Search

Grass carp has the highest production yield among all the farmed fish species around the world. But the molecular and genetic basis of growth traits is inadequately understood in this fish. In the present study, we apply whole-transcriptome sequencing to identify genes whose expression is different between fast and slow growing grass carp. We identified 1178 differentially expressed genes (DEGs), among which 270 were upregulated in the fast growing group and 908 upregulated in the slow growing group. The GO enrichment analysis revealed that DEGs was significantly enriched in protein synthesis and export machinery, cell division and development and metabolism, suggesting that cell division and metabolism may play key roles in development processes of fish. KEGG pathway analysis showed that MAPK signaling pathway may play a prominent role in growth difference. In addition, the majority of genes in immune responses related pathway were upregulated in the slow growing individuals. These results provide some valuable resources for understanding the molecular mechanisms of growth traits in fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some patients with bipolar disorder have traumatic experience, sleep disturbance, and emotional variations, which are related to nightmare reports in clinics. We hypothesized that the nightmare experience might present some uniqueness in different types of bipolar disorder. We invited 200 healthy volunteers and 141 bipolar disorder I (BD I) and 78 bipolar disorder II (BD II) patients who had at least one nightmare lifelong to undergo tests of the Nightmare Experience Questionnaire (NEQ) and the questionnaires measuring mania, hypomania, and depression. Compared with healthy controls, both BD I and BD II patients displayed their abnormal affective states and scored significantly higher on NEQ Meaning Interpretation; BD I patients, in addition, scored higher on NEQ Horrible Stimulation. Hypomania was correlated with Horrible Simulation in BD II patients, and depression was correlated with Physical Effect and Horrible Stimulation in healthy controls. We found some NEQ scales were elevated in bipolar disorder, but these abnormalities failed to differentiate BD I from BD II. However, these results help explain the cognitive and emotional disturbances of bipolar disorder in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The oriental river prawn, Macrobrachium nipponense, is an economically and nutritionally important species of the Palaemonidae family of decapod crustaceans. To date, the sequencing of its whole genome is unavailable as a nonmodel organism. Transcriptomic information is also scarce for this species. In this study, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing to produce the first comprehensive expressed sequence tag (EST) dataset for M. nipponense using high-throughput sequencing technologies. Methodology and Principal Findings: Total RNA was isolated from eyestalk, gill, heart, ovary, testis, hepatopancreas, muscle, and embryos at the cleavage, gastrula, nauplius and zoea stages. Equal quantities of RNA from each tissue and stage were pooled to construct a cDNA library. Using 454 pyrosequencing technology, we generated a total of 984,204 high quality reads (338.59Mb) with an average length of 344 bp. Clustering and assembly of these reads produced a nonredundant set of 81,411 unique sequences, comprising 42,551 contigs and 38,860 singletons. All of the unique sequences were involved in the molecular function (30,425), cellular component (44,112) and biological process (67,679) categories by GO analysis. Potential genes and their functions were predicted by KEGG pathway mapping and COG analysis. Based on our sequence analysis and published literature, many putative genes involved in sex determination, including DMRT1, FTZ-F1, FOXL2, FEM1 and other potentially important candidate genes, were identified for the first time in this prawn. Furthermore, 6,689 SSRs and 18,107 high-confidence SNPs were identified in this EST dataset. Conclusions: The transcriptome provides an invaluable new data for a functional genomics resource and future biological research in M. nipponense. The molecular markers identified in this study will provide a material basis for future genetic linkage and quantitative trait loci analyses, and will be essential for accelerating aquaculture breeding programs with this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The giant freshwater prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii) is a commercially cultured species in China. A sex chromosome-specific marker is crucial for sex identification and distinguishing sex chromosomes. Here, based on the results of reduced-representation genome sequencing and genome survey of M. rosenbergii, we identified steady sex-linked markers. Further nucleotide alignment analysis revealed 83.42% nucleotide similarity between the amplified W- and Z-chromosome fragments. qPCR confirmed that Z chromosome-specific fragments were present in males approximately twice as often compared to females. Similarly, the W chromosome-specific fragments were present in super females approximately twice as often compared to females. Our findings elucidate the ZW/ZZ sex determination type and contribute to exploring sex-related or sex-determining genes present on the sex chromosomes of M. rosenbergii. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]