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The purpose of this chapter is to review progress in our understanding of human behavior and decision-making relevant to future earth research agenda, and propose Decision Science as a hub of knowledge networks connecting disciplinary and interdisciplinary sciences with the practice of problem-solving. This review is composed of four sections. First, we describe the conceptual framework of “decision science for a sustainable society” and argue that evolutionary biology of the human nature is key to construct this framework. Second, we review how our group decision-making often fails due to various cognitive biases and argue that participatory approaches of co-design and co-production do not guarantee reasonable decision-making. Third, we review success stories of problem-solving in local communities and consider how we can connect those successes in local communities to successful national and global decision-making. Fourth, learning from both failures and successes, we argue that the adaptive learning of society is a process enabling us to transform our society toward a sustainable future. We review some positive global trends toward sustainability and consider the cognitive processes and behavioral mechanisms behind those trends that would provide clues for finding successful ways to transform our society.

Correction to Chapter 1 in: Yahara T. et al. (2021) Decision Science for Future Earth: A Conceptual Framework. In: Yahara T. (eds) Decision Science for Future Earth. Springer, Singapore. 10.1007/978-981-15-8632-3_1

Immediately after the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, pneumonia outbreak among the elderly increased the rate of fatalities. What caused this? To use lessons learned during the large-scale disaster, specialists concerned with the field of dentistry began to take action using new perspectives. Consequently, they noticed the importance of giving care to the entire oral cavity as well as the teeth. Based on reports from a dentist and a dental hygienist who tackled the oral care of the Kumamoto Earthquake victims in 2016, their methods of effective health care following a disaster is presented in this paper. We also propose a preventative medical activity that can be conducted sustainably for anyone, not just medical personnel.

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the situation and issues of volunteer activities through the example of the students’ voluntary activities after the Kumamoto earthquake. In the case study, we described the volunteer activities of Tokai University students starting from the time immediately after the Kumamoto Earthquake, and the revitalization activities they conducted in the disaster area. We focused on how the motivations and actions of university students are changing over time. The students of the Faculty of Agriculture of Tokai University established a student volunteer group called Aso Fukkoheno Michi which means “Path for Revitalization of Aso”. The group is currently working on the revitalization of Minami-aso Village, with a particular focus on developing the sustainability of the Kurokawa area. With this intention, members of Aso Fukkoheno Michi started to tell the story of Minami-aso Village to visitors. Through this storytelling activity, the students are able to convey their own experiences of the disaster to visitors. From the survey conducted among student volunteers, we learned about the effective ways in which the students undertook such activities. However, we identified problems faced by the volunteers regarding the continuation of their efforts in the future, and regarding maintaining their involvement with the local community.

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic had various influences on people&rsquo, s ordinary lives, including their thoughts and behaviors related to food consumption. Food waste has been cited as a serious issue with environmental, social, and economic consequences. In this study, we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic altered the social consciousness and behavior related to food waste in Japan. We conducted a nationwide online-based survey and collected a cross-sectional dataset from 1959 adult respondents. The results showed that people in regions highly impacted by the pandemic reported a clearer understanding of the situation of their household food waste, more careful food preparation and purchasing, and were more strongly influenced to change their behaviors due to COVID-19. Further analyses revealed that thoughts and behaviors related to food waste significantly differed by sociodemographic characteristics, such as gender, household size, and employment status. This study also implied that the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged some improvements in peoples&rsquo, behaviors and thoughts with regard to food, such as paying attention to food waste, making efforts to reduce food waste, and attempting cooking by themselves at home.

