Effect of the herbicide Roundup on the activity of Glycosidases of invertebrates and juvenile fish

The effects of in vitro exposure to the herbicide Roundup at concentrations of 0.1–50 μg/L on the activity of maltase and sucrase and the total amylolytic activity in the organism of invertebrates and fish fry have been investigated. Glycosidases in invertebrates are less sensitive to the herbicide than those in juvenile fish. Roundup has a greater inhibitory effect on glycosidase activity in the tissues of actual prey (roach recovered from pike stomach) than in potential prey (roach captured in the pond). The magnitude and direction of the effects depend on the animal species and the concentration of the toxicant.     

Zebrafish as a model organism for nutrition and growth: towards comparative studies of nutritional genomics applied to aquacultured fishes

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a common research model in fish studies of toxicology, developmental biology, neurobiology and molecular genetics; it has been proposed as a possible model organism for nutrition and growth studies in fish. The advantages of working with zebrafish in these areas are their small size, short generation time (12–14 weeks) and their capacity to produce numerous eggs (100–200 eggs/clutch). Since a wide variety of molecular tools and information are available for genomic analysis, zebrafish has also been proposed as a model for nutritional genomic studies in fish. The detailed study of every species employed as a model organism is important because these species are used to generalize how several biological processes occur in related organisms, and contribute considerably toward improving our understanding of the mechanisms involved in nutrition and growth. The objective of this review is to show the relevant aspects of the nutrition and growth in zebrafish that support its utility as a model organism for nutritional genomics studies. We made a particular emphasis that gene expression and genetic variants in response to zebrafish nutrition will shed light on similar processes in aquacultured fish.     

The Incidence of Clostridium botulinum Type E in Fish and Bottom Deposits in the North Sea and off the Coast of Scandinavia

A previous report concerning the high incidence of Clostridium botulinum type E in marine deposits in Swedish coastal waters has been confirmed. The organism was not found in the North Sea or in fish caught in the North Sea or the Skagerrak.     

The Impact of Conservation Management on the Community Composition of Multiple Organism Groups in Eutrophic Interconnected Man-Made Ponds

Ponds throughout the world are subjected to a variety of management measures for purposes of biodiversity conservation. Current conservation efforts typically comprise a combination of multiple measures that directly and indirectly impact a wide range of organism groups. Knowledge of the relative impact of individual measures on different taxonomic groups is important for the development of effective conservation programs. We conducted a field study of 28 man-made ponds, representing four management types differing in the frequency of periodic pond drainage and the intensity of fish stock management. We disentangled the relative importance of direct and indirect effects of pond management measures on the community composition of phytoplankton, zooplankton, aquatic macro-invertebrates, submerged and emergent vascular plants. With the exception of phytoplankton, pond management had strong effects on the community composition of all investigated biota. Whether management affected communities directly or indirectly through its impact on fish communities or local environmental conditions in the pond varied between organism groups. Overall, the impact of pond drainage regime and fish community characteristics on the community composition of target organism groups were more important than local environmental conditions. The majority of taxa were negatively associated with fish density, whereas multiple emergent plant species and several taxa of aquatic macro-invertebrates were positively affected by increased drainage frequency. The effects of fish community and drainage tended to be largely independent. The present study indicates that pond drainage is an important element for biodiversity conservation in eutrophicated shallow and interconnected man-made ponds.     

Genetics of the guppy as a model for experiment in aquaculture

The guppy, Poecilia reticulata, is one of the most famous tropical ornamental fish in the world. There are many varieties and breeds which have been bred by aqua lists for many years. The guppy has frequently been used as model organism for experiments in fish genetics because of its short life cycle, ease of breeding and reproductive capacity. The laboratory strains which were created from local (Japanese) strains and varieties were used as an experimental genetic model for aquaculture. These laboratory strains were maintained as closed colonies for five to 20 years in our laboratory. One of the roles of model experiments in fish genetics to perform experiments which take a long time in which are commercially important, such as genetic drift, as the effect of inbreeding during the growth and maintenance of population. In this review, we mainly considered the results obtained in our laboratory relating to genetic drift, and the effects of inbreeding, heterosis and inheritance of quantitative traits.     

