Sea Cucumber Fishery in Aurora, Philippines

This study was conducted to provide a preliminary assessment of the sea cucumber fishery in Aurora, Philippines. This was conducted from February to June 2013. All sea cucumber gatherers and traders, obtained through snowball sampling, in each identified sea cucumber fishery area in six coastal municipalities (Baler, Dipaculao, Dinalungan, Casiguran, Dilasag and Dingalan) were interviewed using a structured interview schedule and focused group discussions (FGD). Results revealed that gathering sea cucumbers were accomplished by handpicking, skin diving or compressor diving. A total of 15 commercial species were regularly gathered. Out of this, three species are of very high economic value (≥Php 4000/kg) (Holothuria nobilis, Holothuria scabra, and Actinopyga lecanora). The average number of kilograms harvested per hour per trip ranges from 0.21 (Holothuria fuscopunctata) to 2.71 (Holothuria scabra), while the average size of commonly gathered sea cucumber varies among species with Holothuria lecanora showed an average length (29.26 cm) greater than recorded 24 cm. Processing mainly involves washing, slicing, boiling, drying and packing. Processed sea cucumbers or trepan were sold to middlemen or direct buyers who usually offered higher prices (36.36% up to 69.20%) than the former. Problems encountered by sea cucumber gatherers and traders include a decline in total catch, a shift in area of collection from intertidal zones to deeper waters, an increase in the number of hours spent in finding and gathering sea cucumbers, the use of compressors in gathering, the decline of larger species and gathering of smaller sizes in huge amount, the absence of conservation program for sea cucumber, and the lenient implementation of government policies with regards to coastal resources management.

Underwater Sea Cucumber Target Detection Based on Edge-Enhanced Scaling YOLOv4

Sea cucumber detection is widely recognized as the key to automatic culture.The underwater light environment is complex and easily obscured by mud,sand,reefs,and other underwater organisms.To date,research on sea cucumber detection has mostly concentrated on the distinction between prospective objects and the background.However,the key to proper distinction is the effective extraction of sea cucumber feature information.In this study,the edge-enhanced scaling You Only Look Once-v4(YOLOv4)(ESYv4)was proposed for sea cucumber detection.By emphasizing the target features in a way that reduced the impact of different hues and brightness values underwater on the misjudgment of sea cucumbers,a bidirectional cascade network(BDCN)was used to extract the overall edge greyscale image in the image and add up the original RGB image as the detected input.Meanwhile,the YOLOv4 model for backbone detection is scaled,and the number of parameters is reduced to 48%of the original number of parameters.Validation results of 783images indicated that the detection precision of positive sea cucumber samples reached 0.941.This improvement reflects that the algorithm is more effective to improve the edge feature information of the target.It thus contributes to the automatic multi-objective detection of underwater sea cucumbers.

Development strategies for the sea cucumber industry in China

The sea cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus, is an important marine aquaculture species in China. After nearly thirty years of development, the production of A. japonicus has become commercially lucrative and successful. In this report, current advances in sea cucumber industry are addressed in terms of the basic biology, culturing methods, and health care bene?ts. Next, the challenges restricting development of the sea cucumber industry are discussed, including weaknesses in the basic biological research, the problem of germplasm degradation, environmental stress caused by global climate change, and food safety problems. Finally, several strategies are presented that might contribute to sustainable development of the sea cucumber industry. These strategies include advances in genome studies, behavioral studies, selective breeding, ecological culture technologies, reforms in food safety management, and the development of health care functions based on contemporary medical practices. Thus, our work provides new insights into how to explore the sustainable development of the sea cucumber industry in the future.

