Influence of High Shoot and Root-Zone Temperatures on Growth of Three Wheat Genotypes during Early Vegetative Stages

High temperatures, whether of shoot or root, are reported to affect shoot and root growth of various plant species. The scanty information available on the differential response of wheat genotypes to high shoot and root‐zone temperatures triggered this investigation to study the response and adaptation of shoot and root growth of three wheat genotypes to high shoot and root‐zone temperatures during early growth stages. Three wheat genotypes; Fang (heat tolerant), Siete Cerros (heat sensitive) and Imam (recent cultivar adapted to a hot irrigated environment) were grown in soil and hydroponically. Three shoot/root‐zone temperatures (23/23, 23/35 and 35/35 °C for the soil experiment and 22/22, 22/38 and 38/38 °C for the hydroponic experiment) were applied at three‐leaf growth stage. High root‐zone temperature alone or combined with high shoot temperature reduced xylem sap flow rate, root dry weight, root length and root/shoot ratio. Unexpectedly, shoot fresh and dry weights and relative growth rate (RGR) were not significantly affected by the high root‐zone temperature except for the susceptible genotype, Siete Cerros, after prolonged exposure in the hydroponic experiment. In contrast, high shoot/root‐zone temperature significantly reduced shoot fresh and dry weights from as early as the first week of the hydroponic experiment. The 38/38 °C treatment also caused significant reduction in RGR and net assimilation rate during the first 2 weeks, but no significant differences were found during the last 2 weeks compared with 22/22 °C. Interesting responses were observed among genotypes in terms of shoot and root dry weights and root/shoot ratio at 38/38 °C treatment. The heat‐sensitive Siete Cerros showed the least reduction in these traits during the first 2 weeks while the heat‐tolerant Fang and Imam responded by greatly reducing their shoot and root weights. The situation was almost reversed with the duration of treatments such that Siete Cerros became the most affected genotype while Fang and Imam were better adapted to high shoot/root‐zone temperature. Specific root weight was the exceptional trait that increased under high temperature treatments. Results indicate that despite the reduction in root length and weight observed under high root‐zone temperature, shoot growth was not much affected suggesting that the use of suitable cultivar coupled with proper management could alleviate most of high root‐zone temperature effects during early growth stages.     

Identification of oyster-derived hypotensive peptide acting as angiotensin-I-converting enzyme inhibitor

Angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) plays a crucial role in the crisis of hypertension. Some peptides that originate from protease hydrolysates are known to suppress ACE activity in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated whether trypsin hydrolysate of oyster Crassostrea gigas showed hypotensive activity and ACE inhibition. The hydrolysate significantly suppressed systolic blood pressure and ACE activity in spontaneously hypertensive rats following a one-shot oral administration and a long-term feeding experiment lasting 9 weeks. Each hydrolysate from oyster tissue showed ACE inhibitory activity, indicating the hypotensive effect was due to synergism. One potent ACE inhibitory peptide, Asp-Leu-Thr-Asp-Tyr, was identified from the hydrolysate of the striate muscle, and the peptide exhibited hypotensive activity in vivo. Protease digestion analysis suggested that Asp-Tyr could be the real effector of this penta-peptide in vivo.     

Color vision, spectral sensitivity, accommodation, and visual acuity in juvenile masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou masou

ABSTRACT:   Color vision, spectral sensitivity, accommodation, and visual acuity were examined in juvenile masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou masou to obtain fundamental information about the visual system. Two types of S-potentials were recorded from 415 horizontal cells in isolated retinas from 34 cultured freshwater masu salmon (114–219 mm standard length, SL). Although horizontal cells recording S-potentials were not identified, the horizontal cells were confirmed because their responses were maintained while the stimulus remained. The variety of chromaticity (C)-type S-potentials indicated well-developed color vision. The analysis of the luminosity (L)-type S-potentials indicated that the peak spectral sensitivity was at 522 nm. S-potentials were also recorded in response to ultraviolet light. The direction and extent of lens movement induced by electrical stimulation was measured in 12 cultured masu salmon (99.0–142.5 mm SL). The results indicated that the visual axis was upward and forward, and that the range of accommodation was from 0.79 × SL in front of the eye to infinity. In histological analysis of the retinas of five wild smolts (100–118 mm SL), the maximum cone densities (276–345 cones/0.01 mm²) were detected in the ventral to temporal regions. The visual acuities assessed by histological methods were 0.069–0.075.     

