Micro-propagation of Aquatic Plant Brazilian Micro Sword (Lileaopsis brasiliensis)

Lileaopsis brasiliensis is one of the ornamental aquatic plants and yet still being commercialized in Malaysia because of the grassy foreground features. This study is conducted to propagate higher quantity and quality of L. brasiliensis and to determine the optimum concentration of plant growth regulator for the micro-propagation in Murashige and Skoog (MS) (1962) basal media with different concentration of Naphteneacetic acid (NAA) and 6- Benzylaminopurine (BAP) for four weeks period following with subculture procedure. All treatments for 1 L MS media were adjusted to pH 5.7-5.8, adding sucrose and pytagel with 30 g/L and 2.5 g/L, respectively. The explants were sub-cultured at least three times within five months. The results of the quality and quantity of this species within different concentration of NAA and BAP have been determined. For shoot regeneration, the highest number of shoot induced in initial culture (C0), first (C1), second (C2) and the third subculture (C3) were 103, 102, 104 and 137 respectively. There was no significant different of shoot regeneration in different concentration of NAA and BAP combination. However, the high number of shoot regeneration was obtained from the following concentration NAA: BAP: zero concentration in both C0 (103.0±5.3) and C2 (104.0±14.2), 1.5: 0.0 mg/L with 102.0±4.4 and1.5:0.5 mg/L with 137.0±41.2 in C1 and C3, respectively. Based on the results, it can be concluded that shoot regeneration was observed even though in very low concentration of NAA and BAP. Keywords: Aquatic plants, lilaeopsis brasiliensis, micro-propagation, plant growth regulator

Effect of short-term bee bread on testicular cell development and testosterone level in male Sprague Dawley rats

Bee bread has been widely traditionally used for male fertility enrichment although limited scientific data are available on its effectiveness. Hence, the aim of this study was to determine the effect of bee bread on testicular cell development and testosterone level in male Sprague Dawley rats. In this study, 24 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were selected and divided equally into four treatment groups (n = 6/group) which were Control (C: 0 g of bee bread/kg body weight), Treatment 1 (T1: 1 g of bee bread /kg body weight), Treatment 2 (T2: 2 g of bee bread /kg body weight) and Treatment 3 (T3: 3 g of bee bread /kg body weight). The bee bread was administered daily and orally according to the designated treatment groups using oral gavage for 28 days. After 28 days of treatment, rats were euthanised and testicular cell development and testosterone level were measured. Results showed that rats in the T2 group had thicker (P<0.05) seminiferous tubular diameter (STD) than the control group and higher (P<0.05) seminiferous epithelial height (SEH) compared to C and T1 groups. The testosterone level in the T1, T2 and T3 groups was significantly higher (P<0.05) compared to control. In conclusion, this study suggests that supplemented with 2 g of bee bread per kg body weight is likely to give a positive effect by improving testicular cells development and testosterone level in male Sprague Dawley rats

Skeletal Deformities in Cultured Juvenile African Catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell, 1822)

Skeletal deformities in cultured fish are known worldwide and it had affected the survival, growth and appearance of the fish which contribute to production loss. Clarias gariepinus is known as number one farmed fish in Malaysia. C. gariepinus also effected in these deformities especially in cultured species. The objectives of this study are to identify the skeletal deformities that occur in juvenile stages and to compare the bone structure between the normal and deformed fish. A total of 50 juveniles’ fish were collected from Aquaculture Extension and Community Centre Machang, Kelantan. The juvenile was measured before undergo staining process. The fish were starved for one day then fixed in 70% ethanol for two weeks. The fish were then stained with alizarin red S for cartilage and Alcian blue for bone. The specimens were photographed in order to observe the deformities. The data showed only 13.0% juveniles have skeletal deformities, 10.9% with lordosis and 2.2% scoliosis. The cause of the deformities may be due to the heterogenous growth but other factors might also contribute to the problem. As the conclusion, the skeletal deformities observed in juvenile C. gariepinus were detected with the whole-mount staining method ranged from size 7.3 and 26.0 cm in total length. This study shows there is heterogenous growth rearing at low percentage even from skilled farm. Further study should concentrate on hidden factors that affected the deformity rate and mineralization of the juvenile fish

In Vitro Micropropagation of Aquarium Plants Pearl Grass Hemianthus micranthemoides (Nuttall) and Micro Sword Grass Lilaeopsis brasiliensis (Glaziou) Affolter (Apiaceae)