Autophagy Plays a Potential Role in the Process of Sea Cucumber Body Wall “Melting” Induced by UV Irradiation

The changes of tissue appearances and structures in the process of UV-induced ＂melting＂ for sea cucumber （Stichopus japonicus） body wall were studied. And the localization and determination of acid phosphatase （ACP）, Cathepsin B and Cathepsin L activities were also investigated. The results show that the connective tissue was damaged with many hollows emerging and the regular collagen bundles were broken apart into irregular fragments. Margination of condensed chromatin at the nuclear membrane was observed. Both Golgi＇s body and endoplasmic reticulure swelled, curled, and eventually double- or multi-lamellar vesicles were formed. A number of autophagic vesicles distributed in all through the whole cytoplasm. ACP becomes more active after UV irradiation. The activities of cathepsin B and cathepsin L increased in UV-treated sea cucumbers and both achieved their maximum under certain conditions, It indicates that autophagy plays a potential role in the ＂melting＂ process for sea cucumber body wall induced by UV irradiation.

A new triterpene glycoside from sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota

A new triterpene glycoside, leucospilotaside A, along with a known saponin, isolated from sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota, and its structure was elucidated as 3β-O-[4-O-sodiumsulfate-β-d-quinovopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-β-d-xylopyranosyl]-holosta-22-ketone-9-en-17α,25α-diol (1) by extensive spectroscopic analysis and chemical methods. Leucospilotaside A (1) has a ketone carbonyl group (22) in the aglycon side chain.

High-throughput sequencing of 16S r RNA amplicons characterizes gut microbiota shift of juvenile sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus feeding with three antibiotics

Sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus is an important marine economic species in Asian countries due to its profound nutritional and medicinal value. So far, with the rapid development of intensifi ed artifi cial aquaculture of sea cucumbers, the use of antibiotics is still an inexpensive and dispensable way to treat pathogenic infections, especially during the nursery phase. However, there is little information on the eff ects of antibiotics on the intestinal microbiota of sea cucumber. Therefore an Illumina based sequencing method was used to examine the intestinal bacterial composition of juvenile A . japonicas following diets with three typical antibiotics (tetracycline, erythromycin, and norfl oxacin) under 15, 30, and 45 d. The fi ndings reveal that diff erent antibiotics have distinct eff ects on the growth performance of juvenile sea cucumbers. However, the richness and diversity of microbiota were barely aff ected by antibiotics but the community composition alterations indicated that the three antibiotics exhibited their respective patterns of reshaping the intestinal bacteria of juvenile sea cucumbers. In common, the abundance of some sensitive genera with helpful functions, such as Thalassotalea , Shewanella , Sulfi tobacter , and Halomonas decreased signifi cantly with exposure to antibiotics and the abundance of multiple potential pathogenic- and suspected antibiotic-resistant microorganisms like Arcobacter , Leucothrix , and Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 was found increased signifi cantly in the antibiotic groups. These results suggest that low doses of antibiotics could aff ect the composition of the intestinal microbiota of sea cucumbers and might increase the risk of infection of the hosts. This study could help us to explore how antibacterial compounds modify the gut microbiota of sea cucumbers and provide theoretical guidance in hatchery management by scientifi c antibiotic use in sea cucumber mariculture.

Optimization of Stocking Density for the Sea Cucumber, Apostichopus japonicus Selenka, Under Feed-Supplement and Non-Feed-Supplement Regimes in Pond Culture

Optimal stocking densities were investigated for the sea cucumber Apostichopusjaponicus Selenka under feed-supplement and non-feed-supplement regimes in net enclosures for 333 d. Substantial weight loss occurred during the aestivation phase （AE）. Decreased growth rates were also observed during the winter phase （WT）. In contrast, sea cucumbers showed rapid growth during the spring （SP） and autumn （AU） phases. Feeding regimes considerably influenced the growtb performance, i.e., sea cucumbers grew faster under feed-supplement regime than under non-feed-supplement regime （P 〈 0.05）. The average survival rates of sea cucumbers under feed-supplement regime were higher than those under non-feed-supplement regime for both the autumn phase and spring phase, but the differences were only significant for the latter phase （P〈 0.05）. The fitted B-N curves showed that the optimal stocking densities, in terms of net production, were 22.3 ind. m^-2 for feed-supplement regime and 14.1 ind. m^-2 for non-feed-supplement regime.

