Scrapie Pathogenesis in Subclinically Infected B-Cell-Deficient Mice

Prion infections can present without clinical manifestations. B-cell deficiency may be a model for subclinical transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, since it protects mice from disease upon intraperitoneal administration of scrapie prions; however, a proportion of B-cell-deficient mice accumulate protease-resistant prion protein in their brains. Here, we have characterized this subclinical disease. In addition, we have studied the possibility that a neurotoxic factor secreted by B cells may contribute to pathogenesis.     

Evolutionary Patterns of Axial Muscle Systems in Some Invertebrates and Fish

SYNOPSIS. Axial muscles used for oscillatory swimming are foundnot only in fish and other vertebrates but also in some protochordatesand invertebrates. Chaetognaths have unsegmented locomotor musculaturewith some unusual features, but larvacean tunicates and thetadpole larvae of ascidians show the simplest variant of thechordate segmented axial muscle arrangement for flexing a notochordalcolumn, where all muscle cells along one side are electricallycoupled. With amphioxus, the basic fish myotomal layout is established,with two main fibre types probably used for different patternsof swimming (as in fish). There are, however, several uniquefeatures, including the flattened fibre shape and the paramyosinsystem of the notochord. Agnatha have two fibre types in themyotomes, a third type perhaps being a developmental stage inthe ontogeny of fast fibres. In lampreys, the central fibresof the characteristic fibre sandwiches in the myotomes are flattened(though less so than in amphioxus); they have a dual innervationof unknown function seen also in the fast fibre system of manyGnathostome fish groups. Hagfish fast fibres are not flattenednor do they have a dual innervation. Gnathostome fish axialmuscles are strikingly uniform in design with two possible exceptions:(1) higher teleost fast fibres which, unlike those of othergroups, are multiply-innervated and (2) tonic fibres in a fewfish, which seem not to be involved in locomotion.     

Aggression and Welfare in a Common Aquarium Fish,the Midas Cichlid

Many species of fishes are aggressive when placed in small aquaria. Aggression can negatively affect the welfare of those individuals toward whom it is directed. Animals may behave aggressively in order to defend resources such as food, shelter, mates, and offspring. The decision to defend depends on the distribution of resources and on ecological factors such as number of competitors, amount of available space, and amount of habitat complexity. This study tested the effects of these factors on aggression in a common aquarium fish, the Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellus). The study found that time spent behaving aggressively was not associated with small-scale differences in group size or available space. Aggression was significantly lower in a large aquarium with a complex habitat. Aquaria of sizes typically used in the companion animal (pet) hobby did not provide optimal welfare for cichlids housed with aggressive conspecifics. The public should be aware that this and similar species require larger aquaria with complex habitat, which elicit more natural behavior.     

Popularity and Propagule Pressure: Determinants of Introduction and Establishment of Aquarium Fish

Propagule pressure is frequently cited as an important determinant of invasion success for terrestrial taxa, but its importance for aquatic species is unclear. Using data on aquarium fishes in stores and historical records of fish introduced and established in Canadian and United States waters, we show clear relationships exist between frequency of occurrence in shops and likelihood of introduction and of establishment. Introduced and established taxa are also typically larger than those available from stores, consistent with the propagule pressure hypothesis in that larger fish may be released more frequently due to outgrowing their aquaria. Attempts to reduce the numbers of introductions may be the most practical mechanism to reduce the number of new successful invasions.     

Genetic Structuring across Marine Biogeographic Boundaries in Rocky Shore Invertebrates

Biogeography investigates spatial patterns of species distribution. Discontinuities in species distribution are identified as boundaries between biogeographic areas. Do these boundaries affect genetic connectivity? To address this question, a multifactorial hierarchical sampling design, across three of the major marine biogeographic boundaries in the central Mediterranean Sea (Ligurian-Tyrrhenian, Tyrrhenian-Ionian and Ionian-Adriatic) was carried out. Mitochondrial COI sequence polymorphism of seven species of Mediterranean benthic invertebrates was analysed. Two species showed significant genetic structure across the Tyrrhenian-Ionian boundary, as well as two other species across the Ionian Sea, a previously unknown phylogeographic barrier. The hypothesized barrier in the Ligurian-Tyrrhenian cannot be detected in the genetic structure of the investigated species. Connectivity patterns across species at distances up to 800 km apart confirmed that estimates of pelagic larval dispersal were poor predictors of the genetic structure. The detected genetic discontinuities seem more related to the effect of past historical events, though maintained by present day oceanographic processes. Multivariate statistical tools were used to test the consistency of the patterns across species, providing a conceptual framework for across-species barrier locations and strengths. Additional sequences retrieved from public databases supported our findings. Heterogeneity of phylogeographic patterns shown by the 7 investigated species is relevant to the understanding of the genetic diversity, and carry implications for conservation biology.     

