Comparative metabolite profiling of salt sensitive and the halophytic wild rice under salt stress.

To better understand the salt tolerance of the wild rice, , root tissue-specific untargeted comparative metabolomic profiling was performed against the salt-sensitive . Under control, exhibited abundant levels of most metabolites, while salt caused their downregulation in contrast to metabolites in . Under control conditions, itaconate, vanillic acid, threonic acid, eicosanoids, and a group of xanthin compounds were comparatively abundant in .

Plastic loss of motile cilia in the gills of in response to high CO or terrestrial environments.

The evolutionary transition of vertebrates from water to land during the Devonian period was accompanied by major changes in animal respiratory systems in terms of physiology and morphology. Indeed, the fossil record of the early tetrapods has revealed the existence of internal gills, which are vestigial fish-like traits used underwater. However, the fossil record provides only limited data on the process of the evolutionary transition of gills from fish to early tetrapods.

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.

 revised: Synonymisation of under and establishment of a new order, Thyridiales.

The genus , previously known as a saprobic or hemibiotrophic ascomycete on various plants, was revised taxonomically and phylogenetically. Sequences of the following six regions, that is, the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, the large subunit (LSU) of rDNA, the second largest RNA polymerase II subunit () gene, translation elongation factor 1-alpha () gene, the actin () gene, and the beta-tubulin () gene, were generated for molecular phylogenetic analyses of species of this genus. , a genus encompassing medically important species, is synonymised with based on molecular evidence and morphological similarities in their asexual characters.

Dynamic parallel kinetic resolution of α-ferrocenyl cation initiated by chiral Brønsted acid catalyst.

The dynamic parallel kinetic resolution (DPKR) of an α-ferrocenyl cation intermediate under the influence of a chiral conjugate base of a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst has been demonstrated in an S1 type substitution reaction of a racemic ferrocenyl derivative with a nitrogen nucleophile. The present method provides efficient access to a ferrocenylethylamine derivative in a highly enantioselective manner, which is potentially useful as a key precursor of chiral ligands for metal catalysis. The mechanism of the present intriguing resolution system was elucidated by control experiments using the enantio-pure precursor of relevant α-ferrocenyl cation intermediates and the hydroamination of vinylferrocene.

Antioxidant and antibacterial properties of coating with chitosan-citrus essential oil and effect on the quality of Pacific mackerel during chilled storage.

The goal of the study was to investigate whether chitosan-citrus essential oil composite works as an efficient preservative in Pacific mackerel () during chilling storage. FT-IR analysis showed that chitosan-citrus essential oil coating was successfully prepared. Our results demonstrated that chitosan-citrus essential oil coating possessed significantly higher capability of scavenging reactive oxygen species ( and OH-) than chitosan.

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.

Feminizing endosymbiont disrupts maternal sex chromosome inheritance in a butterfly species.

is a maternally inherited ubiquitous endosymbiotic bacterium of arthropods that displays a diverse repertoire of host reproductive manipulations. For the first time, we demonstrate that manipulates sex chromosome inheritance in a sexually reproducing insect. butterfly females on Tanegashima Island, Japan, are infected with the Fem strain and produce all-female offspring, while antibiotic treatment results in male offspring.

Effects of Dietary Forage and Calf Starter Diet on Ruminal pH and Bacteria in Holstein Calves during Weaning Transition.

We investigated the relationship between ruminal pH and bacteria in calves fed calf starter with and without forage during weaning transition. First, 16 Holstein bull calves were obtained from dairy farms and equipped with rumen cannulas by cannulation surgery. Then, calves (73.

Promotion of Flowering by Apple Latent Spherical Virus Vector and Virus Elimination at High Temperature Allow Accelerated Breeding of Apple and Pear.

Plant viral vectors are superior tools for genetic manipulation, allowing rapid induction or suppression of expression of a target gene in plants. This is a particularly effective technology for use in breeding fruit trees, which are difficult to manipulate using recombinant DNA technologies. We reported previously that if apple seed embryos (cotyledons) are infected with an Apple latent spherical virus (ALSV) vector (ALSV-AtFT/MdTFL1) concurrently expressing the Arabidopsis thaliana florigen (AtFT) gene and suppressing the expression of the apple MdTFL1-1 gene, the period prior to initial flowering (generally lasts 5-12 years) will be reduced to about 2 months.