Malnutrition in all forms, ranging from undernourishment to obesity and associated diet-related diseases, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, while food systems often have major environmental impacts. Rapid global population growth and increases in demands for food and changes in dietary habits create challenges to provide universal access to healthy food without creating negative environmental, economic, and social impacts. This article discusses opportunities for and challenges to sustainable food systems from a human health perspective by making the case for avoiding the transition to unhealthy less sustainable diets (using India as an exemplar), reducing food waste by changing consumer behaviour (with examples from Japan), and using innovations and new technologies to reduce the environmental impact of healthy food production. The article touches upon two of the challenges to achieving healthy sustainable diets for a global population, i.e., reduction on the yield and nutritional quality of crops (in particular vegetables and fruits) due to climate change; and trade-offs between food production and industrial crops. There is an urgent need to develop and implement policies and practices that provide universal access to healthy food choices for a growing world population, whilst reducing the environmental footprint of the global food system.

SummaryIndividuals in northern populations of Lilium longiflorum in the Ryukyu Archipelago between Japan and Taiwan exhibit deep dormancy which is induced by high temperatures in the Summer, while plants of southern ecotypes and L. formosanum show no dormancy. In higher plants, 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) is the critical enzyme for the regulation of abscisic acid (ABA) biosynthesis.The relationships between levels of expression of the LlNCED gene (GenBank Accession No. KC357734) and endogenous ABA levels were examined in 1-year-old seedlings of an L. formosanum population domesticated in Fukuoka (FFU) and in two L. longiflorum populations native to Pitouchiao (LPI), Taiwan, or Kikai Jima (LKI), Japan. The deduced amino acid sequences of the NCED proteins shared high identity with NCED proteins in other monocotyledons, and were closely related to enzymes in other members of the class Liliopsida. A high correlation was observed between levels of LlNCED gene expression and ABA concentration. See...

Lilium longiflorum is endemic to the islands of the Ryukyu Archipelago in Japan and to the eastern seacoasts and satellite islands of the mainland of Taiwan. The species is an important ornamental plant, and is cultivated throughout the world. Lilium longiflorum has long been regarded as a self-incompatible species but the existence of selfing in some natural populations was suggested by isozyme analysis in a previous study. To confirm the occurrence of self-compatible individuals and to clarify the evolutionary shift of floral traits associated with degree of self-compatibility in L. longiflorum by comparative analysis, we used 17 populations of L. longiflorum, and two populations of L. formosanum, the genetically closest species of L. longiflorum, covering the entire species distribution. Artificial self-pollination revealed that not all L. longiflorum individuals are self-incompatible and there is substantial quantitative variation of self-incompatibility among L. longiflorum individuals and populations. Self-compatible dominant populations allopatrically and independently evolved at the periphery of the species distribution area, the northern Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. Increasing degree of self-compatibility in L. longiflorum correlated with reduced corolla length, corolla width, corolla volume, and anther length for the Ryukyu Archipelago, in contrast to only reduced corolla width and volume for Taiwan. Approach between anther and stigma was not observed in any populations. Our data indicate that in the Ryukyu Archipelago increasing degree of self-compatibility evolved floral traits related to mating system evolution, to selfing, that does not depend on adjacency between anther and stigma position, but not in Taiwan.

Lilium brownii var. colchesteri (BRO) has a unique trait in its flower color. The color at anthesis is yellowish cream, and changes to white after one day. To introduce this trait and establish a sexually reproductive cultivation system for cut flower production in Lilium, interspecific crosses of L. × formolongi, L. formosanum, L. longiflorum (as seed parents) and BRO (as a pollen parent) were carried out. Capsules with unviable seeds were found in all crosses. To overcome the incongruity barrier, ovary slices excised from developing ovaries at 7 to 28 days after pollination (DAP) were cultured in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 40 g·L−1 sucrose, 40 g·L−1 D-mannitol and 2.5 g·L−1 gellan gum under 24 h illumination. Hybrid plantlets were obtained from crosses of L. × formolongi × BRO and L. formosanum × BRO, but not from the cross of L. longiflorum × BRO. After acclimatization, 79 (44.1%) of 179 hybrid plants produced flowers within a year of cultivation. The hybrids developed flowers changing from yellowish cream to white during anthesis as does the pollen parent. Twenty-eight of 79 flowered plants sprouted two or more flower stalks, characteristics of L. formosanum. The hybrids exhibited relatively high pollen fertility and produced capsules, but no mature seed was obtained by self-pollination.

