• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.437-440
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• 2011

Babesia spp. were detected from 4 asymptomatic pukus captured on a game ranch in central Zambia in October 2008. Blood smears were examined in 4 species of aymptomatic free-ranging antelopes, namely the puku (Kobus vordanii), reedbuck (Redunca arundinum), bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus), and kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), and showed the presence of Babesia parasites only in the puku. In the puku, the prevalence of babesiosis was estimated at 33.3% (n=12), while the overall prevalence in all examined animals was 8.5% (n=47). The parasites showed morphological characteristics of paired ring-like stages with the length varying between $1.61{\mu}m$ and $3.02{\mu}m$ ($mean=2.12{\mu}m$, n=27; $SD=0.76{\mu}m$). Both the infected and non-infected pukus showed good body condition scores (BCS), while the dominant tick species detected from all animals were Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus spp., and Boophilus spp. To our knowledge this is the first report of Babesia spp. infection in pukus in Zambia. These findings suggest that wildlife could play an important role in the epidemiology of babesiosis in Zambia.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.287-306
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• 2012

Amphibian population declines globally. Environmental contamination by heavy metals has been suspected to the one of the reason for distinction of amphibian which has obligate aquatic life style during larval period. Amphibians have been widely accepted as animal model for the study of endocrine disruption in aquatic ecosystem at molecular as well as individual levels. There are increasing need for toxicological data in amphibians at multiple endpoints for management of contamination and development of safety guidelines. Here, we reviewed toxicological information about toxicity of heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc) on various end-point of amphibian.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.60-67
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• 2007

Myostatin (MSTN; also known as GDF8) is a member of the transforming growth factor ${\beta}-superfamily$ of proteins. MSTN negatively regulates mammalian skeletal muscle growth and development by inhibiting myoblast proliferation. Mice and cattle possessing mutant MSTN alleles display a 'double muscling' phenotype characterized by extreme skeletal muscle hypertrophy and/or hyperplasia. We isolated the full-length cDNA of a novel MSTN gene from S. schlegeli muscle tissue and examined its expression pattern in various tissues. The full-length gene (GenBank DQ423474) consists of 1941bp with an open reading frame of 1134 bp, encoding 377 amino acids that show 62-92% amino acid similarity to other vertebrate MSTNs. The predicted protein contains a conserved proteolytic cleavage site (RXRR) and nine conserved cysteine residues at the C terminus. RT-PCR revealed that the unprocessed and prodomain myostatin mRNAs were predominantly present in muscle, with limited expression in other tissues. However, the mature myostatin mRNA was highly expressed in brain and muscle, intermediately expressed in the gills, intestine, heart, and kidney, and weakly expressed in the liver and spleen.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.443-450
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• 2011

The effects of dietary supplementation with Hizikia fusiformis on anti-hyperlipidemic activities were investigated in an animal study in which normal rats were fed Hizikia fusiformis, Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract and Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract residue. Serum total lipid and triglyceride levels were significantly (P<0.05) reduced in rats fed Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract residue at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight when compared to hyperlipidemic control rats. There were also significant decreases in serum total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels in the rats fed Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract residue at 200 mg/kg body weight. In addition, the atheroscrelosis index and superoxide dismutase in blood lipids were significantly (P<0.05) lowered in rats fed Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract residue at 200 mg/kg body weight, as compared to control rats. In conclusion, Hizikia fusiformis and Hizikia fusiformis ethanol extract residue had beneficial antihyperlipidemic and antiarteriosclerosis effects.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.235-241
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• 2011

The anti-hyperlipidemic effects of dietary supplementation with sea tangle Laminaria japonica were investigated using an animal model in which normal rats were fed either sea tangle, sea tangle ethanol extract (EE-ST) and sea tangle extracted residue (ER-ST). Total lipid and triglyceride levels in the serum were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced in rats fed ER-ST at a dose of 200 mg/kg body weight when compared to hyperlipidemic control rats. Significant decreases in serum total cholesterol and low density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels also occurred in rats fed ER-ST at 200 mg/kg body weight. In addition, the atherosclerosis index and superoxide dismutase in blood lipids were significantly (P < 0.05) lowered in rats fed ER-ST at 200 mg/kg body weight as compared to control rats. In conclusion, sea tangle and ER-ST exhibited beneficial anti-hyperlipidemic and anti-arteriosclerosis effects.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 2012

