Effects of feeding calves genetically modified corn bt11: a clinico-biochemical study

Genetically modified corn Bt11 is insect-resistant and expresses Cry1Ab toxin, an insecticidal protein, in kernels. Although Bt11 corn is considered safe based on animal performance, there are no reports available on the clinico-biochemical effects of feeding it to cattle. In this study, we evaluated the effects of feeding Bt11 to calves, using blood and ruminal clinico-biochemical parameters. Our three-month-long feeding experiment demonstrated that calves (n=6), fed with a ration containing 43.3% of Bt11 corn kernels as dry matter, did not develop any discernible clinical, hematological, biochemical, or ruminal abnormalities as compared with control calves (n=6) fed non-Bt11 corn. The results suggest that the transgenic Bt11 has no negative clinico-biochemical effects on calves.     

Further studies in increased sensitivity to N-phenylanilines in benzimidazole-resistant strains of Botrytis cinerea and Venturia nashicola

The ring-substituted N-phenylanilines, N-(3-chlorophenyl)aniline (MC-1) and N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)aniline (MC-2) were tested for their antifungal activity against Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr. and Venturia nashicola Tanaka et Yamamoto. In both fungi, increased sensitivity to MC-1 and MC-2 was clearly observed in ‘highly carbendazim-resistant, diethofencarb-sensitive’ (HR, S) phenotypes. Sensitivity was low in ‘carbendazim-sensitive, diethofencarb-resistant’ (S, R) and ‘intermediately carbendazim-resistant, diethofencarb-resistant’ (IR, R) strains. On cucumber cotyledons, other strains of B. cinerea, possessing the phenotype ‘highly carbendazim-resistant, diethofencarb-resistant’ (HR, R) were not controlled by either MC-1 or MC-2. Response to MC-2 was also examined using random ascospore progenies from V. nashicola crosses. In these progenies, high-level carbendazim resistance and MC-2 sensitivity always segregated together. Sensitivity to MC-2 is controlled by a single gene which is either identical to or very closely linked to one conferring high-level resistance to carbendazim.     

Measurement of plasma chromogranin A concentrations for assessment of stress responses in dogs with insulin-induced hypoglycemia

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether cross-reactivity exists between canine chromogranin A (CgA) and anti-human CgA antibody and investigate the usefulness of plasma CgA concentration measurements as an index of acute stress responses in dogs. ANIMALS: 12 healthy Beagles. PROCEDURE: Canine CgA was extracted and purified from canine adrenal glands of cadaver dogs for studying cross-reactivity with anti-human CgA antibody. Western blotting with anti-human CgA antibody was performed. Blood samples were collected from dogs at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, 120, and 180 minutes after IV administration of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution or insulin. Canine plasma CgA concentrations were determined by use of a CgA ELISA kit with rabbit antiserum against the carboxy-terminal fragment of human CgA. Plasma cortisol and catecholamine (ie, norepinephrine and epinephrine) concentrations were measured by use of an ELISA and a high-performance liquid chromatography method, respectively. RESULTS: Purified canine CgA was specifically detected by use of western blot analysis and an ELISA with anti-human CgA antibody. An increase in plasma CgA concentrations was observed in insulin-induced hypoglycemic dogs. Changes in plasma CgA concentration were correlated with changes in plasma cortisol or catecholamine concentrations of hypoglycemic dogs. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Use of the CgA ELISA kit for determination of human plasma CgA concentrations is applicable to the measurement of canine plasma CgA concentrations. Canine plasma CgA concentrations, along with measurements of plasma cortisol and catecholamine concentrations, correctly reflect insulin-induced hypoglycemic stressed conditions in dogs. Measurement of canine plasma CgA concentrations may provide a useful index for evaluation of an acute stress response.     

Cerebrospinal fluid S-100B concentrations in normal and diseased cattle

We measured the concentrations of S-100B, a marker protein used in humans to detect brain damage, in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of clinically normal cattle (n=15, mean age +/- SD: 31.8 +/- 37.5 months) and of cattle with various inflammatory disorders (n=43, 70.6 +/- 31.9 months). The mean +/- SD CSF S-100B level was 2.9 +/- 1.6 ng/ml in the normal group and 7.0 +/- 7.4 ng/ml in the diseased group. Thirteen diseased cattle that had developed no obvious neurological signs showed abnormally high S-100B concentrations (> 8.0 ng/ml), whereas the two cattle with neurological disorders did not. No particular disease could be related to the S-100B rise. Therefore, it remains inconclusive whether measurement of CSF S-100B concentration is useful in veterinary neurological diagnosis.     

Transient uplift after a 17th-century earthquake along the Kuril subduction zone

In eastern Hokkaido, 60 to 80 kilometers above a subducting oceanic plate, tidal mudflats changed into freshwater forests during the first decades after a 17th-century tsunami. The mudflats gradually rose by a meter, as judged from fossil diatom assemblages. Both the tsunami and the ensuing uplift exceeded any in the region's 200 years of written history, and both resulted from a shallow plate-boundary earthquake of unusually large size along the Kuril subduction zone. This earthquake probably induced more creep farther down the plate boundary than did any of the region's historical events.     

