Proportions of melanocyte stimulating hormone-immunoreactive cells in the adenohypophysis of Silky fowl and hyperpigmentation-free cockerels

Alpha‐melanocyte stimulating hormone (α‐MSH) is one of the main regulators for melanocytes, and the adenohypophysis is one of the major tissues for the synthesis of this hormone. The Silky fowl is a characteristic breed of chicken with hyperpigmentation throughout the body. The involvement of the adenohypophysis in the hyperpigmentation of this breed is not known. In the present study, the proportion of melanocyte stimulating hormone‐immunopositive cells (MSH cells) in the adenohypophysis was immunocytochemically compared between Silky, Red Cornish × New Hampshire (RN) crossbred and Japanese bantam cockerels at 15 weeks of age. After the body and gland were weighed, the adenohypophyseal cells were enzymatically dispersed and immunostained for α‐MSH, and the immunopositive MSH cells were counted. The weights of the body and adenohypophysis were heaviest in the RN crossbred, followed by the Silky and lightest in the bantam cockerels. In contrast, the ratio between adenohypophysis and bodyweight was much larger in the Silky and the bantam than in the RN crossbreed (P < 0.05). The population of MSH cells in the adenohypophysis was larger in the Silky (14.3%) than in the RN crossbreed (8.0%) and the bantam (8.1%) cockerels (P < 0.05). From these results, it was concluded that prepubertal Silky cockerel have numerous MSH cells in the adenohypophysis suggesting a relationship to hyperpigmentation.     

Possibility of amino acid nutrition in broiler

The consumption of poultry meats exceeds 50% of total meat consumption. With the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and foot and mouth disease, the consumption of poultry meat is set to increase. The use of meat bone meal derived from cattle and pigs is prohibited. Therefore, plant protein has to be used more frequently and the importance of the study of amino acid nutrition is increasing. In order to improve dietary efficiency, it is necessary to elucidate the exact amino acid requirements of poultry. The amino acid requirements are not constant and are affected by various factors. By using the plasma amino acid concentration as a parameter, it is possible to predict the amino acid requirements within a short period using a small number of animals repeatedly. By satisfying the amino acid requirements through supplementing crystalline amino acids, it is possible to reduce dietary protein and excretory nitrogen simultaneously. However, when the dietary protein is reduced, the abdominal fat tends to increase. This is solved by deciding the optimum dietary protein level, but it is difficult to control the taste of poultry meat by dietary amino acids.     

A comparison of the epidemiology of bovine ephemeral fever in South Korea and south-western Japan

SUMMARY Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) outbreaks were investigated in South Korea and Japan from 1953 to 1991, retrospectively. The epidemics occurred contemporaneously several times; particularly, those of 1988 and 1991. The initial outbreaks in the Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1988 and 1991 occurred about 1 month after those in Korea. Meteorological analysis showed that a low-level jet stream through Jeonnam Province in Korea struck the Fukuoka Prefecture of Japan during the epidemic. The BEF epidemics of Fukuoka Prefecture may have originated from infected vectors carried on the low-level jet stream.     

T4-type bacteriophage communities estimated from the major capsid genes (g23) in manganese nodules in Japanese paddy fields

The present study compared the capsid gene ( g23 ) of T4-type bacteriophages (phages) in Mn nodules with those in the plow layer soil and subsoils of two Japanese paddy fields by applying the primers MZIA1bis and MZIA6 to DNA extracts from the nodules and soils. The deduced amino acid sequences of the g23 genes in the Mn nodules were similar to those in the plow layer soil and in the subsoils. This result indicated that similar T4-type phage communities developed at these sites and that the diversity of T4-type phage communities was wide enough to cover those in the plow layer soil and in the subsoils. The majority of g23 clones formed several clusters with the clones and phages obtained from far-apart paddy fields, and the sequences of two clones were completely identical to a phage and a clone from other paddy fields at the nucleotide or amino acid level, indicating horizontal transfer of g23 genes between those paddy fields. A clone with a long nucleotide residue (686 bp) and a distribution remote from the other clones in the phylogenetic tree indicated that there were many uncharacterized, novel g23 genes in the paddy fields.     

