Genetic homogeneity between adult and juvenile populations of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Scombrops gilberti</Emphasis> (Percoid,Scombropidae) in the Pacific Ocean off the Japanese Islands     

Shiro Itoi  Junpei Odaka  Shunsuke Noguchi  Tsutomu Noda  Kohei Yuasa  Toshihiko Muraki  Taichi Tanabe  Noriyuki Takai  Kiyoshi Yoshihara  Haruo Sugita 《Fisheries Science》2011,77(6):975-981

Scombrops gilberti is a member of the percoid family Scombropidae, which includes a single genus and three to four species worldwide. Little is known about the ecology of this species. Juvenile S. gilberti have been found in the waters off northern Japan (Iwate Prefecture), whereas adults are found in the waters around the southern counterpart (Izu Islands), approximately 700 km from the northern waters. In the present study, we captured immature S. gilberti (106–248 mm standard length, SL) in the northern waters by set net at 8–80 m depth, whereas larger individuals (150–328 mm SL) were captured by trawling at 150–500 m depth. By contrast, only adult S. gilberti (422–590 mm SL) were captured in the southern waters. The genetic composition of the adult population of S. gilberti from the southern waters and of the juvenile population from the northern waters was compared using the nucleotide sequence of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) cytochrome b gene. No significant differences in genetic parameters such as fixation index, neutrality test or mismatch distribution analysis were found between these geographically distinct populations of S. gilberti, showing that these populations are genetically homogeneous.  相似文献   

Expression patterns of the slit subfamily mRNA in canine malignant mammary tumors     

Tanno T  Tanaka Y  Sugiura T  Akiyoshi H  Takenaka S  Kuwamura M  Yamate J  Ohashi F  Kubo K  Tsuyama S 《The Journal of veterinary medical science / the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science》2006,68(11):1173-1177

Slit, a secreted protein, functions as a chemorepellent factor in axon guidance and neuronal migration and as an inhibitor in leukocyte chemotaxis. In humans, slit2 protein attracts endothelial cells and promotes tube formation in the tumor angiogenic mechanism. In this study, we cloned a part of the canine slit subfamily and examined the expression of slit subfamily mRNAs in 3 normal canine mammary glands and 11 mammary tumor samples by RT-PCR. The cloned part of the slit gene sequences showed high similarity to those of the human, mouse, and rat. The mRNAs were expressed at low levels in the normal mammary gland. The expression levels of slit1 mRNA were low in both the normal and tumor tissues. In contrast, the expression of slit2 mRNA increased in most of the malignant mammary tumors, and an increase in slit3 mRNA expression was observed in 2 of the malignant mixed tumors. These results suggest that the expression of slit2 plays an important role in tumor angiogenesis in canine mammary gland tumors and that slit2 can be a putative marker for malignancy diagnosis of these tumors.  相似文献   

Effects of hyaluronic acid on Ca(2+) influx, lactate dehydrogenase activity, and cyclic AMP synthesis in canine ejaculated sperm during In Vitro capacitation     

Kawakami E  Nishizono Y  Miyata C  Hirano T  Hori T  Tsutsui T 《The Journal of veterinary medical science / the Japanese Society of Veterinary Science》2006,68(2):119-123

The effects of hyaluronic acid, which comprises the cumulus intercellular matrix, on Ca(2+) influx, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity, and cyclic AMP synthesis in canine sperm during capacitation was investigated. Ejaculated sperm were collected from 10 Beagle dogs and the sperm were incubated for 4 hr in Eagle's MEM containing 10 microg/ml of hyaluronic acid. The percentages of actively motile sperm, hyperactivated sperm (HA-sperm), acrosome-reacted sperm (AR-sperm), and sperm labeled with fluoresceinated Ca(2+) indicator (Ca(2+)-labeled sperm) were evaluated to assess Ca(2+) influx into the sperm. LDH activity and cAMP concentration were measured in homogenized sperm. The mean percentages of motile sperm, HA-sperm, and Ca(2+)-labeled sperm in the MEM containing hyaluronic acid were higher than in the control medium (P<0.05, 0.05, and 0.01, respectively), but there was no difference between the percentages of AR-sperm. Mean LDH activity and mean cAMP concentration were also significantly higher than the control values (P<0.05). The percentages of HA-sperm correlated with those of Ca(2+)-labeled sperm (r(2)=0.810). The results indicate that hyaluronic acid increases Ca(2+) influx, LDH activity, and cAMP synthesis in canine ejaculated sperm during capacitation in vitro.  相似文献   

