Effects of leptin and leptin peptide amide on the release of luteinizing hormone, growth hormone and prolactin from cultured porcine anterior pituitary cells

The present study was carried out to determine whether leptin or leptin (116–130) peptide amide (lep (116–130)), an active fragment of the native protein in rats, is able to stimulate the release of luteinizing hormone (LH), growth hormone (GH) or prolactin (PRL) from cultured porcine anterior pituitary (AP) cells in vitro. The AP cells were obtained from 6 month‐old pigs and were incubated for 3 h with 10^?11?10^?7 mol/L leptin or lep (116–130) after being cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium for 3–4 days. Leptin significantly increased the concentration of LH and GH in the culture medium at concentrations of 10^?8 and 10^?7 mol/L, respectively, compared with the controls (P < 0.05). Leptin did not increase the concentration of PRL in the culture medium. In contrast to these results, no effects of lep (116–130) on the release of LH, GH or PRL were seen in the cultured cells. These results suggest that leptin stimulates the release of LH and GH by acting directly on porcine AP cells, and that a fragment of leptin protein comprising amino acids 116–130 is not associated with the secretion of hormones in pigs.     

Effects of intracerebroventricular injections of leptin on the release of luteinizing hormone and growth hormone in castrated calves

The purpose of the present study was to clarify the hypothalamic action of leptin on the secretion of luteinizing hormone (LH) and growth hormone (GH) in cattle. Intracerebroventricular (the third ventricle) injections of leptin were given to fully fed castrated Holstein calves. Blood samples were collected at 10‐min intervals for 60 min after injection and 20‐min intervals for 60 min before injection and for 60–180 min after injection through an indwelling catheter in the external jugular vein. Plasma LH and GH levels were examined by homologous radioimmunoassay. The administration of 10 µg of leptin stimulated a significant (P < 0.05) release of GH but not LH. Average GH levels began to rise after 30 min and were significantly increased at 40, 50 and 60 min after the injection, compared with the respective control values (P < 0.05). The present result suggests that leptin may act partly on the hypothalamus to stimulate the release of GH in castrated calves.     

Degradation characteristics and tannin bioassay of some browse forage from Kenya harvested during the dry season

The potential nutritional value of six species of browse forage from Kenya harvested during the dry season were evaluated by chemical composition, in sacco dry matter (DM) degradation and in vitro gas production technique. The effect of tannins on the rumen fermentation of the forage was evaluated using polyethylene glycol (PEG) in an in vitro study. The chemical composition of the species of browse forage differed significantly (P < 0.05). The content of organic matter ranged from 846.7 to 946.5 g/kg DM. The forage had a high crude protein content (155.5–280.9 g/kg DM) and variable content of neutral detergent fiber (NDF, 236.2–682.8 g/kg DM). The content of total extractable tannins was generally low (0.6–38.5 g/kg DM). At 24 h of incubation, the in sacco DM disappearance ranged from 31.2% to 84.2%. The effective DM degradability also ranged from 29.7 to 73.5%. The gas production after 96 h incubation ranged from 17.5 to 44.2 mL/200 mg DM. Use of PEG indicated that tannins had an inhibitory effect on rumen microbial fermentation and this is dependant upon the amount and activity of the tannins present. The estimated in vitro organic matter digestibility and metabolizable energy also increased numerically with the PEG addition. The result of this study indicates that such species of browse forage have the potential to be used as feed supplements for ruminants, especially during the dry season.     

Ethanol production from sugi pulp under simultaneous saccharification and fermentation using a cocktail enzyme of T. reesei and A. tubingensis produced by solid-state fermentation

The process of solid-state fermentation was used to produce a cocktail enzyme of Trichoderma reesei ATCC 66587 and Aspergillus tubingensis KRCF 700-33. Wheat bran, corncob, and sugi pulp were supplemented with ammonium sulfate as an enzyme-producing medium using T. reesei and A. tubingensis. The corncob blend ratio, duration of incubation, and ammonium sulfate concentration were optimized for enhancing cellulase production from T. reesei using a Box-Behnken design. Filter paper degrading activity more than tripled when T. reesei was grown in the optimized medium, as compared with the initial medium. The highest activity of 4.03 FPU/ml (about 29 FPU/g of dry material) was obtained with a cocktail enzyme having a 25 % content of A. tubingensis and 75 % of T. reesei. The sugi pulp was then fermented to ethanol with the cocktail enzyme and thermotolerant yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae BA-11) under simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) at 40 °C. An ethanol concentration of 4.48 % (w/v) was achieved using the cocktail enzyme (4 FPU/g-pulp) that was produced on-site with a substrate loading level of 12.5 wt %, which achieved an ethanol yield of 76 % after 72 h.     

