Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is caused by consumption of a wide variety of shellfish which accumulated saxitoxins (STXs) from marine dinoflagellates (Alexandrium minutum, A. tamarense, Gymnodinium catenatum, Pyrodinium bahamense) and affect a wide variety of shellfish. There are about 20 saxitoxin analogs with closely related structures. A regulatory level of 0.8 mg/kg shellfish meat as ...

Considering the site (habitat) specific variations in the metabolic activities in the freshwater bivalves, we reported here the changes in the rate of oxygen consumption, rate of ammonia excretion and O: N ratio in the freshwater bivalve mollusc, Lamellidens marginalis (Lamark) from lotic and lentic water habitats on April-May during summer season. The adult freshwater bivalves, Lamellidens mar...

The adhesion of six fouling organisms: the barnacle Balanus eburneus, the gastropod mollusc Crepidulafornicata, the bivalve molluscs Crassostrea virginica and Ostrea/Dendrostrea spp., and the serpulid tubeworms Hydroides dianthus and H. elegans, to 12 silicone fouling-release surfaces was examined. Removal stress (adhesion strength) varied among the fouling species and among the surfaces. Princ...

Doubly uniparental inheritance (DUI) of mitochondrial DNA, different from maternal inheritance, is known to occur in five bivalve families (Mytilidae, Veneridae, Unionidae, Margaritiferidae, Hyriidae). DUI involves two types of mitochondrial DNA: F type, inherited from the mother and M type, inherited from the father. Females have only F type mtDNA, males have both types, M type being located i...

To understand nonylphenol (NP) contamination in the northeast coastal environment in China, NP was determined in 19 sediment and 20 bivalve samples collected during November 2005. NP was identified in all sediment samples in the range of 8.8 to 1.0 x 10(3) ng/g dw (dry weight), with an average of 0.12 x 10(3) ng/g dw. Most of the bivalve samples (oysters and mussels) contained detectable amount...

The annual reproductive cycle of peal oyster Pinctada fucata was characteised by documenting gonadal development and changes in serum levels of estradiol-17b (E2), testosterone (T) and progesterone (P) in the wild bivalve caught in natural beds in the Persian Gulf throughout the year. Bivalve populations employed in this study spawn in June-July and November-December. The pearl oysters had grou...

We calculated the incidence of drilling on bivalve genera from the Neogene fossil record of Panama and Costa Rica to determine differences in predation intensity among groups based on shell architecture, life habit, mobility, and taxonomic affinity. Bulk samples from 28 localities yielded >106,000 bivalve specimens, which were examined for characteristic drilling traces of muricid and naticid g...

The human p53 tumour suppressor protein is inactivated in many cancers and is also a major player in apoptotic responses to cellular stress. The p53 protein and the two other members of this protein family (p63, p73) are encoded by distinct genes and their functions have been extensively documented for humans and some other vertebrates. The structure and relative expression levels for members o...