• Title/Summary/Keyword: Marine Organisms

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Drugs from Marine Sources: Modulation of TRAIL Induced Apoptosis in Cancer Cells

  • Farooqi, Ammad Ahmad;Attar, Rukset;Gasparri, Maria Luisa
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.20
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    • pp.9045-9047
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    • 2014
  • There have been overwhelming advances in molecular oncology and data obtained through high-throughput technologies have started to shed light on wide ranging molecular mechanisms that underpin cancer progression. Increasingly it is being realized that marine micro-organisms and the biodiversity of plankton are rich sources of various anticancer compounds. Marine derived compounds play major roles in inducing apoptosis in cancer cells. More importantly, various agents have been noted to enhance TRAIL induced apoptosis in cancer cells by functionalizing intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. In this commentary, a list of marine derived compounds reported to induce apoptosis is discussed.

Detection of Fish Killing Dinoflagellates Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Karlodinium veneficum (Dinophyceae) in the East China Sea by Real-time PCR

  • Park, Tae-Gyu;Kang, Yang-Soon;Park, Young-Tae;Bae, Heon-Meen;Lee, Yoon
    • ALGAE
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.105-110
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    • 2009
  • The rDNAs of figh-killing dinoflagellates Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Karlodinium veneficum were detected from the East China Sea by species-specific real-time PCR probes. Sequence analysesusing the partial ITS sequences from the real-time PCR products showed identical sequences with C. Polykrikoides and K. veneficum, respectively and low expectation values (E-value) of less than 1e-5 suggesting the presence of these organisms in the East Ching Sea shelf water that flows into the Tsushima Strait and the Yellow Sea.

Development of Life Science and Biotechnology by Marine Microorganisms (해양 미생물을 활용한 생명과학 및 생명공학 기술 개발)

  • Yongjoon Yoon;Bohyun Yun;Sungmin Hwang;Ki Hwan Moon
    • Journal of Life Science
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    • v.33 no.7
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    • pp.593-604
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    • 2023
  • The ocean accounts for over 70% of the Earth's surface and is a space of largely unexplored unknowns and opportunities. Korea is a peninsula surrounded by the sea on three sides, emphasizing the importance of marine research. The ocean has an extremely complex environment with immense biological diversity. In terms of microbiology, the marine environment has varying factors like extreme temperature, pressure, solar radiation, salt concentration, and pH, providing ecologically unique habitats. Due to this variety, marine organisms have very different phylogenetic classifications compared with terrestrial organisms. Although various microorganisms inhabit the ocean, studies on the diversity, isolation, and cultivation of marine microorganisms and the secondary metabolites they produce are still insufficient. Research on bioactive substances from marine microorganisms, which were rarely studied until the 1990s, has accelerated in terms of natural products from marine Actinomycetes since the 2000s. Since then, industries for bioplastic and biofuel production, carbon dioxide capture, probiotics, and pharmaceutical discovery and development of antibacterial, anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory drugs using bacteria, archaea, and algae have significantly grown. In this review, we introduce current research findings and the latest trends in life science and biotechnology using marine microorganisms. Through this article, we hope to create consumer awareness of the importance of basic and applied research in various natural product-related discovery fields other than conventional pharmaceutical drug discovery. The article aims to suggest pathways that may boost research on the optimization and application of future marine-derived materials.

Intraspecific Androgenesis in Mud Loach (Misgurnus mizolepis): II. Diploid Restoration and Viability Assessment (미꾸라지(Misgurnus mizolepis)의 웅성발생성 처녀생식: II. 웅성발생성 이배체 유도 및 생존능력 평가)

  • Nam, Yoon-Kwon;Bang, In-Chul;Noh, Choong-Hwan;Cho, Young-Sun;Kim, Dong-Soo
    • Journal of Aquaculture
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.281-287
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    • 2006
  • Intraspecific diploid androgenesis was achieved in mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis) by the inhibition of the first mitotic division using combined thermal treatment. A combined thermal treatment (heat shock at $40.5\;^{\circ}C$ for 120 sec followed by cold treatment at $1\;^{\circ}C$ for 45 min) applied to the 1st metaphase of cell division (28 min post insemination at $25\;^{\circ}C$) successfully recovered viable androgenetic diploidy. Mean hatching success of the androgenetic diploid group was 29.6%, and the average yield out of total eggs taken was about 7% assessed at 1 week of age. However, relatively large variations in the yield of diploid androgenesis were observed among different egg batches used as cytoplasmic donors. Successful diploidization was confirmed by flow cytometric analysis, and parthenogenic reproduction in a paternal exclusive manner was verified with transgene dosage. Significant mortality was found in most androgenetic groups especially from hatch to 1 month of age, although such mortality was stabilized later.

