Phenotypes of streptozotocin-induced gestational diabetes mellitus in mice.

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in human patients disrupts glucose metabolism post-pregnancy, affecting fetal development. Although obesity and genetic factors increase GDM risk, a lack of suitable models impedes a comprehensive understanding of its pathology. To address this, we administered streptozotocin (STZ, 75 mg/kg) to C57BL/6N mice for two days before pregnancy, establishing a convenient GDM model. Pregnant mice exposed to STZ (STZ-pregnant) were compared with STZ-injected virgin mice (STZ-virgin), citrate buffer-injected virgin mice (CB-virgin), and pregnant mice injected with citrate buffer (CB-pregnant). STZ-pregnant non-obese mice exhibited elevated blood glucose levels on gestational day 15.5 and impaired glucose tolerance. They also showed fewer normal fetuses compared to CB-pregnant mice. Additionally, STZ-pregnant mice had the highest plasma C-peptide levels, with decreased pancreatic islets or increased alpha cells compared to CB-pregnant mice. Kidneys isolated from STZ-pregnant mice did not display histological alterations or changes in gene expression for the principal glucose transporters (GLUT2 and SGLT2) and renal injury-associated markers. Notably, STZ-pregnant mice displayed decreased gene expression of insulin-receiving molecules (ISNR and IGFR1), indicating heightened insulin resistance. Liver histology in STZ-pregnant mice remained unchanged except for a pregnancy-related increase in lipid droplets within hepatocytes. Furthermore, the duodenum of STZ-pregnant mice exhibited increased gene expression of ligand-degradable IGFR2 and decreased expression of GLUT5 and GLUT12 (fructose and glucose transporters, respectively) compared to STZ-virgin mice. Thus, STZ-pregnant mice displayed GDM-like symptoms, including fetal abnormalities, while organs adapted to impaired glucose metabolism by altering glucose transport and insulin reception without histopathological changes. STZ-pregnant mice offer a novel model for studying mild onset non-obese GDM and species-specific differences in GDM features between humans and animals.

Detection of hydroacoustic signals on a fiber-optic submarine cable.

A ship-based seismic survey was conducted close to a fiber-optic submarine cable, and 50 km-long distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) recordings with air-gun shots were obtained for the first time. We examine the acquired DAS dataset together with the co-located hydrophones to investigate the detection capability of underwater acoustic (hydroacoustic) signals. Here, we show the hydroacoustic signals identified by the DAS measurement characterizing in frequency-time space. The DAS measurement can be sensitive for hydroacoustic signals in a frequency range from [Formula: see text] to a few tens of Hz which is similar to the hydrophones. The observed phases of hydroacoustic signals are coherent within a few kilometers along the submarine cable, suggesting the DAS is suitable for applying correlation analysis using hydroacoustic signals. Although our study suggests that virtual sensor's self-noise of the present DAS measurement is relatively high compared to the conventional in-situ hydroacoustic sensors above a few Hz, the DAS identifies the ocean microseismic background noise along the entire submarine cable except for some cable sections de-coupled from the seafloor.

Synthesis of Chitin Oligosaccharides Using Dried Stenotrophomonas maltophilia Cells Containing a Transglycosylation Reaction-Catalyzing ß-N-Acetylhexosaminidase as a Whole-Cell Catalyst.

Bacterial strain NYT501, which we previously isolated from soil, was identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and it was confirmed that this strain produces an intracellular ß-N-acetylhexosaminidase exhibiting transglycosylation activity. Several properties of this enzyme were characterized using a partially purified enzyme preparation. Using N,N'-diacetylchitobiose (GlcNAc)2 and N,N',N″-triacetylchitotriose (GlcNAc)3 as substrates and dried cells of this bacterium as a whole-cell catalyst, chitin oligosaccharides of higher degrees of polymerization were synthesized. (GlcNAc)3 was generated from (GlcNAc)2 as the major transglycosylation product, and a certain amount of purified sample of the trisaccharide was obtained. By contrast, in the case of the reaction using (GlcNAc)3 as a substrate, the yield of higher-degree polymerization oligosaccharides was comparatively low.

Ecological distribution of leaf stomata and trichomes among tree species in a Malaysian lowland tropical rain forest.

The vertical structure of a tropical rain forest is complex and multilayered, with strong variation of micro-environment with height up to the canopy. We investigated the relation between morphological traits of leaf surfaces and tree ecological characteristics in a Malaysian tropical rain forest. The shapes and densities of stomata and trichomes on the abaxial leaf surfaces and their relation with leaf characteristics such as leaf area and leaf mass per area (LMA) were studied in 136 tree species in 35 families with different growth forms in the tropical moist forest. Leaf physiological properties were also measured in 50 canopy and emergent species. Most tree species had flat type (40.4 %) or mound type (39.7 %) stomata. In addition, 84 species (61.76 %) in 22 families had trichomes, including those with glandular (17.65 %) and non-glandular trichomes (44.11 %). Most leaf characteristics significantly varied among the growth form types: species in canopy and emergent layers and canopy gap conditions had higher stomatal density, stomatal pore index (SPI), trichome density and LMA than species in understory and subcanopy layers, though the relation of phylogenetically independent contrasts to each characteristic was not statistically significant, except for leaf stomatal density, SPI and LMA. Intrinsic water use efficiency in canopy and emergent tree species with higher trichome densities was greater than in species with lower trichome densities. These results suggest that tree species in tropical rain forests adapt to a spatial difference in their growth forms, which are considerably affected by phylogenetic context, by having different stomatal and trichome shapes and/or densities.

