Starfish gonad: action and chemical identification of spawning inhibitor

The first high-quality genome assembly and annotation of Patiria pectinifera

The blue bat star, a highly adaptive species in the East Sea of Korea, has displayed remarkable success in adapting to recent climate change. The genetic mechanisms behind this success were not well-understood, prompting our report on the first chromosome-level assembly of the Patiria genus. We assembled the genome using Nanopore and Illumina sequences, yielding a total length of 615 Mb and a scaffold N50 of 24,204,423 bp. Hi-C analysis allowed us to anchor the scaffold sequences onto 22 pseudochromosomes. K-mer based analysis revealed 5.16% heterozygosity rate of the genome, higher than any previously reported echinoderm species. Our transposable element analysis exposed a substantial number of genome-wide retrotransposons and DNA transposons. These results offer valuable resources for understanding the evolutionary mechanisms behind P. pectinifera's successful adaptation in fluctuating environments.

Relaxin-like Gonad-Stimulating Peptides in Asteroidea

Starfish relaxin-like gonad-stimulating peptide (RGP) is the first identified peptide hormone with gonadotropin-like activity in invertebrates. RGP is a heterodimeric peptide, comprising A and B chains with disulfide cross-linkages. Although RGP had been named a gonad-stimulating substance (GSS), the purified peptide is a member of relaxin-type peptide family. Thus, GSS was renamed as RGP. The cDNA of RGP encodes not only the A and B chains, but also signal and C-peptides. After the rgp gene is translated as a precursor, mature RGP is produced by eliminating the signal and C-peptides. Hitherto, twenty-four RGP orthologs have been identified or predicted from starfish in the orders Valvatida, Forcipulatida, Paxillosida, Spinulosida, and Velatida. The molecular evolution of the RGP family is in good accordance with the phylogenetic taxonomy in Asteroidea. Recently, another relaxin-like peptide with gonadotropin-like activity, RLP2, was found in starfish. RGP is mainly present in the radial nerve cords and circumoral nerve rings, but also in the arm tips, the gonoducts, and the coelomocytes. RGP acts on ovarian follicle cells and testicular interstitial cells to induce the production of 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde), a starfish maturation-inducing hormone. RGP-induced 1-MeAde production is accompanied by an increase in intracellular cyclic AMP levels. This suggests that the receptor for RGP (RGPR) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR). Two types of GPCRs, RGPR1 and RGPR2, have been postulated as candidates. Furthermore, 1-MeAde produced by RGP not only induces oocyte maturation, but also induces gamete shedding, possibly by stimulating the secretion of acetylcholine in the ovaries and testes. Thus, RGP plays an important role in starfish reproduction, but its secretion mechanism is still unknown. It has also been revealed that RGP is found in the peripheral adhesive papillae of the brachiolaria arms. However, gonads are not developed in the larvae before metamorphosis. It may be possible to discover new physiological functions of RGP other than gonadotropin-like activity.

Mechanism of gamete shedding in starfish: Involvement of acetylcholine in extracellular Ca2+-dependent contraction of gonadal walls

Starfish are suitable animals for the study of hormonal regulatory mechanism of oocyte maturation and ovulation. Although contraction of the gonadal walls is essential for the shedding gametes, little was known about the mechanism. When ovaries of starfish Patiria pectinifera were incubated in Ca²⁺-free seawater in the presence of 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde), the germinal vesicles in oocytes broke down, but no ovulation occurred. Verapamil, a potent inhibitor of voltage-dependent Ca²⁺ channels, inhibited 1-MeAde-induced ovulation. These results suggest that extracellular Ca²⁺ and its influx are indispensable for gamete shedding. Furthermore, acetylcholine (ACh) was involved in extracellular Ca²⁺-dependent contractions of gonadal walls. Although 1-MeAde failed to induce contraction of the gonadal walls in normal seawater containing L-glutamic acid, application of ACh or carbachol, an agonist for ACh receptor, could bring about shedding of mature oocytes. Atropine, a competitive antagonist of the muscarinic ACh receptor, inhibited 1-MeAde-induced ovulation, but a nicotinic ACh receptor antagonist mecamylamine had no effect. Furthermore, ACh was detected in the ovaries and testes in P. pectinifera. These findings suggest that ACh acts on muscarinic ACh receptors in gonadal walls to induce peristaltic contractions caused by Ca²⁺ influx via Ca²⁺ channels in the gonadal wall muscle for gamete shedding. The present study also provides new insight into the regulatory mechanism that 1-MeAde acts on secretion of ACh in ovaries and testes.

