Introgression of genes into cultivated Brassica napus through resynthesis of B. napus via ovule culture and the accompanying change in fatty acid composition

Fifteen lines of Brassica napus were resynthesized via ovule culture through 24 interspecific crosses between four Brassica oleracea and three Brassica campestris accessions. The degree of success in the interspecific crosses was significantly influenced by maternal genotypes. The interspecific hybrid production rate (HPR) varied with combinations from 0 to 76.9%, with a mean HPR of 24.7% for the crosses with B. campestris as the female parent and 6.9% for the crosses with B. oleracea as female parent. Twenty‐four crosses between seven natural and six resynthesized B. napus gave, on average, 10.3 seeds per pod, and ranged from 1.2 to 22.0 seeds per pod, depending on genotypes of both parents. Resynthesized lines of B. napus showed high erucic acid content and variable content of linolenic acid, ranging from 3.4% to 9.9%. The fatty acid composition in hybrid seeds between natural and resynthesized B. napus was dominated by the embryo genotypes; an additive mode was shown for erucic acid and positive over‐dominance for linolenic acid content.     

Simplified culture method of detached ears and its application to vernalization in wheat

Summary The effects of the addition of sulfurous acid into culture solution and of cold treatment of the solution were examined to simplify the culture of detached wheat ears. In the simplified method, detached ears could be cultured at room temperature on the liquid medium containing 100 g/l sucrose and 0.075% sulfurous acid without any sterilization. The immature seeds in detached ears cultured by this method were treated with low temperature or with chemicals known to have vernalizing effect. The chemical treatment did not affect the chilling requirement of immature embryos, although photoperiodic response and narrow-sense earliness were reduced by kinetin and trypsin. The low temperature treatment drastically affected the chilling requirement, and fully vernalized mature seeds having normal germinability were obtained by treating the detached ears in culture with low temperature from 10 days after anthesis.     

Mitochondrial DNA Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms in Malus Species

Three apple (Malus×domestica) cultivars and 11 Malus accessions have been investigated by the probe hybridization method on their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The gene probes used were: coxI, coxII, atpA, atp6, and atp9. Our results revealed enough variation to characterize ten mtDNA haplotypes among the Malus genotypes examined. The taxonomic and phylogenetic implications of mtDNA polymorphism are also discussed.     

Characterization of six varieties of Cucumis melo L. based on morphological and physiological characters, including shelf-life of fruit

Seventy-two accessions covering six varieties of Cucumis melo were characterized by using 35 morphological characters with emphasis on shelf-life, and the relationships between shelf-life and related characters was investigated. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that development period of plant and fruit, size of seed and fruit, shelf-life, stem hair, flesh juiciness, netting, abscission of peduncle, rapid yellowing of epidermis at maturity, Brix value, and color of flesh and epidermis etc. were the principal characters to discriminate melon accessions examined in the present study. According to the scatter diagram, vars. acidulusand makuwa, both of which belong to the Oriental melon, are closely related because of their short growth duration, small seed, thin pericarp and poor shelf-life, while American cantaloupe (var.reticulatus) and European cantaloupe (var. cantalupensis) are rather closely related due to their climacteric fruit with orange flesh, slipped peduncle and rapid yellowing of epidermis at maturity, which is closely related with their shelf-life. PCA also indicated that var. saccharinus was closer to var. inodorus than to the other varieties, due to their requirement of long period for development, large size of seed and fruit, and half- or non-slipped peduncle. Shelf-life of melon fruit was significantly correlated with the following characters: quality of flesh, size of seed and fruit, abscission of peduncle, development periods of plant and fruit, rapid yellowing of epidermis at maturity, Brix value and color of flesh and epidermis. Accessions with good shelf-life were mostly found in vars. saccharinus and inodorus. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Structural unit of xylans from sugi (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Cryptomeria japonica</Emphasis>) and hinoki (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chamaecyparis obtusa</Emphasis>)

Arabinoglucuronoxylans (AGXs) isolated from the holocellulose of sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) and hinoki (Chamaecyparis obtusa) contained one 4-O-methyl-d-glucopyranosyluronic acid (4-O-Me-d-GlcAp) residue per 6.2 d-xylopyranose (d-Xylp) residues and one 4-O-Me-d-GlcAp residue per 3.8 d-Xylp residues. These AGXs were subjected to partial acid hydrolysis. Analyses by size exclusion chromatography and electrospray-ionization mass spectroscopy of the neutral sugar fractions in the hydrolysates showed the presence of xylooligosaccharides having a degree of polymerization of 2-8 in addition to d-Xyl, suggesting that the AGXs from sugi and hinoki contained unsubstituted chains consisting of at least eight d-Xyl residues. The acidic sugars in the hydrolysates were separated into two series of aldouronic acids composed of 4-O-Me-d-GlcAp and d-Xylp by ion-exchange chromatography. The first series included aldouronic acids from aldobiouronic acid (4-O-Me-d-GlcAp-Xyl) to aldopentaouronic acids (4-O-Me-d-GlcAp-Xyl₄). The second series were aldouronic acids composed of two 4-O-Me-d-GlcAp residues and 2-4 d-Xyl residues. In these acidic sugars, the uronic acid side chains were located on two contiguous d-Xyl residues. These facts indicated that AGXs from sugi and hinoki had a structural unit containing two 4-O-Me-d-GlcAp residues on two contiguous d-Xyl residues as well as AGXs from spruce and larch.     