Clone identification in Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus subgenus Cerasus) cultivars using nuclear SSR markers     

Shuri Kato  Asako Matsumoto  Kensuke Yoshimura  Toshio Katsuki  Kojiro Iwamoto  Yoshiaki Tsuda  Shogo Ishio  Kentaro Nakamura  Kazuo Moriwaki  Toshihiko Shiroishi  Takashi Gojobori  Hiroshi Yoshimaru 《Breeding Science》2012,62(3):248-255

Numerous cultivars of Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus subgenus Cerasus) are recognized, but in many cases they are difficult to distinguish morphologically. Therefore, we evaluated the clonal status of 215 designated cultivars using 17 SSR markers. More than half the cultivars were morphologically distinct and had unique genotypes. However, 22 cultivars were found to consist of multiple clones, which probably originate from the chance seedlings, suggesting that their unique characteristics have not been maintained through propagation by grafting alone. We also identified 23 groups consisting of two or more cultivars with identical genotypes. Most members of these groups were putatively synonymously related and morphologically identical. However, some of them were probably derived from bud sport mutants and had distinct morphologies. SSR marker analysis provided useful insights into the clonal status of the examined Japanese flowering cherry cultivars and proved to be a useful tool for cultivar characterization.  相似文献   

Pink root rot of squash caused by Setophoma terrestris in Japan     

Kentaro Ikeda  Katsuya Kuwabara  Toshihiko Urushibara  Pennapa Soyai  Shizue Miki  Satoshi Shibata 《Journal of General Plant Pathology》2012,78(5):372-375

Pink root rot of squash (Cucurbita moschata) caused by Setophoma terrestris was found in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, Japan in July 2007. Cucumber grafted on the squash first developed wilt and finally blight. These symptoms followed a severe pink root rot of the squash rootstock. The fungal isolates from diseased roots were identified as S. terrestris based on morphological characteristics and nucleotide sequences. One isolate induced a similar pink root rot but not entire wilting of the cucumber vine. We propose the name “pink root rot” (koshoku-negusare-byo in Japanese) of squash for the new disease.  相似文献   

Relationships among steroid hormone levels in newborn piglets,birth weight,placental weight,vitality of offspring and litter size     

Tadatoshi OHTAKI  Masaharu MORIYOSHI  Ken NAKADA  Toshihiko NAKAO  Yutaka SAWAMUKAI 《Animal Science Journal》2012,83(9):644-649

Blood estrone sulfate (E₁S), estrone (E₁), estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P₄) in newborn piglets were measured to clarify the relationships among birth and placental weight, vitality of offspring and litter size. First, the association between vital status (normal, weak and stillborn) from 165 newborn piglets of 18 litters and steroid concentrations; second, steroid concentrations from 152 newborn normal piglets and litter size; and third, steroid content in fetal placenta from 50 newborn normal piglets of six litters and litter size, were investigated. In the normal group, the birth and placental weight were significantly higher than those in the other groups. Blood E₁S levels in the stillborn group were significantly lower, whereas E₁, E₂ and P₄ were significantly higher compared to the normal group. Blood and placental E₁S levels in the small litter group were significantly higher than those in the other groups. However, there was no significant difference among the three litter size groups in the levels of steroid hormones in maternal blood. These results indicate that vitality of newborn piglets is related to E₁S concentration of neonate, to birth weight and placental weight. However, steroid hormone concentrations of newborn piglets were greatly affected by the number of littermates.  相似文献   

Purification and characterization of collagenolytic proteases from the hepatopancreas of northern shrimp (Pandalus eous)     

Aoki H  Ahsan MN  Matsuo K  Hagiwara T  Watabe S 《Journal of agricultural and food chemistry》2003,51(3):777-783

