Previous work by our group and others has demonstrated that mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletions may be useful as a biomarker of cumulative ultraviolet radiation exposure in human skin (Birch-Machin, 2000). Of particular importance is the incidence of various mtDNA deletions, including the 4977 bp ‘‘common’’ deletion, which has been strongly associated with increased sun exposure in human skin (...

Increasing nitrogen absorption efficiency reduces use of excessive application of N. The effect of rootzone temperature on nitrogen absorption needs clarification. The experiment was conducted to investigate low (15°C, RTZ1), high (35°C, RTZ2) and optimum (25°C, RTZ3) root zone temperatures and nitrogen 52.5 (ND1), 78.75 (ND2) and 105 (ND0) mg∙L-1 levels on cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), cv. Su...

A new quadrannulate species of Orobdella, Orobdellamasaakikuroiwai sp. n., from the mountainous region of central Honshu, Japan is described. This is only the second small species known within this genus, with a body length of less than 4 cm for mature individuals. Phylogenetic analyses using nuclear 18S rDNA and histone H3 as well as mitochondrial COI, tRNA(Cys), tRNA(Met), 12S, tRNA(Val), 16S...