Effects of a superoptimal temperature on aquacultured yellowtail <Emphasis Type="Italic">Seriola quinqueradiata</Emphasis>

This study aimed to investigate the effects of a superoptimal temperature on growth, body composition, body size heterogeneity, and relationships among these factors in juvenile yellowtail. Fish (mean body weight?=?24 g) were tagged individually and reared for 70 days under two different water temperature regimes [optimal (25 °C) and superoptimal (30 °C)]. After rearing, fish reared at 30 °C showed lower survival, less food, feed and protein utilization, significantly lower growth performance, and a lower hepatosomatic index than fish raised at 25 °C. Variations in body indices among individuals were larger for fish reared at 30 °C than for fish reared at 25 °C. Mean whole body protein content was significantly lower in fish reared at 30 °C than fish reared at 25 °C. In addition, several glucogenic and/or aromatic amino acids were lower in fish reared at 30 °C than in fish reared at 25 °C. Whole body lipid levels tended to be lower in fish with lower body weight reared at 30 °C. These results suggest that fish raised at 30 °C will have lower growth performance, and lower concentrations of specific amino acids. Moreover, heterogeneity in body size and body lipid content is expanded by a superoptimal temperature.     

Dietary arginine requirement of juvenile kuruma shrimp Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate)

The requirements for essential amino acids by kuruma shrimp, Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate) have not yet been determined using the dose–response method due to poor utilization of crystalline amino acids (CAA). In a previous study, we produced coated CAA that could be used to retard leaching losses. Therefore, to determine the arginine requirement of juvenile kuruma shrimp, a growth study was conducted using test diets containing six levels of coated arginine (from 1.20% to 3.19% of diet) for 42 days. Crystalline amino acids was supplemented to correspond to the amino acid pattern in the whole body protein of the kuruma shrimp except for arginine. To reduce leaching losses, CAA were coated with carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and diets were further bound with CMC and k‐carrageenan. Test diets were fed to triplicate groups of juveniles (0.25±0.02 g) twice a day. Proximate composition and the amino acid composition of shrimp whole bodies were analysed at the end of the feeding trial. Percent body weight gain (WG), specific growth rate, feed intake, feed efficiency ratio and protein retention efficiency were significantly affected by the dietary arginine concentrations. Estimating the arginine requirement of kuruma shrimp using broken‐line analysis of percent WG resulted in a value of 2.66% of diet or 5.32% of protein. After correcting for leaching of arginine from the diets, the optimum dietary value of arginine for kuruma shrimp was a little lower than the estimated value.     

Assessment of requirement values for essential amino acids in the prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate)

The requirements of juvenile prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus (Bate), 0.79 g initial body weight, for essential amino acids (EAA) were evaluated based on the daily increase of each EAA in the whole body when the prawn was maintained on a diet with a high nutritive value (a casein‐squid protein‐based diet). The quantities of each EAA needed daily for growth and maintenance of prawn are conceived to correspond to the daily requirements of this prawn species for EAA. Therefore, these requirement values of respective EAA should be supplied from dietary proteins. To determine these values, protein and amino acids of the whole body of the prawn were quantified before and after feeding experiments, and the quantities of respective EAA needed to meet the requirements were estimated based on the EAA profile of the whole body protein of prawn. As a result, the contents of EAA in dietary proteins (%) needed to meet the requirements of the prawn for EAA were assessed to be: threonine (2.3), methionine (1.3), valine (2.4), isoleucine (2.3), leucine (3.4), phenylalanine (2.6), lysine (3.2), histidine (1.1), arginine (2.9) and tryptophan (0.6), respectively, when the prawn are fed 50% protein diet with 90% protein digestibility at a ration size of 2% (% of body weight).     

cDNA cloning and primary structure comparison of tauropine dehydrogenase and β-alanopine dehydrogenase from the limpet <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cellana grata</Emphasis>

The primary structures of β-alanopine dehydrogenase (β-AlDH) and tauropine dehydrogenase (TaDH) from the limpet Cellana grata were determined by amino acid sequence analysis and complementary DNA (cDNA) cloning. β-AlDH and TaDH cDNAs comprised 1,479 nucleotides and 1,444 nucleotides, respectively, and both included an open reading frame of 1,206 nucleotides corresponding to 402 amino acids. The enzymes showed very high homology, with 96% amino acid identity. These enzymes were homologous to other marine invertebrate opine dehydrogenases (OpDHs), except TaDH of the marine sponge Halichondria japonica. The highest homologies were to alanopine dehydrogenase from Fusitriton oregonensis, being 57% for both enzymes. A phylogenetic tree constructed on the basis of marine invertebrate OpDHs and developed using a sequence distance method and neighbor-joining algorithm showed a tendency for the classification of animals from taxonomically derived evolutionary trees. Additionally, Cellana grata OpDHs belong to the same group as the Gastropoda OpDHs. This represents the first report concerning the primary structure of marine invertebrate β-AlDH, and primary structure comparisons of clearly different enzymes from the same species.     

