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Arapid and simple procedure is described to detect the genomic RNA molecule of Japanese yam mosaic potyvirus (JYMV). This method, named RT-LAMP, allows direct detection of RNA from infected plants without careful RNA extraction, rapid thermal cycling and gel electrophoresis. RT-LAMP was successfully applied to leaves, propagules and roots of Japanese yam infected with JYMV. One of the characteristics of the RT-LAMP method is its ability to synthesize an extremely large amount of DNA. Accordingly, a large amount of by-product, pyrophospate ion, is produced yielding a white precipitate of magnesium pyrophosphate in the reaction mixture. The presence or absence of this white precipitate allows easy detection of the amplification of JYMV genomic RNA without gel electrophoresis.

The peripheral tolerance mechanism prevents effective antitumor immunity, even though tumor cells possess recognizable tumor-associated Ags. Recently, it has been elucidated that regulatory T cells (Treg) play a critical role in maintaining not only self-tolerance, but also tolerance of tumor cells. However, because the Treg that maintain self-tolerance arise naturally in the thymus and are thought to be anergic in peripheral, it is still unclear where and when Treg for tumor cells are generated. In this study we analyze tumor-draining lymph nodes (LNs) and demonstrate that both antitumor effector T cells and Treg capable of abrogating the antitumor reactivity of the effector T cells are primed in the same LNs during tumor progression. The regulatory activity generated in tumor-draining LNs exclusively belonged to the CD4+ T cell subpopulation that expresses both CD25 and a high level of CD62L. Forkhead/winged helix transcription factor gene expression was detected only in the CD62LhighCD4+CD25+ T cells. CD62LhighCD4+CD25+ Treg and CD62LlowCD4+CD25+ T cells, which possess effector T cell functions, had comparable expression of LFA-1, VLA-4, CTLA-4, lymphocyte activation gene-3, and glucocorticoid-induced TNFR. Thus, only CD62L expression could distinguish regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells from effector CD4+CD25+ cells in draining LNs as a surface marker. The Treg generated in tumor-draining LNs possess the same functional properties as the Treg that arise naturally in the thymus but recognize tumor-associated Ag. CD62LhighCD4+CD25+ Treg contained a subpopulation that expressed CD86. Blocking experiments revealed that ligation of CTLA-4 on effector T cells by CD86 on Treg plays a pivotal role in regulating CD4+ effector T cells.

Although much concern has been directed at nitrogen (N) cycling in terrestrial ecosystems with bird colonies, little has been clarified on the processes of phosphorus (P) cycling itself, and few comparisons between P and N cycling in bird colonies have been made. On the Isaki Headland and Chikubu Island, which are located on or near the shore of Lake Biwa, Central Japan, a dramatic increase in the population of cormorants has occurred since the 1980s. There has been a concomitant increase in the transport of nutrients from the lake to the waterside ecosystems. We compared the pools and dynamics of N and P in the cormorant-colony forests in order to clarify the effects of differences in soil N and P dynamics on the N-P balance of these colony forests. The total N concentration in the forest floor at excrement-influenced sites was not significantly different from that at sites without such influence, in spite of the heavy load of cormorant-derived N. In contrast to N, forest floor P concentration at the sites with excrement influence was significantly higher compared to sites without such influence, resulting in the lower forest floor N/P ratio at the excrement-influenced sites even after colony abandonment. The site pattern of total N and P concentrations and N/P ratio for mineral soil was similar to that for the forest floor. It seems that the leaky character for N and the accumulative character for P are due to the high mobility of nitrate in soils and the tight absorption of inorganic P to clay minerals, respectively. The site pattern of N/P ratios observed for Chamaecyparis obtusa Sieb. et Zucc. leaves is consistent with that for the forest floor and/or mineral soil, suggesting that the soil geochemical property was reflected in the foliar N/P ratio. The chemistry of throughfall and soil solution was also changed due to deposition of cormorant excrement, and the changes continued for a few years after abandonment of the colony. The quantitative analyses for N and P suggested that the major part of N and P transported by cormorants was not retained in plant matter and the surface soil beneath the colony but instead leached into deeper soil layers. The influence of cormorant excrement on nutrient balance of the whole colony ecosystem is also discussed.

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