Lilium brownii var. colchesteri has unique and ornamental floral characteristics in graceful harmony with flower and anther colors, flower shape, elegant fragrance, and flower color change from yellowish cream to white during anthesis. There are, however, few accessions conserved in Japan up to the present, and they often show abnormally shaped flowers and mosaic leaves seemingly due to virus infection. Virus-free bulblets were established by combining meristematic tip culture and chemotherapy. At initial diagnosis with RT-PCR, Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV), Lily mottle virus (LMoV) and Lily symptomless virus (LSV) were detected from leaf tissues of the mother plants. All regenerated bulblets obtained by meristematic tip culture of the mother plants were still infected by at least one of the viruses. The meristematic tip of the bulblets infected with either LSV or LMoV was selected for subsequent culture with 2,4-dioxohexahydro-1,3,5-triazine (DHT), an antiviral chemical. LSV was eliminated successfully in mericlones from bulblets with LSV, whereas LMoV was not from those with LMoV. The virus-free bulblets were transferred to new medium without DHT, and multiplied by in vitro scaling. They were then acclimated in a phytotron glass room at 20°C. The plants were confirmed to be virus-free after 18-months’ acclimation. It was concluded that the combination of meristem tip culture and chemotherapy is practical for producing virus-free plants of L. brownii var. colchesteri.

Lilium longiflorum ‘Hinomoto’, the major lily cultivar in Japan, is regarded to have originated from natural individuals on Yakushima Island, and shows strong self-incompatibility; however, it was recently demonstrated that a population on Yakushima Island is dominant with weakly self-incompatible and completely self-compatible individuals, and this fact conflicts with the view that the strong self-incompatible ‘Hinomoto’ originated from Yakushima Island. The data by morphological and genetic analysis in this study indicate that ‘Hinomoto’ is genetically and morphologically different from natural individuals on Yakushima Island, but indicate that the origin of ‘Hinomoto’ could have been from any of the islands in the southern Ryukyu Archipelago.

We examined natural hybridization between two morphologically and ecologically divergent species on Yakushima Island-the light-purple flowered Rhododendron eriocarpum native to seaside habitats and the red flowered R. indicum native to riverside habitats. By investigation of morphological traits and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) we found that hybrid individuals morphologically and genetically intermediate between the two species grow mainly in the seaside areas of the island. The degree of morphological and genetic variation was different among the seaside hybrid populations. Although most pollinator species were exclusive to one of the two flower color groups, the halictine bees of Lasioglossum were observed in both the color types. The crucial interspecific incompatibility after pollination has not been previously described. Geographic distance between the populations is likely to be an important primary factor in bringing about natural hybridization and determining the degree of introgression between R. eriocarpum and R. indicum. The fact that hybrids occur mostly in the seaside area on Yakushima Island indicates that asymmetrical introgression occurs from R. indicum to R. eriocarpum. Alternatively, strong habitat-mediated selection from recurrent floods may prevent the hybrids from colonizing riverside habitats.

Lilium formosanum Wallace has remarkable traits such as ‘precocious flowering’ ability, i.e., it reaches anthesis within 12 months from seed germination, with multiple shooting of flower stalks. To verify the possibility of the usefulness of these traits in lily breeding, nine combinations of interspecific crosses (L. formosanum as the seed parent; L. auratum, L. speciosum, L. regale, ‘Lollypop’, ‘Pink Tiger’, ‘Zaza’, ‘Le Reve’, ‘Marco Polo’, and ‘African Queen’ as pollen parents) were carried out with cut-style pollination and ovary-slice culture. Germination was observed in all nine interspecific crosses and 53 hybrids were obtained. Thirty (56.6%) of the 53 hybrids and two self-pollinated progenies of L. formosanum reached anthesis within 24 months from germination through ovary-slice culture. Multiple shooting of flower stalks was recognized in 11 (36.7%) of those flowered hybrids. Four hybrids, the pollen parents of which were Asiatic hybrid lilies with colored flowers, expressed ‘precocious flowering’ ability, multiple shooting of flower stalks, and entirely colored flowers simultaneously. These results suggest the possibility of breeding new types of cultivars with triple favorable traits from the cross between L. formosanum and Asiatic hybrid lilies with colored flowers.

