To enhance the yield potential of rice by improving plant type, we have developed introgression lines (ILs: BC₃-derived lines) with the genetic background of the elite indica variety IR64. A total of 334 ILs derived from crosses between IR64 as the recurrent parent and 10 donor parents (nine new-plant-type lines IR65600-87-2-2-3, IR65598-112-2, IR65564-2-2-3, IR69093-41-2-3-2, IR69125-25-3-1-1, IR66215-44-2-3, IR68522-10-2-2, IR71195-AC1 and IR66750-6-2-1, and one Japanese high-yielding cultivar, ‘Hoshiaoba’) have been developed by recurrent backcross breeding. The agronomic traits of the 334 ILs were evaluated in the experimental field of the International Rice Research Institute from 2005 to 2007, and their genotypes were determined using SSR markers. Several agronomic traits (days to heading, leaf length and width, culm and panicle length, number of panicles, total spikelet number per panicle, and 100-grain weight) were dissected genetically by QTL analysis using hybrid populations derived from crosses between IR64 and ILs with unique traits. More than 30 QTLs were detected and their effects were confirmed by developing and evaluating near-isogenic lines (NILs). These ILs and NILs are useful for both breeding and further genetic dissection of agronomic traits across various environments.

Multi-element analysis including stable isotopes can be used as a possible indicator for food safety and security. For the certification of geographical origin, the analytical methods can be performed in two ways: one where multivariate analysis is used to determine the concentrations of such omnipresent elements as Al, Ca, Cl, Mg, Mn, Fe and Zn, and one that focuses on such special elements as the stable isotope ratios of Sr, O, and H. For the certification of production methods, especially those regarding organic products, δ¹⁵N values could be a potential indicator, particularly in such protected cultivations as in a plant factory (advanced-type greenhouse horticulture). Because the accuracy of these values is affected by production conditions, the δ¹⁵N values of products can be predicted more accurately under controlled conditions, such as in a plant factory using δ¹⁵N-evaluated fertilizer, medium, and water. Non-destructive systems have been developed for measuring both the level of elements in a product and the production environment, such as soil conditions. In the near future, the results of chemically analyzed and those of non-destructively analyzed elemental composition will become interconnected to non-destructively certify the geographical origin and production method of agricultural products. All these destructive methods have been used to a limited extent for practical regulation as an analysis guideline; however, a combined system involving the use of the newly developed detector (non-destructive), data collection, and analysis using artificial intelligence could address the issue of falsely labeled products for practical application. Particularly in a plant factory, production is controlled and regulated, allowing the tracing of products from the farm to the table. In this context, the greenhouse production system would be an advanced example for the practical use of food safety combined with analytical chemistry and information communication technology.

As the security of agricultural products has become a serious issue faced by people worldwide in recent decades, measures for an effective supervision system for agricultural product quality and safety are continuously being developed. In such a system, the assessment of agricultural product authenticity and geographical origin traceability could play a very important role. Recently, researchers have been focusing on some successful techniques, including the stable isotopic technique, compositional analysis technique, spectroscopic technique, and sensor technology. The benefits from advances made in spectroscopy and imaging technology have facilitated the development of imaging spectrometry techniques that offer such advantages as being nondestructive, rapid, and requiring minimal to no sample preparation. This paper discusses several nondestructive technologies used for the assessment of agricultural product authenticity and geographical origin traceability, with a special focus on the nondestructive technology of imaging using an electromagnetic spectrum for agricultural product safety and quality. It specifically discusses the technology of ultraviolet imaging, hyperspectral imaging, fluorescence spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and terahertz spectroscopy according to different wavelengths and frequency of this electromagnetic spectrum. Although the application of nondestructive measurements performed using the electromagnetic spectrum for identifying agricultural product authenticity and geographical origin traceability is increasing along with advanced technology and lower equipment costs, the accuracy of such measurements must still be improved and the advantages in practical applications need to be determined.

The use of pasture grazing systems offers a means to improve feed self-sufficiency and reduce labor for dairy farmers. Consumers also are interested in milk and dairy products obtained from cows on pasture-based diets. However, little is known about the difference between milk obtained from grazing cows and general milk obtained from cows on an indoor feeding system. There is almost no information about the flavor constituents, whereas many studies have been conducted on such characteristics as the fatty acid composition, conjugated linoleic acids, and carotenoids of milk from grazing cows. In this review, we describe studies that have characterized the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in milk and our investigations on the effects of pasture intake on VOCs in milk. The VOC, 1-phytene has been used to characterize milk from grazing cows as there is a strong positive correlation between pasture intake and the concentration of 1-phytene in milk. In addition, milk from cows in a grazing system can be distinguished from that of animals in an indoor feeding system using the levels of 1-phytene, γ-dodecalactone, 2-phytene, neophytadiene, and δ-dodecalactone.

Incidents and accidents involving food items occur frequently, which is why consumers put high emphasis on the safety of food products. Farmers must manage the crop production process efficiently and maintain records related to food safety. This kind of paperwork places a heavy burden on farmers. Therefore, we developed a system utilizing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) that can help farmers easily and efficiently manage the agricultural production process. In Japan, the average age of farmers is more than 65 years old, and their IT literacy is lower compared to the workforce in other industries. Therefore, a system that requires the use of IT devices is not likely to penetrate the agricultural sector. We have developed a system for managing the agricultural production process that allows every farmer to use IT equipment without any problems; the design of the system takes into account both users and non-users of IT equipment. By conducting demonstration experiments, we confirmed that all farmers could use our system. Moreover, enhancing the system’s maintainability and scalability by utilizing web application programming interface (Web API) design allows our system to be interoperable with other systems, and helps highlight the potential of our system to become a comprehensive platform for agricultural information in the future.