Chemical Ecology of Chemosensation in Asteroidea: Insights Towards Management Strategies of Pest Species

Within the Phylum Echinodermata, the class Asteroidea, commonly known as starfish and sea stars, encompasses a large number of benthos inhabiting genera and species with various feeding modalities including herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and detritivores. The Asteroidea rely on chemosensation throughout their life histories including hunting prey, avoiding or deterring predators, in the formation of spawning aggregations, synchronizing gamete release and targeting appropriate locations for larval settlement. The identities of many of the chemical stimuli that mediate these physiological and behavioural processes remain unresolved even though evidence indicates they play pivotal roles in the functionality of benthic communities. Aspects of chemosensation, as well as putative chemically-mediated behaviours and the molecular mechanisms of chemoreception, within the Asteroidea are reviewed here, with particular reference to the coral reef pest the Crown-of-Thorns starfish Acanthaster planci species complex, in the context of mitigation of population outbreaks.

Identification of a novel starfish neuropeptide that acts as a muscle relaxant

Neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants have been identified in chordates and protostomian invertebrates but little is known about the molecular identity of neuropeptides that act as muscle relaxants in deuterostomian invertebrates (e.g. echinoderms) that are 'evolutionary intermediates' of chordates and protostomes. Here, we have used the apical muscle of the starfish Patiria pectinifera to assay for myorelaxants in extracts of this species. A hexadecapeptide with the amino acid sequence Phe-Gly-Lys-Gly-Gly-Ala-Tyr-Asp-Pro-Leu-Ser-Ala-Gly-Phe-Thr-Asp was identified and designated starfish myorelaxant peptide (SMP). Cloning and sequencing of a cDNA encoding the SMP precursor protein revealed that it comprises 12 copies of SMP as well as 3 peptides (7 copies in total) that are structurally related to SMP. Analysis of the expression of SMP precursor transcripts in P. pectinifera using qPCR revealed the highest expression in the radial nerve cords and lower expression levels in a range of neuromuscular tissues, including the apical muscle, tube feet and cardiac stomach. Consistent with these findings, SMP also caused relaxation of tube foot and cardiac stomach preparations. Furthermore, SMP caused relaxation of apical muscle preparations from another starfish species - Asterias amurensis. Collectively, these data indicate that SMP has a general physiological role as a muscle relaxant in starfish. Interestingly, comparison of the sequence of the SMP precursor with known neuropeptide precursors revealed that SMP belongs to a bilaterian family of neuropeptides that include molluscan pedal peptides (PP) and arthropodan orcokinins (OK). This is the first study to determine the function of a PP/OK-type peptide in a deuterostome. Pedal peptide/orcokinin (PP/OK)-type peptides are a family of structurally related neuropeptides that were first identified and functionally characterised in protostomian invertebrates. Here, we report the discovery of starfish myorelaxant peptide (SMP), a novel member of the PP/OK-type neuropeptide identified in the starfish Patiria pectinifera (phylum Echinodermata). SMP is the first PP/OK-type neuropeptide to be functionally characterised in a deuterostome.

