Seasonal changes in wing dimorphism of the lygaeid bug Dimorphopterus japonicus (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae) in relation to environmental factors

The lygaeid bug Dimorphopterus japonicus Hidaka, which mainly feeds on a eulalia, Miscanthus sinensis, shows marked wing dimorphism of brachyptery and macroptery. Its production of macropters is stimulated in rearing conditions such as high temperature, long photoperiod and crowding during the nymphal stage. In this study, we investigated the seasonal prevalence in occurrence and the seasonal change in incidence of macroptery in D. japonicus for field populations in Okayama, western Japan. The results demonstrated that nymphal density was a key factor in determining the proportion of macropters, indicating an escape strategy from crowded populations. The field surveys also revealed that this bug has a univoltine life cycle in Okayama. There was a seasonal change in the incidence of macroptery in the new generation. The combined effects of temperature and photoperiod on wing‐form determination explained this seasonality trait.     

European badger's mating activities associated with moon phase

Journal of Ethology - Illumination at night is determined by moon phase, naturally affecting the reproductive activities of nocturnal animals. The European badger (Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758) is a...     

Photoactivation of channelrhodopsin

Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are light-gated ion channels that control photomovement of microalgae. In optogenetics, ChRs are widely applied for light-triggering action potentials in cells, tissues, and living animals, yet the spectral properties and photocycle of ChR remain obscure. In this study, we cloned a ChR from the colonial alga Volvox carteri, VChR. After electrophysiological characterization in Xenopus oocytes, VChR was expressed in COS-1 cells and purified. Time-resolved UV-visible spectroscopy revealed a pH-dependent equilibrium of two dark species, D(470)/D(480). Laser flashes converted both with tau approximately 200 mus into major photointermediates P(510)/P(530), which reverted back to the dark states with tau approximately 15-100 ms. Both intermediates were assigned to conducting states. Three early intermediates P(500)/P(515) and P(390) were detected on a ns to mus time scale. The spectroscopic and electrical data were unified in a photocycle model. The functional expression of VChR we report here paves the way toward a broader structure/function analysis of the recently identified class of light-gated ion channels.     

A replication study confirmed the <Emphasis Type="Italic">EDAR</Emphasis> gene to be a major contributor to population differentiation regarding head hair thickness in Asia

Hair morphology is a highly divergent phenotype among human populations. We recently reported that a nonsynonymous SNP in the ectodysplasin A receptor (EDAR 1540T/C) is associated with head hair fiber thickness in an ethnic group in Thailand (Thai-Mai) and an Indonesian population. However, these Southeast Asian populations are genetically and geographically close, and thus the genetic contribution of EDAR to hair morphological variation in the other Asian populations has remained unclear. In this study, we examined the association of 1540T/C with hair morphology in a Japanese population (Northeast Asian). As observed in our previous study, 1540T/C showed a significant association with hair cross-sectional area (P = 2.7 × 10⁻⁶) in Japanese. When all populations (Thai-Mai, Indonesian, and Japanese) were combined, the association of 1540T/C was stronger (P = 3.8 × 10⁻¹⁰) than those of age, sex, and population. These results indicate that EDAR is the genetic determinant of hair thickness as well as a strong contributor to hair fiber thickness variation among Asian populations. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Long-lasting breaches in the bladder epithelium lead to storage dysfunction with increase in bladder PGE2 levels in the rat

Increase in bladder mucosal permeability can be reproduced by intravesical administration of protamine sulfate (PS); however, the influence of PS once administered into the bladder disappears within several days. We developed a chronic animal model of urothelial injury using PS. Insertion of a polyethylene catheter through the bladder dome was performed in female Wistar rats. The other end of the catheter was connected to an osmotic pump for continuous delivery of PS or vehicle for 2 wk. Urinary frequency (UF) and voided volume (VV) were measured in the metabolic cage. The fifth group of rats received a high dose of PS (10 mg/ml) for 2 wk and were followed for a further 2 wk without PS. The sixth group received a high dose of PS for 2 wk and loxoprofen (0.1 mg.kg(-1).day(-1)) for 4 wk. UF was increased, and VV was reduced in rats treated with a high dose of PS but not changed in rats treated with a vehicle or a low dose of PS (1 mg/ml). UF was further increased in the fifth group, while unchanged in the sixth group. Histological sections in rats treated with a high dose of PS demonstrated a loss of the upper layer of urothelial cells and an increased number of mast cells. PGE2 level in the bladder was significantly elevated in the fifth group. These results indicate that chronic urotherial injury leads to an increase in UF and a decrease in VV. Increased PGE2 level in the bladder is likely to be associated with long-lasting storage dysfunction.     

Effects of low-load resistance training with vascular occlusion on the mechanical properties of muscle and tendon

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of low-load resistance training with vascular occlusion on the specific tension and tendon properties by comparing with those of high-load training. Nine participants completed 12 weeks (3 days/week) of a unilateral isotonic training program on knee extensors. One leg was trained using low load (20% of 1 RM) with vascular occlusion (LLO) and other leg using high load (80% of 1 RM) without vascular occlusion (HL). Before and after training, maximal isometric knee extension torque (MVC) and muscle volume were measured. Specific tension of vastus lateralis muscle (VL) was calculated from MVC, muscle volume, and muscle architecture measurements. Stiffness of tendon-aponeurosis complex in VL was measured using ultrasonography during isometric knee extension. Both protocols significantly increased MVC and muscle volume of quadriceps femoris muscle. Specific tension of VL increased significantly 5.5% for HL, but not for LLO. The LLO protocol did not alter the stiffness of tendon-aponeurosis complex in knee extensors, while the HL protocol increased it significantly. The present study demonstrated that the specific tension and tendon properties were found to remain following low-load resistance training with vascular occlusion, whereas they increased significantly after high-load training.     

Effect of an orally ingested mugwort and mushroom extract mixture on urine odor from aged mice

We had previously found that male mice could be trained to discriminate between the urine odor of aged and young adult (adult) mice. We hypothesized that these odors that characterized the older animals might be inhibited by a mixture of extracts (AAM) of mugwort and mushroom, because previous studies have indicated that these extracts could be used to reduce the intensity of unpleasant body odors. The findings of this chemical study strongly suggest that the AAM function helped to modify the aged mouse urine odor so that it more closely resembled the smell of urine from younger mice. Based on the results of the chemical studies, a set of behavioral experiments were therefore conducted. The results of three sets of generalization trials also strongly supported the results of the chemical studies. Together, these results suggest that ingested AAM decreased the intensity of odors associated with aging in mice.     

MOCSphaser: a haplotype inference tool from a mixture of copy number variation and single nucleotide polymorphism data

Detailed analyses of the population-genetic nature of copy number variations (CNVs) and the linkage disequilibrium between CNV and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci from high-throughput experimental data require a computational tool to accurately infer alleles of CNVs and haplotypes composed of both CNV alleles and SNP alleles. Here we developed a new tool to infer population frequencies of such alleles and haplotypes from observed copy numbers and SNP genotypes, using the expectation-maximization algorithm. This tool can also handle copy numbers ambiguously determined, such as 2 or 3 copies, due to experimental noise. AVAILABILITY: http://emu.src.riken.jp/MOCSphaser/MOCSphaser.zip.