Glyphosate-based herbicide causes spermatogenesis disorder and spermatozoa damage of the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) by affecting testes characteristic enzymes, antioxidant capacities and inducing apoptosis.

Glyphosate-based herbicide (GBH) is a popular herbicide, which may contaminate the water environment and affect aquatic animals. In this study, testes morphology, physiology function, apoptosis pathway, and spermatozoa quality of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) were evaluated after 7 days of GBH exposure (48.945 mg/l,1/2 of the 96 h LC50 value of GBH). Results showed that GBH induced spermatogenesis disorder by H.E. staining. The obvious vacuolar degenerations and fewer spermatids of the testes accompanied by decreased primary spermatocytes-type seminiferous tubules (PSc-STs) were observed. The extensive apoptosis of spermatids by TUNEL staining was visible. Meanwhile, testes'' characteristic enzyme activities associated with spermatogenesis, including lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and acid phosphatase (ACP) were significantly decreased. Testes suffered oxidative damage as reflected by the significant decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities, the significant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) contents, and heat shock proteins (HSP-70) mRNA expression. Further studies demonstrated that GBH induced apoptosis of testes through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway by upregulating the relative mRNA expression of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 (Caspase-3), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), and downregulating B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). Oxidative damage may be one of the causes of GBH-induced apoptosis in testes. After GBH exposure, the morphology of spermatophores was changed. The survival and the acrosome reaction (AR) ratio of spermatozoa was significantly decreased. Altogether, these results demonstrated that GBH affects spermatogenesis, spermatophore and spermatozoa quality of E.sinensis, which provides novel knowledge about the toxic effects of GBH on the reproductive system of crustaceans.

The effects of ammonia-N stress on immune parameters, antioxidant capacity, digestive function, and intestinal microflora of Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis, and the protective effect of dietary supplement of melatonin.

Ammonia nitrogen pollution seriously affects the economic benefits of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) farming. In this study, we first evaluated the protective effects of melatonin (MT) on immune parameters, antioxidant capacity, and digestive enzymes of E. sinensis under acute ammonia nitrogen stress. The results showed that ammonia-N stress significantly decreased the antibacterial ability of crabs, nevertheless MT could significantly improve it under ammonia-N stress (P < 0.05). Ammonia-N group hemolymph antioxidant capacity indicators (T-AOC, T-SOD, GSH-Px) were significantly decreased than control (p < 0.05), while the MT ammonia-N group hemolymph T-SOD activity significantly increased than ammonia-N group (p < 0.05). For hepatopancreas, ammonia-N group GSH-PX activity significantly decreased than control group, but MT ammonia-N group was significant increased than ammonia-N (p < 0.05). Ammonia-N stress has significantly increased the content of MDA in hemolymph and hepatopancreas (p < 0.05), but MT ammonia-N treatment significantly decreased than ammonia-N group (p < 0.05). Compared with the control group, ammonia-N significantly reduced the activities of Trypsin in the intestine and hepatopancreas (p < 0.05), while MT ammonia-N group can significantly improve the intestinal trypsin activity than ammonia-N (p < 0.05). The intestinal microbiota of E. sinensis results showed that ammonia-N stress significantly decreased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (p < 0.05). Ammonia-N stress significantly decreased the Dysgonomonas and Rubellimicrobium, and the Citrobacter significantly increased. In summary, melatonin has a protective effect on E. sinensis under ammonia-N stress. Acute ammonia-N stress may lead to the decrease of probiotics and the increase of pathogenic bacteria, which may be closely related to the impairment of digestive function and immune function.

Effects of phosphorus on fruit soluble sugar and citric acid accumulations in citrus.

Phosphorus (P) is one of the essential macro-elements for plants. Sugar and organic acid are important factors affecting sensory characteristics of citrus fruit quality. The aim of this study was to investigate how P fertilizer affects quality improvement particularly sucrose (Suc), fructose (Fru), glucose (Glu) and citric acid (CA) accumulations in Cara Cara navel. P fertilizer improved fruit quality of Cara Cara navel, as supported by decreasing titratable acid (TA), CA and increasing soluble solid (TSS), sugars and the ratio of TSS and TA. At the early stage of fruit development, P fertilizer had greater roles in degrading Suc into Fru and Glu due to the increased activities of Suc-degrading enzymes including acid invertase, neutral invertase and Suc synthase-cleavage activity. Coversely, at the mid and late stages of fruit development, P fertilizer had greater roles in re-synthesizing Suc due to the increased activities of Suc-synthesizing enzymes including Suc phosphate synthase and Suc synthase-synthetic activity. These results indicated that application of P fertilizer increased soluble sugars concentrations by improving Suc metabolism and sink strength in fruit conferred by the upregulations of the activities of Suc-degrading and Suc-synthesizing enzymes. P fertilizer decreased CA accumulations at least partially by inhibiting synthesis of CA due to the decreased activities of CA-synthesizing enzymes including citrate synthetase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase. This study suggested that P fertilizer, particularly fertilized with 0.40 kg/plant, increased soluble sugars but decreased CA accumulations in citrus fruit.

Molybdenum induces alterations in the glycerolipidome that confer drought tolerance in wheat.

