• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.387-395
• /
• 2008

A novel Tc1-like transposable element has been identified as a new DNA transposon in the mud loach, Misgurnus mizolepis. The M. mizolepis Tc1-like transposon (MMTS) is comprised of inverted terminal repeats and a single gene that codes Tc1-like transposase. The deduced amino acid sequence of the transposase-encoding region of MMTS transposon contains motifs including DDE motif, which was previously recognized in other Tc1-like transposons. However, putative MMTS transposase has only 34-37% identity with well-known Tc1, PPTN, and S elements at the amino acid level. In dot-hybridization analysis used to measure the copy numbers of the MMTS transposon in genomes of the mud loach, it was shown that the MMTS transposon is present at about $3.36{\times}10^4$ copies per $2{\times}10^9$ bp, and accounts for approximately 0.027% of the mud loach genome. Here, we also describe novel MMTS-like transposons from the genomes of carp-like fishes, flatfish species, and cichlid fishes, which bear conserved inverted repeats flanking an apparently intact transposase gene. Additionally, BLAST searches and phylogenetic analysis indicated that MMTS-like transposons evolved uniquely in fishes, and comprise a new subfamily of Tc1-like transposons, with only modest similarity to Drosophila melanogaster (foldback element FB4, HB2, HB1), Xenopus laevis, Xenopus tropicalis, and Anopheles gambiae (Frisky).

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.39-46
• /
• 2001

To examine the effect of copy number-dependent transgenic genotype on the expression of foreign gene, stable hemizygous and homozygous transgenic breeding line was established using artificial parthenogenesis. For this purpose, induced diploid gynogenetic transgenesis was optimized in mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis) using UV-irradiated cyprinid loach (M. anguillicaudatus) sperm and thermal shocks. Optimum UV range for inactivation of cyprinid loach sperm was between 3,150 to $4,050\;ergs/mm^2$ The UV-irradiated sperm were inseminated into eggs from recessive color strain (yellow) or heterozygous transgenic mud loach containing CAT gene. Cold shock at $2^{\circ}C$ for 60 min, 5 min post fertilization successfully restored the diploidy of eggs inseminated with UV-irradiated sperm. Restoration to diploidy was confirmed by flow cytometry and gynogenetic status was verified by examining maternal exclusive inheritance of multi-locus DNA fingerprints, body color and transgenic marker. Putative isogenic transgenic fish clearly showed homozygous status at trans gene locus based on Southern blot hybridization and progeny testing. Further, such homozygous gynogenetic diploids revealed the increased levels of transgene expression, when compared to those of heterozygous (hemizygous) transgenic fish.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.279-287
• /
• 2011

Transcriptional response patterns of mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis; Cypriniformes) hepcidin, a potential ortholog to human hamp1, in response to experimental challenges with non-pathogenic and pathogenic bacterial species were analyzed based on the semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assay. Mud loach hepcidin transcripts were much more preferentially induced by pathogenic bacterial species (Edwardsiella tarda and Vibrio anguillarum) causing apparent pathological symptoms than by non-pathogenic species (Escherichia coli and Bacillus thuringiensis) displaying neither clinical signs nor mortality. However in overall, the induced amounts of hepcidin transcripts were positively related with the number of bacterial cells delivered in both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacterial species. Inducibility of hepcidin transcripts were variable among three tissues examined (liver, kidney and spleen) in which kidney and spleen were more responsive to the bacterial challenge than liver. Time course expression patterns of hepcidin mRNAs after challenge were different between groups challenged with pathogenic and non-pathogenic species, although the overall pattern of hepcidin expression was in accordance with that generally observed in battery genes appeared during early phase of inflammation. Fish challenged with E. coli (non-pathogenic) showed the significant induction of hepcidin transcripts within 24 hr post injection (hpi) but the level was rapidly declined to the basal level either at 48 or 96 hpi. On the other hand, hepcidin transcript levels in E. tarda (pathogenic)-challenged fish were continuously elevated until 48 hpi, then downregulated at 96 hpi, although the level at 96 hpi was still significantly higher than control level observed in non-challenged fish. This expression pattern was consistent in all the three tissues examined. Taken together, our data indicate that hepcidin is tightly in relation with pathological and/or inflammation status during bacterial challenge, consequently providing useful basis to extend knowledge on the host defensive roles of hepcidin under infectious conditions in bony fish.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.65-77
• /
• 2006

Gene transcripts potentially responsive to the heat stress were surveyed by cDNA microarray analysis in mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis). Transcriptional profiles of hepatic tissue in the fish exposed to either $23^{\circ}C$ or $32^{\circ}C$ for 4 weeks were compared each other by 3 replicated hybridization assays using 1,124 unigene clones selected from mud loach liver expressed sequence tags (ESTs). A total of 93 clones showed the substantially increased mRNA levels (>2-fold) in $32^{\circ}C$-exposed group when compared in $23^{\circ}C$control group. It includes various enzymes and proteins involved in energy pathway, protease/protein metabolisms, immune/antioxidant functions, cytoskeleton/cell structure, transport and/or signal transduction. Maximum level of increase was up to 15-fold relative to $23^{\circ}C$ treatment. Heat exposure also resulted in the significant decrease (less than 50% relative to $23^{\circ}C$-exposed fish) of the transcriptional activities in 85 genes. Besides the above categories, yolk protein (vitellogenin) and ribosomal proteins were notably down regulated in the fish exposed to heat stress. A number of novel gene transcripts were also detected in both up-regulated and down-regulated groups.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.70-74
• /
• 2011

