Pigment pattern formation by contact-dependent depolarization

Although recent experimental studies have suggested that the interactions among the pigment cells play a key role in the skin pattern formation, details of the mechanism remain largely unknown. By using an in vitro cell culture system, we have detected interactions between the two pigment cell types, melanophores and xanthophores, in the zebrafish skin. During primary culture, the melanophore membrane transiently depolarizes when contacted with the dendrites of a xanthophore. This depolarization triggers melanophore migration to avoid further contact with the xanthophores. Cell depolarization and repulsive movement were not observed in pigment cells with the jaguar mutant, which shows defective segregation of melanophores and xanthophores. The depolarization-repulsion of wild-type pigment cells may explain the pigment cell behaviors generating the stripe pattern of zebrafish.     

Comparison of electrophoretic patterns of soluble proteins and isozymes of the red rot disease fungus Pythium sp. isolated from Porphyra yezoensis from Korea and Japan

SUMMARY: Pythium sp., the causative organism of red rot disease, isolated from Porphyra yezoensis from Wando in Korea was compared with those from Miyagi, Aichi, and Fukuoka Prefectures by means of electrophoretic patterns of soluble proteins and isozymes. Native and sodium dodecylsulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic patterns of soluble proteins revealed small but significant differences among the four isolates. Among the 14 detected enzymes, catalase (CAT), carboxylesterase (CE), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), glucosephosphate isomerase (GPI), isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) possessed isozymes. The dissimilarity value of isozyme banding patterns for four isolates by unweighted pair-group method using arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis was highest (0.51) between the isolate from Fukuoka and those from Miyagi and Aichi, and lowest (0.19) between the isolate from Miyagi and that from Aichi. Cluster analysis of data from isozyme banding patterns grouped the isolates from Miyagi and Aichi. These results indicate that the isolates from Miyagi and Aichi are similar, but each isolate from Wando and Fukuoka differed slightly from those of Miyagi and Aichi.     

Identification of endophytic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces</Emphasis> sp. R-5 and analysis of its antimicrobial metabolites

In a previous study, endophytic Streptomyces sp. R-5 isolated from a field-grown rhododendron was able to confer disease resistance on tissue-cultured seedlings of rhododendron when applied to medium surfaces in flasks. Here, the isolate was identified as Streptomyces galbus Frommer based on various physiological characteristics and analysis of the 16S rDNA sequence. Its major antimicro-bial metabolites were identified as actinomycin X₂ and fungichromin by analyses using liquid chromatography/mass spectometry and nuclear magnetic resonance.     

Characterization of a new viroid strain from hops: evidence for viroid speciation by isolation in different host species

A new viroid was detected in hops cultivated in Akita Prefecture, Japan where it is prevalent in many hops fields. In a survey of hop samples collected during the 1986–2002 growing seasons, the new viroid was present in the major Japanese hop-cultivating areas as early as the 1980s. A single-stranded circular RNA of 368–372 nucleotides that assume a highly basepaired, stable, rod-like secondary structure, shares 93%–98% sequence homology with Apple fruit crinkle viroid (AFCVd) isolated from apple and 85%–87% with Australian grapevine viroid (AGVd) isolated from grapevine. Taking into account the present concept of viroid species, we conclude that the viroid is AFCVd. Circumstantial evidence suggests that AFCVd from apples and hops were endemic in Japan only where cultivation of the two host plants overlapped, thereby strongly supporting the possibility that AFCVd (or an ancestral viroid) was transmitted across the species barrier from apples to hops or hops to apples somewhere in the region. Phylogenetic analysis of AFCVd from hops, AFCVd from apples, and AGVd together with the other members of the genus Apscaviroid revealed that the Akita isolates of AFCVd from hops (AFCVd-hop) formed a cluster that is distinct from AFCVd-apple and AGVd. Accumulation of host-specific sequence variation following their isolation in different host species may be leading to the formation of two viroid species from a common ancestor.     

