Transcriptome analyses of female black tiger shrimps (Penaeus monodon) for reproductive trait using RNA-sequencing approach

The black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) is the widely cultured aquaculture species in Vietnam and worldwide. Production of P. monodon postlarvae still relies on the wild broodstock due to their higher fecundity and larval quality in comparison with the domesticated broodstock. Therefore, the current study applied an RNA-sequencing approach by the Illumina platform to generate the transcriptomic resources for the wild and domesticated females at the previtellogenic stage of ovaries (stage 0). Total clean reads were 20,977,708 for the wild female and 31,185,197 for the domesticated female. De novoassembly was employed to generate 35,870 contigs with an average length of 1,018 bp and N50 length of 1,488 bp. The ratios of contigs possessing significant similarity through annotation across seven databases ranged from 19.74 to 47.77%. Top hit species from BLASTx searches included Hyalella azteca, Cryptotermes secundus, Zootermopsis nevadensis, followed by Penaeus sp.. We identified a total of 5,788 differentially expressed transcripts between the ovaries of wild and domesticated shrimps. The differentially expressed transcripts were further enriched according to the classification terms of Gene Ontology (GO). Results of GO enrichment analysis in the wild female indicated that many genes such as hemolymph clottable, peritrophin, ecdysteroid were up-regulated while the following genes, including serine protease, alpha-L-fucosidase-like, actin, catenin alpha were down-regulated. The current study provides more transcriptomic resources for the reproductive trait in P. monodon. These resources are potentially applied for the improvement of reproduction in the domesticated shrimp.

Mother-to-Child Signaling through Breast Milk Biomolecules

Breastfeeding—or lactation—is a unique and defining reproductive trait of mammals that nourishes offspring by supplying nutrient-rich breast milk [...]

Allele and genotype variation of follicle stimulating hormone receptor gene of Indonesian Friesian Holstein in Boyolali District, Central Java

Follicle Stimulating Hormone Receptor (FSHR) is a gene that has function to regulate reproductive performance by controlling oogenesis in females and also spermatogenesis in male. Since dairy cattle operation lies on the reproductive trait efficiency, therefore it’s became a logical reason to use FSHR genes as part of selection criteria. This study aimed to determine allele and genotype variation of FSHR gene in local Indonesian Friesian Holstein (IFH) dairy cattle in Boyolali District, Central Java. In total 20 IFH cattle we sampled for DNA source. Allele and genotype variation was determined by Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using AluI restriction enzyme. The methods started with DNA extraction, PCR, and DNA digestion, followed by allele and genotype frequencies calculation. Two alleles were observed in this study, C and G with respective frequencies 0.75 and 0.25. According to that, we found three genotype combinations that are CC, CG, and GG, the frequencies were 0.56, 0.38, and 0.06, respectively. To use that result as a part of selection criteria in dairy cattle, especially in females, further association study with reproductive trait needs to be done.

Green greenhouse: leaf enclosure for fruit development of an androdioecious vine, Schizopepon bryoniifolius

Individual plants can produce leaves that differ substantially in size, morphology and many other traits. However, leaves that play a specific role in reproduction have rarely been reported. Here, we report leaves specialized to enclose fruit clusters and enhance seed production in an annual vine, Schizopepon bryoniifolius . Enclosure leaves were produced at the end of the growing season in late autumn. They were different in greenness and structure from other leaves. Under solar radiation, the ambient temperature inside an intact enclosure was up to 4.6°C higher than that near a fruit cluster whose enclosure leaves had been removed. We found that enclosures were thicker at colder sites. Removal of enclosing leaves negatively affected fruit survival and/or growth, but we could not identify the exact mechanism. The results suggested that enclosures allow the plant to produce seeds under the cold weather the plant encounters at the end of its life. Vegetative and reproductive traits of plants have usually been studied separately. This study indicates how they can dynamically interact, as shown by an examination of associations among leaf and reproductive trait changes according to life stages.

The immunogenetics of sexual parasitism

Sexual parasitism has evolved as a unique mode of reproduction among deep-sea anglerfishes. The permanent attachment of males to host females observed in these species represents a form of anatomical joining, which is otherwise unknown in nature. Striking modifications to immune facilities are associated with this reproductive trait. The genomes of species with temporarily attaching males lack functional aicda genes that underpin affinity maturation of antibodies. Permanent attachment is associated with additional alterations, culminating in the loss of functional rag genes in some species, abolishing somatic diversification of antigen receptor genes, the hallmark of canonical adaptive immunity. In anglerfishes, co-evolution of innate and adaptive immunity has been disentangled, implying that an alternative form of immunity supported the emergence of this evolutionarily successful group of vertebrates.