Rheological and Structural Properties of Sea Cucumber Stichopus japonicus During Heat Treatment

Changes in tissue structure, rheological properties and water content of raw and heated sea cucumber meat were studied. Sea cucumber Stichopus japonicus was heated at 25℃, 70℃ and 100℃ water for 5 min. The structural changes were observed using a light microscope and the rheological parameters （rupture strength, adhesive strength and deformation） determined using a texture meter. Microscopic photograph revealed that the structural change of heated meat was greater than that of raw meat. The rupture strength, adhesive strength and deformation of raw meat were smaller than those of the heated meat. Meanwhile, rheological parameters showed positive correlation with heating temperature. These changes are mainly caused by thermal denaturation and gelatinization of collagen during heating. These changes were also evidenced in observations using a light microscope and differential scanning calorimetry.

Antioxidation Activities of Low-Molecular-Weight Gelatin Hydrolysate Isolated from the Sea Cucumber Stichopus japonicus

Gelatin extracted from the body wall of the sea cucumber （Stichopus japonicus） was hydrolyzed with flavourzyme. Low-molecular-weight gelatin hydrolysate （LMW-GH） of 700-- 1700 Da was produced using an ultrafiltration membrane bioreaetor system. Chemiluminescence analysis revealed that LMW-GH scavenges high free radicals in a concentration-dependent manner; IC50 value for superoxide and hydroxyl radicals was 442 and 285 μgmL-1, respectively. LMW-GH exhibited excellent inhibitory characteristics against melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity in B16 cells. Furthermore, LMW-GH notably increased in- traeellular glutathione （GSH）, which in turn suppressed melanogenesis. LMW-GH performs antioxidation activity, holding the potential of being used as a valuable ingredient in function foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals or nutriceuticals.

Bacterial Diversity of Gut Content in Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus) and Its Habitat Surface Sediment

This study investigated the bacterial diversity of gut content of sea cucumber （Apostichopus japonicus） and its habitat surface sediment in a bottom enhancement area using PCR-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （DGGE） technique. Bacte- rial diversity evaluation showed that the value of the Shannon-Wiener index of gut content in different intestinal segments of A. ja-ponicus varied between 2.88 and 3.00, lower than that of the surrounding sediment （3.23）. Phyl0genetic analysis showed that bacte- rial phylotypes in gut content and the surrounding sediment ofA. japonicus were closely related to Proteobacteria including3,-, ct-, 8- and e-proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicute, and Actinobacteria, of which 7-proteobacteria were predominant. These results sug- gested that the sea cucumber A. japonicus was capable of feeding selectively, and PCR-DGGE was applicable for characterizing the bacterial community composition in gut content and the surrounding sediment of sea cucumber. Further investigation targeting longer 16S rDNA gene fragments and/or functional genes was recommended for obtaining more information of the diversity and function of bacterial community in the gut content of sea cucumber.

Sulfated polysaccharides with antioxidant and anticoagulant activity from the sea cucumber Holothuria fuscogliva

Sea cucumber is a traditional nutritional food and medicinal resource with many bioactive components in China. Holothuriafuscogliva is a big sea cucumber with a rich of bioactive polysaccharides. To investigate the bioactivities of the polysaccharides from sea cucumber H. fuscogliva, we prepared the sulfated polysaccharides （HfP） from sea cucumber H. fuscogliva using a protease hydrolysis method. Antioxidant activities of HfP were investigated, including hydroxyl radical scavenging activity and superoxide radical scavenging activity. And, the anticoagulant activities of HfP were studied, including the activated partial thromboplastin time （APTT）, prothrombin time （PT） and thrombin time （TT）. The average molecular weight was 1 867.1 Da, with a sulfate content of 20.7%. In addition, the molar ratio of monosaccharide composition of HfP was Man： Rha： Glc A： Glc： Gal： Xyl： Fuc=0.083 6： 0.437： 0.134： 0： 1.182： 0.748： 1. It had a strong antioxidant activity, the hydroxyl and superoxide radical scavenging activity ECs0 of HfP was 3.74 and 0.037 mg/mL, respectively. It also showed a good anticoagulant activity in our study. The APTT of HfP was much higher than that of heparin sodium, and the PT and TT of HfP was close to that ofheparin sodium at a low concentration. Therefore, HfP shows a good antioxidant and anticoagulant activity and it may become a potential candidate of the natural antioxidant and anticoagulant and will have a good application future in health product or medicine industry.

