Evolutionary Histories of and .

The genus is widely distributed, primarily in East Asia. is located at the northern limit of this genus distribution, and understanding changes in its distribution is crucial for understanding the evolution of plants in this region, as well as their relationship with geological history and climate change. Moreover, the classification of sect.

Chloroplast genome-based genetic resources via genome skimming for the subalpine forests of Japan and adjacent regions.

The Japanese subalpine zone is dominated by an ecologically important forest biome, subalpine coniferous forest, constituting a distinct assemblage of cold-tolerant angiosperm and conifer species. While being relatively intact compared to other forest biomes in Japan, subalpine coniferous forests are under significant threat from deer browsing, global warming and small population size effects. However, there is a severe lack of genetic resources available for this biome's major constituent plant species.

Factors associated with seedling establishment on logs of different fungal decay types-A seed-sowing experiment.

Wood decay fungi alter the abiotic and biotic properties of deadwood, which are important as nurse logs for seedling regeneration. However, the relationship between fungal decay type and seedling performance has not been evaluated experimentally. In this study, we examined the germination, growth, and survival of six arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) and six ectomycorrhizal (ECM) tree species on three substrates (pine logs with brown and white rot and soil) by conducting seed-sowing experiments in a mixed forest dominated by and .

Potential contribution of floral thermogenesis to cold adaptation, distribution pattern, and population structure of thermogenic and non/slightly thermogenic species.

The genus in basal Araceae includes both thermogenic and non/slightly thermogenic species that prefer cold environments. If floral thermogenesis of contributes to cold adaptation, it would be expected that thermogenic species have a larger habitat than non/slightly thermogenic species during an ice age, leading to increased genetic diversity in the current population. To address this question, potential distribution in past environment predicted by ecological niche modeling (ENM), genetic diversity, and population structure of chloroplast and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms were compared between thermogenic and non/slightly thermogenic .

Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Derived Linoleic Acid Oxylipins, Small Vessel Disease Markers, and Neurodegeneration in Stroke.

Background Cerebral small vessel disease is associated with higher ratios of soluble-epoxide hydrolase derived linoleic acid diols (12,13-dihydroxyoctadecenoic acid [DiHOME] and 9,10-DiHOME) to their parent epoxides (12(13)-epoxyoctadecenoic acid [EpOME] and 9(10)-EpOME); however, the relationship has not yet been examined in stroke. Methods and Results Participants with mild to moderate small vessel stroke or large vessel stroke were selected based on clinical and imaging criteria. Metabolites were quantified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

High concentration of dopamine treatment may induce acceleration of human sperm motility.

Purpose: In humans, catecholamines (including dopamine) have been identified in semen and fallopian tubes, while dopamine D2 receptors (D2DR) are found in the sperm midpiece region. How dopamine dose affects human sperm function and whether dopamine treatment is useful in assisted reproductive technology is unclear.

Methods: Sperm samples were obtained from patients with normal semen parameters undergoing fertility treatment.

The allele from a large-grain rice cultivar, Akita 63, increases yield and improves nitrogen-use efficiency.

The Green Revolution allowed a large amount of nitrogen (N) fertilization to increase crop yield but has led to severe environmental pollution. Therefore, increasing the crop grain yield must be achieved without such considerable input of N fertilization. A large-grain rice cultivar, Akita 63, significantly increased grain yield and improved N-use efficiency (NUE) for yield per amount of N absorbed by plants.

Loss of causes sterility due to impaired spermatid differentiation in mice.

Purpose: Spermiogenesis, the process of deformation of sperm head morphology and flagella formation, is a phenomenon unique to sperm. Axonemal dynein light chain proteins are localized to sperm flagella and are known to be involved in sperm motility. Here, we focused on the gene axonemal dynein light chain domain containing 1 () with the aim to determine the function of its protein product AXDND1.

Intraspecific independent evolution of floral spur length in response to local flower visitor size in Japanese in different mountain regions.

Geographic differences in floral traits may reflect geographic differences in effective pollinator assemblages. Independent local adaptation to pollinator assemblages in multiple regions would be expected to cause parallel floral trait evolution, although sufficient evidence for this is still lacking. Knowing the intraspecific evolutionary history of floral traits will reveal events that occur in the early stages of trait diversification.

Role of stilbenes against insulin resistance: A review.

Insulin resistance (IR) is a state characterized by the inability of tissues to utilize blood glucose particularly liver, muscle, and adipose tissues resulting in hyperglycemia and hyperinsulinemia. A close relationship exists between IR and the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Therefore, therapeutic approaches to treat IR also improve T2D simultaneously.

Mammalian germ cell migration during development, growth, and homeostasis.

Background: Germ cells represent one of the typical cell types that moves over a long period of time and large distance within the animal body. To continue its life cycle, germ cells must migrate to spatially distinct locations for proper development. Defects in such migration processes can result in infertility.

