• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.99-107
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• 2015

Despite its economic importance as an aquaculture species, the molecular and genetic information regarding physiologically important elements in rock bream (Oplegnathus fasciatus) is not completely understood. Rab proteins play a vital role in cellular mechanisms and immunity as one of the key regulators of membrane trafficking. In this investigation, a Rab gene, named as RbRab-5C-like, was identified from Oplegnathus fasciatus. RbRab-5C-like protein exhibited high homology with Rab proteins of other species and possessed signature characteristics of Rab proteins with four conserved cysteine residues. Phylogenetic analysis showed that RbRab-5C-like clustered with other fish counterparts. The RbRab-5C-like genomic sequence possesses six exons and five introns. Transcriptional analysis revealed that RbRab-5C-like was ubiquitously expressed in all examined tissues with the highest expression occurring in the liver. While the structural and homologic characteristics of RbRab-5C-like suggest a strong conservation of this element in different species, its mRNA distribution implies a wide range of biological significance in rock bream.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.31-42
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• 2011

Three novel hepcidin isoforms were isolated and characterized from the perciform fish species Oplegnathus fasciatus. These hepcidin isoforms (designated rbhepc5, rbhepc6 and rbhepc7) were found to share a conserved, tripartite gene structure and a considerable sequence homology one another. A comparison of their mature peptide sequences with those of other perciform hepcidin orthologs indicated that these three hepcidin isoforms as well as four other isoforms previously identified in this species, appear to belong to the HAMP2 group of hepcidin genes. Analysis of the 5'-upstream sequences showed that the proximal non-coding regions of rbhepc5~7 do not possess canonical TATA signals; instead, they harbor several binding motifs for transcription factors involved in immune modulation. Reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis demonstrated that the rbhepc5~7 are expressed predominantly in the liver, and that the transcription of rbhepc5~7 is rapidly induced in the liver, but not in other tissues, by experimental challenge with any of three different bacterial species. However, transcription of rbhepc6 appeared to be negligible under both basal and stimulated conditions, as judged by the redundancy count of randomly chosen reverse transcriptase-PCR clones.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.98-103
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• 2009

The potential utility of the rockbream (Oplegnathus fasciatus) $\beta$-actin 5'-upstream sequence as a regulatory element for DNA vaccination was evaluated based on in vitro and in vivo heterologous expression assays. In the in vitro transfection experiment, the efficacy of the rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter to drive the expression of a downstream lacZ gene was significantly higher (more than fourfold) than that of the human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) promoter in two fish cell lines (grunt Haemulon plumierii fin and bluegill Lepomis macrochirus fry cell lines). In contrast, the functional activity of the rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter was hardly detectable in a mammalian mouse embryonic fibroblast cell line. Rockbream skeletal muscles injected in vivo with a GFP reporter construct driven by the $\beta$-actin promoter displayed the significantly higher expression of a GFP protein (more than threefold) than did those injected with hCMV promoter driven construct. Data from this study suggest that the homologous rockbream $\beta$-actin promoter could be used as a potential regulator for DNA vaccination in this species.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.90-97
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• 2009

The cytoskeletal $\beta$-actin gene and its 5'-upstream region were isolated and characterized in the rockbream (Oplegnathus fasciatus). Complementary DNA of the rockbream $\beta$-actin represented a 1,125 bp of an open reading frame encoding 375 amino acids, and the rockbream $\beta$-actin cDNA and deduced amino acid sequences were highly homologous to those of other vertebrate orthologs. At the genomic level, the $\beta$-actin gene also exhibited an organization typical of vertebrate cytoskeletal actin genes (2,159 bp composed of five translated exons interrupted by four introns) with a conserved GT/AG exon-intron splicing rule. The putative non-translated exon predicted in the rockbream $\beta$-actin gene was much more homologous with those of teleostean $\beta$-actin genes than those of mammals. The 5'-upstream regulatory region isolated by genome walking displayed conserved and essential elements such as TATA, CArG and CAAT boxes in its proximal part, while several other immune- or stress-related motifs such as those for NF-kappa B, USF, HNF, AP-1 and C/EBP were in the distal part. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR assay results demonstrated that the rockbream $\beta$-actin transcripts were ubiquitously but different-tially expressed across the tissues of juveniles.