Preliminary Studies on the Effects of Dietary Genetically Modified Soya and Corn on Growth Performance and Body Composition of Juvenile Olive Flounder(Paralichthys olivaceus) and Rockfish (Sebastes schlegeli)

  • Pham, Minh Anh;Nam, Yoon-Kwon;Kim, Sung-Hwean;Kim, Dong-Soo;Cho, Sung-Hwoan;Kim, Bong-Seok;Lee, Sang-Min
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.63-70
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    • 2010
  • Two feeding experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of dietary genetically modified (GM) soya and com on growth performance, feed utilization and body composition of juvenile olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus and rockfish, Sebastes schlegelii. For each fish species, four isonitrogenous (50% crude protein) and isocaloric (4.1 kcal/g) diets (designated as nGM soya, GM soya, nGM com and GM com) were formulated to contain 20% non-GM (nGM) and GM soya and com. Thirty olive flounder (initial body weight, 15.4${\pm}$0.4 g) and fifty rockfish (initial body weight, 3.1${\pm}$0.02 g) were distributed in each 400 L tank (200 L water) in a flow through system. Each experimental diet was fed to triplicate groups of fish to visual satiation, twice a day (9:00 hand 17:00 h) for 6 weeks. Growth performance was measured every three weeks. No effects of GM feedstuffs on survival were observed. Dietary inclusion of GM feedstuffs did not affect growth performance and feed utilization of fishes, except for rockfish fed GM com. Rockfish fed the GM com diet showed higher weight gain, daily feed intake and daily protein intake than did fish fed the nGM com diet, but no significant differences were observed in final body weight between the dietary treatments. Condition factor, hepatosomatic index, visceral somatic index and body composition were not altered by the inclusion of GM feedstuffs. These results indicate that dietary inclusion of GM soya and com could have no effects on growth performance and feed utilization of juvenile flounder and rockfish. Lower weight gain and feed intake in flounder and rockfish fed the diets containing 20% soya were likely due to anti-nutritional factors, rather than transgenic factors in the feedstuffs. Dietary inclusion of GM soya and com at the level tested did not alter the body composition of fishes. Further studies to investigate the effects of GM feedstuffs on health conditions and the development of fishes, as well as those of residue of transgenic fragments in ambient environments and in animals are necessary for safe use of the ingredients in aquaculture.

Ecobiotechnology of Marine Sponges and Their Symbionts - Review and Present Status

  • Pallela, Ramjee;Kim, Se-Kwon
    • Journal of Marine Bioscience and Biotechnology
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.15-25
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    • 2011
  • Marine sponges are a rich source of highly diversified bioactive compounds. These medicinally valuable molecules represent extreme physiological and ecological functions in sponges, more presumably involving in the resistance to the feeding by other marine organisms like fish and fouling by barnacles, bacteria, fungi, etc. This feature of attaining resistance made sponges as successful poriferans that possess an impressive array of biological properties ranging from antimicrobial to anticancerous activities. The diversified bioactive principle of sponges might be due to their spacio-temporal distribution and although, the gateway for exploiting the sponges for isolating these distinct, potential molecules is open, suitable technical and methodological approaches are yet to be implemented in order to bring the sponges as successful pharmaceutical leads in the field of marine biotechnology. Despite of the identified difficulties of marine sponge research from past few decades, one should concentrate not only on the basic and applied technical/methodological considerations, but also on the novel strategies like in vitro sponge cell, fragment and whole sponge culture; sponge symbiont cell culture; in situ and ex situ sponge cultivation; and sponge bioreactors and metagenomic approaches, for the successful exploitation of marine sponges towards the novelty in sponge biotechnology. The present review narrates the pros and cons of the nowadays-marine sponge research by focusing on the suggestive ecobiotechnological approaches, based on the latest studies for feasible ecological exploitation and biotechnological application of sponges from the sea.

