The alkaline serine protease asp, which was shown to be a virulence factor of Vibrio alginolyticus as a purified protein, was cloned from V. alginolyticus EPGS, a strain recently isolated from moribund Epinephelus coioides in an outbreak of vibriosis in a mariculture farm of Shenzhen. The asp null mutant was constructed by homologous recombination with suicide plasmid pNQ705-1. Compared with th...

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequencing of cDNA encoding an orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) homolog of Mx ("OsgMx") was conducted and its possible role in fish immunity was analysed. Similar to mammalian Mx, the OsgMx are members of a family of interferon-inducible genes that are expressed by cells in response to nodavirus and iridovirus naturally-infected. Expression of OsgMx...

Despite suspended solids being an important water-quality parameter in the regulatory process, very little is known about the risks of prolonged exposure to high concentrations of suspended solids in fish, especially marine species. In this study, the green grouper Epinephelus coioides, an important mariculture species with a wide geographic distribution, was exposed to various concentrations (...

Piscine iridoviruses infect a wide variety of fish and are classified into three genera: Lymphocystivirus, Ranavirus and Megalocytivirus. Lymphocystiviruses cause non-fatal, dermal infections, while ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses produce devastating, systemic infections with mortality reaching up to 100%. Although both ranaviruses and megalocytiviruses cause fatal systemic infections, they i...

Betanodavirus is the pathogen of viral nervous necrosis (VNN) disease that has caused mass mortality among many species of marine fish at larval stage. In this study, the efficacy of inactivated betanodavirus was evaluated by bath-immunization and bath-challenge of orange-spotted grouper (Epinephelus coioides) at early larval stage. Two kinds of chemicals were used for inactivation of the virus...

The nuclear phosphoprotein c-Jun is a member of the AP1 family of transcription activating complex, can be induced by various extracellular stimuli such as virus infection. In this study, the c-Jun gene (Ec-c-Jun) was cloned from orange-spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides. The full-length Ec-c-Jun cDNA is composed of 2046 bp and encodes a polypeptide of 328 amino acids with 81% identity of ze...

Although seagrass meadows form a relatively homogenous habitat, escarpments, which three-dimensional structures and originate from the erosion of peat, can provide important habitat for reef fishes. Here, we compare fish assemblages structural complexity among Posidonia australis escarpments canopies, as well limestone habitats, to understand role in Shark Bay, Western Australia. The total numb...

Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) and the receptor, GHRHR, constitute important components of the hypothalamus-pituitary growth axis and act on the downstream growth hormone (GH). PACAP-related peptide/pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PRP-PACAP) is a paralog of GHRH. These genes all play key roles in development and growth patterns. To improve the quality of cultured fi...