A shorter 146Sm half-life measured and implications for 146Sm-142Nd chronology in the solar system

The extinct p-process nuclide (146)Sm serves as an astrophysical and geochemical chronometer through measurements of isotopic anomalies of its α-decay daughter (142)Nd. Based on analyses of (146)Sm/(147)Sm α-activity and atom ratios, we determined the half-life of (146)Sm to be 68 ± 7 (1σ) million years, which is shorter than the currently used value of 103 ± 5 million years. This half-life value implies a higher initial (146)Sm abundance in the early solar system, ((146)Sm/(144)Sm)(0) = 0.0094 ± 0.0005 (2σ), than previously estimated. Terrestrial, lunar, and martian planetary silicate mantle differentiation events dated with (146)Sm-(142)Nd converge to a shorter time span and in general to earlier times, due to the combined effect of the new (146)Sm half-life and ((146)Sm/(144)Sm)(0) values.     

Biosynthesis of agr and beta-Ecdysones from Cholesterol outside the Prothoracic Gland in Bombyx mori

Labeling experiments have established that cholesterol is converted into alpha-and beta-ecdysones in isolated abdomens of silkworm larvae. Since the isolated abdomens do not contain the prothoracic glands, a doubt is cast on the long-standing principle in insect endocrinology that the prothoracic glands are the source of ecdysone secretion.     

Production of saturated acyl L-ascorbate by immobilized lipase using a continuous stirred tank reactor

6-O-decanoyl, 6-O-dodecanoyl, or 6-O-tetradecanoyl L-ascorbate was continuously produced at 50 degrees C using a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) with an immobilized lipase, Chirazyme L-2 C2, from Candida antarctica. Acetone was used as the reaction medium. For each saturated acyl L-ascorbate, the productivity of ca. 60 g/L reactor/day was achieved for at least 11 days. The solubility of the saturated acyl L-ascorbate in the soybean oil or water was measured at various temperatures. The solubilities in both the soybean oil and the water were higher for L-ascorbate with a shorter acyl chain. The acyl chain dependence of the solubility in water was stronger than that of the solubility in soybean oil. The temperature dependences of the solubility in both soybean oil and water could be expressed by the van't Hoff equation, and the dissolution enthalpy (DeltaH) values for the soybean oil and water were about 20 and 90 kJ/mol, respectively, irrespective of the acyl chain length. The radical scavenging activities of L-ascorbic acid and the saturated acyl L-ascorbates against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical were ca. 95% for all of the compounds, and the introduction of a saturated acyl group to the L-ascorbic acid did not affect the activity.     

Sequence of the S 9-RNase cDNA and PCR-RFLP system for discriminating S 1- to S 9-allele in Japanese pear

A new S ₉-allele was discovered in 6 Japanese pear cultivars, ‘Shinkou’, ‘Shinsei’, ‘Niitaka’, ‘Amanogawa’, ‘Nangetsu’ and ‘Nansui’. cDNA encoding S ₉-RNase, a stylar product of S ₉-allele, was cloned from pistils of ‘Shinkou’ and ‘Shinsei’ by 3' and 5' RACE. The S ₉-RNase gene had an open reading frame of 684 nucleotides encoding 228 amino acid residues. S ₉-RNase had a hypervariable (HV) region different from S ₁- to S ₈-RNase and shared higher similarity (95.2%) with apple S ₃-RNase than with 8 Japanese pear S-RNases (from 61.0% to 70.7%). Genomic PCR with primers ‘FTQQYQ’ and ‘anti-(I/T) IWPNV’ provided S ₁- to S ₉-amplicon (product), but could not discriminate the S ₂ from the S ₉ of ca. 1.3 kb. The S ₂ and S ₉ were distinguished by digestion with AflII and BstBI, respectively. The digestion with nine S-allele-specific restriction endonucleases, SfcI, AflII, PpuMI, NdeI,AlwNI, HincII, AccII, NruI and BstBI, distinguished S ₁ to S ₉, establishing that this PCR-RFLP system is useful for S-genotype assignments in Japanese pear harboring S ₁- to S ₉-allele. ‘Shinkou’, ‘Shinsei’, ‘Nangetsu’ and ‘Nansui’ assigned as S ₄ S ₉ were determined to be cross incompatible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Bacterial Wilt of Russell Prairie Gentian Caused by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Burkholderia caryophylli</Emphasis>

