‐γ messenger RNA expression in blood cells. Although detailed mechanisms underlying these phenotypes remain unsolved, these traits would be useful to improve MPS resistance in pig production and provide an insight into MPS infection.     

Effects of genetic and environmental factors on muscle glycogen content in Japanese Black cattle

Monosaccharides such as glucose contribute to the development of meat flavor upon heating via the Maillard reaction; therefore, monosaccharide content is related to beef palatability. Here, we analyzed the effects of genetic and environmental factors on the content of glycogen, one of the precursors of monosaccharides, in the muscles of 958 fattened Japanese Black cattle from Yamagata Prefecture. Analysis of variance showed that muscle glycogen content was affected by the farm and postmortem periods, but not by sex, slaughter age, slaughter month or number of days detained at the slaughter yard. Additionally, consumption of digestible brown rice feed elevated muscle glycogen levels. Glycogen heritability was estimated to be 0.34, and genetic correlations between glycogen and carcass weight (CW) or beef marbling standard (BMS) were weak. The predicted breeding values varied among paternal lines. These results demonstrated that genetic factors might improve muscle glycogen content and therefore beef palatability, but do not influence CW or BMS.     

Solvent tuning of electrochemical potentials in the active sites of HiPIP versus ferredoxin

A persistent puzzle in the field of biological electron transfer is the conserved iron-sulfur cluster motif in both high potential iron-sulfur protein (HiPIP) and ferredoxin (Fd) active sites. Despite this structural similarity, HiPIPs react oxidatively at physiological potentials, whereas Fds are reduced. Sulfur K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy uncovers the substantial influence of hydration on this variation in reactivity. Fe-S covalency is much lower in natively hydrated Fd active sites than in HiPIPs but increases upon water removal; similarly, HiPIP covalency decreases when unfolding exposes an otherwise hydrophobically shielded active site to water. Studies on model compounds and accompanying density functional theory calculations support a correlation of Fe-S covalency with ease of oxidation and therefore suggest that hydration accounts for most of the difference between Fd and HiPIP reduction potentials.     

Asphericity in supernova explosions from late-time spectroscopy

Core-collapse supernovae (CC-SNe) are the explosions that announce the death of massive stars. Some CC-SNe are linked to long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and are highly aspherical. One important question is to what extent asphericity is common to all CC-SNe. Here we present late-time spectra for a number of CC-SNe from stripped-envelope stars and use them to explore any asphericity generated in the inner part of the exploding star, near the site of collapse. A range of oxygen emission-line profiles is observed, including a high incidence of double-peaked profiles, a distinct signature of an aspherical explosion. Our results suggest that all CC-SNe from stripped-envelope stars are aspherical explosions and that SNe accompanied by GRBs exhibit the highest degree of asphericity.     

Effects of parent‐of‐origin models with different pedigree information on beef carcass traits and fatty acid composition in Japanese Black cattle

Genomic imprinting should be considered in animal breeding systems to avoid lead in bias in genetic parameter estimation. The objective of this study was to clarify the effects of pedigree information on imprinting variances for carcass traits and fatty acid composition in Japanese Black cattle. Carcass records [carcass weight, rib eye area, rib thickness (RT), subcutaneous fat thickness and beef marbling score (BMS)] and fatty acid composition were obtained for 11,855 Japanese Black feedlot cattle. To estimate and compare the imprinting variances for the traits, two imprinting models with different pedigree information [the sire–dam gametic relationship matrix (Model 1) and the sire–maternal grandsire (MGS) numerator relationship matrix (Model 2)] were fitted. The ratio of the imprinting variance to the total additive genetic variance for RT (6.33%) and BMS (19.00%) was significant in Model 1, but only that for BMS (21.09%) was significant in Model 2. This study revealed that fitting the sire–MGS model could be useful in estimating imprinting variance under certain conditions, such as when restricted pedigree information is available. Furthermore, the present result suggested that the maternal gametic effects on BMS should be included in breeding programmes for Japanese Black cattle to avoid selection bias caused by imprinting effects.     

Induction of 2n pollen in tulips by arresting the meiotic process with nitrous oxide gas

Triploid tulips have agronomically desirable traits such as vigorous growth and large flower size, but only a portion of all cultivated tulips is triploid. To apply 2n pollen to polyploid breeding of tulips, the polyploidizing agent, nitrous oxide gas (N₂O), was applied to bulbs. In tulips, meiosis in anthers occurs inside the bulbs from mid- to late-October. When meiosis in anthers (excised from bulbs) reached metaphase I, we treated other bulbs of the same clones with N₂O for 24–48 h. Most of the treated plants produced pollen grains with a wide-ranging or bimodal size distribution, indicating a mixture of n, 2n and aneuploid pollen grains. The use of pollen containing a relatively high proportion of giant pollen grains tended to yield larger numbers of triploids in the progeny. The number of giant pollen grains could be increased when N₂O-treated pollen grains were suspended in 10% sucrose and then sieved through a nylon mesh. Very few polyploids were observed in some cross combinations, even those involving pollen with a relatively high proportion of giant grains. Even so, this low polyploid yield most likely is due to a triploid block, because the capsules obtained in the crosses of the diploid×N₂O-treated plants contained some abnormal seeds, which were mostly triploid. Embryo culture was useful in rescuing abnormal embryos. The present study reveals that 2n pollen can be produced at high frequency using N₂O during tulip breeding.