Contemporary 14C radiocarbon levels of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) isolated in sponge–cyanobacteria associations

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Pollution Bulletin 62 (2011): 631-636, doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.12.022.Considerable debate surrounds the sources of oxygenated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (O-PBDEs) in wildlife as to whether they are naturally produced or result from anthropogenic industrial activities. Natural radiocarbon (14C) abundance has proven to be a powerful tool to address this problem as recently biosynthesized compounds contain contemporary (i.e. modern) amounts of atmospheric radiocarbon; whereas industrial chemicals, mostly produced from fossil fuels, contain no detectable 14C. However, few compounds isolated from organisms have been analyzed for their radiocarbon content. To provide a baseline, we analyzed the 14C content of four OPBDEs. These compounds, 6-OH-BDE47, 2’-OH-BDE68, 2’,6-diOH-BDE159, and a recently identified compound, 2’-MeO-6-OH-BDE120, were isolated from the tropical marine sponges Dysidea granulosa and Lendenfeldia dendyi. The modern radiocarbon content of their chemical structures (i.e. diphenyl ethers, C12H22O) indicates that they are naturally produced. This adds to a growing baseline on, at least, the sources of these unusual compounds.The project described was supported in part by Grant Numbers NA16RU1496 and NA06OAR4300227 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Grant Number 5P20RR021929 from the National Center for Research Resources

Chlorinated Didemnins from the Tunicate Trididemnum solidum

Chemical investigation of the tunicate Trididemnum solidum resulted in the isolation of two new chlorinated compounds belonging to the didemnin class, along with two known compounds didemnin A and didemnin B. The structural determination of the compounds was based on extensive NMR and mass spectroscopic analysis. The isolated compounds 1–4 were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity using in vitro assays for inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity. The anti-cell proliferative activity of the above compounds was also evaluated against four solid tumor cell lines

Antibacterial Secondary Metabolites from the Cave Sponge <em>Xestospongia </em>sp.

Chemical investigation of the cave sponge <em>Xestospongia </em>sp. resulted in the isolation of three new<strong> </strong>polyacetylenic long chain compounds along with two known metabolites. The structures of the new metabolites were established by NMR and MS analyses. The antibacterial activity of the new metabolites was also evaluated

Appendix B. Statistical analyses of soft-coral genets.

Statistical analyses of soft-coral genets

Appendix A. Soft-coral grid maps and sample provenances.

Soft-coral grid maps and sample provenances

Biochemical Mechanisms for Geographical Adaptations to Novel Toxin Exposures in Butterflyfish

Some species of butterflyfish have had preyed upon corals for millions of years, yet the mechanism of butterflyfish specialized coral feeding strategy remains poorly understood. Certain butterflyfish have the ability to feed on allelochemically rich soft corals, e.g. Sinularia maxima. Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is the predominant enzyme system responsible for the detoxification of dietary allelochemicals. CYP2-like and CYP3A-like content have been associated with butterflyfish that preferentially consumes allelochemically rich soft corals. To investigate the role of butterflyfish CYP2 and CYP3A enzymes in dietary preference, we conducted oral feeding experiments using homogenates of S. maxima and a toxin isolated from the coral in four species of butterflyfish with different feeding strategies. After oral exposure to the S. maxima toxin 5-episinulaptolide (5ESL), which is not normally encountered in the Hawaiian butterflyfish diet, an endemic specialist, Chaetodon multicinctus experienced 100% mortality compared to a generalist, Chaetodon auriga, which had significantly more (3-6 fold higher) CYP3A-like basal content and catalytic activity. The specialist, Chaetodon unimaculatus, which preferentially feed on S. maxima in Guam, but not in Hawaii, had 100% survival, a significant induction of 8-12 fold CYP3A-like content, and an increased ability (2-fold) to metabolize 5ESL over other species. Computer modeling data of CYP3A4 with 5ESL were consistent with microsomal transformation of 5ESL to a C15-16 epoxide from livers of C. unimaculatus. Epoxide formation correlated with CYP3A-like content, catalytic activity, induction, and NADPH-dependent metabolism of 5ESL. These results suggest a potentially important role for the CYP3A family in butterflyfish-coral diet selection through allelochemical detoxification

The Effect of Vojta's Reflex Locomotion on the Stability of Patients with Hereditary Polyneuropathy

This thesis deals with the influence of Vojta's reflex locomotion on stability of the pacients suffering from hereditary neuropathy. In the review of knowledges there is presented the part about hereditary neuropathies, it's classification, clinical symptoms and diagnostics. The second part of the review is about the stability and it's determination. The last part is dedicated to Vojta's reflex locomotion. In experimental part, there is presented studies, which evaluates the influence of Vojta's reflex locomotion on the sensitive functiones (discrimination, texture perception, vibration perception) and the postural stability (using Balance Master system) in the two groups of the pacients suffering from hereditary neuropathy. The first groupe was measured before and after Vojta's therapy and the second groupe (control one) was measured in the same way, but without therapy. Consequently, the basic statistic indicators of gained set of data were calculated. As a conclusion, there has been some changes before and after therapy in sensitive functiones (vibrations perception, discrimination) and postural function and one test of postural stability in the group of patients threated with Vojta's reflex therapy, compared to control group. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org