Prevention of hypermelanosis by rearing Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in net-lined tanks

Fisheries Science - In artificially reared flatfish, especially the Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, pigmented skin (hypermelanosis) frequently appears on the fish’s blind side after...     

Positive effect of the high-molecular-weight glutenin allele, Glu-D1d, on the bread-making quality of common wheat

The seed storage proteins of wheat flour are the determinants of bread‐making quality. Many cultivars having good bread‐making quality carry the Glu‐D1d allele responsible for the development of glutenin, a major seed storage protein. The Glu‐D1d allele was introduced into four leading Japanese wheat cultivars by recurrent backcrossing and the quality of these near‐isogenic lines (NILs) was evaluated by the sodium dodecyl sulphate sedimentation value of their flour. The values for the NILs were significantly higher than for the corresponding recipient cultivars. However, the values did not reach the level of the cultivar that had been used as the donor of the Glu‐D1d allele.     

Morphological and molecular characterization for a Japanese isolate of tomato powdery mildew Oidium neolycopersici and its host range

 A single conidium of tomato powdery mildew was isolated from heavily infected leaves of tomato (cv. Moneymaker) grown in the greenhouse of Kinki University, Nara Prefecture, Japan. It was successively multiplied so the morphological and taxonomic characteristics of the pathogen and its host range under high humidity conditions could be analyzed. The isolate KTP-01 of the tomato powdery mildew optimally developed infection structures at 25°C under continuous illumination of 3500 lx. More than 90% of the conidia germinated and developed moderately lobed appressoria. After forming haustoria, the pathogen elongated secondary hyphae from both appressoria and conidia. The hyphae attached to leaf surfaces by several pairs of appressoria and produced conidiophores with noncatenated conidia. In addition to its morphological similarity to Oidium neolycopersici, the phylogenetic analysis (based on the sequence of internal transcribed spacer regions of rDNA) revealed that KTP-01 could be classified into the same cluster group as O. neolycopersici. In host range studies, KTP-01 produced abundant conidia on the foliage of all tomato cultivars tested and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), and it developed faint colonies accompanied by necrosis on leaves of potato (Solanum tuberosum), red pepper (Capsicum annuum), petunia (Petunia × hybrida), and eggplant (S. melongena). The pathogen did not infect other plant species including Cucurubitaceae plants, which have been reported to be susceptible to some foreign isolates. Thus, the present isolate of the tomato powdery mildew was assigned as O. neolycopersici, a pathotype different from foreign isolates of the pathogen. Received: December 5, 2002 / Accepted: December 26, 2002 Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid (12660050) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan. We express our deepest thanks to professor Dr. Y. Sato, Toyama Prefectural University, for his kind and valuable suggestion on taxonomic analysis of the powdery mildew pathogen described in the present study.     

Factors associated with the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment for ovine virulent footrot

Factors associated with the proportion of sheep cured of virulent footrot after antibiotic treatment were studied in a field trial under dry environmental conditions. From 2 similar flocks, 1091 Merino sheep weighing about 50 kg and infected with virulent footrot received an intramuscular injection of either 12 mL of a mixture of penicillin (250 mg/mL) and streptomycin (250 mg/mL), 6 mL of long acting oxytetracycline (200 mg/mL) or 6 mL of a mixture of lincomycin (50 mg/mL) and spectinomycin (100 mg/mL). Variables that were significantly associated with the proportion of sheep cured were: the type of antibiotic used, the number of feet infected and the flock from which the sheep came. There was an interaction between antibiotic type and number of feet infected and between antibiotic type and flock in association with the proportion of sheep cured. The extent of paring and the occurrence of blowfly strike in footrot lesions treated with diazinon had no significant association with the proportion of sheep cured.     

mRNA profile of Nellore calves after primary infection with Haemonchus placei

Haemonchus parasites are responsible for many losses in animal production. However, few studies are available, especially of zebu cattle. In this study, we investigated mRNA differences of immune response genes in na?ve Nellore calves infected with Haemonchus placei, relating these differences to patterns of cellular infiltrate. Calves were infected with 15,000 H. placei L3 larvae and after 7 days lymph node and abomasum tissues were collected. IL-2, IL-4, IL-8, IL-12, IL-13, IFN-γ, MCP-1, lysozyme, pepsinogen and TNF-α genes were evaluated by qPCR. Mast cells, eosinophils and globular leukocytes were counted by abomasum histology. In the infected group, IL-4, IL-13 and TNF-α were up-regulated in the abomasal lymph node. In the abomasum, IL-13 increased and TNF-α was down-regulated (p<0.05). No differences were detected for mast cells and eosinophil counts in abomasal tissue (p>0.05). We conclude that for this infection time, there was Th2 polarization but that cellular infiltrate in abomasal tissue takes longer to develop.     

Astrocytoma in an African hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris) suspected wobbly hedgehog syndrome

A 28-month-old African hedgehog was referred to our hospital with progressive tetraparesis. On the first presentation, the hedgehog was suspected as having wobbly hedgehog syndrome (WHS) and the animal was treated with medication and rehabilitation. The animal died 22 days after onset. Pathological examination revealed that the animal was involved in astrocytoma between the medulla oblongata and the spinal cord (C1). This report indicates that a primary central nervous system tumor should be considered as one of the differential diagnoses for hedgehogs presenting with progressive paresis, together with WHS.     

Oxalate reduces calcium availability in the pads of the prickly pear cactus through formation of calcium oxalate crystals

The pads (nopales) of the prickly pear cactus are considered to be a good source of minerals and other nutrients on the basis of compositional analysis. In this study, this analysis is taken a step further by assessing the availability of selected minerals in nopales using an in vitro digestion and dialysis method. The results obtained suggest that although nopales are enriched in a number of minerals, their tissue calcium is not freely available. Microscopic analysis, energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis, and oxalate measurements suggest that this reduction in available calcium is a result of its sequestration in the form of calcium oxalate crystals. The issue of mineral availability in plant foods is important when the dependence of many populations around the world on plant foods as their main source of minerals and other nutrients is considered.     

Polarization-modulated smectic liquid crystal phases

Any polar-ordered material with a spatially uniform polarization field is internally frustrated: The symmetry-required local preference for polarization is to be nonuniform, i.e., to be locally bouquet-like or "splayed." However, it is impossible to achieve splay of a preferred sign everywhere in space unless appropriate defects are introduced into the field. Typically, in materials like ferroelectric crystals or liquid crystals, such defects are not thermally stable, so that the local preference is globally frustrated and the polarization field remains uniform. Here, we report a class of fluid polar smectic liquid crystals in which local splay prevails in the form of periodic supermolecular-scale polarization modulation stripes coupled to layer undulation waves. The polar domains are locally chiral, and organized into patterns of alternating handedness and polarity. The fluid-layer undulations enable an extraordinary menagerie of filament and planar structures that identify such phases.