Effect of abscisic acid and defoliation on anthocyanin accumulation in Kyoho grapes (Vitis vinifera L. x V. labruscana BAILEY)

In Kyoho grapes, ABA treatment at 1000 ppm in the beginning of ripening enhanced anthocyanin accumulation in the skin without any effect on the contents of soluble solids and titratable acids in the juice.By defoliation at veraison, anthocyanin synthesis was completely inhibited, and the soluble solids content in the juice and sugar levels in the skin became much less than those of the control. Furthermore, endogenous ABA levels in the skin and flesh did not increase throughout ripening period.On such defoliated vines, the berries recovered anthocyanin accumulation by ABA application.From these results, it will be assumed that ABA which accumulates in the skin is one of the main factors involved in the anthocyanin synthesis.Der Einfluß von Abscisinsäure und Entblätterung auf die Anthocyanakkumulation in Trauben der Rebsorte Kyoho (Vitis vinifera L. x V. labruscana BAILEY)Wurden Kyoho-Trauben zu Beginn der Beerenreife mit 1 000 ppm ABS behandelt, so war in den Beerenhäuten verstärkt Anthocyan angereichert, ohne daß Mostgewicht und tritierbare Säure des Beerensaftes irgendwie beeinflußt waren. Durch Entblätterung der Reben zur Zeit des Weichwerdens der Beeren wurde die Anthocyansynthese vollkommen unterdrückt, und das Mostgewicht des Beerensaftes wie auch die Zuckerkonzentration der Beerenhaut waren gegenüber der Kontrolle bedeutend verringert. Ferner nahm die Konzentration der endogenen ABS in Beerenhaut und -fleisch während der ganzen Reifeperiode nicht zu.Bei den entblätterten Reben setzte nach der Applikation von ABS die Anthocyanakkumulation in den Beeren wieder ein.Aus den vorliegenden Ergebnissen wird gefolgert, daß die Anreicherung von ABS in der Beerenhaut einer der Hauptfaktoren ist, die an der Anthocyansynthese beteiligt sind

Chandra Discovery of an X-ray Jet and Lobes in 3C 15

We report the Chandra detection of an X-ray jet in 3C 15. The peak of the X-ray emission in the jet is 4.1'' (a projected distance of 5.1 kpc) from the nucleus, and coincident with a component previously identified in the radio and optical jets. We examine four models for the X-ray jet emission: (I) weak synchrotron cooling in equip., (II) moderate synchrotron cooling in equip., (III) weak synchrotron plus SSC cooling, and (IV) moderate synchrotron plus SSC cooling. We argue that case (II) can most reasonably explain the overall emission from knot C. Case (III) is also possible, but requires a large departure from equipartition and for the jet power to be comparable to that of the brightest quasars. Diffuse X-ray emission has also been detected, distributed widely over the full extent (63kpc x 25kpc) of the radio lobes. We compare the total energy contained in the lobes with the jet power estimated from knot C, and discuss the energetic link between the jet and the lobes. We argue that the fueling time (t_fuel) and the source age (t_src) are comparable for case (II), whereas t_fuel << t_src is likely for case (III). The latter may imply that the jet has a very small filling factor, ~10^{-3}. We consider the pressure balance between the thermal galaxy halo and non-thermal relativistic electrons in the radio lobes. Finally, we show that the X-ray emission from the nucleus is not adequately fitted by a simple absorbed power-law model, but needs an additional power-law with heavy absorption intrinsic to the source. Such a high column density is consistent with the presence of a dense, dusty torus which obscures the quasar nucleus.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Earliest detection of the optical afterglow of GRB 030329 and its variability

We report the earliest detection of an extremely bright optical afterglow of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) 030329 using a 30cm-telescope at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo, JAPAN). Our observation started 67 minutes after the burst, and continued for succeeding two nights until the afterglow faded below the sensitivity limit of the telescope (approximately 18 mag). Combining our data with those reported in GCN Circulars, we find that the early afterglow light curve of the first half day is described by a broken power-law (t^{- alpha}) function with indices alpha_{1} = 0.88 +/- 0.01 (0.047 < t < t_{b1} days), alpha_{2} = 1.18 +/- 0.01 (t_{b1} < t < t_{b2} days), and alpha_{3} = 1.81 +/- 0.04 (t_{b2} < t < 1.2 days), where t_{b1} ~ 0.26 days and t_{b2} ~ 0.54 days, respectively. The change of the power-law index at the first break at t ~ 0.26 days is consistent with that expected from a ``cooling-break'' when the cooling frequency crossed the optical band. If the interpretation is correct, the decay index before the cooling-break implies a uniform ISM environment.Comment: 13 pages, 1 table and 2 figures. Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal Letter

Evidence of non-thermal X-ray emission from radio lobes of Cygnus A

Using deep Chandra ACIS observation data for Cygnus A, we report evidence of non-thermal X-ray emission from radio lobes surrounded by a rich intra-cluster medium (ICM). The diffuse X-ray emission, which are associated with the eastern and western radio lobes, were observed in a 0.7--7 keV Chandra$ ACIS image. The lobe spectra are reproduced with not only a single-temperature Mekal model, such as that of the surrounding ICM component, but also an additional power-law (PL) model. The X-ray flux densities of PL components for the eastern and western lobes at 1 keV are derived as 77.7^{+28.9}_{-31.9} nJy and 52.4^{+42.9}_{-42.4} nJy, respectively, and the photon indices are 1.69^{+0.07}_{-0.13} and 1.84^{+2.90}_{-0.12}, respectively. The non-thermal component is considered to be produced via the inverse Compton (IC) process, as is often seen in the X-ray emission from radio lobes. From a re-analysis of radio observation data, the multiwavelength spectra strongly suggest that the seed photon source of the IC X-rays includes both cosmic microwave background radiation and synchrotron radiation from the lobes. The derived parameters indicate significant dominance of the electron energy density over the magnetic field energy density in the Cygnus A lobes under the rich ICM environment.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

The X-ray Jet in Centaurus A: Clues on the Jet Structure and Particle Acceleration

We report detailed studies of the X-ray emission from the kpc scale jet in the nearest active galaxy, Cen A. 41 compact sources were found within the jet, 13 of which were newly identified. We construct the luminosity function for the detected jet-knots and argue that the remaining emission is most likely to be truly diffuse, rather than resulting from the pile-up of unresolved faint knots. The transverse jet profile reveals that the extended emission has the intensity peak at the jet boundaries. We note that limb-brightened jet morphologies have been observed previously at radio frequencies in some jet sources, but never so clearly at higher photon energies. Our result therefore supports a stratified jet model, consisting of a relativistic outflow including a boundary layer with a velocity shear. In addition, we found that the X-ray spectrum of the diffuse component is almost uniform across and along the jet. We discuss this spectral behavior within a framework of shock and stochastic particle acceleration processes. We note some evidence for a possible spectral hardening at the outer sheath of the jet. Due to the limited photon statistics of the present data, further deep observations of Cen A are required to determine the reality of this finding, however we note that the existence of the hard X-ray features at outer jet boundaries would provide an important challenge to theories for the evolution of ultra-relativistic particles within the jets.Comment: 27page, 8 figures, ver2, accepted for publication in the Ap