Genetic diversity among perennial wild rice Griff., in the Mekong Delta.

Griff. is a perennial species of wild rice widely distributed along the channels and rivers of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This study attempted to find centers of diversity among wild rice populations in this area and their inter-relationships.

UV bullseye contrast of flowers attracts hawkmoths but not swallowtail butterflies.

The color and patterns of animal-pollinated flowers are known to have effects on pollinator attraction. In this study, the relative importance of flower color and color contrast patterns on pollinator attraction was examined in two pollinator groups, swallowtail butterflies and hawkmoths using two species; butterfly-pollinated and hawkmoth-pollinated having reddish and yellowish flowers in human vision, respectively. Flowers of both species have UV bullseye patterns, composed of UV-absorbing centers and UV-reflecting peripheries, known to function as a typical nectar guide, but UV reflectance was significantly more intense in the peripheries of flowers than in those of flowers.

Potassium bromate disrupts mitochondrial distribution within murine oocytes during in vitro maturation.

Purpose: As disturbed mitochondrial distribution is thought to be a cause of the aging of oocytes, it was investigated whether oxidizing agents exert harmful effects on nuclear maturation and mitochondrial cluster formation in murine oocytes and whether antioxidants could rescue such harmful effects in vitro.

Methods: Oocytes were obtained from female Institute of Cancer Research mice 48 h after an intraperitoneal injection of 7.5 IU pregnant mare serum gonadotropin.

Genet dynamics of a regenerating dwarf bamboo population across heterogeneous light environments in a temperate forest understorey.

Despite the advantage of plant clonality in patchy environments, studies focusing on genet demography in relation to spatially heterogeneous environments remain scarce. Regeneration of bamboos in forest understoreys after synchronous die-off provides an opportunity for assessing how they come to proliferate across heterogeneous light environments. In a Japanese forest, we examined genet demography of a population of over a 7-year period starting 10 years after die-off, shortly after which some genets began spreading horizontally by rhizomes.

Size advantage for male function and size-dependent sex allocation in , a wind-pollinated plant.

In wind-pollinated plants, male-biased sex allocation is often positively associated with plant size and height. However, effects of size (biomass or reproductive investment) and height were not separated in most previous studies. Here, using experimental populations of monoecious plants, we examined (1) how male and female reproductive investments (MRI and FRI) change with biomass and height, (2) how MRI and height affect male reproductive success (MRS) and pollen dispersal, and (3) how height affects seed production.

Specific combinations of presenilins and Aph1s affect the substrate specificity and activity of γ-secretase.

The γ-secretase complex comprises presenilin (PS), nicastrin (NCT), anterior pharynx-defective 1 (Aph1), and presenilin enhancer 2 (Pen2). PS has two homologues, PS1 and PS2. Aph1 has two isoforms, Aph1a and Aph1b, with the former existing as two splice variants Aph1aL and Aph1aS.

Immunobiotic Lactobacillus jensenii as immune-health promoting factor to improve growth performance and productivity in post-weaning pigs.

Background: Immunoregulatory probiotics (immunobiotics) have been proposed to improve piglets' immune system to avoid intestinal infections and reduce unproductive inflammation after weaning. Previously, it was demonstrated that Lactobacillus jensenii TL2937 (LjTL2937) attenuated the inflammatory response triggered by activation of Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) in porcine intestinal epithelial (PIE) cells and antigen presenting cells (APCs) from porcine Peyer's patches (PP).

Objective: In view of the critical importance of PIE-APCs interactions in the regulation of intestinal immune responses, we aimed to examine the effect of LjTL2937 on activation patterns of APCs from swine PPs in co-cultures with PIE cells.

Effect of single-oocyte culture system on in vitro maturation and developmental competence in mice.

Purpose: To investigate whether single-culture systems influence the quality of in vitro-matured oocytes, we examined the maturation and developmental competence of oocytes obtained by grouped in vitro maturation (IVM) or single IVM.

Methods: In vitro-matured oocytes were obtained using the culture drop (CD) method for the grouped IVM experiments, and the CD and hanging drop (HD) method for the single IVM experiments. To evaluate oocyte developmental competence, we performed in vitro fertilization and culture, and counted the number of blastocysts.

Middle-thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria Thiomonas sp. RAN5 strain for hydrogen sulfide removal.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is one of the most toxic and offensively odorous gases and is generated in anaerobic bioreactors. A middle-thermophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium (SOB), Thiomonas sp. strain RAN5, was isolated and applied for H2S removal from both artificial and anaerobically digested gas.

Physiological function of hyaluronan in mammalian oocyte maturation.

Despite its structural simplicity, hyaluronan exhibits a broad spectrum of biological activities. Cumulus expansion observed during oocyte maturation in mammals is also induced by hyaluronan accumulation in cumulus-oocyte complexes. It has been demonstrated that this volumetric change in cumulus-oocyte complexes correlates with the progression of oocyte maturation.