Internal fruit rot of netted melon caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pantoea ananatis</Emphasis> (=<Emphasis Type="Italic">Erwinia ananas</Emphasis>) in Japan

An internal fruit rot with a malodor was found in netted melons (Cucumis melo L.) in commercial greenhouses in Kochi Prefecture, Japan, in 1998, despite their healthy appearance and lack of water-soaking or brown spots on the surface. A yellow bacterium was consistently isolated from the affected fruits. To confirm the pathogenicity of eight representative isolates of the yellow bacterium, we stub-inoculated ovaries (immature-fruits) 5–7 days after artificial pollination, with a pin smeared with bacteria. After the melon fruits had grown for 60 more days, an internal fruit rot resembling the natural infection appeared, and the inoculated bacterium was reisolated. The melon isolates had properties identical with Pantoea ananatis, such as gram-negative staining, facultative anaerobic growth, indole production, phenylalanine deaminase absence, and acid production from melibiose, sorbitol, glycerol, and inositol. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rDNA sequences showed that the melon bacterium positioned closely with known P. ananatis strains. The melon bacterium had indole acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis genes (iaaM and iaaH) and a cytokinin biosynthesis gene (etz). The bacterium could be distinguished from the other ‘Pantoea’ group strains by rep-PCR genomic fingerprinting. From these results, the causal agent of internal fruit rot was identified as a strain of P.ananatis [Serrano in (Philipp J Sci 36:271–305, 1928); Mergaert et al. in (Int J Syst Bacteriol 43:162–173, 1993)]. The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the DDBJ database under accessions AB297969, AB373739, AB373740, AB373741, AB373742, AB373743 and AB373744.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pantoea ananatis</Emphasis> strains are differentiated into three groups based on reactions of tobacco and welsh onion and on genetic characteristics

Ninety-six strains of Pantoea ananatis were isolated from 14 plant species including melon, rice, tea and other crops of economic importance. They were classified into three groups (group I, II, III) based on a welsh onion stabbing assay, tobacco infiltration test, and polymerase chain reaction to detect indole acetic acid (IAA) biosynthesis genes (iaaM and iaaH) and a cytokinin biosynthesis gene (etz). Group Ι strains were characterized as causing significant blight symptom on welsh onion and inducing a hypersensitive response (HR)-like reaction on tobacco leaves after 36–48 h and encompassed 20 isolates from foxtail millet, hydrangea, pineapple, river water and rice. These 20 isolates did not possess iaaM, iaaH, or etz genes. Group II, consisting of 34 melon isolates, harbored iaaM, iaaH and etz genes, but did not cause either blight on welsh onion or HR-like reaction on tobacco. Group III strains did not have the iaaM, iaaH, and etz genes, nor did they cause any reaction on welsh onion or tobacco. The 42 strains in group III were isolated from bamboo grass, Chinese silver grass, citrus, dogwood, melon, mugwort, silk tree, sweet corn, tea and welsh onion. Representative strains of the three groups were tested for pathogenicity on melon and rice. Group Ι strains caused palea browning on rice but not internal fruit rot on melon. On the contrary, group II strains did not cause disease on rice but caused internal fruit rot on melon. Group III strains were not pathogenic on rice or melon. These results suggested that the host range of P. ananatis may be predicted by the reactions of welsh onion and tobacco and detection of iaaM, iaaH and etz genes. These tools may serve as rapid tests to identify the pathogenicity groups of P. ananatis.     

Synthesis and insecticidal/acaricidal activity of novel 3‐(2,4,6‐trisubstituted phenyl)uracil derivatives

A series of novel 3‐(2,4,6‐trisubstituted phenyl)uracil derivatives has been synthesised and assayed for insecticidal/acaricidal activity. The assay indicated certain requirements for optimal insecticidal activity, which can be summarised as follows: (a) the substituents on the phenyl ring should possess hydrophobicity and electron‐withdrawing properties, and the sum of their volumes determines the level of activity; (b) the substituent at the 6‐position on the uracil ring should also possess electron‐withdrawing properties and hydrophobicity, together with the correct volume; (c) the 1‐position on the uracil ring should be unsubstituted for activity against Nephotettix cincticeps and Epilachna vigintioctopunctata, but substituents with length C3 to C4 may be optimal for activity against Tetranychus urticae; (d) certain substituents at the 5‐position of the uracil ring give activity against E vigintioctopunctata and T urticae, but not against N cincticeps; (e) a thiocarbonyl group at the 2‐position of the uracil ring is less effective than a carbonyl group. Of the compounds assayed, 3‐(2,6‐dichloro‐4‐trifluoromethylphenyl)‐6‐trifluoromethyluracil showed high activity against all the species assayed. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Seagrass habitat reduces vulnerability of red sea bream <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pagrus major</Emphasis> juveniles to piscivorous fish predator

ABSTRACT:   Predation experiments were conducted in mesocosms to test the hypothesis that habitat complexity affects vulnerability of red sea bream Pagrus major juveniles to piscivorous fish predators. Juvenile behavior was video-recorded for 6 h in two structurally different habitats: vegetated with sea grass Zostera marina , and unvegetated 0.5-t tanks. Association behavior with seagrass was observed in the vegetated tank throughout the trials. Predation experiments were conducted with 30 red sea bream juveniles (29.9 mm body length) exposed to two individuals of the piscivorous fish predator Chinese sea bass Lateolabrax sp. (261.6 mm), for 6 h in 1.0-t tanks. Predation rate (no. of fish predated on per predator per h) was significantly lower in the vegetated tank (0.02/predator per h) than in the unvegetated tank (0.27/predator per h). Present experiments indicate that habitat complexity reduces vulnerability of juvenile red sea bream to predation by piscivorous fish by serving as physical and/or visual barriers and limiting the predator's ability to pursue and capture prey. Seagrass beds in the shallow coastal waters around Japan are suggested to be an important nursery for red sea bream since they provide the juveniles with habitat complexity as well as serve as a feeding ground.     

