Biochemical composition of some Echinodermata (Holothuroidea, Echinoidea) from the Red Sea, Egypt / Composição bioquímica de alguns Echinodermata (Holothuroidea, Echinoidea) do Mar Vermelho, Egito

In the present study, the biochemical composition of some Echinodermata (Holothuroidea, Echinoidea) from the Red Sea, Egypt was investigated. The results showed that the highest percentage of saturated fatty acids (SFA) was in Holothuria nobilis and the lowest percentage was recorded in Holothuria scabra. The highest percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) was recorded in Pearsonothuria graeffei while the lowest percentage was recorded in Holothuria atra. The highest percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) was recorded in Holothuria nobilis and the lowest percentage was recorded in Holothuria atra. The highest percentage of omega-3 fatty acids was recorded in Stichopus hermanni however, the lowest percentage was recorded in Diadema setosum. The highest percentage of omega-6 fatty acids was recorded in Bohadschia vitiensis where, the lowest percentage was recorded in Holothuria atra. In addition, nonessential amino acid (NEAA) glycine were the highest in all species and serine was the lowest while Essential amino acid (EAA) arginine was the highest and cysteine was the lowest. All of the NEAA recorded highest concentrations in S. hermanni except proline. The recorded essential amino acids were histidine, isoleucine, phenylalanine, and leucine. The latter was high in Pearsonothuria graeffei. Tyrosine, valine, threonine, and arginine were high in Stichopus hermanni. The present study proved that sea cucumbers has great nutritional value.

No presente estudo, investigou-se a composição bioquímica de algumas espécies Echinodermata (Holothuroidea, Echinoidea) do Mar Vermelho no Egito. Os resultados mostraram que a maior porcentagem de ácidos graxos saturados (SFA) foi na espécie Holothuria nobilis e a menor porcentagem foi registrada em Holothuria scabra. A maior porcentagem de ácidos graxos monoinsaturados (MUFA) foi registrada na espécie Pearsonothuria graeffei, enquanto a menor porcentagem foi registrada em Holothuria atra. O maior percentual de ácidos graxos poli insaturados (PUFA) foi registrado em Holothuria nobilis e o menor percentual foi registrado em Holothuria atra. A maior porcentagem de ácidos graxos ômega-3 foi registrada na espécie Stichopus hermanni, entretanto, a menor porcentagem foi registrada em Diadema setosum. A maior porcentagem de ácidos graxos ômega-6 foi registrada em Bohadschia vitiensis e a menor porcentagem foi registrada em Holothuria atra. Além disso, o nível de aminoácido não-essencial (NEAA) glicina foi o mais alto em todas as espécies e o de serina foi o mais baixo, enquanto o nível de aminoácido essencial (EAA) arginina foi o mais alto e a cisteína foi o mais baixo. Todos os NEAA registraram concentrações mais altas em S. hermanni, exceto prolina. Os aminoácidos essenciais registrados foram histidina, isoleucina, fenilalanina e leucina. A leucina apresentou alto nível na espécie Pearsonothuria graeffei. Tirosina, valina, treonina e arginina apresentaram níveis elevados em Stichopus hermanni. Assim, o presente estudo comprovou que o pepino-do-mar possui grande valor nutricional.

Response surface methodology based optimization for degradation of align in Laminaria japónica feedstuff via fermentation by Bacillus in Apostichopus japónicas farming

Background: The alga Laminaria japonica is the most economically important brown seaweed cultured in China, which is used as food and aquatic animal feedstuff. However, the use of L. japonica as a feedstuff in Apostichopus japonicasfarming is not ideal because A. japonicas does not produce enough enzyme activity for degrading the large amount of algin present in L. japonica. In this study, semi solid fermentation of the L. japonica feedstuff employing a Bacillus strain as the microbe was used to as a mean to degrade the algin content in L. japonica feedstuff. Results: The Bacillus strain, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens WB1, was isolated by virtue of its ability to utilize sodium alginate as the sole carbon source. Eight factors affecting growth and algin-degrading capacity of WB1 were investigated. The results of Plackett-Burman design indicated that fermentation time, beef extract, and solvent to solid ratio were the significant parameters. Furthermore, the mutual interaction between the solvent to solid ratio and beef extract concentration was more significant than the other pairs of parameters on algin degradation. Optimal values obtained from Central-Composite Design were 113.94 h for fermentation time, 0.3% (w/v) beef extract and 44.87 (v/w) ratio of solvent to feedstuff. Under optimal conditions, 56.88% of the algin was degraded when a 50-fold scale-up fermentation was carried out, using a 5-L fermenter. Conclusions: This study provides an alternative and economical way to reduce the algin content in L. japonicathrough degradation by WB1, making it a promising potential source of feed for cultured L japonica.