Redescription of Pterygodermatites (Mesopectines) nycticebi (Mönnig, 1920) (Nematoda: Rictulariidae), a parasite of slow loris Nycticebus coucang (Mammalia: Primates)

Pterygodermaties (Mesopectines) nycticebi (M?nnig, 1920) (Nematoda: Spirurida: Rictulariidae) is redescribed based on immature and mature adults collected from the stomach and small intestine at autopsy of a slow loris, Nycticebus coucang (Boddaert, 1785) (Mammalia: Primates), in a zoological garden in Japan. It is first demonstrated that male possesses a minute telamon and a left lateral pore in the preanal part of body. The cause of death of the slow loris is strongly surmised to be related to the nematode infection, which was apparently acquired under captivity in the zoological garden.     

Invasion and colonization of mature apple fruit by Erwinia amylovora tagged with bioluminescence genes

Invasion and colonization of mature apple fruit by a transformant of Erwinia amylovora tagged with bioluminescence genes from Vibrio fischeri was examined. The transformant was deposited on cut surfaces of fruit stems, wounds on the shoulders and calyces, injured fruit-bearing twigs of harvested apple fruit, and cut fruit flesh. After incubation in closed stainless steel or plastic boxes at 25°C, fruit were periodically observed with a two-dimensional luminometer. The presence of the transformant in luminous areas was confirmed by isolating it on selective media. E. amylovora, when deposited in fruit stems: (1) can invade mature as well as immature apple fruit; (2) vertically and horizontally spreads and colonizes along vascular bundles, increasing its population; (3) reaches the calyx end and the flesh just under the exocarp within 3–4 days after inoculation; (4) when deposited on cut fruit flesh, irrespective of its maturity, can easily increase its population and survive 2–4 weeks or more at 25°C; and (5) even at the time of fruit maturation, can migrate within twigs rapidly and reaches the abscission layers between fruit-bearing twigs and fruit stems.     

Inhibition of crown gall formation by Agrobacterium radiobacter biovar 3 strains isolated from grapevine

Graft unions of nursery stock of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) collected in Japan yielded pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains of Agrobacterium. On the basis of classical diagnostic tests, a sequence analysis, and a multiplex polymerase chain reaction method previously reported, the pathogenic strain was identified as Agrobacterium tumefaciens biovar 3, whereas the nonpathogenic strains were assigned to Agrobacterium radiobacter biovar 3. Stems of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seedlings were inoculated with both A. tumefaciens biovar 3 strain G-Ag-27 as a pathogen and one of the control strains isolated from grapevine or A. radiobacter biovar 2 strain K84 as competitors to assay the suppression of gall formation caused by the pathogen. In a test with a 1 : 1 pathogen/nonpathogen cell ratio, all A. radiobacter biovar 3 strains reduced gall incidence and size compared to that of the positive control inoculated only with the pathogen. Strain VAR03-1 was especially effective in reducing the incidence of gall formation on grapevine and reduced gall size by 84%–100% of those on the positive control. Many tested nonpathogenic biovar 3 strains were bacteriocinogenic, causing an inhibition zone against A. tumefaciens biovar 3 strains on YMA medium. Strain VAR03-1 was the most effective against indicator strains and appears to be a promising agent for controlling crown gall of grapevine.     

Urea as an organic nitrogen source for hydroponically grown tomatoes in comparison with inorganic nitrogen sources

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill., cv. Momotaro) plants were grown in nutrient solutions with several levels of urea, nitrate, and ammonium alone or in combination to evaluate the role of urea as an organic nitrogen source compared with that of nitrate and/or ammonium as inorganic nitrogen sources. Nitrogen deficiency and excess symptoms were detected in the urea-fed plants at lower (28 mg N L^-1) and higher nitrogen levels (336, 504 mg N L^-1), respectively. The effect of urea on plant growth and leaf elemental composition was intermediate between that of nitrate and ammonium. Solution pH under urea nutrition slightly increased or remained stable. When plants were cultured with the solution containing 168 mg N L^-1, the total dry weight of the plants which received urea+nitrate was significantly higher than that of the plant which received urea and was almost equal to that of the plants which received nitrate or nitrate+ammonium. Both absorption and utilization of nitrogen in the plants fed with urea decreased compared with those of the plants fed with nitrate or ammonium. The insufficient absorption and utilization of nitrogen were estimated to be the main factors associated with the growth reduction of tomato plants under urea nutrition. However, combined application of urea and nitrate is useful for adequate plant growth without a reduction of the cation absorption in tomato while maintaining a stable solution pH.     

Regulation of biosynthesis,perception, and functions of strigolactones for promoting arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and managing root parasitic weeds

Strigolactones (SLs) are carotenoid‐derived plant secondary metabolites that play important roles in various aspects of plant growth and development as plant hormones, and in rhizosphere communications with symbiotic microbes and also root parasitic weeds. Therefore, sophisticated regulation of the biosynthesis, perception and functions of SLs is expected to promote symbiosis of beneficial microbes including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and also to retard parasitism by devastating root parasitic weeds. We have developed SL mimics with different skeletons, SL biosynthesis inhibitors acting at different biosynthetic steps, SL perception inhibitors that covalently bind to the SL receptor D14, and SL function inhibitors that bind to the serine residue at the catalytic site. In greenhouse pot tests, TIS108, an azole‐type SL biosynthesis inhibitor effectively reduced numbers of attached root parasites Orobanche minor and Striga hermonthica without affecting their host plants; tomato and rice, respectively. AM colonization resulted in weak but distinctly enhanced plant resistance to pathogens. SL mimics can be used to promote AM symbiosis and to reduce the application rate of systemic‐acquired resistance inducers which are generally phytotoxic to horticultural crops. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry