An Outlook : Flower Industry in Japan

Since 1970 the Japanese flower market has shown a steady growth. After 1990 there has been a rapid increase of imported cut flowers and flower bulbs. After 1994 there has been a stagnation in auction sales. The increase in number of growers stopped after 1992. About 60% of Japanese households never buy flowers at all. The Japanese preference for flowers is the natural setting. Auction system is very popular : 95% of ornamental crops go through auction markets. Imported cut flowers account for 6-7% of domestic consumption, about 80% of import is also distributed by auction market. Major players in distribution are auction market ($5.3 billion, 300 auctions), wholesale company ($1.4 billion, 500 wholesalers) and flowers shops ($8.2 billion, 26,000 florists). Minor players are supermarkets ($0.9 billion) and importers ($0.2 billion). Supermarkets account for less than 10% of final consumption of ornamentals. Changes in auction systems since the end of the \u2780 are : the integration of small and medium sized auctions, modernisation with electronical (clock-system) and logistic technology and realignment in organisational structure. As the flower market was blooming in the middele of \u2780s, 200 major and big Japanese companies flocked into the flower industry. Unfortunately, most of new entries failed, partly because lack of knowledge and/or personnel in running flower business and partly because of low productivity/insufficient sales volume resulting in low profitability. Survivors in the middle of \u2790s are Kirin and Suntory. Kirin Agribio EC is presently one of the leading companies in floricultural industry. Fides, Barbaret & Blanc, SGP and Hiljo are now under control of Kirin and in the domestic market Kirin also bought companies and sets up joint ventures with a retail chain and a wholesale business. In contrast, Suntory focusses on breeding and the nursery sector. Since 1989 they have been trying to breed a \u27blue rose\u27 in cooperation with the Autralian company Floregene. Major chain stores like Daiei and Jusco have not been succesfull. Independent florists, however, made succesful efforts. Direct marketing has been dominated by JFTD. Information technology will enable us to get around the existing auction markets. Dealing through a real time video auction system, or setting price and quantity in advance via Internet and later obtaining fresh flowers of better quality is possible in the near future. In Japan three companies are planning to establish a virtual trading system as Tele Flower Auction in Holland. Aucnet, a leading satellite auction company in used car business in Japan, announced to expand their business into the flower market. Nippon Steel is experimenting with Electronic Commerce by fresh flowers. Flower Auction Japan is designing a logistic network system with full coverage of all retail and business customers across the country

The Progress of Formation of Flower Buds and Effects of Storage and Growing Temperature on their Development in Crocus Species and Cultivars

開花期が秋から春に分かれるクロッカスの 10 種および 5 種の栽培品種を用い，室温条件下における花芽の発育経過を観察するとともに，花芽の発育および開花に及ぼす温度の影響について調べた。いずれの種や栽培品種においても，花芽の分化は球茎貯蔵中の 5 月下旬～7 月下旬に始まった。秋咲き種ではその後の花芽の発育が速やかに進み開花に至るのに対し，冬から春に開花する種や栽培品種では雌ずい形成期に達するのは 1 か月前後の遅れであったが，雌ずい形成期後の発育が遅いため開花が冬以降になることが示された。また多くの種や栽培品種で夏期に花芽の発育停止がみられた。貯蔵温度の影響をみたところ，いずれの種や栽培品種においても雌ずい形成期までの発育は20℃下で速やかに進み，30℃下ではほとんど進まないこと，その後花粉形成期までの発育は秋咲き種では 20℃，他のものでは 15℃で早く進むことが明らかにされ，夏期にみられた花芽の発育停止は高温のためであることが分かった。栽培温度の影響をみたところ，いずれの種や栽培品種も 15℃に近い温度で開花し，20℃に近い温度で開花したものは 5 種であった。また，1 品種で低温経過後に 20℃の温度域で開花が促進された。なお，適温下での到花日数は，早春から春に開花する種や栽培品種では秋～冬咲き種に比べて著しく長くなり，このため開花が春まで遅れることが分かった。This study was carried out to observe the progress of flower formation at room temperatures and to investigate the effect of storage temperature on the initiation and development of flower buds in 10 Crocus species and 6 cultivars originated from 5 species which have different flowering time from October to March. Also the effect of growing temperature on flowering was studied. In all species and cultivars used, flower initiation occurred during corm storage after harvest from late May to late July irrespective of their flowering time. In many crocuses, further development of flower buds was suspended during summer. In autumn flowering crocuses, development of flower buds progressed rapidly and came to flower earlier as compared with winter and spring flowering crocuses which reached stage 7, i.e.carpel formation stage about one month later, but required a longer period to flower. When corms were stored at various temperatures from 10℃ to 30℃, the differentiation of floral organs to stage 7 progressed most rapidly at 20℃ and was suspended at 30℃. The optimum temperature for the development of flower buds from stage 7 to stage 10, i.e. pollen formation stage, was 20℃ in autumn flowering crocuses and 15℃ in other crocuses. These results indicate that the suspension of development of flower buds observed during summer is due to high temperature. When corms after reaching stage 7 were planted and grown at various temperatures from 10℃ to 20℃, all crocuses flowered at temperatures near 15℃ and only 5 crocuses did so at temperatures near 20℃. In one cultivar, C. vernus ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ flowering was accelerated when corms were exposed to natural low temperatures and thereafter moved to 22℃. Days to flowering after planting at optimum temperatures were much longer in spring flowering crocuses and this fact resulted in delayed flowering. Furthermore, acceleration of flowering in some species and cultivars were discussed based on results obtained.E4P資料Research Datadepartmental bulletin pape