Molybdenum (Mo), which is an essential microelement for plant growth, plays important roles in multiple metabolic and physiological processes, including responses to drought and cold stress in wheat. Lipids also have crucial roles in plant adaptions to abiotic stresses. The aim of this study was to use glycerolipidomic and transcriptomic analyses to determine the changes in lipids induced by Mo that are associated with Mo-enhanced drought tolerance in wheat. Mo treatments increased the transcript levels of genes involved in fatty acid and glycerolipid biosynthesis and desaturation, but suppressed the expression of genes involved in oxylipin production. Wheat plants supplemented with Mo displayed higher contents of monogalactosyldiacyglycerol (MGDG), digalactosyldoacylglycerol (DGDG), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), and phosphatidylcholine (PC) with increased levels of unsaturation. The levels of MGDG, DGDG, PG, and PC increased under PEG-simulated drought (PSD), and the magnitude of the responses varied in the presence and absence of Mo. Mo increased the accumulation of the most abundant glycerolipid species of C36:6, C34:4, and C34:3 by increasing the expression of genes related to desaturation under PSD, and this contributed to maintaining the fluidity of membranes. In addition, Mo attenuated the decreases in the ratios of DGDG/MGDG and PC/PE that were observed under PSD. These changes in lipids in Mo-treated wheat would contribute to maintaining the integrity of membranes and to protecting the photosynthetic apparatus, thus acting together to enhance drought tolerance.

Effects of the glyphosate-based herbicide roundup on the survival, immune response, digestive activities and gut microbiota of the Chinese mitten crab, Eriocheir sinensis.

Glyphosate is one of the most widely used pesticides in the world and can be transported easily by surface runoff, air, and rivers, potentially affecting aquaculture. In this study, the survival rate, intestinal and hepatopancreatic immune and digestive functions, and the intestinal microbial diversity of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) were evaluated after 7 days of exposure to glyphosate (48.945 mg/L from 1/2 96-h LC50 value). The results showed that glyphosate significantly reduced the survival rate of E. sinensis. After exposure to glyphosate, the totoal antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in the midgut and hindgut of E. sinensis was significantly decreased, and malondialdehyde (MDA) content in the midgut was significantly increased (P < 0.05). After glyphosate exposure, the activities of digestive enzymes (including lipase and amylase) in the intestinal tract were significantly decreased and trypsin was significantly increased, while three enzymes in the hepatopancreas were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Using high-throughput sequencing analysis of the gut microbiota, the results showed that glyphosate significantly decreased the diversity of E. sinensis gut microbiota, while significantly increasing the taxonomic richness of Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria (P < 0.05). This study suggested that these bacteria may be involved in glyphosate effects on survival by regulation of immune and digestive function.

Comparison of Safety and Efficacy of Different Models of Target Vessel Regional Chemotherapy for Gastric Cancer with Liver Metastases.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We previously demonstrated the safety and efficacy of low-dose, short-interval target vessel regional chemotherapy (TVRC(LDSI)) delivered through the hepatic artery with transarterial embolization (TAE) in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC). The present study aimed to compare the efficacy of TAE + TVRC(LDSI) with that of standard TAE + TVRC in AGC patients with liver metastases who failed to respond to first- or second-line systemic chemotherapy. METHODS: This study recruited a total of 58 GC patients with liver metastases after failure of first- or second-line systemic chemotherapy. Twenty-eight patients were assigned to the TAE + TVRC(LDSI) group and 30 patients to the TAE + TVRC group. The primary end point was overall survival (OS(TVRC)), which was defined as the time from the initiation of TVRC until the last follow-up or death. RESULTS: OS(TVRC), time to progression (TTP) until appearance of intra- and extrahepatic metastases, and overall TTP and treatment periods in the TAE + TVRC(LDSI) group were all significantly longer than in the TAE + TVRC group (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: TAE + TVRC(LDSI) had a higher efficacy and safety, which was reflected by OS rates, progression-free survival rates, longer duration of treatment and milder side effects compared to standard TAE + TVRC.

Cloning and tissue distribution of a fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase-like gene and effects of dietary lipid levels on its expression in the hepatopancreas of Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis).

Fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase is the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) in vertebrates. In this report, a fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase-like cDNA was cloned from the hepatopancreas of Eriocheir sinensis (Chinese mitten crab) and characterized by performing rapid-amplification of cDNA ends. The 2278-bp long full-length cDNA encodes a polypeptide with 442 amino acids. Gene expression analysis via real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction revealed that the fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase-like transcripts are widely distributed in various tissues, with high expression levels in the hepatopancreas and cranial ganglia. This study focuses on the nutritional regulation of genes involved in the HUFA biosynthetic pathway in Chinese mitten crab. A feeding trial was performed whereby crablets were fed for 238 d with four different diets: control diet without oil lipids (added with 3% basic lipid of the fundamental diets); fish oil diet (FO; added with 3% of the fundamental diets); soybean oil diet (SO; added with 3% of the fundamental diets); and FO/SO diet (1:1; added with 3% of the fundamental diets). The hepatopancreas of crabs sampled at 168 d and 238 d to determine the effects on fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase-like mRNA expression. The results show that the expression of fatty acyl Δ6-desaturase-like is higher in the hepatopancreas of crabs fed with SO diet than those fed with FO diet. Furthermore, gene expression increased by 2.45-fold in the hepatopancreas of crabs fed with SO after 238 d than those fed after 168 d but remained steady for those fed with FO after 238 d.