Relative effectiveness and interaction of ultraviolet-B, red and blue light in anthocyanin synthesis of apple fruit

The effect of light on anthocyanin production in apple ( Malus pumila Mill. cv. Jonathan) skin disks was investigated, with prolonged irradiation from different light sources. High fluence rates of white light provided from a xenon lamp were unable to produce large amounts of anthocyanin, and anthocyanin production became saturated at about 30 W m⁻². When UV-B light, provided by a fluorescent lamp which had an emission peak at 312 nm, was combined with the white light, anthocyanin production was synergistically stimulated and increased up to the highest fluence rates of white light tested (44 W m⁻²). This UV-B light was more effective than red and blue light provided from fluorescent lamps, but anthocyanin production became saturated at about 1.7 W m⁻². However, simultaneous irradiation with red and UV-B light had a synergistic effect. UV-B light was also effective in increasing anthocyanin production in whole fruit. Therefore this synergism seemed to have an important role in the development of the desirable red skin color under field light conditions. The results of aminoethoxyvinylglycine treatment suggested that ethylene was not involved in the stimulative effect of UV-B light.     

Contribution of the 6-120 disulfide bond of alpha-lactalbumin to the stabilities of its native and molten globule states.

The unfolding and refolding of a derivative of alpha-lactalbumin, in which the disulfide bond between Cys6 and Cys120 is selectively reduced and S-carboxymethylated, are investigated by equilibrium and kinetic circular dichroism measurements. The native conformation of this derivative is known to be essentially identical to that of intact alpha-lactalbumin. The equilibrium unfolding of the derivative involves a stable intermediate, which is also similar to the molten globule state of the disulfide intact protein. The results of stopped-flow circular dichroism experiments show that the same intermediate is formed rapidly as a transient intermediate in kinetic refolding. The conformational stabilities for the native and intermediate states have been estimated and compared with the stabilities for the corresponding states of intact alpha-lactalbumin. The stabilization of the native state by the disulfide has been interpreted in terms of a decrease in chain entropy in the unfolded state and elimination of the strain imposed on the disulfide bond in the native state. The molten globule state is also stabilized by the disulfide bond, although the degree of stabilization of the molten globule state is smaller than of the native state. The results suggest that, in the molten globule state, some ordered structures are present within the loop moiety formed by the 6-120 disulfide.     

The second phantom aquatic leaf beetle in Japan: Macroplea mutica rediscovery in the wetlands (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Wetland biodiversity is currently declining on a global scale. Wetland biodiversity understanding is critical for determining the wetlands' conservation value. In this study, Macroplea Samouelle, 1819 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) was discovered in Aomori Prefecture, Honshu Island, Japan. Only two Macroplea species have been recorded in Japan, M. japana (Jacoby, 1885) and M. mutica (Fabricius, 1792). Macroplea japana had been unrecorded for 60 years before being rediscovered in Honshu Island in 2022, and a single adult M. mutica female was discovered in Hokkaido Prefecture in 2003. The discovered individuals were concluded to be M. mutica based on morphological and molecular analyses. Although morphological differences were observed with the Eurasian M. mutica individuals, the male genitalia was nearly identical to M. mutica. For the molecular phylogenetic analysis based on COI and 28S sequences, Macroplea individuals in Japan were clustered with M. mutica on the Eurasian Continent. This is the first record of this species on Honshu Island (and the second in Japan), as well as the first record of adult males. This species would require conservation policies and additional distributional surveys.     

Intra-strain biological and epidemiological characterization of plum pox virus

Plum pox virus (PPV) is one of the most important plant viruses causing serious economic losses. Thus far, strain typing based on the definition of 10 monophyletic strains with partially differentiable biological properties has been the sole approach used for epidemiological characterization of PPV. However, elucidating the genetic determinants underlying intra-strain biological variation among populations or isolates remains a relevant but unexamined aspect of the epidemiology of the virus. In this study, based on complete nucleotide sequence information of 210 Japanese and 47 non-Japanese isolates of the PPV-Dideron (D) strain, we identified five positively selected sites in the PPV-D genome. Among them, molecular studies showed that amino acid substitutions at position 2,635 in viral replicase correlate with viral titre and competitiveness at the systemic level, suggesting that amino acid position 2,635 is involved in aphid transmission efficiency and symptom severity. Estimation of ancestral genome sequences indicated that substitutions at amino acid position 2,635 were reversible and peculiar to one of two genetically distinct PPV-D populations in Japan. The reversible amino acid evolution probably contributes to the dissemination of the virus population. This study provides the first genomic insight into the evolutionary epidemiology of PPV based on intra-strain biological variation ascribed to positive selection.     

Life cycle of an endangered riffle beetle,Leptelmis gracilis Sharp (Coleoptera: Elmidae), in the Hiikawa River system,Shimane prefecture,Japan

We studied the life cycle of the riffle beetle Leptelmis gracilis Sharp, 1888 from a population located in a river stream with lotic environments. Samples were collected monthly, between September 2018 and August 2019, from a tributary of the Hiikawa River in Izumo city, Shimane Prefecture, Honshu, Japan. Larvae were separated into five distinct groups based on size. The first and last instar larval sizes were identified through rearing methods. From these results, we determined that the larval stage of this species consists of five instars. From the monthly evaluations, the number of individuals corresponding to each instar period suggested that last-instar larvae were dominant in May and that new adults emerged from July to August. Landing and pupation were estimated to occur from May to June. Monthly observations revealed that mature eggs were present in the female abdomen from April to June, as well as from August to September. It is, therefore, predicted that overwintering adults mainly oviposit from spring to early summer, while new adults oviposit from late summer to early autumn.     

Identification of SFL1 as a positive regulator for flor formation in Zygosaccharomyces rouxii

ABSTRACT

Some wild Zygosaccharomyces rouxii impair the quality of soy sauce through the generation of unpleasant odors induced by the formation of flor. Flor formation in Z. rouxii depends on the expression of the FLO11D gene, which is a homolog of the FLO11 gene that encodes a cell surface protein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FLO11 expression in S. cerevisiae is regulated by multiple pathways. To investigate the regulation of FLO11D expression in Z. rouxii, we created 13 gene knockout mutants (STE12, TEC1, HOG1, MSS11, FLO8, MSN1, MSN2/4, SKO1, TUP1, CYC8, YAK1, MIG1, and SFL1) related to those pathways and examined whether these mutants form flor. Unexpectedly, SFL1 knockout mutant could only form a very weak flor due to decreased FLO11D expression, suggesting that SFL1 acts as a potential activator of flor formation through FLO11D expression. This result is in contrast to S. cerevisiae SFL1, which acts as a repressor of FLO11 expression.