Enzyme activity changes during anthocyanin synthesis in ‘Olympia’ grape berries

Anthocyanin synthesis began in the skin of ‘Olympia’ (Vitis labruscana Bailey) grape when the berry growth reached a late stage in the second sigmoid growth-curve. During berry development, shikimate NADP oxidoreductase (SORase, EC.1.1.1.25), phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC.4.3.1.5), and chalcone flavanone isomerase (CHFI, EC.5.5.1.6) were investigated in the skin. These enzyme activities were high during early development of the young berry, but rapidly decreased thereafter, and were activated again when rapid anthocyanin synthesis subsequently occurred. When PAL from the young berry was analyzed by isoelectricfocusing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (IEF-PAGE), it showed a single activity band with a pI value of approximately 5.4, whereas PAL from the ripe berry showed two activity bands with pIs of 5.4 and 6.5. Thus, SORase, PAL, and CHFI seem to be involved in anthocyanin accumulation simultaneously, and newly synthesized isozyme of PAL may play a key role in pigment formation in ‘Olympia’ skin. The function of these enzyme activities in young berry is also discussed in this text.     

Background Data for General Toxicology Parameters in RccHan:WIST Rats at 8, 10, 19 and 32 Weeks of Age

Recently, RccHan(TM):WIST (Wistar Hannover) rats were introduced to toxicity studies in Japan. The present study was performed to obtain control data for general toxicological parameters as an aid for interpretation of results in toxicity studies using this strain of rats. Four test groups comprising of 25 male and 25 female RccHan(TM):WIST rats were housed for 2, 4, 13 or 26 weeks from 6 weeks of age and observed and examined for clinical observation, body weight, food consumption, urinalysis, hematology, blood chemistry, organ weight, necropsy and/or histopathology. Ophthalmological examination was not conducted in this study, and the data in this report were obtained from an ongoing 104-week background study in RccHan(TM):WIST rats. These data were compared with the historical control data of CD(SD) (Sprague-Dawley) and/or F344 (Fischer) rats. The body weights of RccHan(TM):WIST rats were lower than those of CD(SD) rats and higher than those of F344 rats. The ophthalmological examination revealed a greater incidence of focal corneal opacity. Histopathology revealed focal mineralization of the cornea and Berlin blue-positive pigmentation in the epididymal interstitium as well as hepatocytes. Other than the above, some minor differences were found in urinalysis, hematology, blood chemistry and organ weights as compared with CD(SD) rats.     

Spontaneous Subcutaneous Sarcoma in a 50-week-old Male Wistar Hannover GALAS Rat

A subcutaneous mass was noted in the abdomen of a 50-week-old male Wistar Hannover GALAS rat. Histologically, the tumor was composed of vimentin-positive small round cells with scant cytoplasm arranged in a trabecular, sheet or pericytoma-like pattern and spindle cells arranged in a bundle pattern and vimentin-negative round cells proliferating in an island-shaped pattern. Argentophilic thin fibers were observed to wrap up the individual cells, and some of the tumor cells showed coexpression of vimentin and cytokeratin that formed juxtanuclear globes in the cytoplasm by double immunohistostaining. Transmission electron microscopy did not reveal any characteristic features suggesting cellular differention toward a specific cell type. Based on these findings, it was difficult to specify the origin, and the tumor was diagnosed as a poorly differentiated mesenchymal tumor and classified as a sarcoma, NOS (not otherwise specified).     

