Monoaminergic and cholinergic mechanisms of reproduction control in marine bivalve molluscs and echinoderms: a review.

The autoreproduction ability is one of the most important properties of living systems. Evolution of metazoans ensured their reproduction by means of such determinants as sexual cells developing in specialized organs, in gonads. In most marine invertebrates, the gonad produces tens of millions of gametes per reproductive cycle. This reproduction level guarantees the species resistance in the external environment and is provided by the whole organism, though in unfavourable ecological conditions the gonad may become a source of trophic and energy material and it can maintain the viability of organism by means or the mass, often total, lysis of sexual cells. This metabolic interaction of a part (gonad) and the whole (organism) presumes the existence of the strictly determined relations between them, on the one hand, and more or less pronounced autonomy, on the other hand. The isolated organs, including gonads, are capable of fulfilling specific functions for a short period of time by means of local regulation. However, there is no full autonomy between the gonad and the organism: the hierarchical relations set in between them.     

Monoaminergic and cholinergic mechanisms of reproduction control in marine bivalve molluscs and echinoderms: A review

The autoreproduction ability is one of the most important properties of living systems. Evolution of metazoans ensured their reproduction by means of such determinants as sexual cells developing in specialized organs, in gonads. In most marine invertebrates, the gonad produces tens of millions of gametes per reproductive cycle. This reproduction level guarantees the species resistance in the external environment and is provided by the whole organism, though in unfavourable ecological conditions the gonad may become a source of trophic and energy material and it can maintain the viability of organism by means or the mass, often total, lysis of sexual cells. This metabolic interaction of a part (gonad) and the whole (organism) presumes the existence of the strictly determined relations between them, on the one hand, and more or less pronounced autonomy, on the other hand. The isolated organs, including gonads, are capable of fulfiling specific functions for a short period of time by means of local regulation. However, there is no full autonomy between the gonad and the organism: the hierarchical relations set in between them.     

Escape tactics by a neotropical montane lizard: a comparison of flight responses against natural and nonnatural predators

Prey must judge the level of threat related to a given predator attack to employ the most efficient escape strategy at a low cost. In this context, the capacity of prey to correctly assess the threat from predators might optimise their decision on the strategy employed to flee. We examined the escape behaviour of the montane lizard Tropidurus montanus in response to different types of predatory stimuli. Lizards stimulated by a model of a natural predator ran shorter distances straight towards shelter and spent less time in flight. On the other hand, when exposed to a model of a nonnatural predator, T. montanus performed longer flights in distance and time, running across open and exposed substrates in the view of predators. These results showed that the lizard T. montanus made different escape decisions according to the type of predatory stimulus.     

Molluscan biological and chemical diversity: secondary metabolites and medicinal resources produced by marine molluscs

The phylum Mollusca represents an enormous diversity of species with eight distinct classes. This review provides a taxonomic breakdown of the published research on marine molluscan natural products and the medicinal products currently derived from molluscs, in order to identify priority targets and strategies for future research. Some marine gastropods and bivalves have been of great interest to natural products chemists, yielding a diversity of chemical classes and several drug leads currently in clinical trials. Molluscs also feature prominently in a broad range of traditional natural medicines, although the active ingredients in the taxa involved are typically unknown. Overall secondary metabolites have only been investigated from a tiny proportion (<1%) of molluscan species. At the class level, the number of species subject to chemical studies mirrors species richness and our relative knowledge of the biology of different taxa. The majority of molluscan natural products research is focused within one of the major groups of gastropods, the opisthobranchs (a subgroup of Heterobranchia), which are primarily comprised of soft‐bodied marine molluscs. Conversely, most molluscan medicines are derived from shelled gastropods and bivalves. The complete disregard for several minor classes of molluscs is unjustified based on their evolutionary history and unique life styles, which may have led to novel pathways for secondary metabolism. The Polyplacophora, in particular, have been identified as worthy of future investigation given their use in traditional South African medicines and their abundance in littoral ecosystems. As bioactive compounds are not always constitutively expressed in molluscs, future research should be targeted towards biosynthetic organs and inducible defence reactions for specific medicinal applications. Given the lack of an acquired immune system, the use of bioactive secondary metabolites is likely to be ubiquitous throughout the Mollusca and broadening the search field may uncover interesting novel chemistry.     

