Phase-separation and -segregation (boiling/distillation of subseafloor hydrothermal fluids) represent the primary mechanisms causing intra-field variations in vent fluid compositions. To determine whether this geochemical process affects the formation of microbial communities, we examined the microbial communities at three different vent sites located within a few tens meters of one another. In addition to chimney structures, colonization devices capturing subseafloor communities entrained by the vent fluids were studied, using culture-dependent and -independent methods. Microbiological analyses demonstrated the occurrence of distinctive microbial communities in each of the hydrothermal niches. Within a chimney structure, there was a transition from a mixed community of mesophiles and thermophiles in the exterior parts to thermophiles in the interior. Beside the transition within a chimney structure, intra-field variations in microbial communities in vent fluids were apparent. Geochemical analysis demonstrated that different vent fluids have distinctive end-member compositions as a consequence of subseafloor phase-separation and -segregation, which were designated gas-depleted, normal and gas-enriched fluids. In comparison to gas-depleted and normal fluids, gas-enriched fluids harbored more abundant chemolithoautotrophs with gaseous component-dependent energy metabolism, such as hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Subseafloor phase-separation and -segregation may play a key role in supplying energy and carbon sources to vent-associated chemolithoautotrophs and subvent microbial communities.

Experiments were performed on 12-wk-old nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice to investigate the immunologic background of the condition, using ICR mice as controls. The results indicate the following: (1) absolute decreases in number of T lymphocytes, (2) depression of natural killer activity, (3) normal responsiveness in delayed type hypersensitivity and functional depression of killer T cells against allogeneic tumors, (4) diminished resistance to herpes virus infection, and (5) enhanced production of polyclonal antibodies to T cell-dependent antigens. These features are similar to those noted in other autoimmune diseases of man and in their experimental models in laboratory animals. Elucidation of the pathogenetic mechanism of autoimmune diabetes mellitus in NOD mice, therefore, may contribute to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of a wide variety of autoimmune diseases.

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This study demonstrated the insufficiency of postprandial suppression of food-related neural activity and formation of satiety feeling in lipodystrophic patients, which was effectively restored by leptin. The findings in this study emphasize the important pathological role of leptin in eating disorders in lipodystrophy and provide a clue to understanding the action mechanism of leptin in human, which may lead to development of novel strategies for prevention and treatment of obesity.

Pyribencarb is a novel benzylcarbamate-type fungicide, which is active against a wide range of plant pathogenic fungi. In this paper, the inhibitory effects of this fungicide on the electron transport system of fungi, plants, rat and carp were examined to elucidate its mode of action and selectivity. Pyribencarb potently inhibited succinatecytochrome c reductase (SCR) activities of Botrytis cinerea (cucumber gray mold), Corynespora cassiicola (leaf spot) and decylubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase (UCR) activity of B. cinerea. Pyribencarb inhibited the UCR of B. cinerea in an uncompetitive manner with respect to decylubiquinol, which was the same as strobilurin fungicides, and the substrate-dependent inhibition constant was found from calculation to be 13 nM. These results suggested that the target site of pyribencarb is cytochrome b of complex III in the electron transport system of the respiratory chain. On the other hand, the inhibitory potency of pyribencarb on SCR activities of plants, rats and carp was relatively weak compared with that of strobilurin fungicides, indicating that pyribencarb is a Qo inhibitor of cytochrome b, whose properties are superior to well-known Qo inhibitor fungicides in terms of target. The binding site of pyribencarb on cytochrome b was assumed to be a little different from that of strobilurin fungicides, because pyribencarb inhibited SCRs of strobilurin fungicide-resistant strains of B. cinerea and C. cassiicola with relatively low concentrations. The binding site was also discussed through comparison of amino acid sequences of plants, rats, carp, yeast and fungi, including B. cinerea, which was elucidated in this paper.