Current Systems in the Adjacent Seas of Jeju Island Using a High-Resolution Regional Ocean Circulation Model (고해상도 해양순환모델을 활용한 제주도 주변해역의 해수유동 특성)

  • Cha, Sang-Chul;Moon, Jae-Hong
    • Ocean and Polar Research
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    • v.42 no.3
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    • pp.211-223
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    • 2020
  • With the increasing demand for improved marine environments and safety, greater ability to minimize damages to coastal areas from harmful organisms, ship accidents, oil spills, etc. is required. In this regard, an accurate assessment and understanding of current systems is a crucial step to improve forecasting ability. In this study, we examine spatial and temporal characteristics of current systems in the adjacent seas of Jeju Island using a high-resolution regional ocean circulation model. Our model successfully captures the features of tides and tidal currents observed around Jeju Island. The tide form number calculated from the model result ranges between 0.3 and 0.45 in the adjacent seas of Jeju Island, indicating that the dominant type of tides is a combination of diurnal and semidiurnal, but predominantly semidiurnal. The spatial pattern of tidal current ellipses show that the tidal currents oscillate in a northwest-southeast direction and the rotating direction is clockwise in the adjacent seas of Jeju Island and counterclockwise in the Jeju Strait. Compared to the mean kinetic energy, the contribution of tidal current energy prevails the most parts of the region, but largely decreases in the eastern seas of Jeju Island where the Tsushima Warm Current is dominant. In addition, a Lagrangian particle-tracking experiment conducted suggests that particle trajectories in tidal currents flowing along the coast may differ substantially from the mean current direction. Thus, improving our understanding of tidal currents is essential to forecast the transport of marine pollution and harmful organisms in the adjacent seas of Jeju Island.

Hepatic Expression of Cu/Zn-Superoxide Dismutase Transcripts in Response to Acute Metal Exposure and Heat Stress in Hemibarbus mylodon (Teleostei: Cypriniformes)

  • Cho, Young-Sun;Bang, In-Chul;Lee, Il-Ro;Nam, Yoon-Kwon
    • Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.12 no.3
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    • pp.179-184
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    • 2009
  • Hemibarbus mylodon (Cypriniformes) is an endemic freshwater fish species in the Korean peninsula, for which urgent conservation efforts are needed. To understand their stress responses in relation to metal toxicity and thermal elevation, we performed a real-time RT-PCR-based expression assay of hepatic copper/zinc-superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), a key antioxidant enzyme, in response to experimental heavy metal exposure or heat treatment. The transcription of hepatic Cu/Zn-SOD was differentially modulated by acute exposure to Cu, cadmium (Cd), or Zn. Exposure to each metal at $5{\mu}M$ for 24 h revealed that Cu stimulated the mRNA expression of Cu/Zn-SOD to a greater extent than the other two heavy metals. The elevation in Cu/Zn-SOD transcripts in response to Cu exposure was dose-dependent (0.5 to $5{\mu}M$). Time course analysis of Cu/Zn-SOD expression in response to Cd exposure ($5{\mu}M$) revealed a transient pattern up to day 7. Exposure to thermal stress (an increase from 22 to $30^{\circ}C$ at a rate of $1^{\circ}C/h$ followed by $30^{\circ}C$ for 18 h) did not significantly alter SOD transcription, although heat shock protein 90 kDa (HSP90) transcription was positively correlated with an increase in temperature.

Species composition and community structure of aquatic organisms caught by the trial fishing gear for Metapenaeus joyneri in the coastal water of Gochang (고창 연안에서 중하(Metapenaeus joyneri) 포획용 시험어구에 어획된 수산생물의 종조성 및 군집구조)

  • Young-Hwan JOO;Ho-Young CHANG;Min-Son KIM;Hyun-Su JO
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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    • v.59 no.3
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    • pp.221-230
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    • 2023
  • Although the abundance of Metapenaeus joyneri resources with high commercial value was recently confirmed in the outer waters of Gomso Bay, located between Buan-gun and Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do, Metapenaeus joyneri resources have not been efficiently utilized due to the absence of fishing gears and methods for a selective Metapenaeus joyneri capture. Therefore, in this study, we adopted shrimp dredge as a trial fishing gear for the Metapenaeus joyneri capture, and analyzed the species composition and cluster community structure of aquatic organisms caught by the shrimp dredge, from May to September 2021 at the coastal waters of Gochang-gun, Jeollabuk-do. During the experimental period, 28 types of marine species of 29,190 individuals and 250,136 g of total biomass were caught. Among them, the population of Metapenaeus joyneri, the target species, dominated by 80.7%, followed by Thrysa chefuensis with 7.1%, and Leiognathus nuchalis with 6.0%, confirming that the fishing ratio of Metapenaeus joyneri was the highest among all species.