AKARI Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of SDSS-Selected Blue Early-Type Galaxies

A near-infrared (NIR; 2.5 - 4.5 micron) spectroscopic survey of SDSS(Sloan Digital Sky Survey)-selected blue early-type galaxies (BEGs) has been conducted using the AKARI. The NIR spectra of 36 BEGs are secured, which are well balanced in their star-formation(SF)/Seyfert/LINER type composition. For high signal-to-noise ratio, we stack the BEG spectra all and in bins of several properties: color, specific star formation rate and optically-determined spectral type. We estimate the NIR continuum slope and the equivalent width of 3.29 micron PAH emission. In the comparison between the estimated NIR spectral features of the BEGs and those of model galaxies, the BEGs seem to be old-SSP(Simple Stellar Population)-dominated metal-rich galaxies with moderate dust attenuation. The dust attenuation in the BEGs may originate from recent star formation or AGN activity and the BEGs have a clear feature of PAH emission, the evidence of current SF. BEGs show NIR features different from those of ULIRGs, from which we do not find any clear relationship between BEGs and ULIRGs. We find that Seyfert BEGs have more active SF than LINER BEGs, in spite of the fact that Seyferts show stronger AGN activity than LINERs. One possible scenario satisfying both our results and the AGN feedback is that SF, Seyfert and LINER BEGs form an evolutionary sequence: SF - Seyfert - LINER.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Hyper-luminous Dust Obscured Galaxies discovered by the Hyper Suprime-Cam on Subaru and WISE

We present the photometric properties of a sample of infrared (IR) bright dust obscured galaxies (DOGs). Combining wide and deep optical images obtained with the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) on the Subaru Telescope and all-sky mid-IR (MIR) images taken with Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), we discovered 48 DOGs with $i - K_\mathrm{s} > 1.2$ and $i - [22] > 7.0$, where $i$, $K_\mathrm{s}$, and [22] represent AB magnitude in the $i$-band, $K_\mathrm{s}$-band, and 22 $\mu$m, respectively, in the GAMA 14hr field ($\sim$ 9 deg$^2$). Among these objects, 31 ($\sim$ 65 %) show power-law spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in the near-IR (NIR) and MIR regime, while the remainder show a NIR bump in their SEDs. Assuming that the redshift distribution for our DOGs sample is Gaussian, with mean and sigma $z$ = 1.99 $\pm$ 0.45, we calculated their total IR luminosity using an empirical relation between 22 $\mu$m luminosity and total IR luminosity. The average value of the total IR luminosity is (3.5 $\pm$ 1.1) $\times$ $10^{13}$ L$_{\odot}$, which classifies them as hyper-luminous infrared galaxies (HyLIRGs). We also derived the total IR luminosity function (LF) and IR luminosity density (LD) for a flux-limited subsample of 18 DOGs with 22 $\mu$m flux greater than 3.0 mJy and with $i$-band magnitude brighter than 24 AB magnitude. The derived space density for this subsample is log $\phi$ = -6.59 $\pm$ 0.11 [Mpc$^{-3}$]. The IR LF for DOGs including data obtained from the literature is well fitted by a double-power law. The derived lower limit for the IR LD for our sample is $\rho_{\mathrm{IR}}$ $\sim$ 3.8 $\times$ 10$^7$ [L$_{\odot}$ Mpc$^{-3}$] and its contributions to the total IR LD, IR LD of all ultra-luminous infrared galaxies (ULIRGs), and that of all DOGs are $>$ 3 %, $>$ 9 %, and $>$ 15 %, respectively.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, and 3 tables, accepted for publication in PASJ (Subaru special issue

