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In the livestock industry, meat color has become important because consumer acceptance is subject to the appearance of the product in the marketplace. Our previous analyses of a whole genome QTL scan for various meat qualities using 2 F2families from Japanese wild boar (known as a red meat) × Large White and from Duroc × Chinese Jinhua suggested that a meat color (heme content) QTL is located on SSC6. The objective of this study was to fine-map this SSC6 meat color QTL and subsequently investigate positional candidate genes for polymorphisms that may cause changes in meat color. Therefore, we conducted interval mapping on SSC6 using an additional 9 gene markers through combined analyses of the 2 F2families of Japanese wild boar × Large White (353 progeny) and Duroc × Chinese Jinhua (204 progeny). Comparative analysis with humans, mice, and cattle suggested that there were 10 functional genes in the region. Among these genes, we suggested that a novel pig gene encoding a nudix (nucleoside diphosphate linked moiety X)-type motif 7 (NUDT7, a member of the nudix hydrolases) is a strong candidate for the QTL because the mouse Nudt7 is reported to hydrolyze succinyl-CoA, a substrate of the reaction limiting the rate of heme biosynthesis. We therefore determined the pig NUDT7gene sequence including the 5′ promoter region and explored genetic polymorphisms between Japanese wild boar and Large White. We identified 116 polymorphisms within the NUDT7CDS or in the 5′ region. None of the AA substitutions were associated with the meat color QTL; however, 3 polymorphisms were found in putative transcription factor recognition sites. We then investigated the differential expression of NUDT7in Japanese wild boar and Large White by allele-specific quantitative real-time PCR. The expression level of the Large White type allele was greater than that of the Japanese wild-boar-type allele. Consequently, we speculated that the difference in meat color between Japanese wild boar and Large White is caused partly by differential expression of this candidate gene. Upregulation of NUDT7expression in muscle may reduce succinyl-CoA content and thus reduce the level of heme biosynthesis.

Three generations of a swine family produced by crossing a Japanese wild boar and three Large White female pigs were used to map QTL for various production traits. Here we report the results of QTL analyses for skeletal muscle fiber composition and meat quality traits based on phenotypic data of 353 F2animals and genotypic data of 225 markers covering almost the entire pig genome for all of the F2animals as well as their F1parents and F0grandparents. The results of a genome scan using least squares regression interval mapping provided evidence that QTL (<1% genome-wise error rate) affected the proportion of the number of type IIA muscle fibers on SSC2, the number of type IIB on SSC14, the relative area (RA) of type I on SSCX, the RA of type IIA on SSC6, the RA of type IIB on SSC6 and SSC14, the Minolta a* values of loin on SSC4 and SSC6, the Minolta b* value of loin on SSC15, and the hematin content of the LM on SSC6. Quantitative trait loci (<5% genome-wise error rate) were found for the number of type I on SSC1, SSC14, and SSCX, for the number of type IIA on SSC14, for the number of type IIB on SSC2, for the RA of type IIA on SSC2, for the Minolta b* value of loin on SSC3, for the pH of loin on SSC15, and for the i.m. fat content on SSC15. Twenty-four QTL were detected for 11 traits at the 5% genome-wise level. Some traits were associated with each other, so the 24 QTL were located on 11 genomic regions. In five QTL located on SSC2, SSC6, and SSC14, each wild boar allele had the effect of increasing types I and IIA muscle fibers and decreasing type IIB muscle fibers. These effects are expected to improve meat quality.

Abstract—We investigated thermoluminescence of silicates that are of interest in the interstellar and circumstellar medium after irradiation by γ‐rays and fast neutrons. The silicates are forsterite, orthoenstatite, olivine, quartz, and crystalline silicon. The irradiated enstatite shows weak and broad peaks at 545 and 760 nm. In contrast, irradiated bulk and powder samples of forsterite show strong and broad peaks at 640–660 nm. Although thermoluminescence of bulk forsterite is very similar to the extended red emission (ERE) of the Red Rectangle nebula, irradiated powdered forsterite did not reveal any sharp emission features over the broad band. Further, we investigated the possibility of thermoluminescence of crystalline silicon and found that luminescence scarcely appears. It is emphasized that the prominent carrier of ERE is forsterite and fused quartz.

A high association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and depressive illness has been reported. Insulin resistance during depressive illness might contribute to the linkage between depression and type 2 diabetes. To determine whether the genetic polymorphisms of the tyrosine hydroxylase ([TH] HUMTH01) and insulin (INS-VNTR) genes contribute to insulin resistance in depressive illness, we analyzed the association between the polymorphisms and insulin resistance in 41 Japanese patients with depressive disorder, 204 normal control subjects, 161 cohort subjects with normal glucose tolerance (NGT) and without depressive symptomatology, and 59 NGT subjects with depressive symptomatology. The depressive patients had a significantly lower insulin sensitivity index (SI) than the control subjects (P= .016). Depressive NGT subjects had a significantly higher homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) insulin resistance index [HOMA(R)] than the nondepressive NGT subjects (P< .0001). The depressive patients and NGT subjects had more HUMTH01 allele 7 (TH7) than the controls and nondepressive NGT subjects. SI was significantly lower in patients with the TH7/7 homozygote versus patients with the other genotypes and the controls. TH7 was associated with higher HOMA(R) as compared with the other alleles in the NGT subjects. Insulin resistance was associated with depressive disorders. The HUMTH01 and INS-VNTR were associated with insulin resistance and depressive symptoms.