A new bacterial disease of Russell prairie gentian (Eustoma grandiflorum) was found in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1997. This disease was characterized by wilting and yellowing of the foliage. A cross section of the stem of a diseased plant revealed a tan to yellow-brown discoloration of the vascular tissue. A nonfluorescent, aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium was consistently isolated from infected plants. The bacteriological characteristics of 10 isolates of the bacterium coincided with those of the reference strains of Burkholderia caryophylli that were isolated from carnations. The bacterium, as well as the reference strains, attacked Russell prairie gentian and carnation after artificial inoculation and reproduced the symptoms similar to those after natural infections. On the basis of bacteriological characteristics and pathogenicities, the bacterium was identified as B. caryophylli. This is the first report of a disease caused by B. caryophylli on Russell prairie gentian ; therefore, bacterial wilt of Russell prairie gentian is proposed as the name of the disease. Received 5 April 2000/ Accepted in revised form 11 July 2000     

Co-culture of in vitro fertilized bovine embryos with different cell monolayers.

The effects of different cell monolayers on in vitro development of early bovine embryos derived from in vitro maturation and fertilization were examined in this study. Early embryos (four to eight cells) were randomly allocated to bovine granulosa cell (GC), oviductal cell (OC), or uterine cell (UC) monolayers in Exp. 1 and to GC, skin cell (SC; from 10-d-old chicken embryos), testicular cell (TC; from 10-d-old mouse), and liver cell (LC; from 10-d-old chicken embryos) monolayers in Exp. 2, and cultured for 6 d at 38.6 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. The culture medium was 12.5 mM HEPES TCM 199 supplemented with 1% calf serum and 1 mM sodium pyruvate. In Exp. 1, the percentage of four- to eight-cell embryos that developed to blastocysts on GC, OC, and UC monolayers was 26.9 (28/104), 37.5 (39/104), and 39.2 (40/102), respectively. In Exp. 2, the percentage of four- to eight-cell embryos that developed to blastocysts on GC, SC, TC, and LC monolayers was 53.3 (40/75), 42.9 (33/77), 49.3 (37/75), and 44.3 (35/79), respectively. There were no significant differences in development among groups in either experiment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

埋深与形状对土中结构自由冻拔的影响

冻拔破坏是季节性冻土地区土中结构常见的破坏形式。为了探明季节性冻土地区土中结构冻拔位移与结构埋深、结构截面形状的关系,利用挤塑保温板加工成长度不等的圆柱体与长方体,埋置于室外冻胀土中,模拟土中结构,开展一个冻融周期的室外自由冻胀试验。观测气温、地温、冻深及土体、圆柱体、长方体的冻拔位移等参数,对比试件的冻胀位移,分析自由冻拔的影响因素。结果表明：当埋深小于临界埋深时,一个冻融周期后2种截面的残余冻胀位移均随埋深增加而快速增大,而当埋深大于临界埋深时,残余冻胀位移随埋深增加无明显变化;埋深相同的长方体与圆柱体的残余冻胀位移相对差均值为10%,考虑到试验过程中其它偶然因素的影响,截面形状对土中结构的自由冻拔无明显影响。     

Changes in nitrogen transformation in forest soil representing the climate gradient of the Japanese archipelago

Net nitrogen transformation was investigated under different climate conditions by soil transplantation and in situ incubation of forest surface soils using the resin-core method. Selected conditions were considered to reflect those of the natural climate gradient in the Japanese archipelago. Study sites were established in natural forests in northern Hokkaido (Uryu), northern Kanto (Kusaki), central Kinki (Kamigamo), and southern Kyushu (Takakuma), representing the northernmost to the southernmost island regions of Japan. Field experiments comparing soils incubated at “native” and “transplanted” sites were conducted from June 2008 to May 2009. Net production, accumulation, and leaching of soil ammonium (NH₄ ⁺) and nitrate (NO₃ ⁻) were measured at each of the sites during the growing season (June–October), the dormant season (November–May), and throughout the year. Net nitrate production was highest in Kusaki soil, especially during the growing season, whereas net ammonium production was highest in Uryu soil, the coldest site, especially during the dormant season. Net nitrate production increased significantly in soils transplanted to a warmer climate during the growing season. However, net ammonium production increased in soils transplanted to colder climates during the dormant season. These findings indicate that, with the exception of the infertile soil samples from Kamigamo, the range of natural climates in Japan has a significant effect on nitrogen availability in surface soil. In addition, the original characteristics of the nitrogen cycle of the surface soil from each native site were retained, even when marked changes in soil temperature (approximately 8°C) occurred after transplantation.