Seasonal Changes in Food Uptake by the Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in a Farm Pond: Evidence from C and N Stable Isotopes

This study investigated the seasonal changes in carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotope values of several typical food sources of Apostichopus japonicus in a farm pond, including particulate organic matter (POM), macroalgae, benthic microalgae and animals such as nematode and copepod. The stable isotope technique was used to quantify relative contributions of various sources to the food uptake by A. japonicus. The results showed that significant changes occurred in the C and N stable isotope values of sea cucumber food sources due to the seasonality of micro-or macroalgae prosperity and the fluctuation of environmental conditions. The sea cucumber A. japonicus exhibited corresponding alterations in feeding strategy in response to the changes in food conditions. Calculation with a stable isotope mixing model showed that macroalgae was the principal food source for A. japonicus throughout the 1-yr investigation, with the relative contribution averaging 28.1% - 63.2%. The relative contributions of other food sources such as copepod and nematode, POM, benthic microalgae to the total food uptake by sea cucumber averaged 22.6% - 39.1%, 6.3% - 22.2%, 2.8% - 6.5%, and 2.8% - 4.2%, respectively. Together these results indicated that the seasonal changes in food sources led to the obvious temporal differences in the relative contribution of various food sources utilized by A. japonicus. Such findings provide the basic scientific information for improving the aquaculture techniques of A. japonicus, particularly for optimizing the food environment of A. japonicus culture in farm ponds.

Comparative Study on Antineoplastic Activity of Polysaccharide from Four Kinds of Sea Cucumber

The antineoplastic activity of polysaccharide was investigated in Stichopus chlorontus, Isostichopus badionotus, Stichopus horrens and Holothuria lessoni massin. Crude polysaccharide was prepared with enzyme hydrolyzation method and purified by anion exchange chromatography using DEAE-sepharose fast flow column. The effect of polysaccharide on cells apoptosis of SiHa and U87 was examined with cell counting kit-8 colorimetry method. Western blotting was used to analyze related proteins of cellular apoptosis including p53 and Bcl-2. Results showed that there were two main components in each sea cucumber polysaccharide, which could be eluted down by 1.0 mol/LNaCl solution. The four types of polysaccharide in the second component were named as SC-2, IB-2, HLM-2 and SH-2, respectively. They were used for comparing the antineoplastic activity. Results showed that SC-2, IB-2, HLM-2 and SH-2 could promote apoptosis of U87 and SiHa cells. SH-2 and HLM-2 were selected for the subsequent experiment to explore the additional effect of U87 and SiHa cells, The protein expressions of Bcl-2 and p53 decreased considerably with the increase of polysaccharide concentration in U87 cells. In SiHa cells, protein expressions of Bcl-2 and high dosage group of p53 decreased significantly, whereas no obvious decrease was observed in other groups. The polysaccharides are more effective in promoting apoptosis of U87 and SiHa cells from S. horrens and H. lessoni massin than from the rest species.

