We reviewed recent advances of some aspects on the biology of dicyemid mesozoans. To date 42 species of dicyemids have been found in 19 species of cephalopod molluscs from Japanese waters. The body of dicyemids consists of 10–40 cells and is organized in a very simple fashion. There are three basic types of cell junction, septate junction, adherens junction, and gap junction. The presence of these junctions suggests not only cell-to-cell attachment, but also cell-to-cell communication. In the development of dicyemids, early stages and cell lineages are identical in vermiform embryos of four genera, Conocyema, Dicyema, Microcyema, and Pseudicyema. Species-specific differences appear during later stages of embryogenesis. In the process of postembryonic growth in some species, the shape of the calotte changes from conical to cap-shaped and discoidal. This calotte morphology appears to result from adaptation to the structure of host renal tissues and help to facilitate niche separation of coexisting species. In most dicyemids distinctly small numbers of sperms are produced in a hermaphroditic gonad (infusorigen). The number of eggs and sperms are roughly equal. An inverse proportional relationship exists between the number of infusorigens and that of gametes, suggesting a trade-off between them. Recent phylogenetic studies suggest dicyemids are a member of the Lophotrochozoa.

Tachykinins (TKs) constitute the largest vertebrate neuropeptide family with multifunctions in central and peripheral tissues. In several invertebrate species, two types of structurally related peptides, ‘tachykinin-related peptides (TKRPs)’ and ‘invertebrate tachykinins (inv-TKs)’ have been identified. TKRPs, isolated from the nerve and/or gut tissues, contain the common C-terminal sequence –Phe-X-Gly-Y-ArgNH₂ (X and Y are variable) analogous to the vertebrate TK consensus –Phe-X-Gly-Leu-Met-NH₂, and exhibit vertebrate TK-like contractile activity on invertebrate gut tissues. Inv-TKs have been shown to be present exclusively in the salivary gland of several species, to share vertebrate TK consensus motif, and to possess TK-like potencies on vertebrate, not invertebrate tissues. However, the functional and evolutionary relevance of TKRPs and inv-TKs to vertebrate TKs remains to be understood. Recent studies have revealed that TKRP precursors dramatically differ from vertebrate preprotachykinins in structural organization and that TKRP receptors share structural and functional properties with vertebrate TK receptors. Moreover, the C-terminal arginine in TKRPs has been shown to play an essential role in discriminating their receptors from vertebrate TK receptors. Such recent marked progress is expected to enhance further investigation of biological roles of TKRPs. This review provides an overview of the basic findings obtained previously and a buildup of new knowledge regarding TKRPs and inv-TKs. We also compare TKRPs and inv-TKs to vertebrate TKs with regard to evolutionary relationships in structure and function among these structurally related peptides.

While brain development during embryogenesis has been extensively studied in precocial birds, there is no information available on altricial birds. Thus, the concentrations of the catecholamines norepinephrine (NE), epinephrine (E), and dopamine (DA), and the dopaminergic metabolites 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) and 4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylacetic acid (HVA) were determined at several stages during the late embryonic period (E13, E14, E15, E16, E17 and E18) and the day-of-hatch (P0) in the pigeon telencephalon, cerebellum, optic lobe, and brainstem. The concentrations of all catecholamines were higher than those reported in chicken embryos. During embryogenesis, NE, E, DOPAC and HVA concentrations in the various brain parts increased throughout embryonic development until shortly before hatching at which time they decreased. DA, however, continued to increase through hatching in the brainstem, and the changes in DA concentrations varied in several brain parts.

In conclusion, catecholamine concentrations in the various brain parts tended to increase with embryonic age, and the concentrations were higher than those in chickens. Furthermore, brain catcholamine metabolism changed at hatch in pigeons.