• Journal of Aquaculture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.132-139
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• 2007

A four-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary soybean meal (SBM) and powdered Cheongkukjang (CKJ) on non-specific immune responses of parrotfish Oplegnathus fasciatus. Three isonitrogenous (42% crude protein) and isocaloric (17.1 MJ/kg) diets were formulated to replace fish meal by 0, 25% SBM or 25% CKJ (designated as FM, 25SBM and 25CKJ, respectively). Ninety fish (initial body weight 122 g) were randomly allotted into nine 150 L tanks. One of the three experimental diets was fed to triplicate groups of fish for 4 weeks. After the feeding trial, no differences were observed in growth performances and feed utilization among fish groups. Liver superoxide dismutase activity of the fish fed CKJ containing diet was significantly higher than that of the control groups. DPPH radical scavenging and $Fe^{2+}-chelating$ activities of the experimental diets containing SBM or powdered CKJ were significantly higher than that of the control diet. The results of the present study suggest that dietary inclusion of powdered 25CKJ significantly increased liver superoxide dismutase activity and did not affect the growth performances, feed utilization, morphological parameters, as well as hematological values of parrotfish.

• Journal of fish pathology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.353-366
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• 2009

We constructed a rock bream Oplegnathus fasciatus leukocyte cDNA library and a total of 795 expressed sequence tag (EST) clones were generated. Gene annotation procedures and homology searches of the sequenced ESTs were locally done by BLASTX for amino acid similarity comparisons. Of the 795 EST clones, 491 different ESTs showed significant homology to previously described genes while 304 ESTs were unidentified, hypothetical, or unnamed proteins. Encoding 121 different sequences were identified as putative bio-defense genes or genes associated with immune response.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.49-53
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• 2009

We conducted a histological analysis to investigate the influence of nutritional changes on melano-macrophages (MMs) accumulation in the kidney of sub-adult rock bream (Oplegnathus fasciatus). Four experimental groups were established (initial control, control, fed and starved), and fed commercial feed amounting to 1-3% of their body weight for 2 weeks prior to initiation of experiments. Kidney MMs with dark brown pigment were randomly observed in the kidneys of starved fish, increasing rapidly after 4 weeks, while deposition levels remained low throughout the experiment in the control and fed groups. These results suggest that catabolic tissue breakdown is a major factor contributing to the formation of pigments within MMs. Results also suggest that the degree of MMs deposition in the kidney can be used as alternative indicators in identifying starvation in wild and cultured rock bream.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 2004

In this study, the effcts of kelp (Ascophyllum nodosum) meal on growth and immune responses of parrot fish (Oplegnathus fasciatus) were studied. Fish were fed an experimental diet supplemented with $2{\%}\;and\;5{\%}$ kelp meal in a controled diet. Several factors such as weight gain, hematological parameters and nonspecific immune responses were evaluated far 0, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the administration of the kelp meal supplemented diet. Weight gain in the fish fed the diet supplemented with $2{\%}\;and\;5{\%}$ kelp meal was not significant among the tested groups. The NBT reaction of the phagocytes in the head kidney and the phagocytic rate/index of phagocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly higher than the control group. But, there was no significant difference both in complement bactericidal activity, mucus Iysozyme activity and hematology among each group.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.240-245
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• 2017

In order to study for the growth of fish in the aquaculture industry, the behavior analysis of rock bream (Oplegnathus fasciatus) depending on the temperature and LED lights was conducted. In this study, water temperatures from 10 to 30 degrees were used. One red light (wave length: 622 nm; light power: 811 mW) and one green light (wave length: 518 nm; light power: 648 mW) were used. Behavior of the rock bream was analyzed at an average moving distance for one minutes (AMD) and a rate of movement. The mean AMD were respectively 5.3 m, 7.3 m and 3.0 m in the red LED light, green LED light and control condition. The mean rates of movement were 77%, 88% and 61% respectively in the red LED light, green LED light and control condition. The mean AMD during 24 hours were 3.1 m, 3.1 m and 3.3 m respectively in the red LED light, green LED light and control condition.

• Development and Reproduction
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.123-131
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• 2021

We report on the gonadal structure abnormality and intersexuality found from a survey regarding the reproductive potential of the rock bream, Oplegnathus fasciatus, along the southern coast of Korea. In total, 448 samples were collected for histological analysis (total length 27.5±6.8 cm; total weight 522.9±385.6 g). The sex ratio (F:M) was 1:0.46 (n=307:141), with 68.5% being females. The frequency of oocyte atresia and ovarian neoplasm in the females was 85.3% and 21.5%, respectively, and the frequency of testicular lobule and cyst deformation and testicular neoplasm in the males was 73.1% and 37.6%, respectively. The scale formation in the ovary and testis was approximately 2.0% for both sexes. The intersexuality was 42.2%, with the intersexuality among females being 49.5%, which was significantly higher than that of males (26.2%). Such findings indicate a negative impact on the reproductive output of the rock bream along the southern coast of Korea; however, a more detailed study is required to ascertain accurate causes.