On the nature of fresh volcanic ashes as parent material ejected from the Sakurajima and Aso volcanoes

There are few pedological studies in Japan of fresh volcanic ash. Fundamental information of the material from which Japanese volcanic-ash soils have developed, is of importance to obtain a better understanding of pedogenesis of such soils. The present paper deals with the mechanical. mmeralogical, and chemical characteristics of fresh ash ejected from the Sakurajima and Aso volcanoes which are among the most active in Japan.     

Method of extracting organic acid from flooded soil

Investigations on the extraction and determination of organic acids in flooded soil have been reported by TAKAI (1) and TAKIJIMA (2). TAKAI applied water to extract acids from soil and determined them by BULLEN's method (3). However, TAKIJIMA reported that organic acid could not be completely extracted by TAKAI's procedure, especially in soil with a high organic matter content such as muck and peaty soils, and proposed an extraction procedure with 0.5 N sulfuric acid. He also discussed the absorption of acids by soil.     

Characteristics and classification of an unirrigated anthropogenic-alluvial soil found in the Kumamoto Plain

In Japan anthropogenic-alluvial soils excluding irrigated rice soils are lagging for behind other genetic soil types in pedological investigations. Although there are some investigations of anthropogenic-alluvial soils used for mulberry plantations, orchards, vegetable gardens, and seeding beds for trees, the main object of these investigations is not pedological. Kanno et al. (1) reported that unirrigated anthropogenic-alluvial soils used for vegetable growing in the Chikugo Plain resemble the “Alochthonous brown warp soil” defined by Kubiena (2). First of all, it is of great importance to accumulate general data for unirrigated anthropogenic-alluvial soils and to develop the classification principles for them. Classification problems will be settled in accordance with the accumulated data. This paper deals with characteristics of an unirrigated anthorpogenic-alluvial soil found in the Kumamoto Plain and with classification principles for it. These principles have almost never been described for a pedological standpoint in Japan.     

Genesis and characteristics of brown forest soils derived from Serpentine in Kyushu,Japan

One of the main objects of the present study is to determine what genetic soil types have been formed from ultra-basic rocks such as serpentine under humid, subtropical conditions. Red-Yellow soils, which are important zonal soils in Kyushu, have not been formed from serpentine, but Brown Forest soils have been formed, as will be described in the part 2 of this paper. This fact for the most part has been governed by the mineralogical and chemical peculiarities of serpentine. Therefore the part 1 of this paper deals with the mineralogical and chemical characteristics of serpentine as a parent rock from which Brown Forest soils have developed.     

On the interlamellar complex between montmorillonite and organic substance in certain soil

KODAMA and SCHNITZER (1) have shown that organic substance of the fluvic acid fraction separated from a podzol soil could penetrate into the interlamellar region of montmorillonite. But the natural occurence of such a complex has not been observed yet (2).     

Developmental Competence of Frozen-thawed Blastocysts from Fair-quality Bovine Embryos Cultured with β-Mercaptoethanol

Two-hundred-and-thirty-one fair-quality embryos at the compacted morula stage collected from 89 superovulated cows were cultured in TCM199 or Brinster's BMOC-3 medium with or without 100 microM beta-mercaptoethanol (beta-ME). After 24 h culture, a total of 142 fair-quality embryos developed to the blastocyst stage, of which 106 were subsequently frozen with 1.8 M ethylene glycol. The mean cell number and development rates of frozen-thawed blastocysts from the fair-quality embryos cultured in TCM199 containing beta-ME were higher than those of the fair-quality embryos directly frozen without culture. The pregnancy rates obtained with frozen blastocysts from fair-quality embryos tended to be lower than those of non-cultured fresh fair-quality embryos and cultured fresh blastocysts. These results indicate that the inclusion of beta-ME in pre-freezing culture media improve the development of frozen-thawed blastocysts from fair-quality embryos, but not the pregnancy rate.     