Reaction of the carp Cyprinus carpio L. at different periods of its ontogeny to the action of organophosphorus compounds

Effect of some organic phosphorous compounds on the carp Cyprinus carpio L. in consecutive stages of its development has been studied. The least and most vulnerable stages in carp's development under the action of these compounds have been identified. The gravity of disorders in fish organism on early stages and the degree of pathological changes induced by organic phosphorous compounds have been shown. Embryotoxic and gonadotoxic effect of these compounds has been found.     

The effect of river restoration on fish,macroinvertebrates and aquatic macrophytes: A meta-analysis

An increasing number of rivers have been restored over the past decades and several studies investigated the effect on biota. The published monitoring results have already been summarized in narrative reviews but there are few quantitative reviews and a comprehensive meta-analysis on different organism groups and factors influencing restoration effect is missing. We compiled monitoring results and information on catchment, river and project characteristics from peer-reviewed literature and unpublished databases to (i) quantify the effect of restoration measures on fish, macroinvertebrates and macrophytes, and (ii) identify predictors which influence restoration effect. Results indicated significant effects of restoration on all three organism groups, especially of widening projects on macrophyte richness/diversity, instream measures on fish and macroinvertebrates, and higher effects on abundance/biomass compared to richness/diversity. Restoration effect was most strongly affected by agricultural land use, river width and project age. Effects were smaller but restoration generally still increased richness/diversity and abundance/biomass in agricultural catchments. Since land use is a proxy for different pressures, the underlying causal relationships have to be investigated in more detail. Project age was the most important factor but had non-linear and even negative effects on restoration outcome, indicating that restoration effects may vanish over time. The meta-analysis indicated that river managers in general can expect an increase of richness/diversity and abundance/biomass of all three organism groups investigated, especially of macrophytes in widening projects and of fish and macroinvertebrates if instream measures are applied. However, variability was high, stressing the need for adaptive management approaches. Furthermore, the large but non-linear and different (even negative) effects of project age stressed the need for long-time monitoring to better understand the trajectories of change caused by restoration measures and to identify sustainable measures. The meta-analysis was restricted to metrics commonly reported in literature and future studies would greatly benefit from authorities and scientists reporting original monitoring data, which would allow to use functional metrics to investigate the effect of restoration measures and to infer causal relationships.     

Protozoal and epitheliocystis-like infections in the introduced bluestripe snapper Lutjanus kasmira in Hawaii

The bluestripe snapper, or taape, was introduced into Hawaii in the 1950s and has since become very abundant throughout the archipelago. As part of a health survey of reef fish in Hawaii, we necropsied 120 taape collected from various coastal areas south of Oahu and examined fish histology for extraintestinal organisms. Forty-seven percent of taape were infected with an apicomplexan protozoan compatible with a coccidian. Infection was evident mainly in the spleen and, less commonly, the kidney. Prevalence of this coccidian increased with size of fish, and we saw no significant pathology associated with the organism. Twenty-six percent of taape were also infected with an epitheliocystis-like organism that occurred mainly in the kidney and, less commonly, the spleen. In contrast to the coccidian, fish mounted a notable inflammatory response to the epitheliocystis-like organism, and this inflammation appeared to increase in severity with age. Prevalence of the epitheliocystis-like organism infection increased with age, but infection was not seen in fish greater than 26.5 cm fork length. The high prevalence of coccidial infection in introduced taape prompts the concern that these organisms, along with the epitheliocystis-like organism, have the potential to be transmitted to native reef fish. Given the impact of other introduced microbial organisms on native Hawaiian fauna, there is a clear need to assess whether protozoa and bacteria are endemic to Hawaii, and whether they negatively impact native reef fish that closely associate with taape.     

