Characterization of vitamin B<Subscript>12</Subscript> compounds from marine foods

Vitamin B₁₂ is synthesized by only certain bacteria and archaea but not by animals or plants. In marine environments, bacterial vitamin B₁₂ is transferred and concentrated into fish and shellfish bodies by plankton in the marine food chain. Moreover, marine macrophytic red algae, Porphyra spp. specifically contain substantial amounts of vitamin B₁₂, due to microbial interaction. Although some meats or viscera of edible fish and shellfish are excellent sources of biologically active vitamin B₁₂, an inactive corrinoid, pseudovitamin B₁₂, was found in some edible shellfish using liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry. To prevent elderly people from developing vitamin B₁₂ deficiency due to food protein-bound vitamin B₁₂ malabsorption, we present a survey of marine foods containing free vitamin B₁₂. The results of our study suggest that bonito and clam extracts (or soup stocks), which contain considerable amounts of free vitamin B₁₂ are useful not only as seasonings and flavorings but also as excellent sources of free vitamin B₁₂.     

A cross-sectional study of swine influenza in intensive and extensive farms in the northeastern region of the state of São Paulo,Brazil

Swine influenza (SI) is a seasonal infectious disease highly important to the world pig industry. Loss of daily weight gain, increased costs for the prevention and treatment of secondary infections are the main economic losses associated with the presence of this disease. However, some epidemiological features of SI remain quite unclear. This study focused on assessing the prevalence of swine influenza virus (SIV) infection in intensive and extensive pig herds and associating risk factors. A set of 601 blood samples of five intensive farrow-to-finish farms and 361 blood samples from 56 extensive farms were analyzed using an indirect ELISA kit CIVTEST SUIS INFLUENZA®, Hipra (Amer, Spain), in order to detect anti-SIV antibodies. In total, 24.13 % of samples from intensive herds were positive, while no positive samples were detected in extensive rearing herds. Sow and weaning piglets had the highest prevalence values. In the intensive rearing system, occurrence of reproductive disorders and exposure to recently introduced animals were positively associated with the disease occurrence in swine herds. The findings highlight the importance of sows in the epidemiology of the disease and bring information about risk factors involved in the occurrence of swine influenza in intensive herds.     

Resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis>: exploring genes required for disease resistance in Solanaceae plants

The oomycete Phytophthora infestans is the causal agent of potato late blight, one of the most destructive and historically significant pathogens in agricultural production. A virus-induced gene silencing-based screening of the solanaceous model plant N. benthamiana resulted in revealing a wide range of resistance mechanisms of solanaceous plants against this pathogen. In this article, we present an overview of the various pathways involved in the N. benthamiana–P. infestans pathosystem, including some of the follow-up work that was triggered by these findings. The purpose of this review is to assemble these findings and integrate them into our current understanding of plant pathogen defense mechanisms and discuss their potential application for the development of potato resistance to P. infestans.     

Clonality analysis of various hematopoietic disorders in cats naturally infected with feline leukemia virus

The clonality analysis of the bone marrow cells was carried out by detecting the integrated proviruses of feline leukemia virus (FeLV) to understand the pathogenesis of FeLV-associated hematopoietic disorders in cats. Bone marrow cells from 4 cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), 9 cases with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), 2 cases with pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) and 3 healthy carriers infected with FeLV were subjected to Southern blot analyses using an exogenous FeLV probe. Clonal hematopoiesis was found in all the cases with AML and in 6 of the 9 cases with MDS, but not in the cases with both PRCA and healthy carriers infected with FeLV. In the 2 cases with MDS, it was thought that the same clones of the hematopoietic cells might proliferate before and after the progression of the disease irrespective of the changes of the hematological diagnoses by cytological examination. This study indicates that MDS in cats is a disease manifestation as a result of clonal proliferation of hematopoietic cells and can be recognized as a pre-leukemic state of AML.     

Effect of Growing Environment of Soft Wheats on Amylose Content and Its Relationship with Cookie and Sponge Cake Quality and Solvent Retention Capacity

The effect of growing environments of soft wheat on amylose content and its relationship with baking quality and solvent retention capacities (SRC) was investigated. Near‐isogenic soft wheat lines of Norin 61 differing in granule‐bound starch synthase (Wx protein) activity and grown in three different regions of Japan: Hokkaido (spring‐sown) for 2006 and 2007, Kanto (autumn‐sown), and Kyushu (autumn‐sown) for 2007 were evaluated. Spring‐sown samples produced grains of greater protein content (10.9–12.4%) than autumn‐sown samples (7.3–9.1%). In contrast, spring‐sown samples of 2007 with higher maturing temperature had lower amylose content (25.5% for Norin 61) compare to the autumn‐sown and spring‐sown samples of 2006 (27.6–28.4% for Norin 61). Amylose content was strongly correlated to sugar snap cookie (SSCD) diameter (r = 0.957–0.961; n = 10, all samples; P ≤ 0.001, r = 0.701–0.976; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples; and Japanese sponge cake (JSCV) volume r = 0.971–0.993; n = 10; P≤ 0.001, r = 0.764–0.922; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples), regardless of seeding season and growing conditions. The strength of the JSVC‐amylose relationship (slope) was similar among the three regions, whereas the strength of the SSCD‐amylose relationship was slightly weaker for spring‐sown samples and slightly stronger for partial waxy and nonwaxy autumn‐sown samples. Among of the four solvents (water, solutions of sodium carbonate, sucrose, or lactic acid), water‐SRC showed the greatest correlation to amylose content (r = –0.969 to –0.996; n = 10; P ≤ 0.001, r = –0.629 to –0.983; n = 7 partial waxy and nonwaxy samples), indicated that amylose content can be accurately estimated from the water‐SRC within the samples from the same grown environment.