WIPPER: an accurate and efficient field phenotyping platform for large-scale applications

More accurate, rapid, and easy phenotyping tools are required to match the recent advances in high-throughput genotyping for accelerating breeding and genetic analysis. The conventional data recording in field notebooks and then inputting data to computers for further analysis is inefficient, time-consuming, laborious, and prone to human error. Here, we report WIPPER (for Wireless Plant Phenotyper), a new phenotyping platform that combines field phenotyping and data recording with the aid of Bluetooth communication, thus saving time and labor not only for field data recoding but also for inputting data to computers. Additionally, it eliminates the risk of human error associated with phenotyping and inputting data. We applied WIPPER to 100 individuals of a rice recombinant inbred line (RIL) for measuring leaf width and relative chlorophyll content (SPAD value), and were able to record an accurate data in a significantly reduced time compared with the conventional method of data collection. We are currently using WIPPER for routine management of rice germplasm including recording and documenting information on phenotypic data, seeds, and DNA for their accelerated utilization in crop breeding.     

Chromosome associations and crossability with Iris ensata Thunb. in induced amphidiploids of I. laevigata Fisch. × I. ensata

Summary The chromosome associations of amphidiploids of I. laevigata × I. ensata were analysed and compared with those of the parental species and F₁ hybrids of I. laevigata × I. ensata. The F₁ hybrids showed partial chromosome associations. Their mean chromosome association per cell was 20.73I+3.63II, although the mean chromosome association per cell in the parental species was 0.09I+15.96II for I. laevigata and 0.03I+11.98II for I. ensata, respecively. In contrast, the normal association (28II) was partially restored in the amphidiploids. Their mean chromosome association per cell was 1.93I+26.48II+0.28III+0.03IV+0.03V. In this study, moreover, the crossability between I. ensata (2X and 4X) and the amphidiploids and between I. laevigata and the amphiliploids was examined. No hybrid plants were obtained from both reciprocal crosses between I. ensata (2X) and the amphidiploids and between I. laevigata and the amphidiploids. Only the cross of I. ensata (4X) × the amphidiploids in the reciprocal crosses produced hybrid plants. The observation of their somatic chromosome numbers indicates that these are true hybrid plants between autotetraploid I. ensata and the amphidiploids, and such plants can be called autoallotetraploids between I. ensata and I. laevigata. The interspecific cross-breeding of I. ensata using the autoallotetraploids is discussed.     

Hybrid plant of Phaseolus vulgaris L. and P. lunatus L. obtained by means of embryo rescue and confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis of rDNA

Summary Hybridizations between three lines of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and two lines of the lima bean (P. lunatus L.) were attempted in order to transfer characters from the lima bean to the common bean. A total of 115 interspecific hybrid embryos were rescued and cultured, and 7 plantlets were eventually transferred to soil. The most compatible cross was Edogawa XPI164891, which had a high proportion of expanded ovules, and from which we obtained one mature interspecific hybrid. In general, morphological characters of the hybrid were intermediate between the parents, and the chromosome number of the hybrid was 2n=22 the same as that of both parents. The hybrid nature of the progeny plant was confirmed by restriction endonuclease analysis of rDNA. Species specific fragments were detected when total DNA was digested by BamHI, and BamHI-digested total DNA of the hybrid contained all fragments from both parents. Selves and backcrosses were attempted, but no progeny were obtained. The only hybrid obtained was completely sterile and meiosis highly irregular.     

Fusarium proliferatum, an additional bulb rot pathogen of Chinese chive

This is the first report of a disease of Chinese chive caused by Fusarium proliferatum. Because the symptoms are similar to those of the bulb rot (kampu-byo in Japanese) caused by F. oxysporum, we propose F. proliferatum as another causal agent of bulb rot of Chinese chive. Symptoms are wilting of leaves and brown rot on the basal bulbs of Chinese chive. A Fusarium sp., frequently isolated from symptomatic plants, produced identical symptoms on Chinese chive after inoculation, and was reisolated from the diseased plants. The fungus was identified as F. proliferatum based on morphological, cultural, and molecular characteristics.