Search Results (7)

Selenium (Se) is an important trace element in our body; however, food composition data remain limited due to analytical challenges and interferences. Seafood, abundant in Thailand, is recognized as a rich source of Se. This study aimed to expand knowledge on Se content in seafood prepared using traditional Thai cooking methods. Twenty seafood species were selected and prepared by boiling, frying, and grilling. Inductively Coupled Plasma–Triple Quadrupole–Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) was used to analyze total Se contents in selected seafood species. Results revealed significant variation in Se content across species and cooking methods. The Indo-Pacific horseshoe crab showed the highest Se concentration, with fried samples reaching 193.9 μg/100 g. Se concentrations were in the range of 8.6–155.5 μg/100 g (fresh), 14.3–106.6 μg/100 g (boiled), 17.3–193.9 μg/100 g (fried), and 7.3–160.1 μg/100 g (grilled). Results found significant effects of species and cooking method on Se content (p < 0.05). Fried seafood exhibited the highest estimated marginal mean Se concentration (a 78.8 μg/100 g edible portion), significantly higher than other methods. True retention (%TR) of Se ranged from 40.4% to 100%, depending on species and method. Bigfin reef squid, wedge shell, and silver pomfret showed the highest %TR (100%), while splendid squid exhibited the lowest (52.5%). Significant interaction effects on %TR were also observed (p < 0.05). Fried seafood had the highest mean %TR (88.8%), followed by grilled (82.1%) and boiled (79.7%). These findings highlight the effects of both species and cooking method on Se retention, emphasizing the nutritional value of selected seafood in preserving bioavailable Se after cooking. Full article

In China, the silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) is one of the most popular marine edible fish. To analyze the genetic characteristics of P. argenteus across three generations and evaluate whether continued progress can be made in body weight and growth traits, growth traits of the third-generation P. argenteus breeding and control groups were measured at 60, 90, and 120 days post-hatch. Using Pearson correlation and path analysis, we found a strong correlation between the growth characteristics of the third-generation P. argenteus and its body weight, with fork length and body length showing the strongest associations. Body weight, body length, and fork length all showed high levels of realized heritability at 120 days, with respective values of 0.55, 0.57, and 0.56. The genetic gain for body weight in the breeding groups over the three periods was 29.70 ± 0.58% (2.43 ± 1.17 g), which was significantly higher than the genetic gain for body length (8.90 ± 3.91%, 0.56 ± 0.29 cm) and fork length (8.08 ± 3.69%, 0.57 ± 0.33 cm). At harvest on day 120, the breeding group was 33.93% greater than the control group in terms of body weight. These results indicated that through mass selection, improvements were made to body weight of P. argenteus, leading to an enhancement in its growth performance. In the meantime, there was roughly equal genetic gain for body length, body weight, and fork length. These experiments showed that mass selection can effectively increase P. argenteus body weight, which will improve the species’ growth performance. These findings suggest that substantial genetic improvements can be achieved through mass selection for body weight, providing strong support for the ongoing P. argenteus selective breeding program. Full article

Pampus argenteus, a commercially significant marine species, faces genetic diversity challenges in selective breeding programs. This study implemented a comprehensive molecular strategy to evaluate genetic parameters in wild populations along China’s coast and three successive selected generations. The analysis utilized 19 highly polymorphic microsatellite loci, mtCOI, and mtD-loop sequences to assess genetic structure. Compared with the wild populations, the average number of alleles (N_a: 11.158–12.947), effective alleles (N_e: 5.592–6.502), observed heterozygosity (H_o: 0.626–0.665), expected heterozygosity (H_e: 0.777–0.796), and allele richness (A_r: 10.900–12.510) of the selected populations did not significantly decrease. In the mass selection of the three consecutive generations, the high genetic diversity of the selected population was successfully maintained. The effective population sizes of the first to third generations were estimated to be 83.7, 66.6, and 59.6, respectively. Population differentiation analysis showed minimal genetic divergence (FST = 0.0159–0.0326) with substantial gene flow, supported by clustering patterns indicating panmixia among wild populations from different geographical locations and among the selected populations. Notably, marginal decreases in diversity indices across generations suggest incipient genetic diversity decline, underscoring the imperative for systematic genetic monitoring. These findings validate the current breeding program’s efficacy in maintaining genetic variability while providing a framework for optimizing long-term selection strategies to prevent inbreeding depression. Full article

