The Japanese Wagyu beef industry: current situation and future prospects — A review

In Japan, Wagyu cattle include four Japanese breeds; Black, Brown, Shorthorn, and Polled. Today, the renowned brand name Wagyu includes not only cattle produced in Japan, but also cattle produced in countries such as Australia and the United States. In recent years, the intramuscular fat percentage in beef (longissimus muscle) from Japanese Black cattle has increased to be greater than 30%. The Japanese Black breed is genetically predisposed to producing carcass lipids containing higher concentrations of monounsaturated fatty acids than other breeds. However, there are numerous problems with the management of this breed including high production costs, disposal of untreated excrement, the requirement for imported feed, and food security risks resulting from various viral diseases introduced by imported feed. The feeding system needs to shift to one that is more efficient, and improves management for farmers, food security for consumers, and the health environment for residents of Japan. Currently, we are developing a metabolic programming and an information and communications technology (ICT, or Interne of Things) management system for Wagyu beef production as future systems. If successful, we will produce safe, high-quality Wagyu beef using domestic pasture resources while solving the problems of how to utilize increasing areas of abandoned agricultural land and to make use of the plant-based feed resources in Japan’s mountainous areas

The secondary electron acceptor of photosystem I in Gloeobacter violaceus PCC 7421 is menaquinone-4 that is synthesized by a unique but unknown pathway

The secondary electron acceptor of photosystem (PS) I in the cyanobacterium Gloeobacter violaceus PCC 7421 was identified as menaquinone-4 (MQ-4) by comparing high performance liquid chromatograms and absorption spectra with an authentic compound. The MQ-4 content was estimated to be two molecules per one molecule of chlorophyll (Chl) a′, a constituent of P700. Comparative genomic analyses showed that six of eight men genes, encoding phylloquinone/MQ biosynthetic enzymes, are missing from the G. violaceus genome. Since G. violaceus clearly synthesizes MQ-4, the combined results indicate that this cyanobacterium must have a novel pathway for the synthesis of 1,4-dihydroxy-2-naphthoic acid

Comprehensive analysis of resistance-nodulation-cell division superfamily (RND) efflux pumps from Serratia marcescens, Db10

We investigated the role of the resistance-nodulation-cell division superfamily (RND) efflux system on intrinsic multidrug resistance in Serratia marcescens. We identified eight putative RND efflux system genes in the S. marcescens Db10 genome that included the previously characterized systems, sdeXY, sdeAB, and sdeCDE. Six out of the eight genes conferred multidrug resistance on KAM32, a drug hypersensitive strain of Escherichia coil. Five out of the eight genes conferred resistance to benzalkonium, suggesting the importance of RND efflux systems in biocide resistance in S. marcescens. The energy-dependent efflux activities of five of the pumps were examined using a rhodamine 6G efflux assay. When expressed in the toiC-deficient strain of E. coil, KAM43, none of the genes conferred resistance on E. coil. When hasF, encoding the S. marcescens ToIC ortholog, was expressed in KAM43, all of the genes conferred resistance on E. coil, suggesting that HasF is a major outer membrane protein that is used by all RND efflux systems in this organism. We constructed a sdeXY deletion mutant from a derivative strain of the clinically isolated multidrug-resistant S. marcescens strain and found that the sdeXY deletion mutant was sensitive to a broad spectrum of antimicrobial agents

カンケイ ドウブツ アオゴカイ Perinereis aibuhitensis キョダイ ヘモグロビン ノ グロビンサ ニ フクマレル ケウナ SSケツゴウ

The extracellular hemoglobin (Hb) from the polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis consists of four types of 144 globins and two types of 36 linker chains，having a molecular mass of about 3,500 kDa. There are two types of globin subunits: monomer chain a and disulfide-bondedt rimer AbB. The amino acid sequences of the four globin chains (a，A ，b ，B ) were already reported，previously (Yamanaka，M. et al. Natural Science Research of Tokushima University, 19, 63-92, 2005). The site of disulfide bonds in the globin subunits have been investigated. Each globin chain contains an intrachain disulfide bond between N-terminal and C-terminal Cys residues. In addition，the interchain disulfide bonds were found between chains A and b，and b and B. Therefore，it is elucidated that the chain b is situated at the center of disulfide-bonded trimer，such as A-b-B.The sites of disulfide-bonds determined all could be suitably fitted to the tree dimensional structure of each subunit in a model without stretching or twisting. It was also confirmed that there is no free Cys residue in Peinereis globins. The positions of Cys residues of Perinereis globin sequences were compared wIth those of other 27 chains derived from the homologous Hbs. Among 31 sequences，Cys residues were distributed in six sites. The sites 1 and 2 are located at the N-terminal region of amino acid sequences，the sItes 3 and 4 at the central region，and the sites 5 and 6 at C-terminal region. Furthermore，the Cys distribution was categorized into eight patterns. Perinereis Hb has four patterns I，IV，VII，VIII，be ing lack of the central sites 3 and 4. It should be noted that the pattern II includes the unique globins from Hbs of Lamellibrachia，Riftia and Oligobrachia that carry H2S to the symbiotic bacteria，suggesting that these globin chains might carry H2S in vivo. The phylogenetic tree of 31 globin chains derived from the giant Hbs is divided into two families A and B， as already poited out by us Previously. The family A indudes pattern I-V，whereas the family B includes V- VIII