Hemianthus micranthemoides and Lileaopsis brasiliensis are nowadays sold in the form of tissue culture production by aquaria and ornamental trade in Malaysia. However, there is no to limited report about in vitro micropropagation of both aquarium plants. In this study, an experimental procedure for micropropagation of both plants was documented. The propagation were done in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with eight combination of different concentration of 6-Benzylaminopurine with Naphteneacetic acid (BAP-NAA) and 1-phenyl-3-1,2,3- thiadizol-5-yl urea with Naphteneacetic acid (TDZ-NAA) following the rooting technique for 42 days. All treatments for 1 L MS medium were regulated to pH 5.7 to 5.8 and added with sucrose (30 g/L) and phytagel (2.5 g/L). All combination treatments had induced rooting. There was a significance different in the shoot regeneration of H. micranthemoides in all treatment (95% confidence level, F = 13.907, n = 240, p = 0.000), on the contrary there was no different were observed in shoot regeneration of L. brasiliensis treatment. Overall, all treatment of TDZ- NAA were significantly higher in the shoot regeneration than those in BAP-NAA treatment. Particularly the T7 (TDZ-NAA, 0.075: 0.1 mg/L) given highest result in diameter (1.626±0.213 cm) and area (1.724±0.308 cm2) of shoot clumps in H. micranthemoides, and formation of shoots (51.5±4.95), nodes (20.0±2.83) and roots (45.5±13.4) in L. brasiliensis. Hardening of in vitro cultured plantlets was done in aquatic laboratory. All of the plants survived and transferred into aquarium. This study has provided beneficial information in further micropropagation protocol for the mass production of both aquarium plants.   Keywords: Aquarium plants, Hemianthus micranthemoides, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis, Micropropagatio

Prey identification of invasive peacock bass from Telabak Lake Malaysia using DNA barcoding technique

Invasive peacock bass Cichla spp. have recently invaded freshwater habitats across Malaysia. Stomach contents of 135 peacock bass captured from the Telabak Lake of East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia were analysed. The preys were examined using visual identification method and mitochondrial DNA barcoding technique to identify the partial digested and decaying preys in the stomach. The current study identified 7 prey species (6 fishes 43.0% and 1 shrimp 5.1%) belongs to 5 families in fishes’ stomach. The results revealed that peacock bass is highly predator and generalist feeder with an opportunistic feeding behaviour. It is highly important to reduce and monitor the abundance of this species for future survival of native species in the lake

Association analyses of East Asian individuals and trans-ancestry analyses with European individuals reveal new loci associated with cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Large-scale meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified >175 loci associated with fasting cholesterol levels, including total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG). With differences in linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure and allele frequencies between ancestry groups, studies in additional large samples may detect new associations. We conducted staged GWAS meta-analyses in up to 69,414 East Asian individuals from 24 studies with participants from Japan, the Philippines, Korea, China, Singapore, and Taiwan. These meta-analyses identified (P < 5 × 10-8) three novel loci associated with HDL-C near CD163-APOBEC1 (P = 7.4 × 10-9), NCOA2 (P = 1.6 × 10-8), and NID2-PTGDR (P = 4.2 × 10-8), and one novel locus associated with TG near WDR11-FGFR2 (P = 2.7 × 10-10). Conditional analyses identified a second signal near CD163-APOBEC1. We then combined results from the East Asian meta-analysis with association results from up to 187,365 European individuals from the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium in a trans-ancestry meta-analysis. This analysis identified (log10Bayes Factor ≥6.1) eight additional novel lipid loci. Among the twelve total loci identified, the index variants at eight loci have demonstrated at least nominal significance with other metabolic traits in prior studies, and two loci exhibited coincident eQTLs (P < 1 × 10-5) in subcutaneous adipose tissue for BPTF and PDGFC. Taken together, these analyses identified multiple novel lipid loci, providing new potential therapeutic targets

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

東南アジアにおけるマーブルゴビーOxyeleotris marmoratus 養殖のための集団遺伝およびストロンチウム/カルシウム解析

The marble goby Oxyeleotris marmoratus belongs to the suborder Gobioidei in the order Perciformes. It has partial flattened body with snake-like head, symmetrical patternihg on the dorsal surface and rounded, outstretched round pectoral fin, two dorsal fins, rounded caudal fin and separated pelvic fins. It is a popular freshwater fish in Southeast Asia for its fine texture and delicious taste. In the wild, it feeds on small fish, shrimp, molluscs and crustaceans. It can grow to a maximum size of approximately 65 cm standard length. Fish farmers would like to culture the marble goby, but the seed supply is still mainly dependent on natural sources. In 2008, the seed production of marble goby has been succeeded in Sabah of East Malaysia. Although it is a freshwater fish, 10 psu diluted seawater is the best for the larval survival of marble goby in Sabah. It showed the possibility of different populations is existed in Southeast Asia. Thus, three experiments were conducted to better understanding of its population structure and early life history in salinity in nature would aid more effective broodstock management in the hatchery for seed production

〈研究成果報告〉平成20年度マーブルゴビ地域集団の仔稚魚の生態および集団遺伝学的解析と養殖に適した系統の検索

publisher[注記]人工種苗グループ, 養殖グルー