• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.480-485
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• 2012

The hemocytes of the tunicate Halocynthia roretzi are classified into six types based on their size, cellular form, and fine structure of the cytoplasmic granules: hyalinocytes, granulocytes, phagocytes, nephrocytes, morula cells, and multi-vacuole cells. Based on cell size, they are ordered multi-vacuole cells ($7.5{\mu}m$)>nephrocytes ($7.1{\mu}m$)>phagocytes ($6.8{\mu}m$)>granulocytes ($6.1{\mu}m$)>morula cells ($5.7{\mu}m$)>hyalinocytes ($5.4{\mu}m$). The proportion of hemocytes is ranked in the order multi-vacuole cells (54.8%)>nephrocytes (16.9%)>granulocytes (9.9%)>morula cells (8.8%)>phagocytes (6.1%)>hyalinocytes (3.5%).

• KSBB Journal
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2013

Carotenoids are fat-soluble red-orange colored pigments found in plants and seafood-derived products, including algae, seaweeds, and fish muscle. In this study, we have demonstrated the molecular mechanism underlying the antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties of ascidian tunic carotenoids using mouse macrophage cell line (RAW 264.7). Cell viability was not affected by treatment of carotenoids < 10 ${\mu}g/mL$. This treatment also showed negative inhibition on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). The DPPH radical scavenging activity of carotenoids was 47.2% at 100 mg/mL. It also has a potential reducing power (1.025) comparable with ascorbic acid (1.584). The ascidian tunic carotenoids would make a candidate for the commercially interesting biologically active cosmetic pigments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.170-180
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• 1995

A carotennnoprotein from the skin of Ascidian(Halocynthia roretzi) was extracted by Triton X-100 and purified by ammonium sulfate fraction, SephadexG-200 charomatography and DEAE-cellulose ion exchange chromatography. The carotenoprotein was redwith broad $\lambda$$_{max}$ between 495, 467 and 318nm. The red carotenoprotein had an approximate molecular weight of 326KDa(gel filtration). SDS-PAGE indicated the presence of two polypeptodes of 84.1KDa and 74.4KDa, with different mobility in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the presence of denaturing agents such as organic solvent aand extreme pH, the red complex readily disociates to liberate the yellow carotenoid($\lambda$$_{max}$ 452nm) and a colourless apoprotein. The amino acid composition of carotenoprotein were mainly threonine(15.2%), aspartic acid(12.2%), glutamic acid(11.9%) and serine(9.6%), while proline was not found. The carotenoprotein consisted of lipids as structure units. Its major fatty acids composion were C$_{18:1}$, C$_{16:1}$, and C$_{16:0}$. The monounsaturated fatty acids(41.5%) contained abundant content compared to other fatty aacids(polyunsaturated fatty acids 37.4%, saturated fatty acids 20.6%).

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.98-104
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• 2004

Early development and metamorphosis of the ascidian (Halocynthia hilgendorfi ritteri) were investigated from fertilized egg. The samples were collected in the coastal waters of Yongdam, northwest of Jeju Island in November 2002. H. hilgendorfi ritteri was solitary ascidian and produced spheral eggs with egg size ranging from $0.33\pm0.01\;mm.$ On the outer surface of the vitelline coat are attached many follicle cells. At $21.0\pm0.5^{\circ}C$ of water temperature, first cleavage took place in about 1.5 hrs after fertilization, and gastrulation followed in about 12.5 hrs. The formation of tailbud embryos and free swimming larvae were observed 13.3 hrs and 20.5 hrs after fertilization, respectively. The size of newly hatched tadpole larva was 1.30-1.45 mm, the larva swam for 2 hrs to 14 hrs. At 4 hrs after hatching, the palpi were lost and tail absorption began with an abrupt rupture of the anterior end of the notochord. At 17-18 hrs after hatching, tail completely absorption and remained trunk. The coniform adhesive papilla began protrusion at 30 hrs after hatching. The oral and atrial siphon formed at 6-7 days after settlement. At 17-18 days after settlement, metamorphosed the larvae developed into protoascidian of which the external morphology was similar to their adult.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.13-20
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• 1978

Changes of free amino acids, nucleotides and their related compounds as taste compounds during sun drying of ascidian Cynthia roretzi, were analyzed by amino acid autoanalyzer and high speed liquid chromatography. In fresh ascidian, the results showed that 5'-UMP $(12.1\;{\mu}mole/g)$ was dominant and the content of cytosine, 2', 3'-CMP, 2', 3'-GMP, hypoxanhtine, 5'-AMP,5'-IMP were 5.8, 3.4, 3.1, 2,3, 1.7 and $1.3\;{\mu}mole/g$ ondry base respectively. 5'-IMP, 2', 3'-CMP and 2', 3'-GMP tended to degrade slowly and 5'-AMP, cytosine and 5'-UMP were decreased rapidly while hypoxanthine were increased remarkably during the sun drying. In dried ascidian, the content of hypoxanthine was the highest, 7.2 mole/g on dry base, whereas that of 5'-AMP $(0.5\;{\mu}mole/g)$) and 5'-IMP $(0.9\;{\mu}mole/g)$ were lower. Glutamic acid, alanine and serine were dominant amino acid in the fresh extracts, having 22.4% (611.3mg%, on dry qase), 19.8% (540.5mg%) and 14.8% (402.8mg%) of the total amino acid content respectively. The content of tyrosine, histidine, lysine, methionine, isoleucine and valine were low, and proline, phenylalanine were detected in trace amount. The free amino acid were not changed in composition but the increase of total free amino acid was approximately 116.8mg% during sun drying. In sun dried ascidian, glutamic acid (691.0mg, on dry base), alanine (641.3mg%), serine (469.5mg%), threonine (234.8mg%) and glycine (206.3mg%) were dominant amino acid. It is believed that glutamic acid, serine, alanine, threonine, glycine and hypoxanthine play an important role as taste compounds in sun dried ascidian.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2013