In the artificial breeding of Pampus argenteus (Euphrasen, 1788), female fish spawn before male release sperm, which indicates rapid ovarian development. In fish, aromatase is responsible for converting androgens into estrogens and estrogen plays a crucial role in ovarian development. In this study, we aimed to investigate the potential role of brain-type and ovarian-type aromatase to study the rapid ovarian development mechanism. The results showed that cyp19a1a was mainly expressed in the ovary and could be classified as the ovarian type, whereas cyp19a1b could be considered as the brain type for its expression was mainly in the brain. During ovarian development, the expression of cyp19a1a in the ovary significantly increased from stage IV to stage V and Cyp19a1a signals were present in the follicle cells, while cyp19a1b expression in the pituitary gland decreased from stage IV to stage V. To further investigate the function of Cyp19a1a, recombinant Cyp19a1a (rCyp19a1a) was produced and specific anti-Cyp19a1a antiserum was obtained. The expressions of cyp19a1a, estrogen receptors 2 alpha (esr2a), and androgen receptor alpha (arα) were significantly upregulated in the presence of rCyp19a1a. Meanwhile, cyp19a1a was expressed significantly after E2 treatment in both ovarian and testicular tissue culture. Taken together, we found two forms of aromatase in silver pomfret. The ovarian-type aromatase might play an important role in ovarian differentiation and maturation, and participate in E2 synthesis through co-regulation with esr2a. The brain-type aromatase cyp19a1b might be involved in the regulation of both brain and gonadal development. Full article

Ghrelin, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and peptide YY (PYY) are potent hormones mediating food intake according to the nutritional status in fish. However, limited information is available on these genes and their expression in response to nutrition in silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus). A comparison analysis revealed that ghrelin and GLP-1 were relatively conserved in marine fish. PYYa and PYYb shared a low identity and were clustered to different PYY branches. Ghrelin, pyya, and pyyb mRNAs were highly expressed in the brain, while glp-1 was highly expressed in the gills and liver. The ghrelin mRNA expression was relatively high an hour post-feeding and decreased after 3 to 72 h of fasting. The glp-1 mRNA expression was increased after 6 to 24 h of fasting. The pyya mRNA expression was increased after 72 h of fasting, while the pyyb expression remained stable during fasting. The diet with 14% lipid promoted the expressions of glp-1, pyya, and pyyb, but inhibited the ghrelin expression. The ghrelin expression in the intestine was increased after palmitic acid, oleic acid (OA), linoleic acid (LA), α-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) incubation. OA decreased the expression of glp-1 and increased the expression of pyya. The expression of pyyb was downregulated by LA, DHA, and EPA. These results suggest the importance of ghrelin, glp-1, and pyy in coordinating food intake in response to fasting, dietary lipid concentration, and fatty acids in silver pomfret. Full article

Schizochytrium sp. is a kind of heterotrophic protist, rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). To study the application value of Schizochytrium sp. in fish diet, a 20-day feeding experiment was initiated to evaluate its effect on growth, fatty acid contents, and the gut microbiota of the important economic fish, silver pomfret. In this study, the diets of the treatment group were added with 2% Schizochytrium sp. The fish in the treatment group gained more weight and had a higher growth rate than the control group. The levels of DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid, and polyunsaturated fatty acids in the edible tissue of fish were highly increased in the treatment group after 20 days. After feeding Schizochytrium sp., high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing showed that the Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were the phyla with the highest abundance, and at the genus and species level, we observed an increased abundance of probiotics. The results indicated that ingestion of Schizochytrium sp. could change the dominant microbiota population, which might lead to accelerated growth and improved unsaturated fatty acid content and fish health. This study provides a reference for Schizochytrium sp. supplementation in fish diets and could aid in the industrialization of silver pomfret. Full article

The pharyngeal sac is a comparatively rare organ in the digestive tract among teleost fishes. However, our understanding of this remarkable organ in the silver pomfret (Pampus argenteus) is limited. In the present study, we examined the various morphological and histological characteristics of the pharyngeal sac using histochemical techniques and electron microscopy. The pharyngeal sac showed unique characteristics such as well-developed muscular walls, weakly keratinized epithelium, numerous goblet cells, and needle-like processes on the papillae. The porous cavity of the papillae contained numerous adipocytes and was tightly enveloped by type I collagen fibers. These structures might provide mechanical protection and excellent biomechanical properties for grinding and shredding prey. A comparison of gene expression levels between the pharyngeal sac and esophagus using RNA-seq showed that phenotype-associated genes (epithelial genes and muscle genes) were upregulated, whereas genes related to nutrient digestion and absorption were downregulated in the pharyngeal sac. These results support the role of the pharyngeal sac in shredding and predigesting food. Overall, these findings provide a clearer understanding of the pharyngeal sac morphology and explain the morphological adaptations of the digestive tract for feeding on gelatinous prey. To our knowledge, this is the first report on pharyngeal sac gene expression in P. argenteus. Full article