Genetic similarity of Lilium brownii var. colchesteri cultivated in Japan and Korea was investigated with 302 AFLP markers. Average, maximum and minimum genetic similarity value within the whole accessions of Japan and Korea was 0.9788, whereas those between them and one Chinese accession was 0.9477. The threshold similarity value for identification of clones was estimated to be 0.97 by the same method with 10 clonally propagated individuals of L. longiflorum ‘Hinomoto’ and referring previous reports. 90.2% of pairs within the whole accessions of Japan and Korea represented higher the values than the threshold. Excluding five individuals, 98.9% of pairs showed higher the values. The individuals of L. brownii var. colchesteri in Japan and Korea, therefore, are considered to be almost one clone, and the introduction of the lily into Japan seems to have been through Korean Peninsula.

Genetic relationship and variation of 29 accessions of teasle gourd (Momordica dioica Roxb.) and 1 accession of Momordica cochinchinensis Spreng. (wild relatives of teasle gourd) were examined by RAPD analysis using 44 dodecamer oligonucleotide primers. A total of 496 fragments were produced by 44 primers of which 95% bands were polymorphic. Using presence or absence of specific RAPD markers or combination of primers, 23 out of 30 accessions were identified. The genetic relatedness or genetic distance based on Nei and Li's genetic similarity varied from 0.86 to 0.65 with an average of 0.74 among 29 M. dioica accessions (when M. cochinchinensis excluded). In the phenetic dendrogram developed from cluster analysis using UPGMA method, M. cochinchinensis was out grouped as single accession, while others showing relatively weak grouping formed four groups. Clustering pattern did not demonstrate any relationship between geographical origin and genetic diversity. A DNA extraction method has been standardized. This is the first report of using RAPD techniques in teasle gourd. It was concluded that RAPD analysis is a useful tool for genotypic identification and estimation of genetic similarity in teasle gourd.

Habitats and geographic distribution were investigated for diploid and triploid L. lancifolium grown in islands and mainland areas covering a whole country of South Korea. Of 367 populations investigated, 185 (50.4%) and 182 (49.6%), respectively, were diploid and triploid populations. Diploid was intensively dis- tributed only along western to southeastern coastal areas and islands, whereas triploid spread dominantly in inland areas of the Korean Peninsula. Diploid was specific to such seaside habitats as coastal cliffs or beaches but never to inland habitats. Triploid tended to prefer often-disturbed inland habitats such as roadsides, arable lands, hilly fields and riversides, though 23% of triploid individuals were growing in the coastal cliffs. The facts indicate that adaptability for disturbed habitats are crucial for the distribution range of each cytotype. Nonetheless, triploids were rarely found in coastal habitats within the diploid dis- tribution range. Autotriploid formation from diploid ancestors under natural conditions may be suppressed by rareness of higher unreduced gamete productivity within the diploid species and/or by minority cytotype exclusion.