This study examined the taste, nutritional and functional characterizations of commercial seasoned sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi (CSS). Total taste values of CSS ranged from 7.6 to 69.5 and the major free amino acids were glutamic acid and aspartic acid. Total contents of amino acids in CSS ranged from 5.91 to 7.59 g/100 g and the major amino acids were also glutamic acid and aspartic acid. When taking 100 g of CSS, the minerals that could be expected to have functional health effects (minerals whose levels were above 10% of the recommended daily requirements) were P, Mg and Fe. Other minerals were also present in non-negligible quantities. In terms of the functional properties of CSS, ACE inhibitory activity was 21.2-37.1%, antioxidative activity was 55.4-90.4%, xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity was 52.9-76.6% and ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory activity was 0-32%. Antimicrobial activity against Vibrio parahaemolyticus was not detected, but activity against Staphylococcus aureus, groups such as KB, GG, CY, DN, HC and KH, and against Escherichia coli groups such as SF, WD, KB and GG, was detected.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2013

This study investigated the food biochemical characterization of commercial seasoned sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi (CSS). The proximate composition of CSS was 77.2-82.7% moisture, 7.1-9.1% crude protein, 0.3-2.6% crude lipid and 3.5-6.3% ash. Taste compound contents of CSS were 2.3-5.4% salinity (saltiness), 0.42-1.12 g/100 g total acidity (sourness) and 114.9-330.2 mg/100 g amino nitrogen (taste intensity). The Hunter color values of CSS were 23.79-32.50 for lightness, 9.97-20.45 for redness, 14.01-20.96 for yellowness and 64.50-76.63 for color difference. The odor intensity of CSS was 35.0-62.0. According to these results, there were large differences in proximate composition, taste compounds, Hunter color values and odor intensity of CSS. Viable cell counts ranged from 6.20 to 7.69 log (CFU/g), and most of the viable cells comprised of lactic acid-forming bacteria. CSS was not detected in the coliform group.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.27-36
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• 2013

This study was conducted to develop and characterize sea squirt Halocynthia roretzi sikhae. According to the results for pH, total acidity, lactic acid bacteria, amino nitrogen and sensory evaluation of sea squirt sikhae during fermentation for 6 days at $15^{\circ}C$, the optimum fermentation periods were 4 days for sourness-disliking customers and 5 days for sour-disliking customers. No differences in the proximate compositions of sea squirt sikhaes fermented for 4 days (4D) and for 5 days (5D) were found. There was a difference in the eproximate compositions of commercial seasoned sea squirts, 4D and 5D, sea squirt sikhaes. The results of salinity, total acidity, amino nitrogen and sensory evaluation of two kinds of sikhae suggest that the taste was stronger for 5D than for 4D, both of which were superior to commercial seasoned sea squirts. There was, however, no difference in color of 4D, 5D and commercial seasoned sea squirts. The results of E. coli analyses suggest that sea squirt sikhae is a safe food in terms of sanitation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.575-581
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• 2013

We examined the effect of starvation on the occurrence of tunic softness to determine the cause of mass mortality of cultured Halocynthia roretzi (Drasche) in the Tongyeong region, Korea. In terms of the survival rate of H. roretzi and the occurrence rate of tunic softness, H. roretzi starved for 35 days at water temperatures of 8, 12, and $15^{\circ}C{\pm}0.5^{\circ}C$ (room temperature of $15^{\circ}C{\pm}1^{\circ}C$) did not exhibit tunic softness at water temperatures of either $8^{\circ}C$ or $12^{\circ}C$. for morphological changes, although the tunic of H. roretzi was shrunken and became visibly smaller with a darkening color in all experimental groups, as compared to the state prior to starvation, its tunics bulbs continuously. The ratio of RNA/DNA concentrations and protein contents for each of the tunic sections were lower in the starved group. Our results indicate that tunic softness is not related to feeding deficiency, as no histopathological symptoms were apparent in the digestive gland or tunic of H. roretzi due to starvation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.1171-1179
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• 2009

The solitary ascidian, Halocynthia aurantium, which is commonly called the sea peach because of its coloration and general shape, is a valuable organism of benthic marine population in the northern region of the East Sea, Korea. It is seldom found at a depth of less than 10 meters and the sea peach is frequently observed in large populations between 20 and 100 meters. It appears to prefer attachment to vertical rocks faces and artificial cement blocks exposed to the currents. Mass mortality and reduction of resources in sea peach, H. aurantium, were occurred in the benthic area of the northern region of the East Sea because of the rapid fluctuation of environmental factors such as temperature and salinity due to mass rainfall in summer and going up north of a strong warm current in winter. Therefore, we examined the effects of temperature and salinity on embryonic development of fertilized eggs, tadpole larva to metamorphosis, and attachment to siphon development. Laboratory-raised larvae were studied using a two-factorial experimental design with four levels of temperature(8, 12, 16 and $20^{\circ}C$) and four levels of salinity(20, 25, 30 and 34 psu). The ascidian larvae of H. aurantium survived environmental conditions between temperature of $8{\sim}20^{\circ}C$ and salinity of 25~34 psu and exhibited positive growth at $8{\sim}16^{\circ}C$ and 30~34 psu. Fertilized eggs have not developed at lower salinity of 20 psu irrespective of temperature range tested and have showed an abnormal development at the salinity of 25 psu between higher temperatures of 20 and $24^{\circ}C$. This result suggests that temperature increase and salinity reduction depending on environmental fluctuation may have significant impacts on population variation of H. aurantium in the northern region of the East Sea.