Infectious diseases of marine molluscs and host responses as revealed by genomic tools

More and more infectious diseases affect marine molluscs. Some diseases have impacted commercial species including MSX and Dermo of the eastern oyster, QPX of hard clams, withering syndrome of abalone and ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) infections of many molluscs. Although the exact transmission mechanisms are not well understood, human activities and associated environmental changes often correlate with increased disease prevalence. For instance, hatcheries and large-scale aquaculture create high host densities, which, along with increasing ocean temperature, might have contributed to OsHV-1 epizootics in scallops and oysters. A key to understanding linkages between the environment and disease is to understand how the environment affects the host immune system. Although we might be tempted to downplay the role of immunity in invertebrates, recent advances in genomics have provided insights into host and parasite genomes and revealed surprisingly sophisticated innate immune systems in molluscs. All major innate immune pathways are found in molluscs with many immune receptors, regulators and effectors expanded. The expanded gene families provide great diversity and complexity in innate immune response, which may be key to mollusc''s defence against diverse pathogens in the absence of adaptive immunity. Further advances in host and parasite genomics should improve our understanding of genetic variation in parasite virulence and host disease resistance.     

Disruption of glucocorticoid action by environmental chemicals: potential mechanisms and relevance

Glucocorticoids play an essential role in the regulation of key physiological processes, including immunomodulation, brain function, energy metabolism, electrolyte balance and blood pressure. Exposure to naturally occurring compounds or industrial chemicals that impair glucocorticoid action may contribute to the increasing incidence of cognitive deficits, immune disorders and metabolic diseases. Potentially, “glucocorticoid disruptors” can interfere with various steps of hormone action, e.g. hormone synthesis, binding to plasma proteins, delivery to target cells, pre-receptor regulation of the ratio of active versus inactive hormones, glucocorticoid receptor (GR) function, or export and degradation of glucocorticoids. Several recent studies indicate that such chemicals exist and that some of them can cause multiple toxic effects by interfering with different steps of hormone action. For example, increasing evidence suggests that organotins disturb glucocorticoid action by altering the function of factors that regulate the expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD) pre-receptor enzymes, by direct inhibition of 11β-HSD2-dependent inactivation of glucocorticoids, and by blocking GR activation. These observations emphasize on the complexity of the toxic effects caused by such compounds and on the need of suitable test systems to assess their effects on each relevant step.     

Improvement of marine environmental pollution using eco-system: decomposition and recovery of endocrine disrupting chemicals by marine phyto- and zooplanktons

The decomposition and the recovery of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) using marine phytoplankton were demonstrated as one of the possible bioremediation methods. Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and bisphenol A tended to gradually accumulate into the plankton cells during incubation. Furthermore, the recovery of bisphenol A from the synthetic seawater was achieved using a marine pollutant collecting model (eco-system) that combined phyto- and zooplanktons.     

Biological control through provision of additional food to predators: a theoretical study

In this paper we analyze a variation of a standard predator-prey model with type II functional response which represents predator-prey dynamics in the presence of some additional food to the predator. The aim is to study the consequences of providing additional food on the system dynamics. We conclude that handling times for the available foods play a key role in determining the eventual state of the ecosystem. It is interesting to observe that by varying the quality and quantity of additional food we can not only control and limit the prey, but also limit and eradicate the predators. In the context of biological pest control, the results caution the manager on the choice of quality and quantity of the additional food used for this purpose. An arbitrary choice may have opposite effects leading to increase in pest concentration and eradication of the predator. This study offers insight into the possible management strategies that involve manipulation of quality and supply level of additional food to predators, for the benefit of biological control. The theoretical conclusions agree with results of some practical biological control experiments.     

