Effects of tributyltin on the energy metabolism of pen shell (Atrina pectinata japonica)

We examined the effects of tributyltin (TBT) on aerobic and anaerobic energy metabolism of pen shell (Atrina pectinata japonica). We exposed pen shells to TBT at nominal concentrations of 0 (control) and 1.0microg/l for 72h under aerobic condition. At the end of the exposure, half of the pen shells in each treatment were wrapped in plastic wrap to simulate exposure to hypoxia and held at 25 degrees C for another 12h. The concentrations of the products of energy metabolism, namely lactate, pyruvate, fumarate and succinate, in adductor muscle were measured. The exposure to TBT under aerobic condition significantly elevated lactate, pyruvate and fumarate concentrations (p<0.001). After subsequent exposure to anaerobic condition, the mean concentration of succinate in the TBT treatment group was 64% of that in the control group, but there were no significant differences. Our results suggest that the energy metabolism of pen shell is disrupted by exposure to TBT.     

Estimation of 1999-2004 dietary daily intake of PCDDs, PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs by a total diet study in metropolitan Tokyo, Japan

A study of the dietary intake of dioxins, consisting of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dioxin-like PCBs) through foods retailed in the metropolitan Tokyo area from 1999 to 2004 was carried out by the total diet-market basket method on the basis of food classification (14 groups) and the data on food consumption in the Tokyo region obtained from the Japan Nutrition Survey. The daily intake of dioxins per kg of body weight for a 50 kg average adult body was 2.18 pg TEQ/kg/day in 1999, 1.87 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2000, 1.25 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2001, 1.60 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2002 and 2003 and 1.55 pg TEQ/kg/day in 2004, respectively. These amounts were less than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 4 pg TEQ/kg/day for dioxins established in Japan. The dioxins taken daily through fish and shellfish (group 10) accounted for more than 50% of sum WHO-TEQs. In addition, more than 90% of the daily intake of dioxins was taken through fish and shellfish (group 10), meat and eggs (group 11), milk and dairy products (group 12). Also, this study clearly showed that the ratio of dioxin-like PCBs in the daily intake of dioxins was increasing yearly because the reduction rate of dioxin-like PCBs was lower than that of PCDDs and PCDFs in foods.     

Growth inhibition and formation of morphologically abnormal cells of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Akashiwo sanguinea</Emphasis> (Hirasaka) G. Hansen et Moestrup by cell contact with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cochlodinium polykrikoides</Emphasis> Margalef

We investigated the growth interaction between Cochlodinium polykrikoides and Akashiwo sanguinea using bi-algal cultures. When cultured together, morphologically abnormal cells of A. sanguinea appeared and the growth of A. sanguinea notably decreased. When C. polykrikoides and A. sanguinea were cultured separately in inner and outer wells separated by a membrane with a pore size of 3 μm, neither species showed suppressed growth and no morphologically abnormal cells of A. sanguinea were observed. Furthermore, filtrates from C. polykrikoides cultures did not affect the cell morphology or the growth of A. sanguinea. When the abnormal cells of A. sanguinea were transferred from bi-algal cultures into fresh medium and cultured as a mono-algal culture, cells recovered their normal morphology and multiplied. Therefore, the growth inhibition and formation of morphologically abnormal cells of A. sanguinea would be induced by constant cell contact with C. polykrikoides.     

Suppression of sexual behavior in male Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) exposed to 17beta-estradiol

Mating pairs of Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) received 17beta-estradiol (E2; dose, 3 and 30 microg/g body weight daily) in their diet and E2-free diet (control) for two weeks. The effect on reproductive success was assessed in the mating pairs, and sexual and nonsexual behaviors in the male were quantified. The fecundities of the E2-treated groups were reduced significantly (p < 0.05) compared with those of control, and the sexual behaviors (following, dancing, floating, and crossing) of male fish in response to prostaglandin F2alpha (PG)-injected E2-unexposed females were suppressed dramatically. While the fertility of spawned eggs and the frequencies of the nonsexual behaviors of resting and swimming in a straight line performed by male were unchanged in E2-exposed groups. Therefore, sexual behavior in male may be linked with reproductive success in mating pair of madaka exposed to E2. This assay for sexual behavior using PG may provide a useful tool for assessing the effect of endocrine-disrupting chemicals.     

Fertilization success and sexual behavior in male medaka, Oryzias latipes, exposed to tributyltin

We evaluated the effects of tributyltin (TBT), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and a mixture of TBT and PCBs on reproduction, gonadal histology, and sexual behavior in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). We administered TBT (1 microg g(-1) body weight [b.w.] daily), PCBs (1 microg g(-1) b.w. daily), or both to medaka for 3 weeks. We assessed reproductive success during week 3 and the sexual behavior of male medaka after the exposure period. Fertilization success was significantly decreased in groups that received TBT. The profiles of fertility developed a bimodal distribution in the TBT and TBT+PCBs groups, and the numbers of males that performed "following" and "dancing" were significantly decreased in the TBT+PCBs group. The frequency of "dancing" also decreased after treatment with TBT, whereas fish that received PCBs only showed no difference in sexual behavior. Testes that had oocytes showed normal spermatogenesis, even though two of the five males treated with TBT+PCBs had some indication of testis-ova, which did not occur in any other group. Our results indicate that TBT, but not PCBs, affects sexual behavior and reproduction in medaka.     