Physiological and immunocytochemical evidence that glutamatergic neurotransmission is involved in the activation of arm autotomy in the featherstar Antedon mediterranea (Echinodermata: Crinoidea)

The crinoid echinoderm Antedon mediterranea autotomises its arms at specialised skeletal joints known as syzygies that occur at regular intervals along the length of each arm. Detachment is achieved through the nervously mediated destabilisation of ligament fibres at a particular syzygy. The aim of this investigation was to identify neurotransmitters that are involved in the autotomy response. Physiological experiments were conducted on isolated preparations of syzygial joints, which can be induced to undergo autotomy-like fracture by applying stimulatory agents such as elevated [K(+)](o). Initial experiments with elevated [K(+)](o) showed that the autotomy threshold (the minimum amount of stimulation required to provoke autotomy) is lowest in syzygies at the arm base and rises distally. Of a range of neurotransmitter agonists tested, only l-glutamate invoked syzygial destabilisation, as did its analogues l-aspartate, alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionate (AMPA) and kainate, but not l-(+)-2-amino-4-phosphonobutyrate (l-AP4) or N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA). The implication that l-glutamate stimulates syzygial fracture through AMPA/kainate-like receptors was supported by the finding that the action of l-glutamate was inhibited by the AMPA/kainate receptor antagonist 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX). Acetylcholine depressed the response of syzygial preparations to l-glutamate, suggesting a possible mechanism by which the autotomy threshold could be varied constitutively and facultatively. An immunocytochemical method employing a polyclonal antibody against l-glutamate conjugated to glutaraldehyde revealed l-glutamate-like immunoreactivity in all components of the putative neural pathway controlling the autotomy reflex, including the epidermis, brachial nerve, syzygial nerves and cellular elements close to the syzygial ligaments. We conclude that it is highly probable that l-glutamate acts as an excitatory neurotransmitter in the activation of arm autotomy in A. mediterranea.

Involvement of G-proteins and adenylate cyclase in the action of gonad-stimulating substance on starfish ovarian follicle cells

Gonad-stimulating substance (GSS) secreted from radial nerves induces meiotic maturation of starfish oocytes by stimulating production of 1-methyladenine (1-MeAde) in ovarian follicle cells. We have previously shown that cAMP mediates the action of GSS on 1-MeAde synthesis by starfish ovarian follicle cells. The present study examines the possible involvement of guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins (G-proteins) and adenylate cyclase in the action of GSS on 1-MeAde production by starfish (Asterina pectinifera) follicle cells. GSS slightly stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in crude membrane preparations of follicle cells. GTP markedly enhanced this action of GSS in a dose-dependent manner. Nonhydrolyzable GTP analogs such as guanosine 5'-O-(3-thiotriphosphate) and 5'-guanylylimidodiphosphate, NaF, and forskolin also stimulated adenylate cyclase activity. In addition, chorela toxin (CT) stimulated adenylate cyclase activity in membrane preparations in the presence of NAD and GTP. Unlike adenylate cyclase, phosphodiesterase activity was not influenced by GSS. When crude membranes of follicle cells were incubated with [alpha-32P]NAD in the presence of CT and pertussis toxin, 45-kDa and 41-kDa proteins were ADP-ribosylated, respectively, suggesting the presence of two types (stimulatory and inhibitory) of G-proteins. It is concluded that G-proteins and adenylate cyclase play an important role in the action of GSS on 1-MeAde production by starfish ovarian follicle cells.

Biological activity of saponins and saponin-like compounds from starfish and brittle-stars

Twenty-four saponins and saponin-like compounds, isolated from starfish and brittle-stars, have been tested in four in vitro tests, based upon bacterial and cell tissue cultures. Saponin-like compounds from brittle-stars have previously not been tested for biological activity. In an antibacterial test based on an agar diffusion test, the Gram positive bacterium S. aureus was affected by the polyhydroxylated steroidal glycosides, polyhydroxylated sterols and disulfated sterols. However, none of the 21 compounds tested were active against the Gram negative bacterium E. coli. In a cytotoxicity test all 21 compounds tested influenced the cells at a concentration of 100 micrograms/ml, while the cells were unaffected at 1 microgram/ml. In an antitumor test, 16 compounds were tested on two lymphoma cell lines. Inhibition of cell growth, at a concentration of 5 ng/ml, was seen for three polyhydroxylated sterols, in one cell line. Weak activity was seen in an antiviral test at a concentration of 10 micrograms/ml.