Method for estimation of toxic endotoxin in inactivated salmonella vaccine in D-galactosamine-sensitized mice

We developed a method to estimate the content of the toxic endotoxin in inactivated Salmonella vaccine in D-galactosamine-sensitized mice. Ten-fold serially diluted vaccines were injected intraperitoneally into D-galactosamine-sensitized mice. Lethality in the mice was judged 3 days after the injection. The best result was obtained when C3H/HeN mice were used for the test. Correlation was observed between the endotoxin content measured by Limulus amoebocyte lysate assay and the LD50 in the mouse safety test (r=0.81). These results suggested that this test could be applied to the estimation of endotoxin content in inactivated vaccines of Salmonella.     

A case of shaker dog disease in a miniature dachshund

A male miniature Dachshund, twenty-two months of age, was referred with paroxysmal generalized tremors as a main clinical sign. There were no abnormalities in the neurological examination except the lack of bilateral menace responses, and in the magnetic resonance imaging of its brain. Analysis of cerebro-spinal fluid revealed a slight rise in protein concentration and an increase in the number of cells. This case with brown hair was diagnosed as the shaker dog disease, which has also been well known as "little white shakers" syndrome due to being found in small dogs with white hair, because the clinical signs were exactly analogous to the shaker dog disease, and the generalized tremors disappeared on the first day after the administration of prednisolone and diazepam.     

Transsphenoidal hypophysectomy for four dogs with pituitary ACTH-producing adenoma

Four dogs diagnosed as pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism were treated with transsphenoidal hypophysectomy and postoperative hormone supplementation therapy. On histological examination of the resected tissues, the tumors were ACTH-producing adenoma of the anterior lobe. Clinical signs such as alopecia and calcinosis cutis, as well as endocrinological abnormalities, were markedly alleviated after surgery. The clinical courses of these 4 dogs suggest that transsphenoidal hypophysectomy may be a useful treatment for pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism.     

Characterization of Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from bovine mastitis in Japan

Fifty-three strains of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from cows affected with mastitis from 21 prefectures in Japan were characterized by phenotypic and genotypic methods. Thirty-three (62.3%) strains showed biotype K-beta+CV:A, coagulase type VI, and sensitivity to bovine phages of group III or IV. These 33 strains could be subdivided into two groups on the basis of the production of staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) and on toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). By pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, the 16 SEC- and TSST-1-producing strains showed similar patterns that differed by only a few fragments, suggesting that they were genetically closely related. Fifteen of 17 non SEC-producing strains which did not produce any other SEs and TSST-1 were genetically different from the SEC-producing strains and showed genetic diversity.     

Changes in concentrations of plasma metabolites and insulin-like growth factor-1 after feeding in Japanese Black and Japanese Shorthorn cattle

The aim was to characterize the changes of plasma component concentrations after feeding in Japanese Black (B) and Japanese Shorthorn (S) cattle. Eight females, five B and three S, with a mean bodyweight (standard deviation) of 282.0 (20.3) kg were selected and supplied with only water for 28 h after feeding. Blood was taken from the jugular vein at 4‐h intervals for 32 h after feeding. Metabolite (cholesterol, CL; glucose, GLU; nonesterified fatty acid, NEFA; triacylglycerol, TG; total protein, TP) and insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1) concentrations in plasma were measured. In both breeds GLU tended to decrease linearly with a similar slope. Differences between the initial mean NEFA at 4 h after feeding (Start) and that at 24 h after the start (End) were significant in both breeds, but S increased significantly more than B at and after 8 h from the Start. The TG in S tended to change more than in B, and CL and IGF‐1 in both breeds changed continuously at similar levels. The TP in B tended to decrease more slowly and be lower than S. The change in NEFA, especially, suggests that nutritional status sensitively reflects genetic background.     

In vitro shoot development ofEucalyptus citriodora on Rockwool in the film culture vessel under CO2 enrichment

An efficient system for growingin vitro plantlets ofEucalyptus citriodora Hook was developed. In the conventional closed system of culture with 2% sugar-containing gellan gum Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.02 mg/l indole-3-isobutyric acid, a serious defoliation of shoots was observed after three weeks. In contrast, plantlets grown on the sugar-free MS medium in the aerated bottle under 3,000 ppm CO₂ enriched condition did not show any defoliation. A marked enhanced growth of plantlets and no defoliation were observed on rockwool with the sugar-free liquid MS medium in the “Culture Pack”, made of fluorocarbon polymer film, under CO₂ enriched condition. CO₂ enrichment for this sugar-free “Culture Pack”-Rockwool system was also found to contribute to an improved growth of the plants in acclimatization. A part of this paper was presented at the 106th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Forestry Society (1995).     

A proposed method to determine adequate amount of fertilizers to be applied to crops

To determine the adequate amounts of fertilizers to be applied to crops is one of the most important problems in the field of soil science.     

Nutrio-physiological studies on the tomato plant II. Translocation of photosynthates

The percentage translocation from the leaf is low in the tomato; it is as low as 16 per cent in some cases and the maximum value observed is 62 per cent.

The ability of a leaf to act as the sink for the photosynthates of other leaves becomes very low with age, but it serves as a sink for its own photosynthates for a long period.

The photosynthates of a leaf may be translocated to any alnk, but the major translocation stream under ordinary conditions is determined by the growth stage of the plant and the position of the source leaf. In this sense thero are source-sink partnerships between certain leaves and organs: The major sinks of L₅, L₉, L₁₁, L₁₄, and L₁₆ are the roots, T-1, T-Il, T-III, and T-III, respectively, although the partnerships are weak and flexible.