Regeneration of a lost tissue in an animal is an important issue. Although regenerative studies have a history of research spanning more than a century, the gene functions underlying regulation of the regeneration are mostly unclear. Analysis of knockout animals is a very powerful tool with which to elucidate gene function. Recently, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) have been developed as an effective technique for genome editing. This technique enables gene targeting in amphibians such as newts that were previously impossible. Here we show that newts microinjected with TALEN mRNAs designed for targeting the tyrosinase gene in single-cell stage embryos revealed an albino phenotype. Sequence analysis revealed that the tyrosinase genes were effectively disrupted in these albino newts. Moreover, precise genome alteration was achieved using TALENs and single strand oligodeoxyribonucleotides. Our results suggest that TALENs are powerful tools for genome editing for regenerative research in newts.

Decomposition of NO in the presence of oxygen was promoted by using an electrochemical cell composed of YSZ and non-porous Pd electrodes. The NO conversion into N2 was successfully improved by coating the Pd electrodes with a perovskite oxide (La1−xSrxCoO3).

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A highly sensitive high-performance liquid chromatography method has been developed using pre-column fluorescent derivatization of daptomycin (DAP) through cyclization of the amino group of ornithine with 2,3-naphthalenedialdehyde. With the proposed method, the limits of detection and quantification of DAP in murine serum were 8 and 3 nmol/L, respectively, and the calibration curve was linear across the examined dynamic range from 8 nmol/L to 1 mol/L (n = 8, r = 0.9986). This method is suitable for animal experiments examining the side effects of DAP therapy using mice as a simple method with quantification to the order of 10 nmol/L.

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