Gene expression profiles of Japanese precious coral Corallium japonicum during gametogenesis.

Background: Corallium japonicum, a prized resource in Japan, plays a vital role in traditional arts and fishing industries. Because of diminished stock due to overexploitation, ongoing efforts are focused on restoration through transplantation. This study aimed to enhance our understanding of the reproductive biology of these valuable corals and find more efficient methods for sex determination, which may significantly contribute to conservation initiatives. Methods: We used 12 three-month aquarium reared C. japonicum colony fragments, conducted histological analysis for maturity and sex verification, and performed transcriptome analysis via de novo assembly and mapping using the C. rubrum transcriptome to explore gene expression differences between female and male C. japonicum. Results: Our histological observations enabled sex identification in 33% of incompletely mature samples. However, the sex of the remaining 67% of samples, classified as immature, could not be identified. RNA-seq yielded approximately 21-31 million short reads from 12 samples. De novo assembly yielded 404,439 highly expressed transcripts. Among them, 855 showed significant differential expression, with 786 differentially expressed transcripts between females and males. Heatmap analysis highlighted 283 female-specific and 525 male-specific upregulated transcripts. Transcriptome assembly mapped to C. rubrum yielded 28,092 contigs, leading to the identification of 190 highly differentially expressed genes, with 113 upregulated exclusively in females and 70 upregulated exclusively in males. Blastp analysis provided putative protein annotations for 83 female and 72 male transcripts. Annotation analysis revealed that female biological processes were related to oocyte proliferation and reproduction, whereas those in males were associated with cell adhesion. Discussion: Transcriptome analysis revealed sex-specific gene upregulation in incompletely mature C. japonicum and shared transcripts with C. rubrum, providing insight into its gene expression patterns. This study highlights the importance of using both de novo and reference-based assembly methods. Functional enrichment analysis showed that females exhibited enrichment in cell proliferation and reproduction pathways, while males exhibited enrichment in cell adhesion pathways. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the gene expressions of each sex during the spawning season. Our findings offer valuable insights into the physiological ecology of incompletely mature red Japanese precious corals and suggest a method for identifying sex using various genes expressed in female and male individuals. In the future, techniques such as transplantation, artificial fertilization, and larval rearing may involve sex determination methods based on differences in gene expression to help conserve precious coral resources and ecosystems.

Transplantation Tests of Precious Coral Fragments Using Small-sized Artificial Substratum.

Since the Roman era, precious corals have been used to make ornaments worldwide, and their demand has recently increased. As a basic study for artificial cultivation, we transplanted Corallium japonicum fragments. In 2016 and 2017, 132 fragments approximately 3-5 cm in length were attached to small-sized artificial substratums using marine epoxy on land. These artificial substratums, acting as transplant substrates, were then transported and sunk to a depth approximately 100 m off the coast of Otsuki Town and Tosashimizu City, Kochi Prefecture, where precious corals once flourished. From six months to three years post-submersion, we successfully recovered the transplanted substrates and found a total of 107 fragments (81%). We confirmed that 106 of these fragments were alive 177 to 936 days after transplantation. Although we could not measure growth rates due to the initial damage caused by the transplantation, we observed growth in coenenchyme tissues, new polyps and new branches in the 104 surviving fragments. This result suggests there is great potential to artificially multiply precious corals, which could aid in the development of a sustainable precious coral industry.

Gonadal Morphology and Gametogenesis in Japanese Red Coral Corallium japonicum (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) Collected off Cape Ashizuri, Japan.

Colonies of the Japanese red coral Corallium japonicum Kishinouye, 1903 collected off Cape Ashizuri, Japan were gonochoric and produced gonads in siphonozooids annually, mainly during the spring season. Polyp anatomy, gonadal morphology and gametogenesis in this species were revealed by light and electron microscopy. A siphonozooid had a pharynx with a prominent siphonoglyph and eight mesenteries: two sulcal, two asulcal, and four lateral. A rudimentary retractor was found on one side of each mesoglea of these mesenteries. The retractor arrangement in the siphonozooid was reverse of what was described in the autozooids of octocorals. Gonads initiated as small protrusions on the mesenteries, except in the asulcal ones, and even at an incipient stage they were covered with a sac-shaped thin layer of mesoglea, which was continuous with the mesoglea of mesenteries. Gastrodermis enveloped the complete outer surface of the thin layer of mesoglea throughout gametogenesis in both oocytes and sperm cysts. Oocytes produced many microvilli on their cortical surfaces beneath the thin layer of mesoglea concomitantly with the accumulation of lipid globules in the cells, whereas in sperm cysts spermatocytes and spermatids increased in number without microvilli production, followed by synchronous spermiogenesis involving remarkable changes in the shape and position of organelles. Based on the comparison of patterns in gonadal development between octocorals including C. japonicum, hexacorals and scyphozoans, octocoral and stauromedusa species may be characterized by the fact that gametogenesis never occurs in the matrix of mesoglea, but rather exclusively within the thin sac of mesoglea surrounded by gastrodermis.