A comparison of the concentrations of C-reactive protein and alpha1-acid glycoprotein in the serum of young and adult dogs with acute inflammation

The concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and alpha1-acid glycoprotein (AAG) were evaluated in 1-, 3- and 18-month-old dogs (four of each age) that had been inoculated with turpentine oil. The CRP and AAG in 3-month-old and younger dogs subjected to surgery or inoculated with either Staphylococcus aureus or a viral vaccine were also evaluated. The average CRP concentration in the sera peaked 2 days after inoculation of turpentine oil. The peak CRP concentrations in 3- and 18-month-old dogs were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than those in 1-month-old dogs. The average AAG concentration in the sera peaked 4 days after inoculation of turpentine oil. No significant difference was found in AAG concentrations between any of the age groups. When experimentally inoculated with S. aureus or subjected to oophorohysterectomy, the CRP and AAG concentrations increased in 3-month-old dogs, but they increased little in 1-month-old dogs. The CRP and AAG in dogs inoculated with the viral vaccine did not increase. In dogs with fractures or subjected to percutaneous gastrostomy, the CRP and AAG concentrations correlated with the condition of dogs.     

Dental incremental lines in Sika deer (Cervus nippon); polarized light and fluorescence microscopy of ground sections

Periodic growth incremental lines are found universally in dental hard tissues. This periodicity theoretically allows for estimation of age, even in days, which would be useful in studies of wild animals. In the present study, enamel and dentin increments of the sika deer (Cervus nippon) were observed in ground sections with a polarized light microscope, and their periodicity was examined by the use of a chronological labeling method with fluorochromes. Enamel increments occurred at a mean interval of 10.6 (SD=1.5) microm, and mean spacing of dentin increments was 17.3 (SD=1.8) microm. Fluorochromic marking revealed that incremental lines form each day in enamel and almost every second day in dentin. The fluorescence-labeled lines suggest that enamel formation of the first molar is complete by the age of 5 months. Due to its longer interval of incremental lines and longer term of formation, we conclude that dentin is more suitable than enamel for day-age estimation in sika deer. Experimental confirmation of incremental growth periodicity in various species can improve the reliability of use of tooth increments for age estimation and life history reconstruction.     

A new 2-arylbenzofuran from the root bark of Chinese Morus cathayana

A new 2-arylbenzofuran, sanggenofuran B (3',5'-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-4'-prenyl-2-arylbenzofuran), from the root bark of Chinese Morus cathayana is reported.     

The physicochemical property of shark type I collagen gel and membrane

The physicochemical properties of shark type I collagen gel and membrane were not same as those of pig type I collagen. The denaturation temperature of shark collagen gel was about 15 degrees C lower. According to scanning electronic micrography, the diameter of shark collagen fibril was relatively thin and more homogeneous. The breaking strength of shark collagen gel was greater, and shark collagen membrane had a greater mechanical strength and a higher water vapor sorption.     

Effectiveness of some management procedures for seed regeneration of plant genetic resources accessions

Procedures for seed regeneration of plant genetic resource accessions were investigated in terms of their effect on the variance effective population size and the probability that the initial allelic diversity is maintained after 10 and 20 cycles of regeneration. Four regeneration systems were compared: a bulk system (BL) where seeds are collected and treated in bulk, a partial sampling system (PS) where seeds are collected from not all, but some plants in the population with an equal number of offspring being raised from each sampled plant, a single seed system (SS) where accessions are regenerated so that each plant leaves one progeny, and the biparental mating system (BP) of Gale & Lawrence (1984) where plants are pollinated in pairs with one offspring being raised from each of the paired plants, or two offspring from one of the paired plants. It was shown that the relative efficiency of the four systems largely depends on the rate of selfing and that differences in the effective population size of the systems increase with increasing rates of selfing. The SS system gave by far the largest effective population size in regenerating the seed of moderately or highly selfing species. Although the BP system gave the largest effective size for outcrossing species, the SS system, when combined with selfing, gave a much larger effective size. The BL and PS systems were in no case the most effective. Of these two, PS system with a sampling fraction of 50% was as effective as BL, but less effective with a sampling fraction smaller than 50%. Calculations of the maintenance of the allelic diversity, however, revealed that differences between the systems are not appreciably large unless the accessions are regenerated over 10 or more cycles with 50 or fewer plants.     

Evaluation of F2 and F3 plants introgressed with QTLs for clubroot resistance in cabbage developed by using SCAR markers

Clubroot disease caused by Plasmodiophora brassicae is one of the major diseases of Brassica crops, often devastating to the cultivation of cruciferous crops in temperate regions. In a previous study (Moriguchi et al. 1999) identified three major quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for clubroot resistance, each in a separate linkage group, in a population derived from a cross between a clubroot‐susceptible inbred cabbage line, Y2A and a resistant inbred kale line, K269. In this study, the original random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers were converted into sequence‐characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers to facilitate large‐scale marker‐assisted screening of clubroot resistance in cabbage breeding. Of 15 RAPD markers closely linked to the three QTLs, nine SCARs were developed as dominant markers after cloning and sequencing. In addition, two RAPD markers were converted into co‐dominant cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers, and one RFLP marker out of three tested was converted to a dominant SCAR marker. The effect of selection for resistance by the improved markers was evaluated in progeny plants in the F2 and F3. A total of 138 F2 plants were genotyped with nine SCARs and 121 well‐distributed makers consisting of 98 RAPD, 19 RFLP, two isozymes, and two morphological markers in order to estimate the level of resistance and the proportion of undesirable alleles from the kale in non‐target areas in each of the F2 populations. An F2 plant, YK118, had kale alleles at QTL1, QTL3 and QTL9. Three F2 plants, namely, YK107, YK25 and YK51 had kale alleles at only QTL1, QTL3 and QTL9, respectively. These F2 plants were selected for their low proportion of alleles derived from kale in non‐target regions. YK118, like the resistant kale parent, expressed very high resistance to three field isolates of Plasmodiophora brassicae, whereas the mean disease index in the F2 and F3 plants carrying only single QTLs was intermediate. The QTLs showed no differential response to the isolates. These plants with improved resistance will be useful as parental inbred lines for F1 hybrids.     

Conditions favouring doubled haploid breeding over conventional breeding of self-fertilizing crops

Summary Monte Carlo computer simulation was used to investigate the conditions favouring doubled haploid breeding over conventional breeding of self-fertilizing crops. Two different systems of doubled haploid breeding and three systems of conventional breeding were compared for two criterion parameters, i.e., the probability of obtaining desirable genotypes and the expected genetic advance of selected lines. It was inferred that the efficiency of production of haploid and doubled haploid plants primarily determines the success of the doubled haploid breeding method. In doubled haploid breeding, about 1/5, hopefully 1/2 as many test plants need to be raised as in conventional breeding to achieve the same level of success. With this condition begin satisfied, the doubled haploid breeding method can efficiently be used when one or more of the following conditions are met: (i) a relatively small number of loci, presumably ten of less, is involved with the breeding objective concerned, (ii) desirable alleles are recessive to undesirable ones at most, if not all, of the segregating loci, and (iii) the genes are not strongly linked. It was confirmed that the doubling of haploids can better be applied to selected F₂ plants rather than to F₁ plants.