剑尾鱼近交系遗传纯度的RAPD分析

目的　分析近交系剑尾鱼 (Xiphophorushelleri)的遗传纯度 ,以指导剑尾鱼实验动物化的培育工作。方法　应用经过筛选的 2 9条随机引物对剑尾鱼的第 19代近交系 12尾剑尾鱼个体基因组DNA进行RAPD扩增 ,计算近交系个体间的相似系数及遗传距离。结果　筛选的 2 9条引物共扩增出 30 6条带 ,扩增片段的大小在 0 2 - 3kb之间。其中多态性带 2 9条 ,多态性带频率在 0～ 5 0 0 0 %之间 ,平均为 9 48%。近交系剑尾鱼不同个体拥有相同条带的比率较高。计算得到近交系的平均相似系数 (S)为 0 9839(0 973～ 0 997) ,平均等位基因频率 ( q)为 0 8731,最低平均杂合率 ( H)为 0 12 6 9。 结论　剑尾鱼第 19代近交系有较高的遗传纯合度。     

Fish Rejections in the Marine Aquarium Trade: An Initial Case Study Raises Concern for Village-Based Fisheries

A major difficulty in managing wildlife trade is the reliance on trade data (rather than capture data) to monitor exploitation of wild populations. Collected organisms that die or are rejected before a point of sale often go unreported. For the global marine aquarium trade, identifying the loss of collected fish from rejection, prior to export, is a first step in assessing true collection levels. This study takes a detailed look at fish rejections by buyers before export using the Papua New Guinea marine aquarium fishery as a case study. Utilizing collection invoices detailing the species and quantity of fish (Actinopteri and Elasmobranchii) accepted or rejected by the exporting company it was determined that, over a six month period, 24.2% of the total fish catch reported (n = 13,886) was rejected. Of the ten most collected fish families, rejection frequency was highest for the Apogonidae (54.2%), Chaetodontidae (26.3%), and Acanthuridae (18.2%) and lowest for Labridae (6.6%) and Hemiscylliidae (0.7%). The most frequently cited reasons for rejection were fin damage (45.6% of cases), undersized fish (21.8%), and fish deemed too thin (11.1%). Despite fishers receiving feedback on invoices explaining rejections, there was no improvement in rejection frequencies over time (r = -0.33, P = 0.15) with weekly rejection frequencies being highly inconsistent (range: 2.8% to 79.4%; s = 16.3%). These findings suggest that export/import statistics can greatly underestimate collection for the marine aquarium trade as additional factors such as fisher discards, escapees, post-collection mortalities, and unregulated domestic trade would further contribute to this disparity.     

鱼类免疫球蛋白基因结构及抗体多样性的遗传机制

本文对鱼类免疫球蛋白的基因结构以及抗体多样性产生的遗传机制作一综述。免疫球蛋白重链和轻链是由不同染色体上的多基因座编码的,在鱼类的不同分类单元中具有不同的基因组织方式。鱼类抗体可以识别外界为数众多的抗原,其多样性主要是由以下遗传机制产生的：种系V区编码区段的多样性、V (D) J区段组合的多样性、基因重组的不精确性、基因转换、体细胞突变以及H和L链的随机组合等。 Gene Structure and Genetic Diversity of Immunoglobulins in Fish ZHANG Yong-an,NIE Pin,ZHU Zuo-yan State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology,Institute of Hydrobiology,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Wuhan 430072,China Abstract:The current knowledge concerning the structure of fish immunoglobulin (Ig) genes and the genetic mechanisms in generating fish antibody diversities is reviewed.The heavy (H-) and light (L-) chains of the immunoglobulin are encoded by multigenic loci on separate chromosomes.In different taxa of fish,the Ig genes are organized in different patterns.Fish antibody can recognize various foreign antigens,and the antibody diversity is generated by the following genetic mechanisms:the sequence diversity within the segments encoding the variable domain,the combinatorial diversity of V (D) J segments,the imprecision of rearrangements,gene conversion,somatic hypermutation,and the combination of H- and L-chain. Key words：immunoglobulin; gene; antibody; diversity; fish     