Fine-scale spatial and temporal distribution patterns of large marine predators in a biodiversity hotspot

Aim

Large marine predators, such as cetaceans and sharks, play a crucial role in maintaining biodiversity patterns and ecosystem function, yet few estimates of their spatial distribution exist. We aimed to determine the species richness of large marine predators and investigate their fine-scale spatiotemporal distribution patterns to inform conservation management.

Location

The Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana/Te Moananui-ā-Toi, Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Methods

We conducted a replicate systematic aerial survey over 12 months. Flexible machine learning models were used to explore relationships between large marine predator occurrence (Bryde's whales, common and bottlenose dolphins, bronze whaler, pelagic and immature hammerhead sharks) and environmental and biotic variables, and predict their monthly distribution and associated spatially explicit uncertainty.

Results

We revealed that temporally dynamic variables, such as prey distribution and sea surface temperature, were important for predicting the occurrence of the study species and species groups. While there was variation in temporal and spatial distribution, predicted richness peaked in summer and was the highest in coastal habitats during that time, providing insight into changes in distributions over time and between species.

Main Conclusions

Temporal changes in distribution are not routinely accounted for in species distribution studies. Our approach highlights the value of multispecies surveys and the importance of considering temporally variable abiotic and biotic drivers for understanding biodiversity patterns when informing ecosystem-scale conservation planning and dynamic ocean management.     

Use of molluscs,fish, and other marine taxa by tourism in Zanzibar,Tanzania

The collection of shells is a popular tourist activity in coastal areas of tropical countries. Tourists also buy shells, particularly large gastropods, which may be important species in marine ecosystems. While some, though outdated, information exists on the magnitude of the international trade with ornamental shells, virtually nothing is known about the extent of the regional tourist-related curio trade. A survey in Zanzibar, Tanzania, showed that 39% of the tourists had collected shells and 7% had bought shells, contributing US$ 136,000 to the local economy. The weight of shells exported from Zanzibar by tourists may have been in the order of 13t. Regarding other marine species, tourists consume only 1% of the fish catches, but they have substantially increased the consumption of crustaceans and the trade in shark teeth and jaws.     

The life history of Sulcascaris sulcata (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea), a parasite of marine molluscs and turtles

Berry G. N. and Cannon L. R. G. 1981. The life history of Sulcascaris sulcata (Nematoda: Ascaridoidea), a parasite of marine molluscs and turtles. International Journal for Parasitoiogy11: 43–54. The morphology, development and hatching of Sulcascaris sulcata eggs are described. Two moults occurred in the egg. Third stage larvae spontaneously hatched and were found to develop in marine bivalves and gastropods. Larvae grew steadily and after three to four months, when about 5 mm long, they moulted to fourth stage larvae characteristic of natural infections in bivalves from commercial catches. Experimentally, when fed to laboratory-reared Caretta caretta, the fourth stage larvae first attached at the oesophago-gastric junction where they moulted to adults in 7–21 days. Subsequent growth to mature adults was obtained by at least 5 months after infection. It is suggested that under natural conditions the life history may take up to 2 years to complete. These findings are discussed in relation to the predatory mode of feeding and the breeding habits of C. caretta and the significance of a possible health hazard to man.     