Features of the interconversion of alpha-ketoglutarate--glutamate in brain mitochondria of exothermic animals during hibernation

It has been found that there exists a correlation in the dynamics of changes in the amount of glutamate, alpha-ketoglutarate, glutamine, ammonia and activity level or alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, NADP-glutamate dehydrogenase, glutamine synthetase and glutaminase in the brain of young carp in the process of winter starvation. It has been stated that under condition of energy deficiency and meaningful amount of ammonia in the organism of hibernating fish, its binding parallel with the known glutamine synthetase mechanism may proceed in the course of the NADP-glutamate dehydrogenase reaction which balance is shifted towards the glutamate synthesis. This reaction is supposed to provide the outflow of alpha-ketoglutarate from the citric cycle, which intensifies energy deficiency of the organism.     

Environmental parasitology. Interactions between parasites and pollutants in the aquatic environment

In recent years there has been an increasing number of papers showing how parasitism and pollution can interact with each other in aquatic organisms. Among the variety of investigated aspects especially the combined effects of pollution and simultaneous infection on the health of aquatic hosts (molluscs, crustaceans, fish, mammals) is of considerable interest. Effects of pollution on the occurrence and distribution of parasites is another interesting field of "Environmental Parasitology" attracting increasing attention. This mini-review presents some promising examples of interdisciplinary studies paying attention to the fact that under natural conditions no organism will only be affected by either parasites or pollution.     

Isolation of Aeromonas salmonicida in association with purple-pigmented bacteria in sediment from a Scottish loch

Aeromonas salmonicida was recovered in close association with an unidentified purple-pigmented organism, which was isolated from sediment in a Scottish loch during November (1997) and February (1998). However, there has not been any evidence of A. salmonicida infections, specifically furunculosis, associated with the fish in this loch.     

Importance of Photobacterium phosphoreum in relation to spoilage of modified atmosphere-packed fish products

Occurrence and growth of Photobacterium phosphoreum were studied in 20 experiments with fresh fish from Denmark, Iceland and Greece. The organism was detected in all marine fish species but not in fish from fresh water. Growth of P. phosphoreum to high levels (>10⁷ cfu g⁻¹) was observed in most products and the organism is likely to be of importance for spoilage of several modified atmosphere-packed (MAP) marine fish species when stored at chill temperatures. Some microbiological methods recommended for control of fish products by national and international authorities are inappropriate for detection of psychrotolerant and heat-labile micro-organisms like P. phosphoreum . These methods have been used in many previous studies of MAP fish and this could explain why, contrary to the findings in the present study, P. phosphoreum in general was not detected previously in spoiled MAP fish.     

The Incidence of Clostridium botulinum in Farmed Trout Raised in Great Britain

The incidence of Clostridium botulinum in farmed trout has been studied. Seventeen farms were visited; 5 in Scotland, 2 in Wales and 10 in England. Fourteen hundred trout were examined and the incidence of Cl. botulinum in whole fish and viscera was 9·4 and 11·0%, respectively. The organism was demonstrated in 13 of the 17 farms examined ranging from 2·9 to 100%. Four visits to one farm showed only a slight variation in the incidence of the organism.     

Peculiarities of Organization and Functioning of the Fish Red Blood System

The review presents information on localization of sites of erythropoiesis in the fish organism, morphological peculiarities and proliferative activity of erythroid elements at different stages of differentiation, and life span of circulating erythrocytes. Data about effects of various factors on production of erythrocytes by hemopoietic tissue, such as erythropoetin and several other biologically active substances, are presented. Peculiarities are considered of organization of fish spleen as an organ storing and destroying old erythroid forms. Significance of production and destruction processes in the red blood system in correction of erythrocytic homeostasis in the fish organism is discussed.__________Translated from Zhurnal Evolyutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii, Vol. 41, No. 3, 2005, pp. 217–223.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Soldatov.     

