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.

Dmrt1 mutation causes a male-to-female sex reversal after the sex determination by Dmy in the medaka.

Abstract: DMRT1, which is found in many vertebrates, exhibits testis-specific expression during the sexual differentiation period, suggesting a conserved function of DMRT1 in the testicular development of vertebrate gonads. However, functional analyses have been reported only in mammals. The current study focused on the Dmrt1 function in the teleost medaka, Oryzias latipes, which has an XX–XY sex determination system. Although medaka sex is determined by the presence or absence of the Y chromosome-specific gene Dmy, we demonstrated that in one Dmrt1 mutant line, which was found by screening a gene-driven mutagenesis library, XY mutants developed into normal females and laid eggs. Histological analyses of this mutant revealed that the XY mutant gonads first developed into the normal testis type. However, the gonads transdifferentiated into the ovary type. The mutant phenotype could be rescued by transgenesis of the Dmrt1 genomic region. These results show that Dmrt1 is essential to maintain testis differentiation after Dmy-triggered male differentiation pathway.

Stored Energy and Taylor Factor Relation in an Al-Mg-Mn Alloy Sheet Worked by Continuous Cyclic Bending

Abstract: The relation between the stored energy and the Taylor factor (TF) has been investigated using the SEM/EBSP analysis in an Al-Mg-Mn alloy sheet worked by the continuous cyclic bending (CCB). The analysis reveals that the stored energy is high for the high TF region, whereas a significant increase of the stored energy with the decrease of the Taylor factor appears in the vicinity of the minimum TF value of 2. This observation is discussed using the Schmid factor calculated. Further, the local strain accommodation during deformation is analyzed for grains of different orientations. The stored energy is derived from the calculation based on the kernel average misorientation (KAM).

Local gene silencing in plants via synthetic dsRNA and carrier peptide

Abstract: Summary Quick and facile transient RNA interference (RNAi) is one of the most valuable plant biotechnologies for analysing plant gene functions To establish a novel double-strand RNA (dsRNA) delivery system for plants, we developed an ionic complex of synthetic dsRNA with a carrier peptide in which a cell-penetrating peptide is fused with a polycation sequence as a gene carrier The dsRNA–peptide complex is 100–300 nm in diameter and positively charged Infiltration of the complex into intact leaf cells of Arabidopsis thaliana successfully induced rapid and efficient down-regulation of exogenous and endogenous genes such as yellow fluorescent protein and chalcone synthase The present method realizes quick and local gene silencing in specific tissues and/or organs in plants