Filamentous tropical marine cyanobacteria: a rich source of natural products for anticancer drug discovery

A plethora of structurally novel bioactive secondary metabolites have been reported from the prokaryotic filamentous marine cyanobacteria in the past few decades. In addition to the production of harmful toxins, these marine blue-green algae are emerging as an important source of anticancer drugs. The majority of these potent biomolecules, including the dolastatins, curacin A, hectochlorin, the apratoxins, and the lyngbyabellins, belongs to the mixed polyketide–polypeptide structural class. Furthermore, a high proportion of these natural products target eukaryotic cytoskeleton, such as tubulin and actin microfilaments, making them an attractive source of potential anticancer drugs. In recent years, a number of potent marine cyanobacteria have also been reported to modulate cell death and apoptosis in cancer cells as well as target enzymes such as histone deacetylase. A number of marine cyanobacterial compounds have also served as structural templates for the generation of new drug leads, further attesting to the importance of these marine microbes as an important source of new pharmaceuticals. This review serves to highlight the chemistry and biology of selected anticancer marine cyanobacterial natural products exhibiting significant biological activities in the nanomolar or submicromolar range, and their discussion will be based on the different modes of action.     

Seagrass-salinity interactions: Physiological mechanisms used by submersed marine angiosperms for a life at sea

Due to the nature of coastal and estuarine systems, seagrasses must be able to tolerate short-term salinity fluctuations including both hyposaline and hypersaline conditions. Salt tolerance can be achieved, in part, through vacuolar ion sequestering (mostly Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl⁻) and cytosolic osmolyte accumulation (K⁺ and organic osmolytes), with differences in cellular ion levels attributed to selective ion flux and ion partitioning between the cytoplasm and vacuole (with lower cytoplasmic-to-vacuolar ratios favoring higher cellular Na⁺ concentrations). The hydrophilic nature of organic compounds such as organic acids, soluble carbohydrates, and free amino acids allow them to serve as osmoprotectants and low-molecular-weight chaperones which diminishes the inhibitory effects of potentially harmful ions on metabolic processes. Nevertheless, some carbohydrate studies on seagrasses have shown decreased soluble sugar content with increased salinities. During salt stress, carbohydrates are likely converted to other organic compounds that would better facilitate osmotic adjustment in these plants. This is further supported by observed decreases in sucrose-P synthase (a key enzyme involved in sucrose synthesis) activities in seagrass exposed to higher salinities. While modifications in ion flux and organic solute levels often follow changes in environmental salinities, these adjustments are relatively slow (hours to days). Therefore, the initial response to sudden salinity change will include rapid alterations in turgor pressure driven by water flux in the direction of the osmotic gradient. The rate of water movement depends largely on the hydraulic conductivity of the plasmalemma and the elastic properties of the cell wall (bulk elastic modulus; Є). Observations on cell wall elasticity indicate that some seagrasses maintain fairly rigid walls (high Є values), thereby limiting the amount of water influx during hypoosmotic stress. Although high Є would be beneficial to open-water coastal plants living in relatively stable saline environments, in estuaries where salinities fluctuate considerably over shorter intervals, high Є could promote flaccid cells with no turgor pressure during hyperosmotic conditions. Hypo- and hyperosmotic conditions also inhibit photosynthesis in seagrasses. Decreases in photosynthesis have been attributed to declines in chlorophyll content, changes in chloroplast ultrastructure, disruptions of electron flow through photosystems, and inhibitions of key photosynthetic enzymes. The uptake of nutrients can also be strongly influenced by salinity. High affinity Na⁺-dependent nutrient transport systems (for NO₃⁻, H₂PO₄⁻, and HPO₄⁻²) which benefit from the inwardly driving force for Na⁺ have been observed in seagrasses. Nitrate reductase, the key enzyme involved in nitrate reduction/ assimilation, also has elevated activities at higher salinities which would agree with Na⁺-dependent NO₃⁻ transport. While our basic understanding of how seagrasses survive in saline environments is increasing, it still lags well behind marine algae and terrestrial halophytes. It is likely that further investigations will reveal unique physiological adaptations that have not been observed in other plants.     

