Some Disomic Addition Lines of Agropyron ciliare Chromosomes to Triticum aestivum

アオカモジグサ(A. ciliare, 2n=4x=28)と六倍性普通コムギ(T. aestivum, 2n=6x=42)との雑種F1のコルヒチン処理による倍数体(2n=10x=70)を,コムギ親を雌親,または花粉親とする2回の戻交配を行なって得たB2F1雑種植物の後代の細胞遺伝学的観察によってアオカモジグサ染色体添加植物の育成を試みた.その結果,合計5系統12個体の二染色体添加植物を得た.これらの植物の外部形態学的調査から,得られた5系統はそれぞれ異なるアオカモジグサ染色体の添加によると考えられるが,今後添加染色体の細胞学的同定が必要である.また添加染色体の細胞遺伝学的安定性や初期世代にみられた細胞学的異常に関しても今後の詳細な研究が要求される

Re-Evaluation of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Rat Brain by a Tissue-Segment Binding Assay

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum of rats were evaluated by a radioligand binding assay, employing tissue segments, or homogenates as materials. [3H]-epibatidine specifically bound to nAChRs in rat cortex or cerebellum, but the dissociation constants for [3H]-epibatidine differed between segments and homogenates (187 pM for segments and 42 pM for homogenates in the cortex and 160 pM for segments and 84 pM for homogenates in the cerebellum). The abundance of total nAChRs was approximately 310 fmol/mg protein in the segments of cortex and 170 fmol/mg protein in the segments of cerebellum, which were significantly higher than those estimated in the homogenates (115 fmol/mg protein in the homogenates of the cortex and 76 fmol/mg protein in the homogenates of the cerebellum). Most of the [3H]-epibatidine binding sites in the cortex segments (approximately 70% of the population) showed high affinity for nicotine (pKi = 7.9), dihydro-β-erythroidine, and cytisine, but the binding sites in the cerebellum segments had slightly lower affinity for nicotine (pKi = 7.1). An upregulation of nAChRs by chronic administration of nicotine was observed in the cortex segments but not in the cerebellum segments with [3H]-epibatidine as a ligand. The upregulation in the cortex was caused by a specific increase in the high-affinity sites for nicotine (probably α4β2). The present study shows that the native environment of nAChRs is important for a precise quantitative as well as qualitative estimation of nAChRs in rat brain

Protein phosphatase 4 catalytic subunit regulates Cdk1 activity and microtubule organization via NDEL1 dephosphorylation

Protein phosphatase 4 catalytic subunit (PP4c) is a PP2A-related protein serine/threonine phosphatase with important functions in a variety of cellular processes, including microtubule (MT) growth/organization, apoptosis, and tumor necrosis factor signaling. In this study, we report that NDEL1 is a substrate of PP4c, and PP4c selectively dephosphorylates NDEL1 at Cdk1 sites. We also demonstrate that PP4c negatively regulates Cdk1 activity at the centrosome. Targeted disruption of PP4c reveals disorganization of MTs and disorganized MT array. Loss of PP4c leads to an unscheduled activation of Cdk1 in interphase, which results in the abnormal phosphorylation of NDEL1. In addition, abnormal NDEL1 phosphorylation facilitates excessive recruitment of katanin p60 to the centrosome, suggesting that MT defects may be attributed to katanin p60 in excess. Inhibition of Cdk1, NDEL1, or katanin p60 rescues the defective MT organization caused by PP4 inhibition. Our work uncovers a unique regulatory mechanism of MT organization by PP4c through its targets Cdk1 and NDEL1 via regulation of katanin p60 distribution

Identification of five genetic variants as novel determinants of type 2 diabetes mellitus in Japanese by exome-wide association studies

We performed exome-wide association studies to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms that either influence fasting plasma glucose level or blood hemoglobin A1c content or confer susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus in Japanese. Exome-wide association studies were performed with the use of Illumina Human Exome-12 DNA Analysis or Infinium Exome-24 BeadChip arrays and with 11,729 or 8635 subjects for fasting plasma glucose level or blood hemoglobin A1c content, respectively, or with 14,023 subjects for type 2 diabetes mellitus (3573 cases, 10,450 controls). The relation of genotypes of 41,265 polymorphisms to fasting plasma glucose level or blood hemoglobin A1c content was examined by linear regression analysis. After Bonferroni’s correction, 41 and 17 polymorphisms were significantly (P < 1.21 × 10−6) associated with fasting plasma glucose level or blood hemoglobin A1c content, respectively, with two polymorphisms (rs139421991, rs189305583) being associated with both. Examination of the relation of allele frequencies to type 2 diabetes mellitus with Fisher’s exact test revealed that 87 polymorphisms were significantly (P < 1.21 × 10−6) associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Subsequent multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex showed that four polymorphisms (rs138313632, rs76974938, rs139012426, rs147317864) were significantly (P < 1.44 × 10−4) associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, with rs138313632 and rs139012426 also being associated with fasting plasma glucose and rs76974938 with blood hemoglobin A1c. Five polymorphisms—rs139421991 of CAT, rs189305583 of PDCL2, rs138313632 of RUFY1, rs139012426 of LOC100505549, and rs76974938 of C21orf59—may be novel determinants of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Identification of TNFSF13, SPATC1L, SLC22A25 and SALL4 as novel susceptibility loci for atrial fibrillation by an exome‑wide association study