Lilium longiflorum and L. formosanum are closely related species endemic to subtropical islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. Stem leaf morphology, flowering rate within population and individual net production during the first year seedling growth were determined to clarify whether they can differentiate these two species, and reflect adaptive strategy during species and local population establishment. Four experimental populations of L. longiflorum and five of L. formosanum with different locality covering almost their native distribution were grown under greenhouse condition in the University Farm located in northern Kyushu, Japan. L. longiflorum showed distinct lower ratio of leaf length/width than L. formosanum. Flowering rate and net production tended to decrease along the population location, northward across the archipelago arc and toward higher altitude within the mainland of Taiwan, showing obvious geographic cline (geographically continuous variation). Low degrees of flowering rate and net production in northern L. longiflorum were associated with high frequency of individuals that obtained little net production during spring to summer, indicating an acquired dormancy status. L. formosanum native to about 3000m altitude showed higher resource allocation to the mother bulb. These variations of the growth habits within the species reflect region-specific adaptive strategy of L. longiflorum and L. formosanum for climate during the glacial period and that in highlands of the mainland of Taiwan, respectively. Higher annual net production and an earlier shift to the reproductive phase of L. formosanum is highly likely more advantageous in population establishment under disturbed and competitive environment, where L. longiflorum is rarely found. INTRODUCTION Lilium longiflorum Thunberg and L. formosanum Wallace are Liliaceous species endemic to subtropical arc-arrayed islands in the Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. These species are taxonomically classified into the section Leucolirion by Wilson (1925) and Comber (1949). A study on the allozyme diversity for natural populations, which cover entire distributions of the two species, indicated that L. formosanum seems to be a recently established species from southern peripheral populations of L. longiflorum (Hiramatsu et Proc. 8th Int. Symp. on Flowerbulbs Eds. G. Littlejohn et al. Acta Hort. 570, ISHS 2002 332 al., 2000). Whereas, it has been generally considered that L. formosanum can be distinguished from L. longiflorum by its morphological and ecological characteristics such as narrow and long leaves, and rapid growth from seed-sowing to flowering (Wilson, 1925; McRae, 1998). The allozyme analysis of the two species also exhibited that L. longiflorum is genetically highly dive rged as a single plant species and that high correlation between genetic and geographic distance of two species populations (Hiramatsu, et al., 2000). From these results, we assumed that there might be great intraand interspecific variations in its morphological and ecological traits accompanied by speciation and local population establishment of L. longiflorum and L. formosanum. Thus, we investigated intraand interspecific variations in stem leaf morphology, flowering rate within population and individual net production during the first year seedling growth to verify whether they can discriminate the two species, and reflect adaptive strategy during speciation and local population establishment of them. MATERIALS AND METHODS Seeds used in the present study were collected from four and five natural populations for L. longiflorum and L. formosanum in different locations respectively, and preserved at 5°C until use. The collection sites were Pitouchiao (LPI) in the mainland of Taiwan, and Ishigaki Jima (LIS), Kume Shima (LKU) and Kikai Jima (LKI) in the Ryukyu archipelago for L. longiflorum, and Fukuoka (FFU), a naturalized population in Kyushu district, Japan, and Paolai (FPA), Wulai (FWU), Tatachia (FTA) and Hohuanshan (FHO) in the mainland of Taiwan for L. formosanum. The sites were along the population location, northward across the archipelago from 25° 08' to 28° 21' N for L. longiflorum, and toward higher altitude from 20 to 3000m for L. formosanum. The selected sites in the present study covered almost an entire natural distribution of the two species. The experimental field was located in the University Farm of northern Kyushu, Japan. The seeds were sown into plastic trays with 200 of 2 x 2cm cells filled with commercial compost in early November, 1998. The trays were placed in a nursery greenhouse where the minimum temperature was maintained higher than 10°C. In late April, the seedlings were transplanted in a soil supplemented with 150gm slow-release fertilizer comprising 10% of N, P and K with 15 x 15cm spaces in a greenhouse. More than 100 plants for each experimental population were grown. Ten and 20 plants were randomly harvested 40, 100 and 160 days after transplanting, respectively. Each harvested plant was separated into the upper part including stems, leaves and reproductive organs and the lower part including bulbs, bulblets and roots. Dry weight of each part was determined after drying for 72 h at 70°C. Number of flowered individuals was counted for each experimental population 160 days after transplanting. Length and width of a stem leaf at about 5 to 10cm above the ground were measured for maximally 20 plants per population, except for Kikai Jima of L. longiflorum, in which bolting was not observed. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Length and width of stem leaf in L. longiflorum ranged from 53 to 185mm and 6.6 to 18.3mm, respectively; whereas, those in L. formosanum ranged from 160 to 299mm and 5.5 to 14.5mm, respectively (Fig. 1). Thus, the values overlapped the two species. The ratio of leaf length/width, however, distinctly separated the two species, permitting to distinguish them by leaf morphology. L. longiflorum possessed relatively wide and short leaves as compared with L. formosanum. Flowering rate decreased from 26 to 0% along the population location, northward across the archipelago in L. longiflorum, and from 100 to 5% toward higher altitude in L. formosanum (Fig. 2). Particularly, high flowering rate (>88%) was observed in three L. formosanum populations, FFU, FPA and FWU. The values of mean individual net production in 160 days after transplanting were associated with flowering rate within a population. Those in L. formosanum populations

