Palatability of animal oils included in the diet of the Mexican axolotl and its effect on growth and survival

Objective: The growth, survival and condition factor of Ambystoma mexicanum juveniles fed with three commercial feed-based diets coated with different animal oils as potential palatability enhancers were evaluated. Methodology: Three diets were prepared using commercial feed coated with fish, chicken and krill oil. The experiment lasted 81 days, the food was provided to the axolotls (6 per experimental unit, in triplicate) every 48 h, at 4% of the total biomass. The total weight of each experimental unit was recorded every 15 days, at the end of the experiment individual weight and height and survival were recorded. The following variables were calculated: Fulton's K, specific growth rate, coefficient of variation of final weight and size heterogeneity. Results: All three treatments showed an increase in total biomass, with a trend towards better performance in chicken and fish oil treatments compared to krill oil. When performing the statistical analysis, it was found that there were no significant differences among the treatments for any of the variables recorded. Implications: The three oils used in the present study were good palatable agents in the food intake of A. mexicanum. Conclusions: It is recommended to use chicken oil as an attractant additive in the formulation of a specific diet due to its low cost.Objective: The growth, survival, and condition factor of Ambystoma mexicanum juveniles fed with three commercial feed-based diets coated with different animal oils as potential palatability enhancers were evaluated. Methodology: Three diets were prepared using commercial feed coated with fish, chicken, and krill oil. The experiment lasted 81 days, the food was provided to the axolotls (6 per experimental unit, in triplicate) every 48 h, at 4% of the total biomass. The total weight of each experimental unit was recorded every 15 days, at the end of the experiment individual weight and height and survival were recorded. The following variables were calculated: Fulton's K, specific growth rate, coefficient of variation of final weight and size heterogeneity. Results: All three treatments showed an increase in total biomass, with a trend towards better performance in chicken and fish oil treatments compared to krill oil. When performing the statistical analysis, it was found that there were no significant differences among the treatments for any of the variables recorded. Implications: The three oils used in the present study were good palatable agents in the food intake of A. mexicanum. Conclusions: It is recommended to use chicken oil as an attractant additive in the formulation of a specific diet due to its low cost

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Comprehensive analysis of chromothripsis in 2,658 human cancers using whole-genome sequencing

Chromothripsis is a mutational phenomenon characterized by massive, clustered genomic rearrangements that occurs in cancer and other diseases. Recent studies in selected cancer types have suggested that chromothripsis may be more common than initially inferred from low-resolution copy-number data. Here, as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we analyze patterns of chromothripsis across 2,658 tumors from 38 cancer types using whole-genome sequencing data. We find that chromothripsis events are pervasive across cancers, with a frequency of more than 50% in several cancer types. Whereas canonical chromothripsis profiles display oscillations between two copy-number states, a considerable fraction of events involve multiple chromosomes and additional structural alterations. In addition to non-homologous end joining, we detect signatures of replication-associated processes and templated insertions. Chromothripsis contributes to oncogene amplification and to inactivation of genes such as mismatch-repair-related genes. These findings show that chromothripsis is a major process that drives genome evolution in human cancer

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Partial characterization of pyloric-duodenal lipase of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata)

In the present study, we report the isolation and characterization of seabream Sparus aurata pyloric caeca-duodenal lipase. Optimum activity was found at pH 8.5 and salinity of 50 mM NaCl. Lipase activity was sensitive to divalent ions, and extreme pH values (4, 5, and 12), being more stable at alkaline than acid pH. Optimum temperature was found at 50°C, but lipase was stable at temperatures below 40°C. Lipase has a bile salt sodium taurocholate requirement for increased activity. Gradient PAGE electrophoresis revealed the presence of four isoforms with apparent molecular masses of 34, 50, 68, and 84 KDa, respectively. Pyloric-duodenal lipase was able to hydrolyze emulsified alimentary oils. Results confirm the presence of true lipases in Sparus aurata digestive tract. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Contribution to the knowledge of moulting and growth of Callinectes arcuatus Ordway, 1863 (Brachyura, Portunidae) in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Growth and moulting cycle of the crab, Callinectes arcuatus were studied. Specimens were divided into four experimental groups, depending on size. A group of eyestalk-ablated crabs was also included. The smallest crabs had the largest increase in size on a percentage basis. The average growth of the crabs after moulting, as well as the soft crab condition, are reported and discussed. � 2007 Brill Academic Publishers

Evaluation of two sources of water supply for inland low salinity culture of litopenaeus vannamei in cuba [Cultivo tierra adentro de camarón marino Litopenaeus vannamei: Evaluación del agua de dos granjas acuícolas en Cuba]

The scientific base behind the successful production in inland waters of Pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei, consists in the evaluation of the origin and composition of the water to use, whose quality should be established like premise for their posterior use. In order to achieve the culture of the marine shrimp suitably, in the Guamá Municipality (Santiago de Cuba, Cuba), at a salinity of 3 ups, samples of water of two supply sources located in the aquaculture farm "Sevilla" and the station "El Francés", were analyzed, and later were recommended the necessary ionic modifications on the water of these sources. The salinity and the concentration of the most important ions were determined, and as result, was estimated the amount of mineral salts to use in each case. The ionic concentration, the hardness, as well as electric conductivity of the water samples, were minor in the groundwater well of the Farm "Sevilla." The concentrations of Ca2+, Mg2+, Cl-, K+ and Na+ were, in that order: 59, 15, 25, 3 and 35 mg/L for "Sevilla"; and 88, 45, 169, 11 and 75 mg/L for "El Francés." These values are lower, in both locations, the expected pattern of dissolved sea water up to 3 ups, which may be due to the distance of wells from the coast, being the farm "Sevilla" the farthest. For the practical purposes of this research, we recommend supplementation of analyzed water with mineral salts available in the country, to a suitable concentration of major ions, at a salinity of 3 psu, but it is necessary to establish the possible damage the surrounding environment resulting from this production strategy