オリエンタルケイ ユリ ‘カサブランカ’ ノ ヨクセイサイバイ デ ミラレル シュート オヨビ ハ ノ ショウガイハッセイ ト ソノ ケイゲンホウ

オリエンタル系ユリ‘カサブランカ’を用い，球根の氷温貯蔵前の予冷方法，長期氷温貯蔵後の解凍あるいは芽伸ばし処理時の温度を変えることにより，シュートおよび葉の障害発生に及ぼす影響を調べ，障害発生の軽減法を検討した。1℃のみで予冷する場合は8～12週間とし，12℃から1℃へと次第に温度を下げて予冷する慣行法では6℃以下の期間を8週間以内とすれば，致死あるいは不開花個体の発生率および葉の障害発生率が低く保たれることが明らかにされた。また，予冷期間中の温度上昇は不開花個体や葉の障害発生率を高める危険性が認められた。長期氷温貯蔵した球根を1℃で解凍すると5，20℃に比べ障害葉の発生を著しく抑制することができた。また，芽伸ばし処理時の温度を変えても切り花品質には差がなく，葉の障害発生率にも差はみられなかった。Occurrence of black shoots, non-flowering plants, and damaged leaves are often found in retarding culture of Oriental hybrid lilies after long-term storage at a subzero temperature. To reduce their damage, bulbs of ‘Casa Blanca’ produced in Niigata were packed in polyethylene bags with wet peat moss and subjected to pre-chilling at 1℃ for 8 to 20 weeks or conventional method of pre-chilling in which the temperature was gradually lowered from 12℃ to 1℃ at 4-week intervals before storing at －2.0℃. After storage at －2.0℃ for 5 to 7 months, they were planted in a plastic container and grown in a plastic house maintained at min. 14℃. Rates of black shoots, non-flowered plants, and damaged leaves were maintained low when bulbs were pre-chilled at 1℃ for 8 to 12 weeks or at low temperatures below 3℃ within 8 weeks in the conventional method. Temperature rise during the conventional method caused the increase rates of non-flowered plants and damaged leaves.Bulbs produced in Hokkaido and pre-chilled at 1℃ for 14 weeks were stored at －2.0℃ for 7 months and thereafter grown in an artificial growth room controlled at a temperature of 20℃ and a day length of 8 hours (12,000 lux). Occurrence of damaged leaves was reduced remarkably when they were defrosted at 1℃ as compared with defrosting at 5 or 20℃. Treatment by subjecting to temperatures of 5, 8 and 20℃ for 2 weeks to allow rooting and sprouting in a plastic pot filled with wet peat moss before planting resulted in decreased rate of damaged leaves irrespective of treated temperature

Curated genome annotation of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica and comparative genome analysis with Arabidopsis thaliana

We present here the annotation of the complete genome of rice Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica cultivar Nipponbare. All functional annotations for proteins and non-protein-coding RNA (npRNA) candidates were manually curated. Functions were identified or inferred in 19,969 (70%) of the proteins, and 131 possible npRNAs (including 58 antisense transcripts) were found. Almost 5000 annotated protein-coding genes were found to be disrupted in insertional mutant lines, which will accelerate future experimental validation of the annotations. The rice loci were determined by using cDNA sequences obtained from rice and other representative cereals. Our conservative estimate based on these loci and an extrapolation suggested that the gene number of rice is ~32,000, which is smaller than previous estimates. We conducted comparative analyses between rice and Arabidopsis thaliana and found that both genomes possessed several lineage-specific genes, which might account for the observed differences between these species, while they had similar sets of predicted functional domains among the protein sequences. A system to control translational efficiency seems to be conserved across large evolutionary distances. Moreover, the evolutionary process of protein-coding genes was examined. Our results suggest that natural selection may have played a role for duplicated genes in both species, so that duplication was suppressed or favored in a manner that depended on the function of a gene