High-level soluble expression of the functional peptide derived from the C-terminal domain of the sea cucumber lysozyme and analysis of its antimicrobial activity

Background The sea cucumber lysozyme belongs to the family of invertebrate lysozymes and is thought to be a key defense factor in protecting aquaculture animals against bacterial infection. Recently, evidence was found that the sea cucumber lysozyme exerts broad spectrum antimicrobial action in vitro against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, and it also has more potent antimicrobial activity independent of its enzymatic activity. To explore the antimicrobial role of this non-enzymatic lysozyme and model its structure to novel antimicrobial peptides, the peptide from the C-terminal amino acid residues 70-146 of the sea cucumber lysozyme in Stichopus japonicus (SjLys-C) was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli Rosetta(DE3)pLysS. Results The fusion protein system led to over-expression of the soluble and highly stable product, an approximate 26 kDa recombinant SjLys-C protein (rSjLys-C). The present study showed that rSjLys-C displayed strong antimicrobial activity against the tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In particular, the heat-treated rSjLys-C exhibited more inhibitive activity than the native rSjLys-C. The structural analysis of SjLys-C showed that it is a typical hydrophilic peptide and contains a helix-loop-helix motif. The modeling of SjLys-C molecular structures at different temperatures revealed that the tertiary structure of SjLys-C at 100°C underwent a conformational change which is favorable for enhancing antimicrobial activity. Conclusion These results indicate that the expressed rSjLys-C is a highly soluble product and has a strong antimicrobial activity. Therefore, gaining a large quantity of biologically active rSjLys-C will be used for further biochemical and structural studies and provide a potential use in aquaculture and medicine.

Antioxidant Activities of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus / 한국실험동물학회지

This study is designed to apply for cosmeceutical ingredients with Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus distributed all over the country. The antioxidizing effect of the ethanol extract of Stichopus japonicus displayed stronger inhibition than the Sanguisorba officinalis ethanol extract and mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus extract. They used in the experiment as 63.28% with the density of 50 microgram/mL, and compared with the ascorbic acid used as positive counterpart. Since the physiological activating ingredient generating the antioxidizing effect was confirmed with the Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus with the experiment results, the possibility for natural antioxidants was implied.

Skin Whitening Effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus / 한국실험동물학회지

This study is aimed to evaluate skin whitening effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus for cosmeceutical ingredients. The extract of Stichopus japonicus showed 61.78% inhibition of tyrosinase activity, and the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed 59.14% inhibition of tyrosinase activity. On the clone M-3 cell meloanocyte, the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed remarkable inhibition of melanogenesis. Also, those extracts were not irritable in ocular irritation test. It is concluded from these results that Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus have skin whitening effect. It could be used as natural depigmental material in cosmeceutical ingredients.

Skin Whitening Effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus / 한국실험동물학회지

This study is aimed to evaluate skin whitening effects of Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus for cosmeceutical ingredients. The extract of Stichopus japonicus showed 61.78% inhibition of tyrosinase activity, and the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed 59.14% inhibition of tyrosinase activity. On the clone M-3 cell meloanocyte, the mixture of Sanguisorba officinalis extract and Stichopus japonicus extract showed remarkable inhibition of melanogenesis. Also, those extracts were not irritable in ocular irritation test. It is concluded from these results that Sanguisorba officinalis and Stichopus japonicus have skin whitening effect. It could be used as natural depigmental material in cosmeceutical ingredients.

Recombinant expression and antibacterial activity of i-type lysozyme from sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus / 生物工程学报

The cDNA of an i type lysozyme was cloned from Stichopus japonicus (named as SjLys). The DNA fragment of the mature SjLys was subcloned into expression vector of pET-32a (+) to construct the recombinant plasmid of pET32a (+)-SjLys. The recombinant plasmid was then transformed into Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS and induced by isopropylthio-beta-D-galactoside (IPTG). The recombinant protein expressed as inclusion bodies was denatured, partially purified and refolded to be an active form. The bacteriolytic activity of recombinant protein purified by the metal-chelating was 19.2 U/mg. The antibacterial activity of the purified recombinant SjLys (rSjLys) was analyzed. The rSjLys protein displayed inhibitive effect on the growth of the tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In particular, rSjLys had a strong inhibitive activity on Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, both the most common pathogenic bacteria in the marine animals. The heat-treated rSjLys exhibited more potent activities against all tested bacteria. These results indicated that the S. japonicus lysozyme was the enzyme with combined enzymatic (glycosidase) and non-enzymatic antibacterial action, and it had a wide antibacterial spectrum. Therefore, it is suggested that the S. japonicus lysozyme should be one of the important molecules against pathogens in the innate immunity of sea cucumbers.

Studies on the purification of water-soluble holothurian glycosides from Apostichopus japonicus and their tumor suppressing activity / 药学学报

To obtain water-soluble holothurian glycosides with high tumor suppressing activities from Apostichopus japonicus, macroporous resin, silica gel and gel-filtration column chromatograghy were used to purify the water-soluble holothurian glycosides, and their tumor suppressing activity and inducing apoptosis of tumor cells were examined in this study. The 70% ethanol fraction of macroporous resin column, the pSC-2 and pSC-3 fractions from silica gel column showed very strong tumor suppressing activity towards HeLa cells, A-549 lung cancer cells, SGC-7901 stomach cancer cells and Bel-7402 liver cancer cells. SC-2 and SC-3 fraction purified from Sephadex LH-20 gel-filtration column chromatography, with a purity above 99.6%, all had the properties of triterpenoid glycosides. Purified SC-2 fraction had remarkable tumor suppressing activity on HeLa cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and had prominent tumor suppressing activity to mouse S180 solid tumors in a dose-dependent manner. Besides, the SC-2 fraction also had remarkable ability in elevating mouse thymus index and spleen index. The purified SC-2 fraction could induce apoptosis of HeLa cells in a dose-dependent manner, and DNA fragmentation of HeLa cells occurred after treated 12 h with 10 mg x L(-1) and 50 mg x L(-1) of SC-2 fractions. From the results, it can be concluded that the purified SC-2 fraction of water-soluble holothurian glycosides has extremely strong tumor suppressing activity, and the suppression is realized by inducing tumor cells to undergo apoptosis. This study lays solid foundation for development of highly effective new natural anticancer agents from sea cucumbers.