Isolation of a motile mycoplasma from fish

For the first time a mycoplasma has been isolated from fish. The organism, designated strain 163K, was isolated on modified Hayflick medium under aerobic conditions at 25 degrees C from the gills of a tench (Tinca tinca L.). It showed the characteristic features of mycoplasmas. In addition it was flask-shaped with a distinct head-like structure and was able to attach to inert surfaces and living cells. The most interesting property of the organism was its ability to show fast gliding motion. Movement was only in the direction of the head-like structure and was not interrupted by resting periods.     

Variability of the lysozyme content in bream from the Rybinsk Reservoir in different seasons of the annual cycle

The seasonal variability of the lysozyme content has been detected in the liver, kidney, and spleen of bream. It is manifested in a higher lysozyme content in cold winter months and lower values in other seasons. It is shown that the enzyme activity is absent in blood serum of the studied fish regardless of its amount in immunocompetent organs. A high content of lysozyme in organs in the cold season of the year is not the result of the immunomodulatory effect of water temperature on this parameter but can be determined by physiological factors that do not depend on seasonal variations of the environmental temperature. It has been established that the blood serum in fish does not indicate the entire dynamics of the enzyme in the organism.     

Genetic polymorphism in Gymnodinium galatheanum chloroplast DNA sequences and development of a molecular detection assay

Nuclear and chloroplast-encoded small subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were obtained from several strains of the toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium galatheanum. Phylogenetic analyses and comparison of sequences indicate that the chloroplast sequences show a higher degree of sequence divergence than the nuclear homologue. The chloroplast sequences were chosen as targets for the development of a 5'--3' exonuclease assay for detection of the organism. The assay has a very high degree of specificity and has been used to screen environmental water samples from a fish farm where the presence of this dinoflagellate species has previously been associated with fish kills. Various hypotheses for the derived nature of the chloroplast sequences are discussed, as well as what is known about the toxicity of the species.     

秀丽隐杆线虫经福尔马林处理后上调表达基因的分析

秀丽隐杆线虫(Caenorhabditis elegans)是一种重要的模式生物,目前已经被广泛应用到生物对各种驱虫剂抗性机制的研究中。福尔马林被普遍用于鱼类寄生虫病的防治中,但是由于长期的应用,许多寄生虫对它产生了一定的抗药性。研究以秀丽隐杆线虫为研究对象,分析了它在福尔马林刺激下基因表达的改变情况。结果显示,经福尔马林处理后差异表达的有676个克隆,通过斑点杂交技术进一步筛选,对其中差异显著的161个克隆进行了测序分析。测序结果经BLAST分析发现:(1)细胞凋亡相关基因的表达发生上调,这些基因编码包括线粒体呼吸链相关蛋白、含TPR序列的蛋白SGT-1、热休克蛋白、氧化应激相关蛋白、胞吞过程相关蛋白、DNA复制和修复相关蛋白以及其他一些重要的凋亡相关蛋白;(2)编码重要的转录调节因子和信号转导相关蛋白如转录激活因子FosB/c-Fos、G蛋白、细胞周期蛋白B、钙结合蛋白、核小体装配蛋白NAP-1等的基因的表达发生上调;(3)能量代谢和蛋白质、脂肪、氨基酸代谢途径中的有些基因的表达也发生上调;(4)除了以上已知功能的基因外,还有一些未命名蛋白质基因。这说明福尔马林对秀丽隐杆线虫的影响除了诱导细胞凋亡之外,还影响其他细胞代谢活动的改变。实验为进一步研究生物体对福尔马林的抗性机制奠定了一定的基础。       

Balantidium prionurium n. sp., Symbiont in the Intestine of the Surgeonfish,Prionurus punctatus1

During the spring of 1984, the ciliate Balantidium prionurium n. sp. was collected from the intestinal lumen of the herbivorous surgeonfish, Prionurus punctatus, from the Gulf of California. The symbionts were found in five fish from two well separated collection sites. Morphostatic specimens average 51 μm x 42 μm, and thus fall within the size range of several other fish balantidia. But the presence of Balantidium in a saltwater fish has not been reported, and such a host difference alone supports at least provisional recognition of this organism as a new species.