Measurements of density contrast and sound-speed contrast for target strength estimation of Neocalanus copepods (Neocalanus cristatus and Neocalanus plumchrus) in the North Pacific Ocean

The mass density and sound-speed contrasts against surrounding seawater (g and h, respectively) of Neocalanus copepods (N. cristatus and N. plumchrus) were measured in 2006 and 2007 to compute the theoretical target strength (TS). The values of g ranged from 0.997 to 1.009 in N. cristatus and from 0.995 to 1.009 in N. plumchrus. There were no correlations between prosome length (PL) and g. The values of h ranged from 1.006 to 1.021 in N. cristatus and from 1.013 to 1.025 in N. plumchrus and varied with changes in temperature. TS was estimated with the theoretical sound scattering model using the values of g and h based on the temperature, salinity, and depth of the location where the specimens were collected. Regressions of the tilt-averaged TS versus PL were obtained at 38, 120, and 200 kHz. The averaged TS of N. cristatus and N. plumchrus at 120 kHz, which is widely used as a high frequency, ranged from −110.0 to −103.1 dB and from −121.4 to −109.7 dB, respectively. There was a positive correlation between frequency and averaged TS: the higher the frequency, the higher the value of averaged TS. The TS at 120 and 38 kHz varied from 14.8 to 16.4 dB in N. cristatus and from 17.9 to 18.7 dB in N. plumchrus, respectively; that at 200 and 120 kHz varied from 2.9 to 5.5 dB in N. cristatus and from 5.3 to 6.5 dB in N. plumchrus, respectively.     

Effect of the methoxyiminoacetamide fungicide,SSF129, on respiratory activity in Botrytis cinerea

(E)-2-Methoxyimino-N-methyl-2-[2-(2,5-dimethylphenoxymethyl)phenyl]acetamide (SSF129) has been developed as a broad-spectrum systemic fungicide for control of cereal and fruit diseases. This compound inhibited NADH-oxidation by submitochondrial particles from mycelial cells of Botrytis cinerea, with an EC₅₀ value of 14.5 nM , due to blockage of electron transport through the cytochrome bc₁ complex in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. However, SSF129 did not suppress, but rather increased, oxygen consumption by mycelial cells of the fungus. This was because mycelial cells contain an alternative oxidase protein and the cells have the ability to rapidly switch electron flux from the main cytochrome pathway to the alternative pathway on blockage of the former by SSF129. The alternative pathway of the mycelia seems not to be operative when the cytochrome pathway is functional. Naturally occurring flavonoids inhibited the alternative oxidase of the mycelial cells in a dose-dependent manner, with EC₅₀ values of 68.4 µM for flavone and 63.7 µM for flavanone. These observations suggested that plant components play an important role in control of gray mould by SSF129. © 1999 Society of Chemical Industry     

Close linkage of a blast resistance gene,Pias(t), with a bacterial leaf blight resistance gene,Xa1-as(t), in a rice cultivar ‘Asominori’

It has long been known that a bacterial leaf blight-resistant line in rice obtained from a crossing using ‘Asominori’ as a resistant parent also has resistance to blast, but a blast resistance gene in ‘Asominori’ has not been investigated in detail. In the present study, a blast resistance gene in ‘Asominori’, tentatively named Pias(t), was revealed to be located within 162-kb region between DNA markers YX4-3 and NX4-1 on chromosome 4 and to be linked with an ‘Asominori’ allele of the bacterial leaf blight resistance gene Xa1, tentatively named Xa1-as(t). An ‘Asominori’ allele of Pias(t) was found to be dominant and difference of disease severity between lines having the ‘Asominori’ allele of Pias(t) and those without it was 1.2 in disease index from 0 to 10. Pias(t) was also closely linked with the Ph gene controlling phenol reaction, suggesting the possibility of successful selection of blast resistance using the phenol reaction. Since blast-resistant commercial cultivars have been developed using ‘Asominori’ as a parent, Pias(t) is considered to be a useful gene in rice breeding for blast resistance.     

Comparative assessment of purine nucleotides adenosine,guanosine and inosine monophosphates as functional supplements on growth and health performances of red sea bream,Pagrus major juvenile

Purine nucleotides regulate the cellular functions in the animal body. The current study evaluates the comparative efficacy of dietary purine nucleotides, that is, adenosine monophosphate (AMP), guanosine monophosphate (GMP) and inosine monophosphate (IMP) in red sea bream Pagrus major. Semi‐purified basal diet was formulated (Control, D1) containing 550 g/kg protein, supplemented with purine nucleotides AMP, GMP and IMP at their optimum supplementation level (2, 4 and 4 g/kg) to formulate the experimental diet groups D2, D3 and D4, respectively. Initial weight of 3.5 ± 0.01 g fish was randomly fed test diets in triplicate. After 56 days, % weight gain (p = .003), specific growth rate (p = .003) and apparent lipid digestibility (p = .04) were significantly higher in fish fed diet group D4 followed by D3 and D2. Supplemented groups showed significantly higher feed intake in comparison to control (p = .001). Supplemented groups showed significantly increased and decreased NBT (p = .003) and CAT (p = .003) activity, respectively. Fish fed IMP supplemented diets had significantly lower blood urea nitrogen (p = .04), glutamyl oxaloacetic transaminase (p = .04) and glutamic‐pyruvate transaminase (p = .001) followed by other supplemented groups. Supplemented diet groups showed enhanced stress resistance. Interestingly, D2 and D4 groups showed best oxidative stress status of fish. Therefore, these results indicated that among purine nucleotides, supplementation of IMP could be a more effective nucleotide as functional supplement in red sea bream diet.