Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from Great Cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo hanedae) in Japan

Wild birds are recognized as disseminators of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria into the environment. Here, we isolated AMR indicator bacteria from 198 Great Cormorant cloacal swabs collected in Shiga (n=90), Oita (n=52), Gifu (n=29), and Gunma (n=27) Prefectures, Japan, in 2018 and 2019. In total, 198 Aeromonas spp. and 194 Escherichia spp. were isolated, and their antimicrobial susceptibility was examined. Aeromonas spp. were resistant to colistin (8.6%), nalidixic acid (4%), and other antimicrobials (<2%), with 3.0% positivity for mcr-3. Escherichia spp. showed resistance to colistin (3.1%), ampicillin (2.6%), tetracycline (2.1%), and other antimicrobials (<2%). This study shows the presence of AMR bacteria in Great Cormorants, indicating that these birds potentially disseminate AMR bacteria.     

Distribution patterns of five pleuronectid species on the continental slope off the Pacific coast of northern Honshu,Japan

Information on the distributions of demersal and benthic fishes is fundamental for stock assessment and management. Spatiotemporal changes in the distribution patterns of five pleuronectid species (flathead flounder Hippoglossoides dubius, Kamchatka flounder Atheresthes evermanni, roughscale sole Clidoderma asperrimum, slime flounder Microstomus achne, and Korean flounder Glyptocephalus stelleri) off the Pacific coast of northern Honshu, Japan, at depths of 150–900 m, were examined using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM). Densities of flathead and Korean flounder were highest in the southernmost area, where the fish were small. The body lengths of both of these species increased from 2003 to 2008, suggesting that an abundant year class was recruited in 2003. The density of Kamchatka flounder was highest in the northern area. In roughscale sole and slime flounder, there were no distinctive annual and latitudinal trends in the density distributions. The density distribution of Korean flounder was bimodal; the peaks were at depths of 210 and 410 m. The body length increased as the depth increased from 150 to 410 m, and then decreased from 410 to 550 m. Moreover, “bigger–deeper” trends were observed in flathead, Kamchatka and slime flounder.     

Foraging behavior of Osmia cornifrons in an apple orchard

An apple orchard consisting of a single commercial cultivar and of pollinizers such as Crab apples under the condition of natural pollination needs pollinators for stable fruit production. We investigated the foraging behavior of pollinators, especially Osmia cornifrons Radoszkowski, in order to evaluate their use instead of honeybees.     

Characteristics of an aminopeptidase from Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica) pollen

A peptidase from Japanese cedar pollen, Jc-peptidase, was clarified to preferentially hydrolyze an MCA substrate of Phe-MCA (L-phenylalanyl-4-methylcoumaryl-7-amide). This study examined substrate specificities of Jc-peptidase using oligopeptides. Jc-peptidase hydrolyzed Phe-Phe and Tyr-Phe effectively and hydrolyzed Leu-Phe, Met-Phe, and Arg-Phe moderately. Other substrates such as Ala-Phe, Asp-Phe, and Pro-Phe were not hydrolyzed with the peptidase. Results obtained with a series of aminoacyl-Phe peptides were compatible with the facts obtained for MCA substrates except for Arg-MCA. Effects of amino acid residues in the P1' position were also examined using Phe-amino acids. An N-terminal phenylalanine residue was actually released from bioactive peptides such as molluscan cardioexcitatory neuropeptide (FMRF-NH(2)). Because the activity was inhibited with Zn(2+) and EDTA, Jc-peptidase was inferred to belong to the metalloproteases. The N-terminal amino acid sequence was determined to be APIGVQLEIEENYVHMYNGF and an internal sequence to be EIFAATFNVDEETEA, but no homology with other proteins was found.     

EFFECTS OF CARBONIZED CHICKEN MANURE ON THE GROWTH,NODULATION, YIELD,NITROGEN AND PHOSPHORUS CONTENTS OF FOUR GRAIN LEGUMES

The effects of carbonized chicken manure (CCM) on the growth, nodulation, yield, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) contents of four grain legumes (soybean, cowpea, common bean and adzuki bean) were evaluated in a greenhouse experiment. Carbonized chicken manure produced from chicken manure dried in a furnace at 450°C was used in this experiment. The manure was incorporated into the sandy loam soil of each grain legume at two rates (0 kg N ha^?1 and 100 kg N ha^?1) three weeks before sowing. Growth, nodulation and total biomass N and P were evaluated at peak flowering stage of growth. The CCM showed positive effects on nodule number and weight of soybean and cowpea while it depressed nodule number in adzuki bean. Biomass total N content of soybean and cowpea increased with CCM supply while it decreased in adzuki bean. Biomass and seed total P content of soybean, cowpea and adzuki bean all increased in response to CCM application. Soybean and cowpea seed yields increased by 27% and 43% respectively in response to CCM supply. There was a strong positive correlation between seed P content and seed yield of soybean which indicates the importance of elemental P to soybean seed yield. No such phenomenon was observed in adzuki bean. A strong positive correlation was also observed between seed total N content and seed yield of the grain legumes. The results indicate that although common bean had the highest biomass total P content at peak flowering stage both vegetative and reproductive growth were poor due to the unsuitably high day/night temperatures in the greenhouse. Application of CCM slightly depressed yield of adzuki bean due to the reduction in the number of pods per pot and the 100 seed weight. This study shows that CCM is a good source of N and P for the growth, nodulation and yield of some grain legumes particularly soybean and cowpea.     

Combination of supercritical CO2 and vacuum distillation for the fractionation of bergamot oil

Supercritical CO2 can be used to separate oxygenated compounds from essential oils. This technique still cannot replace vacuum distillation as an industrial process because of low recoveries and inconsistent results. In the present work, a comparison between the two methods was made in terms of composition, recovery, and color. Vacuum distillation and supercritical CO2 are complementary processes for producing high quality oxygenated compounds with high recovery rates. The former is more suitable for removing monoterpenes at low fraction temperatures (< or =308 K), and the latter is more suitable for separating oxygenated compounds from pigments and waxes. Consequently, the two methods were combined. For supercritical CO2 fractionation, the parameters of pressure, temperature gradient, and the ratio of solvent to feed were investigated for the fractionation of oxygenated compounds with high recoveries (> or =85%) and without other macromolecules, such as pigments and waxes.     

Quality prediction of Japanese green tea using pyrolyzer coupled GC/MS based metabolic fingerprinting

A couple between pyrolyzer and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has allowed a fast, simple, and low-cost approach to evaluate a quality of Japanese green tea without any sample preparation or derivatization techniques. Using our method, errors from sample preparation could be avoided since raw samples were directly extracted through the extreme heat of the pyrolyzer. In addition, undesired reactions from expensive derivatizing agents, which are commonly needed to treat the samples before analyzing with GC/MS, could be omitted. In order to illustrate the efficiency of this technique, a set of green tea samples from the Tea contest in 2005 in the Kansai area were used. Projection to latent structure by means of partial least squares (PLS) along with orthogonal signal correction (OSC) was selected to explain the relation between green tea's metabolite profiling and its quality. The quality of the model was validated by testing and comparing the predictive ability to the respective model.