Nori, a marine red alga, is one of the most profitable mariculture crops in the world. However, the biological properties of this macroalga are poorly understood at the molecular level. In this study, we determined the draft genome sequence of susabi-nori (Pyropia yezoensis) using next-generation sequencing platforms. For sequencing, thalli of P. yezoensis were washed to remove bacteria attached on the cell surface and enzymatically prepared as purified protoplasts. The assembled contig size of the P. yezoensis nuclear genome was approximately 43 megabases (Mb), which is an order of magnitude smaller than the previously estimated genome size. A total of 10,327 gene models were predicted and about 60% of the genes validated lack introns and the other genes have shorter introns compared to large-genome algae, which is consistent with the compact size of the P. yezoensis genome. A sequence homology search showed that 3,611 genes (35%) are functionally unknown and only 2,069 gene groups are in common with those of the unicellular red alga, Cyanidioschyzon merolae. As color trait determinants of red algae, light-harvesting genes involved in the phycobilisome were predicted from the P. yezoensis nuclear genome. In particular, we found a second homolog of phycobilisome-degradation gene, which is usually chloroplast-encoded, possibly providing a novel target for color fading of susabi-nori in aquaculture. These findings shed light on unexplained features of macroalgal genes and genomes, and suggest that the genome of P. yezoensis is a promising model genome of marine red algae.

Tunas are migratory fishes in offshore habitats and top predators with unique features. Despite their ecological importance and high market values, the open-ocean lifestyle of tuna, in which effective sensing systems such as color vision are required for capture of prey, has been poorly understood. To elucidate the genetic and evolutionary basis of optic adaptation of tuna, we determined the genome sequence of the Pacific bluefin tuna (Thunnus orientalis), using next-generation sequencing technology. A total of 26,433 protein-coding genes were predicted from 16,802 assembled scaffolds. From these, we identified five common fish visual pigment genes: red-sensitive (middle/long-wavelength sensitive; M/LWS), UV-sensitive (short-wavelength sensitive 1; SWS1), blue-sensitive (SWS2), rhodopsin (RH1), and green-sensitive (RH2) opsin genes. Sequence comparison revealed that tuna's RH1 gene has an amino acid substitution that causes a short-wave shift in the absorption spectrum (i.e., blue shift). Pacific bluefin tuna has at least five RH2 paralogs, the most among studied fishes; four of the proteins encoded may be tuned to blue light at the amino acid level. Moreover, phylogenetic analysis suggested that gene conversions have occurred in each of the SWS2 and RH2 loci in a short period. Thus, Pacific bluefin tuna has undergone evolutionary changes in three genes (RH1, RH2, and SWS2), which may have contributed to detecting blue-green contrast and measuring the distance to prey in the blue-pelagic ocean. These findings provide basic information on behavioral traits of predatory fish and, thereby, could help to improve the technology to culture such fish in captivity for resource management.tuna genome | visual system | animal opsin

The spatial distributions of radiocesium concentration in sea sediment to a core depth of 14 cm were investigated in the offshore region from the Fukushima Prefecture to the northern part of the Ibaraki Prefecture in February and July 2012, at a spatial resolution of 5 min of latitude and longitude. The concentrations in the area south of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) were generally higher than those in the area north of it. In the southern area, a band of especially high concentration with a width about 20 km was present in the region shallower than 100 m, and a narrow minimal concentration band was found along the 200-m isobaths. In more than half of all cases, the vertical core profiles of radiocesium concentration generally showed an exponential decreasing trend with depth. However, in the area north of the FDNPP, where the radiocesium concentrations tended to be very low, radiocesium concentrations that had similar or larger magnitude compared with those of the most-surface layer were often found in deeper layers. Relatively good correlations were found between radiocesium concentrations and grain sizes of the most-surface sediment. The vertical profile of radiocesium concentration also had a relationship with grain size. In other case, the radiocesium concentration in the sediment seems to have had a dependence on the radiocesium concentration in bottom seawater, suggesting that the quantity of radiocesium supplied and the grain size were major factors determining the spatial distribution pattern of the radiocesium concentration after the FDNPP accident.

Enormous quantities of radionuclides were released into the ocean via both atmospheric deposition and direct release as a result of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident. This study discusses the southward dispersion of FNPP-derived radioactive cesium (Cs) in subsurface waters. The southernmost point where we found the FNPP-derived (134)Cs (1.5-6.8 Bq m(-3)) was 18 °N, 135 °E, in September 2012. The potential density at the subsurface peaks of (134)Cs (100-500 m) and the increased water column inventories of (137)Cs between 0 and 500 m after the winter of 2011-2012 suggested that the main water mass containing FNPP-derived radioactive Cs was the North Pacific Subtropical Mode Water (NPSTMW), formed as a result of winter convection. We estimated the amount of (134)Cs in core waters of the western part of the NPSTMW to be 0.99 PBq (decay-corrected on 11 March 2011). This accounts for 9.0% of the (134)Cs released from the FNPP, with our estimation revealing that a considerable amount of FNPP-derived radioactive Cs has been transported to the subtropical region by the formation and circulation of the mode water.

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The solitary ascidian Ascidiella aspersa (Müller, 1776) has sometimes been regarded as conspecific with A. scabra (Müller, 1776), although previous detailed morphological comparisons have indicated that the two are distinguishable by internal structures. Resolution of this taxonomic issue is important because A. aspersa has been known as a notoriously invasive ascidian, doing much damage to aquaculture e.g. in Hokkaido, Japan. We collected many specimens from European waters (including the Swedish coast, near the type localities of these two species) and Hokkaido, Japan (as an alien population) and made molecular phylogenetic analyses using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, and found that in terms of COI sequences all the analyzed specimens were clustered into two distinct groups, one of which is morphologically referable to A. aspersa and the other to A. scabra. Thus, these two species should be regarded as distinct from each other.

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