| molecular cloning of a cdna encoding atypical antimicrobial and cytotoxic brevinin-1ja from the skin of the japanese brown frog, rana japonica. | antimicrobial peptides (amps) are important components of the host innate defense system against pathogenic microbial invasion in many organisms. in the present study, we cloned by rt-pcr a cdna from total rna prepared from the skin of the japanese brown frog rana japonica. the cdna directs the synthesis of a novel, non-c-terminally alpha-amidated peptide composed of 21 amino acid residues (flgsligaaipaikqllglkk). the putative peptide showed limited sequence similarity to atypical acyclic brevin ... | 2008 | 18558801 |
| evidence from the primary structures of dermal antimicrobial peptides that rana tagoi okiensis and rana tagoi tagoi (ranidae) are not conspecific subspecies. | morphological evidence and data from comparisons of nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial genes demonstrate considerable intraspecies variation among populations of the japanese brown frog rana tagoi okada 1928 (tago's brown frog). five peptides with antimicrobial activity were isolated from an extract of the skins of specimens of rana tagoi okiensis collected on the oki islands, japan. determination of their primary structures demonstrated that two peptides belong to the ranatuerin-2 family, tw ... | 2010 | 19799928 |
| estimation of phylogenetic relationships among japanese brown frogs from mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (amphibia: anura). | we investigated phylogenetic relationships among five species of japanese brown frogs by the analysis of nucleotide sequences in the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial dna (mtdna). the sequence of the 251-base pairs, which cover approximately 22% of the cytochrome b gene, was determined by pcr-direct sequencing method. phylogenetic relationships were analyzed by upgma, neighbor-joining, maximum-likelihood, and maximum parsimony analyses. the sequences only slightly varied within one population o ... | 1994 | 7765859 |
| a pronounced sex difference when two linked loci of the japanese brown frog rana japonica are recombined. | to investigate the sex differences of crossing-over in rana japonica, the recombination frequencies between two linked loci, ldh-b and mpi, were examined in offspring obtained from 29 matings involving either females or males heterozygous at both loci. no recombinants were found among 303 offspring bred from 6 heterozygous males, whereas 160 were parental and 138 were recombinants among 298 offspring bred from 9 heterozygous females. the recombination frequency was 46.3%. these results show that ... | 1994 | 7702550 |
| inheritance and linkage analysis of ten enzyme and blood protein loci in the japanese brown frog rana japonica. | in order to clarify the genetic linkage groups of the japanese brown frog rana japonica, and compare them with those of other vertebrates, the inheritance of 10 enzyme and blood protein loci was examined in 267 offspring derived from 18 crosses using 10 males heterozygous at these loci. most of the segregation tests exhibited no significant deviations from the expected normal mendelian ratios. of 32 pairs of loci tested for linkage, 29 pairs showed independent assortment in all crosses examined. ... | 1996 | 8978910 |
| genetic linkage groups in the japanese brown frog (rana japonica). | to elucidate the genetic linkage groups of the japanese brown frog (rana japonica) and compare them with those of other amphibians, we analyzed the inheritance of alleles at 15 enzyme and blood protein loci and one pigment locus (blk) in 3,298 offspring derived from 37 crosses using 28 males heterozygous at these loci. of 63 pairs of loci tested for linkage, 55 pairs showed independent assortment in all crosses examined. in another six pairs, that is, between fum/me-1, alpha-gdh/mdh-2, mdh-1/me- ... | 2010 | 10739117 |
| effects of 4-tert-octylphenol on the incubation of eggs in japanese brown frogs (rana japonica). | 4-tert-octylphenol (op), is an endocrine disruptor or surfactant widely used in herbicides. its effects (0, 1 and 10 mg/l) on the incubation of eggs were examined using wild japanese brown frogs (rana japonica). in 10 mg/l op, all the eggs were corrupted and no eggs developed. in 1 mg/l op, 9.8% eggs developed and systemic edema, malformations such as crooked vertebrae and atrophy of the systemic muscles were observed in all the surviving tadpoles. these results suggested that op use in paddy fi ... | 2012 | 18396791 |
