The pericardium facilitates pressure work in the eel heart

An in siru perfused eel (Anguilla dieffenbachü) Gray 1842) heart was used to investigate the role of the pericardium in cardiac function. Hearts with intact pericardia were compared with hearts in which the pericardia were either punctured or opened completely. Cardiac function was assessed at low and high adrenaline levels by determining: maximum cardiac output; maximum sustainable output pressure; power output under maximal filling and output pressures; and maximum power output. Puncturing a small hole in the pericardium equalizing ambient and intrapericardial pressures had little effect on cardiac function and performance. Opening the pericardium, thereby fully exposing the chambers of the heart, severely limited the heart's ability to do pressure work. This effect was reversed at high adrenaline concentrations. Flow related work, and maximum power output levels were maintained after opening the pericardium.     

Rhythmic swimming activity in Anguilla anguilla glass eels: Synchronisation to water current reversal under laboratory conditions

Synchronisation of swimming activity to water current reversal every 6.2 h was tested in the European glass eel (Anguilla anguilla L.). When presented with a change in water current direction, glass eels exhibited rhythmic patterns of activity with a period close to the tidal one. Glass eels began to swim with the current and then alternated between positive and negative rheotaxis after each change in the water current direction. Results are discussed in relation to the flood tidal transport theory. Following synchronisation to current reversal, glass eels subjected to constant conditions displayed a weak rhythmic activity suggesting that locomotor behaviour might, in the wild, synchronise to several environmental cues related to the tide. Results obtained with different densities also suggest that social cues might improve the synchronisation.     

黄鳝IgM的分离纯化及兔抗黄鳝IgM抗血清的制备

目的 分离纯化黄鳝血清免疫球蛋白,制备其兔抗血清,并检测抗血清的特异性。方法 用Protein A亲和层析的方法纯化黄鳝血清免疫球蛋白,通过SDS-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳检测蛋白的纯度,免疫大耳白兔制备抗血清,利用免疫双扩散检测抗血清的效价,通过western blotting检测抗血清的特异性。结果 纯化了黄鳝血清免疫球蛋白,免疫双扩散法测定兔抗黄鳝免疫球蛋白血清效价为1∶32,western blotting结果显示抗血清具有很好的特异性。结论 成功纯化了黄鳝免疫球蛋白,制备了兔抗黄鳝IgM抗血清,为建立黄鳝的血清学检测系统奠定了基础。     

Cloning and Characterization of a Rice Field Eel vasa-Like Gene cDNA and Its Expression in Gonads During Natural Sex Transformation

The vasa (vas)-related gene encodes an RNA helicase protein member of the DEAD-box family and plays key roles in germ-cell formation in higher metazoans. Using degenerate PCR and RACE, we cloned the vasa gene of the rice field eel (Monopterus albus), which is homologous to the Drosophila vasa gene. We named it ma-vas (Monopterus albus vas). Ma-vas encodes a protein of 618 amino acids, which contains all of the known characteristics of vasa homologs. RT-PCR analysis revealed that ma-vas was exclusively expressed in the gonads of the female, intersex, and male. During gonadal natural sex reversal, ma-vas is expressed in oocytes at all stages of oogenesis, in degenerating oocytes of ovotestis, and in spermatogonia and spermatocytes at early stages. The vasa positive signal was also observed in the peripheral layer of late ovary. It was not found, however, in that layer of the testis. Alkaline phosphatase (AKP) staining on the ovary and testis also indicated that some cells had differentiational potential in the peripheral layer of the ovary, suggesting that spermatogonia might arise from cells with AKP and vasa-positive staining in the peripheral layer of the female gonad.     

Does a 5500-km swim trial stimulate early sexual maturation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.)?

The catadromous European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) undertakes a 6000-km spawning migration from its freshwater habitats to the Sargasso Sea. In large Blazka swim tunnels of 127 l, the physiological effect of such a prolonged swimming performance on sexual maturation in adult female eels was investigated. Two groups of eels were placed in swim tunnels for 173 days, one group was able to swim at 0.5 body lengths/second (Swim group) covering a distance of c. 5500-km over the experimental period, and one group kept in static (End Control group). A control group was sampled at the start of the experiment in order to determine the initial stage of reproductive development (Initial Control group). At the end of the swim trial, the maturation parameters 11-ketotestosterone, pituitary levels of LH and plasma levels of estradiol were higher (although not significantly) in the Swim compared to the End Control group. In addition, no significant differences were observed in most measured morphometric and reproductive parameters, including eye-index, gonadosomatic index, hepatosomatic index, and plasma levels of vitellogenin, cortisol and melanophore-stimulating hormone (MSH). Also, pituitary levels of both MSH, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) were unaffected. In contrast, the oocyte diameter was found to be significantly higher in the Swim compared to the End Control group. Based on these observations we conclude that a period of prolonged swimming might be a physiological stimulus necessary for the onset of maturation in the European eel.     

