Microsatellite markers for (Nymphaeaceae), an aquatic plant in the agricultural ecosystem of Japan.

Premise Of The Study: species (Nymphaeaceae) are representative aquatic plants in irrigation ponds in Japanese agricultural ecosystems. We developed 15 polymorphic microsatellite markers for and confirmed their utility for its close relatives var. and .

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci for the endangered wetland plant Adenophora palustris (Campanulaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Adenophora palustris (Campanulaceae) is an endangered wetland plant species in Japan. Although it is widely distributed in East Asia, only six extant populations are known in Japan, with fewer than 1000 individuals in total. We developed 15 microsatellite markers for this species and confirmed their utility for the closely related species A.

Evaluation of the Environmental DNA Method for Estimating Distribution and Biomass of Submerged Aquatic Plants.

The environmental DNA (eDNA) method has increasingly been recognized as a powerful tool for monitoring aquatic animal species; however, its application for monitoring aquatic plants is limited. To evaluate eDNA analysis for estimating the distribution of aquatic plants, we compared its estimated distributions with eDNA analysis, visual observation, and past distribution records for the submerged species Hydrilla verticillata. Moreover, we conducted aquarium experiments using H.

SPDL-1 functions as a kinetochore receptor for MDF-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

The spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) ensures faithful chromosome segregation by delaying anaphase onset until all sister kinetochores are attached to bipolar spindles. An RNA interference screen for synthetic genetic interactors with a conserved SAC gene, san-1/MAD3, identified spdl-1, a Caenorhabditis elegans homologue of Spindly. SPDL-1 protein localizes to the kinetochore from prometaphase to metaphase, and this depends on KNL-1, a highly conserved kinetochore protein, and CZW-1/ZW10, a component of the ROD-ZW10-ZWILCH complex.

Spindle assembly checkpoint gene mdf-1 regulates germ cell proliferation in response to nutrition signals in C. elegans.

When newly hatched Caenorhabditis elegans larvae are starved, their primordial germ cells (PGCs) arrest in the post-S phase. This starvation-induced PGC arrest is mediated by the DAF-18/PTEN-AKT-1/PKB nutrient-sensing pathway. Here, we report that the conserved spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) component MDF-1/MAD1 is required for the PGC arrest.

An analysis of the length of stay and effectiveness of treatment for hip fracture patients in Japan: evaluation of the 2002 Revision of the Medical Service Fee Schedule.

The length of hospital stay and effectiveness of medical treatment are analyzed using data of patients hospitalized due to hip fractures of four hospitals in Japan. The influence of the Revision of the Medical Service Fee Schedule in April, 2002, is evaluated, and factors which may have affected the length of stay and effectiveness of treatment (walking ability upon departure from the hospital) are also analyzed by a newly developed simultaneous equation model.

A new ferrochelatase mutation combined with low expression alleles in a Japanese patient with erythropoietic protoporphyria.

We investigated the molecular defect of the ferrochelatase gene in a Japanese patient with erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP), and identified a novel 16 base pair (574-589) deletion within exon 5. This deletion resulted in a frame-shift mutation and created a premature stop codon at amino acid position 198. The same molecular defect was also identified in his mother and a brother who had symptomatic EPP, but not in his father who was asymptomatic.