Spectra of L X-rays emitted from Fe and Cu targets have been measured by 0.75 MeV/u H, He, Si and Ar ion impacts with a crystal spectrometer. The spectra produced by H and He ion impacts are very similar. The X-ray transition energies in the Fe target for Lι, Lη, Lα1,2and Lβ1lines are determined to be 616, 628, 704.9 and 717.7 eV, respectively, which are in good agreement with those given in the reference. The spectra produced by heavier Si and Ar ions have more complicated structures due to multiple vacancy production. These spectra are compared with the calculated ones based on the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock method. The origin of the broadening of the Lα1,2line to the lower energy is attributed to one 2p plus one 3d electron vacancy production.

Cytokines may play importmant roles in the pathogenesis of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). We analysed a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism within the first intron of the interferon γ(IFN-γ) gene in Japanese diabetic patients (175 IDDM and 145 non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus) and 267 control subjects. A significant difference was observed in the global allele distribution of the polymorphism between the IDDM and control groups (p=0.039). The difference from the control group was more evident in the patients whose insulin therapy started within 1 year from onset (p=0.006) or in the young-onset (<10 years) patients (p=0.0006). The alleles “3” and “6” were increased in the IDDM patients, and a significant increase in the frequency of the “3/6” genotype was observed in the IDDM patient group (9.1%, RR 2.9, p=0.010), in the patients with initial insulin therapy less than 1 year from onset (10.6%, RR 3.4, p=0.004), or in the young-onset patients (16.7%, RR 5.7, p=0.0003) in comparison to the control subjects (3.4%). There was a tendency towards frequent occurrence of clinical characteristics which reflect young or abrupt onset of diabetes or both, and depletion of insulin secretion capacity in the patients with “3/6” or “6/6” in comparison to the patients with other genotypes. These results suggest that the IFN-γgene region may contribute to the pathogenesis of IDDM and could be a genetic marker for IDDM.

We have molecularly cloned portions of equine satellite-type DNA and investigated the organization of the DNA sequence of the cloned segments. Sequence analysis and dot-blot analysis, using the cloned sequence (ES200) as a probe, indicate that the satellite-type DNA sequence consists mainly of 221-bp tandem repeats and represents 3.7–11% of the equine genome. Southern blot analysis further shows that (1) no sequences homologous to ES200 exist in the human, swine, and bovine genomes and that (2) the fragment pattern of the satellite-type DNA produced by Apal cleavage shows a slight difference among equine DNA samples, indicating a slight sequence variation between individual horses. To localize the satellite-type DNA in the horse genome, chromosome spreads on glass slides were first subjected to G-banding to identify each chromosome and then hybridized in situ with biotin-labeled ES200. The chromosome banding, together with the hybridization, demonstrates that the satellite sequences are preferentially localized on the centromeric regions of all chromosomes except chromosomes 2, 9, and 11.

We investigated the effect of fibronectin on epithelial migration onto the stroma in cultured rabbit cornea. Rabbit plasma fibronectin was purified by affinity chromatography using gelatin-Sepharose 4B, and its purity was confirmed by SDS polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis. Antibody against rabbit plasma fibronectin raised in guinea pigs formed a single precipitin line against rabbit plasma and purified rabbit plasma fibronectin by Ouchterlony double diffusion test. When rabbit cornea was cut into small blocks and cultured in TCM-199 medium alone, corneal epithelial cells began to migrate on the cut edge of the corneal stroma. The addition of purified rabbit plasma fibronectin to the culture medium significantly enhanced epithelial migration. The degree of enhancement depended on the amount of fibronectin added. When guinea pig IgG anti-rabbit plasma fibronectin was added, epithelial migration was significantly inhibited when compared with that in control cultured corneal blocks. The results demonstrate that fibronectin promotes epithelial migration in the cornea and thus plays an important role in corneal wound healing.

Although the insulin gene region is implicated in susceptibility to Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in Caucasians, significance of this region to Type 1 diabetes in Japanese remains unclear because the class 1 alleles (shorter insertion) of the variable number of tandem repeat in the 5′ region of the insulin gene are predominant in both diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. The 5′ insulin gene polymorphism was analysed in 75 Japanese patients and 69 control subjects with a precise method using PvuII and a polymorphism specific probe, which enabled us to divide class 1 alleles into four subclasses. Allelic frequencies were not significantly different between Type 1 diabetic patients and control subjects. The polymorphism in the 3′ untranslated region of the insulin gene (1127/ PstI) was also analysed and found to be tightly linked to the 5′ insulin gene polymorphism, and thus was not associated with diabetes. Interaction between HLA-DR and the insulin gene region, which was reported in the French study, was not observed in Japanese. These results suggest that the insulin gene region is not a valuable genetic risk factor for Type 1 diabetes in Japanese.

A polymorphic locus flanking the 5′ end of the insulin gene was studied in 154 unrelated Japanese diabetic and nondiabetic subjects. A predominance of the small allele was found with the following frequency: of 64 nondiabetic subjects, only 3 of 128 alleles were of the large class (2%); none of 78 alleles were of the large class in 39 Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic subjects, and 4 of 102 alleles (4%) were of the large class in 51 Type 2 (non-insulin-dependent) diabetic subjects. The very low frequency of large allele may relate to the lower prevalence of atherosclerosis in Japanese. However, this possibility requires further examination.

The chromosomal location of the swine tenascin gene (HXB) was determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization and simultaneous R-banding. Swine tenascin cDNA was labeled with biotin, and used as a probe. Hybridization was detected by the FITC-labeled streptavidin/biotinylated anti-streptavidin antibody system. The signals revealed that the tenascin gene is localized on swine chromosome 1q21.1→q21.3.