Sexual Maturation and Reproduction Cycle of the Bat Star, Asterina pectinifera (Echinodermata: Asteroidae)

A relaxin-like peptide purified from radial nerves induces oocyte maturation and ovulation in the starfish, Asterina pectinifera.

Gonad-stimulating substance (GSS) of starfish is the only known invertebrate peptide hormone responsible for final gamete maturation, rendering it functionally analogous to the vertebrate luteinizing hormone (LH). Here, we purified GSS of starfish, Asterina pectinifera, from radial nerves and determined its amino acid sequence. The purified GSS was a heterodimer composed of 2 different peptides...

Prevention by polyhydroxysteroids and saponins of Asterina pectinifera of the desquamation of stratum corneum cells.

Two polyhydroxysteroids and three steroidal saponins (pectiniosides A, B and C) were isolated as bioactive substances from Asterina pectinifera. These compounds inhibited the release of guinea-pig skin stratum corneum cells by 48-67% (control, 0%) at 2 mg/ml. It is suggested that the bioactivity of these compounds is connected with the remedial and preventive effects of an aqueous extract of A....

Isolation and characteristics of trypsin from pyloric ceca of the starfish Asterina pectinifera.

Trypsin was purified from pyloric ceca of the starfish Asterina Pectinifera by ammonium sulfate precipitation, gel filtration, and cation-exchange chromatography. Final enzyme preparation was nearly homogeneous in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and its molecular weight was estimated as approximately 28000. Optimum pH and temperature of A. pectinifera trypsin for hydro...

Isolation and characteristics of phospholipase A2 from the pyloric ceca of the starfish Asterina pectinifera

Nucleotide sequence and gene organization of the starfish Asterina pectinifera mitochondrial genome.

The 16,260-bp mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the starfish Asterina pectinifera has been sequenced. The genes for 13 proteins, two rRNAs and 22 tRNAs are organized in an extremely economical fashion, similar to those of other animal mtDNAs, with some of the genes overlapping each other. The gene organization is the same as that for another echinoderm, sea urchin, except for the inversion of a 4....