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BioMed Research International 2014
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Environmental Pollutants; Fishes; Humans
PubMed: 24949468
DOI: 10.1155/2014/768689 -
Frontiers in Bioscience (Scholar... Jun 2012Although sleep is a very conspicuous behavior in all animals that we are frequently in contact with and possibly in many others, its scientific study was for many years... (Review)
Review
Although sleep is a very conspicuous behavior in all animals that we are frequently in contact with and possibly in many others, its scientific study was for many years restricted to very few of them. However, since the end of the XX century there have been studies about sleep in several animals and currently many of them attempt to found, first, if all animals sleep and second, if their sleep is similar to that of other animals. An important objective of this search is to identify the animal species in which sleep originated, which might gives us clues about the need that was fulfilled by such behavior. The search started with insects, among the most developed arthropods, but has now been expanded to include other invertebrates, among them crustaceans. In this work we review some aspects of sleep in invertebrates, focusing on the crustacean crayfish, animals in which both, behavioral and electrophysiological studies have been conducted and whose results show surprising similarities with sleep in mammals.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Sleep
PubMed: 22652865
DOI: 10.2741/s325 -
Journal of the American Association For... May 2022Crayfish (Decapoda: Astacoidea and Parastacoidea) are among the few animals that have stem cells in hemolymph, with the capacity to continuously produce differentiated...
Crayfish (Decapoda: Astacoidea and Parastacoidea) are among the few animals that have stem cells in hemolymph, with the capacity to continuously produce differentiated neuronal structures throughout life. As the use of crayfish and other invertebrates increases in biomedical research, we must develop laboratory standards and guidelines for performing clinical procedures. This manuscript presents introductory protocols for anesthesia in crayfish during diagnostic imaging. Five anesthetic protocols were evaluated: immersion in buffered tricaine methanesulfonate (MS222; 50 mg/L); immersion in buffered MS222 (150 mg/L); immersion in propofol (65 mg/L); injection of propofol (50 mg/kg); and injection of propofol (100 mg/kg) into the ventral surface of an abdominal somite. MS222 immersion (50 and 150 mg/L) had no observable effect on crayfish. After an extended period of time, immersion in propofol (65 mg/L) created a sedative effect suitable for short-term handling. Propofol injection (50 mg/kg) into the ventral surface of an abdominal somite created an effective plane of anesthesia without adverse effects during or after recovery. Propofol injection at 100 mg/kg had adverse effects and is not recommended for use in crayfish. CT imaging was performed successfully as proof of concept for handling anesthetized crayfish. These findings provide initial data for the anesthetization of crayfish used in research settings.
Topics: Aminobenzoates; Anesthesia; Anesthetics, Local; Animals; Astacoidea; Mesylates; Propofol; Tomography; Tomography, X-Ray Computed
PubMed: 35537819
DOI: 10.30802/AALAS-JAALAS-21-000133 -
Scientific Data Apr 2023Red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) is an aquatic crustacean with considerable potential for the commercial culture and an ideal model for studying the mechanism...