We investigated interspecific isolating mechanisms and population genetic structure for 19 wild populations of Lilium longiflorum and eight of L. formosanum endemic to the Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan. Field observation, artificial interpopulation crosses and isozyme analysis were used. Interspecific isolation was never established by island separation, but it was highly likely by habitat differentiation. There appeared to be additional effects by the unilateral cross incompatibility and isolation in the flowering season. There were significant positive correlation between genetic and geographic distance among populations (r=0.791; p

To study the origin of unreduced (2n) gametes in diploid Vitis cultivars, we surveyed the occurrence of tetraploid hybrid seedlings from 40 interploid crosses with five tetraploid and seven diploid cultivars. A total of 250 seedlings from the interploid crosses were established through embryo culture and by seed sowing. In 20 2x × 4x crosses, no tetraploid hybrid seedlings were derived from 8,902pollinations. In 20 4x × 2x crosses, two tetraploid hybrid seedlings were obtained from 8,057 pollinations. Investigation of isozyme genotypes of the two tetraploid seedlings using three variable enzyme systems indicated that one of the two seedlings resulted from the union of a diploid egg with a 2n male gamete and that failure of second meiotic division resulted in the formation of the 2n male gamete. The percentage of giant pollen grains in `Muscat Bailey A', a pollen parent of the tetraploid seedling, was relatively high(about 5.9%) and 10.9% of the giant pollen grains germinated on agar medium. These results suggested that 2n pollen of diploid cultivars are useful for breeding tetraploid grape.

Allozyme diversity on 13 isozyme loci was investigated for two bulbous species, Lilium longiflorum and L. formosanum, endemic to the subtropical archipelago of continental origin located in East Asia. Degrees of allozyme variability and divergence for L. longiflorum were very high for insular endemic species, indicating relatively longtime persistence of the present widespread distribution across many islands in this phenotypically little-changed species. Lilium formosanum exhibited rather lower variability and divergence than did L. longiflorum and was genetically close to the southern peripheral populations of L. longiflorum with 0.978 as its highest genetic identity value. Combined with other biological and insular geohistorical information, our results suggest that L. longiflorum was established around the end of the Pliocene when the current distribution area was still a continuous part of the ancient Asian continent, and L. formosanum was derived from southern populations of L. longiflorum around the late Pleistocene when the mainland of Taiwan was completely separated from the adjacent islands and the main continent. Depauperization of allozyme variability in some L. longiflorum populations was found on islands with lower altitudes. This reflects bottleneck effects after the complete or almost complete submergence of such low islands during the archipelago's development.

Through immature seed culture and subsequent embryo culture, aneuploid plants were derived from various crosses among 184 different triploid hybrid grape vines. In self-pollinations of the 184 vines, 0 to 1.6% of flowers produced immature seeds. In 16 reciprocal crosses between diploid and triploid and between tetraploid and triploid grapes, 0 to 23.0% of flowers produced immature seeds. The immature seeds excised 30–50 days after pollination were cultured for three months on Nitsch and Nitsch medium supplemented with L-glutamine, L-serine, L-cysteine and casein hydrolysate. Embryos developed within the cultured immature seeds were subcultured onto germination medium consisting of MS medium with 1 μM BA. Thirty-four of 137 embryos from 458 immature seeds germinated. Five of the 34 embryos grew normally. The five recovered plants were aneuploids with chromosome numbers from 51 to 59. The rates of embryo and plant recovery were different in different crosses with triploid grapes.

