The T allele at the g.1471620G>T in the EDG1 gene associated with high marbling in Japanese Black cattle is at a low frequency in breeds not selected for marbling

Our previous study detected a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), g.1471620G > T , in the 5' flanking region of the endothelial differentiation sphingolipid G-protein-coupled receptor 1 ( EDG1 ) gene, which has been considered as a positional functional candidate for the gene responsible for marbling, and showed association of the g.1471620G > T SNP with marbling in Japanese Black beef cattle. In the present study, we investigated the allele frequency distribution of the g.1471620G > T SNP among the 5 cattle breeds, Japanese Black, Japanese Brown, Japanese Short Horn, Holstein, and Brown Swiss breeds. The T allele at the g.1471620G > T SNP associated with high marbling was found at high frequency in Japanese Black breed that has been subjected to a strong selection for high marbling, while the allele was absent or at very low frequencies in the other breeds that have not been strongly selected for high marbling. Based on this finding, we hypothesized that the pressure of the strong selection for high marbling in Japanese Black breed has increased the frequency of the T allele at the g.1471620G > T SNP in the EDG1 .     

Multi-locus sequence typing of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis strains in Japan between 1973 and 2004

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) was responsible for a worldwide pandemic during the 1980s and 1990s; however, changes in the dominant lineage before and after this event remain unknown. This study determined S. Enteritidis lineages before and after this pandemic event in Japan using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Thirty S. Enteritidis strains were collected in Japan between 1973 and 2004, consisting of 27 human strains from individual episodes, a bovine strain, a liquid egg strain and an eggshell strain. Strains showed nine phage types and 17 pulsed-field profiles with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. All strains had homologous type 11 sequences without any nucleotide differences in seven housekeeping genes. These MLST results suggest that S. Enteritidis with the diversities revealed by phage typing and pulsed-field profiling has a highly clonal population. Although type 11 S. Enteritidis may exhibit both pleiotropic surface structure and pulsed-field type variation, it is likely to be a stable lineage derived from an ancestor before the 1980s and/or 1990s pandemic in Japan.     

Increased total nitrogen content of poultry manure by decreasing water content through composting processes

Microbial mineralization of urea and uric acid in poultry litter can lead to loss of nitrogen (N) content and its value as a fertilizer. To minimize the loss of N in the composting processes, controlling the water content in litters is a key to reduce the mineralization processes of N compounds. The N content of litter may be influenced by diets, hen age and the type of poultry houses used. The objectives of the present study were i) to determine the relationship between the water content and the decomposition rate of uric acid in poultry litter and ii) to investigate the effect of hen age and crude protein (CP) percentages in diets on the N content of poultry litter. A layer feeding trial was conducted in two poultry farms with windowless and open-floor houses. An incubation study of poultry litter was performed under different levels of water content. Our study found that the diet CP percentage (16.5–18%) and the growth stage of laying hens did not have a significant effect on the amount of total N (52–56?g?kg^?1) and uric acid-N (26–31g?kg^?1) in fresh litters. At the 7^th day of litter incubation study, the concentration of uric acid-N was 22 g kg^?1 in litters with a water content of 35%, whereas it further decreased to less than 1.3 g kg^?1 in litters with a water content of 55% and higher levels. The decomposition rate of uric acid-N in litter was 0.3–3.1g?kg^?1?day^?1 in the windowless house and 3.1–7.1g?kg^?1?day^?1 in the open-floor house. Decomposition of uric acid in litters was positively correlated to the litter moisture content that is controlled to be lower in windowless houses (40–50%) than in open-floor houses (55–80%) during the composting period. Our study suggests that the use of windowless houses for layer chicken production is effective for producing poultry manure with a high N content.     

Growth survey of crisphead lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in fertilizer trial by low-altitude small-balloon sensing

