Population genetics of Todarodes pacificus (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae) in the northwest Pacific Ocean via GBS sequencing.

The common squid, Todarodes pacificus, is an important commercial species that inhabits the northwest Pacific Ocean, particularly the East Japan Sea, the Pacific coast of Japan, and the East China Sea. In this study, we chose 29 individuals from three areas: one type from the Sea of Japan and two types from the East China Sea. A total of 43,529 SNPs were obtained using genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). Our analyses revealed low genetic diversity and genetic differentiation in each type. Heterozygote deficiency and inbreeding have caused this low level of genetic diversity. Population structure analysis indicated that the three types were genetically similar, which may be attributed to strong gene flow combined with the demographic history events during the last 2 million years. This new GBS application technique provides valuable information for the conservation of marine species genetics and could be useful for the effective management of this resource.

Microplastic enrichment capacity of Ctenochaetus striatus from the habitat environment - An example in Xisha, South China Sea.

Microplastic pollution is a widespread concern in the global marine environment. In this study, microplastic pollution status in Xisha waters was investigated. Microplastics were found in all seawater samples, and 90.76 % of C. striatus samples were detected with microplastics. The average abundance of microplastics in seawater samples was 0.64 ± 0.39 items/L, and the abundance of microplastics in the gills and gastrointestinal tracts (GITs)of C. striatus was 1.14 ± 0.41 items/L and 1.80 ± 0.49 items/L, respectively. Shapes of microplastics in the seawater and in the gills and GITs of C. striatus were mainly fibers and films, and the majority of the particle sizes being <1 mm, and the polymers were mainly PET. In addition, the abundance of microplastics in the gills and GITs of C. striatus was positively correlated with that in the seawater, and the correlation was higher in the gills than in the GITs, which means that the accumulation of microplastics in the gills was more closely related to their habitats. The positive correlation between microplastic abundance in the gills and GITs of C. striatus and its body size may be due to the fact that larger individuals have greater energetic demands, require more energy requirements, consume more food, and thus increase the chances of ingesting microplastics.

Study on the Geographic Variation and Trophic Variation of Todarodes pacificus in Different Areas Based on Stable Isotope Information from the Gladius.

The Japanese flying squid (Todarodes pacificus) is an important cephalopod in the northwest Pacific Ocean. In this study, the proostracum of the gladius of T. pacificus samples collected by Chinese squid fishing vessels in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan in August and December 2018 were continuously cut, and stable isotope values of the cut fragments were used to analyze the migration path and feeding ecology of T. pacificus. The results showed that when the proostracum grew to 120 mm from the distal end, T. pacificus began to migrate. In the East China Sea, T. pacificus migrated to low latitudes and nearshore areas, and the trophic level of their food showed no large changes during migration. In the Sea of Japan, T. pacificus migrated to high latitudes and offshore areas, and the trophic level of their food showed a decreasing trend during migration. There was no significant difference in migration or feeding ecology between females and males, but the competitive capacity of the females may be stronger than that of the males. The results provided a scientific basis for the scientific management and development of T. pacificus resources.

[Statolith microstructure and growth characteristics of Sthenoeuthis oualaniensis in the northwest Indian Ocean]. / 西北印度洋海域鸢乌贼耳石微结构及生长特性.

Statolith is one of the most important hard tissues to study the age, growth, population structure and life history of cephalopods. In order to stuty statolith microstructure and growth characteristics of Sthenoeuthis oualaniensis in the northwest Indian Ocean, 1009 samples were collected by Chinese light falling-net fishery fleets during investigation and production in the northwest Indian Ocean from February to May of 2019. Total statolith length (TSL), lateral dome length (LDL), wing length (WL) and maximum width (MW) were taken as the indicators of morphological feature of the statolith, combined with the age data, the statolith microstructure and growth characteristics of S. oualaniensis were studied. The results showed that the statolith microstructure could be divided into postnuclear zone, dark zone and peripheral zone according to the width of growth increment. The analysis of covariance showed that there was no growth difference of TSL, LDL, WL and MW between different sexes. The relationships between TSL, WL, MW and age were best described by the power functions, while the relationship between LDL and age was best described by the linear function. In general, with the increase of age, the instantaneous relative growth rate and absolute growth rate of TSL, WL, LDL and MW decreased, and 140-180 d may be the age of sexual maturity for this squid.