<原著>落葉樹林下におけるランドスケーピング用球根植物の植栽適性の評価

景観形成のための利用を想定して, 秋植え球根37種類, 春植え球根16種類について, ケヤキZelkova serrata Mak.を主体とする落葉樹林下における植栽適性を調査・評価した。夏季の樹林下区の樹冠開空率は15%程度, 冬季は80%程度となった。夏季の樹林下での光合成有効光量子束は無遮蔽区の5%程度となり, 日平均地温は無遮蔽区と比較して3～5℃低かった。1年間の据置栽培後, 供試した1/4近くの種類の植物が無遮蔽区, 樹林下区の両条件下で生存していなかった。生存していた種類の多くで, 2年目の出芽率は, 秋植え, 春植え球根とも無遮蔽区と樹林下区でほぼ同様に高かったが, アリウム, クロッカス, フリージアなどいくつかの種類では無遮蔽区で低く樹林下区で高くなった。秋植え球根類の開花率は無遮蔽区で高く樹林下区で低くなったものが多く, 両区とも同様に高かったものも相当数認められた。また, 一部の種類では樹林下区における開花が無遮蔽区と比べて遅れた。春植え球根類の多くは樹林下区の据置き栽培で生存はしていたものの, 旺盛な生育はみられず, 開花率が低かった。これらの結果より, 秋植え球根のうち, ロドフィアラ, リコリス, ニホンスイセンなど, 出葉時期が樹冠に葉がない時期と重なる冬季出葉型の10種類の球根植物が落葉樹林下への植栽に適するものと考えられた。Adaptability of geophytes (37 fall-plantings and 16 spring-plantings) to planting under deciduous trees, which consisted mainly of Zelkova serrata Mak., was assessed for landscaping.The canopy openness of deciduous trees in summer was 15% and that in winter was 80%.In summer, photosynthetic photon flux under deciduous trees was 5% of that under clearing and the average soil temperature at the depth of 5cm was 3° -5 ℃ lower than that under clearing.One fourth of geophytes used in this experiment did not survive after one year from planting under both clearing and deciduous trees.The sprouting rate of most of the survived geophytes after one year from planting was high under both conditions, but it was higher under deciduous trees than under clearing in some geophytes such as Allium spp., Crocus spp.and Freesia.The flowering rate of most of the fall-planting geophytes was higher under clearing than under deciduous trees and that of some geophytes was high under both clearing and deciduous trees.The flowering of some geophytes delayed under deciduous trees.Most of the spring-planting geophytes survived under deciduous trees but did not grow vigorously, resulting in poor flowering.Consequently ten fall-planting geophytes including Hippeastrum bifidum, Lycoris spp.Narcissus tazetta var.chinensis were considered to be suitable for planting under deciduous trees, which hold their leaves during winter when the canopy of deciduous trees has no leaves

