Serum iron concentration is candidate inflammatory marker for respiratory diseases in beef cows

We hypothesized that the serum iron (Fe) concentration in cows with respiratory diseases is a satisfactory substitute for major inflammatory markers such as haptoglobin (HPT) and serum amyloid A (SAA). Twenty Japanese Black cows aged 279.6 ± 120.0 days were enrolled, and divided into respiratory diseases and control groups based on the presence of clinical findings of respiratory diseases. As a result, area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for plasma HPT, SAA and serum Fe concentrations for respiratory disease-associated systemic inflammation were excellent, at 1.00, 0.96 and 0.97, respectively. Therefore we confirmed that the serum Fe concentration is a satisfactory substitute for HPT and SAA in beef cows with respiratory diseases.     

Weed Control of Four Higher Plant Species in Paddy Rice Fields in Southeast Asia

Four higher plants, namely glory bowers (Clerodendrum trichotomum L.), jimsonweed (Datura stramonium L.), beggarweed (Desmodium triflorum L.) and Chinaberry (Melia azedarach L.), with the strong allelopathic potential among 19 allelopathic species from Southeast Asia, were tested for their effects on weed emergence in paddy soil and field. In a greenhouse experiment, D. stramonium, D. triflorumand M. azedarach exhibited similar inhibitory magnitude at 1 t ha^?1 achieving more than 90 % weed control. C. trichotomum achieved about 70 % weed reduction at 2 t ha^?1. In paddy fields, D. triflorum was the most promising material for weed control and attained the highest rice yield among treatments, at the concentration of 2 t ha^?1, whereas the inhibition of D. stramonium and M. azedarach was weakened in the greenhouse. No injury of rice plants was observed. These plants might be used as natural herbicides to reduce the dependence on synthetic herbicides.     

Detection of sweet and umami taste in the absence of taste receptor T1r3

The tastes of sugars (sweet) and glutamate (umami) are thought to be detected by T1r receptors expressed in taste cells. Molecular genetics and heterologous expression implicate T1r2 plus T1r3 as a sweet-responsive receptor,and T1r1 plus T1r3,as well as a truncated form of the type 4 metabotropic glutamate receptor (taste-mGluR4),as umami-responsive receptors. Here,we show that mice lacking T1r3 showed no preference for artificial sweeteners and had diminished but not abolished behavioral and nerve responses to sugars and umami compounds. These results indicate that T1r3-independent sweet- and umami-responsive receptors and/or pathways exist in taste cells.     

Effects of rumen-protected oil supplementation on finishing grazing beef cattle

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of rumen-protected oil (soybean and palm oil) in supplements for beef cattle during the fattening...     

Plant viruses and viroids in Japan

Journal of General Plant Pathology - An increasing number of plant viruses and viroids have been reported from all over the world due largely to metavirogenomics approaches with technological...     

The investigation of probiotic potential of lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Mongolian dairy products

The aims of this study were to investigate the diversity of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from traditional Mongolian dairy products, and to estimate the probiotic potential of the isolated strains. We collected 66 samples of the traditional Mongolian dairy products tarag (n = 45), airag (n = 7), aaruul (n = 8), byasulag (n = 1) and eezgii (n = 5), from which 543 LAB strains were isolated and identified based on 16S ribosomal DNA sequence. The predominant species of those products were Lactobacillus (L.) delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus, L. helveticus, L. fermentum, L. delbrueckii ssp. lactis and Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis. However, we could not detect any LAB strains from eezgii. All LAB isolates were screened for tolerance to low pH and to bile acid, gas production from glucose, and adherence to Caco‐2 cells. In vitro, we found 10 strains possess probiotic properties, and almost identified them as L. plantarum or L. paracasei subspecies, based on 16S ribosomal DNA and carbohydrate fermentation pattern. These strains were differentiated from each other individually by randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis. Additionally, it was notable that 6/10 strains were isolated from camel milk tarag from the Dornogovi province.     

Pre-exposure to sex pheromone did not affect mating behavior in the sweetpotato weevil <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cylas formicarius</Emphasis>

In sterile insect technique (SIT) programs, the released sterile males are important for their effectiveness. The use of sex pheromones to collect males is economical; however, pre-exposure to sex pheromones may affect male mating behavior, and would thus reduce the effectiveness of the SIT programs. Males exposed to sex pheromone may become attractive to other males due to pheromone adsorption on their body impregnation, prevent mating and reduce the dispersal of sterile males. We examined the effect of pre-exposure to sex pheromone on the mating behavior of male sweetpotato weevil Cylas formicarius. Pre-exposure to high-dose sex pheromone for 24 h did not affect the male mating behavior of C. formicarius, and the exposed males did not attract other males. These results suggest that male C. formicarius that were collected from a mass-rearing facility using sex pheromone can be effectively used in SIT programs.     

Sex distinction of asparagus by loop-mediated isothermal amplification and observation of seedling phenotypes

Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is a dioecious plant. In general, male and female plants are used for open-field culture and intensive cultivation, respectively. Farmers distinguish between the sexes by observing the form of the flower organs. However, because flowering begins 2?C3 years after planting, the sexes cannot be differentiated at transplantation by using this method, and planting of an all-male population is not possible. In this study, the usefulness of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a simple method of gene amplification, for sex distinction at the DNA level was determined. In addition, the phenotypic differences in seeds and seedlings of male and female plants were investigated for application as a method of early sex distinction. By using the LAMP method, the sex could be correctly identified in 100% of the seedlings, suggesting that this method is effective for sex distinction at the gene level. Principal component analysis was conducted with 11 selected parameters after investigating the seeds and seedlings of both male and female plants. The results revealed that male plants tend to have many stalks or cladophylls and female plants tend to have large plant forms, suggesting that the sexes can be distinguished by the external appearance of the seedlings before planting. LAMP and observation of the seedling phenotypes could be useful methods of sex distinction for increasing the efficiency of asparagus breeding.     

A global model of avian influenza prediction in wild birds: the importance of northern regions

Avian influenza virus (AIV) is enzootic to wild birds, which are its natural reservoir. The virus exhibits a large degree of genetic diversity and most of the isolated strains are of low pathogenicity to poultry. Although AIV is nearly ubiquitous in wild bird populations, highly pathogenic H5N1 subtypes in poultry have been the focus of most modeling efforts. To better understand viral ecology of AIV, a predictive model should 1) include wild birds, 2) include all isolated subtypes, and 3) cover the host’s natural range, unbounded by artificial country borders. As of this writing, there are few large-scale predictive models of AIV in wild birds. We used the Random Forests algorithm, an ensemble data-mining machine-learning method, to develop a global-scale predictive map of AIV, identify important predictors, and describe the environmental niche of AIV in wild bird populations. The model has an accuracy of 0.79 and identified northern areas as having the highest relative predicted risk of outbreak. The primary niche was described as regions of low annual rainfall and low temperatures. This study is the first global-scale model of low-pathogenicity avian influenza in wild birds and underscores the importance of largely unstudied northern regions in the persistence of AIV.