Circ_0045714/miR-331-3p interaction affects IL-1ß-evoked human articular chondrocyte injury through regulating PIK3R3 in a ceRNA regulatory cascade.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by joint pain and joint function limitation. Hsa_circ_0045714 (circ_0045714) is a novel OA-related circular RNA. However, its repertoire remains to be further clarified in joint chondrocytes. METHODS: RNA and protein expression levels and inflammatory factor levels were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Cell proliferation and apoptosis were determined by colony formation assay, cell counting kit-8 assay and apoptosis assay. Direct interaction was predicted by bioinformatics method and confirmed by dual-luciferase reporter assay. RESULTS: Expression of circ_0045714 and phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) regulatory subunit 3 (PIK3R3) was declined, and microRNA (miR)-331-3p was promoted in knee articular cartilages and cells from OA patients, as well as interleukin (IL)-1ß-challenged human articular chondrocytes (HAC) cell line. In stimulation of IL-1ß, HAC cells showed a loss of colony formation ability, cell viability and expression of Bcl-2 and Collagen II, allied with an increase in apoptosis rate and levels of IL-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α, Bcl-2-associated X protein, cleaved caspase-3, and ADAM with thrombospondin motif-5. Noticeably, overexpressing circ_0045714 and inhibiting miR-331-3p could suppress IL-1ß-evoked these effects, and both were through up-regulating PIK3R3, a key gene in PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Mechanically, circ_0045714 functioned as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-331-3p and further regulated expression of the downstream target gene PIK3R3. CONCLUSION: There was a novel circ_0045714/miR-331-3p/PIK3R3 ceRNA axis in HAC, and its inhibition might be one mechanism of HAC injury in OA.

[Factors influencing beak morphology of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in the northwest Indian Ocean.] / è¥¿åŒ—å°åº¦æ´‹é¸¢ä¹Œè´¼è§’è´¨é¢šå¤–å½¢å˜åŒ–çš„å½±å“å› ç´ .

With 1009 Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis samples collected by Chinese light falling-net fishery during February to May in the northwest Indian Ocean, we analyzed the influencing factors of the morphology change of the beak. There were significant differences in the morphologic growth between genders, different gonad maturity stages, and different mantle length. The increment of characteristic parameters growth peaked in the mantle length between 201 and 250 mm, and in the Ⅱ and Ⅲ stages of gonad maturity for females and males, respectively. There was no significant difference in the ratio of morphometric parameters to crest length (CL) between the genders, diffe-rent gonad maturity stages, and different mantle length, except for the ratio of upper hood length to upper crest length (UWL/UCL) and lower hood length to lower crest length (LHL/LCL). The ratio of each characteristic parameter to CL was nearly stable with the change of sex, gonad maturity and mantle length, suggesting consistent growth of each dome of beak. Our results suggested the mantle length of 201 mm to 250 mm seemed to be the threshold for the morphologic growth of beak on the body size, while the gonad maturity of Ⅱ and Ⅲ stages seemed to be the threshold for the morphologic growth of beak on the gonad maturity.

[Beak morphological and growth characteristic of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis in the northwest Indian Ocean in winter and spring]. / 冬春季西北印度洋鸢乌贼角质颚外部形态及生长特性.

Beak is one of the most important hard tissues of cephalopods, and thus is widely used in the study of cephalopod fisheries ecology and fishery resource assessment. With 1009 Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis samples collected by Chinese light falling-net fishery during February to May in the northwest Indian Ocean, we examined the morphologic and growth characteristics of beak. Results of the principal component analysis showed that the upper hood length (UHL), the upper crest length (UCL), the upper lateral wall length (ULWL), the lower crest length (LCL), the lower wing length (LWL) and the lower lateral wall length (LLWL) could be used as the morphological cha-racteristic parameters to examine the morphological changes of the beak. Results of the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there were significant differences in the relationships between all of the morphological characteristic parameters and mantel length (ML) for males and females except UCL. There were significant differences in the relationships between all of the morphological characteristic parameters and body weight (BW) for males and females. The relationships between LCL, UCL and ML were optimally described by the linear functions. Power functions were best for UHL, LWL and linear functions were best for ULWL, LLWL for females. The relationships between ULWL and ML were optimally described by power functions, while the logarithm functions were best for UHL, LLWL and LWL for males. The relationships between all of the morphological characteristic parameters and BW were optimally described by the power functions for females, while the logarithm functions for males except the power function for ULWL. Our results provided scientific basis for the research of the fisheries ecology and stock assessment for S. oualaniensis.

