Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of quantitatively determining the number of human herpesvirus (HHV) collected from a body fluid and a kit for performing the method. Conventionally, a trained technician has been required to accurately quantitatively determine a number of HHV collected from a body fluid. The method of the present invention is a novel method of quantitative determination that enables measurement of a number of HHV in a body fluid to be simply, accurately, and efficiently determined. The method of the present invention can enable continuous evaluation of the number of HHV in body fluids and, therefore, can be applied to quantitative evaluation of the accumulation of fatigue.

Abstract: The present invention provides transgenic, disease-resistant plants which have been transformed with an expression cassette including a constitutive gene expression promoter; and a gene, under the control of the promoter, encoding a harpin. The transformed cells in the transgenic plant effect the constitutive expression of the harpin in an amount effective for inducing a defense reaction. The harpin is a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% homologous to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, and possesses a hypersensitive-response-inducing activity. The present invention also provides methods for producing the transgenic plants, expression cassettes, recombinant vectors and genes encoding harpins.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a solid support having a heat-resistant biotin-binding protein attached thereto. The present invention also relates to the use of the solid support of the present invention having a heat-resistant biotin-binding protein attached thereto. The present invention further relates to technical fields such as purification, concentration, detection and/or capture of a biotin-linked substance by means of a heat-resistant biotin-binding protein. Such a biotin-binding protein used in the solid support of the present invention is heat-resistant and is therefore useful for use in assay systems involving exposure to a temperature of 70° C. or more.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method; a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.

Abstract: The present invention provides transgenic, disease-resistant plants which have been transformed with an expression cassette including a constitutive gene expression promoter; and a gene, under the control of the promoter, encoding a harpin. The transformed cells in the transgenic plant effect the constitutive expression of the harpin in an amount effective for inducing a defense reaction. The harpin is a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence that is at least 90% homologous to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, and possesses a hypersensitive-response-inducing activity. The present invention also provides methods for producing the transgenic plants, expression cassettes, recombinant vectors and genes encoding harpins.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of binding a protein to a carrier in such a way that the protein is not impaired in its function but can be allowed to act more efficiently than when it is bound directly. The method of the present invention for binding a protein to a carrier comprises: preparing a biotin-bound carrier; preparing a fusion protein having the protein bound to a tamavidin; and binding the protein to the carrier via tamavidin-biotin bonds.

Abstract: The present invention provides a novel ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase having high productivity and/or high activity, and a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase. The present invention also provides a microorganism producing the sialyltransferase. The present invention further provides a vector carrying a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase, and a host cell transformed with the vector, as well as a method for producing a recombinant ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase.

Abstract: The present invention provides a novel ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase and a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase. The present invention also provides a microorganism producing the sialyltransferase, as well as a method for producing the sialyltransferase using such a microorganism. The present invention further provides a vector carrying a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase, and a host cell transformed with the vector, as well as a method for producing a recombinant ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase. The present invention further provides a method for preparing a sialylsugar chain, which uses the sialyltransferase of the present invention.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method; a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method; a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.

Abstract: The present invention aims to provide novel vectors for plant transformation. The vectors of the present invention are cosmid vectors having a full length of 15 kb or less characterized in that: 1) they contain an origin of replication of an IncP plasmid, but do not contain any origin of replication of other plasmid groups; 2) they contain the trfA1 gene of an IncP plasmid; 3) they contain an oriT of an IncP plasmid; 4) they contain the incC1 gene of an IncP plasmid; 5) they contain a cos site of lambda phage and the cos site is located outside the T-DNA; 6) they contain a drug resistance gene expressed in E.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method; a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive and simple method which allows efficient glycosylation with glycosyltransferases derived from microorganisms of the Vibrionaceae family when compared to conventional enzymatic reaction systems. According to the method of the present invention, glycosyltransferases derived from microorganisms of the Vibrionaceae, such as ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase derived from Photobacterium damselae, ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase derived from Photobacterium phosphoreum and ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase derived from Vibrio sp., enhance their enzymatic activity when an appropriate amount of NaCl is added to their enzyme reaction systems.

Abstract: The present invention provides an extremely useful and novel ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase having an optimum reaction pH in a neutral to alkaline range, and a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase. The present invention further provides a vector carrying a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase, and a host cell transformed with the vector, as well as a method for producing a recombinant ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase.

Abstract: The present invention provides a novel ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase having high productivity and/or high activity, and a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase. The present invention also provides a microorganism producing the sialyltransferase. The present invention further provides a vector carrying a nucleic acid encoding the sialyltransferase, and a host cell transformed with the vector, as well as a method for producing a recombinant ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase.

Abstract: It is the object of the present invention to provide disease-resistant plants which have been transformed to cause an effective defense reaction, and methods for producing the same. The present invention provides expression cassettes comprising a promoter capable of promoting a constitutive, inducible, or organ- or phase-specific gene expression, and a gene, under the control of said promoter, encoding an elicitor protein.

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to search and identify novel antifungal proteins capable of inhibiting the growth of plant pathogenic microorganisms including Magnaporthe grisea and Rhizoctonia solani causing two major rice diseases at relatively low concentrations, and further to clone a gene for said protein. The present invention provides an antifungal protein which can be obtained from fraction(s) precipitated by ammonium sulfate precipitation using an aqueous extract from Pleurotus cornucopiae, wherein said protein has an antifungal activity against at least rice blast, and exhibits existence of a component having a molecular weight of about 15 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE method; a gene encoding said protein and uses thereof.

Abstract: The purpose of the present invention is to provide the rice restorer gene to the rice BT type cytoplasmic male sterility. The gene of the present invention comprises a nucleic acid encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO. 75, or an amino acid sequence which is identical to at least 70% of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO. 75, and which functions to restore fertility. Preferably, the gene of the present invention has the base sequence of SEQ ID NOS:69-74, 80-85 or the bases 43907-46279 of SEQ ID NO:27.

Abstract: It is the object of the present invention to provide disease-resistant plants which have been transformed to cause an effective defense reaction, and methods for producing the same. The present invention provides expression cassettes comprising a promoter capable of promoting a constitutive, inducible, or organ- or phase-specific gene expression, and a gene, under the control of said promoter, encoding an elicitor protein.

Abstract: The present invention provides an inexpensive and simple method which allows efficient glycosylation with glycosyltransferases derived from microorganisms of the Vibrionaceae family when compared to conventional enzymatic reaction systems. According to the method of the present invention, glycosyltransferases derived from microorganisms of the Vibrionaceae, such as ?-galactoside-?2,6-sialyltransferase derived from Photobacterium damselae, ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase derived from Photobacterium phosphoreum and ?-galactoside-?2,3-sialyltransferase derived from Vibrio sp., enhance their enzymatic activity when an appropriate amount of NaCl is added to their enzyme reaction systems.