Occurrence of ateliosis in Japanese Black calves and their secretory function of growth hormone

Unthrifty calves occurred sporadically in Japanese Black (beef cattle) in an area in northeastern Japan. The states of unthrifty development, pedigree, clinico-biochemistry and the secretory function of bovine growth hormone (bGH) in pituitary were investigated. The total cholesterol concentration and CK, AST and LDH activities in the serum showed higher values than those of control calves. Basal bGH concentrations in the serum and bGH secretory reactivity in the insulin tolerance test (ITT) were showed to be significantly lower than those of the control calves. Furthermore, sperm donated from a specific bull had been used for these unthrifty calves. This study suggested that the present occurrence of unthrifty calves represented ateliosis possibly caused by congenital hypopituitarism which decreased of bGH secretory function.     

Cellular compartmentation and membrane permeability to sugars in relation to early or high temperature-induced watercore in apples

Early watercore was observed in apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) from the outer canopy of ‘Orin’, an early watercore susceptible cultivar, while there was no watercore in ‘Orin’ fruit from the inner canopy and resistant ‘Fuji’. Sorbitol content was higher not only in the free space but also in the vacuole and cytoplasm in watercored ‘Orin’ than in other non-watercored fruit. Comparing watercored apples to non-watercored fruit of ‘Orin’, higher fructose and glucose in the vacuole and no significant difference in the distribution rate of sorbitol to each compartment were observed. Watercored ‘Orin’ apples showed significantly higher permeability of tonoplast to fructose, glucose, and sorbitol than those in other non-watercored apples. The permeability of plasma membrane to each sugar was much higher than that of tonoplast but no marked difference was observed among the treatments. The results suggest that metabolism of sorbitol could be active even in watercored ‘Orin’ apples and the accumulated sorbitol in the intercellular spaces might be primarily due to an active unloading from the phloem and not be brought by increased leakage from the cells.     

Differential expression of histochemical characteristics in the developing olfactory receptor cells in a flatfish, barfin flounder (Verasper moseri)

Differentiation of the histochemical characteristics of the olfactory receptor cells (ORC) was examined by immunohistochemistry for protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) and calretinin (CR) and lectin histochemistry for Phaseolus vulgaris agglutinin-L (PHA-L) in the developing olfactory epithelium (OE) of the barfin flounder. PGP 9.5 immunoreactivity was diffuse and CR immunoreactivity was restricted at day 7, but these immunoreactivities became intense in the OE toward day 91. Crypt cells were first identified at day 56. PHA-L staining was faint at day 28, but became intense toward day 91. These findings suggest that PGP 9.5-immunopositive cells, CR-immunopositive cells, crypt cells and PHA-L-reactive cells differentiate independently in the developing OE and constitute subsets of the ORC in the OE.     

Areolae of the Placenta in the Antarctic Minke Whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis)

In this study, we examined the existence and structure of areolae and the steroidogenesis of areolar trophoblast cells in the Antarctic minke whale placenta morphologically and immunohistochemically. Placentas were collected from the 15th, 16th and 18th Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Antarctic (JARPA) and 1st JARPA II organized by the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, Japan. The opening and cavity of fetal areolae formed by taller columnar trophoblast cells (areolar trophoblast cells) with long microvilli and a bright cytoplasm, as compared with the trophoblast cells of the chorionic villi interdigitating with the endometrial crypts, were recognized in observations of serial sections. The opening of the areolar cavity was hidden by chorionic villi with areolar trophoblast cells. Furthermore, a closed pouch-like structure lined by tall columnar cells similar to areolar trophoblast cells within the stroma of chorionic villi was noticed and continued to the areolar cavity, with the opening seen on serial sections. In a surface investigation of the chorion and endometrium by SEM, maternal (endometrial) areolae irregularly surrounded by endometrial folds were obvious. Moreover, we distinguished areolar trophoblast cells with long microvilli attached with many blebs from trophoblast cells. In our immunohistochemical observations, a steroidogenic enzyme, cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), was detected with strong immunoreactivity in trophoblast cells. However, areolar trophoblast cells showed weak or no immunoreactivity for P450scc.