Protective effect of selenium against mercury-induced toxicity on hematological and biochemical parameters of Oreochromis niloticus

In this study, to identify mercury (Hg) toxicity and whether selenium (Se) has any role in alleviation of this toxicity, it was investigated the changes in hematological and serum biochemical parameters of Oreochromis niloticus. Fish were exposed to 0.01 and 0.1 mg/L Hg and 0.01 mg/L Hg + 0.1 mg/L Se and 0.1 mg/L Hg + 1.0 mg/L Se for 7 and 14 days. The exposure of O. niloticus to Hg alone resulted in decreases in red blood cell, white blood cell, hemoglobin, hematocrit values, and cholinesterase activity while it increased in alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activities and cortisol and glucose levels. Se, in combination with Hg, partially or totally caused an alleviation for the toxic effect of Hg on the above mentioned hematological and biochemical parameters. The results of our study showed that Se has a protective effect against toxicity induced by Hg.     

Identification of the Lake Malawi Oreochromis (Nyasalapia) spp. using multivariate morphometric techniques

With the aim of reliably distinguishing these commercially important species on the basis of external characteristics alone, morphometric techniques were employed on a sample of the four species of Oreochromis ( Nyasalapia ) described from Lake Malawi: O. karongae, O. lidole, O. saka and O. squamipinnis . Univariate analysis of variance on the ratios of 23 variables to standard length indicated many differences among all species, but there was considerable individual variation, and consequent overlap. Residuals from a regression of each variable on length were employed for multivariate analysis. Cluster analysis on the means of the residuals was used to construct a phenogram which formed the basis for denning a series of dichotomous discriminant analyses. In each discriminant analysis, variables were successively eliminated in the reverse order of the magnitude of their correlation with the discriminant function. The combination of variables producing 95% accuracy of classification was selected, and the discriminant function equations for each step calculated. Some further variables were eliminated by checking for redundancy through analysis of correlations. The resulting equations enable O. karongae to be separated using eight measurements, O. lidole using 10, and O. saka and O. squamipinnis to be distinguished by a combination of 13 measurements.     

Metazooplankton dynamics in the Salton Sea, California, 1997–1999

The dynamics of metazooplankton populations were studied over 3 years at the saline (43 g l^–1) Salton Sea, California's largest lake. Total abundance was highest in summer following late winter/early spring phytoplankton blooms. At this time, metazooplankton consisted mostly of the copepod, Apocyclops dengizicus, and the rotifer, Brachionus rotundiformis. In August or September, severe crashes in the metazooplankton populations occurred each year in mid-lake due to strong wind events which increased mixing and caused low oxygen and high sulfide concentrations throughout the water column. Larvae of the polychaete worm, Neanthes succinea and the barnacle, Balanus amphitrite were present mostly in late winter and spring. Their scarcity in summer is due in part to persistent anoxic bottom conditions that decrease adult populations and in part to predation by tilapia, an omnivorous fish that has become abundant in the lake since the 1960s. Two Synchaeta species, rotifers not previously reported from the Sea, were abundant in winter and spring and predation on these may have permitted the copepod to persist at low levels through the winter. There were two major changes in metazooplankton dynamics since 1954–1956 in addition to the appearance of the two synchaetid rotifers in the fauna. First, there are now much lower densities of barnacle and polychaete larvae in the fall, probably due to the invasion of the zooplanktivorous fish, tilapia. Second the precipitous crashes now seen in metazooplankton densities, especially the copepod, in late summer-early fall did not occur in the 1950s possibly because fall overturn events did not result in such high sulfide levels.     

Treatment with an aromatase inhibitor suppresses high-temperature feminization of genetic male (YY) Nile tilapia

High temperature (36° C) treatment during sexual differentiation caused significant changes in sex ratio in YY male Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fry (64.5% males compared to 100.0% males at 28° C), while dietary treatment with a chemical aromatase inhibitor (AI: Fadrozole™ CGS16949A) during this period suppressed the high temperature feminization (98.9% males). This implies that cytochrome P450 aromatase is mechanistically associated with temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) in this species. XY male fry did not show significant sex reversal at 36° C. In XX female fry, high temperature treatment resulted in significant masculinization (62.5% males compared with 21.9% males at 28° C), while treatment with AI at either temperature resulted in very high proportions of males (100.0% males at 36° C; 99.0% males at 28° C). These results confirm the importance of aromatase in sexual differentiation in the Nile tilapia below the TSD threshold and suggest that it also plays a role in TSD, at least in the YY genotype.     

Isolation and Physical Mapping of Sex-Linked AFLP Markers in Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.)

Gynogenetically produced XX and YY Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and diploid control groups were screened for amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLPs) to search for sex-linked or sex-specific markers. Family-level bulked segregant analysis (XX and YY gynogenetic family pools) and individual screening (XX and YY gynogenetics and XX and XY control individuals) identified 3 Y-linked (OniY425, OniY382, OniY227) and one X-linked (OniX420) AFLP markers. OniX420 and OniY425 were shown to be allelic. Single locus polymerase chain reaction assays were developed for these markers. Tight linkage was demonstrated between the AFLP markers and the sex locus within the source families. However, these markers failed to consistently identify sex in unrelated individuals, indicating recombination between the markers and the sex-determining loci. O. niloticus bacterial artificial chromosome clones, containing the AFLP markers, hybridized to the long arm of chromosome 1. This confirmed previous evidence, based on meiotic chromosome pairing and fluorescence in situ hybridization probes obtained through chromosome microdissection, that chromosome pair 1 is the sex chromosomes.     