Purification and characterization of a novel imidazole dipeptide synthase from the muscle of the Japanese eel Anguilla japonica

We have purified a novel enzyme from eel white muscle which catalyzes the syntheses of imidazole dipeptides, such as carnosine (β-alanyl-l-histidine), anserine (β-alanyl-π-methyl-l-histidine), and balenine (ophidine; β-alanyl-τ-methyl-l-histidine), directly from their precursors. The enzyme was purified 1130-fold from eel muscle by a series of column chromatographies. Although eel muscle contains a large amount of carnosine and only trace amounts of anserine and balenine, the anserine synthesizing activity was by far the highest. From gel permeation chromatography, the molecular mass of the enzyme was calculated to be 275 kDa. SDS-PAGE of the purified enzyme represented a band around 43 kDa, suggesting that the native enzyme is a hexamer or heptamer. The optimal pH and temperature were around 9.5 and 60 °C, respectively. K_m values for β-alanine and π-methyl-l-histidine were 44 and 89 mM, respectively. The enzyme was greatly activated by Zn²⁺ and inhibited by EDTA. The N-terminal amino acid sequence of 25 residues of the purified enzyme showed 52% amino acid identity to 38–62 residues of zebrafish haptoglobin precursor. The purified enzyme also exhibited hydrolytic activity against these imidazole dipeptides.     

黄鳝β-actin基因的克隆及其在鱼类中的系统发生分析

β-actin是actin家族的一员,在维持细胞结构,细胞内运动,细胞分裂等细胞生理活动方面发挥着重要的作用。克隆的黄鳝β-actin基因的cDNA全长1860bp,编码375个氨基酸,在脊椎动物中不同物种的β-actin基因之间的序列同源性超过了98％。RT-PCR表明克隆的黄鳝β-actin基因在睾丸、卵巢、心、肝、脾、脑等组织中广谱表达。基于目前已知的全部鱼类β-actin cds,构建了进化树。星形辐射的树型结构一致支持将鱼类β-actin基因划分为4类。到目前为止,所有的鱼都没有发现拥有全部4个β-actin基因。这暗示伴随着鱼类的辐射式进化历程,可能发生了种系特异性的β-actin的丢失。     

Individual patterns of rhythmic swimming activity in Anguilla anguilla glass eels synchronised to water current reversal

The existence of distinct patterns of activity and swimming behaviour were tested in individual European glass eels by means of Bayesian inference mixture modelling. 36 glass eels were tagged using Visible Implant Elastomer and added to 36 untagged glass eels in February and April. Each group was presented with a change in water current direction every 6,2 h and videotaped during 2 weeks. Two hypotheses were tested: (i) all individuals display a similar pattern of behaviour within a tidal period, glass eels showing both positive and negative rheotaxis in opposite phase (M1 model) and (ii) individuals are distributed in two different groups, some glass eels swimming with and the others against the current (M2 model). Results showed that most glass eels displayed a positive or a negative rheotaxis and only a small number exhibited both behaviours. All swimming behaviours were synchronised to a change in current direction with a period close to the tidal one. Results are discussed in relation to synchronisation and migration behaviour.     

黄鳝性腺高表达的核糖体蛋白基因

采用高密点阵技术从黄鳝雄性性腺cDNA文库中获得8个克隆,序列分析和BLAST结果显示它们编码的蛋白质分别与40S核糖体蛋白S4,S9,S16,S17,S20和60S核糖体蛋白L7, L18a,L29高度同源。 根据黄鳝RP蛋白序列和其他物种的相应同源序列构建ML系统发生树,显示核糖体蛋白基因在进化中高度保守。核糖体蛋白基因不仅可作为分子进化分析的有利工具,而且从它们的表达模式显示RP基因除具有看家基因的功能外,很有可能参与包括性腺分化等过程的发育调控。Abstract: 8 cDNA clones have been isolated from a cDNA library prepared from swamp eel testies by macroarray. DNA sequence analysis and database search showed that they encode 8 proteins which are highly homologous to 40S ribosomal proteins S4,S9,S16,S17,S20 and 60S riobosomal proteins L7, L18a,L29. Phylogenetic trees (ML) based on ribosomal protein genes from swamp eel and other organisms has been reconstructed, which showed that ribosomal protein genes were highly conserved during evolution. These results suggested that ribosomal protein genes as house keeping genes may play roles in developmental regulation such as sexual differentiation and can also be used as markers for the study of molecular evolution.     

Population structure of the parasitic nematode Anguillicola crassus, an invader of declining North Atlantic eel stocks

Probably half of all animal species exhibit a parasitic lifestyle and numerous parasites have recently expanded their distribution and host ranges due to anthropogenic activities. Here, we report on the population genetic structure of the invasive nematode Anguillicola crassus, a parasite in freshwater eels, which recently spread from Asia to Europe and North America. Samples were collected from the newly colonized naïve host species Anguilla anguilla (Europe) and Anguilla rostrata (North America), and from indigenous Anguilla japonica in Taiwan and Japan. Using seven microsatellite loci and one mitochondrial marker, we show that the parasite's population structure in Europe mirrors the zoogeographic Boreal–Lusitanian break along the English Channel. Both the north-to-south decline of nuclear allelic diversity and the loss of private alleles in the same direction are consistent with a significant isolation-by-distance pattern based on ρ_ST values. In combination with the specific topology of the distance tree among nematode populations, our data suggest that Europe was invaded only once from Taiwan, and that subsequently, genetic diversity was lost due to random drift. On the contrary, the North American sample shares distinct nuclear and mitochondrial signatures with Japanese specimens. We propose that the genetic structure in Europe was shaped by long-range anthropogenic eel host transfers in the north and a single dispersal event into the southwest. The genetically distinct Brittany sample at the edge of the Boreal–Lusitanian boundary is indicative of natural dispersal of fish hosts since recruitment occurs naturally there and invertebrate host dissemination is interrupted due to oceanic currents.