Various antibiotics, that could induce the appearance of resistant microorganisms, have been used for treatment or prevention of bacterial diseases in marine and ornamental fish. We determined and characterized the level of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and proportion of multi-drug resistant bacteria in intestinal microflora of both marine fish cultured in Korea and imported ornamental freshwater fish. For this the bacterial species and resistance to antibiotics were investigated in intestine of rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus cultured in Korea and pearl gourami Trichogaster leeri imported from Singapore to characterise. Although the bacterial species were different, proportions of resistant bacteria to single antibiotics or multi-drug were higher in intestinal microflora of pearl gourami Trichogaster leeri imported from Singapore than in rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus cultured in Korea. These results indicate that various antibiotics have been being used before trading without measures in the market of asian ornamental fishes, providing high risks for the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.54-59
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• 2009

Carotenoids such as $\beta$-carotene and astaxanthin are used as food colorants, animal feed supplements and for nutritional and cosmetic purposes. In a previous study, an astaxanthin biosynthesis gene cluster was isolated from the marine bacterium, Paracoccus haeundaensis. Geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GGPP) synthase (CrtE), encoded by the ortE gene, catalyzes the formation of GGPP from farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP), which is an essential enzyme for the biosynthesis of carotenoids in early steps. In order to study the biochemical and enzymatic characteristics of this important enzyme, a large quantity of purified GGPP synthase is required. To overproduce GGPP synthase, the crtE gene was subcloned into a pET-44a(+) expression vector and transformed into the Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) codon plus cell. Transformants harboring the crtE gene were cultured and the crtE gene was over-expressed. The expressed protein was purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography and applied to study its biochemical properties and molecular characteristics.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.7.1-7.8
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• 2018

In this study, we isolated and characterized the acid-soluble skin collagen of Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT, Thunnus orientalis). The PBT skin collagen was composed of two ${\alpha}$ chains (${\alpha}1$ and ${\alpha}2$) and one ${\beta}$ chain. The denaturation temperature of PBT collagen was low although it was rich in proline and hydroxyproline. The primary structure of PBT skin collagen was almost identical to that of calf and salmon skin collagen; however, it differed with respect to the epitope recognition of the antibody against salmon type I collagen. These results suggest that the primary structure of skin collagen was highly conserved among animal species, although partial sequences that included the epitope structure differed among collagens.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2014

Sleep is vital to maintain health and well-being; however, insomnia is currently a widespread health complaint worldwide. In particular, caffeine, a psychoactive component of coffee, tea, and caffeine beverages may lead to sleep disorders such as insomnia. In this study, our primary objective was to investigate the inhibitory effect of high-purity phlorotannin preparation (HP-PRT) on caffeine-induced wakefulness. The sleep test of pentobarbital-induced mice was used as an in vivo animal model. Caffeine (50 and 100 mg/kg) showed significant arousal effects (an increase in sleep latency and a decrease in sleep duration). Co-administration of caffeine (50 mg/kg) and the sedative-hypnotic diazepam (DZP, 1 mg/kg) did not result in similar arousal activity. HP-PRT (500 mg/kg) also inhibited caffeine-induced wakefulness. Our results suggest that HP-PRT would be a useful additive for developing coffee products without the arousal effect.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.228-234
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• 2021

A single specimen (39.4 mm standard length) of Brachaluteres ulvarum, belonging to the family Monacanthidae has been recorded for the first time from Supseom, Jeju-do Island of southern Korea on 6 March 2021. This species was characterized by the presence of a small second dorsal spine present, the posterior end of pelvic without encasing scales, and numerous thin dark longitudinal lines on body. It was morphologically similar to the B. taylori, but distinguished by the ratio of the caudal peduncle to the head length (B. ulvarum, 2.5 to 3.7 times; B. taylori, 3.5 to 5.2 times). In addition, the former is well distinguished from the latter through mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences by genetic distances of range from 0.088 to 0.090. The new Korean name "Kko-ma-jwi-chi- sog" is proposed for the genus Brachaluteres, and "Kko-ma-jwi-chi" for the species B. ulvarum.