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This paper presents the application results of the Global Change Observation Mission-Climate (GCOM-C) global ET index estimation algorithm to the entire globe over the seven years from 2001 to 2007 using MODIS daily thermal observation data as a substitute for GCOM-C thermal observation data. The GCOM-C global ET index estimation algorithm was developed to automatically provide global ET index information for the Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).The ET index maps resulting from this study were compared with global precipitation, Köppen's climate classification, and forest distribution maps in order to investigate the general correspondence between the ET index and climate/ecosystem distributions. The estimated ET index was confirmed to be in general agreement with the distributions of climate and forest at the global and continental scales and at annual and seasonal timescales.The resultant global evapotranspiration (ET) maps were evaluated using point-measured precipitation for 199 locations worldwide and measured ET data in Mongolia. The relationship between precipitation and ET supported the adequacy of the ET estimation method for annual timescales. A monthly comparison of the ET index with precipitation implied that the algorithm is functional in summer but nonfunctional in winter under some conditions. An accuracy assessment of the algorithm using actual ET measurement data from Mongolia indicated that the algorithm showed good performance at annual timescales. The error in the 4-year average of estimated ET was equivalent to 12% of the actual ET or 0.7% of the reference ET.

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<i>Staphylococcus warneri </i>M exhibited extracellular lipase activity. By zymogram analysis of extracellular proteins, multiple bands were detected and the profiles changed depending on the bacterial growth phase. N-terminal amino acid sequences of three bands (N1–N3) were determined. From the genome library of <i>S. warneri </i>M whole DNA, the gene-directing lipase activity (named <i>gehC</i>_<i>WM</i>) was cloned and characterized. The <i>gehC</i>_{<i>WM </i>}gene encoded a protein (GehC_WM), whose calculated molecular mass was 83.4 kDa, and the sequence was similar to the other staphylococcal lipases. Though two lipases have been known from <i>S. warneri </i>863, GehC_WM differs from both of them, indicating that this enzyme is the third extracellular lipase of the <i>S. warneri </i>strain. The N-terminal sequences of the N1–N3 polypeptides completely coincided with the deduced amino acid sequences in GehC_WM. GehC_WM was predicted to be a prepro-protein. In vitro processing and protein sequencing suggested that pro-GehC_WM is possibly processed by extracellular glutamyl endopeptidase, PROM. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometer analysis showed that purified his-tagged mature GehC_WM possessed zinc ion. A <i>gehC</i>_<i>WM</i> knockout mutant was constructed by insertion of an erythromycin resistance gene into the <i>gehC</i>_<i>WM</i>. Zymogram and immunoblot analyses of the <i>gehC</i>_{<i>WM </i>}mutant indicated that GehC_WM was a major extracellular lipase of <i>S. warneri </i>M.

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