In this research, antagonistic activity of two Bacillus species isolated from digestive tract of marine fish and culture pond of sea cucumber was studied. The inhibitory activity of Bacillus spp. isolates against some common pathogenic bacteria of fish was assessed using the agar diffusion method. The strain of B. subtilis G024 exhibited antimicrobial activity against Vibrio anguillarum, V. har...

Acetylcholine (ACh) is the main neurotransmitter in the cholinergic neuroendocrine system and plays an indispensable role in modulating diverse immune responses. As important transporters in choline uptake, choline transporter-like proteins (CTLs) can control ACh synthesis and release indirectly in multiple organisms. In this study, cgi-miR-2d, an invertebrate-specific miRNA in oyster Crassostr...

Calreticulin (CRT) plays crucial roles in the regulation of Ca 2+ homeostasis, immune responses and molecular chaperon. In this study, a new member of the CRT gene (denoted as AjCRT) was cloned and characterized from the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. The full-length of the gene was of 3316 bp, which consisted of 204 bp 5’ untranslated region (UTR), 1870 bp of 3’-UTR and a putative 1242-b...

Marine microbes use alginate lyases to degrade and catabolize alginate, a major cell wall matrix polysaccharide of brown seaweeds. Microbes frequently contain multiple, apparently redundant alginate lyases, raising the question of whether these enzymes have complementary functions. We report here on the molecular cloning and functional characterization of three exo-type oligoalginate lyases (Oa...

A review of the literature shows that although the number of serotypes of Vibrio anguillarum reported from different countries varies, most of the vibriosis outbreaks throughout the world are caused by only 2 serotypes: 01 and 0 2 (European serotype designation). The remaining serotypes, associated mainly with environmental samples such as water, sediment, phytoand zooplankton, are generally no...

Studies were conducted to determine the cause of the acute mortality of juvenile turbot Colistium nudipinnis and brill, C. guntheri in an experimental rearing facility. Gross signs of disease included loss of appetite, erratic swimming, distended abdomens caused by an accumulation of clear fluid in the stomach and intestines, and haemorrhagic lesions on the underside and bases of the fins. Hist...

Nuclear factor (NF)-κB pathway is an evolutionally conserved pathway in activating immune response, in which IκBs can repress the activation. In the present study, cgi-miR-2d, an invertebrate-specific microRNA, was proved to regulate CgIκB2 expression and haemocyte phagocytosis during bacterial infection in oyster Crassostrea gigas. The expression of cgi-miR-2d was significantly up-regulated af...

Marine invertebrate-associated symbiotic bacteria produce a plethora of novel secondary metabolites which may be structurally unique with interesting pharmacological properties. Selection of strains usually relies on literature searching, genetic screening and bioactivity results, often without considering the chemical novelty and abundance of secondary metabolites being produced by the microor...