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Sea Stars are one of the most incredible creatures in the coastal and open waters. In this study, 11 species of starfishes have been identified which belonging to six genera and five families in northern islands of Persian Gulf during May 2017 to September 2018. Among the species, Astropecten hemprichi (Müller & Troschel, 1842), Astropecten indicus (Döderlein, 1888), Astropecten polyacanthus polyacanthus (Muller and Troschel, 1842), Astropecten polyacanthus phragmorous (Muller and Troschel, 1842), Luidia hardwicki (Gray, 1840), Aquilonastra iranica (Mortensen, 1940), Linckia multifora (Lamarck, 1816), Culcita novaeguineae (Muller & Troschel, 1842) and Pentaceraster mammillatus (Audouin, 1826) have been reported in the past. The species of Aquilonastra watersi (O'Loughlin and Rowe, 2006) and Linckia laevigata (Linnaeus, 1758) are new records in the Persian Gulf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine novel natural products have been applied for cancer therapy. Enzyme-digested gelatin hydrolysates have proven to serve as promising sources of potent biologically active peptides. Potential anti-breast cancer properties of the extracted Ficin-digesterd gelatin hydrolysate from Indian squid (Uroteuthis duvauceli) was extensively characterized by cellular and animal models. Gelatin was extracted from squid skin, hydrolyzed by Ficin, and characterized by standard physico-chemical methods. Ficin-digested gelatin hydrolysate was used at various doses of 0-0.1 mg/mL for assessment of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells versus HUVEC normal cells. Cytotoxicity, phase-contrast morphological examination, apoptosis/necrosis, clonal-growth, cell-migration, Matrix-metalloproteinases (MMPs) zymography, and Western blotting were used for cellular assessments. For animal studies, breast tumor-induced BALB/c mice received hydrolyzed gelatin regimen, followed by tumor size/growth and immune-histochemical analyses. Significant inhibition of MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 with no cytotoxicity on HUVEC cells were detected. Apoptosis was increased in cancer cells, as revealed by elevated ratio of cleaved caspase-3 and PARP. MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities in both cancer cells were diminished. In mice, gelatin hydrolysate prevented weight loss, decreased tumor size, induced p53, and down-regulated Ki67 levels. These findings suggest that Ficin-digested gelatin hydrolysate could be a beneficial candidate for novel breast cancer therapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine Soft corals have frequently been studied in recent years because of their specific chemical compounds in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The aim of this study was to investigate anti-cancer property of extracted compound from Virgularia gustaviana and their effect on inducing of apoptosis. The extraction process was carried out with ethyl acetate for 5 days and the extract was separated by silica-gel column chromatography. The column was washed with n-hexane-ethyl acetate solvent at ratio of 10:0 to 0:10. Thin layer chromatography (TLC), High performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and 13C NMR spectroscopy were used for qualitative identification of compounds. The viability of HeLa and MDA-MB-231 cancer cells was investigated using MTT assay at the concentrations of 25, 50, and 100 µL/mL of extracted compounds. Immunocytochemistry and Western Blot analyses were used to evaluate expression of apoptotic markers caspase-3 and caspase-8 in cancer cells after treating with effective fractions (based on viability of cancer cells) and the results were compared with Sarcophine. From ten isolated fractions (A-J), Retention time and Retention Factors (Rf) of fractions G, I, and J were the same as Sarcophine. Fraction G, I, and J dose-dependently decreased cancer cell viability compared to control group and Sarcophine. Treatment of cancer cells with the latest fraction increased expression of caspase-3 and caspase-8 demonstrating induction of apoptosis as possible mechanism of action. According to the results, the compounds extracted from Virgularia gustaviana inhibit the growth of cancer cells by inducing of apoptosis pathway; an effect which needs to be further investigated in the future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Zoantharians are one of the least studied orders of benthic cnidarians of the Persian Gulf. A survey and molecular analysis was conducted to determine zoantharian species diversity in the Persian Gulf. For this purpose, 63 colonies of zoantharians were collected from Hengam and Larak Islands in the Strait of Hormuz and some morphological characteristics of each specimen were recorded, i.e. sand encrustation, polyp shape and colour, oral groove, oral zone and oral disc colours as well as tentacle number and colour. After DNA extraction, mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA (16S rDNA) and cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Based on obtained 16S rDNA and COI gene sequences, five putative species-level clades were identified: Zoanthus sansibaricus (N = 30), Palythoa tuberculosa (N = 12), Palythoa mutuki (N = 2), Palythoa aff. mutuki (N = 18) and Neozoanthus sp. Iran (N = 1). While the first three are known species, the last two were potentially novel undescribed species. Palythoa aff. mutuki has an external appearance similar to Palythoa mutuki. However, mitochondrial DNA sequences obtained from these specimens placed them in a previously undescribed species group. The Neozoanthus specimen was morphologically and molecularly different from other described Neozoanthus species. This is the first record of this genus from the Persian Gulf and neighbouring areas. Since there is not much work on zoantharians identification in the Persian Gulf, further sampling and investigation is needed to speculate on the accuracy of these potentially new species and to complete the knowledge of zoantharian diversity in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Noroviruses