To elucidate the physicochemical properties of Japanese native red-kerneled non-glutinous rice of the Japonica type cultivated without fertilizer application, a comparative study with 30 cultivars was made on the protein content, amylose content and amylographic characteristics of milled rice and the textural characteristics of cooked rice. The protein and amylose content of the red-kerneled rice used ranged from 6.0 to 9.7% and from 9.7 to 26.4%, respectively. These values for the Fukuoka Prefecture recommended variety (white-kerneled rice) used ranged from 6.5 to 6.9% and 15.6 to 20.9%, respectively. The maximum viscosity and breakdown values of the red-kerneled rice ranged from 170 to 545 B.U. and from 0 to 173 B.U., respectively. In the white-kerneled rice, these values ranged from 368 to 615 B.U. and from 68 to 235 B.U., respectively. The adhesion and hardness / adhesion ratio of the red-kerneled rice ranged from 0.00 to 0.29 T.U. and from 0.00 to 842.00, respectively. In the white-kerneled rice, these values ranged from 0.08 to 0.15 T.U. and from 44.80 to 80.75, respectively. Thus we saw that red-kerneled rice showed a larger variation in physicochemical properties than white-kerneled rice. Milled red-kerneled rice contained more protein and had lower maximum viscosity and breakdown values than white-kerneled rice. Cooked red-kerneled rice had lower adhesion and a higher ratio of hardness / adhesion than white-kerneled rice. The large variation in physicochemical properties of the red-kerneled rice is indicative that the breeding of new rice varieties for special utilization will be possible.

This study was carried out to establish cultivation techniques that improve the eating-quality of rice grown in Andosol (AL) paddy fields by the modification of nitrogen fertilizer application and the application of zeolite to supress nitrogen absorption. The rice produced in the AL paddy fields, with a cultivation method that omits the second top-dressing of nitrogen at the panicle formation stage, and zeolite application under standard nitrogen fertilizer application was equally palatable as that produced in Gray Lowland soil (GL) under the same weather conditions, where rice with good palatability is produced under standard nitrogen fertilizer applications. In AL soil, the rice protein content decreased, but the yield did not decrease as compared with that produced under standard nitrogen fertilizer applications. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that the production of highly palatable rice in AL paddy fields is possible by reducing the levrel of nitrogen absorption. To improve the eating-quality of rice grown in AL paddy fields without reducing the yeild, it is recommended that the application of the second top-dressing nitrogen at panicle formation stage be omitted from the standard application method, or that 1kgm-2 zeolite be applied under the standard fertilizer application method.

The palatability and physiochemical properties of milled rice produced on different types of soils and latitudes were studied in order to improve the culture technique to produce good eating quality rice. There was locational difference, we found that the differences in soil types had a great influence on palatability. No clear relationship between the altitude and palatability was found. The palatability of rice produced on Light-colored Andosols (LAN) was inferior to that of rice produced on other soil types: Fine-textured Yellow soils, Fine-textured Brown Lowland soils, Gravelly Gray Lowland soils. The protein content of rice produced on LAN was significantly higher than that of rice produced on other soil types. Protein content was significantly correlated with the palatability using rice grown in various locations. On the other hand, amylose content and amylographic characteristics were not related to palatability. The results lead to the conclusion that the main cause of the deterioration of palatability of rice grown in LAN was increases in protein content due to increases in nitrogen released from LAN during the late stage growth period of rice plant. Therefore, it is important to restrict the amount of nitrogen absorbed by rice plant i.e., improvement of the method of fertilizer application and soil improvement, in order to improve the eating quality of rice grown in LAN.