| possible involvement of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, but not protein kinase b or glycogen synthase kinase 3beta, in progesterone-induced oocyte maturation in the japanese brown frog, rana japonica. | it is known that amphibian oocytes undergo maturation through the formation and activation of maturation-promoting factor (mpf) in response to stimulation by the maturation-inducing hormone progesterone; however, the signal transduction pathway that links the hormonal stimulation on the oocyte surface to the activation of mpf in the oocyte cytoplasm remains a mystery. the aim of this study was to investigate whether the signal transduction mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (pi3k), protei ... | 2008 | 18828666 |
| isolation and characterization of 19 polymorphic microsatellite dna markers in the japanese brown frog (rana japonica). | we report the isolation and characterization of 19 polymorphic microsatellite dna markers in the japanese brown frog (rana japonica). these markers were tested in 24 individuals each collected from three distinct populations in ichikai-machi, tochigi prefecture. the number of observed alleles per locus ranged from 3 to 24 across all populations, and the values of observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.130 to 1 and from 0.125 to 0.941, respectively. these microsatellite loci will be ... | 2009 | 21564617 |
| prolonged relaxation after stimulation of the clasping muscle of male frog, rana japonica, during the breeding season. | we investigated the mechanical properties of the flexor carpi radialis muscle (fcr), a forelimb muscle used mainly for amplexus in the breeding season (february to march), of the male japanese brown frog, rana japonica. in the present experiment, the changes in force and stiffness of the fcr before, during, and after contraction were measured at 4 degrees c. the total time from the end of stimulation to the end of relaxation was about 30 min. the time course of this prolonged relaxation was fitt ... | 2010 | 20608849 |
| molecular cloning and characterization of cdnas encoding biosynthetic precursors for the antimicrobial peptides japonicin-1ja, japonicin-2ja, and temporin-1ja in the japanese brown frog, rana japonica. | using a combination of reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction and the 5'- and/or 3'-rapid amplification of cdna ends, we cloned, from a japanese brown frog (rana japonica) skin total rna preparation, cdnas encoding biosynthetic precursors for the antimicrobial peptides (amps) japonicin-1ja (ffpigvfckifktc), japonicin-2ja (fglpmlsilpkalcillkrkc), and temporin-1ja (ilplvgnllndll.nh2). these peptides were previously isolated from an extract of r. japonica skin. the present study is the fir ... | 2011 | 21557657 |
| highly complex mitochondrial dna genealogy in an endemic japanese subterranean breeding brown frog rana tagoi (amphibia, anura, ranidae). | the endemic japanese frog rana tagoi is unique among holarctic brown frogs in that it breeds in small subterranean streams. using mitochondrial 16s ribosomal rna and nadh dehydrogenase subunit 1 genes, we investigated genealogical relationships among geographic samples of this species together with its relative r. sakuraii, which is also a unique stream breeder. these two species together form a monophyletic group, within which both are reciprocally paraphyletic. rana tagoi is divided into two m ... | 2012 | 23030339 |
| genetic structure of a japanese brown frog (rana japonica) population implies severe restriction of gene flow caused by recent urbanization in a satoyama landscape. | rapid urbanization is one of the major pressures on amphibian species. elucidating changes in genetic structure will be useful in evaluating the effects of urbanization on amphibian populations. our study focused on rana japonica, which is common in complex agricultural landscapes known as satoyama, which are also under intense development pressure. we conducted landscape genetic analyses based on mitochondrial dna haplotype frequencies of 13 breeding sites in a rapidly urbanizing area of japan. ... | 2013 | 23544706 |
| transcriptome analyses of immune tissues from three japanese frogs (genus rana ) reveals their utility in characterizing major histocompatibility complex class ii. | in japan and east asia, endemic frogs appear to be tolerant or not susceptible to chytridiomycosis, a deadly amphibian disease caused by the chytrid fungus batrachochytridium dendrobatidis (bd). japanese frogs may have evolved mechanisms of immune resistance to pathogens such as bd. this study characterizes immune genes expressed in various tissues of healthy japanese rana frogs. | 2017 | 29281968 |
