DNA barcoding of Bryozoa or "moss animals" has hardly advanced and lacks reference sequences for correct species identification. To date only a small number of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences from 82 bryozoan species have been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank and Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD). We here report COI data from 53 individual samples of 29 bryozoan species collected from Korean seawater. To our knowledge this is the single largest gathering of COI barcode data of bryozoans to date. The average genetic divergence was estimated as 23.3% among species of the same genus, 25% among genera of the same family, and 1.7% at intraspecific level with a few rare exceptions having a large difference, indicating a possibility of presence of cryptic species. Our data show that COI is a very appropriate marker for species identification of bryozoans, but does not provide enough phylogenetic information at higher taxonomic ranks. Greater effort involving larger taxon sampling for the barcode analyses is needed for bryozoan taxonomy.
The cribrilinid Bryozoa of Korea are described for the first time. Eight species are recognized, distributed in five genera: Cribrilina, Reginella, Jullienula, Figularia and Puellina. Juxtacribrilina n. subgen. is recognized as comprising a group of species within Cribrilina characterized, inter alia, by having adventitious avicularia, reduced and/or vestigial ooecia, a pair of proportionately long protective latero-oral costae that cross the front of the ooecium and fuse in the midline, and a cribrimorph ancestrula. Cribrilina (Juxtacribrilina) flavomaris n. sp., Jullienula erinae n. sp. and Puellina paracaesia n. sp. are so far known only from the west and southwest coasts of the Korean Peninsula. The following six new combinations are recognized: Cribrilina (Juxtacribrilina) annulata (Fabricius, 1780) n. comb., Cribrilina (Juxtacribrilina) corbicula O'Donoghue O'Donoghue, 1923 n. comb., Cribrilina (Juxtacribrilina) mutabilis Ito, Onishi Dick, 2015 n. comb., Reginella multipora (Sakakura, 1935) n. comb., Reginella biporosa (Okada, 1923) n. comb. and Jullienula ortmanni (Silén, 1941) n. comb.
Irritable bowel disease (IBD), which results in an elevated risk of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC), is characterized by inflammation and barrier disruption of the gut. The genus Rumex has anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, and the roots of Rumex japonicus Houtt (RJ) have been traditionally used in East Asia to treat digestive problems. We investigated the protective effect of RJ against azoxymethane (AOM)-and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced CAC in C57BL/6N male mice. The mice were intraperitoneally injected with AOM on the first day and orally treated with 2% DSS for 2 weeks (on the third and sixth weeks). RJ extract (100 mg/kg) was administered to the mice in the RJ group for 4 weeks (from the third to sixth week), and all mice were sacrificed on the final day of the eighth week. Changes in morphology, tight junctions (TJs), inflammation-related factors in the colon and serum inflammatory cytokine levels were measured. The colons of AOM/DSS-treated mice were shorter and heavier than those of normal mice. The number of tumors in the colons of AOM/DSS-treated mice increased; however, RJ suppressed these changes. RJ also reduced the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-1β in the colon and serum, and it increased the level of IL-10 in the colon. Moreover, RJ inhibited the barrier disruption and apoptosis in the colons of AOM/DSS-treated mice. RJ effectively suppressed AOM/DSS-induced CAC by inhibiting tumor formation, inflammation, disruption of TJ, and apoptosis in the colon.
Flustrellidra armata sp. nov. is described from ten intertidal and four subtidal sites along the southern coast of Korea. The new species possess a series of small lateral and occasionally proximal kenozooids with simple spines; large scattered vicarious kenozooids with long, tubular, sharp or weakly ramified spines; and a marginal fringe of spiny kenozooids. Colonies of F. armata provide a habitat for a large number of associated benthic organisms. This species is an abundant and prominent component of rocky intertidal to upper subtidal communities and is the third species of Flustrellidra with low-Boreal to Subtropical distribution.
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