No abstract

Seaweeds are some of the largest producers of biomass in the marine environment and are rich in bioactive compounds that are often used for human and animal health. Porphyran and carrageenan are natural compounds derived from red seaweeds. The former is a characteristic polysaccharide of Porphyra, while the latter is well known from Chondrus, Gigartina, and various Eucheuma species, all in Rhodophyceae. The two polysaccharides have been found to have anti-cancer activity by improving immunity and targeting key apoptotic molecules and therefore deemed as potential chemotherapeutic or chemopreventive agents. This review attempts to review the current study of anti-cancer activity and the possible mechanisms of porphyran and carrageenan derived from red seaweeds to various cancers, and their cooperative actions with other anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents is also discussed.

BackgroundAs one of the most popular and valuable commercial marine fishes in China and East Asian countries, the Chinese black porgy (Acanthopagrus schlegelii), also known as the blackhead seabream, has some attractive characteristics such as fast growth rate, good meat quality, resistance to diseases, and excellent adaptability to various environments. Furthermore, the black porgy is a good model for investigating sex changes in fish due to its protandrous hermaphroditism. Here, we obtained a high-quality genome assembly of this interesting teleost species and performed a genomic survey on potential genes associated with the sex-change phenomenon.FindingsWe generated 175.4 gigabases (Gb) of clean sequence reads using a whole-genome shotgun sequencing strategy. The final genome assembly is approximately 688.1 megabases (Mb), accounting for 93% of the estimated genome size (739.6 Mb). The achieved scaffold N50 is 7.6 Mb, reaching a relatively high level among sequenced fish species. We identified 19 465 protein-coding genes, which had an average transcript length of 17.3 kb. By performing a comparative genomic analysis, we found 3 types of genes potentially associated with sex change, which are useful for studying the genetic basis of the protandrous hermaphroditism.ConclusionsWe provide a draft genome assembly of the Chinese black porgy and discuss the potential genetic mechanisms of sex change. These data are also an important resource for studying the biology and for facilitating breeding of this economically important fish.

No abstract

No abstract