Identification of putative sex chromosomes in the blue tilapia, Oreochromis aureus, through synaptonemal complex and FISH analysis

Sex determination in the blue tilapia, Oreochromis aureus, is primarily a ZW female-ZZ male system. Here, by analysis of the pachytene meiotic chromosomes of O. aureus, we demonstrate the presence of two distinct regions of restricted pairing present only in heterogametic fish. The first, a subterminal region of the largest bivalent is located near to the region of unpairing found in the closely related species O. niloticus, while the second is in a small bivalent, most of which was unpaired. These results suggest that O. aureus has two separate pairs of sex chromosomes.     

罗非鱼微囊藻毒素去毒相关基因克隆与活体表达研究

可溶性谷胱甘肽S-转移酶(Soluble glutathione S-transferase,sGST)催化微囊藻毒素(Microcystins,MCs)与还原型谷胱甘肽(GSH)的加合去毒代谢过程,谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(Glutathione peroxidase,GPX)为sGST的去毒反应提供GSH,解偶联蛋白2(Uncoupling protein 2,UCP2)则可抑制微囊藻毒素诱发活性氧导致的肝细胞凋亡。本研究从罗非鱼肝脏通过简并引物克隆sGST、GPX与UCP2基因cDNA核心序列,并应用5’RACE和3’RACE技术分别扩增罗非鱼肝脏sGST基因cDNA序列5’末端和3’末端序列而获得其cDNA全序列。罗非鱼肝脏sGST基因cDNA全序列长861 bp,其中5’非翻译区(5-’UTR)为25 bp,3’非翻译区(3-’UTR)为167 bp,开放阅读框(ORF)为669 bp,编码222个氨基酸,包含脊椎动物完整sGST的2个功能域:N-末端功能域(GSH结合位点)和C-末端功能域(底物结合位点)。罗非鱼sGST与真鲷、条石鲷(Oplegnathus fasciatus)、斑马鱼同源性较高,达到64.3%—78.5%,而与人、大鼠、小鼠、牛、猪、鸡差异较大,氨基酸同源性为48.2%—55.9%。罗非鱼肝脏GPX、UCP2基因cDNA核心序列长280 bp、776 bp,分别编码92、258个氨基酸。罗非鱼GPX与条石鲷、虹鳟、斑马鱼、人、大鼠、小鼠、牛、猪GPX同源性均较高,达到69.6%—85.9%。罗非鱼UCP2与真鲷、斑马鱼、鲤鱼、欧洲白鲑(Leuciscus cephalus)、草鱼、人、大鼠、小鼠UCP2同源性更高,达到71.8%—93.8%。通过对罗非鱼(5—8 g)活体腹腔注射亚致死量MC-LR(50μg/kg bwt),发现微囊藻毒素对罗非鱼肝脏sGST基因表达有显著的诱导作用(p<0.05),注射微囊藻毒素24h后sGST基因mRNA表达水平上调80%。注射微囊藻毒素24h后,虽然罗非鱼肝脏GPX与UCP2基因mRNA表达水平亦出现明显的升高趋势,但两者均未出现显著性的变化(p>0.05)。本研究从基因表达调控的角度证实,罗非鱼肝脏sGST在微囊藻毒素去毒过程中可能发挥关键作用,同时也说明罗非鱼肝脏GPX、UCP2基因可能在微囊藻去毒过程中发挥协同作用。     

The immune response of tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus and its susceptibility to Streptococcus iniae under stress in low and high temperatures

Mozambique tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus acclimated to 27 degrees C were then held at 19, 23, 27 (control), 31 and 35 degrees C, and were examined for non-specific cellular and humoral responses after 12-96 h. Total leucocyte count decreased significantly when fish were transferred to 19 and 23 degrees C after 48 and 96 h, and when transferred to 35 degrees C over 12-96 h, respectively. Respiratory burst decreased significantly when fish were transferred to 19, 31 and 35 degrees C over 24-96 h, whereas phagocytic activity and phagocytic index decreased significantly when fish were transferred to low temperatures (19 and 23 degrees C) and high temperatures (31 and 35 degrees C) over 12-96 h. Lysozyme activity decreased significantly when fish were transferred to 19 degrees C after 12-96 h, but increased significantly when transferred to 31 and 35 degrees C over 48-96 h. Alternative complement pathway (ACH(50)) also decreased significantly when transferred to 19 and 23 degrees C after 12h, but increased significantly when transferred to 31 and 35 degrees C after 24h. In another experiment, tilapia reared at 27 degrees C were injected intraperitoneally with Streptococcus iniae at a dose of 1 x 10(7)colony-forming units (cfu)fish(-1), and then reared onward at water temperatures of 19, 23, 27 (control), 31 and 35 degrees C. Over 48-168 h, the cumulative mortality of S. iniae-injected fish held in 19 and 35 degrees C was significantly higher than that of injected-fish held in 23, 27 and 31 degrees C. It is concluded that transfer of tilapia O. mossambicus from 27 degrees C to low temperatures (19 and 23 degrees C) after 12h, and transfer of fish from 27 degrees C to high temperatures (31 and 35 degrees C) reduced their immune capability. Moreover, tilapia under temperature stress at 19 and 35 degrees C from 27 degrees C decreased its resistance against S. iniae.