Antioxidative compounds from the outer scales of onion

Antioxidative compounds were isolated from the methanol extract of dry outer scales of onion (Allium cepa L.). Nine phenolic compounds (1-9) were finally obtained by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography, and their structures were elucidated by NMR and mass spectrometry analyses. They were the six known compounds, protocatechuic acid (1), 2-(3,4-dihydroxybenzoyl)-2,4,6-trihydroxy-3(2H)-benzofuranone (2), quercetin 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), quercetin (5), 4'-O-beta-d-glucopyranoside of quercetin dimer (7), and quercetin dimer (8), and three novel compounds, condensation products of quercetin with protocatechuic acid (4), adduct of quercetin with quercetin 4'-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (6), and quercetin trimer (9). These phenolic compounds were tested for their antioxidant properties using autoxidation of methyl linoleate in bulk phase or free radical initiated peroxidation of soybean phosphatidylcholine in liposomes. The flavonoid compounds having o-dihydroxy substituent in the B-ring were shown to be effective antioxidants against nonenzymic lipid peroxidation.     

Variation and Segregation for Rachis Fragility in Spelt Wheat, Triticum Spelta L.

Spelt wheat, Triticum spelta L., has been proved to be rich-sources of useful genes for tolerance to biotic and abiotic stress, and grain quality. But this crop plant has some undesirable traits including glume tenacity and brittle rachis. Free-threshing and reduced fragility of rachis are very important traits for cultivation. The objectives in the present study were to investigate genetic variation of rachis fragility in a wide range of spelt accessions, to examine its genetic segregation pattern, and to clarify if rachis fragility is associated with dosage of chromosome 5A in aneuploid lines of bread wheat. The results demonstrated that spelt germplasm contains a wide range of rachis toughness, and thus selection of spelt wheat with desirable characteristics combined with an appropriate level of tough rachis would be possible. Spike morphology in the F₂ plants was segregated into the three types, square-headed, speltoid, and compactoid. The F₂ plants with compactoid spikes had the most brittle rachis, followed by the speltoid and square-headed spike F₂ plants. Rachis fragility in bread wheat also had genetic variation and was associated with dosage of chromosome 5A.     

The effect of alkaline dust decline on the precipitation chemistry in northern Japan

The precipitation chemistry in northern Japan, especially Hokkaido, has been investigated since 1982. This area has often been found to have high concentrations of alkaline road dust (asphalt dust) in the air, caused by the use of studded tires during the winter. It is well known that the composition of precipitation in these areas is often dominated by asphalt dust including calcium bicarbonate. However, recently the concentration of asphalt dust in the air has decreased owing to a ban on the use of studded tires. Simultaneously, in precipitation, the lowering of pH values and the increase of hydrogen ion depositions have been occurring owing to the decrease of non-sea-salt calcium ions (nss-Ca²⁺) concentrations and depositions derived from asphalt dust. In addition, we found that a decrease of nss-Ca²⁺ firstly leads to a decrease of bicarbonate ions (HCO₃ ^?), the counter ion to nss-Ca²⁺ in asphalt dust. Therefore, the increase of H⁺ concentrations and depositions was great in comparison with the decrease of nss-Ca²⁺ concentrations and depositions in areas where the HCO₃ ^?concentrations, varied by pH, and depositions had been low. Furthermore, this variation was mainly observed in the ionic composition of snow cover and snowfall at sites along the Japan Sea in northern Japan during winter. In this area, the Acid Shock effect may become a serious problem from the decline of pH values in melting snow. Moreover, we found that ammonium ions and non-sea-salt sulfate ions depositions have also been decreasing in response to a decrease of nss-Ca²⁺ depositions, derived from asphalt dust. It seems that this phenomenon is caused by the decrease of asphalt dust concentrations in the air.     

Cathepsin K-dependent toll-like receptor 9 signaling revealed in experimental arthritis

Cathepsin K was originally identified as an osteoclast-specific lysosomal protease, the inhibitor of which has been considered might have therapeutic potential. We show that inhibition of cathepsin K could potently suppress autoimmune inflammation of the joints as well as osteoclastic bone resorption in autoimmune arthritis. Furthermore, cathepsin K-/- mice were resistant to experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Pharmacological inhibition or targeted disruption of cathepsin K resulted in defective Toll-like receptor 9 signaling in dendritic cells in response to unmethylated CpG DNA, which in turn led to attenuated induction of T helper 17 cells, without affecting the antigen-presenting ability of dendritic cells. These results suggest that cathepsin K plays an important role in the immune system and may serve as a valid therapeutic target in autoimmune diseases.     

Determination of polysorbates in foods by colorimetry with confirmation by infrared spectrophotometry, thin-layer chromatography, and gas chromatography

A method is presented for the detection of polysorbates (PSs) in 8 kinds of processed foods by colorimetric and thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) techniques. The PSs are extracted from processed foods with a mixture of methylene chloride and ethanol by using an Extrelut column. The extract is further purified by using a silica gel column. The PS extract is complexed with cobalt-thiocyanate (Cothiocyanate) reagent and is determined spectrophotometrically at 620 nm. The recoveries and coefficients of variation for 8 kinds of processed foods fortified with 0.1% PS 80 were 67.9-94.6% and 4.0-11.3%, respectively. The detection limit of TLC corresponded to 50 mg PS 80/kg. PS identity was confirmed by infrared spectrophotometry of PS extract, and gas chromatography of fatty acids and thin layer chromatography of POE-sorbitan residues after saponification.