Isolation of an algal morphogenesis inducer from a marine bacterium

Ulva and Enteromorpha are cosmopolitan and familiar marine algal genera. It is well known that these green macroalgae lose their natural morphology during short-term cultivation under aseptic conditions and during long-term cultivation in nutrient-added seawater and adopt an unusual form instead. These phenomena led to the belief that undefined morphogenetic factors that were indispensable to the foliaceous morphology of macroalgae exist throughout the oceans. We characterize a causative factor, named thallusin, isolated from an epiphytic marine bacterium. Thallusin induces normal germination and morphogenesis of green macroalgae.     

Low-Frequency Raman Scattering and the Fast Relaxation Process in Glycerol

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations were used to determine the structure and vibrational frequencies of the cyclic glycerol trimer, which represents the region of medium-range ordering in liquid and supercooled glycerol. The calculations reproduced the experimentally observed low-frequency Raman scattering peak (or the "boson peak") at approximately50 per centimeter, which suggests that the peak results from the localized collective motions of the cooperatively hydrogen-bonded hydroxyl groups. The calculations also suggest that the fast relaxation process may result from the translational motion of each glycerol molecule in the cyclic structure. On the basis of these results, a model of the glass transition was developed.     

Oral administration of Lactobacillus plantarum Lq80 and Megasphaera elsdenii iNP‐001 induces efficient recovery from mucosal atrophy in the small and the large intestines of weaning piglets

Weaning causes atrophy of intestinal mucosa and a drop of IgA protection in piglets which increases vulnerability to pathogenic infections. Probiotic lactobacilli may support recovery from such weaning stresses. Butyrate‐produce bacteria may support the growth of colonic mucosa. Megasphaera elsdenii, a lactate‐utilizing butyrate producer, may help butyrate production particularly when combined with lactobacilli. Weaned piglets (Experiment 1: 20 days old, Experiment 2: 28 days old) were orally dosed once a day with either (L) 10¹⁰ (cell/dose) L. plantarum Lq80, or (LM) 10¹⁰ (cell/dose) Lq80 with 10⁹ (cell/dose) M. elsdenii iNP‐001. Lq80 was contained in capsules resistant to gastric digestion. M. elsdenii was contained in capsules resistant to gastric and intestinal digestion. An untreated control (C) was also prepared. After 2 weeks of administration, L. plantarum enhanced the recovery from the villous atrophy in both experiments. The rectal and colonic IgA tended to be higher in L and LM than in C in Experiment 1. Colonic butyrate was higher in LM than in the others in Experiment 1. The thickness of the colonic mucosa was greater in LM than in the others in Experiment 1. In early weaned piglets, the effects of L. plantarum and M. elsdenii were clear.     

Pyridinoline concentrations in muscular and skin collagen of fish and relationship between collagen solubility and pyridinoline concentration in fish muscular collagen

Pyridinoline (Pyr), one of the mature crosslinks of collagen, was determined in muscular collagen of three species of fish. The amounts of muscular Pyr in red sea bream, yellowtail, and tiger puffer were 3.4, 8.8, and 50.3 mmol/mol collagen, respectively, indicating that the Pyr concentration in muscular collagen differs greatly among fish species. The Pyr concentration in tiger puffer muscular collagen was the greatest, but it was only one-fourth that in rabbit muscle. As in mammalian skin collagen, Pyr was not detected in skin collagen of red sea bream and yellowtail. However, tiger puffer skin contained Pyr (3.75 mmol/mol collagen). The presence of Pyr would have a relationship to some features of tiger puffer skin, such as mechanical strength and thickness. Pyr concentrations in acid-soluble collagen (ASC), pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC), and insoluble collagen (ISC) in muscles of three species of fish were determined. Pyr was found in ISC > PSC > ASC, from the highest to the lowest concentration, and the concentration in ISC was 45–200 times that in ASC. Therefore, Pyr crosslinks that are formed between collagen molecules would have a close relationship to collagen solubility.     

Molecular cloning of CD4 from ginbuna crucian carp <Emphasis Type="Italic">Carassius auratus langsdorfii</Emphasis>

ABSTRACT:   The clonal triploid ginbuna crucian carp Carassius auratus langsdorfii , a naturally occurring gynogenetic fish, is a useful model for studying T-cell-mediated immunity. CD4, a T-cell receptor (TCR) coreceptor, is a membrane-bound glycoprotein found on helper T-cells, and assists in the binding of major histocompatibility complexes. In the present study, full-length cDNAs encoding the CD4 molecule from the S3n strain of ginbuna crucian carp were cloned and characterized. 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and 3'-RACE yielded two distinct cDNA clones of CD4 homolog from the ginbuna, and these sequences share 95% identity at the amino acid level. These ginbuna CD4 molecules consisted of a signal peptide, immunoglobulin superfamily (IgSf) like domains, a transmembrane domain, and a cytoplasmic domain similar to other known CD4. A tyrosine protein kinase p56^lck binding motif is conserved in the cytoplasmic tail of ginbuna CD4. Phylogenetic tree analysis indicated that ginbuna CD4 sequences are closely related to CD4L-1 from other fish species. Expression of ginbuna CD4 mRNA was detected in the gill, thymus, head kidney, trunk kidney and peripheral blood leukocytes, indicating that its expression pattern is similar to that of ginbuna TCRβ mRNA. The results suggest that ginbuna CD4 sequences are useful as molecular probes for helper T-cells.