Latitudinal cline in the foraging dichotomy of loggerhead sea turtles reveals the importance of East China Sea for priority conservation

Special Issue: Biological traits, geographic distributions and species conservation in aquatic ecosystems[Aim]Quantifying the importance of habitat areas for conservation of highly migratory marine species with complex life histories can be challenging. For example loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) nesting in Japan forage both oceanically and neritically after their reproductive period. Here, we aimed to quantify the proportions of turtles using these two contrasting habitats (foraging dichotomy) to suggest priority conservation areas. [Location]North Pacific Ocean. [Methods]We examined the occurrence of foraging dichotomy at three nesting sites (Ishigaki, Okinoerabu Islands and Ichinomiya) based on stable isotope analysis of the egg yolks for 82 turtles and satellite tracking of post-nesting migration for 12 turtles. Moreover, we used the data of three other sites from previous studies (Yakushima Island, Minabe and Omaezaki). [Results]Two neritic foraging grounds (East China Sea and the coastal area of the Japanese archipelago), and an oceanic ground (North Pacific Ocean) were identified. We found a latitudinal cline with respect to the occurrence of foraging dichotomy; >84% of the females nesting at southern sites (Ishigaki and Okinoerabu Islands), 73% at middle sites (Yakushima Island and Minabe) and <46% at northern sites (Omaezaki and Ichinomiya) were neritic foragers; the proportion of oceanic foragers increased at northern sites. Based on the annual number of nests in the entire nesting region of Japan, satellite tracking and the latitudinal cline of foraging dichotomy, we estimated that 70% and 9% of annual nesting females in Japan utilize the neritic foraging habitat in the East China Sea and the coastal area of the Japanese archipelago, respectively, and that and 22% utilize the oceanic habitat of the North Pacific Ocean. [Main conclusions]The East China Sea represents a critical foraging habitat for the North Pacific populations of endangered loggerhead sea turtles. Our findings emphasize the need for international management to ensure their protection

Congenital Web-like Tracheal Stenosis Cured Surgically in Adult

A 60-year-old, Japanese woman, with congenital web-like tracheal stenosis surgically treated. Successful relief from tracheal stenosis was obstained. Detection in adulthood and chance of the treatment for congenital tracheal stenosis is very rare. As far as this case is concerned, delay in detection and treatment is discussed of congenital tracheal stenosis

Highly contiguous assemblies of 101 drosophilid genomes

Over 100 years of studies in Drosophila melanogaster and related species in the genus Drosophila have facilitated key discoveries in genetics, genomics, and evolution. While high-quality genome assemblies exist for several species in this group, they only encompass a small fraction of the genus. Recent advances in long-read sequencing allow high-quality genome assemblies for tens or even hundreds of species to be efficiently generated. Here, we utilize Oxford Nanopore sequencing to build an open community resource of genome assemblies for 101 lines of 93 drosophilid species encompassing 14 species groups and 35 sub-groups. The genomes are highly contiguous and complete, with an average contig N50 of 10.5 Mb and greater than 97% BUSCO completeness in 97/101 assemblies. We show that Nanopore-based assemblies are highly accurate in coding regions, particularly with respect to coding insertions and deletions. These assemblies, along with a detailed laboratory protocol and assembly pipelines, are released as a public resource and will serve as a starting point for addressing broad questions of genetics, ecology, and evolution at the scale of hundreds of species

シンシンショウ ト シンダン サ レテ イタ TOLOSA - HUNT ショウコウグン ノ 15 サイ ジョシ

Tolosa-Hunt症候群(THS)は先行する片側眼窩部痛と眼球運動障害を生じ,病態は海綿静脈洞の非特異的炎症性肉芽腫病変と推測されている.発症は年間100万人あたり1人前後で,40歳台の成人に多く小児例は稀である.今回,1カ月続く右眼をえぐられる様な頭痛を主訴とした15歳のTHSを報告する.発症後,各種頭痛薬で改善がなく,各種検査を施行し異常がないため心身症に伴う反復する片頭痛と診断された.当院で脳MRIを施行し右内頸動脈の狭窄を認めTHSと確定診断した.プレドニゾロン(PSL)1?mg/kg/dayを朝1回開始し,翌日頭痛は改善した.以降,半年かけてPSLを漸減し再発はない.Tolosa-Hunt syndrome(THS)is characterized by periorbital pain accompanying opthalmoplegia. The pathogenesis is considered to involve non-specific granulomatous inflammation in the cavernous sinus, and the frequency is around one case per year per million people. Symptoms usually develop in adulthood, and pediatric cases are rare. We report herein a case of THS in a 15-year-old girl whose headache was diagnosed as psychosomatic disease in the early stage of the clinical course. Her chief compliant was headache with strong pain in the right eye, continuing for 1 month. Although several medications were trialed to alleviate headaches, no improvement was achieved. Various physical examinations proved uninformative. Headache was therefore tentatively diagnosed as psychosomatic disease associated with migraine. Brain magnetic resonance imaging in our university hospital revealed strangulation of the internal carotid artery, and headache was diagnosed as confirmed THS. Oral administration of prednisolone was started at 1 mg/kg/day, given once in the morning. Headache improved from the next day. Oral therapy with prednisolone was tapered over the course of 6 months and headache did not recur

Chromosomal variation of the leaf-mining Liodrosophila castanea (Diptera, Drosophilidae), with the results of crossing experiments

Chromosomal variation was found in three insular populations of Liodrosophila castanea (Diptera, Drosophilidae). Both Yakushima and Okinawa strains possessed 2n＝12 chromosomes, 5 pairs of acrocentric autosomes and sex chromosomes, in the metaphase plates of larval brain cells. Of them a pair of middle-sized autosomes were heteropyknotic from the prophase to early metaphase during the cell division. Tsushima strain had 2n＝10 chromosomes, 4 pairs of acrocentric autosomes and sex chromosomes. All nuclear plates of Tsushima strain contained small supernumerary chromosomes ranging from 2 to 9 in number and lacked any heterochromatic autosome. Morphologically, any discriminative character was not found between different chromosomal strains, excepting the nearly bare cercus in Yakushima and Okinawa strains (pubescent in Tsushima's). Male flies mated well with different strain females in crossing experiments without any mating preference, and produced fertile F1 males and females in both directions of crosses. The present results demonstrate that these insular strains with different karyotypes should be regarded as chromosomal races of Liodrosophila castanea

Biology of the Spotted-Wing Drosophila suzukii (Diptera: Drosophilidae) in Hokkaido, Northern Japan. III. Breeding on Blueberries

Breeding of Drosophila (Sophophora) suzukii on blueberries was studied during the entire ripening season from July to October in Hokkaido, northern Japan. The species began to use blueberries from late July in the years 2016, 2017, and 2018 and from early August in 2019; about 95% of the fruits were infected by D. suzukii females from late August to late September. The active breeding of D. suzukii on blueberries peaked in late August, and number of adults that emerged from a single blueberry fruit was 4.2±2.1 (n=20), with the maximum number being 9. For breeding of D. suzukii on cherry fruits, the damage ratio was quite low, because of its fruiting period being about 1 month earlier than the appearance of D. suzukii in Hokkaido