are a common major cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans and are mainly associated with oyster consumption. In this investigation, 30 oysters of each of the two species (Saccostrea cucullataandSolen roseomaculatus) were collected from the northern Persian Gulf. Oysters have been exposed to norovirus genogroup II, genotype 4 (GII.4), artificially. The analysis of the contaminated oysters was carried out in three periods of time. Different oyster tissues were removed and tested for norovirus contamination, using conventional reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction assay, while comparing the efficiency of two different sets of primers. Similar to previous observations in other species, these results indicated that norovirus genogroup II is mainly accumulated in the digestive diverticula ofS. cucullataandS. roseomaculatus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present study has been carried out to evaluate the concentration of copper (Cu) and vanadium (V) elements in the muscle, skin, and gill tissues of Tylosurus crocodilus (Belonidae), an edible fish, in the Bahregan region which is located in the northern part of the Persian Gulf. For this purpose, 18 fish samples in three different length groups (small, medium, and large) were randomly collected in Bahregan region. Tissues were separated and concentration of the heavy metals was determined by atomic absorption. The results showed that mean concentration of Cu and V were 0.2851 ± 0.10036 and 1.1368 ± 0.12405, 0.1117 ± 0.02322 and 2.5091 ± 1.14201 and 0.1803 ± 0.03204 and 3.3133 ± 1.05995 μg g-1 dry weight, in skin, muscle and gill tissues, respectively. Also, the results revealed a significant positive correlation between the standard length and Cu concentration in the muscle and gill tissues (P ≤ 0.05), as well as between the standard length and V concentration in all the tissues (P ≤ 0.05). The results indicated that the concentration of V was higher than the World Health Organization (WHO) standard but the concentration of Cu was lower. It is therefore highly recommended that usage of this carnivore species in the studied area is limited because of the high accumulation of V in its muscle tissue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study to investigate the population structure of the Caspian roach, Rutilus rutilus caspicus at Gorgan Bay in Iran and Caspian Sea in Russia. The genomic DNA of the specimens are amplified using the polymerase chain reaction method. The Russian population has a lower mean number of alleles compared to the Iranian population. However, a higher genetic deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg expectation is found in the Iranian population.

Scleractinian coral species harbour communities of photosynthetic taxa of the genus Symbiodinium. As many as eight genetic clades (A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H) of Symbiodinium have been discovered using molecular biology. These clades may differ from each other in their physiology, and thus influence the ecological distribution and resilience of their host corals to environmental stresses. Corals of the Persian Gulf are normally subject to extreme environmental conditions including high salinity and seasonal variation in temperature. This study is the first to use molecular techniques to identify the Symbiodinium of the Iranian coral reefs to the level of phylogenetic clades. Samples of eight coral species were collected at two different depths from the eastern part of Kish Island in the northern Persian Gulf, and Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. Partial 28S nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA of Symbiodinium (D1/D2 domains) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR products were analyzed using single stranded conformational polymorphism and phylogenetic analyses of the LSU DNA sequences from a subset of the samples. The results showed that Symbiodinium populations were generally uniform among and within the populations of eight coral species studied, and there are at least two clades of Symbiodinium from Kish and Larak islands. Clade D was detected from eight of the coral species while clade C was found in two of species only (one species hosted two clades simultaneously). The dominance of clade D might be explained by high temperatures or the extreme temperature variation, typical of the Persian Gulf. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corals in the Persian Gulf exist in a harsh environment with extreme temperature and salinity fluctuations. Understanding the health of these hardy corals may prove useful for predicting the survival of other marine organisms facing the impacts of global climate change. In this study, the health state of corals was surveyed along belt transects at 4 sites on the east side of Kish Island, Iran. Corals had a patchy distribution, low colony densities and species diversity, and were dominated by Acropora, Porites, and Dipsastrea. We found chronic sedimentation on corals, a high prevalence of old partial mortality, abundant bioeroders, and overgrowth of corals by sponges and bryozoans. These are all signs indicating suboptimal environmental conditions for coral reefs. Four types of tissue loss lesions consistent with disease were found: Porites multi-focal chronic tissue loss, Porites peeling tissue loss, Porites focal chronic tissue loss, and Dipsastrea focal sub-acute tissue loss. Overall disease prevalence was 3.6% and there were significant differences in prevalence among the 3 most abundant coral genera. Acropora was numerically dominant within transects yet showed no signs of disease, whereas Porites had a 14% disease prevalence, indicating differential susceptibility to disease among genera. Other coral lesions included pigmentation response in Porites associated with algae invasion or boring organisms, sponge overgrowth, and mucus sheathing in Dipsastrea. The Persian Gulf region is understudied, and this represents one of the first quantitative surveys of coral health and disease on these reefs.