Abstract

Both efficiency and precision of field-grown plant biomass survey are expected to be improved when aerial images of whole fields are acquired. Many such studies have been conducted in paddy rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum), and beans (Glycine max (L.) Merr. and Phasaeolus vulgaris), but few in vegetables. In this study, we examined whether or not aerial image analysis is useful for the biomass survey of vegetables. Aerial images of field-grown crisphead lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) in a three-year fertilizer trial were acquired at head formation and harvesting stages in summer and autumn cropping with a compact digital camera hung under a tethered small balloon (2.2 m in length, 0.56 m³ in volume). The camera height ranged from 36 to 65 m, and the ground resolution ranged from 1.3 to 2.2 cm pixel ^?1. The horizontally projected area of the plant was measured as follows: Aerial images of the field were topographically corrected, the lettuce part was extracted based on the difference in color, the images were binarized, and the projected area was determined by image processing software. The estimation of fresh weight of one plant from the projected area was difficult because of the large data dispersion. When the averaged projected area in each plot was used, estimation was improved in some cases. Estimation of fresh weight at the harvesting stage by using the projected area at the head formation stage was difficult due to the low correlation coefficient. The results of factor analysis of fertilizer treatments by using projected area agreed well with those done using fresh weight when the correlation coefficient between the projected area and the fresh weight was high. It was concluded that the estimation of absolute lettuce fresh weight was difficult, but relative comparisons among treatments were possible until the head formation stage, using aerial images acquired by low-altitude small-balloon sensing.     

Effect of soil solarization on subsequent nitrification activity at elevated temperatures

Soil solarization is a nonchemical method of soil disinfection achieved by covering the soil surface with sheets of vinyl plastic to generate elevated soil temperature, generally over 45°C. Such elevated temperatures may be detrimental to some nitrifying microorganisms and favorable to others. However, little information exists to indicate how nitrification activity in soil is affected after solarization. We performed several experiments to investigate the effects of soil solarization on nitrification activity. We found that: (1) if a soil was subjected to pretreatment of 45 or 50°C for as little as 1 d, nitrification activity in a subsequent incubation at 30°C was less than that of a soil that did not receive any high-temperature pretreatment. However, if a soil received pretreatments of 45 or 50°C for more than 7 d, nitrification activity in a subsequent incubation at 45 or 50°C was greater than that of soil that did not receive high temperature pretreatment. (2) Nitrification activity in three kinds of soil taken from 0–5 cm depth after solarization treatment was greater at 45°C than 30°C. (3) Nitrification activity at 45°C in soil that had received solarization in the preceding year was greater than that in soil that had not been subjected to solarization. This was consistent with the fact that the population densities of ammonia oxidizers were greater in soils that had been subjected to solarization. These results suggest that soil solarization induces nitrifying microorganisms that are more active at 45–50°C than they are at 30°C, and that the effect of solarization on nitrification persists until the next crop season.     

Measurement of Si adsorption and “Active Si” in a soil amended with slag fertilizers by using stable isotope 30SP

The silicic acid adsorption by a soil (Eutric Gleysols) where slag fertilizers were applied was measured by the addition of a silicic acid solution labelled with ³⁰Si after soil incubation, in order to study the effect of slag application on the specific Si adsorption by the soil and to estimate the amount of Si in the soil solid phase which can easily enter the soil solution. It was evident that the application of slags increased the ability of soil to adsorb Si. It was also shown that the ³⁰Si added was diluted with not only the Si present in the soil solution but also the Si dissolved from the soil solid phase. We proposed the use of the term “active” for Si in soil which can take part in the isotopic dilution within 1 h. The amount of active Si in the soil solid and liquid phases (D ₆₀ - value) was calculated from the ³⁰Si content in the soil solution and compared with the amount of Si taken up by rice plant (Oryza sativa L.), which was determined in our previous study. The buffering capacity of the soil for Si, which can reflect the ability of soil to maintain the Si concentration in the soil solution constant when Si is added to or removed from the soil, was also determined. The D ₆₀ - value and the Si buffering capacity of the soil increased by slag application. These increases were large when the alkalinity of the applied slags was high. The correlation study revealed that the D ₆₀ - value was a better index of Si availability of the soil than the amount of Si dissolved from the soil solid phase during the incubation when the slags were previously applied.     

Nitrous oxide evolved from soil covered with plastic mulch film in horticultural field

Soil solarization practice, in which soil is covered with plastic mulch film and exposed to high temperature prior to crop cultivation, is expected to be an effective method for reducing weeds and pathogenic microorganisms without using agricultural chemicals. Although the production of nitrous oxide (N₂O), a major greenhouse gas, is enhanced in fertilized soil covered with plastic mulch films, its transport route to the atmosphere has not been sufficiently elucidated to date. In this study, we investigated the N₂O evolution from plastic-mulch-film-covered agricultural soil. In a horticultural field where ridge soil was covered with a plastic mulch film after fertilization, we observed significant N₂O flux from the soil surface of the unfertilized furrow between the ridges, indicating the horizontal diffusion of N₂O from the ridge soil covered with the mulch film to the adjacent furrow soil surface. On the other hand, the measurement of the permeance (permeation coefficient) of the plastic mulch film for gaseous N₂O by laboratory experiment revealed that N₂O gradually permeated the mulch film; the permeance increased exponentially with an increase in ambient temperature, indicating possible N₂O emission by permeation through the mulch film under field conditions. In winter, the amount of N₂O emission by permeation through the mulch film was estimated to be lower than that emitted from the furrow soil surface, and it was lower than that in summer. On the other hand, it was estimated to be much higher in summer owing to the higher permeance of the film at high temperatures.     

