A vaccine prepared from a non-pathogenic H5N1 influenza virus strain from the influenza virus library conferred protective immunity to chickens against the challenge with antigenically drifted highly pathogenic avian influenza virus

Inactivated influenza virus vaccine prepared from a non-pathogenic influenza virus strain A/duck/Hokkaido/Vac-1/2004 (H5N1) from the virus library conferred protective immunity to chickens against the challenge of antigenically drifted highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV), A/whooper swan/Hokkaido/1/2008 (H5N1). The efficacy of the vaccine was comparable to that prepared from genetically modified HPAIV strain deltaRRRRK rg-A/ whooper swan/Mongolia/3/2005 (H5N1), which is more antigenically related to the challenge virus strain, in chickens.     

Simultaneous detection of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Japanese yam mosaic virus</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yam mild mosaic virus</Emphasis> from yam leaves using a tube capture reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay

To detect Japanese yam mosaic virus (JYMV) and Yam mild mosaic virus (YMMV) in yam plants in Japan, we developed a duplex RT-PCR assay consisting of a tube-capture procedure followed by one-step RT-PCR with two primer pairs. A 241-bp fragment of the coat protein region of JYMV and a 174-bp fragment of the nuclear inclusion protein b region of YMMV were amplified, thus identifying the two viruses from yam plants cultivated in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2007. All water yam plants examined were infected with YMMV alone. All the Japanese yam and Chinese yam plants were infected with either JYMV alone or both JYMV and YMMV, suggesting that YMMV and JYMV are prevalent among field-grown yam plants.     

Phylogenetic and morphological analyses of Pythium graminicola and related species

Isolates of Pythium graminicola and related species were differentiated using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analyses of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of rDNA and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COX II) gene. These sequences were used in subsequent phylogenetic analyses. Finally, the phylogenetic placement of species was compared to that determined from morphological characteristics. The 62 isolates tested were divided into seven groups, A–G, based on RFLP analysis of the rDNA-ITS region. In the RFLP analysis of the COX II gene, isolates were divided into groups similar to those based on ITS-RFLP. Groups A and B were each separated into two additional subgroups. Grouping of isolates based on RFLP analyses agreed with the morphological differentiation. Groups A, B, D, E, F, and G were identified as P. graminicola, P. arrhenomanes, P. aphanidermatum, P. myriotylum, P. torulosum, and P. vanterpoolii, respectively. Group C was closely related to group B based on phylogenetic analysis of the rDNA-ITS region and the COX II gene and is similar to P. arrhenomanes. Each of the other species occupied their own individual clades. Although P. arrhenomanes is morphologically similar to P. graminicola, our phylogenetic analyses revealed that it was evolutionarily distant from P. graminicola and more closely related to P. vanterpoolii. Our analysis also revealed that P. torulosum with smaller oogonia is more closely related to P. myriotylum with large oogonia than to P. vanterpoolii, which forms smaller oogonia and is morphologically similar to P. torulosum. P. aphanidermatum with large oogonia and aplerotic oospores was not related to the morphologically similar species P. myriotylum. Results suggest that P. graminicola and related species are phylogenetically distinct, and molecular analyses, in addition to morphological analyses, are necessary for the accurate taxonomic placement of species in this complex.     

Magnesium oxide nanoparticles induce systemic resistance in tomato against bacterial wilt disease

Bacterial wilt is a serious problem affecting many important food crops. Recent studies have indicated that treatment with biotic or abiotic stress factors may increase the resistance of plants to bacterial infection. This study investigated the effects of magnesium oxide nanoparticles (MgO NP) on disease resistance in tomato plants against Ralstonia solanacearum, as well as its antibacterial activity. The roots of tomato seedlings were inoculated with R. solanacearum and then immediately treated with MgO NP; the treated plants showed very little inhibition of bacterial wilt. In contrast, when roots were drenched with a MgO NP suspension prior to inoculation with the pathogen, the incidence of disease was significantly reduced. Rapid generation of reactive oxygen species such as O₂^?˙ radicals was observed in tomato roots treated with MgO NP. Further O₂^?˙ was rapidly generated when tomato plant extracts or polyphenols were added to the MgO NP suspension, suggesting that the generation of O₂^?˙ in tomato roots might be due to a reaction between MgO NP and polyphenols present in the roots. Salicylic acid‐inducible PR1, jasmonic acid‐inducible LoxA, ethylene‐inducible Osm, and systemic resistance‐related GluA were up‐regulated in both the roots and hypocotyls of tomato plants after treatment of the plant roots with MgO NP. Histochemical analyses showed that β‐1,3‐glucanase and tyloses accumulated in the xylem and apoplast of pith tissues of the hypocotyls after MgO NP treatment. These results indicate that MgO NP induces systemic resistance in tomato plants against R. solanacearum.