Protective effects of dietary chamomile tea on diabetic complications

Matricaria chamomilla L., known as "chamomile", has been used as an herbal tea or supplementary food all over the world. We investigated the effects of chamomile hot water extract and its major components on the prevention of hyperglycemia and the protection or improvement of diabetic complications in diabetes mellitus. Hot water extract, esculetin (3) and quercetin (7) have been found to show moderate inhibition of sucrase with IC50 values of 0.9 mg/mL and 72 and 71 microM, respectively. In a sucrose-loading test, the administration of esculetin (50 mg/kg body weight) fully suppressed hyperglycemia after 15 and 30 min, but the extract (500 mg/kg body weight) and quercetin (50 mg/kg body weight) were less effective. On the other hand, a long-term feed test (21 days) using a streptozotocin-induced rat diabetes model revealed that the same doses of extract and quercetin showed significant suppression of blood glucose levels. It was also found that these samples increased the liver glycogen levels. Moreover, chamomile extract showed potent inhibition against aldose reductase (ALR2), with an IC50 value of 16.9 microg/mL, and its components, umbelliferone (1), esculetin (3), luteolin (6), and quercetin (7), could significantly inhibit the accumulation of sorbitol in human erythrocytes. These results clearly suggested that daily consumption of chamomile tea with meals could contribute to the prevention of the progress of hyperglycemia and diabetic complications.     

中国中亚热带网纹红土的地球化学特征与沉积环境

130个样品的粒度、黏土矿物组成、地球化学特征以及Sr、Nd同位素分析表明,广泛分布在中亚热带地区并且具有一定厚度的第四纪网纹红土为加积型沉积。该类沉积粒度组成与北方风尘沉积类似,粉砂含量占优势,>50μm含量小于5%,5~50μm组分41.2%~61.5%,<5μm黏粒26.9%~55.8%;黏土矿物组成中含有较多的石英、云母和高岭石;全土体的平均硅铝率为7.96,硅铁铝率6.11;稀土元素丰度179.6 mg kg-1,与地壳平均值(178 mg kg-1)、北京郊区1998年12月大气粉尘稀土总量(178.0 mg kg-1)以及两块中国黄土标样(178.2mg kg-1)非常接近,并且表现为轻稀土强烈富集,重稀土淋失,Ce元素正异常;网纹红土全岩样品的87Sr/86Sr值界于0.725 657~0.727 714之间,Nd同位素0.511 989~0.512 098,与佳县上新世红黏土和黄土的酸不溶相性物质接近。理化特征指示,第四纪加积型网纹红土与北方黄土中的古土壤以及上新世红黏土的形成环境类似,并且具有稳定的物质来源。     

Possibility of quantitative assessment of the contribution of paddy irrigation and caldera lakes to river water in Bali Island using water isotopic physics

Paddy and Water Environment - This study aims to investigate a possibility of quantitative assessment of the relationship between return flow from paddy fields and river regime by using hydrogen-...     

Sheep genetic diversity in Bhutan using microsatellite markers

Genotype data from eight microsatellite markers were used to assess genetic diversity and relationships among five indigenous Bhutanese sheep populations, Sakten, Jakar, Sarpang, Sipsu and Tsirang. Estimates of mean observed and expected heterozygosities, mean number of alleles per locus/population were obtained. The highest observed heterozygosities were found in Jakar (0.657) and Sakten (0.647), while the lowest one was found in Tsirang (0.539). Genetic distances, pairwise proportion of different alleles, UPGMA tree, and principal component analysis indicate close relationship among Tsirang, Sipsu and Sarpang populations, while Jakar and Sakten populations are located in one cluster. These two clusters are separated geographically, and show distinct phenotypic as well as molecular characters. We therefore recommend that the Bhutanese native sheep populations be classified into at least two distinct breeds, Jakar‐Sakten sheep and Sipsu sheep. Since Jakar and Sakten sheep have different morphological phenotypes, further analyses will be required to understand the genetic differences between these two sheep populations.     

Genetic diversity and structure in Bos taurus and Bos indicus populations analyzed by SNP markers

The purpose of this study was to assess genetic diversity, phylogenetic relationship and population structure among nine Eurasian cattle populations using 58 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. The calculated distribution of minor allele frequencies and heterozygosities suggested that the genetic diversity of Bos indicus populations was lower than that of Bos taurus populations. Phylogenetic analyses revealed the main divergence between the Bos taurus and Bos indicus populations, and subsequently between Asian and European populations. By principal components analysis, the Bos taurus and Bos indicus populations were clearly distinguished with PC1 (61.1%); however, six Bos taurus populations clustered loosely and the partial separation between European and Asian groups was observed by PC2 (12.5%). The structure analysis was performed using the STRUCTURE program. Distinct separation between Bos taurus and Bos indicus was shown at K = 2, and that between European and Asian populations at K = 3. At K = 4, 5 and 6, Mongolian population showed an admixture pattern with different ancestry of Asian and European cattle. At K = 7, all Bos taurus populations showed each cluster with little proportion of admixture. In conclusion, 58 SNP markers in this study could sufficiently estimate the genetic diversity, relationship and structure for nine Eurasian cattle populations, especially by analyses of principal components and STRUCTURE.     