Hypertrophy is induced in skeletal muscle when mechanical overload, for example repetitive stretching, is presented. This is a well-known phenomenon and the molecular mechanism involved has been investigated from various aspects. In this study, with a system that enables periodic stretching of cultured skeletal muscle cells, myotubes, along the long cellular axis uni-directionally at a constant frequency, we examined the effects of stretching on skeletal muscle using mouse C2 myotubes in culture as a model. Significant hypertrophy was observed in the myotubes after several days of periodic stretching and this was accompanied by the accumulation of a protein of about 67kDa. This protein was identified with albumin, which was present in the culture medium, based on its antigenicity, size and pI. When bovine serum albumin tagged with biotin was added to the culture medium, it became detectable in the cytoplasm of the stretched myotubes. mRNA encoding albumin was not detectable in the myotubes by northern blotting irrespective of their stretching or non-stretching, indicating that transcription of the albumin gene was not induced in the stretched muscle cells. From these results, we conclude that the accumulation of albumin in stretched myotubes was due to uptake of the protein from the culture medium not to de novo synthesis of the protein in myotubes. We suggest that albumin uptake may be involved in skeletal muscular hyper-trophy.

Crossing experiments were made among various brown frog species and populations collected from Japan, China, Russia and Taiwan. The main purpose of these experiments was to confirm the existence of reproductive isolating mechanisms among Rana pirica from Japan, R. chensinensis from China and R. chensinensis from Russia, and between these three taxa and the other brown frogs distributed in the Palearctic and Oriental regions. It was found that there was no or a slight gametic isolation among the three taxa. While there was a nearly equal number of male and female offspring in the control groups, the hybrid frogs were all males, and completely sterile upon attaining sexual maturity. Thus, each of the Japanese R. pirica and the Russian R. chensinensis is a valid species, distinct from the Chinese R. chensinensis. The phylogenetic tree based on nucleotide sequence data from the mitochondrial 12S and 16S rRNA genes of the Palearctic and Oriental brown frogs showed that the three taxa are included in a cluster together with the other species with 2n=24 chromosomes. The present crossing experiments and molecular data support the hypothesis that each of them is a separate but closely related species.

Xenogeneic rejection was observed among colonies of three botryllids, Botryllus scalaris, Botryllus primigenus, and Botrylloides simodensis. Allogeneic recognition occurs in each of these species, but the manner of allogeneic rejection differs among them. We studied xenogeneic rejection reactions among these species under the following conditions: colony contact at natural growing edges, colony contact at artificially cut surfaces, and injection of xenogeneic blood plasma into a vascular vessel. In the first two cases, xenogeneic rejection occurred only in Botryllus primigenus and Botrylloides simodensis. The features of that xenogeneic rejection were similar to those of allogeneic rejection in each of these two botryllids. Injection of xenogeneic blood plasma induced responses similar to those of allogeneic rejection in all three botryllids. It is interesting to note that colonies of Botryllus scalaris never showed any response against injected blood plasma from allogeneic incompatible colonies, unlike the responses seen in colonies of the other two botryllids under the same conditions. On the basis of these results, the relationship between allogeneic and xenogeneic rejection in botryllids is discussed.

A novel membrane guanylyl cyclase (membrane GC), OlGC8, was identified in the medaka fish Oryzias latipes by the isolation of full-length cDNA (4958 bp) and genomic DNA (14.3 kbp) clones. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that OlGC8 does not belong in any known vertebrate membrane GC sub-family. OlGC8 consists of an extracellular domain (214 residues), a transmembrane segment (19 residues), and an intracellular protein kinase-like domain (284 residues) and a cyclase catalytic domain (228 residues), although the extracellular domain is about half the length (around 450 residues) of other known vertebrate membrane GCs. OlGC8 transiently expressed in COS-7 cells exhibited only basal guanylyl cyclase activity. None of the known ligands (rat ANP, BNP, CNP, and C-ANF) and various medaka fish tissue extracts, which activated OlGC1, OlGC2, and OlGC7 differentially, stimulated basal activity, suggesting that OlGC8 is an orphan receptor. The OlGC8 gene consists of 24 exons and exists as a single copy on the medaka fish genome. Northern blot hybridization showed that a 5 kb-OlGC8 mRNA was expressed in the kidney and the testis at a high level and a 3.3 kb-OlGC8 mRNA was expressed only in the brain. The RNase protection, RNA Ligase-Mediated Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends (RLM-RACE), and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses demonstrated that the 3.3 kb-OlGC8 mRNA detected in the brain is transcribed from the second transcription initiation site, and contains an intron at the position prior to the catalytic domain, the translation product of which appears to be a protein lacking the cyclase catalytic domain.

