Transcriptomic response in Acropora muricata under acute temperature stress follows preconditioned seasonal temperature fluctuations.

OBJECTIVE: Global climate change has resulted in the decline of health and condition of various coral reefs worldwide. Here, we describe expression profiles of Acropora muricata collected during opposing seasons in Otsuki, Kochi, Japan to define the capacity of corals to cope with changing environmental conditions. Coral communities in Otsuki experience large temperature fluctuations between the winter (~ 16 °C) and summer (~ 27 °C). RESULTS: Coral nubbins that were collected in the summer showed no change in photochemical efficiency when exposed to thermal or cold stress, while winter samples showed a decrease in photochemical health when subjected to thermal stress. Under cold stress, corals that were collected in the summer showed an up-regulation of actin-related protein and serine/threonine protein kinase, while corals collected during the winter did not show any cellular stress. On the other hand, under thermal stress, the most notable change was the up-regulation of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase in corals that were collected during the winter season. Our observations in the differential genes expressed under temperature-derived stress suggest that A. muricata from Kochi may maintain physiological resilience due to the frequently encountered environmental stress, and this may play a role in the coral's thermal tolerance.

Hepatoprotective activity of tocha, the stems and leaves of Ampelopsis grossedentata, and ampelopsin.

Hepatoprotective effect of the leaves and stems of Ampelopsis grossedentata together with its main constituent, ampelopsin, were examined on D-galactosamine induced liver injury in rats. The diet containing 50% ethanolic extract (1%) and ampelopsin (0.1%) markedly suppressed the increase of LDH, ALT, AST, alpha-tocopherol levels and GSG/GSSH caused by GalN treatment. These results suggested that ampelopsin from Tocha acted to prevent the oxidative stress in vivo that may have been due to active oxygen species formed by a macrophage by the action of GalN.