有机水稻杂草控制技术的研究

有效控制水田杂草的发生是有机水稻栽培关键技术。本田杂草控制技术的研究采用深水管理、施用米糠以及田面覆盖稻草、稻壳等有机物的方法进行水田杂草控制试验。结果表明,深水灌溉能够有效控制水田稗草的发生;施用米糠杂草控制效果可达到药剂控制的85%左右;田面覆盖稻草、稻壳等有机物对水田杂草均有不同程度的控制效果,可降低施用米糠成本。     

Rapid Construction of a High-Density Rice Linkage Map by High Efficiency Genome Scanning （HEGS） System

High-density linkage maps are essential tools for genome analysis of various biological traits. Our developed compact multi-gel system, HEGS (high efficiency genome scanning) is a high-throughput and high-cost-performance electrophoresis apparatus. Using this system, a high-density (average interval 2.3 cM) map with 1 065 AFLP and 63 SSR markers was constructed from recombinant inbred lines of a japonica and indica hybrid in just two months of electrophoreses by a single person. More than 50% of the mapped AFLP markers were commonly polymorphic for several combinations between japonica and indica rice and 15% were applicable for genetically closer crosses between upland and lowland types of japonica rice. This system can be used for rapid analyses of all kinds of markers.     

Low mitochondrial DNA diversity of Japanese Polled and Kuchinoshima feral cattle

This study aims to estimate the mitochondrial genetic diversity and structure of Japanese Polled and Kuchinoshima feral cattle, which are maintained in small populations. We determined the mitochondrial DMA (mtDNA) displacement loop (D‐loop) sequences for both cattle populations and analyzed these in conjunction with previously published data from Northeast Asian cattle populations. Our findings showed that Japanese native cattle have a predominant, Asian‐specific mtDNA haplogroup T4 with high frequencies (0.43–0.81). This excluded Kuchinoshima cattle (32 animals), which had only one mtDNA haplotype belonging to the haplogroup T3. Japanese Polled showed relatively lower mtDNA diversity in the average sequence divergence (0.0020) than other Wagyu breeds (0.0036–0.0047). Japanese Polled have been maintained in a limited area of Yamaguchi, and the population size is now less than 200. Therefore, low mtDNA diversity in the Japanese Polled could be explained by the decreasing population size in the last three decades. We found low mtDNA diversity in both Japanese Polled and Kuchinoshima cattle. The genetic information obtained in this study will be useful for maintaining these populations and for understanding the origin of Japanese native cattle.     

Corynespora blight of sweet pepper (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Capsicum annuum</Emphasis>) caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Corynespora cassiicola</Emphasis> (Berk. &; Curt.) Wei

In 2004, Corynesopra cassiicola was isolated from dark brown spots on leaves and fruits and from black blights on stems of sweet pepper plants in Kochi Prefecture, Japan. The isolated fungus was then used to inoculate sweet pepper plants and subsequently reisolated from the plants with dark brown spots and black blights, showing that C. cassiicola is a new pathogen causing Corynespora blight on sweet pepper plants. The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases as accession numbers AB366649 (TS-C11), AB366650 (TS-C21), AB366651 (TI-C32) and AB366652 (TI-C51)     

HrpG regulates type II secretory proteins in Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri

HrpG, a two-component response regulator-like protein, is a key regulator of the type III secretion system (T3SS) in Xanthomonas spp. In X. campestris pv. vesicatoria, HrpG with a single amino acid substitution (HrpG*) gains the ability to induce the expression of T3SS-related genes even under nutrient-rich conditions. In this study, we investigated the role of HrpG in the synthesis of the secretory protein using HrpG* in strain NA-1 of X. axonopodis pv. citri (Xac NA-1), a causal agent of citrus canker. Eleven proteins secreted via a type II secretion system (T2SS) were induced by HrpG*. In proteomic analyses, six of the 11 proteins were identified as extracellular enzymes, and the others as a fimbrial biogenesis-related protein, a type IV-related protein, two hypothetical proteins, and a conserved hypothetical protein. Further analysis of these proteins revealed that the genes coding all 11 proteins were upregulated by HrpG*, even though they had different expression patterns for HrpXct-dependency. The data indicated that HrpG, a key regulator of T3SS, also acts as a positive regulator of certain proteins secreted via a T2SS in Xac NA-1.