Skin whitening and anti-corrugation activities of glycoprotein fractions from liquid extracts of boiled sea cucumber

Objective: To determine skin whitening and wrinkle improvement efficacy, glycoprotein fractions were extracted from liquid extracts of boiled sea cucumber and their effects on tyrosine and elastase inhibitory activities were assayed. Methods: Fractions above and below 50 k Da(>50 kD a and <50 kD a) were extracted via a series of steps invovling: boiling, filtering, desalting and freeze drying. Cytotoxicity, skin whitening and wrinkle-removing effects of boiled liquid were determined. Results: Our MTT data showed that neither glycoprotein fraction of boiled liquid induces cellular cytotoxicity up to a concentration of 10 mg/m L treatment of the mouse melanoma cell line, B16F10, with 10 mg/m L >50 kDa enhanced tyrosinase and elastase inhibitory activities by 50.84% and 28.78%, respectively. Correlations of the >50 kD a concentration with tyrosinase inhibitory(R^2=0.968) and elastase inhibitory(R2=0.983) efficacy were significant. Conclusions: >50 kD a glycoprotein fraction isolated from liquid extracts of boiled sea cucumber, which can serve as a functional cosmetic ingredient for whitening and wrinkle improvement of skin.

Bioactive compounds of sea cucumbers and their therapeutic effects

Abstract Sea cucumbers belong to the Class Holothuroidea of marine invertebrates. They are commercially valuable and prized as a food and folk medicine in Asia. Nutritionally, sea cucumbers have an impressive profile of valuable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals and amino acids. A number of unique biological and pharmacological activities/properties, including anticancer, anticoagulant/antithrombotic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, antihyperglycemic, anti-inflammatory, antihypertension and radioprotective, have been ascribed to various compounds isolated from sea cucumbers. The therapeutic properties and medicinal benefits of sea cucumbers can be linked to the presence of a wide array ofbioactives, especially triterpene glycosides, acid mucopolysaccharide, sphingoid bases, glycolipids, fucosylated chondroitin sulfate, polysaccharides, phospholipids, cerebrosides, phosphatidylcholines, and other extracts and hydrolysates. This review highlights the valuable bioactive components as well as the multiple therapeutic properties of sea cucumbers with a view to exploring their potential uses as functional foods and a natural source of new multifunctional drugs.

Stress Responses to Rapid Temperature Changes of the Juvenile Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus Selenka)

Activities of hexokinase （HK）, pyruvate kinase （PK）, superoxide dismutase （SOD） and catalase （CAT） and Hsp70 level were measured to evaluate the response of the commercially important sea cucumber （Apostichopus japonicus Selenka） to rapid temperature changes in laboratory. Animals were subjected to a higher temperature （from 10 to 20℃） （Tinc treatment） or to a lower temperature （from 20 to 10℃） （Tddec treatment） for 72 h. At 1, 3, 12, 24, 72 h of exposure, animals were removed and prepared for further analysis. Results showed that the effect of acute temperature changes on enzyme activities was significant. In Tinc treatment, activities of SOD and CAT increased immediately. The significant enhancement of SOD and CAT activities suggested that oxidative stress increases significantly when ambient temperature increasing from 10 to 20℃. The up-regulation of Flsp70 in Tinc and Tdec treatments indicated that Hsp70 was a bioindicator of thermal stress in the sea cucumber, and the expression pattern depended on the thermal treatment.

Characterization and Expression Analysis of a Complement Component Gene in Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus)

The complement system plays a crucial role in the innate immune system of animals. It can be activated by distinct yet overlapping classical, alternative and lectin pathways. In the alternative pathway, complement factor B(Bf) serves as the catalytic subunit of complement component 3(C3) convertase, which plays the central role among three activation pathways. In this study, the Bf gene in sea cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus), termed Aj Bf, was obtained by rapid amplification of c DNA ends(RACE). The full-length c DNA of Aj Bf was 3231 bp in length barring the poly(A) tail. It contained an open reading frame(ORF) of 2742 bp encoding 913 amino acids, a 105 bp 5'-UTR(5'-terminal untranslated region) and a 384 bp 3'-UTR. Aj Bf was a mosaic protein with six CCP(complement control protein) domains, a VWA(von Willebrand factor A) domain, and a serine protease domain. The deduced molecular weight of Aj Bf protein was 101 k Da. Quantitative real time PCR(q RT-PCR) analysis indicated that the expression level of Aj Bf in A. japonicus was obviously higher at larval stage than that at embryonic stage. Expression detection in different tissues showed that Aj Bf expressed higher in coelomocytes than in other four tissues. In addation, Aj Bf expression in different tissues was induced significantly after LPS or Poly I:C challenge. These results indicated that Aj Bf plays an important role in immune responses to pathogen infection.

