RNA-seq Provides Novel Insights into Response to Acute Salinity Stress in Oriental River Prawn Macrobrachium nipponense

Marine Biotechnology - The oriental river prawn Macrobrachium nipponense is an important aquaculture species in China, Vietnam, and Japan. This species could survive in the salinity ranging from 7...     

Population Structure and Historical Demography of the Oriental River Prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) in Taiwan

The oriental river prawn (Macrobrachium nipponense) is a non-obligatory amphidromous prawn, and it has a wide distribution covering almost the entire Taiwan. Mitochondrial DNA fragment sequences of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) and 16S rRNA were combined and used to elucidate the population structure and historical demography of oriental river prawn in Taiwan. A total of 202 individuals from six reservoirs and three estuaries were separately collected. Nucleotide diversity (π) of all populations was 0.01217, with values ranging from 0.00188 (Shihmen Reservoir, SMR, northern Taiwan) to 0.01425 (Mingte Reservoir, MTR, west-central Taiwan). All 76 haplotypes were divided into 2 lineages: lineage A included individuals from all sampling areas except SMR, and lineage B included specimens from all sampling locations except Chengching Lake Reservoir (CLR) and Liyu Lake Reservoir (LLR). All F_ST values among nine populations were significantly different except the one between Jhonggang River Estuary (JGE, west-central Taiwan) and Kaoping River Estuary (KPE, southern Taiwan). UPGMA tree of nine populations showed two main groups: the first group included the SMR and Tamsui River Estuary (TSE) (both located northern Taiwan), and the second one included the other seven populations (west-central, southern and eastern Taiwan). Demographic analyses implied a population expansion occurred during the recent history of the species. The dispersal route of this species might be from China to west-central and west-southern Taiwan, and then the part individuals belonging to lineage A and B dispersed southerly and northerly, respectively. And then part individuals in west-central Taiwan fell back to and stay at estuaries as the sea level rose about 18,000 years ago.     

日本沼虾AFLP反应体系的建立

目的:建立一个适于日本沼虾研究用的 AFLP 反应体系.方法:以日本沼虾 DNA 为材料,对基因组酶切时间、选择性扩增中Mg2 、dNTP浓度、预扩增产物稀释倍数及选扩性引物M 3/E 3配比等进行了比较分析.结果:酶切5h,选扩 25ul PCR 反应体系中Mg2 2mmol/L,dNTP 1.2rmnol/L,预扩产物稀释 40 倍,选扩引物M 3/E 3配比为8:1,所得产物在毛细管电泳中可得剑稳定的结果.结论:该体系的构建为 AFLP 技术在日本沼虾相关研究中的应用奠定了基础.     

利用COI基因序列分析长江与澜沧江水系日本沼虾群体的遗传结构

测定了我国长江水系和澜沧江水系的日本沼虾9个群体,共79个个体的线粒体COI基因序列片段(约450bp),结果发现有89个变异位点,共计有46个单倍型。其中云南昆明(KM)群体具有较丰富的遗传多样性(h=1.000,π=0.028),而重庆(CQ)群体的遗传多样性最小(h=0.700,π=0.008)。AMOVA分析表明,群体间的遗传变异占总遗传变异的9.66%,而90.34%的遗传变异源于群体内。采用邻接法(NJ)构建的分子系统树显示,46个单倍型明显地聚为长江中下游和长江上游与澜沧江两个族群。其结果可以为合理开发和利用日本沼虾自然野生资源,以及建立和保护日本沼虾种质资源库及基因库提供必要的参考。     

日本沼虾脑神经元中微绒毛小管的观察

甲壳动物中的神经细胞是调节其生命活动的重要结构,国内外对其超微结构已进行了一些研究[1～5].笔者在用透射电镜观察日本沼虾的脑神经分泌细胞时,在神经元中观察到一种微绒毛小管,在甲壳动物文献上尚未见此类报道.     

日本沼虾脑神经元中微绒毛小管的观察

甲壳动物中的神经细胞是调节其生命活动的重要结构,国内外对其超微结构已进行了一些研究[1～5].笔者在用透射电镜观察日本沼虾的脑神经分泌细胞时,在神经元中观察到一种微绒毛小管,在甲壳动物文献上尚未见此类报道.     

Transcriptome Sequencing and de novo Analysis for Oviductus Ranae of Rana chensinensis Using Illumina RNA-Seq Technology

Oviductus Ranae is the dried oviduct of female Rana temporaria chensinensis (David), distributed mainly in North-eastern China. Oviductus Ranae is one of the best-known and highly valued oriental foods and medicines. Traditional Chinesemedicine holds that Oviductus Ranae can nourish yin, moisten lung and replenish the kidney essence. Meanwhile, activities of Oviductus Ranae such as anti-aging, anti-lipemic, anti-oxidation     

Odoriferous Defensive Stink Gland Transcriptome to Identify Novel Genes Necessary for Quinone Synthesis in the Red Flour Beetle,Tribolium castaneum

Chemical defense is one of the most important traits, which endow insects the ability to conquer a most diverse set of ecological environments. Chemical secretions are used for defense against anything from vertebrate or invertebrate predators to prokaryotic or eukaryotic parasites or food competitors. Tenebrionid beetles are especially prolific in this category, producing several varieties of substituted benzoquinone compounds. In order to get a better understanding of the genetic and molecular basis of defensive secretions, we performed RNA sequencing in a newly emerging insect model, the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). To detect genes that are highly and specifically expressed in the odoriferous gland tissues that secret defensive chemical compounds, we compared them to a control tissue, the anterior abdomen. 511 genes were identified in different subtraction groups. Of these, 77 genes were functionally analyzed by RNA interference (RNAi) to recognize induced gland alterations morphologically or changes in gland volatiles by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. 29 genes (38%) presented strong visible phenotypes, while 67 genes (87%) showed alterations of at least one gland content. Three of these genes showing quinone-less (ql) phenotypes – Tcas-ql VTGl; Tcas-ql ARSB; Tcas-ql MRP – were isolated, molecularly characterized, their expression identified in both types of the secretory glandular cells, and their function determined by quantification of all main components after RNAi. In addition, microbe inhibition assays revealed that a quinone-free status is unable to impede bacterial or fungal growth. Phylogenetic analyses of these three genes indicate that they have evolved independently and specifically for chemical defense in beetles.     

A Hybrid Computational Method for the Discovery of Novel Reproduction-Related Genes

Uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying reproduction is of great importance to infertility treatment and to the generation of healthy offspring. In this study, we discovered novel reproduction-related genes with a hybrid computational method, integrating three different types of method, which offered new clues for further reproduction research. This method was first executed on a weighted graph, constructed based on known protein-protein interactions, to search the shortest paths connecting any two known reproduction-related genes. Genes occurring in these paths were deemed to have a special relationship with reproduction. These newly discovered genes were filtered with a randomization test. Then, the remaining genes were further selected according to their associations with known reproduction-related genes measured by protein-protein interaction score and alignment score obtained by BLAST. The in-depth analysis of the high confidence novel reproduction genes revealed hidden mechanisms of reproduction and provided guidelines for further experimental validations.