The sea cucumber (phylum Echinodermata) body wall is the first line of defense and is well known for its production of secondary metabolites; including vitamins and triterpenoid glycoside saponins that have important ecological functions and potential benefits to human health. The genes involved in the various biosynthetic pathways are unknown. To gain insight into these pathways in an echinode...

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of endogenous non-coding small RNA with average length of 22 nucleotides, participating in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of miRNAs in the tube foot of sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) by next generation sequencing with Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. Through the bioinform...

Physiological responses to temperature reflect the evolutionary adaptations of organisms to their thermal environment and the capability of animals to tolerate thermal stress. Contrary to conventional metabolism theory, increasing environmental temperatures have been shown to reduce metabolic rate in rocky-eulittoral-fringe species inhabiting highly variable environments, possibly as a strategy...

The Japanese sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus Selenka 1867) is an economically important species as a source of seafood and ingredient in traditional medicine. It is mainly found off the coasts of northeast Asia. Recently, substantial exploitation and widespread biotic diseases in A. japonicus have generated increasing conservation concern. However, the genomic knowledge base and resources ...

Glycosaminoglycan was isolated from the body wall of sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus by a method consisting of enzymatic digestion, gel filtration, and ion-exchange chromatography. One gram of sea cucumber glycosaminoglycan was composed of 2.50 mmol of sulfate, 0.47 mmol of N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc), 0.53 mmol of glucuronic acid (GlcA), 1.73 mmol of fucose, and a small amount of peptide. ...

A flatworm was discovered inside the coelomic cavity of the commercial sea cucumber Isostichopus fuscus along the Pacific coast of Mexico. Based on morphological and genetic evidence, it was determined to be Anoplodium sp. belonging to class Rhabditophora. Thus, the sea cucumber I. fuscus constitutes a new host. The flatworms were consistently found on the surface of the haemal vessels and the ...

Sea cucumbers are fished worldwide, with more than 50 species commercially exploited. In South-East Asia, important sources of sea cucumber are Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with Singapore and Hong Kong being major export destinations. The product is popular among oriental consumers due to its alleged ability to improve vigour and cure a number of ailments. Supply ...

Aquatics are a source of bioactive compounds that these compounds have different properties such as antimicrobial activity. In this study, antibacterial activity of methanol, chloroform and hexane extracts from body wall, gonad and intestine of sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota was evaluated against Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Bioactive compounds of b...

This study, carried out in five fishing communities along the Kenyan coast, examined fisheries-derived income of fishers and traders in two different invertebrate fisheries (octopus and sea cucumber) and tested if differences in global market integration of these two products could explain differences in income inequalities among actors involved in the two fisheries. The structure of the value ...