BACKGROUND Recent genomic information has revealed that neuroglobin and cytoglobin are the two principal lineages of vertebrate hemoglobins, with the latter encompassing the familiar myoglobin and α-globin/β-globin tetramer hemoglobin, and several minor groups. In contrast, very little is known about hemoglobins in echinoderms, a phylum of exclusively marine organisms closely related to vertebr...

Parastichopus parvimensis and P. californicus, two ecologicallysimilar species of sea cucumber, are the only sea cucumber fisheries in California.1 Aside from the economic importance that this distinction affords them, the two also play an important ecological role as subtidal, benthic detritivores.1, 2 Though some ecological distinctions between the two species exist – P. californicus, notably...

Sediment, which is central as a sink for organic material and nutrient cycling, provides habitat for feeding, resting, and nesting of sea cucumbers in aquaculture systems. We conducted a 2 mo experiment to investigate the optimal sea mud to sand ratios in sediment for sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka, 1867) aquaculture. Sea mud (<0.08 mm) and sand (0.08−0.5 mm) were used to prepare ...

In this study, commercial sea cucumber identification and some biological characteristics were investigated between Ayvalık and Çeşme. Ayvalık, Aliağa, Foça, Şakran and İzmir were selected as main stations. In the investigation where 70 stations were studied between 0 and 50 m depth 6 sea cucumber species were found. These were Holothuria tubulosa, Holothuria polii, Holothuria mammata, Holothur...

Two new holostan-type triterpenoid oligoglycosides, named parvimosides A (1) and B (2), were isolated from the warty sea cucumber Stichopus parvimensis (syn. Parastichopus parvimensis). Their structures and total assignments of the proton and carbon signals were established on the basis of spectral evidence, mainly 1H and 13C 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy including DEPT, COSY, TOCSY, NOESY/ROESY, ...

Tropical commercial sea cucumber Stichopus horrens is extensively distributed throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific region, and wild stocks have been severely depleted over the past decade. In this study, we used the microsatellite enrichment library of S. horrens to identify and characterize 13 microsatellite loci, including 11 polymorphic loci and 2 monomorphic loci. Among the 11 polymorphic l...

OBJECTIVES Marine organisms are known as a potential source of natural products, which contain bioactive substances with therapeutic properties. Sea cucumbers are prominent among marine organisms because of their dietary and therapeutic applications. In addition, they have capacity of synthesizing saponins molecules and other metabolites with therapeutic properties such as antitumor, antimicrob...

Sea cucumbers have been a dietary delicacy and important ingredient in Asian traditional medicinal over many centuries. In this study, edible sea cucumber Holothuria edulis was evaluated for its in vitro anticancer potential. An aqueous fraction of the edible sea cucumber (ESC-AQ) has been shown to deliver a strong cytotoxic effect against the human HL-60 leukaemia cell line. An induction effec...

Three new triterpenoid aglycones named Philinopgenin A (1), B (2), and C (3) were isolated from the acid hydrolysate of the crude glycoside mixture prepared from the whole sea cucumber Pentacta quadrangulasis Lesson. The corresponding structures were determined as 16β-acetoxyholosta-8(9), 24(25)-diene-3β-ol (1), 20, 25-epoxy-lanosta-9(11)-ene-3β-ol 18(16)–lactone (2) and 16β-acetoxyholosta-9(11...