| evidence that the genes encoding the melittin-related peptides in the skins of the japanese frogs rana sakuraii and rana tagoi are not orthologous to bee venom melittin genes: developmental- and tissue-dependent gene expression. | the antimicrobial melittin-related peptides (mrps) isolated from skin extracts of the japanese frogs, rana sakuraii and rana tagoi, show amino acid sequence similarity with melittin from the venom of honeybees but the evolutionary relationship between the amphibian and insect peptides is unknown. cdna clones encoding the mrp precursor (prepromrp) were obtained from r. sakuraii and r. tagoi skin total rna. the nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences of the clones indicated that the prepromrps ... | 2007 | 17826868 |
| amolopkinins w1 and w2--novel bradykinin-related peptides (brps) from the skin of the chinese torrent frog, amolops wuyiensis: antagonists of bradykinin-induced smooth muscle contraction of the rat ileum. | bradykinin-related peptides (brps) represent one of the most widespread and closely studied families of amphibian defensive skin secretion peptides. apart from canonical bradykinin (rppgfspfr) that was first reported in skin extracts of the european brown frog, rana temporaria, many additional site-substituted, n- and/or c-terminally extended peptides have been isolated from skin extracts and secretions from representative species of the families ranidae, hylidae, bombinatoridae and leiopelmatid ... | 2009 | 19428766 |
| cytolytic peptides belonging to the brevinin-1 and brevinin-2 families isolated from the skin of the japanese brown frog, rana dybowskii. | peptidomic analysis of an extract of the skins of specimens of dybowski's brown frog rana dybowskii gunther, 1876, collected on tsushima island, japan led to the identification of 10 peptides with differential antibacterial and hemolytic activities. the primary structures of these peptides identified them as belonging to the brevinin-1 (5 peptides) and brevinin-2 (5 peptides) families of antimicrobial peptides. a peptide (figpiisalaslfg.nh(2)) with structural similarity to members of the tempori ... | 2007 | 17688900 |
| conditions controlling the onset of breeding migration of the japanese mountain stream frog, rana sakuraii. | i studied the conditions controlling the timing of breeding migration of the japanese mountain stream frog rana sakuraii, an explosive breeder, over 9 years (1992, 1993 and 1999-2005). i analysed two factors: the daily cumulative temperature (dct) during hibernation and the triggering temperature on the day of migration onset. frogs hibernated in shallow running water in streams in december. a total of 53,155 breeding migrating adults were captured by traps. every year, breeding migration was in ... | 2007 | 17345058 |
| expression of genes encoding antimicrobial and bradykinin-related peptides in skin of the stream brown frog rana sakuraii. | peptidomic analysis of an extract of the skin of the stream brown frog rana sakuraii matsui and matsui, 1990 led to the isolation of a c-terminally alpha-amidated peptide (vr-23; vigsilgalasglptliswiknr x nh2) with broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity that shows structural similarity to the bee venom peptide, melittin together with two peptides belonging to the temporin family (temporin-1ska; flpvilpvigkllngil x nh2 and temporin-1skb; flpvilpvigkllsgil x nh2), and peptides whose primary structu ... | 2007 | 17174009 |
| a family of antimicrobial peptides related to japonicin-2 isolated from the skin of the chaochiao brown frog rana chaochiaoensis. | four structurally-related peptides with antimicrobial activity were isolated from an extract of the skin of the chinese brown frog, rana chaochiaoensis liu, 1946. determination of their primary structures revealed that they are members of the japonicin-2 family, previously identified only in the skin of the japanese brown frog, r. japonica. japonicin-2cha (fvlpllgilpkelcivlkknc) represented the most abundant peptide in the extract but its growth-inhibitory potency against staphylococcus aureus ( ... | 2006 | 16928470 |
| fluctuation in abundance and age structure of a breeding population of the japanese brown frog, rana japonica gunther (amphibia, anura). | a breeding population of rana japonica was studied at a marsh on the campus of hiroshima university in higashi-hiroshima during the five years 1995-1999. the mark-recapture study showed that the size of the breeding population varied from year to year, and increased more than twofold in 1999 in comparison with the preceding years. the sex ratio of the breeding population (male/female) was from nearly 1.0 to 1.6. frogs of both sexes were estimated to breed for the first time at the age of one or ... | 2002 | 12125932 |
| antimicrobial peptides with atypical structural features from the skin of the japanese brown frog rana japonica. | japonicin-1 (ffpigvfckifktc) and japonicin-2 (fglpmlsilpkalcillkrkc), two peptides with differential growth-inhibitory activity against the gram-negative bacterium, escherichia coli and the gram-positive bacterium staphylococcus aureus, were isolated from an extract of the skin of the japanese brown frog rana japonica. both peptides show little amino acid sequence similarity to previously characterized antimicrobial peptides isolated from the skins of ranid frogs. circular dichroism studies, how ... | 2002 | 11835990 |