Molecular Genetic Analysis of Stomach Contents Reveals Wild Atlantic Cod Feeding on Piscine Reovirus (PRV) Infected Atlantic Salmon Originating from a Commercial Fish Farm

In March 2012, fishermen operating in a fjord in Northern Norway reported catching Atlantic cod, a native fish forming an economically important marine fishery in this region, with unusual prey in their stomachs. It was speculated that these could be Atlantic salmon, which is not typical prey for cod at this time of the year in the coastal zone. These observations were therefore reported to the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries as a suspected interaction between a local fish farm and this commercial fishery. Statistical analyses of genetic data from 17 microsatellite markers genotyped on 36 partially-degraded prey, samples of salmon from a local fish farm, and samples from the nearest wild population permitted the following conclusions: 1. The prey were Atlantic salmon, 2. These salmon did not originate from the local wild population, and 3. The local farm was the most probable source of these prey. Additional tests demonstrated that 21 of the 36 prey were infected with piscine reovirus. While the potential link between piscine reovirus and the disease heart and skeletal muscle inflammation is still under scientific debate, this disease had caused mortality of large numbers of salmon in the farm in the month prior to the fishermen''s observations. These analyses provide new insights into interactions between domesticated and wild fish.     

Genetic Control of Startle Behavior in Medaka Fish

Genetic polymorphisms are thought to generate intraspecific behavioral diversities, both within and among populations. The mechanisms underlying genetic control of behavioral properties, however, remain unclear in wild-type vertebrates, including humans. To explore this issue, we used diverse inbred strains of medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) established from the same and different local populations. Medaka exhibit a startle response to a visual stimulus (extinction of illumination) by rapidly bending their bodies (C-start) 20-ms after the stimulus presentation. We measured the rates of the response to repeated stimuli (1-s interval, 40 times) among four inbred strains, HNI-I, HNI-II, HO5, and Hd-rR-II1, and quantified two properties of the startle response: sensitivity (response rate to the first stimulus) and attenuation of the response probability with repeated stimulus presentation. Among the four strains, the greatest differences in these properties were detected between HNI-II and Hd-rR-II1. HNI-II exhibited high sensitivity (approximately 80%) and no attenuation, while Hd-rR-II1 exhibited low sensitivity (approximately 50%) and almost complete attenuation after only five stimulus presentations. Our findings suggested behavioral diversity of the startle response within a local population as well as among different populations. Linkage analysis with F2 progeny between HNI-II and Hd-rR-II1 detected quantitative trait loci (QTL) highly related to attenuation, but not to sensitivity, with a maximum logarithm of odds score of 11.82 on linkage group 16. The three genotypes (homozygous for HNI-II and Hd-rR-II1 alleles, and heterozygous) at the marker nearest the QTL correlated with attenuation. Our findings are the first to suggest that a single genomic region might be sufficient to generate individual differences in startle behavior between wild-type strains. Further identification of genetic polymorphisms that define the behavioral trait will contribute to our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying behavioral diversity, allowing us to investigate the adaptive significance of intraspecific behavioral polymorphisms of the startle response.     

Insulin in Invertebrates and Cyclostomes

It seems increasingly clear that insulin is a hormone that doesnot occur exclusively in vertebrates. Several independent reportsnow exist giving evidence of insulin production in the digestivetissues of both deuterostomian and protostomian invertebrates.Cells with some light-microscopical and ultrastructural characteristicsof vertebrate B-cells have also been observed. Recently, evidencehas been obtained that insulin can act as a hypoglycemic hormone,promoting glycogen synthesis, also in a protostomian invertebrate,the gastropod mollusc, Strophocheilus oblongus. The endocrine pancreas of the cyclostomes occupies a key positionin the comparative endocrinology of the islet parenchyma andin the evolution of insulin production. It may represent anevolutionary link between the presumably gut-connected dispersedinsulin-producing cells of deuterostomian invertebrates andthe pancreatic islets of gnathostomian vertebrates. This hypothesiswas supported by the fact that cells with light-microscopicaland ultrastructural similarities to the islet B-cells were observedin the bile duct mucosa of the hagfish, Myxine glutinosa. However,immunofluorescent studies with antisera against human insulinand C-peptide did not show any immunoreactive material outsidethe B-cells of the endocrine pancreas. Particular attentionwas paid to elucidate the biological significance of the largecystic cavities that are so typical for the cyclostomian isletparenchyma. The working hypothesis that they may contain storedinsulin, proinsulin (or even "proto-proinsulin") was not supportedby immunofluorescence, autoradiographic, or ultrastructuralinvestigations, nor by proinsulin assays. It is possible thathagfish islet B-cells contain zinc, despite the fact that theamino acid residue in B₁₀-position is aspartic acid insteadof histidine. The biosynthesis of hagfish insulin shows a patternsimilar to that in gnathostomes. Its rate is related to theambient temperature and at 11 C the conversion of proinsulinto insulin lasts several days.     

