Identification of the core rumen bacterial taxa and their population dynamics during the fattening period in Japanese Black cattle

The rumen microbiota comprises a vast range of bacterial taxa, which may affect the production of high-quality meat in Japanese Black cattle. The aim of this study was to identify core rumen microbiota in rumen fluid samples collected from 74 Japanese Black cattle raised under different dietary conditions using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. In the rumen of fattening Japanese Black cattle, 10 bacterial taxa, showing >1% average relative abundance and >95% prevalence, irrespective of the dietary conditions and the fattening periods, were identified as the core rumen bacterial taxa, which accounted for approximately 80% of the rumen microbiota in Japanese Black cattle. Additionally, population dynamics of the core rumen bacterial taxa revealed two distinct patterns: Prevotella spp. and unclassified Bacteroidales decreased in the mid-fattening period, whereas unclassified Clostridiales, unclassified Ruminococcaceae, Ruminococcus spp., and unclassified Christensenellaceae increased during the same period. Therefore, the present study reports the wide distribution of the core rumen bacterial taxa in Japanese Black cattle, and the complementary nature of the population dynamics of these core taxa, which may ensure stable rumen fermentation during the fattening period.     

Increased number of whistles of bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus, arising from interaction with people

The acoustic mode is the most reasonable means for social animals such as dolphins to maintain contact in the underwater habitat, and has been developed since they moved to the sea. This study investigates variations in dolphin vocalizations under the following conditions in a captive environment: 1) before feeding (Pre-feeding), 2) during feeding (Feeding), 3) during free time without the presence of people (Free), 4) during interaction with people located upon a float (Float), 5) during interaction with people in the water (Water). During the experiments, a total of 2642 whistles were extracted from sonogram data using a spectrogram. About 44% of the total whistles were observed during Pre-feeding (1171/2642), and the number recorded during Free, when people were absent, was the smallest. The acoustic contours of dolphin whistles differed in different situations: convex, wave, and trill whistles were made repeatedly during Pre-feeding, thereby being more common at this time than at other times. The situation of Feeding saw an increased number of Upsweeps, which might be related to the use of echolocation. The lower frequencies were recorded during Pre-feeding, reflecting the emotion related to the dolphin's hunger. The results of this study indicate that dolphins increase their vocalization during interaction with people, suggesting that interactions with dolphins provide an effective treatment for human health problems, which is discussed with a reference article in this study. Vocal data obtained during contact with humans might serve as an important index for the dolphin-assisted therapy.     

Androgen induces production of male effect pheromone in female goats

Previously we showed that the primer pheromone responsible for the "male effect" was produced in specific skin regions of castrated male goats by androgen treatments. In the present study, we examined whether androgen can also induce production of the male effect pheromone in female goats. Capsules containing dihydrotestosterone (DHT) or testosterone (T) were subcutaneously implanted into six ovariectomized (OVX) goats for 28 days. Small skin samples were collected from the head and rump regions, and the pheromone activity of their ether extracts was examined using a bioassay that monitors the electrophysiological manifestation of the hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone pulse generator as multiple-unit activity. Behaviors of OVX goats towards ovary-intact estrous goats were also examined before and at the end of DHT or T treatment. Before androgen treatment, neither the head nor rump skin samples in OVX goats showed pheromone activity. DHT treatment induced pheromone activity in the head skin sample of six OVX goats and in the rump skin sample of two OVX goats. Similar results were obtained by T treatment. In addition, OVX goats treated with T showed masculine-type sexual behaviors such as courtship and mounting behaviors towards the estrous goats. These results demonstrate that androgen is capable of inducing primer pheromone activity in the female and suggest that the synthesis pathway of the male effect pheromone exists in both sexes in the goat.     

PCR detection of Porcine circovirus type 2 DNA in whole blood,serum, oropharyngeal swab,nasal swab,and feces from experimentally infected pigs and field cases

Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) shedding patterns were investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of PCV2 DNA, and the diagnostic suitability of a sample for the PCR was examined by using different types of samples. In the experimental infection, sixteen pigs were inoculated intranasally with PCV2. The samples, including oropharyngeal and nasal swabs, feces, whole blood and serum became positive for PCV2 DNA by PCR immediately after the inoculation, and almost all samples remained positive during the observation period, post-inoculation-day 70. Field samples were collected from 313 pigs in five different age groups. The overall percentages of positive samples in the whole blood, nasal swabs, and feces detected by PCR were 30.4%, 19.2%, and 20.4%, respectively. The frequency of positive samples increased after the nursery stages and reached a peak in the 3 to 4-month-old pigs. These results indicate that PCV2 infection may occur after weaning, that PCV2 DNA may be present in whole blood for a long period after infection, and that whole blood and serum are the most suitable sample types for the PCR analysis of PCV2.     