A Recessive Lesion Mimic Mutant of Rice with Elevated Resistance to Fungal Pathogens

A gamma-ray-induced rice mutant, M1009, which spontaneously forms brown specks on leaves was isolated. In appearance, these lesions very much resemble those that are produced during the hypersensitive resistance response of rice to pathogens. A similar phenotype has been associated with a number of mutants in maize or Arabidopsis, which have been briefly categorized as disease lesion mimics. Brown speck formation was suppressed at temperatures of 25°C and above, and was severe at 20°C. Light irradiation is also required to initiate brown specks. In addition, the mutant exhibits heightened resistance to two major fungal pathogens of rice, Magnaporthe grisea and Cochliobolus miyabeanus. Genetic characterization of the mutant has indicated that its les-bs (lesion-brown speck) phenotype segregates as a monogenic recessive mutation. Received 13 September 1999/ Accepted in revised form 15 December 1999     

Anaphylaxis after vaccination for cats in Japan

Severe adverse reactions in cats after vaccination were examined from 316 cases reported to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) in Japan during 15-year period from April 2004 to March 2019. We found that 130 (41%) showed anaphylaxis, and 99 (76%) of the 130 cases of anaphylaxis resulted in death. Veterinarians should be well prepared to deal with vaccine-associated anaphylaxis in cats. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) as indicator of purification was detected at high levels in commercially available feline vaccines. BSA might derive from fetal calf serum in culture media. This study provides useful information about anaphylaxis including critical details of the potential clinical signs associated with adverse events to feline vaccination.     

Performance of Bangladesh indigenous rice in a weed infested field and separation of allelopathy from resource competition

This study aimed to identify the potential allelopathic indigenous rice (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica) varieties from Bangladesh using a performance study in a weed‐infested field and to assess the extent of allelopathic interference relative to resource competition in a glasshouse experiment. Six varieties – namely, “Boterswar,” “Goria,” “Biron” and “Kartiksail” as the most allelopathic, “Hashikolmi” as weakly allelopathic and “Holoi” as nonallelopathic – were raised following a nonweed control method. The infestation levels of weed species were calculated using Simpson's Diversity Index (SDI), which ranged from 0.2 to 0.56. However, a significant correlation coefficient (0.87, P < 0.001) was obtained from these field data compared with the root inhibition percentage from the laboratory bioassay, and the “Boterswar” variety was the most allelopathic. The interactions between the allelopathic variety “Boterswar,” weakly allelopathic variety “Hashikolmi” and Echinochloa oryzicola via a target (rice)‐adjacent (E. oryzicola) cogrowth culture were determined in a hydroponic arrangement. The relative competitive intensity (RCI) and the relative neighbor effect (RNE) values showed that the crop–weed interaction was facilitation for “Boterswar” and competition for “Hashikolmi” and E. oryzicola in rice/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures. The allelopathic effects of “Boterswar” were much higher than the resource competition in rice/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures. The converse was observed for “Hashikolmi.” Moreover, the mineral content of E. oryzicola was severely affected by “Boterswar”/E. oryzicola cogrowth cultures’ exudate solution. Therefore, the allelopathic potential of “Boterswar” variety might be useful for developing the weed‐suppressing capacity of rice, which will likely have a significant influence on paddy weed control.     

Effect of fungicide thiram on microbial communities of rice seed surface estimated by culture-dependent and culture-independent (PCR-RFLP) methods

Coating of rice seeds with fungicide Thiram improved the seed germination capability over a long period of time (11 weeks) under low temperature conditions (4 and 8°C), which simulated the sowing of rice seeds in the winter season (the farmer's slack season). To analyze the effect of Thiram on the community structure of microorganisms on the rice seed surface, culture-dependent and culture-independent (PCR-RFLP) methods were applied. PCR-RFLP patterns of 16S rDNA showed that the bacterial communities on the rice seed surface were different between coated and uncoated treatments under 8°C conditions, but that they were very similar under 4°C conditions. PCR-RFLP patterns of 18S rDNA revealed the remarkable effect of Thiram on the fungal community structure under both 4 and 8°C conditions. Although the fungal communities were quite different between coated and uncoated seeds at the beginning of incubation, the fungal communities on the coated seed surface became similar to those of uncoated seeds along with the duration of the incubation period. As the dominance percentage of Fusarium spp. among the isolates increased with the duration of the incubation period for both coated and uncoated seeds, Fusarium was considered to be a responsible for the poor germination of rice seeds that were sown in the winter season.