Yeast is the major microorganism used to produce ethanol by fermentation. Because fermentation environments are stressful, the fermentation ability of yeast depends greatly on the yeast’s stress tolerance. Stress-tolerant yeasts can produce ethanol in a harsh environment. During the fermentation process of ethanol production, yeasts can be exposed to various stresses, including high temperature, hyperosmolarity, and/or inhibitory substances. The isolation of yeasts tolerant to these stresses and the clarification of their tolerance mechanisms are important for the development of stress-tolerant yeasts for efficient ethanol production. This review focuses on the stress tolerance of yeasts and the use of self-cloning-based gene modification to enhance yeast stress tolerance. We first conducted a search for stress-tolerant yeasts among our stock strains. We also identified stress tolerance-related genes using a Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene deletion strain collection. We then investigated the effects of stress tolerance-related gene overexpression on yeast growth and ethanol production.

The international market for green tea is growing. Samples of twenty-five powdered green teas were collected from the market in the United States, and their chemical components were compared. Their prices varied widely, from $4.3 to $160 per 100 g. The higher-priced teas were labeled as “matcha” and are used in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. They showed a higher content of chlorophyll and of free amino acids (theanine and arginine) than the less expensive teas. They also showed a lower content of epigallocatechin as well as a lower conversion percentage of chlorophyll to pheophytin than those of lower prices. Matcha is traditionally produced in Japan and considered one of the country’s most precious teas. In spite of the large differences in chemical composition compared with the highly priced powdered green teas (ceremonial-grade matcha), the cheaper teas are also labeled as “matcha” in the US market. It is, therefore, necessary to come up with an international definition of matcha to resolve the confusion.

To understand the role of type I collagen in pig health and pork production, we report the complete coding sequences of porcine COL1A1 and COL1A2 cDNAs as a first step toward the functional analysis of these genes. The coding sequences of cDNA showed high similarity with those of other mammals (88.6%-95.0% and 86.8%-93.3%, respectively). The deduced amino acid sequences of the porcine COL1A1 and COL1A2 mature proteins showed 91.3%-97.1% and 89.5%-96.0% identity with one of the other mammalian sequences, respectively. Expression analysis showed that these genes were more highly expressed in connective tissues such as skin and back fat than in other tissues. The expression ratio of these two genes is similar in almost all porcine tissues examined, although the COL1A1 gene in back fat and muscle, and the COL1A2 gene in testis are more highly expressed than the other gene.

The appropriate nutritional management of grazing dairy cows requires an accurate estimation of the content of total digestible nutrients (TDN) in fresh herbage from grazing pastures. The present study aimed to confirm the accuracy of existing estimations of TDN developed for fresh meadow fescue for perennial ryegrass (PR) – white clover mixed herbage, and to develop a new TDN estimation for PR – WC mixed herbage. The herbage was harvested from a PR – WC mixed pasture from April through October. A total of 16 Suffolk wethers were used for this study to evaluate the digestibility of the herbage. The TDN content of the herbage ranged from 68.9% to 77.7% dry matter (DM). The TDN estimated using the existing lignin-based model were similar to the actual TDN, whereas the existing organic b fraction (Ob)-based models underestimated the actual TDN. This may have been caused by high Ob digestibility due to high Ob content and the same level of lignin content in the herbage, as compared with those of meadow fescue. There were significant negative correlations between TDN content and acid detergent fiber (P < 0.01), lignin (P < 0.001), and Ob (P < 0.001) contents. These results demonstrated that the TDN content of PR – WC mixed herbage could be estimated accurately using the following estimations: TDN (% DM) = –4.33 lignin – 0.39 cellulose + 94.64 (R² = 0.83, P < 0.001) or TDN (% DM) = –0.57 Ob + 93.39 (R² = 0.87, P < 0.001).

The effects of grazing or exercise in the middle of the fattening period on the growth and carcass traits of Japanese Shorthorn (JS) steers were investigated. JS steers were assigned to three groups: G (grazed), E (exercised), and B (barn-kept cattle). In the treatment period, group G was kept in the pasture, while groups B and E were confined to individual pens indoors at night, and stayed in a paddock during the day. In addition, group E was made to walk 4.0 km in the evening, five days a week. After the treatment, all the steers were housed and kept the same way as group B. The steers were slaughtered at 24 - 25 months of age. Group G exhibited a lower average daily gain (ADG) than groups B and E during the treatment period. Conversely, group G showed significantly higher ADG than the other two groups during the post-treatment period. Carcass weight for group G was smaller than those for the non-grazed counterparts. Groups G and E exhibited larger (p < 0.05) proportions of liver and spleen weights to live weight than those of group B. Group G also showed larger proportions of biceps femoris and quadriceps femoris muscles to carcass weight than those of group B. Group G exhibited a smaller ratio of fat and a larger ratio of muscle in the transverse section of the sixth rib, respectively, than those of group B. These results suggest that grazing or exercise in the middle of the fattening period affect growth in the late fattening period, and the carcass traits of JS steers even after being kept indoors for more than half a year.