Cytologic,histologic, and immunohistochemical features of maxillofacial alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in a juvenile dog

Abstract: A 15‐month‐old castrated male dog with a history of intermittent epistaxis and sneezing was admitted for the examination of a maxillofacial mass. An impression smear of a biopsy sample from the cauliflower‐shaped gingival mass contained numerous round cells, 5–25 μm in diameter, which contained a moderate amount of clear to pale blue cytoplasm and resembled lymphoid cells. Mitotic figures were frequently observed. The mass was diagnosed as malignant round cell neoplasia. On histologic examination the tumor was composed of diffusely arranged, small, atypical round cells with a small amount of fibrovascular stroma. Immunohistochemically, the cells were negative for CD3, CD18, CD20, CD79α, cytokeratin, melan‐A, chromogranin A, α‐smooth muscle actin, and myoglobin but positive for vimentin and desmin. The cells also had strong positive nuclear staining for myogenin and MyoD1. A diagnosis of solid‐pattern alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma was made on the basis of morphologic and immunohistochemical results. Alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis of tumors in juvenile dogs, especially when cytologic findings reveal round, undifferentiated cells.     

Mass propagation method from the cutting of three dipterocarp species

We developed a vegetative propagation system for mass-producing three dipterocarps species,Shorea selanica Bl.,Shorea leprosula Mig., andShorea platyclados Sloot. This system uses fog evaporative cooling inside a greenhouse to reduce the leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit (leaf-to-air VPD) inside the propagator, even under high irradiance conditions. This cooling method has no negative influence on medium conditions such as overwetting. A plastic tent propagator combined with this cooling method was used for vegetative propagation experiments. In mass-production experiments, the annual rooting percentages from the cuttings were low in the first 2 years (1997–1998) due to operational problems of the tent propagator (S. selanica, 48–51%;S. leprosula, 56–59%;S. platyclados: 50–63%). A hard cover propagator improved the rooting percentages in the mass-production experiments in 1999 because it made operations easier (S. selanica, 70%;S. leprosula, 77%;S. platyclados, 77%). This system, which uses a combination of fog evaporative cooling and a hard plastic propagator, should be useful for the mass propagation of these dipterocarp planting stocks. This study was carried out under a joint project of the Ministry of Forestry, Indonesia and Komatsu Ltd. The project was supported by Research Association for Reforestation of Tropical Forest (RETROF) organized by Japanese Forestry Agency.     

Phylogenetic Analysis of Field Isolates of Feline Calcivirus (FCV) in Japan by Sequencing Part of Its Capsid Gene

The molecular epidemiology of the infectious disease caused by feline calcivirus (FCV) in Japan was investigated by analysing the phylogenetic relationship among 21 Japanese field isolates, including the F4 strain, and 30 global isolates. Parts of the capsid gene (B–F) of the isolates were amplified by RT-PCR, and the amino acid sequences were compared with those from the global isolates. Thirty-seven and 14 out of a total of 51 isolates were clustered into two distinct genogroups, I and II respectively, by UPGMA and NJ analysis. Seven of the 21 Japanese isolates (33%) fell into group I together with 30 global isolates, while the other 14 Japanese isolates (67%) belonged to group II. The bootstrap repetition analysis of groups I and II formed by the NJ method gave a value of 99.0%. The 14 latter Japanese isolates were clearly separated from the isolates in group I, and they were different from any previously known FCV, forming a new genogroup, which implies that this lineage has been confined to Japan. Comparing the amino acid sequences shared by groups I and II, the amino acid at position 377 in B region was asparagine (Asn or Asp (NH₂)) in group I, while it was lysine (Lys) in all the strains in group II. Similarly, the amino acid at position 539 in the F region was alanine (Ala) or proline (Pro) in group I, while it was valine (Val) in group II; glycine (Gly) at position 557 in group I was serine (Ser) in Group II; and phenylalanine (Phe) or leucine (Leu) at position 566 in genogroup I was tyrosine (Tyr) in group II.