To improve the Pollen germination of caprifig 'VC-180' (Ficus carica L. var. intermedia Shinn ×F. carica L. var. sylvestris Shinn) in vitro, stigmatic exudate from long-styled pistillate flowers of 'Masui Dauphine' (F. carica L. var. hortensis Shinn) was added to a medium.1. The optimum pollen germination of 'VC-180' occurred when 2 or 3 pistillate flowers of 'Masui Dauphine' were embedded per cm2 of basal medium (1% agar +10% sucrose) for 3 hours under 5° to 15 °C.2. More than 70% of the pollen grains germinated and grew vigorously during a 7-hour-culture kept at 25° to 30 °C.3. Pistillate flowers within a syconium (2032 mm diam.) of the second crop of 'Masui Dauphine' figs promoted pollen germination. Likewise, pollen grains from the summer crop of caprifig 'VC-180' germinated regardless of the maturity of the syconium in the presence of the stigmatic exudate.

The amylose content, amylographic characteristics and storage proteins of milled rice grains on the primary and secondary rachis branches were investigated. The amylose content of grains on the primary rachis branches with superior palatability was higher than that on the secondary rachis branches. Grains on the primary rachis branches showed higher maximum viscosity and breakdown values, and lower gelatinization temperature than those on the secondary rachis branches. These results suggested that the palatability of cooked rice of grains with high amylose content and amylogram values was superior to that with low amylose content and amylogram values within a cultivar under the same cultural conditions. In terms of protein fraction in the starchy endosperm, there was little difference in prolamin content and in albumin + globulin content between grains on primary and those on secondary rachis branches, whereas total protein content and glutelin content of grains on the primary rachis branches were noticeably lower than those on the secondary rachis branches for all the cultivars. Total protein, glutelin and prolamin content of a good palatability cultivar, Koshihikari were lower than those of moderate palatability cultivars Nipponbare and Reihou. These results indicate that, among storage proteins, glutelin and prolamin play important roles in rice palatability and that it is possible to use glutelin as an indicator of palatability within a single cultivar and prolamin as an indicator of palatability among cultivars.

The protein and amylose content of milled rice grains collected from the top and base rachis branches at different positions on the panicle were measured. The palatability of the grains on primary and secondary rachis branches were also investigated. Grains on upper rachis branches had a lower protein content than those on lower rachis branches with a gradual change from the base to the top of both primary and secondary rachis branches. Grains on primary rachis branches also had lower protein content than those on secondary rachis branches at any position within the panicle. Conversely, amylose content on upper rachis branches was higher than that on lower rachis branches, and that on primary rachis branches was higher than that on secondary rachis branches. Protein content and amylose content varied widely within the panicle with 1.2% and 3.3%, respectively, range at maximum. Grain weight was negatively correlated with protein content and positively correlated with amylose content. Grains which originated from early flowering spikelets generally had low protein content and high amylose content. The palatability of the grains on primary rachis branches was superior to grains on secondary rachis branches, both in Koshihikari and Nipponbare. It was concluded that the variations in protein content and amylose content, and differences in palatability within a rice panicle were caused by the differences in the extent of grain filling, which was closely related to the flowering order of spikelets. This leads us to suppose the varieties with high and stable palatability in any growth environment could be raised from genetic resources which have more grains on primary rachis branches in the ear or on the secondry rachis branches in the upper position of the ear.

We clarified the isolation status between Lilium longiflorum and L. formosanum which are endemic to the subtropical archipelago extended from the Ryukyu Archipelago to Taiwan. From field observations of natural populations, covering almost the entire native distribution of the species in their natural habitats and recording their flowering times, stem leaf morphology, the three populations from the mainland and an islet of Taiwan and all those of the Ryukyu Archipelago were readily classified as L. longiflorum, whereas the remaining Taiwanese populations were grouped as L. formosanum. This indicates that an interspecific isolation was never established by island separation, but probably by the combination of relatively distinct differentiations in adaptability to their natural habitats and in flowering time. The evolutionary trends seem to have severely restricted the gene flow between the species, and, thereby, promoted speciation.