Induction and maintenance of DNA methylation in plant promoter sequences by apple latent spherical virus-induced transcriptional gene silencing.

Apple latent spherical virus (ALSV) is an efficient virus-induced gene silencing vector in functional genomics analyses of a broad range of plant species. Here, an Agrobacterium-mediated inoculation (agroinoculation) system was developed for the ALSV vector, and virus-induced transcriptional gene silencing (VITGS) is described in plants infected with the ALSV vector. The cDNAs of ALSV RNA1 and RNA2 were inserted between the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and the NOS-T sequences in a binary vector pCAMBIA1300 to produce pCALSR1 and pCALSR2-XSB or pCALSR2-XSB/MN.

Plant plasma membrane proteomics for improving cold tolerance.

Plants are always exposed to various stresses. We have focused on freezing stress, which causes serious problems for agricultural management. When plants suffer freeze-induced damage, the plasma membrane is thought to be the primary site of injury because of its central role in regulation of various cellular processes.

Evaluation of Head Movement Periodicity and Irregularity during Locomotion of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Caenorhabditis elegans is suitable for studying the nervous system, which controls behavior. C. elegans shows sinusoidal locomotion on an agar plate.

Detergent-resistant plasma membrane proteome to elucidate microdomain functions in plant cells.

Although proteins and lipids have been assumed to be distributed homogeneously in the plasma membrane (PM), recent studies suggest that the PM is in fact non-uniform structure that includes a number of lateral domains enriched in specific components (i.e., sterols, sphingolipids, and some kind of proteins).

[Virus-induced gene silencing as a tool for analysis of gene functions in plants].

Virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a technology that exploits an RNA-mediated antivirus defense mechanism in plants and has been shown to have great potential in plant reverse genetics. When the virus vector carries sequences of plant genes, virus infection triggers VIGS that results in the degradation of endogenous mRNAs homologous to the plant genes. The system is well established in Nicotiana benthamiana and several reliable VIGS vectors have been developed for other plant species including important agricultural crops.

Stimulative effect of epinephrine on glucose production and utilization rates in sheep using a stable isotope.

The rates of the production and utilization of blood glucose were measured during intravenous epinephrine infusion (2.0 nmol kg-1 min-1 for 1 hr) in sheep. An isotope dilution method with an infusion of [U-13C]glucose and nonsteady-state equations were used for the determination of blood glucose kinetics.

Proso millet protein elevates plasma level of high-density lipoprotein: a new food function of proso millet.

We examined the effects of dietary proso-millet protein on plasma levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in different rats from animals reported in our previous studies. The results showed also, in this animal, that the ingestion of the millet protein elevates plasma levels of HDL-cholesterol like our earlier works. Taking into account the anti-atherogenic function of HDL, therefore, the millet protein would be useful as a new food ingredient which has the function that regulates cholesterol metabolism.

Minute fragment observed in a bovine pedigree with Robertsonian translocation.

A minute fragment was found in the metaphase plates obtained from one Holstein bull carrying Robertsonian translocation. The pedigree investigation indicated that three out of 34 offspring had the same minute fragment as their sire. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies with bovine satellite DNA revealed that the minute fragment was hybridized with this DNA and was part of the bovine centromere.

Analysis of phosphorylation of wheat elongation factor 1 beta and beta' by casein kinase II.

The purified casein kinase II (CK II) from Arabidopsis thaliana phosphorylates wheat elongation factor 1 beta (EF-1 beta), but not elongation factor 1 beta' (EF-1 beta'), which lacks a serine residue in the conserved phosphorylation site. Both EF-1 beta and beta' subunits, with similar functions, seem to undergo different regulation despite the partial amino acid sequence of EF-1 beta being similar to that of EF-1 beta'.