An exome‑wide association study (EWAS) was performed to identify genetic variants, particularly low‑frequency or rare coding variants with a moderate to large effect size, that confer susceptibility to atrial fibrillation in Japanese. The EWAS for atrial fibrillation was performed with 13,166 subjects (884 patients with atrial fibrillation and 12,282 controls) using an Illumina HumanExome‑12 DNA Analysis BeadChip or Infinium Exome‑24 BeadChip arrays. The association of atrial fibrillation with allele frequencies of 41,243 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that passed quality control was examined with Fisher\u27s exact test. Based on Bonferroni\u27s correction, a P<1.21x10‑6 was considered statistically significant. The EWAS for atrial fibrillation revealed that 122 SNPs were significantly associated with this condition. The association of the identified SNPs to atrial fibrillation was further examined by multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age, sex and the prevalence of hypertension. Eight SNPs were related (P<0.01) to atrial fibrillation, among which three polymorphisms, rs11552708 [G/A (G67R)]of TNF superfamily member 13 (TNFSF13; dominant model; P=9.36x10‑9; odds ratio, 0.58), rs113710653 [C/T (E231 K)] of spermatogenesis and centriole associated 1 like (SPATC1L; dominant model; P=1.09x10‑5; odds ratio, 3.27), and rs11231397 [G/C (R300T)] of solute carrier family 22 member 25 (SLC22A25; additive model; P=3.71x10‑5; odds ratio, 1.77), were significantly (P<1.02x10‑4) associated with this condition. The minor T allele of rs113710653 and the minor C allele of rs11231397 were risk factors for atrial fibrillation, whereas the minor A allele of rs11552708 was protective against this condition. In addition, rs77538589 [C/T (G117R)] of SALL4 exhibited a tendency to be associated with atrial fibrillation (dominant model; P=0.0002; odds ratio, 1.88), with the minor T allele representing a risk factor for this condition. TNFSF13, SPATC1L, SLC22A25 and SALL4 may thus be novel susceptibility loci for atrial fibrillation in the Japanese population

クキ ノ マゲ トクセイ ニ ヨル バラ キリバナ ノ ヒハカイ スイブン ソクテイホウ ノ ケントウ

水分を指標とした流通過程でのバラ切り花の非破壊品質評価法を目指し,バラ切り花の茎の曲げ荷重を測定し,平均茎径を用いて水分推定式を作成した。その結果,説明変数として曲げ荷重と平均茎径を用いた重回帰式により,非破壊で茎の水分を推定することができた。また,作成した水分推定式を用いて同一試料の茎の水分の経時変化を推定することができた。今後,測定誤差を小さくする,他の種類の切り花への応用,測定器の小型化などの改善を行うことで輸送条件の違いなどによる切り花の水管理の向上や,栽培中の切り花の水管理などにも役立つものと期待する。For development of a nondestructive quality evaluation method as an indicator of the moisture content of rose cut flowers during distribution, four experimental equations to estimate the moisture content of the cut flowers were proposed using the bending properties and the diameter of the stem. As a result, the moisture content of the stem could be nondestructively estimated by the multiple regression equation which has two explanatory variables of the bending load and the average diameter of the stem. Moreover, the change of moisture content for the stem over time could be predicted by the obtained experimental regression equation

Status of 48Ca double beta decay search in CANDLES

We study a strategy to reduce veto-time in the search for neutrino-less double-beta decay (0υββ) with CANDLES-III system. We develop a new likelihood analysis and apply it to our new Run010 data. We show that we can increase the un-vetoed live-time by 11.8%. Thanks to this improvements, We expect to increase a limit on the life-time of 0υββ by a factor of three by analyzing both Run009 and Run010 data

Identification of rs7350481 at chromosome 11q23.3 as a novel susceptibility locus for metabolic syndrome in Japanese individuals by an exome-wide association study

We have performed exome-wide association studies to identify genetic variants that influence body mass index or confer susceptibility to obesity or metabolic syndrome in Japanese. The exome-wide association study for body mass index included 12,890 subjects, and those for obesity and metabolic syndrome included 12,968 subjects (3954 individuals with obesity, 9014 controls) and 6817 subjects (3998 individuals with MetS, 2819 controls), respectively. Exome-wide association studies were performed with Illumina HumanExome-12 DNA Analysis BeadChip or Infinium Exome-24 BeadChip arrays. The relation of genotypes of single nucleotide polymorphisms to body mass index was examined by linear regression analysis, and that of allele frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms to obesity or metabolic syndrome was evaluated with Fisher’s exact test. The exome-wide association studies identified six, 11, and 40 single nucleotide polymorphisms as being significantly associated with body mass index, obesity (P <1.21 × 10–6), or metabolic syndrome (P <1.20 × 10–6), respectively. Subsequent multivariable logistic regression analysis with adjustment for age and sex revealed that three and five single nucleotide polymorphisms were related (P < 0.05) to obesity or metabolic syndrome, respectively, with one of these latter polymorphisms—rs7350481 (C/T) at chromosome 11q23.3—also being significantly (P < 3.13 × 10–4) associated with metabolic syndrome. The polymorphism rs7350481 may thus be a novel susceptibility locus for metabolic syndrome in Japanese. In addition, single nucleotide polymorphisms in three genes (CROT, TSC1, RIN3) and at four loci (ANKK1, ZNF804B, CSRNP3, 17p11.2) were implicated as candidate determinants of obesity and metabolic syndrome, respectively