Microbial contaminations of laboratory mice and rats in Taiwan from 2004 to 2007.

Limited data are available on the pathogen status of contemporary rodent colonies in Taiwan. Here we summarized the rodent pathogen diagnostic records of the Taiwan National Laboratory Animal Center during a 4-y period that representing approximately 10% of the rodent colonies in Taiwan. Demand for pathogen diagnostic service increased continuously from 2004 to 2007, with a 20% increase each year. In 2007, more than 20% of the mouse colonies were positive for mouse parvovirus, mouse hepatitis virus, Theiler murine encephalomyelitis virus, and Mycoplasma pulmonis, with fewer colonies diagnosed as having infections of pneumonia virus of mice, mouse adenovirus, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, and reovirus. Almost 40% of tested rat colonies were positive for Mycoplasma pulmonis and rat parvovirus, with fewer colonies containing Kilham rat virus, sialodacryoadenitis virus, pneumonia virus of mice, Sendai virus, and Syphacia spp. These data provide a sound overall picture of the health status of mouse and rat colonies in Taiwan.

Protein changes between dormant and dormancy-broken seeds of Prunus campanulata Maxim.

Seed dormancy is regulated by complex networks in order to optimize the timing of germination. However, the biochemical basis of the regulation of seed dormancy is still poorly understood. Many temperate timber species, which are of ecological and/or economic interest, are deeply dormant in seeds, such as Prunus campanulata. Freshly harvested seeds require warm plus cold stratification to break dormancy before they can begin to germinate. According to the results of germination, both warm and cold stratifications are the critical influences for breaking seed dormancy. Significant variations in seed proteins were observed by 2-DE before and after the breaking of seed dormancy. Among the 320, 455, and 491 reproducibly detected spots on the cotyledons, embryos, and testae, respectively, 71 dramatic changes in abundances were observed following warm and/or cold stratification. Among these protein spots, dehydrin, prunin 1 precursor, prunin 2 precursor, and prunin 2 were identified by MS and sequence comparison. The implications of protein changes in relation to the breaking of seed dormancy and germination are discussed. This is the first report of a proteomic analysis of dormancy breaking in woody plant seeds.