[Beak morphological growth characteristic of Gonatopsis borealis in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean]. / 西北太平洋北方拟黵乌贼角质颚外部形态生长特性.

Beak is one of the most hard tissues in cephalopods, which is important in the study of fishery ecology. We analyzed the morphological growth characteristics of 268 beaks of Gonatopsis borealis collected in the Northwest Pacific Ocean from September to November of 2018 by Chinese jigging fishing fleets. Results from the principal component analysis showed that the upper hood length (UHL), upper crest length (UCL), upper rostrum length (URL), lower hood length (LHL), lower crest length (LCL) and lower rostrum length (LRL) could be used as the morphological characteristic parameters to study the morphological growth of beak. Results from the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that there was no significant difference both in the relationships between the morphological characteristic parameters versus mantle length (ML) or body weight (BW) for males and females. The relationships between ML and UHL, LHL were best described by power functions but by logarithm function for UCL, URL, LCL, and linear function for LRL respectively. The relationships between BW and UHL, UCL, URL, LCL, LRL were best described by logarithm functions but power function for LHL based on the result of the Akaike's information criterion. The results of growth models for the morphological parameters in this study provided scientific basis for the stock assessment in further research.

[Element composition in the statoliths of Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis squid in Xisha islands waters of South China Sea]. / ä¸­å›½å—æµ·è¥¿æ²™ç¾¤å²›æµ·åŸŸé¸¢ä¹Œè´¼è€³çŸ³å ƒç´ ç»„æˆ.

Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis is the most important cephalopods fishery resource of the South China Sea, which supported the falling-net fishery of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan Provinces of China. Understanding the fisheries biology is essential for sustainable exploitation and management of this squid. Statolith is one of the most important hard tissues of cephalopods which were widely used in the research of fisheries biology and ecology. Elements of 20 statoliths of S. oualaniensis collected in the Xisha islands waters of South China Sea during May to August by the falling-net fishery of 2017 were analyzed with Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for different sexes, different hatching groups, and history stages. The results showed that the statolith of the S. oualaniensis contained 55 elements, with calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), silicon (Si),magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), iron (Fe), barium (Ba) and boron (B) being the top ten abundant elements. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that there was no significant difference in all element distributions between sexes for the most abundant ten elements. Significant differences existed in the contents of Si, Sr, Mg, Na and K but no significant difference was found in the contents of Ca, P, B, Fe and B between different hatching groups. There were significant differences in the contents of Sr, Na, P, K, Si, Mg, B and Ba, but no significant difference in the contents of Ca and Fe in the statoliths among different growth zones. Our results suggested that Sr, Na, K and Mg were probably the best four elements for life history reconstruction and examining population structure of the S. oualaniensis.

The Effect of ADAM8 on the Proliferation and Apoptosis of Hepatocytes and Hepatoma Carcinoma Cells.

This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of ADAM8 on the proliferation and apoptosis of hepatocytes and hepatoma carcinoma cells during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. The expression of ADAM8 was significantly increased with good correlation of PCNA expression increasing and cells apoptosis decreasing during the progression of HCC in the liver of mice. Proliferation experiment in vitro showed that recombinant ADAM8 could induce the expression of PCNA in L02 cells, but not in HepG2 cells. Apoptosis experiment in vitro showed that recombinant ADAM8 did not induce or inhibit the expression of apoptosis-related factors Bcl2, Bax, and Caspase3 in L02 cells, but significantly induced the expression of Bcl2, inhibited the expression of Bax and Caspase3 in HepG2 cells. In conclusion, our study suggested that ADAM8 could promote the proliferation of normal hepatocytes and render hepatoma carcinoma cells more resistant to apoptosis to play important roles during the progression of HCC. ADAM8; Proliferation; Apoptosis.

The Protective Roles of IL-6 Trans-Signaling Regulated by ADAM9 on the Liver in Carbon Tetrachloride-Induced Liver Injury in Mice.