Temporal comparison of global inventories of CO2 emissions from biomass burning during 2002–2011 derived from remotely sensed data

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Biomass burning is a large important source of greenhouse gases and atmospheric aerosols, and can contribute greatly to the temporal variations of CO2...     

Comparative analysis on the genetic population structures of the deep-sea whelks <Emphasis Type="Italic">Buccinum tsubai</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Neptunea constricta</Emphasis> in the Sea of Japan

The population structures of Buccinum tsubai and Neptunea constricta were compared using partial sequences of the mitochondrial COI gene. B. tsubai included four genetically distinguishable subpopulations (Hokkaido, Yamagata-Toyama, Yamato Bank, and San’in), which is consistent with the results of our previous study using mitochondrial 16SrRNA sequences. The genetic structure of N. constricta was also clear, but the lineage sorting corresponding to the geographical distribution was not as clear as that of B. tsubai. The difference between the genetic structures of these two species might be due to a difference in either their dispersal abilities or the historic distribution patterns in the Sea of Japan. The fossil record and nested clade analyses support the latter alternative. The four subpopulations of B. tsubai are estimated to have diverged 0.42–1.46 million years ago, providing support for the existence of intermediate water of normal salinity and oxygen concentration capable of sustaining B. tsubai between the low-salinity surface water and anoxic deep water during the Pleistocene glacial periods. The genetic diversity of the Yamato Bank subpopulation of B. tsubai was lower than that of the other subpopulations, which is likely attributable to the small size of the Yamato Bank subpopulation.     

Effects of ocean acidification on the early developmental stages of the horned turban,Turbo cornutus

To estimate the impact of CO₂-driven ocean acidification on the early life stages of gastropods, the effects of increased partial pressure of seawater carbon dioxide (pCO₂) (800–2,000 μatm) on the early developmental stages and larval shell length of the commercially important gastropod, the horned turban snail, Turbo cornutus were investigated. Increase in experimental seawater pCO₂ had an increasingly negative impact on the early developmental rate; the proportion of embryos or larvae displaying retarded development increased at higher pCO₂. The proportion of embryos that developed to the 4-cell stage at 2 h after fertilization decreased linearly with increasing pCO₂. At ~1,000 μatm pCO₂, retarded development was observed in ~50 % of larvae. No embryos developed to the 4-cell stage at 2,000 μatm pCO₂ within 2 h of fertilization. A similar trend continued until 24–26 h after fertilization; the proportion of larvae attaining veliger stage by 24–26 h also decreased with increasing pCO₂. The shell length of T. cornutus veligers decreased gradually as seawater pCO₂ increased, but markedly decreased in seawater under nearly unsaturated and unsaturated conditions (≤1.04) of the aragonite saturation state (Ω _aragonite). The results indicate that increased pCO₂ seawater has a progressive and acute effect on embryonic and larval T. cornutus, and imply that the extended early developmental period and/or the downsized larval shell produced by ocean acidification will have a negative impact on survival, settlement and recruitment well into the future.     

Effects of light quality on initiation and development of meroplanktonic diatom blooms in a eutrophic shallow sea

We investigated the effects of light quality on resting stage cell germination and vegetative cell growth of meroplanktonic diatoms in a small port in Hakata Bay, Japan and in the laboratory. During the investigation over the year of 2006, the meroplanktonic diatom bloom first occurred in the end of May and then repeated wane and wax until October in the small port. From late April to middle May, light penetrating the water column was often strong and attenuations of all spectral lights were low. During this period, Skeletonema costatum, Thalassiosira minima, and Chaetoceros sp. appeared frequently, followed by the blooms of S. costatum and Chaetoceros sp. in late May. Thereafter, S. costatum and Chaetoceros sp. bloomed in late June but not in middle June, when pigmented flagellates bloom appeared. The attenuation of short-wavelength light such as violet and blue lights was markedly high during these diatom and flagellate blooms; all blooms disappeared within several days. Vegetative cell strains of the three diatoms under light emitting diodes (LEDs) with six different spectra (violet, blue, green, orange, red, and near-infrared) grew at a higher rate under short-wavelength light, violet and blue. On the other hand, when suspensions of bottom sediments from Hakata Bay were cultured under the same LEDs and in the dark, vegetative cells of S. costatum appeared under all LEDs except for orange and near-infrared, vegetative cells of T. minima appeared under all LEDs but not in the dark, and vegetative cells of Chaetoceros sp. appeared under violet and blue LEDs. However, vegetative cell densities of the three diatoms increased much more under violet light than under other LEDs within a short period (6 days). Our study indicates that underwater penetration by short-wavelength light, such as violet and blue, may be an important factor in the initiation and development of meroplanktonic diatom blooms.     

Tributyltin causes abnormal development in embryos of medaka, Oryzias latipes

We examined the effects of tributyltin (TBT) on embryonic development, hatching success and sexual differentiation in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes). Embryos (within 8h after fertilization) were exposed to TBT in ovo via nanoinjection at concentrations of 0 (control), 0.16, 0.80, 3.96, 19.2 and 82.1 ng/egg. Embryonic survival, development and hatching were observed. Hatched fry were reared until 60 days when they sexually matured, and sexual differentiation was also examined by accordance of genetic and phenotypic sex, based on existence of DMY (a male determining gene in medaka) and secondary sex characteristics. As results, TBT caused a concentration-dependent mortality and impaired the embryonic development. However, no masculinization was detected at 60 dph medaka adults. Lowest observed effective concentration for inducing abnormal embryonic development was estimated to 0.16 ng/egg (ca. 160 ng/g egg).