Determination of plasma vitamin C concentration in fattening cattle

Plasma vitamin C (ascorbic acid + dehydroascorbic acid) concentration is a good index of the nutritional status of vitamin C. However, the methodologies for storage and analyses have not been investigated in bovine plasma. The validity of an analytical method for bovine plasma using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with a spectrophotometric detector was examined. Exogenous dehydroascorbic acid was almost completely converted to ascorbic acid during the preparation for analysis with a reducing reagent, dithioerythritol. The analytical recoveries of ascorbic acid were high. Ascorbic acid was not detected after treatment with ascorbic acid oxidase. Thus, the specificity of this method is considered to be high. Although vitamin C was stable in plasma treated by dithioerythritol at ?20°C for 6 days, vitamin C in untreated plasma significantly decreased during 3‐day storage at ?20°C. These results indicate that the HPLC method is suitable for the determination of plasma vitamin C in cattle and that the storage conditions are important for determination of plasma vitamin C. Plasma vitamin C concentration ranged between 1.49 mg/L and 3.33 mg/L in fattening cattle. This result suggests that fattening cattle show large individual variation in plasma vitamin C concentration.     

Outbreak of larval Echinococcus multilocularis infection in Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) in a zoo, Hokkaido: western blotting patterns in the infected monkeys

A high prevalence of larval Echinococcus multilocularis (Em) infection was found in zoo primates in Hokkaido, Japan. In October 1997, a Japanese monkey (Macaca fuscata) died and histopathologically diagnosed as alveolar hydatidosis. Serum samples were collected from the remaining Japanese monkeys and examined for antibodies against Em by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting. Serological tests showed 12 more animals of the remaining 57 monkeys were possibly infected. Ultrasonography revealed that nine of these 12 animals had a cystic lesion in the liver. The band patterns of western blotting in the monkeys were very similar to those in human.     

Estimation of genetic parameters for carcass defects of Japanese Black cattle in Kagoshima

Cattle exhibit a range of carcass defects, including blood splash (BLS), intramuscular edema (INE), muscle steatosis (MUS), bruising (BR), trim loss (TRL) and others (OTH). These defects lower the carcass value and can result in significant economic loss to producers. We estimated the incidence, relationship with inbreeding coefficients and genetic parameters of carcass defects in Japanese Black cattle using 561 619 carcass records from Kagoshima, Japan during April 1988 through March 2011. The defect incidence ranged from 0.22% for TRL to 5.73% for BR. The incidence of MUS and BR increased from 1.21% to 6.57% and from 1.06% to 9.31%, respectively. The incidence of INE peaked at 7.44% in 1999 and decreased thereafter. We observed a positive linear relationship between the defect incidence and the inbreeding coefficients in MUS, BR and TRL (P < 0.01). The heritabilities estimated by univariate animal model with Gibbs sampling for BLS, INE, MUS, BR and TRL were 0.24, 0.06, 0.18, 0.05 and 0.02, respectively. The contribution of farm variance to phenotypic variance was negligible (0.01 to 0.04). Significant genetic correlations of TRL were estimated with MUS (0.63) and BR (0.63). Our results suggest that genetic factors contribute to the incidence of BLS and MUS.     

The survival of pathogenic bacteria and plant growth promoting bacteria during mesophilic anaerobic digestion in full‐scale biogas plants

The introduction of biogas plants is a promising way to recycle organic wastes with renewable energy production and reducing greenhouse gas. Application of anaerobic digestate as a fertilizer reduces the consumption of chemical fertilizers. In this study, the survival of pathogenic bacteria and plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) in two full‐scale biogas plants operated at mesophilic condition were investigated. Feedstock and anaerobic digestate samples were collected from biogas plants and bacteria load in samples were detected using standard dilution plate method. Pathogenic bacteria were reduced to not detected level through mesophilic digestion tank except for Campylobacter. However, it could be reduced by 98.7% through a sterilization tank. Bacillus was detected at 8.00 and 7.81 log₁₀ CFU/g dry matter in anaerobic digestates, and it was also resistant to sterilization tank. Bacillus spp. is considered to be the safe bacteria that hold remarkable abilities for promoting plant growth. The results showed that treatment at biogas plants is effective to reduce pathogenic bacteria in dairy manure, and sterilization could further reduce the sanitary risks of pathogenic bacteria relating to anaerobic digestate application. Anaerobic digestates could also be utilized as bio‐fertilizer as the high load of plant growth promoting bacteria.