Saccharification of ß-chitin from squid pen by a fermentation method using recombinant chitinase-secreting Escherichia coli.

Two strains [BL21(DE3) and HMS174(DE3)] of Escherichia coli harboring the recombinant chitinase expression plasmid pVP-Chi, which contains Vibrio parahaemolyticus chitinase gene with an attached signal sequence, were prepared. These E. coli transformants produced a large amount of recombinant chitinase, which hydrolyzes chitin to yield di-N-acetylchitobiose (GlcNAc)2, under the presence of isopropyl-1-thio-ß-D-galactopyranoside (IPTG), and secreted the enzyme into their culture fluid with the aid of the signal peptide. Cultivation of these E. coli transformants in Luria-Bertani medium containing squid pen ß-chitin and IPTG gave rise to the decomposition of this polysaccharide and the accumulation of (GlcNAc)2 in the culture fluid. Through these experiments, we confirmed that the use of strain HMS174(DE3) was preferable for the stable accumulation of (GlcNAc)2 in the culture fluid during cultivation owing to lower (GlcNAc)2 assimilation compared to BL21(DE3). Next, using E. coli HMS174(DE3) transformants, we conducted saccharification of different forms (fluffy fiber, flake, and powder) of ß-chitin samples prepared from squid pens in Bacterion-N-KS(B)K medium containing 2 % of each sample under the presence of IPTG. In these experiments, (GlcNAc)2 was isolated with a more than 20 % stoichiometric yield from each culture supernatant through charcoal column chromatography followed by recrystallization.

Characterization of a pyridoxal-5'-phosphate-dependent l-lysine decarboxylase/oxidase from Burkholderia sp. AIU 395.

A novel enzyme, which catalyzed decarboxylation of l-lysine into cadaverine with release of carbon dioxide and oxidative deamination of l-lysine into l-2-aminoadipic 5-semialdehyde with release of ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, was found from a newly isolated Burkholderia sp. AIU 395. The enzyme was specific to l-lysine and did not exhibit enzyme activities for other l-amino acids, l-lysine derivatives, d-amino acids, and amines. The apparent Km values for l-lysine in the oxidation and decarboxylation reactions were estimated to be 0.44 mM and 0.84 mM, respectively. The molecular mass was estimated to be 150 kDa, which was composed of two identical subunits with molecular mass of 76.5 kDa. The enzyme contained one mol of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate per subunit as a prosthetic group. The enzyme exhibiting decarboxylase and oxidase activities for l-lysine was first reported here, while the deduced amino acid sequence was homologous to that of putative lysine decarboxylases from the genus Burkholderia.

Change in biomass of symbiotic ants throughout the ontogeny of a myrmecophyte, Macaranga beccariana (Euphorbiaceae).

Macaranga myrmecophytes (ant-plants) provide their partner symbiotic ants (plant-ants) with food bodies as their main food, and they are protected by the plant-ants from herbivores. The amount of resource allocated to food bodies determines the plant-ant colony size and consequently determines the intensity of ant defense (anti-herbivore defense by plant-ants). As constraints in resource allocation change as plants grow, the plant-ant colony size is hypothesized to change with the ontogenesis of Macaranga myrmecophyte. To determine the ontogenetic change in the relative size of the plant-ant colony, we measured the dry weights of the whole plant-ant colony and all of the aboveground parts of trees at various ontogenetic stages for a myrmecophytic species (Macaranga beccariana) in a Bornean lowland tropical rain forest. Ant biomass increased as plant biomass increased. However, the rate of increase gradually declined, and the ant biomass appeared to reach a ceiling once trees began to branch. The ant/plant biomass ratio consistently decreased as plant biomass increased, with the rate of decrease gradually accelerating. We infer that the ontogenetic reduction in ant/plant biomass ratio is caused by an ontogenetic change in resource allocation to food rewards for ants related to the physiological changes accompanying the beginning of branching.

The 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake: displacement reaching the trench axis.

We detected and measured coseismic displacement caused by the 11 March 2011 Tohoku-Oki earthquake [moment magnitude (M(W)) 9.0] by using multibeam bathymetric surveys. The difference between bathymetric data acquired before and after the earthquake revealed that the displacement extended out to the axis of the Japan Trench, suggesting that the fault rupture reached the trench axis. The sea floor on the outermost landward area moved about 50 meters horizontally east-southeast and ~10 meters upward. The large horizontal displacement lifted the sea floor by up to 16 meters on the landward slope in addition to the vertical displacement.