First record of Cryptosporidium infection in a raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus)

Cryptosporidium species have been found in more than 150 species of mammals, but there has been no report in raccoon dogs. Here we found the Cryptosporidium organism in a raccoon dog, Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus, and identified this isolate using PCR-based diagnostic methods. Cryptosporidium diagnostic fragments of the 18S ribosomal RNA, Cryptosporidium oocyst wall protein and 70-kDa heat shock protein genes were amplified from the isolate and sequenced to reveal the phylogenetic relationships between it and other Cryptosporidium species or genotypes reported previously. The results showed that the raccoon dog isolate represented the C. parvum cattle genotype which could be a causative agent in human cryptosporidiosis.     

Properties and components of deposit which occurred inside a drainage tube

In poorly drained fields, tube drains are used to improve drainage. In some cases, however, there are fields where the effects of tube drainage have deteriorated within several years after installation. One cause of malfunction is low permeability of backfilled soils (Ishiwata et al. 1990, 1992, 1993). Another cause is clogging of tubes by deposits (Trafford et al. 1973; Dent 1986; Koutani et al. 1989; Kusaka et al. 1993; Kaneko et al. 1995).     

A new method for determining free iron in paddy soils

For pedological or edaphological study, it is very important to find a suitable method for determining free iron in soils. The removal of free iron also facilitates the identification and determination of minerals present in soils and clays by X-ray and thermal analysis and microscopic observation. Up to the presnt time many methods have been proposed for the removal or the determination of free iron in soils and clays. With some exceptions these methods are all based on the principle that the free iron compounds existing mainly as ferric iron in soils are reduced to ferrous iron and extracted with suitable reagents. A short historical review is as follows.     

Comparison of several methods for determining free iron in soils

In the previous paper (1), for determining free iron in paddy soils the writers proposed a new method in which free iron was removed by reduction with sodium hydrosulfite in disodium ethylendiamine tetraacetate solution. As described in that paper, many methods have been proposed up to the present time. In this paper the writers are to compare their method with some of those methods, especially with both methods using sodium hydrosulfite and dilute hydrochloric acid and using hydrogen sulfide and dilute hydrochloric acid. The latter method has generally been employed for free iron determination of paddy soils in Japan.     

Formation of Methyl Mercaptan in Paddy Soils (II)

In the previous paper₁₎, the authors proposed a method for determining methyl mercaptan formed in paddy soils. In this method, methyl mercaptan was expelled by nitrogen gas from Paddy soils, and was introduced into 4% mercuric CYanide solution after separation from hydrogen sulfide by hydrous calcium chloride and lead acetate (solid). The methyl mercaptan caught by mercuric cyanide solution was measured by colorimetric method using dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine and ferric chloride solutions. And then, the analysis of several field soils was conducted by using this method.     

Polyphenolic constituents of Cynomorium songaricum Rupr. and antibacterial effect of polymeric proanthocyanidin on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Oligomeric and polymeric flavan-3-ols were obtained by chromatographic fractionation of extracts from Cynomorium songaricum Rupr. The structure of the polymeric constituent, cynomoriitannin, was characterized using spectral and chemical data. Results from acid-catalyzed degradation indicated that cynomoriitannin is a polymeric proanthocyanidin predominantly composed of epicatechin, together with low proportions of epicatechin-3-O-gallate and catechin as extension units. The terminal unit was chiefly composed of catechin, with an admixture of epicatechin. Size exclusion chromatographic analysis demonstrated a mean polymerization degree of 14. Two new phloroglucinol adducts (cynomoriitannin-phloroglucinol adducts A and B) obtained by acid-catalyzed degradation of cynomoriitannin in the presence of phloroglucinol were characterized using spectral analyses. Six oligomeric flavan-3-ols were also identified as follows: procyanidin B3, catechin-(6'-8)-catechin, catechin-(6'-6)-catechin, epicatechin-(4β-8)- epicatechin-(4β-8)-catechin, epicatechin-(4β-6)-epicatechin-(4β-8)-catechin, and arecatannin A1, respectively. These flavan-3-ols were isolated from C. songaricum. This is the first time that this procedure has been described. The antibacterial activity of the fractions and constituents was tested against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The crude acetone-water (7:3) extract had moderate activity against MRSA. Cynomoriitannin was the most effective of the plant constituents against MRSA.     

Isolation and characterization of type 1 fimbriae from a chicken pathogenic Escherichia coli serotype O78.

Type 1 fimbriae from chicken pathogenic Escherichia coli strain PDI-386 (serotype O78) was purified and characterized. Because of the acid-induced autoagglutination (T. Sekizaki, Y. Nakasato, and I. Nonomura, J. Vet. Med. Sci. 54, 493-499, 1992), the fimbriae could be easily purified by repeating acid sedimentation, washing, and dissolving in buffer (pH 8.0). In electron microscopy, the purified fimbriae showed a filament of 8 nm in diameter and 10 microns in average length. The molecular mass of the protein subunit of the purified fimbriae estimated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was 19,000 daltons. The amino acid composition and its NH2-terminal sequence were similar to the previously described one of the Klebsiella pneumoniae type 1 fimbriae. Moreover, there was an immunological relatedness between them. These results indicated that a molecular diversity found between the fimbriae of E. coli and that of K. pneumoniae has already been existed among chicken pathogenic E. coli strains.     

Occurrence of Chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid in Japan

Chrysanthemum chlorotic mottle viroid (CChMVd) was detected in Akita Prefecture, Japan, from chrysanthemums (Dendranthema grandiflorum) with distinct yellow leaf mottling and necrosis. The four clones are 398–399 nucleotides long and are thought to be the symptomatic type based on their UUUC sequence at positions 82–85 in the CChMVd tetraloop.The nucleotide sequence data reported are available in the DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank databases under accession numbers AB181857–AB181860     

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.