Our study was undertaken to evaluate the important role that a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 9 (ADAM9) regulates IL-6 trans-signaling in carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver injury in mice. Mice were divided into four groups. Each group respectively received mineral oil injection, CCl4 injection, anti-ADAM9 monoclonal antibody (mAb) pretreatment and CCl4 injection, anti-ADAM9 mAb and recombinant mouse ADAM9 molecules pretreatment with CCl4 injection. Our results showed that anti-ADAM9 mAb pretreatment significantly aggravated liver injury, inhibited IL-6 trans-signaling, which led to downregulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), upregulation of Caspase3, cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), and hepatocytes apoptosis at 24 h after CCl4 injection. Recombinant ADAM9 molecules pretreatment reversed the impact of anti-ADAM9 mAb pretreatment in mice. In conclusion, our study suggested that ADAM9 could regulate the hepatocytes proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, and CYP2E1 expression by activating IL-6 trans-signaling and play important protective roles during CCl4-induced liver injury in mice.

IL-6 trans-signaling plays important protective roles in acute liver injury induced by acetaminophen in mice.

Our study was undertaken to evaluate the important role of interleukin-6 (IL-6) trans-signaling in acetaminophen (AAP)-induced liver injury. A soluble gp130 protein (sgp130Fc) exclusively inhibits IL-6 trans-signaling, whereas an IL-6/soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R) fusion protein (hyper-IL-6) mimics IL-6 trans-signaling. Using these tools, we investigated the role of IL-6 trans-signaling in AAP-induced liver injury. Blockade of IL-6 trans-signaling during AAP-induced liver injury remarkably increased the levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase; lowered the level of serum sIL-6R; aggravated liver injury; inhibited the expression of phosphorylation of STAT3 (pSTAT3), proliferating cell nuclear antigen, vascular endothelial growth factor, and glycogen synthesis; and induced the expression of Caspase3, cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1), and hepatocyte apoptosis in the liver of mice. In summary, our study suggested that IL-6 trans-signaling plays important protective roles by regulating the hepatocyte proliferation and apoptosis, angiogenesis, CYP2E1 expression, and glycogen metabolism during AAP-induced liver injury in mice.

[Trace elements in the statoliths of neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii in the Northwest Pacific Ocean].

Statolith is one of the most important hard tissues of cephalopods which is widely used in the research of fisheries ecology including population structure, life history reconstruction and so on. Trace elements of 18 statoliths of neon flying squid Ommastrephes bartramii collected in the Northwest Pacific Ocean in 2007 by Chinese jigging fishing fleets were analyzed by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). The results indicated that the statoliths of O. bartramii mainly contained 55 elements, and calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), silicon (Si), magnesium (Mg), boron (B), iron (Fe), barium (Ba) were the 10 most abundant elements. The analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in each element distribution between different sexual squid except for P, Si and B. Significant differences existed in the contents of Sr and Na but no significant difference was found in the contents of Ca, P, K, Si, Mg, B, Fe and Ba between different hatching populations. There were significant differences in the contents of Ca, Sr, Na, P, Mg and Ba, but no significant difference was found in the contents of K, Fe, B and Si in the statoliths among different growth zones. This study presented Sr and Na could be the best two trace elements used in the research on the population structure and life history reconstruction for O. bartramii.

[Stock assessment and management for Illex argentinus in Southwest Atlantic Ocean based on Bayesian Schaefer model].

Abstract: Bayesian Schaefer model was applied to assess the stock of Illex argentinus in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean, with the risk of alternative management strategies for the squid analyzed. Under the scenarios of normal and uniform prior assumptions, the estimated model parameters and reference points were similar, and higher than the values under the scenario of logarithmic normal prior assumption. Under the three proposed scenarios, the fishing mortalities and the total catches in 2001-2010 were lower than the reference point F0.1 and the maximum sustainable yield (MSY), indicating that the I. argentinus was in an expected sustainable exploited level but not in over-fishing and over-fished. The results of decision analysis indicated that at the same harvest rate, the stock of the I. argentinus under the scenario of logarithmic normal prior assumption in 2025 would be the lowest, and the probability of collapse would be the highest. Under the three scenarios, the harvest rate in 2025 would be all 0.6 if the catch was the maximum. However, if the harvest rate was set to 0.6, the stock of the I. argentinus after 2025 would have definite risk, and thus, the harvest rate 0.4 and the catch 550000 t appeared to be the best management regulation or the baseline case.