Epidermal Nutrient Absorption in Marine Invertebrates: A Comparative Analysis

SYNOPSIS. This paper reviews present knowledge on the transportmechanisms responsible for integumentary uptake of exogenousmonosaccharides and amino acids in marine invertebrates. Thediscussion is based on work in the author's laboratory, usingthe polychaete Nereis diversicolor Miiller as the main experimentalmodel. Comparison is made with solute transport in other animalepithelia, especially those of vertebrate origin. Transport across the apical epidermal membrane via specifictransport systems or by diffusion in the lipoid plasmalemmais described with emphasis on the trans-membrane concentrationgradients maintained. The epidermal cells seem to be functionallyasymmetric, favoring outflux across the basolateral membrane(into the extracellular fluid) over that across the apical one.The intercellular spaces provide a paracellular pathway fornutrient diffusion from the extracellular fluid to the exterior,but the quantitative importance of this route needs furtherinvestigation. Although a net uptake from low external concentrationsinto the epidermis is clearly established, there is insufficientevidence specifically related to a true trans-epidermal netflow, a problem of critical importance for evaluating the nutritionalrole of exogenous organic material. Accumulating transport systemsin the apical membrane seem to be involved in solute recyclingat the cuticular-epidermal interface, thereby decreasing theeffective epidermal permeability to diffusional loss of valuablenutrients.     

微卫星DNA标记及其在鱼类遗传多样性研究中的应用

微卫星DNA作为第二代分子遗传标记是高等真核生物基因组中种类多、分布广、具有高度的多态性和杂合度的分子标记,由于其具有多态性检出率高、信息含量大、共显性标记、实验操作简单、结果稳定可靠等优点,已经成为种群遗传学研究中被广泛应用的分子遗传标记。微卫星DNA标记技术在鱼类的群体遗传结构的分析、物种遗传多样性的鉴定以及遗传基因连锁图谱的构建等方面已初步得到应用。该文就微卫星技术的原理方法,在鱼类遗传多样性研究中的应用概况以及应用范围和注意事项等方面进行综述。为微卫星技术在鱼类遗传多样性研究中应用提供了理论参考。     

海口地区集贸市场淡水鱼华枝睾吸虫囊蚴感染调查

用直接压片法和人工消化法检查了海口集贸市场上5种淡水色(鲫色、罗非鱼、鲤鱼、土鲮色、白鲳)感染华枝睾吸虫囊蚴情况。结果表明：5种淡水色的总感染率为53．66％。其中,鲤鱼、土鲮色、鲫鱼、罗非鱼、白鲳的感染率分别为68．75％、58．82％、58．06％、48．57％和36．67％;平均每克鱼肉含囊蚴数最高的是鲫鱼(9．47个／g),平均每尾阳性鱼含囊蚴数最高的是土鲮鱼(43个／尾)。     

Non-Nervous Conduction in Invertebrates and Embryos

Propagated electrical events in epithelial tissues have beenrecorded from a number of invertebrates and from vertebrateembryos. Those groups in which such events have been recordedare the Cnidaria, Ctenophora, Echinodermata, Urochordata, andAmphibia. In several cases these non-nervous action potentialsmediate escape or protective responses. In other cases theycause ciliary reversal or arrest of ciliary beat. Propagationappears to occur via low resistance intercellular pathways involvingdirect current flow. The ontogeny of such epithelial impulsesis described in an amphibian.     

贝类等无脊椎动物脑啡肽研究进展

贝类等许多无脊椎动物体内含有脑啡肽等阿片肽系统,并且在其生长、繁殖等生理生化过程中发挥着重要的作用。本文从脑啡肽在贝类等无脊椎动物体内的定位、分离提取、测序鉴定及其相关酶的研究等方面,对贝类等无脊椎动物脑啡肽的研究进展进行了概述。目前来看,脑啡肽物质在无脊椎动物中有关各种功能和机理研究仍然处于初步阶段,对于其深层次的分子作用机理还需要作进一步的研究。