Individual Variation in Growth in Sea Cucumber Apostichopus japonicus(Selenck) Housed Individually

The exceptionally large individual growth variation has been previously recognized in several sea cucumber cohorts. However, there is a lack of information regarding the mechanism of such individual differences. In this study, the sea cucumber Apostichopusjaponicus （Selenka） was reared individually in order to eliminate possible effects of social interaction, stocking density, etc. The results showed that there were substantial differences in growth among the sea cucumber individuals during the 100-day experiment. The special growth rate of the sea cucumber individuals differed by up to three folds （from 0.40% to 1.01%）, and the coefficient of variation in body weight increased from 12.04% to 40.51%. The final wet body weight, food intake and food conversion efficiency for each sea cucumber were generally positively correlated with their initial wet body weight （P〈0.05）. Energy budget of the animals showed that the food energy spent on respiration was much greater （about four folds） but energy deposited for growth was much less for （initially） smaller than for larger A. japonicus. The present result implies that there are obvious genetic differences among the sea cucumber individuals, largely accounting for the individual growth variation of the cohort sea cucumber. These results will provide some basic data for promoting selective breeding and fanning of the sea cucumber.

Amino Acid Composition and Functional Properties of Giant Red Sea Cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) Collagen Hydrolysates

Giant red sea cucumber (Parastichopus californicus) is an under-utilized species due to its high tendency to autolysis.The aim of this study was to evaluate the functional properties of collagen hydrolysates from this species.The degree of hydrolysis (DH),amino acid composition,SDS-PAGE,emulsion activity index (EAI),emulsion stability index (ESI),foam expansion (FE),and foam stability (FS) of hydrolysates were investigated.The effects of pH on the EAI,ESI FE and FS of hydrolysates were also inves-tigated.The results indicated that the β and α1 chains of the collagen were effectively hydrolyzed by trypsin at 50℃ with an En-zyme/Substrate (E/S) ration of 1:20 (w:w).The DH of collagen was up to 17.3% after 3 h hydrolysis with trypsin.The hydrolysates had a molecular weight distribution of 1.1 17 kDa,and were abundant in glycine (Gly),proline (Pro),glutamic acid (Glu),alanine (Ala) and hydroxyproline (Hyp) residues.The hydrolysates were fractionated into three fractions (< 3 kDa,3 10 kDa,and > 10 kDa),and the fraction of 3 10 kDa exhibited a higher EAI value than the fraction of > 10 kDa (P<0.05).The fraction of > 10 kDa had higher FE and FS values than other fractions (P<0.05).The pH had an important effect on the EAI,ESI,FE and FS.All the fractions showed undesirable emulsion and forming properties at pH 4.0.Under pH 7.0 and pH 10.0,the 3 10 kDa fraction showed higher EAI value and the fraction of > 10 kDa showed higher FE value,respectively.They are hoped to be utilized as functional ingredients in food and nutraceutical industries.

An Efficient Procedure for Isolating Microsatellite DNAs from Sea Cucumber(Apostichopus japonicus)

The construction of enrichment library proves to be one of the efficient approaches for isolating microsatellites in this study. The genomic DNA of sea cucumber was digested with HaeIII and size-selected DNA fragments (250-700 bp) were ligated to an adaptor. Microsatellite-containing sequences were captured by using a combination of GA and CA probes, which were attached to a nylon membrane. The microsatellite enrichment library constructed in this study consisted of approximately 700 clones. Two hun-dred and thirty-two clones reacted positively after the library screening procedure. Of the 50 clones sequenced, all contained at least one microsatellite and one duplicate clone was found. Approximately 86% of the sequenced fragments permitted to design primers for sequence tagged microsatellite site (STMS).