The significance of meandering channel morphology on the diversity and abundance of macroinvertebrates in a lowland river in Japan

• 1. Many rivers and streams across the world have been channelized for various purposes. Channel cross‐sections of meandering rivers are asymmetrical and have cross‐sectional diversity in their physical environment; cross‐sections of a channelized river are typically trapezoidal and have little cross‐sectional diversity, both in physical and ecological conditions. Several programmes to restore stream meanders have been undertaken to improve river ecosystems degraded by channelization. However, the association between diversification in the physical environment due to meander restoration and the macroinvertebrate community structure is poorly known.
• 2. This study of a lowland river in Japan assessed how the cross‐sectional diversity of the physical environment changed with restoration of a meander in a channelized river, and how the macroinvertebrate communities responded to the changes in physical habitat variation. Comparisons were made between the macroinvertebrate communities of a channelized reach, the restored meandering reach, and a natural meandering reach.
• 3. Natural meandering and restored meandering reaches showed higher cross‐sectional diversity in physical variables and total taxon richness across a reach than did the channelized reach. Almost all taxa observed in the natural and restored meandering reaches were concentrated in the shallowest marginal habitats near the banks. Shear velocity increasing with water depth had a negative association with macroinvertebrate density and richness.
• 4. This study demonstrated that the shallow river bed along the inside of bends formed point bars that provided a highly stable substrate, a suitable habitat for macroinvertebrates in a lowland river. It is concluded that meander restoration could be an effective strategy for in‐stream habitat restoration in lowland meandering rivers.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of three phytoplankton species as food for the pearl oyster <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pinctada fucata</Emphasis>

In the pearl cultivation farms of the Ehime Prefecture, Japan, mass mortalities of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata have occurred since 1994. The occurrences of mass mortality roughly coincided with a shift of the dominant phytoplankton from Skeletonema and Chaetoceros to Chaetoceros and Nitzschia all of which belong to Bacillariophyceae. Hence, we evaluated Nitzschia, together with Chaetoceros and Isocrysis, as food for the oyster. Wet weights, lengths, widths, glycogen contents, and growth rates in terms of wet weight of the oysters in all the feeding treatments were significantly higher than those in the non-feeding treatment. The highest glycogen content (2.34%) and growth rate (2.21 g month⁻¹) were found in the Chaetoceros treatment. Growth rate in the Isocrysis treatment (1.63 g month⁻¹) was also high, although glycogen content in this treatment (0.41%) was low. In the Nitzschia treatment, growth rate of the oyster (0.94 g month⁻¹) was the lowest and glycogen content (0.83%) was also low relative to that in the Chaetoceros treatment. Chlorophyll a concentration in fecal pellets was lowest in the Nitzschia treatment (<2.7 μg mg⁻¹), suggesting more complete digestion of Nitzschia by the oyster. Thus, Nitzschia was edible and digestible but not assimilated by P. fucata. We propose the following scenario for the relationship between Nitzschia dominance and mass mortality. When Nitzschia dominates in a culture area, the physiological condition of P. fucata deteriorates due to low assimilation of Nitzschia by the oyster, followed by susceptibility of the oyster to infection by agents lethal to the oyster.     

The relationship between water intake rates,paddy ponding depth,and farmers’ water management techniques

Japanese farmers manage their irrigation water based on their past experiences and preferences, considering such factors as weather and available water (hereafter defined as empirical water management). They elaborately control the intake and drainage rates of their own paddy fields to maintain optimal ponding depths. But these well-managed systems will drastically change because of the decreasing number of farmers. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify if the optimal ponding depth will be maintained within the limits of traditionally-allowed water intake rate from the main river. The first objective of this study was the quantification of actual water use in the paddy fields, resulting from the farmers water management on the basis of their experience. The significance of the present water intake rate under empirical water management was studied for a paddy field command area of about 230 ha. Water intake rates and the water requirements of the whole area were investigated by measuring the flow rate at 17 points of irrigation and drainage canals. Characteristics of the farmers empirical water management were investigated by measuring the hourly changes in inflow and outflow rates for a sub-area using an automatic measurement system, and an inferential method of determining water management patterns for the paddy fields was proposed. The newly-proposed inferential method was introduced in the tank model, which expresses the characteristics of water management in the command area. The Shuffled Complex Evolution Algorithm (SCE-UA) method was used for optimizing the model parameters. It was proven that the model accuracy improved when the farmers empirical water management was taken into account. The optimal amount of water to be applied to the command area was quantified by the simulation. The second objective was to predict the effect of the decreasing number of farmers on future water use conditions. The simulated result indicates the difficulty of maintaining optimal ponding depth for the whole command area when the farmers empirical water management is not maintained. In other words, results indicated that efficient water use requires an automatic water management system or a new pipeline system to replace the farmers present empirical water management.     

A plant vacuolar protease, VPE, mediates virus-induced hypersensitive cell death

Programmed cell death (PCD) in animals depends on caspase protease activity. Plants also exhibit PCD, for example as a response to pathogens, although a plant caspase remains elusive. Here we show that vacuolar processing enzyme (VPE) is a protease essential for a virus-induced hypersensitive response that involves PCD. VPE deficiency prevented virus-induced hypersensitive cell death in tobacco plants. VPE is structurally unrelated to caspases, although VPE has a caspase-1 activity. Thus, plants have evolved a regulated cellular suicide strategy that, unlike PCD of animals, is mediated by VPE and the cellular vacuole.     

Involvement of trauma in the pathogenesis of osteochondritis dissecans in swine.

Limb joint soundness was examined in 40 pigs loaded into a wooden box cart and 40 control pigs not subjected to loading. On postmortem examination, eight loaded pigs showed osteochondritis dissecans in their medial humeral condyles, suggesting that porcine joints are vulnerable to osteochondral lesions when mechanically overloaded. Prevention of trauma by careful handling of pigs during penning and transportation should help to control joint lesions and lameness.