Red claw crayfish (Cherax quadricarinatus) is an aquatic crustacean with considerable potential for the commercial culture and an ideal model for studying the mechanism of sex determination. To provide better genomic resources, we assembled a chromosome-level genome with a size of 5.26 Gb and contig N50 of 144.33 kb. Nearly 90% of sequences were anchored to 100 chromosomes, which represents the high-quality crustacean genome with the largest number of chromosomes ever reported. The genome contained 78.69% repeat sequences and 20,460 protein-coding genes, of which 82.40% were functionally annotated. This chromosome-scale genome would be a valuable reference for assemblies of other complex genomes and studies of evolution in crustaceans.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Chromosomes; Genome; Genomics; Phylogeny; Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
PubMed: 37062798
DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-02124-z -
Integrative and Comparative Biology Aug 2020Invasive species represent a serious ecological threat for many ecosystems worldwide and provide a unique opportunity to investigate rapid adaptation and evolution.... (Review)
Review
Invasive species represent a serious ecological threat for many ecosystems worldwide and provide a unique opportunity to investigate rapid adaptation and evolution. Genetic variation allows populations of organisms to be both robust and adaptable to different environmental conditions over evolutionary timeframes. In contrast, invasive animals can rapidly adapt to new environments, with minimal genetic diversity. Thus, the extent to which environmental effects can trigger epigenetic responses is particularly interesting for understanding the role of epigenetics in rapid adaptation. In this review, we provide a brief overview of the different epigenetic mechanisms that control gene expression, and emphasize the importance of epigenetics for environmental adaptation. We also discuss recent publications that provide important examples for the role of epigenetic mechanisms in environmental adaptation. Furthermore, we present an overview of the current knowledge about epigenetic modulation as an adaptive strategy for invasive species. A particularly interesting example is provided by the marbled crayfish, a novel, monoclonal freshwater crayfish species that has colonized diverse habitats within a few years. Finally, we address important limitations of current approaches and highlight the potential importance of less well-known mechanisms for non-genetic organismal adaptation.
Topics: Adaptation, Biological; Animals; Astacoidea; Ecosystem; Epigenesis, Genetic; Introduced Species
PubMed: 32333755
DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa023 -
International Journal of Molecular... Apr 2022Neurotrauma is among the main causes of human disability and mortality. The transcription factor E2F1 is one of the key proteins that determine the fate of cells. The...
Neurotrauma is among the main causes of human disability and mortality. The transcription factor E2F1 is one of the key proteins that determine the fate of cells. The involvement of E2F1 in the regulation of survival and death of peripheral nerve cells after axotomy has not been previously studied. We, for the first time, studied axotomy-induced changes in the expression and localization of E2F1 following axonal injury in rats and crayfish. Immunoblotting and immunofluorescence microscopy were used for the analysis of the expression and intracellular localization of E2F1 and its changes after axotomy. To evaluate whether this transcription factor promotes cell apoptosis, we examined the effect of pharmacological inhibition of E2F activity in axotomized rat models. In this work, axotomy caused increased expression of E2F1 as early as 4 h and even 1 h after axotomy of mechanoreceptor neurons and ganglia of crayfish ventral nerve cord (VNC), as well as rat dorsal root ganglia (DRG). The level of E2F1 expression increased both in the cytoplasm and the nuclei of neurons. Pharmacological inhibition of E2F demonstrated a pronounced neuroprotective activity against axotomized DRGs. E2F1 and downstream targets could be considered promising molecular targets for the development of potential neuroprotective agents.
Topics: Animals; Apoptosis; Astacoidea; Axotomy; E2F1 Transcription Factor; Ganglia, Spinal; Neuroglia; Neurons; Rats; Sciatic Nerve
PubMed: 35457270
DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084451 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2018Melatonin (MEL) is an ancient molecule, broadly distributed in nature from unicellular to multicellular species. MEL is an indoleamine that acts on a wide variety of... (Review)
Review
Melatonin (MEL) is an ancient molecule, broadly distributed in nature from unicellular to multicellular species. MEL is an indoleamine that acts on a wide variety of cellular targets regulating different physiological functions. This review is focused on the role played by this molecule in the regulation of the circadian rhythms in crayfish. In these species, information about internal and external time progression might be transmitted by the periodical release of MEL and other endocrine signals acting through the pacemaker. We describe documented and original evidence in support of this hypothesis that also suggests that the rhythmic release of MEL contributes to the reinforcement of the temporal organization of nocturnal or diurnal circadian oscillators. Finally, we discuss how MEL might coordinate functions that converge in the performance of complex behaviors, such as the agonistic responses to establish social dominance status in and the burrowing behavior in the secondary digging crayfish
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Behavior, Animal; Circadian Rhythm; Melatonin
PubMed: 30041485
DOI: 10.3390/ijms19072147 -
The Science of the Total Environment Mar 2022Despite voluminous literature identifying the impacts of invasive species, summaries of monetary costs for some taxonomic groups remain limited. Invasive alien...
