Effect of the co-administration of vitamin C and vitamin E on tyrosine hydroxylase and Nurr1 expression in the prenatal rat ventral mesencephalon

Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) is the rate-limiting enzyme of dopamine (DA) biosynthesis, which is up-regulated by vitamin C administration. Nurr1 gene is highly expressed in brain and important for midbrain DAergic cell development and survival. But, the role of vitamin C and/or vitamin E during Nurr1 expression is yet to be known. Further, the synergistic effect of vitamins C and E on TH expression has not yet been explored clinically. Therefore, we studied the effects of single or co- administration of vitamin C (0.5 mM) and vitamin E (1 mM) for 72 hr, on both TH and Nurr1 expression in in vitro primary cultured gestational days (GD) 13.5 rat ventral mesencephalon (VM) by Western blot and immunocytochemistry. Our study revealed highest expressions of both TH and Nurr1 in the vitamin C + vitamin E treated group. TH expression was also increased in the vitamin C treated group than that of the control group, but the vitamin E treated group did not show any statistically significant effect. However, both the vitamin C and the vitamin E treated groups revealed increased expression of Nurr1 protein as compared with the control group. The present experimental data suggest that vitamin C can up-regulate the protein expression of TH, but Nurr1 level was elevated either by vitamin C or by vitamin E administration. Further, vitamin E acts synergistically with vitamin C to elevate TH and Nurr1 expression, which is the most novel finding of our study and for the first time; we reported this result, since there have been no published data on the synergistic effect of both the antioxidant vitamins on TH and Nurr1 expression in VM. As the motor function defect due to the progressive loss of DAergic neuron is the major reason of Parkinsonism, therefore, the results of our study finally suggest the effective role of vitamin C and vitamin E during early treatment of Parkinsonism.     

Nomads no more: early juvenile coho salmon migrants contribute to the adult return

The downstream movement of coho salmon fry and parr in the fall, as distinct from the spring migration of smolts, has been well documented across the range of the species. In many cases, these fish overwinter in freshwater, but they sometimes enter marine waters. It has long been assumed that these latter fish did not survive to return as adults and were ‘surplus’ to the stream's carrying capacity. From 2004 to 2010, we passive integrated transponder tagged 25,981 juvenile coho salmon in three streams in Washington State to determine their movement, survival and the contribution of various juvenile life histories to the adult escapement. We detected 86 returning adults, of which 32 originated from fall/winter migrants. Half of these fall/winter migrants spent ~1 year in the marine environment, while the other half spent ~2 years. In addition, the median return date for fall/winter migrants was 16 days later than spring migrants. Our results indicated that traditional methods of spring‐only smolt enumeration may underestimate juvenile survival and total smolt production, and also overestimate spring smolt‐to‐adult return (SAR). These are important considerations for coho salmon life cycle models that assume juvenile coho salmon have a fixed life history or use traditional parr‐to‐smolt and SAR rates.     

Compositional equivalence of barleys differing only in low- and normal-phytate levels

Recent breeding advances have led to the development of several barley lines and cultivars with significant reductions (50% or greater) in phytate levels. Low-phytate (LP) grain is distinguished by containing not only a reduced level of phytate P but also an increased level of inorganic P, resulting in greater bioavailability of P and mineral cations in animal diets. It is important to determine whether other nutritional characteristics are altered by breeding for the low-phytate trait. This study was designed to investigate if breeding for reduced phytate content in barleys had any effect on the contents of other attributes measured by comparing mean and range values of the levels of protein, oil, ash, total carbohydrate, starch, and β-glucan, fatty acid composition, and levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols between five LP and five normal-phytate barleys grown in three Idaho locations. Results show that only the phytate level in the LP group was substantially lower than that of the normal-phytate group and that all other attributes measured or calculated were substantially equivalent between the two groups of barleys. Therefore, the phytate level had little effect on the levels of protein, oil, ash, total carbohydrate, starch, and β-glucan, fatty acid composition, and levels of tocopherols and tocotrienols in barley seeds.     

First record of the Q Biotype of the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, intercepted in the UK

For the UK, Bemisia tabaci poses a threat primarily to protected vegetable crops due to the transmission of several plant-pathogenic viruses. There are at least 24 different biotypes of B. tabaci that cannot be differentiated through morphological traits. The B (Middle East-Asia Minor 1 species) and Q (Mediterranean species) biotypes are widely considered to be the most important and, as such, the ability to rapidly and precisely biotype B. tabaci interceptions is vital when developing effective control strategies. Intercepted adult/pupal B. tabaci received from the UK Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) during 2002–2003 (n?=?60) and 2010–2011 (n?=?42) were both biotyped and tested for the presence of Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and Tomato yellow leaf curl Sardinia virus (TYLCSV) using a real-time PCR assay based on TaqMan? chemistry. The positive results indicated that during 2002–2003 the Q biotype comprised 68.3?% of the interceptions whilst in 2010–2011 it comprised 66.7?% of the B. tabaci samples intercepted. Only three of the B biotypes collected during 2002–2003 were positive for TYLCSV, two originating from Israel and the other of unknown origin. The implications in regards to pest management of the insect are discussed.     

Methane oxidation in a temperate coniferous forest soil: effects of inorganic N

Methane oxidation rates were measured in soils obtained from a coniferous forest in northern England. The effects of depth and added K⁺ (K₂SO₄), NH₄⁺ ((NH₄)₂SO₄) and NO₃⁻ (KNO₃) on potential CH₄ oxidation were investigated in a series of laboratory incubations. The humus (H) layer soil showed much greater CH₄ oxidation rates than the other soil layers, with maximal rates of 53 and 226 ng CH₄ gdw⁻¹ h⁻¹ when incubated with initial 10 and 1000 μl CH₄ l⁻¹, respectively. Additions of the solutes K⁺, NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ showed differing degrees of inhibition on CH₄ oxidation, which varied with the initial CH₄ concentration, the ion added, and the ion concentration. In general, inhibition by the ions was slightly greater for incubations with an initial concentration of 1000 μl CH₄ l⁻¹ than for 10 μl CH₄ l⁻¹ under otherwise identical conditions. For K⁺ and NH₄⁺ treatments, inhibitory rates were usually less than 15%, but at high K⁺ and NH₄⁺ concentrations inhibition could reach 50%, the inhibitory effects of NH₄⁺ were consistently slightly greater than those of K⁺ at the same concentration. In marked contrast to NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ showed a very strong inhibitory effect. Added NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻ produced via added NO₃⁻ reduction in anaerobic ‘microsites’ are probably toxic to CH₄-oxidizing bacteria. These results, together with those from other reports, suggest that NO₃⁻ may have a greater importance in the inhibition of CH₄ oxidation in forest soils than that attributed to NH₄⁺ and needs to be investigated in a wide range of soil types from various forests.