Three gelatinolytic proteases (A1, A2, and B) were purified using a synthetic substrate, DNP-Pro-Gln-Gly-Ile-Ala-Gly-Gln-d-Arg, from the hepatopancreas of Northern shrimp (Pandalus eous) by several chromatographic steps involving hydroxyapatite column chromatography, gel filtration on Superdex75, and ion-exchange chromatography on a MonoQ column. Collagenolytic proteases A2 and B, but not protease A1, were demonstrated to digest native porcine type I collagen at 25 degrees C and pH 7.5. Further characterizations of these two collagenolytic proteases showed that the pH optimum of enzyme A2 against DNP-peptide was found to be 11, whereas that of enzyme B was 8.5. The optimum temperature ranged between 40 and 45 degrees C for both enzymes, although enzyme B appeared to be thermally more stable than enzyme A2 at pH 7.5. Both enzymes were strongly inhibited by PMSF and antipain, which suggests that they belong to collagenolytic serine proteases.  相似文献   

alpha-Klotho as a regulator of calcium homeostasis     

Imura A  Tsuji Y  Murata M  Maeda R  Kubota K  Iwano A  Obuse C  Togashi K  Tominaga M  Kita N  Tomiyama K  Iijima J  Nabeshima Y  Fujioka M  Asato R  Tanaka S  Kojima K  Ito J  Nozaki K  Hashimoto N  Ito T  Nishio T  Uchiyama T  Fujimori T  Nabeshima Y 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2007,316(5831):1615-1618

alpha-klotho was identified as a gene associated with premature aging-like phenotypes characterized by short lifespan. In mice, we found the molecular association of alpha-Klotho (alpha-Kl) and Na+,K+-adenosine triphosphatase (Na+,K+-ATPase) and provide evidence for an increase of abundance of Na+,K+-ATPase at the plasma membrane. Low concentrations of extracellular free calcium ([Ca2+]e) rapidly induce regulated parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion in an alpha-Kl- and Na+,K+-ATPase-dependent manner. The increased Na+ gradient created by Na+,K+-ATPase activity might drive the transepithelial transport of Ca2+ in cooperation with ion channels and transporters in the choroid plexus and the kidney. Our findings reveal fundamental roles of alpha-Kl in the regulation of calcium metabolism.  相似文献   

Three-dimensional structure of Hayabusa samples: origin and evolution of Itokawa regolith     

Tsuchiyama A  Uesugi M  Matsushima T  Michikami T  Kadono T  Nakamura T  Uesugi K  Nakano T  Sandford SA  Noguchi R  Matsumoto T  Matsuno J  Nagano T  Imai Y  Takeuchi A  Suzuki Y  Ogami T  Katagiri J  Ebihara M  Ireland TR  Kitajima F  Nagao K  Naraoka H  Noguchi T  Okazaki R  Yurimoto H  Zolensky ME  Mukai T  Abe M  Yada T  Fujimura A  Yoshikawa M  Kawaguchi J 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2011,333(6046):1125-1128

Regolith particles on the asteroid Itokawa were recovered by the Hayabusa mission. Their three-dimensional (3D) structure and other properties, revealed by x-ray microtomography, provide information on regolith formation. Modal abundances of minerals, bulk density (3.4 grams per cubic centimeter), and the 3D textures indicate that the particles represent a mixture of equilibrated and less-equilibrated LL chondrite materials. Evidence for melting was not seen on any of the particles. Some particles have rounded edges. Overall, the particles' size and shape are different from those seen in particles from the lunar regolith. These features suggest that meteoroid impacts on the asteroid surface primarily form much of the regolith particle, and that seismic-induced grain motion in the smooth terrain abrades them over time.  相似文献   

Blastocyst axis is specified independently of early cell lineage but aligns with the ZP shape     

Kurotaki Y  Hatta K  Nakao K  Nabeshima Y  Fujimori T 《Science (New York, N.Y.)》2007,316(5825):719-723

The mechanisms controlling the establishment of the embryonic-abembryonic (E-Ab) axis of the mammalian blastocyst are controversial. We used in vitro time-lapse imaging and in vivo lineage labeling to provide evidence that the E-Ab axis of the mouse blastocyst is generated independently of early cell lineage. Rather, both the boundary between two-cell blastomeres and the E-Ab axis of the blastocyst align relative to the ellipsoidal shape of the zona pellucida (ZP), an extraembryonic structure. Lack of correlation between cell lineage and the E-Ab axis can be explained by the rotation of the embryo within the ZP.  相似文献