The see-through stock in the medaka Oryzias latipes, causes pigments to be absent from the whole body and has a transparent body in the adult stage as well as during embryonic stages. To establish a standard table of growth stages for this model fish, morphological features were examined during the growing period from hatching to adulthood. The main observations were performed on morphological changes in external and internal organs that could be seen through the body wall of the living fish during growth. Finally, five growth stages from just after hatching to the adult stage were defined on the basis of synchronized or definite changes in morphology as follows: (1) stage 40 in which the nodes (joints) in bony rays of the caudal and pectoral fins first appear, (2) the stage 41 in which the ribs and the anal, dorsal and ventral fins are formed by degeneration of the membrane fin folds, as recognized by the first appearance of nodes in the fin rays of the anal, pectoral and dorsal fins, and the parallel distribution of the dorsal artery and ventral vein of the tail, (3) stage 42 in which the 2-spiral pattern of the gut, the ray nodes in the ventral fins, and the scales first appear, (4) stage 43 in which early secondary sexual characters such as urinogenital protruberances (female) and papillar processes (male) appear, (5) stage 44 in which the 3-spiral pattern of the gut and the papillar process on the 2nd ray of pectral fins (male) appear.

Egg volume of a tropical sea urchin Echinometra mathaei is about one half that of other well-known species. We asked whether such a small size of eggs affected the timings of early developmental events or not. Cleavages became asynchronous from the 7th cleavage onward, and embryos hatched out before completion of the 9th cleavage. These timings were one cell cycle earlier than those in well-known sea urchins, raising the possibility that much earlier events, such as the increase in adhesiveness of blastomeres or the specification of dorso-ventral axis (DV-axis), would also occur earlier by one cell cycle. By examining the pseudopodia formation in dissociated blastomeres, it was elucidated that blastomeres in meso- and macromere lineages became adhesive after the 4th and 5th cleavages, respectively. From cell trace experiments, it was found that the first or second cleavage plane was preferentially employed as the median plane of embryo; the DV-axis was specified mainly at the 16-cell stage. Timings of these events were also one cell cycle earlier than those in Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. The obtained results suggest that most of the early developmental events in sea urchin embryos do not depend on cleavage cycles, but on other factors, such as the nucleo-cytoplasmic ratio.

Protogynous hermaphroditism, female-to-male sex change, is well known among reef fishes where large males monopolize harems of females. When the dominant male disappears from a harem, the largest female may change sex within a few weeks. Recently, from experiments with some protogynous haremic fishes in which two males' cohabitated, it was confirmed that sexual behavior and gonads were completely reversible according to individual social status. However, the ability to reverse secondary-developed sexual body coloration has never been examined in any protogynous fish. We conducted two male cohabitation experiments with the protogynous haremic angelfish, Centropyge ferrugata, which has conspicuous sexual dichromatism on the dorsal fin. Smaller males of C. ferrugata soon performed female-specific mating behaviors when they became subordinated after losing a contest. They then completed gonadal sex change to females 47 or 89 d (n=2) after beginning cohabitation. In the course of the reversed gonadal sex change, male-specific coloration on the dorsal fin changed to that of a female. Thus, the sex of C. ferrugata, including secondary developed sexually dichromatic characteristics, can be completely reversible in accord with their social status.

