Search

The warm temperature acclimation related 65 kDa protein-2 (Wap65-2), a teleost plasma glycoprotein, plays an important role in immune regulation against bacterial infection. Here, for the first time we determined the full length cDNA sequence of the Japanese sea bass Wap65-2 gene (1 601 bp in length excluding the 3'-polyA tail). The sequence contains an open reading frame that encodes a protein of 436 amino acids with a molecular weight of 4.87×10(4). The predicted protein had a signal peptide in the N-terminal domain containing 19 residues. Sequence comparison and phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the Japanese sea bass Wap65-2 has a relatively high similarity to the Dicentrarchus labrax Wap65-2. In the healthy Japanese sea bass, Wap65-2 mRNA was expressed mainly in the liver and weakly in the heart and muscle. qRT-PCR results revealed that liver Wap65-2 transcripts were significantly increased after a Vibrio harveyi infection, and peaked 24 hour post injection (6.89 fold increase). The Japanese sea bass Wap65-2 protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and subsequently used for antiserum preparation. Western blot analysis showed that Wap65-2 was significantly increased in V. harveyi infected Japanese sea bass and reached a maximum of 5.33-fold increase at 36 h. In conclusion, the alteration of Japanese sea bass Wap65-2 expression was tightly associated with the progression of the V. harveyi bacterial infection.

Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and lab-on-a-chip system were used to identify grouper and snapper species in Taiwan Strait. A fragment of 464 bp length of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was amplified by PCR and the products were digested with restriction enzymes Dde I , Hae III and NLa III, individually. The fragments generated after digestion were further resolved on the DNA Chip. Eight grouper species and five snapper species were successfully identified. The results demonstrated that PCR-RFLP analysis and lab-on-a-chip system provide a fast, easy, automated, and reliable analysis approach. This approach is potential for the purpose of fish adulteration control.

Forty microsatellite loci were selected to amplify the genomic DNA of cultured stock of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides L.) in China. Genotypic differences of these microsatellites loci were analyzed using 2-test between the maximal weight group and minimal weight group. Sixteen microsatellites showing significantly difference (P<0.1) were used in genotyping 121 individuals, and the associations between their genotypes and growth traits were examined. Microsatellite loci of JZL60, JZL67, JZL72, JZL124, MiSaTPW76, MiSaTPW117 and MiSaTPW173 were significantly associated with body weight, body length, and body height (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01). The most favorable genotypes for growth traits were AA at JZL60, BB at JZL67, AC at JZL72, BB at MiSaTPW76 and BC at MiSaTPW117. In addition, a total of 47 alleles for the 16 loci were detected (2 approximately 5 alleles for each locus). The average effective number of alleles (Ae), observed heterozygosity (Ho), expected heterozygosity (He) and mean polymorphic information content (PIC) was 2.938, 0.515, 0.500 and 0.445, respectively, both of which indicated that the population genetic diversity was medium.