Study of ovarian fluid biochemical parameters and its influence on spermatozoa motility of the Ship (Acipenser nudiventris Lovetzky, 1828) in the south-eastern Caspian Sea

Biochemical aspects of ovarian fluid were investigated in 10 specimens of the Ship (Acipenser nudiventris) by assessment of ionic organic composition and their relationships with osmolality. Also spermatozoa motility of the ship sturgeon was investigated in different percentage (5, 10, 25, 50 and 100%) of ovarian fluid (pooled 6 samples). Ovarian fluid contained 104.78±32.12mmol/1 Nat, 3.43±1.08mmol/ 1(7, 3.26±0.87mg/d1 Ca2+, 7.32±1.06rnEcil1 Mg^2+, 0.606±0.207mg/l protein, 24.88±13.02mg/l cholesterol and 60.35±14.49m/1 glucose. The pH of ovarian fluid ranged from 7.29 to 8.10 and osmolality ranged from 185 to 212msmol/Kg. There was also significant positive correlation between Nat concentration and osmolality (r = 0.835, P<0.01). When ship sturgeon semen diluted with 50 and 100% ovarian fluid, the spermatozoa remained immotile. The total duration of motility and percentage of motile spermatozoa was greatly reduced when semen was diluted in ovarian fluid higher than 5%. We found that the spermatozoa of ship sturgeon are immotile in the ovarian fluid because of ovarian fluid composition such as high concentration of K and osmotic pressure

The enrichment influences of Artemia urmiana with vitamin E and unsaturated fatty acids on growth, survival and salinity stress resistance in beluga (Huso huso) larvae

VWe assessed the effects of Aremia urmiana nauplii enriched with vitamin E (α -tochopherol acetate, MERCK, Germany) and unsaturated fatty acids (EPA 18% and DHA 12%) on growth, survival and stress resistance of Beluga (Huso huso) larvae during six weeks. Beluga larvae (mean body weight 69.8c6.2 mg) at the first feeding were fed in four treatments and three replications using A. urmiana enriched with unsaturated fatty acids (HUFA) containing 20% and 50% vitamin E (El and E2 treatments, respectively) and HUFA without vitamin E (HUFA group). The control group was fed on non-enriched Artemia. All treatments were fed with non-enriched Artemia for 5 days after the first feeding and then fed with enriched Artemia for 7 days. After period of enrichment, the larvae were fed with daphnia from 13 ^(th) to 40 ^(th) day. The Beluga larvae were then exposed to salinity stress (12 g/l) for two days after the 40 days feeding trial. Blood samples were obtained at the end of the first and second days in order to evaluate hematocrite index. Growth, survival and stress resistance were compared at the end of experimental period. Growth factors showed significant difference between the groups. The highest and the lowest growth were observed in El and control treatments, respectively (P<0.05). Larvae resistance to salinity stress was comparable between the enriched and control groups (P< 0.05). The results indicated that the enrichment of Artemia with essential fatty acids and vitamin E can improve some growth and stress tolerance factors in beluga sturgeon (H. huso) larvae

Alternations of heat shock proteins (hsp70) gene expression in liver and gill of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus Borodin, 1987) exposed to cadmium chloride

Induction of heat shock proteins (hsps) is considered as an important protective, ecophysiologically adaptive, and genetically conserved response to environmental stress in all organisms. The effects of exposure to sublethal doses of CdCl2 (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 LC50) during 14 days on mRNA-hsp70 expression in liver and gill were investigated in juveniles of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). First, a fragment of 726 nucleotides coding for hsp70 was cloned from the liver. The result showed that in both study tissues, gill and liver, the relative mRNA-hsp70 expression level significantly increased (p≤0.05) on all study days compared to control group. Relative mRNA-hsp70 showed a clear time-dependent response in both tissues following the exposure to CdCl2. A significant increase (p≤0.05) was observed on the second day and then decreased up to day 7 of the exposure and increase level of mRNA-hsp70 expression was observed on day 14. The same trends were observed on all the study doses (0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 LC50) in both examined tissues. Although in this study up expression of hsp70 was common to both the gill and the liver, it was significantly (p≤0.05) expressed more in the liver than the gill. At higher dose, the increase level of mRNA expression was found to be more than that of other experimental doses in all study days. The result revealed that these proteins can be used as a promising biomarker for Cd contamination in this species

Seasonal variation of chemical composition and fatty acid profile of ovary in wild common carp (Cyprinus carpio) of southeastern Caspian Sea

Chemical composition and fatty acid profile of common carp's gonad (ovary) were assessed. Protein, lipid, fatty acid profile and moisture content were determined during 4 seasons’ summer, autumn, winter in 2007 and spring in 2008. For each season 10 samples were examined. Average of gonadosomatic index in wild common carp was 7.53 ±5.02. Proximate composition of ovary during the study period showed the lipid at 8.06 ±2.20; protein at 23.26 ±4.85; and moisture at 67.12 ±3.85. The results showed lipid content of wild fish ovary increased from summer to spring (summer 6.875 ±0.53; autumn 7.07 ±2.12; winter 7.96 ±1.22; spring 9.44 ±3.62), protein content also increased from summer to spring (summer 12.920.09; autumn 23 ±1.32; winter 25.16 ±0.63; spring 27.11 ±0.63), moisture content decreased in this period (summer 75.235 ±1.75; autumn 68.25 ±2.28; winter 65.685 ±0.40; spring 63.43 ±0.11). Significant differences (P0.05). Saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids increased from summer to spring (spawning season). The major fatty acids identified in common carp ovary were Oleic (C18:1), palmitic (C16:0), Docosahexanoic acid (C22:6 DHA), Palmitoleic (C16:1), Arachidonic, AA (C20:4), Stearic (C18:0), Eicosapentaenoic acid (C20:5 EPA) and Linoleic (C18:2) in all seasons. Lipid, protein and omega 3 PUFA increased during gonad maturation. It seems that these resources of energy are necessary for embryogenesis

Isolation and long-term culture of neural stem cells from Acipenser persicus (Borodin, 1897)

In the present study, an in vitro brain cell culture was developed from neural cells of Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). The tissue samples collected from the anterior, middle and posterior regions of the brain were cultivated separately in DMEM/F12 medium supplemented with 15 fetal bovine serum, antibiotic and antimycotic. The medium was refreshed every 3 days. The cells became confluent after about 3 weeks from the initial time of seeding. The cultured cells from the posterior part of the brain showed high potential of proliferation as they had been passaged 16 times in more than 11 months. To determine optimal temperature, the brain cells were incubated at four temperatures including; 20, 22, 25 and 28°C. The best cultivation temperature was obtained at 25°C. The cultured cells from posterior part of the brain were cryopreserved successfully and the survival rate was 70 after thawing. Immunocytochemistry using antibody against nesting showed that some cells were immunopositive for nesting. Finally, these results suggested that cell cultures from posterior part of the Persian sturgeon brain with high proliferation capacity can be useful for research on brain cells in A. persicus in the future. © 2018 Iranian Fisheries Research Organization. All rights reserved