Proteome Analysis of Whole-Body Responses in Medaka Experimentally Exposed to Fish-Killing Dinoflagellate Karenia mikimotoi.

Karenia mikimotoi is a well-known harmful algal bloom species. Blooms of this dinoflagellate have become a serious threat to marine life, including fish, shellfish, and zooplanktons and are usually associated with massive fish death. Despite the discovery of several toxins such as gymnocins and gymnodimines in K. mikimotoi, the mechanisms underlying the ichthyotoxicity of this species remain unclear, and molecular studies on this topic have never been reported. The present study investigates the fish-killing mechanisms of K. mikimotoi through comparative proteomic analysis. Marine medaka, a model fish organism, was exposed to K. mikimotoi for a three-part time period (LT25, LT50 and LT90). Proteins extracted from the whole fish were separated by using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and differentially expressed proteins were identified with reference to an untreated control. The change in fish proteomes over the time-course of exposure were analyzed. A total of 35 differential protein spots covering 19 different proteins were identified, of which most began to show significant change in expression levels at the earliest stage of intoxication. Among the 19 identified proteins, some are closely related to the oxidative stress responses, energy metabolism, and muscle contraction. We propose that oxidative stress-mediated muscle damage might explain the symptoms developed during the ichthyotoxicity test, such as gasping for breath, loss of balance, and body twitching. Our findings lay the foundations for more in-depth studies of the mechanisms of K. mikimotoi's ichthyotoxicity.

Production of high-quality two-dimensional gel electrophoresis profile for marine medaka samples by using Trizol-based protein extraction approaches.

BACKGROUND: Marine medaka is among the most popular models of fish species for ecotoxicology and environmental research and proteomic studies are useful tools for understanding the molecular responses of medaka upon exposure to different environmental stressors. The preparation of high-quality protein samples is the key to producing high-quality two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) results for proteomic analysis. In recent years, Trizol-based protein extraction has been gaining popularity because of its promising performance in producing high-quality 2-DE as well as the convenience of the method. METHODS: Three Trizol-based approaches (Trizol method, Aliquot Trizol method and Trizol method with a commercial clean-up kit) were used to extract proteins from a marine medaka sample and 2-DE profiles were produced. Quality of the 2-DE profiles and effectiveness of the extraction methods were evaluated. For comparison, two common protein extraction methods (lysis buffer method and trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation extraction) were also applied in parallel to Trizol-based approaches. RESULTS: Any of the three Trizol-based approaches produced a high-quality 2-DE profile of marine medaka compared with both lysis buffer method and TCA/acetone precipitation extraction. In addition, Trizol method with a commercial clean-up kit produced the best 2-DE profile in terms of background clarity, number of spots and resolution of proteins. CONCLUSIONS: Trizol-based approaches offered better choices than traditional protein extraction methods for 2-DE analysis of marine medaka. The modified version of Trizol method with a commercial clean-up kit was shown to produce the best 2-DE profile.

Evaluation of the Use of TRIzol-Based Protein Extraction Approach for Gel-Based Proteomic Analysis of Dried Seafood Products and Chinese Tonic Foods.

Although the emergence of gel-free approaches has greatly enhanced proteomic studies, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) remains one of the most widely used proteomic techniques for its high resolving power, relatively low cost, robustness, and high resolution. Preparation of high-quality protein samples remains the key in high-quality 2-DE for proteomic analysis. Samples with high endogenous levels of interfering molecules, such as salts, nucleic acids, lipids, and polysaccharides, would yield a low-quality 2-DE gel and hinder the analysis. Recently, a TRIzol-based protein extraction method has gained prominence and has attracted attention due to its promising performance in high-quality 2-DE. The authors evaluate the use of this approach for four valuable dried food products, namely two dried seafood products (abalone slices and whelk slices) and two traditional Chinese tonic foods (ganoderma and caterpillar fungus). The results indicate that 2-DE gels obtained through the TRIzol-based method are of high-quality and are comparable to those obtained through the trichloroacetic acid⁻acetone method in terms of spot number, spot intensity, and resolution. The TRIzol-based method is generally applicable to dried food samples and is simple and fast, which greatly streamlines the protein extraction procedure. Additionally, it enables the concurrent extraction and analysis of RNA, DNA, and protein from the same sample.

Adult Learning of Novel Words in a Non-native Language: Consonants, Vowels, and Tones.

While words are distinguished primarily by consonants and vowels in many languages, tones are also used in the majority of the world's languages to cue lexical contrasts. However, studies on novel word learning have largely concentrated on consonants and vowels. To shed more light on the use of tonal information in novel word learning and its relationship with the development of phonological categories, the present study explored how adults' ability to learn minimal pair pseudowords in a tone language is modulated by their native phonological knowledge. Twenty-four adult speakers of three languages were tested: Cantonese, Mandarin, and French. Eye-tracking was used to record eye movements of these learners, while they were watching animated cartoons in Cantonese. On each trial, adults had to learn two new label-object associations, while the labels differed minimally by a consonant, a vowel, or a tone. Learning would therefore attest to participants' ability to use phonological information to distinguish the paired words. Results first revealed that adult learners in each language group performed better than chance in all conditions. Moreover, compared to native Cantonese adults, both Mandarin- and French-speaking adults performed worse on all three contrasts. In addition, French adults were worse on tones when compared to Mandarin adults. Lastly, no advantage for consonantal information in native lexical processing was found for Cantonese-speaking adults as predicted by the "division of labor" proposal, thus confirming crosslinguistic differences in consonant/vowel weight between speakers of tonal vs. non-tonal languages. These findings establish rapid novel word learning in a non-native language (long-term learning will have to be further assessed), modulated by native phonological knowledge. The implications of the findings of this adult study for further infant word learning studies are discussed.