Determination of theaflavins including methylated theaflavins in black tea leaves by solid-phase extraction and HPLC analysis

A quantitative method for four theaflavins and two methylated theaflavin derivatives in black tea leaves was developed by solid-phase extraction and a high-performance liquid chromatographic method with photodiode array detection. The theaflavins in black tea leaves were extracted three times with 40 vol 50% aqueous ethanol (mg dry tea powder/mL) containing 2% ascorbic acid. The ethanol extracts were diluted 4-fold with distilled water. All diluted extracts were directly applied to the solid-phase C18 cartridge column without concentration. The fraction of theaflavins was obtained by 40% ethanol extraction after rinsing with water followed with 15% ethanol extraction. An aliquot of theaflavins after concentration was injected onto an ODS C18 reversed-phase column, and four theaflavins and two methylated theaflavins were sufficiently separated by a linear gradient system using distilled water and acetonitrile with 0.5% acetic acid. This analytical method is sensitive for the determination of a small amount of methylated theaflavins, since various interfering substances produced during the fermentation process were eliminated in advance by solid-phase extraction. Using this analytical method, we also demonstrated that methylated theaflavins were easily produced during the manufacture of black tea.     

A definition of the optimal allocation of effort in conservation of plant genetic resources-with application to sample size determination for field collection

Summary A criterion was presented to define the most efficient strategy for the exploration and maintenance of plant genetic resources. All of the three factors composing the efficiency. i.e., multiplicity of target populations. the amount of expenses, and goodness for individual populations of the conservation manipulation adopted, were incorporated in the present criterion. Sample size per target population for field collection was investigated on the basis of this criterion, leading to the conclusion that the number of visited populations rather than sample size per population determines the overall efficiency of a collection project as a whole. Without any particular reason, intensive sampling for a limited number of populations is not logical. A sample size as small as ten plants per site or population was estimated reasonable to cover a large target area.     

Computer-Simulated Evaluation of the Hybrid Weakness Gene System as a Means of Preventing Genetic Contamination of Rice Cultivars

Effectivness of the hybrid-weakness caused by a complementary interaction of two dominant genes Hwc₁ and Hwc₂ to suppress the spread of the red-grain gene into ordinary white-grained rice cultivars was investigated using the Monte Carlo computer simulation method. It was shown that the weakness genes, as far as being capable of reducing the fitness of the carrier by 80 percent or more, work quite effectively to suppress the genetic contamination of white-grained cultivars due to inflow of pollen from red-grained cultivars due to inflow of pollen from red-grain gene once the gene has been incorporated in to the population in the form of red-grained progeny produced as a result of the imperfect lethality of the initial hybrid between red-and white-grained cultivars. The weakness genes have little or no effect cultivars. The weakness genes have little or no effect either, when the contamination is initiated by an inflow of seeds or seedlings from ed-grained cultivars in these situations, removal (selection)of red grained plants Is the only countermeasure to exterminate the red-grain gene. The removal of red grained plants need not be intensive if carried out continuously. The spread of the red-grain gene after initial contamination is suppressed if the red-grain gene and weakness genes are linked. The suppressing effect of the linkage, however, is not substantial when the outcrossing rate is around or smaller than 0.01 as can be assumed in most rice cultivars.     

Antiallergic tea catechin, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-(3-O-methyl)-gallate,suppresses FcepsilonRI expression in human basophilic KU812 cells

We previously found that the O-methylated derivative of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-gallate (EGCg), (-)-epigallocatechin-3-O-(3-O-methyl)-gallate (EGCG' '3Me), has potent antiallergic activity. The high-affinity IgE receptor, FcepsilonRI, is found at high levels on basophils and mast cells and plays a key role in a series of acute and chronic human allergic reactions. To understand the mechanism of action for the antiallergic EGCG' '3Me, the effect of EGCG' '3Me on the cell surface expression of FcepsilonRI in human basophilic KU812 cells was examined. Flow cytometric analysis showed that EGCG' '3Me was able to decrease the cell surface expression of FcepsilonRI. Moreover, immunoblot analysis revealed that total cellular expression of the FcepsilonRI alpha chain decreased upon treatment with EGCG' '3Me. FcepsilonRI is a tetrameric structure comprising one alpha chain, one beta chain, and two gamma chains. The level of mRNA production of each subunit in KU812 cells was investigated. EGCG' '3Me reduced FcepsilonRI alpha and gamma mRNA levels. The cross-linkage of FcepsilonRI causes the activation of basophils, which leads to the secretion of inflammatory mediators including histamine. EGCG' '3Me treatment inhibited the FcepsilonRI cross-linking-induced histamine release. These results suggested that EGCG' '3Me can negatively regulate basophil activation through the suppression of FcepsilonRI expression.