Reducing effect of dietary anacardic acid on body fat pads in rats

We have previously shown that anacardic acid has an uncoupling effect on oxidative phosphorylation in rat liver mitochondria using succinate as a substrate (Toyomizu et al. 2000). In the present study, in order to clarify whether or not anacardic acid could be used advantageously as a special feed/food supplement to reduce fat deposition through the uncoupling action, two sets of experiments were conducted to determine quantitatively the effect of dietary anacardic acid (0.1% w/w) supplementation. More specifically, effects on growth, feed efficiency, fattening, and levels of several constituents of blood serum in rats fed normal and low protein–high carbohydrate (CHO) diets were examined. There were no significant differences in bodyweight gain, feed consumption and feed efficiency among the experimental groups. For the total fat pad content, including inguinal and epididymal fat, significant interaction was shown between both treatments: dietary anacardic acid at 0.1% w/w significantly decreased the total fat pad content in rats fed the CHO diet, but not in rats fed the normal diet. Weights of heart, spleen and brown adipose tissue were not affected by either the dietary treatment or anacardic acid, while both liver and kidney weights decreased with feeding of anacardic acid at 0.1% w/w, but were not affected by the CHO diet. Anacardic acid supplementation in the diet had no effect on serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, alkaline phosphatase or lactate dehydrogenase levels, suggesting that the dysfunction of liver or kidney may not be induced by dietary anacardic acid. The results of the present study reveal a unique function of anacardic acid in that, for dietary conditions enhancing body fat deposition, that is consumption of a diet high in carbohydrates, dietary anacardic acid has the potential to decrease body fat deposition. A possible mechanism for differences observed in anacardic acid‐induced regulation of body fat pad content between rats fed the normal and CHO diets, based on uncoupling action of anacardic acid on the mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, is discussed.     

More effective induction of anesthesia using midazolam-butorphanol-ketamine-sevoflurane compared with ketamine-sevoflurane in the common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus)

The common marmoset has been increasingly used for research in the biomedical field; however, there is little information available regarding effective methods of anesthesia in this species. This study retrospectively analyzed 2 regimens of anesthesia induction: intramuscular injection of ketamine followed by inhalation of 5% sevoflurane, and intramuscular injection of midazolam, butorphanol and ketamine followed by inhalation of 5% sevoflurane. Anesthetic depth did not reach the surgical anesthesia stage in 7 out of 99 animals receiving the former regimen, whereas there were only 2 such animals out of 273 receiving the latter regimen. The latter regimen, when followed by maintenance anesthesia with 3% sevoflurane inhalation, was successfully used in various nociceptive procedures. These results indicate that the injection of a combination of midazolam, butorphanol and ketamine followed by inhalation of a high concentration of sevoflurane is effective for anesthesia induction in marmosets.     

南岭植被的研究

本文对我国南岭山地中,西段常绿阔叶林的生态特性、主要植被类型。所包含的热带区系成分及植被的垂直分布等进行了综合研究。对这一植被区中,西段在湖南境内的北部界限作了论述和讨论的同时,分析和比较了南岭东、中、西段的特点和差异。认为南岭各段常绿阔叶林的类型基本相同。因而应是一个自然的植被区,东段和西段的主要区别在于:西段受云贵高原和华中植物区系的影响较大,在植被的种类组成上差异明显;西段中山落叶阔叶树种类和温带植物区系成分比较丰富,常绿落叶阔叶混交林分布范围较广。而越向东移,常绿阔叶林的分布范围愈广,华南区系成分愈多。     

Methanogenic archaeal communities developed in paddy fields in the Kojima Bay polder, estimated by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis, real-time PCR and sequencing analyses

Methanogenic archaeal communities inhabiting the paddy field soils in the Kojima Bay polder were investigated using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE), real-time PCR and sequencing analyses. Soil samples of the plow and subsoil layers were collected in 2006 from four paddy fields that were reclaimed between 1692 and 1954. The DGGE band patterns of the targeted 16S rRNA genes amplified from the extracted DNA from the samples were different from the patterns from the paddy field soils in diluvial and alluvial areas. The numbers of targeted 16S rRNA genes, which were involved with methanogenic archaeal and other archaeal sequences, were approximately 10⁷–10⁸ and 10⁶ g⁻¹ dry soil in the plow and subsoil layers, respectively. Sequences of methanogenic archaeal 16S rRNA genes belonging to Methanocellales (Rice cluster I), Methanosarcinales and Methanobacteriales were obtained from the major DGGE bands. Whereas sequences in Methanomicrobiales, which were predominant methanogens in the diluvial and alluvial paddy fields, were not recovered. Known halophilic and methylotrophic methanogens, which are characteristic of saline and marine environments, were not detected. These results indicate that distinctive methanogenic archaeal communities have developed in the paddy field soils in the Kojima Bay polder.