During the winter, the rice field-dwelling muddy loach Misgurnus mizolepis is buried in burrows constructed of mud and are subjected to exposure to air at times of shortage of water. To investigate the environmental factors that lead to changes of the skin mucus cells of the muddy loach in rice fields, we carried out an experiment where we artificially exposure the fish to air, duplicating as close as possible winter conditions in nature. During the summer, a water tank containing M. mizolepis was filled with mud, and the water was allowed to evaporate. After a month of evaporation, the loach constructed burrows similar to those in a winter rice field. The epidermis in the experimental fish was mostly occupied by large elongated mucus cells, whose numbers drastically increased in all observed regions of the dorsum, lateral region, and the occiput. Such features are typically seen in fishes in wild habitats during the winter season.

• Journal of Aquaculture
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.157-165
• /
• 2006

Expression of major antioxidant enzyme (AOE) including Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn-SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione-S-transferase (GST) and 3 glutathione peroxidase isotypes (GPXs) at mRNA levels during heat stress was examined in mud loach (Misgurnus mizolepis) liver. Based on the semi-quantitative RT-PCR, real-time RT-PCR and/or northern dot blot hybridization, the antioxidant enzyme genes were generally up-regulated during elevation of water temperature from $23^{\circ}C$ up to $32^{\circ}C$. GPXs and SOD displayed the most significant elevation of mRNA levels (up to 3 and 2 folds, respectively) while CAT showed the steady-state expression irrespective of thermal conditions. GST represented the relatively moderate response (1.3-fold increase) in its transcription to thermal stress. The transcriptional activation of AOE genes was not significant at the treatment temperature lower than $29^{\circ}C$. Increased mRNA levels of GPX (extracellular form) and SOD genes in the fish exposed to $32^{\circ}C$ was readily detectable 1 day after exposure to heat stress.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.91-98
• /
• 1997

The transgene, pFV4CAT, containing CAT reporter gene regulated by carp $\beta$-actin promoter, was expressed in independent transgenic mud loach germ lines, determined by reverse transcriptase-PCR (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA). Expression of the transmitted transgene was found to be tissue-specific in F1 and F2 generations. Tissue specificity of the expression was dependent on each transgenic line with reproducible patterns. Liver and spleen did express the transgene more frequently than other tissues tested, and muscle and heart revealed the higher amount of CAT than other tissues, while testes showed the lowest expression level. The highest level of CAT expression in muscle from a transgenic F1 line was corresponding to 68-fold compared to the basal levels of controls.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.230-237
• /
• 2010

Histological observation on the seasonal variation of mucus cells of the mud loach Misgurnus mizolepis inhabiting a natural stream was carried out on three skin regions (dorsal, lateral and occiput) from March 2008 to February 2009. Our results showed no differences in general morphology by season, but the mucus cells of the epidermis showed significant seasonal change in their size and number as the water temperature changed. The ratio of surface area of the mucus cell layer and mucus cells, and the number of mucus cells in surface area of the epidermis were the greatest in the cold winter and the least in the hot summer in all regions of the epidermis. In particular, the occiput seemed to be a very sensitive region in response to environmental change, showing wide fluctuations in the size of mucus cells throughout the year and a great change in between seasons, especially from late autumn to early winter when the temperature decreased. As the temperature became colder, a small and spherical-shaped mucus cell was transformed into a large and elongated columnar form with a lot of secreted mucus material in a superficial layer of the epidermis. From our results, we can safely surmise that cold temperature is an important environmental factor having a close relationship with the modification of mucus cells of M. mizolepis in winter.

• Journal of fish pathology
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.67-80
• /
• 2005

Phosphoinositide-specific phospholipase $C\delta$ $PLC\delta$) plays an important role in many cellular responses and is involved in the production of second messenger. The present study was conducted to obtain the biochemical characteristics of the expressed recombinant $PLC\delta$ in E. coli cloned from Misgurnus mizolepis and partially purified $PLC\delta$ enzymes from liver tissues of M. mizolepis (wild ML-$PLC\delta$). The ML $PLC\delta$ gene was cloned and expressed under the previous report (Kim et al., 2004), and purified the recombinant protein by successive chromatography using $Ni^{2+}$-NTA affinity column and gel iltration FPLC column. The wild ML-$PLC\delta$ protein was solublized with 2 M KCI and purified by successive chromatography on open heparin-Sephagel and analytical TSKgel heparin-5PW. Both the recombinant and wild ML-$PLC\delta$ form of protein showed a concentration-dependent PLC activity to phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bis-phosphate (PIP$_2$) or phosphatidylinositol (PI). Its activity was absolutely $Ca^{2+}$- dependant, which was similar to mammalian $PLC\delta$ isozymes. Maximal PI-hydrolytic activations of recombinant and wild ML- TEX>$PLC\delta$ was at pH 7.0 and pH 7.5, respectively. In addition, the enzymatic activities of recombinant and wild ML-$PLC\delta$ were increased in concentration-dependent manner by detergent, such as sodium deoxycholate SDC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylcholine (PC). The activities decreased in contrast by a polyamine, such as spermine. Western blotting showed that several types of $PLC\delta$ isozymes exist in various organs. Taken together our results, it suggested that the biochemical characteristics of ML-$PLC\delta$ are similar with those of mammalian $PLC\delta1$ and ${\delta}3$ isozymes.