| congener-specific analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls in frogs and their habitats, kitakyushu, japan. | the occurrence and fates of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (pcdds), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (pcdfs), and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (coplanar pcbs) were investigated in two species of frog, mountain brown frog (rana ornativentris) and japanese brown frog (rana japonica), and in soil samples. this study was carried out as part of an investigation aimed at determining the cause of extra forelimbs in the mountain brown frog. frogs, not including malformed ones, and soil samples wer ... | 2002 | 11804046 |
| function of the mos/mapk pathway during oocyte maturation in the japanese brown frog rana japonica. | fully grown immature oocytes acquire the ability to be fertilized with sperm after meiotic maturation, which is finally accomplished by the formation and activation of the maturation-promoting factor (mpf). mpf is the complex of cdc2 and cyclin b, and its function in promoting metaphase is common among species. the mos/mitogen-activated protein kinase (mapk) pathway is also commonly activated during vertebrate oocyte maturation, but its function seems to be different among species. we investigat ... | 2000 | 10954860 |
| evidence for heteromorphic sex chromosomes in males of rana tagoi and rana sakuraii in nishitama district of tokyo (anura: ranidae). | karyotypes of the tago brown frog rana tagoi and stream tago brown frog rana sakuraii from a mountain region in the nishitama district in tokyo were examined by conventional giemsa staining, c-banding and late replication (lr)-banding. chromosome number was 2n = 26 in all cases. the 26 chromosomes consisted of five (1-5) pairs of large chromosomes and eight (6-13) pairs of small chromosomes. chromosome 10 had a secondary constriction on the long arm. in all frogs, on chromosome pair 8, the xx/xy ... | 1999 | 10219730 |
| mitochondrial dna differentiation in the japanese brown frog rana japonica as revealed by restriction endonuclease analysis. | to elucidate mtdna differentiation in the japanese brown frog rana japonica, and compare it with results from allozyme analysis and crossing experiments, rflp analysis was conducted on 78 frogs from 16 populations in honshu. purified mtdna was digested with eight six-base recognizing restriction enzymes and analyzed by 1% agarose-slab gel electrophoresis. cleavage patterns of the mtdna showed three distinct genome size classes: small (18.5 kb), middle (20.0 kb) and large (21.5 kb). ten haplotype ... | 1997 | 9265735 |
| cytonuclear discordance and historical demography of two brown frogs, rana tagoi and r. sakuraii (amphibia: ranidae). | prior studies of mitochondrial genomic variation reveal that the japanese brown frog rana tagoi comprises a complex of cryptic species lineages, and that r. sakuraii arose from within this complex. neither species forms a monophyletic group on the mitochondrial haplotype tree, precluding a simple explanation for the evolutionary origins of r. sakuraii. we present a more complete sampling of mitochondrial haplotypic variation (from the nd1 and 16s genes) plus dna sequence variation for five nucle ... | 2014 | 24979536 |
| vitamin a induced homeotic hindlimb formation on dorsal and ventral sides of regenerating tissue of amputated tails of japanese brown frog tadpoles. | when anuran tadpoles are treated with vitamin a after tail amputation, hindlimb-like structures can be generated instead of the lost tail part at the amputation site. this homeotic transformation was initially expected to be a key to understanding the body plan of vertebrates. unfortunately, homeotic limb formation has been reproduced in only some indian frog species and a european species, but not in experimental anurans such as xenopus laevis or rana catesbeiana. consequently, this fascinating ... | 2017 | 29094344 |
| the first see-through frog created by breeding: description, inheritance patterns, and dermal chromatophore structure. | we have succeeded in creating see-through frogs from natural color mutants of the japanese brown frog rana japonica, which usually possesses an ochre or brown back; this coloration enables the organs, blood vessels, and eggs to be observed through the skin without performing dissection. we crossed two kinds of recessive color mutant (black-eyed and gray-eyed) frogs through artificial insemination, and f2 offspring produced frogs whose skin is translucent throughout the life cycle. three kinds of ... | 2016 | 27080918 |