Yield estimation of 1-year-old asparagus grown using rootstock-planting forcing culture

Rootstock-planting forcing culture was developed in asparagus to harvest spears even during the seasons when the plants become dormant, but the demand for them high. In this study, cumulative hours during which the air temperature remained lower than 5°C, i.e. chilling hours (CHs), were calculated to determine dormancy breakage for asparagus cultures. We also measured CIELab colour values for cut stems immediately before rootstock digging, and determined whether they could be substituted and/or compensated for CHs while evaluating asparagus plant productivity in different low-temperature backgrounds, and obtained regression equations for yield estimation. Asparagus seedlings were cultivated in seven different regions across Japan and brought to the study site for harvesting. Our regression equation based on CHs and rootstock weight for yield estimation had relatively high fitness (adjusted R² = 0.5795). The colour values of cut stalks at rootstock digging can also be used to evaluate their productivity. These values can be useful in regions where CHs cannot be determined, although their effectiveness was slightly lower than that of CHs of areas adjacent to the study sites.     

Meteorological factors involved in Japanese encephalitis virus infection in cattle

From 1982 to 1987 a total of 4,371 dairy cattle in Saitama Prefecture, were examined for levels of hemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody to Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and the correlation with meteorological factors and an antibody positive rate was studied. Positivity rates of HI antibody from July to October each year (Yi) ranged from 58.8 to 88.0% with a considerable annual variation. Simple regression analysis of Yi with the comparative meteorological value (Xi) was determined from mean temperatures (Ti, j-1), rainfalls (Ri, j-1) for 10-day-periods each, and the number of days showing 25 degrees C or above (ti, j-1) from June to September, which yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.8147 (p less than 0.05) and an equation for estimated HI antibody positivity rate: Yi = -0.04Xi+79.9 (p less than 0.05). Multiple regression analysis with the power values of three meteorological parameters as independent variables and Yi as the dependent variable, showed a multiple correlation coefficient of 0.987 (p less than 0.05) and a multiple regression equation: Yi = -3991T1/13-0.0035R-12+1978t1/9+4187 (p less than 0.05), giving estimated positivity rates almost equal to the values from the observations. Therefore, a predictive equation was formulated reflecting positive and negative correlations of sero-positivity with the temperature and the precipitation, respectively.     

Immunoperoxidase evaluation of pneumonic lesions in calves naturally infected with Pasteurella haemolytica

Immunoperoxidase technique was applied for pathological study on naturally occurring pneumonic tissues of calves from which Pasteurella haemolytica was isolated. Multifocal necrosis occurred in the lungs of 25 out of 42 calves (59.5%) and P. haemolytica antigen was detected in 22 out of the 25 calves (88.0%). The calves were divided into 3 groups according to the number of P. haemolytica isolated. The positive rate of the bacterial antigen detected by the technique was 66.6% (28/42) on the average, reaching up to 85.7% (18/21) in the group from which the largest number of P. haemolytica was isolated.     

Role of the nitric oxide-cGMP system in the regulation of ductus arteriosus patency in fetal rats

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the nitric oxide (NO) and cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) system in the regulation of the ductus arteriosus (DA) patency in fetal rats. Pregnant rats were administered N(G)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 50 mg/kg, ip), an NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor; methylene blue (30, 50 and 100 mg/kg, ip), a soluble guanylate cyclase inhibitor; or indomethacin (3 mg/kg, po), a cyclooxygenase inhibitor, at various times before cesarean section. Dams were decapitated to obtain the fetuses by cesarean section, and fetuses were rapidly frozen in an acetone-dry ice mixture. Using rapid freezing and shaving methods, the calibers of the DA, pulmonary artery (PA) and descending aorta (Ao) were measured to evaluate the effects of treatment. L-NAME reduced the DA calibers to 86% of the initial values, but recovery to the control levels occurred 6 hr after the injection. Indomethacin decreased the DA calibers to 34% of the control values and sustained the DA constriction until 24 hr after the treatment. Methylene blue caused DA constriction to almost the same degree as indomethacin, but the levels normalized within 24 hr after the treatment. We conclude that L-NAME caused a slight constriction of the DA, whereas methylene blue and indomethacin caused marked constriction of the vessels, suggesting that the NO-cGMP system as well as prostaglandins contribute to the DA patency.     

Expression profiles of interferon gamma genes in response to immunostimulants and alloantigen in ginbuna crucian carp Carassius auratus langsdorfii

Interferon gamma (IFNγ), a Th1-derived cytokine is one of the key molecules inducing cell-mediated immune responses in mammals. The expression of 2 distinct IFNγ (ifng1 and ifng2) and IFNγrel (ifngrel) genes was examined in kidney leukocytes from clonal ginbuna crucian carp Carassius auratus langsdorfii. The expression of IFNγ and IFNγrel genes was induced in kidney leukocytes by stimulation with lipopolysaccharide or phytohemagglutinin in a dose-dependent manner. The expression levels of IFNγ and IFNγrel genes in kidney leukocytes from allo-sensitized fish cocultured with allogeneic cells were higher than those from fish cocultured with isogeneic cells. The highest expression of ifng1 was observed at day 1, whereas that of ifng2 and ifngrel was detected at day 2 after cocultivation with allogeneic cells. However, the expression pattern of ifng2 and ifngrel in kidney leukocytes from allo-sensitized fish by scale-grafting was similar to those from non-sensitized fish. These results indicate that ifng1 is a major isoform of IFNγ related to antigen-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI), and will be a useful marker to evaluate induction of CMI in ginbuna crucian carp. In addition, IFNγ would be a crucial type-II interferon compared to IFNγrel, relevant to cell-mediated immunity in fish as in mammals.