From plankton to top predators: bottom-up control of a marine food web across four trophic levels

1. Abundant mid-trophic pelagic fish often play a central role in marine ecosystems, both as links between zooplankton and top predators and as important fishery targets. In the North Sea, the lesser sandeel occupies this position, being the main prey of many bird, mammal and fish predators and the target of a major industrial fishery. However, since 2003, sandeel landings have decreased by > 50%, and many sandeel-dependent seabirds experienced breeding failures in 2004. 2. Despite the major economic implications, current understanding of the regulation of key constituents of this ecosystem is poor. Sandeel abundance may be regulated 'bottom-up' by food abundance, often thought to be under climatic control, or 'top-down' by natural or fishery predation. We tested predictions from these two hypotheses by combining unique long-term data sets (1973-2003) on seabird breeding productivity from the Isle of May, SE Scotland, and plankton and fish larvae from the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. We also tested whether seabird breeding productivity was more tightly linked to sandeel biomass or quality (size) of individual fish. 3. The biomass of larval sandeels increased two- to threefold over the study period and was positively associated with proxies of the abundance of their plankton prey. Breeding productivity of four seabirds bringing multiple prey items to their offspring was positively related to sandeel larval biomass with a 1-year lag, indicating dependence on 1-year-old fish, but in one species bringing individual fish it was strongly associated with the size of adult sandeels. 4. These links are consistent with bottom-up ecosystem regulation and, with evidence from previous studies, indicate how climate-driven changes in plankton communities can affect top predators and potentially human fisheries through the dynamics of key mid-trophic fish. However, the failing recruitment to adult sandeel stocks and the exceptionally low seabird breeding productivity in 2004 were not associated with low sandeel larval biomass in 2003, so other mechanisms (e.g. predation, lack of suitable food after metamorphosis) must have been important in this case. Understanding ecosystem regulation is extremely important for predicting the fate of keystone species, such as sandeels, and their predators.     

Signalling through acoustic windows: nightingales avoid interspecific competition by short-term adjustment of song timing

The function of bird song is closely linked to sexual selection through female choice and male–male competition, and thus variation in communication success is likely to have major fitness consequences for a singing male. A crucial constraint on signal transmission is imposed by background noise, which may include songs from other species. I investigated whether singing nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) avoid temporal overlap with the songs of other bird species in a playback experiment. I analysed the temporal song patterns of six males, each of which were exposed to songs of other species. The nightingales significantly avoided overlapping their songs with the playback songs, and started singing preferentially during the silent intervals between the heterospecific songs. This timing of song onset produced a greater variability in pause duration compared to the nightingales’ undisturbed solo singing. These findings suggest that birds adjust their song timing to avoid acoustic interference on short temporal scales, and thus are able to improve the efficiency of acoustic communication in complex sonic environments. Moreover, the results indicate that temporal song patterns can be affected by the songs of other species, and thus such influences should be taken into account when studying bird song in the field.     

Modelling the attack success of planktonic predators: patterns and mechanisms of prey size selectivity

A mathematical model of the attack success of planktonic predators(fish larvae and carnivorous copepods) is proposed. Based ona geometric representation of attack events, the model considershow the escape reaction characteristics (speed and direction)of copepod prey affect their probability of being captured.By combining the attack success model with previously publishedhydrodynamic models of predator and prey perception, we examinehow predator foraging behaviour and prey perceptive abilityaffect the size spectra of encountered and captured copepodprey. We examine food size spectra of (i) a rheotactic cruisingpredator, (ii) a suspension-feeding hovering copepod and (iii)a larval fish. For rheotactic predators such as carnivorouscopepods, a central assumption of the model is that attack istriggered by prey escape reaction, which in turn depends onthe deformation rate of the fluid created by the predator. Themodel demonstrates that within a species of copepod prey, theability of larger stages to react at a greater distance fromthe predator results in increased strike distance and, hence,lower capture probability. For hovering copepods, the vorticityfield associated with the feeding current also acts in modifyingthe prey escape direction. The model demonstrates that the reorientationof the prey escape path towards the centre of the feeding current'sflow field results in increased attack success of the predator.Finally, the model examines how variability in the kineticsof approach affects the strike distance of larval fish. In caseswhere observational data are available, model predictions closelyfit observations.