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Populations of Enteromorpha prolifera collected from four rivers on Shikoku Island in Japan had three different types of life history. One type was the typical sexual life history of Enteromorpha, ...

In Japan, beverages with higher than ∼67% malt are considered beer. Those with lower are called Happoshu, although the malt ratio in most Happoshu brands is below 25%. Organoleptic tests on aged Happoshu were performed, and the amounts of carbonyl compounds were determined using gas chromatography, HPLC, and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. These results led to the selection of 3-methylbutanal as one of the most decisive indices for flavor staleness, which appears as a caramel-like or papery flavor in Happoshu. The brewing trials suggested that the suspended yeast cell concentration at the end of primary fermentation is a decisive factor for the reduction of 3-methylbutanal, as well as the reduction of yeast cell activity. Yeast strains that were preferable for beer conventional brewing were not always suitable for Happoshu fermentation. The fermentation progress was found to be particularly important in stabilizing the flavor of Happoshu. One of the mechanisms proposed is that the yeast plays an important role in decreasing the amount of staling compounds and their precursors.

The main pigments of three types of reproductive cells (viz. male and female gametes and zoospores) and the vegetative cells of Ulva pertusa Kjellman were investigated. The relative amounts of both chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b in male gametes, female gametes, and zoospores were 1 : 2 : 16–18, respectively. The reproductive cells contained γ-carotene, which was not found in the vegetative cells. The carotene content of the male gametes was almost the same as that of female gametes. Because the difference of the chlorophyll content between male and female gametes is obvious, it is suggested that U. pertusa has anisogamous union of gametes.

Field studies on the control of potato common scab were done with non-antibiotic Actinomycete biofertilizer, which was manufactured from swine feces with coprophilous actinomycetes and acidified to pH 5.0 with sulfuric acid. The field soil at pH 5.0 was mixed with 0.56 kg of the acidified biofertilizer per subplot (1.0 x 1.2 m) to a depth of the 15 cm. The scab severity, in terms of the percent coverage of the total surface area of potato tubers, was 10.7%, in the control, while the lesions were slight in the biofertilizer subplot, scab severity being only 2.30/0, and the potato production was increased 3 times with the biofertilizer. The viable counts of Streptomyces scabies in the biofertilizer subplot decreased to 1 × 103 per gram soil from 5 × 105 by 12 weeks, while the inhabitant fluorescent pseudomonads increased to 2.4 × 107 per gram soil from 3 × 104, and the increased fluorescent pseudomonads were antagonistic to the pathogenic strains.