Despite voluminous literature identifying the impacts of invasive species, summaries of monetary costs for some taxonomic groups remain limited. Invasive alien crustaceans often have profound impacts on recipient ecosystems, but there may be great unknowns related to their economic costs. Using the InvaCost database, we quantify and analyse reported costs associated with invasive crustaceans globally across taxonomic, spatial, and temporal descriptors. Specifically, we quantify the costs of prominent aquatic crustaceans - crayfish, crabs, amphipods, and lobsters. Between 2000 and 2020, crayfish caused US$ 120.5 million in reported costs; the vast majority (99%) being attributed to representatives of Astacidae and Cambaridae. Crayfish-related costs were unevenly distributed across countries, with a strong bias towards European economies (US$ 116.4 million; mainly due to the signal crayfish in Sweden), followed by costs reported from North America and Asia. The costs were also largely predicted or extrapolated, and thus not based on empirical observations. Despite these limitations, the costs of invasive crayfish have increased considerably over the past two decades, averaging US$ 5.7 million per year. Invasive crabs have caused costs of US$ 150.2 million since 1960 and the ratios were again uneven (57% in North America and 42% in Europe). Damage-related costs dominated for both crayfish (80%) and crabs (99%), with management costs lacking or even more under-reported. Reported costs for invasive amphipods (US$ 178.8 thousand) and lobsters (US$ 44.6 thousand) were considerably lower, suggesting a lack of effort in reporting costs for these groups or effects that are largely non-monetised. Despite the well-known damage caused by invasive crustaceans, we identify data limitations that prevent a full accounting of the economic costs of these invasive groups, while highlighting the increasing costs at several scales based on the available literature. Further cost reports are needed to better assess the true magnitude of monetary costs caused by invasive aquatic crustaceans.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Decapoda; Ecosystem; Europe; Introduced Species
PubMed: 34971690
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152325 -
Journal of Microbiological Methods Nov 2022Field-ready qPCR assays with extended shelf-life support monitoring programs for emerging aquatic pathogens and enable quick conservation and management decisions. Here,...
Field-ready qPCR assays with extended shelf-life support monitoring programs for emerging aquatic pathogens and enable quick conservation and management decisions. Here, we developed, validated, and tested the shelf-life of qPCR assays targeting Gyrodactylus salaris and Aphanomyces astaci with lyophilization and air-drying.
Topics: Animals; Astacoidea; Aphanomyces; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 36241007
DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2022.106594 -
PLoS Genetics Dec 2023Clonal genome evolution is a key feature of asexually reproducing species and human cancer development. While many studies have described the landscapes of clonal genome...
Clonal genome evolution is a key feature of asexually reproducing species and human cancer development. While many studies have described the landscapes of clonal genome evolution in cancer, few determine the underlying evolutionary parameters from molecular data, and even fewer integrate theory with data. We derived theoretical results linking mutation rate, time, expansion dynamics, and biological/clinical parameters. Subsequently, we inferred time-resolved estimates of evolutionary parameters from mutation accumulation, mutational signatures and selection. We then applied this framework to predict the time of speciation of the marbled crayfish, an enigmatic, globally invasive parthenogenetic freshwater crayfish. The results predict that speciation occurred between 1986 and 1990, which is consistent with biological records. We also used our framework to analyze whole-genome sequencing datasets from primary and relapsed glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. The results identified evolutionary subgroups and showed that tumor cell survival could be inferred from genomic data that was generated during the resection of the primary tumor. In conclusion, our framework allowed a time-resolved, integrated analysis of key parameters in clonally evolving genomes, and provided novel insights into the evolutionary age of marbled crayfish and the progression of glioblastoma.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Glioblastoma; Genome; Astacoidea; Genomics; Biological Evolution; Mutation
PubMed: 38096267
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011085