キリバナヒンシツ ニ オヨボス ユリユニュウキュウ ノ ヒョウオンタイ デノ チョゾウ ト キカン ノ エイキョウ

オランダから輸入したオリエンタル系`カサブランカ\u27とLA系`セベコデジール\u27の球根を-0.5～-2.0℃の氷温帯で温度を変えて貯蔵し,定植期を変えて栽培した時の切り花品質を調査した。2003年3月18日から-1.5℃と-2.0℃で球根を約3,6,8,9,11か月間貯蔵した。ただし,-1.5℃貯蔵区は7月以降,約1か月ごとに温度を0.2℃ずつ上げていき,11月以降の貯蔵温度は-0.5℃一定とした。-2.0℃は一定であり,別に8か月貯蔵では,-1.5℃一定条件で貯蔵する区も設けた。栽培条件は最低夜温15℃とし,7～10月にかけて高温と強光を避けるために50%の寒冷紗を用いて遮光した。`カサブランカ\u27,`セベコデジール\u27ともに,-1.5℃貯蔵では6か月を過ぎると芽の伸長がみられ,りん片・茎のBrix値が低下した。-2.0℃貯蔵では11か月貯蔵後でも芽の伸長はほぼ抑制され,りん片・茎のBrix値低下も-1.5℃貯蔵に比べ小さかった。LT50値は,-2.0℃貯蔵では-1.5℃貯蔵よりも低く,貯蔵期間が長くなると高くなった。`カサブランカ\u27では,貯蔵期間が長くなるにつれて切り花の長さと重さおよび花数が減少する傾向にあった。また6か月以上貯蔵すると,異常花と障害葉の発生がみられ,異常花は-1.5℃貯蔵区で,障害葉は-2.0℃貯蔵区でより多く発生した。-1.5℃一定で貯蔵すると異常花の発生は減少したが,障害葉の発生は-2.0℃貯蔵と変わらなかった。これに対し,`セベコデジール\u27では貯蔵の温度・期間に関わらず切り花の長さと重さにはほとんど差がなく,遮光によるアボーションを除き,花と葉に障害の発生もほとんどみられなかった。以上の結果,オリエンタル系の`カサブランカ\u27では,球根を6か月以上氷温帯で貯蔵すると採花時の切り花品質が低下するが,LA系の`セベコデジール\u27では11か月氷温帯で貯蔵しても切り花品質への影響はほとんどないことが明らかになった。Lily bulbs of Oriental hybrid \u27Casa Blanca\u27 and LA hybrid \u27Ceb Dazzle\u27 imported from Holland were stored at -1.5℃, -1.5℃±0.3℃ or -2.0℃±0.5℃ for various durations from 3 to 11 months beginning on 18 March. At storage temperatures of -1.5℃, bulbs were stored at -1.5℃±0.5℃ from 18 March to early July and thereafter storage temperature was increased by 0.2℃ per month until reaching -0.5℃. After reaching -0.5℃, temperature was maintained at -0.5℃±0.5℃. At storage temperature of -1.5℃±0.3℃ bulbs were stored for only 8 months. After the storage, they were grown in a greenhouse kept at minimum temperature of 15℃ and under 50% shaded condition from July to October to check the quality of cut flowers. In bulbs of both cultivars stored at -1.5℃ for more than 6 months, shoots elongated and Brix values of scales and stems decreased. In contrast, at -2.0℃ elongation of shoots was inhibited and lowering of Brix values of scales and stems was smaller. Estimated median lethal temperature (LT50) of shoots was lower in bulbs stored at -2.0℃ than at -1.5℃ and became higher slightly with longer storage duration at both temperatures. In \u27Casa Blanca\u27 prolonged storage at any temperatures reduced the weight and length of cut flowers and the number of flowers. Longer storage for more than 6 months increased the number of abnormal flowers and damaged leaves. More abnormal flowers and damaged leaves were observed at -1.5℃ and -2.0℃, respectively. Storage at -1.5℃±0.3℃ reduced the number of abnormal flowers, but did not change the number of damaged leaves compared to -2.0℃. On the other hand, in \u27Ceb Dazzle\u27 length and weight of cut flowers were almost the same and abnormal flowers and damaged leaves were hardly observed irrespective of storage duration and temperatures. However, abortion of flowers occurred in October planting due to low light intensity under shading. These results show that \u27Casa Blanca\u27 bulbs cannot produce cut flowers with high quality after storage at temperatures below zero for more than 6 months, but \u27Ceb Dazzle\u27 bulbs can be stored up to 11 months

Integrative Annotation of 21,037 Human Genes Validated by Full-Length cDNA Clones

The human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology

Integrative annotation of 21,037 human genes validated by full-length cDNA clones.

publication en ligne. Article dans revue scientifique avec comité de lecture. nationale.National audienceThe human genome sequence defines our inherent biological potential; the realization of the biology encoded therein requires knowledge of the function of each gene. Currently, our knowledge in this area is still limited. Several lines of investigation have been used to elucidate the structure and function of the genes in the human genome. Even so, gene prediction remains a difficult task, as the varieties of transcripts of a gene may vary to a great extent. We thus performed an exhaustive integrative characterization of 41,118 full-length cDNAs that capture the gene transcripts as complete functional cassettes, providing an unequivocal report of structural and functional diversity at the gene level. Our international collaboration has validated 21,037 human gene candidates by analysis of high-quality full-length cDNA clones through curation using unified criteria. This led to the identification of 5,155 new gene candidates. It also manifested the most reliable way to control the quality of the cDNA clones. We have developed a human gene database, called the H-Invitational Database (H-InvDB; http://www.h-invitational.jp/). It provides the following: integrative annotation of human genes, description of gene structures, details of novel alternative splicing isoforms, non-protein-coding RNAs, functional domains, subcellular localizations, metabolic pathways, predictions of protein three-dimensional structure, mapping of known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), identification of polymorphic microsatellite repeats within human genes, and comparative results with mouse full-length cDNAs. The H-InvDB analysis has shown that up to 4% of the human genome sequence (National Center for Biotechnology Information build 34 assembly) may contain misassembled or missing regions. We found that 6.5% of the human gene candidates (1,377 loci) did not have a good protein-coding open reading frame, of which 296 loci are strong candidates for non-protein-coding RNA genes. In addition, among 72,027 uniquely mapped SNPs and insertions/deletions localized within human genes, 13,215 nonsynonymous SNPs, 315 nonsense SNPs, and 452 indels occurred in coding regions. Together with 25 polymorphic microsatellite repeats present in coding regions, they may alter protein structure, causing phenotypic effects or resulting in disease. The H-InvDB platform represents a substantial contribution to resources needed for the exploration of human biology and pathology