Association of an SNP marker in exon 24 of a class 3 phosphoinositide‐3‐kinase (PIK3C3) gene with production traits in Duroc pigs

A C?T single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) on exon 24 of the porcine class 3 phosphoinositide‐3‐kinase (PIK3C3) gene is considered a possible genetic marker for selecting backfat (BF) thickness and carcass fat, although only one study has published results on its effects by performing experiments on a single resource family. We analyzed the association of this PIK3C3 polymorphism with production traits in 739 Duroc pigs. The C allele frequency was 67.9% in our study population. PIK3C3 polymorphism showed significant effects on average daily weight gain (ADG), BF thickness, intermuscular fat content (IMF), and the size of the loin eye muscle area (EMA). The C alleles increased ADG, BF and IMF, and decreased EMA. The predicted differences in traits between the homozygous pigs of the C and T alleles were 40 g/day for DG, 1.2 mm for BF, 0.44% for IMF, and 1.6 cm² for EMA. Furthermore, the statistical models for estimating the breeding values of each trait had lower Akaike's information criterion values when adding PIK3C3 genotype information. We therefore confirmed that the polymorphism in PIK3C3 (C2604T) has the potential to be a genetic marker for production traits in Duroc pigs.     

Analysis and comparison of glucocerebroside species from three edible sea cucumbers using liquid chromatography-ion trap-time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Sphingolipids constitute a highly diverse and complex class of molecules and exhibit important physiological functions. Glucocerebrosides are anticipated to play a positive role in human nutrition. In this study, complicated glucocerebrosides from three specimens of edible sea cucumbers, specifically, Acaudina molpadioides, Cucumaria frondosa, and Apostichopus japonicus, were rapidly identified using liquid chromatography-ion trap-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LCMS-IT-TOF), which is a powerful analysis tool. [M + H](+), [M + Na](+), and [M + H - H(2)O](+) in positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode were used for MS/MS analysis to obtain product ion spectra. Various long-chain bases of glucocerebrosides were found in these sea cucumbers. Two of the most common long-chain bases were 2-amino-1,3-dihydroxy-4-heptadecene (d17:1) and 4,8-sphingadienine (d18:2), which were acylated to form saturated and monounsaturated nonhydroxy and monohydroxy fatty acids with 18-25 carbon atoms. The glucocerebroside molecular species were the most complicated in the sea cucumber C. frondosa and were the simplest in the sea cucumber A. molpadioides.     

A seasonal behavior of surface soil moisture condition in a reclaimed tropical peatland

Soil moisture condition is essential to regulate the release of soil carbon from a drained peatland since aerobic microbial activities can be encouraged through oxygen supply associated with dewatering the soil layer while they may be discouraged under too dry conditions. Aiming to characterize the soil moisture condition in a reclaimed tropical peatland, we monitored the volumetric water content at 5?cm depth (θ _5?cm), groundwater level (GWL) and rainfall for 20 months from March 2010 to November 2011 in an oil palm field in Nakhon-Si-Thammarat, Thailand. We also measured the soil water retention curve and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity (k) for a series of matric potential (h) to simulate the moisture condition monitored in the field by using the Buckingham-Darcy's flux law. During the dry season in 2010, the θ _5?cm consistently stayed lower than 0.35?m³?m^–3 with the GWL lower than a depth of 30?cm. In the transition from the dry season to the rainy season in 2010, the GWL rose to the land surface with peaks and dips across the time for about one month with the θ _5?cm increasing toward saturation. During the rainy season where the GWL stayed near or above the land surface, the θ _5?cm remained the field-saturated value of 0.58?m³?m^–3 on average, less than the laboratory-saturated value of 0.63?m³?m^–3, suggesting the development of a significant amount of entrapped air-phase. Hysteretic behavior in the measured θ _5?cm–GWL relation also supported that the top soil layer refuses to absorb water in wetting processes. The simulated θ _5?cm based on the measured k(h) and soil water retention curves demonstrated that the ease with which the top soil dries during a dry season was due mainly to the low k(h) value in the dried condition, while the slope of the θ(h) curve was so moderate that the soil layer could retain moisture for maintaining liquid water supply to the surface from the dropped GWL. Sensitivity analyses while varying the magnitude of both k(h) and evaporation rate (E) suggested that the k(h) function was more deterministic than the value of E in making the land surface easily dried. As the GWL stayed lower than 30?cm in depth for a total of 187 days out of the year monitored, while surface-ponding conditions took place for 120 days of the year, it was concluded that either the extremely dried condition or the saturated-moisture condition had dominantly occurred in the study site through a year and, thus, there may only be a limited time when soil organic matter near the land surface is in favorable moisture conditions for aerobic decomposition.     

