Utsunomiya University

About: Utsunomiya University is a education organization based out in Utsunomiya, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Laser & Holography. The organization has 4139 authors who have published 6812 publications receiving 91975 citations. The organization is also known as: Utsunomiya daigaku.

A robust transcriptional program in newts undergoing multiple events of lens regeneration throughout their lifespan

Abstract: Newts have the ability to repeatedly regenerate their lens even during ageing. However, it is unclear whether this regeneration reflects an undisturbed genetic activity. To answer this question, we compared the transcriptomes of lenses, irises and tails from aged newts that had undergone lens regeneration 19 times with the equivalent tissues from young newts that had never experienced lens regeneration. Our analysis indicates that repeatedly regenerated lenses showed a robust transcriptional program comparable to young never-regenerated lenses. In contrast, the tail, which was never regenerated, showed gene expression signatures of ageing. Our analysis strongly suggests that, with respect to gene expression, the regenerated lenses have not deviated from a robust transcriptional program even after multiple events of regeneration throughout the life of the newt. In addition, our study provides a new paradigm in biology, and establishes the newt as a key model for the study of regeneration in relation to ageing.

Protocol: a simple gel-free method for SNP genotyping using allele-specific primers in rice and other plant species

Abstract: Background Genotype analysis using multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is a useful but labor-intensive or high-cost procedure in plant research. Here we describe an alternative genotyping method that is suited to multi-sample or multi-locus SNP genotyping and does not require electrophoresis or specialized equipment.

How elevated CO2 affects our nutrition in rice, and how we can deal with it.

Abstract: Increased concentrations of atmospheric CO2 are predicted to reduce the content of essential elements such as protein, zinc, and iron in C3 grains and legumes, threatening the nutrition of billions of people in the next 50 years. However, this prediction has mostly been limited to grain crops, and moreover, we have little information about either the underlying mechanism or an effective intervention to mitigate these reductions. Here, we present a broader picture of the reductions in elemental content among crops grown under elevated CO2 concentration. By using a new approach, flow analysis of elements, we show that lower absorption and/or translocation to grains is a key factor underlying such elemental changes. On the basis of these findings, we propose two effective interventions-namely, growing C4 instead of C3 crops, and genetic improvements-to minimize the elemental changes in crops, and thereby avoid an impairment of human nutrition under conditions of elevated CO2.

Electronic properties of semiconducting graphitic microtubules.

Abstract: The electronic structure of graphitic tubules with general chirality is thoroughly studied by means of a recursion tight-binding method. A detailed investigation of densities of states around the Fermi level for various types of tubules confirms the previous theoretical prediction that tubules become metals (M), narrow-gap semiconductors (NS's), or moderate-gap semiconductors (MS's), depending on an integer index k specifying the geometrical structure of the tubules. We point out that the MS's are systematically classified into two types, MS1 and MS2, according to this index. Namely, tubules correspond to M for k=0; otherwise they belong to semiconductors, being NS's, MS1, or MS2, respectively, for k modulo 3=0, 1, or 2. Our result is compared with an approximate expression for energy gaps of MS's, derived by White et al. and we discuss the deviation of our results from this expression. An empirical expression for the energy gap, which elucidates such a deviation, is suggested.