The effects of alloxan, an insulin (INS)-secreting cell toxin, and INS immunoneutralization on circulating levels of thyroid hormones (thyroxine, T₄; triiodothyronine, T₃) were examined in larval land-locked sea lampreys, Petromyzon marinus. Animals were injected intraperitoneally with either (Experiment 1) saline (0.6%) or alloxan (20 or 200 μg/g body weight), or with (Experiment 2) normal rabbit serum or anti-lamprey INS. Alloxan (200 μg/g) decreased plasma T₃, but not T₄, in larvae by about 45–80%. Three, six, or nine hr after acute immunoneutralization of lamprey INS with anti-lamprey INS, plasma T₃ levels decreased by 13–30%, relative to controls. These data indicate that INS deficiency can regulate the thyroid system of larval lampreys. There is some suggestion that INS may mediate the metamorphic processes by modulating thyroid hormone concentrations.

Growth factors produced in the uterine endometrium are considered to be involved in the proliferation of the mouse uterine stromal cells induced by estradiol-17β (E₂) and progesterone (P). The effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), one of EGF-related growth factors, on the proliferation of mouse uterine stromal cells was studied in a serum-free culture. The growth of the uterine stromal cells was measured by MTT assay. EGF was found to increase the number of uterine stromal cells in a dose-dependent manner. The DNA-replicating cells were investigated using the immunocytochemical detection of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-labeled cells. EGF and TGF-α increased the percentage of BrdU-labeled cells in a dose-dependent manner. Administration of the combination of E₂ (10⁻⁹ M) and P (10⁻⁷ M) for 2 days increased the percentage of BrdU-labeled cells 2.3-fold. The stimulatory effect of EGF, TGF-α and the combination of E₂ and P on DNA replication in the uterine stromal cells was repressed by RG-13022 (10⁻⁵ M, the inhibitor of the EGF receptor tyrosine kinase). RT-PCR analysis of EGF-receptor-, TGF-α-, and EGF-mRNA was carried out in the cultured uterine stromal cells, and revealed the expression of those mRNAs. These data supported the hypothesis that uterine endometrial stromal growth induced by sex steroids required the EGF family of ligands such as EGF and TGF-α, both produced in the stromal cells, acting for DNA synthesis through EGF receptors.

Ultrastructures of circulating hemocytes were studied in 9 botryllid ascidians. The hemocytes are classified into five types: hemoblasts, phagocytes, granulocytes, morula cells, and pigment cells. These five types are always found in the 9 species. They should represent the major hemocyte types of the circulating cells in the blood. Hemoblasts are small hemocytes having a high nucleus/cytoplasm ratio. There are few granular or vacuolar inclusions in the cytoplasm. Phagocytes have phagocytic activity and their shape is variable depending on the amount of engulfed materials. In granulocytes, shape and size of granules are different among the species. Morula cells are characterized by several vacuoles filled with electron dense materials. In pigment cells, the bulk of the cytoplasm is occupied by one or a few vacuoles containing pigment granules. We also described some other hemocyte types found in particular species. Furthermore, we encountered free oocytes circulating in the blood in two species, Botryllus primigenus and Botrylloides lentus.

A new interstitial copepod of the family Laophontidae was found in the samples from a sandy beach at Taean, west coast of Korea. This species was described and named as Quinquelaophonte koreana sp. nov. Present new species is clearly distinguishable from its congeners with the combined characters of the short caudal ramus and its short ornamented seta V, two setae on the antennary exopod, and small rounded rostrum. Q. koreana sp. nov. is the first record of Quinquelaophonte from the Northeast Asian coast.

A new genus of the crangonid shrimps, Syncrangon, is proposed for Crangon angusticauda De Haan, 1849 and (C. Sclerocrangon) angusticauda var. dentata Balss, 1914, both from East Asian waters. The new genus is readily distinguished from all known genera of the Crangonidae by the flattened middorsal carina and the deep groove on each lateral side of the middorsal carina on the third to sixth abdominal somites. Syncrangon angusticauda new combination has previously been assigned to the genus Metacrangon, while S. dentata new combination has not been reported since the original description. These two species are easily distinguished from each other by many characters, especially the rostral and abdominal features. They are redescribed and illustrated in detail.