The role of macronutrients in cabbage-head formation

Abstract

Cabbage plants were grown at graded levels of nitrogen supply and light intensity, and the combined effects on cabbage-head development were studied during the spring and autumn seasons.

The cabbage-head yield (i.e. dry weight of inner head leaves) was the highest at 50 ppm N in the nutrient solution, followed by 500 and 5 ppm N at full light intensity, and decreased with decrease in the, light intensity by shading. The decrease in cabbage-head yield caused by the shading was greater at high nitrogen levels during the autumn (low solar energy) season than during the spring (high solar energy) season. As the nitrogen supply increased or the light intensity decreased during both the spring and autumn seasons, nitrogen, especially soluble N, accumulated and the carbohydrate (sugar and starch) content decreased in the plants. Cabbage-head development occurred efficiently when the total N content in the outer leaves remained at about 2–3% and the carbohydrate production was large at full light intensity.     

Effects of bicarbonate ions and pH on acquisition and maintenance of potential for motility in ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis Temminck et Schlegel (Osmeridae), spermatozoa

The effects of extracellular ions on the acquisition and maintenance of the potential for motility in the spermatozoa of the ayu, Plecoglossus altivelis Temminck et Schlegel (Osmeridae), were examined. Testicular spermatozoa and milt spermatozoa were obtained from fully matured males and diluted with buffered solution (BS, 20 mM HEPES–NaOH, pH 7.5). Testicular spermatozoa showed a significantly low rate of motility (0.8 ± 0.4%), whereas milt spermatozoa showed a high rate (89.4 ± 2.1%). The spermatozoa were incubated with various isotonic media for 2 h, diluted with BS, and changes in the rates of motility were then compared. When incubated for 2 h with artificial seminal plasma (ASP), corresponding in terms of ionic constituents to seminal plasma buffered at pH 8.0, both spermatozoa showed a high rate of motility. Testicular spermatozoa acquired and milt spermatozoa maintained the potential for motility in response to the HCO₃^– ion concentrations (between 0 and 20 mM) in the ASP. The differences in the pH of the ASP had a significant effect on the acquisition and maintenance of the potential for motility, and spermatozoa showed the highest rate of motility with the ASP at pH 8.0 and 8.5. These results suggest that the quality of milt in the ayu can be regulated by controlling the concentration of bicarbonate and the pH of the incubating media.     

Biochemical composition of eggsin relation to egg quality in the Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica

This paper presents the relationship between egg quality and egg biochemical composition of cultured and wild Japanese eel, Anguilla japonica. Eggs were obtained by artificialinduction of maturation. Fertilization and hatching rates were used as characteristics of egg quality. Egg quality characteristics showed large variation; fertilization rate, 0–96; hatching rate, 0–84%. The biochemical composition also showed a large variation. There was no marked relationship between egg quality and fatty acid contents of eggs, except for n-6 highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA). Both the fertilization and hatching ratesincreased proportionally withincreases of the -tocopherol g(-Toc) contentin eggs. A more significant correlation was found between the amount of -Toc relative to the amount of HUFA and egg quality. The results of this study show that the egg quality of Japanese eel is affected by the –Toc level, andin particular, the ratio of -Toc to HUFAin the eggs. Abbreviations: BHT – butylhydroxytoluene; EFA – essential fatty acids; FAME – fatty acid methyl esters; HPLC – high performance liquid chromatography; HUFA – highly unsaturated fatty acids; NADH – nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide; NADPH - nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; ROS – reactive oxygen species; -Toc –-tocopherol.