The Neuropeptide HGAP Regulates Growth, Reproduction, Metamorphosis, Tissue Damage Repair, and Response against Starvation in Pacific Abalone.

INTRODUCTION: Neuropeptides regulate vital physiological processes in multicellular organisms, including growth, reproduction, metamorphosis, and feeding. Recent transcriptome analyses have revealed neuropeptide genes with potential roles in vertebrate and invertebrate growth and reproduction. Among these genes, haliotid growth-associated peptide (HGAP) was identified as a novel gene in abalone. METHODS: This study focused on HGAP in Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai), where the complete cDNA sequence named Hdh-HGAP was identified and characterized. Samples from different experiments, such as metamorphosis, juvenile abalone growth, gonad development stages, muscle remodeling, and starvation, were collected for mRNA expression analysis. RESULTS: The sequence spans 552 bp, encoding 96 amino acids with a molecular weight of 10.96 kDa. Expression analysis revealed that Hdh-HGAP exhibited higher levels in muscle tissue. Notably, during metamorphosis, Hdh-HGAP exhibited greater expression in the trochophore, veliger, and juvenile stages than in the cell division stages. Regarding growth patterns, Hdh-HGAP was highly expressed during rapid growth compared to stunted, minimal, and normal growth. In gonadal development, Hdh-HGAP mRNA reached its highest expression level during the ripening stage, indicating a potential role in gonadal cell proliferation and maturation. The in vivo effects of GnRH on gonad development and the expression of the Hdh-HGAP neuropeptide indicate its involvement in regulating reproduction in Pacific abalone. While tissue remodeling is primarily governed by immune genes, Hdh-HGAP was also upregulated during muscle tissue remodeling. Conversely, Hdh-HGAP was downregulated during prolonged starvation. CONCLUSION: This study marks the first comprehensive exploration of the Hdh-HGAP neuropeptide gene in Pacific abalone, shedding light on its involvement in growth, reproduction, metamorphosis, tissue remodeling, and response to starvation, although regulatory mechanisms are mostly unknown.

Optimal Target Assignment with Seamless Handovers for Networked Radars.

This paper proposes a binary linear programming formulation for multiple target assignment of a radar network and demonstrates its applicability to obtain optimal solutions using an off-the-shelf mixed-integer linear programming solver. The goal of radar resource scheduling in this paper is to assign the maximum number of targets by handing over targets between networked radar systems to overcome physical limitations such as the detection range and simultaneous tracking capability of each radar. To achieve this, time windows are generated considering the relation between each radar and target considering incoming target information. Numerical experiments using a local-scale simulation were performed to verify the functionality of the formulation and a sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify the trend of the results with respect to several parameters. Additional experiments performed for a large-scale (battlefield) scenario confirmed that the proposed formulation is valid and applicable for hundreds of targets and corresponding radar network systems composed of five distributed radars. The performance of the scheduling solutions using the proposed formulation was better than that of the general greedy algorithm as a heuristic approach in terms of objective value as well as the number of handovers.

Detection of Extracellular Enzyme Activities in Ganoderma neo-japonicum.

The ability of Ganoderma to produce extracellular enzymes, including ß-glucosidase, cellulase, avicelase, pectinase, xylanase, protease, amylase, and ligninase was tested in chromogenic media. ß-glucosidase showed the highest activity, among the eight tested enzymes. In particular, Ganoderma neo-japonicum showed significantly stronger activity for ß-glucosidase than that of the other enzymes. Two Ganoderma lucidum isolates showed moderate activity for avicelase; however, Ganoderma neo-japonicum showed the strongest activity. Moderate ligninase activity was only observed in Ganoderma neo-japonicum. In contrast, pectinase, amylase, protease, and cellulase were not present in Ganoderma. The results show that the degree of activity of the tested enzymes varied depending on the Ganoderma species tested.

Optimal Media Conditions for the Detection of Extracellular Cellulase Activity in Ganoderma neo-japonicum.

To determine the optimal media conditions for the detection of the extracellular cellulase activity in Ganoderma neo-japonicum, we varied three media conditions: dye reagent, pH, and temperature. We evaluated the use of four dyes, Congo red, phenol red, remazol brilliant blue, and trypan blue. To observe the effect of pH on the chromogenic reaction, we tested media ranging from 4.5 to 8.0. To research the effect of temperature on the clear zone and the fungus growing zone, we tested temperatures ranging from 15 to 35℃. On the whole, the best protocol called for Ganoderma neo-japonicum transfer onto media containing Congo red with a pH of 7.0, followed by incubation at 25℃ for 5 days. Our results will be useful to researchers who study extracellular enzyme activity in Ganoderma neo-japonicum.

Culture Conditions for the Mycelial Growth of Ganoderma applanatum.

Ganoderma applanatum is one of the most popular medicinal mushrooms due to the various biologically active components it produces. This study was conducted to obtain basic information regarding the mycelial culture conditions of Ganoderma applanatum. Based on the colony diameter and mycelial density, PDA, YMA and MCM media were suitable for the mycelial growth of the mushroom. The optimum temperature for mycelial growth was found to be 25~30℃. The optimum carbon and nitrogen sources were mannose and dextrin, respectively, and the optimum C/N ratio was 2 to 10 when 2% glucose was used. Other minor components required for the optimal growth included thiamine-HCl and biotin as vitamins, succinic acid and lactic acid as organic acids, and MgSO4·7H2O, KH2PO4 and NaCl as mineral salts.

Optimal Medium Conditions for the Detection of Cellulolytic Activity in Ganoderma lucidum.

To determine the optimal medium conditions for the detection of the cellulolytic activity in Ganoderma lucidum, we varied three media conditions: dye reagent, pH, and temperature. First, we evaluated the use of four dyes, Congo Red, Phenol Red, Remazol Brilliant Blue, and Trypan Blue. To observe the effect of pH on the chromogenic reaction, we also made and tested various media spanning acidic and alkaline pHs, ranging from 4.5 to 8.0. Furthermore, in order to research the effect of temperature on the clear zone and the fungus growing zone, we tested temperatures ranging from 15 to 35℃. On the whole, the best protocol called for Ganoderma lucidum transfer onto media containing Congo red with pH adjusted to 7.0, followed by incubation at 25℃ for 5 days. Our results will be useful to researchers who aim to study extracellular enzyme activity in Ganoderma lucidum.

Fruitbody Development of Pleurotus ostreatus via Bottle Cultivation Using Recycled Substrate.

This study was carried out to determine the possibility of bottle cultivation utilizing recycled oyster mushroom culture waste as a cultivating substrate for P. ostreatus. Total nitrogen percentage was 0.76%, 1.13%, 1.16%, 1.36%, and 1.38% in the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-time mixed substrate, respectively; 0.95%, 1.04%, 1.34%, 1.36%, and 1.25% in the 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-time postharvest substrate, respectively; and 0.72% and 0.68% in the 2- and 3-time nonadditive substrate, respectively. Weight of the fresh fruiting body harvest was 115 g, 120 g, 117 g, 118 g, and 114 g on 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-time mixed substrate, respectively; and 105 g and 45 g on 2- and 3-time nonadditive substrate, respectively. The first mixed substrate (fresh) and recycled substrates generated no significant difference in the weight of fresh fruiting bodies harvested.