Organization and development of stock enhancement in Japan

In the 1960s, the Japanese economy was starting to industrialize. The rapid increase in business investment in new factories and equipment stimulated a yearly economic growth rate of approximately 12% (METI 1970). However, these developments have disrupted coastal landscapes through land reclamation and industrial effluents (Fishery Agency 1980a). Furthermore, overfishing has accelerated with increased consumer spending and demand for fish protein. Consequently, coastal fish resources such as red sea bream (Pagrus major), kuruma prawn (Marsupenaeus japonicus) and swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) have been depleted and income of coastal fisherfolk has decreased (Fishery Agency, 1980). Under such conditions, the Japanese government initiated the Stock Enhancement Program in 1963 (Fishery Agency, 1980; Imamura, 1999). The program initially targeted red sea bream and kuruma prawn in the Seto Inland Sea in southern Japan which covers almost 3,000 islands (Imamura, 1999). Because the fundamental concept of stock enhancement programs was to compensate juvenile loss caused by high larval mortality in the ocean, development of mass juvenile production techniques was emphasized (Fishery Agency 1980a; Matsuoka, 1989). Therefore, the release of juveniles became a typical form of stock enhancement in Japan. The current number of target species for stock enhancement has increased to almost 80 species. Stock enhancement is undertaken by both the national government and local governments together with conservation of fishing ground and regulation of fish catches for resource management (Resource Association 1983a; Imamura 1999; Fishery Agency 2000; JASFA 2003a). This article reports the present status of stock enhancement in Japan from the organizational and technical viewpoints

A functional genomics tool for the Pacific bluefin tuna: Development of a 44K oligonucleotide microarray from whole-genome sequencing data for global transcriptome analysis

AbstractBluefin tunas are one of the most important fishery resources worldwide. Because of high market values, bluefin tuna farming has been rapidly growing during recent years. At present, the most common form of the tuna farming is based on the stocking of wild-caught fish. Therefore, concerns have been raised about the negative impact of the tuna farming on wild stocks. Recently, the Pacific bluefin tuna (PBT), Thunnus orientalis, has succeeded in completing the reproduction cycle under aquaculture conditions, but production bottlenecks remain to be solved because of very little biological information on bluefin tunas. Functional genomics approaches promise to rapidly increase our knowledge on biological processes in the bluefin tuna. Here, we describe the development of the first 44K PBT oligonucleotide microarray (oligo-array), based on whole-genome shotgun (WGS) sequencing and large-scale expressed sequence tags (ESTs) data. In addition, we also introduce an initial 44K PBT oligo-array experiment using in vitro grown peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) stimulated with immunostimulants such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS: a cell wall component of Gram-negative bacteria) or polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly I:C: a synthetic mimic of viral infection). This pilot 44K PBT oligo-array analysis successfully addressed distinct immune processes between LPS- and poly I:C- stimulated PBLs. Thus, we expect that this oligo-array will provide an excellent opportunity to analyze global gene expression profiles for a better understanding of diseases and stress, as well as for reproduction, development and influence of nutrition on tuna aquaculture production

アクアビルナウイルスによるVNN抵抗性の誘導

非病原性アクアビルナウイルス(ABV)を予め接種され、その 7 日後にベータノダウイルス(NNV)で攻撃されたマハタは NNV 感染に対して強い抵抗性を示した。他方、ヒラメではNNVに対する感受性が低いため死亡率からABVの効果をみることはできなかったが、脳および腎臓におけるNNVの消長をみると、両魚種とも ABV 処理魚において明らかにウイルス感染力価の低下が認められた。この防御は、ABVにより誘導されるインターフェロン関連タンパク質に因ると考えられた。Experimental dual-infections with a non-lethal aquabirnavirus (ABV) and a lethal betanodavirus (redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus: RGNNV) were carried out in Japanese flounder Paralichthys olivaceus and sevenband grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus. In the dual-infection group, ABV was intramuscularly (IM) injected into fish seven days before the IM-injection with RGNNV. In the experiments with flounder, a high expression of an Mx gene, a molecular marker for type I interferon(s) (IFM) production, occurred in the head kidneys and brains at Day 7 post-ABV injection. Although-no mortality was found not only in the dual-infected group but also in the single infection group with RGNNV (control group), the infective titers of RGNNV in the tissues of the dual-infected group were significantly lower at any sampling times than those in the control group. In the experiments with grouper, the preceding ABV infection resulted in complete protection against RGNNV infection. The infective titers of RGNNV in the tissues were also lower in the dual-infected group than in the control group throughout the experiments, and finally the virus disappeared from the head kidneys and brains of the dual-infected group at Day 14 and Day 56 postinjections, respectively. These results suggest that an ABV-induced IFN(s) effectively suppresses the progression of secondary betanodavirus infection

The variable region of RNA2 is sufficient to determine host specificity in betanodaviruses.

Betanodaviruses, the causative agents of viral nervous necrosis in marine fish, have bipartite positive-sense RNA genomes. The viruses have been classified into 4 distinct types based on nucleotide sequence similarities in the variable region (the so-called T4 region) of the smaller genomic segment RNA2 (1.4 kb). Betanodaviruses have marked host specificity, although the primary structures of the viral RNAs and encoded proteins are similar among the viruses. We have previously demonstrated, using reassortants between striped jack nervous necrosis virus (SJNNV) and redspotted grouper nervous necrosis virus (RGNNV), that RNA2, which encodes the coat protein, strictly controls host specificity. However, because RNA2 is large, we were unable to propose a mechanism underlying this RNA2-based host specificity. To identify the RNA2 region that controls host specificity, we constructed RNA2 chimeric viruses from SJNNV and RGNNV and tested their infectivity in the original host fish, striped jack Pseudocaranx dentex and sevenband grouper Epinephelus septemfasciatus. Among these chimeric viruses, SJNNV mutants containing the variable region of RGNNV RNA2 infected sevenband grouper larvae in a manner similar to RGNNV, while RGNNV mutants containing the variable region of SJNNV RNA2 infected striped jack larvae in a manner similar to SJNNV. Immunofluorescence microscopic studies using anti-SJNNV polyclonal antibodies revealed that these chimeric viruses multiplied in the brains, spinal cords and retinas of the infected fish, as in infections by the parental viruses. These results indicate that the variable region of RNA2 is sufficient to control host specificity in SJNNV and RGNNV

Data from: Genetic effects of marine stock enhancement: a case study based on the highly piscivorous Japanese Spanish mackerel

We used a before–after control–impact design to quantify the genetic effects of the large piscivorous Japanese Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) stock enhancement program on wild populations in the Seto Inland Sea. Samples of 1424 wild and 230 hatchery fish collected from 13 sites around Japan were genotyped using five microsatellite markers. A total of 758 wild and 103 hatchery fish were sequenced for the mitochondrial DNA D-loop region. The population structure of Japanese Spanish mackerel was panmictic around Japan. Hatchery fish had significantly lower genetic diversity indices than did wild fish. However, there was no significant change in any of the diversity indices in the Seto Inland Sea, despite the substantial genetic mixing proportion of hatchery-origin genes (7.8%–14.5% from releases in 2001 and 2002), a conclusion supported by simulations. The estimated effective population size was surprisingly small (∼430–970) but stable in the Seto Inland Sea compared with the large census size. A Ryman–Laikre effect was not likely in the Japanese Spanish mackerel