• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.107-115
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• 2012

In developing a useful tool to detect parasitic dynamics in an estuarine ecosystem, a denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) assay was optimized by cloning plasmid DNA from the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio, and its two parasites, the trematode Microphallus turgidus and bopyrid isopod Probopyrus pandalicola. The optimal separation condition was an oven temperature of $57.9^{\circ}C$ and 62-68% of buffer B gradient at a flow rate of 0.45 mL/min. A peptide nucleic acid blocking probe was designed to clamp the amplification of the host gene, which increased the amplification efficiency of genes with low copy numbers. Using the DHPLC assay with wild-type genomic, the assay could detect GC Gram positive bacteria and the bopyrid isopod (P. pandalicola). Therefore, the DHPLC assay is an effective tool for surveying parasitic dynamics in an estuarine ecosystem.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2008

Growth and reproduction of Palaemon serrifer were described and analyzed in a population inhabiting tide pools in warm temperate waters in Korea. The water temperature varied greatly in the tide pools, ranging from 8$^{\circ}C$ to 27.8$^{\circ}C$ Population structure and growth were investigated using size frequency distribution data collected from January to December 2003. Sex ratios fluctuated, but were almost equal during the breeding period. Growth was continuous and size increased gradually throughout the year. Adult females were larger and grew faster than males. von Bertalanffy growth parameters for a one-year sample of females and males were estimated as $L_{i\ddot{A}}$ = 11.32, K = 0.311, $t_0$ = -0.4115 and $L_{i\ddot{A}}$ = 8.36, K = 0.228, $t_0$ = -0.9693 respectively. Breeding was seasonal, starting in May, peaking in August, and finishing by the end of August. The species showed continuous production of successive broods. Laboratory observation showed that females with embryos near hatching had ovaries filled with vitellogenic oocytes ready for spawning. The reproductive output (effort) of each female (mean number of eggs: $552{\sim}1355$) was not high. The mean embryo volume, $0.078mm^3$, is relatively small, indicative of low energy allocation to each embryo. Recruitment of juveniles was closely linked to the breeding period, beginning in September.