Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

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Not AvailableThe success of any aquaculture endeavour broadly depends on water quality. Water quality determines to a great extent the success or failure of aquaculture operation. Optimum water quality is considered necessary for any aquaculture operation as it influences the productivity of production system. In the present review, the role of major abiotic factors such as water pH and hardness on the biological processes of fish like growth, survival, reproductive performance and embryology has been discussed.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableThe present study was conducted to study the effect of 17α-methyl testosterone (17α-MT) on masculinization efficiency through immersion treatment in dwarf gourami,Trichogaster lalius. The immersion treatment of 17αMT at doses of 250, 500, 750 and 1000 μg/l was carried out for 3 h daily on third, fifth and eighth day after hatching. The highest concentrations of 17α-MT produced the highest percentage of males (84.29%). The progeny testing of males from17α-MT treated groups indicated that the female progenies of each of the males tested differ significantly from that of control, indicating that all those males carried XX genotype. The gonado-somatic index of the hormone treated fish revealed significant suppression of the ovarian development.Not Availabl