Reassociation of annelid giant hemoglobin from the polychaete Perinereis aibuhitensis

Annelid extracellular hemoglobin (Hb) is a supramolecule with molecular mass of ～3,500kDa. The giant Hb consists of 12 subassemblies (globin dodecamers, D) and 18 homodimeric linkers (L) of non-globin chain. The globin dodecamer and linker were isolated from the polychaete Perinereis aibuhittensis Hb separately. Subsequently, these two components were mixed in the presence of 1M urea at a neutral pH to reform a whole molecule of Hb. At first L was refined by reverse phase chromatography in organic solvent. On the other hand, Perinereis Hb was incubated in 4M urea solution at 4°C for 5 min, and applied to two amphoteric ion-exchange resin column to remove L stick to the resin, and to isolate only D. The eluate was condensed and subjected to gel filtration. As a result, an ingredient of molecule mass ～210 kDa, that is D, was provided in high yield. When D and L were mixed in the molar ratio of approximately 1:1 in 50mM phosphate buffer (pH 7.2) in the presence of 1 M urea at room temperature, most of the proteins met to natural Hb size again within about 20 hours. Furthermore, similar experiments were performed in 50 mM Tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.2) containing 1 M urea in the presence of 1 mM CaCl2 or 1mM EDTA. It was observed that the reassociation was affected substantially by the presence of Ca2+. In conclusion, the homodimeric linkers have the key role to form the gigantic Hb

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Malnutrition- inflammation- atherosclerosis (MIA) syndrome associates with periodontitis in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis: a cross-sectional study.

Malnutrition-inflammation-atherosclerosis (MIA) syndrome is a significant risk factor for mortality in patients undergoing hemodialysis. This study aimed to investigate the association between MIA syndrome and oral health status in hemodialysis patients. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 254 hemodialysis patients. Comprehensive medical and dental examinations were performed. Three components were included to define MIA syndrome: Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and history of cardiovascular events as indicators of malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis, respectively. The association of MIA syndrome components with periodontitis and occlusal support was examined by multiple-ordered logistic regression analysis. Of 254 participants, 188 (74.0%) had at least one component of MIA syndrome. After adjusting for possible confounding factors, severe periodontitis was significantly associated with presence of more components of MIA syndrome (odds ratio [OR]: 2.64, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.44-4.84, p = 0.002) and inflammation and malnutrition components (OR: 2.47 and 3.46, 95% CI 1.16-5.28 and 1.70-7.05, p = 0.020 and 0.001). On the other hand, occlusal support, evaluated by Eichner index, was not significantly associated with MIA syndrome or any of its components. In conclusion,&nbsp;periodontitis is associated with MIA syndrome, particularly with inflammation and malnutrition in hemodialysis patients, independent of occlusal support

Yield-enhancing and tuber-downsizing effects of transplantation cultivation method of case-held tuber seedlings in the sweet potato cultivar Beniharuka

We developed transplantation cultivation method of case-held tuber seedlings (CTS), which was derived from direct planting method of seed tubers, and applied this method to the sweet potato cultivar Beniharuka. A plastic case made of polypropylene was designed for cultivation of CTS. Seed tubers of cultivar Beniharuka in the range of 30–80 g were cut in half. The half-cut tubers were placed inside the plastic cases, and the cases were filled with a commercial soil mix. The case-held tubers were incubated under natural sunlight in a glass house. After 3–4 wk, the CTS were transplanted into a field. Mother tuber (seed tuber) enlargement was suppressed by the plastic confinement of the cases, and daughter tubers were formed above the case as vine-root-originated tubers. In the field experiments in 2012 and 2013, daughter tuber yields were increased 19% and 21% by case-held tuber seedling transplanting (CTST) over conventional vine-planting (VP), the number of daughter tubers per plant in CTST were 36 and 68% higher than in VP, and the mother tuber yields were limited to 2.1 and 4.3% of the total fresh yield of mother and daughter tubers, respectively in 2012 and 2013. Application of CTST method to cultivar Beniharuka enhanced tuber yield, increased the number of daughter tubers per plant, downsized daughter tubers compared to VP, and mother tuber enlargement was suppressed by case-holding. The CTST method is expected to produce more and smaller good in shape tubers of cultivar Beniharuka compared to VP