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. 2018 Apr 27:6:e4651.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.4651. eCollection 2018.

Impact of hypoxia stress on the physiological responses of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus: respiration, digestion, immunity and oxidative damage

Da Huo  1   2   3 , Lina Sun  1   2 , Xiaoshang Ru  1   2   3 , Libin Zhang  1   2 , Chenggang Lin  1   2 , Shilin Liu  1   2 , Xiaoke Xin  1   2   3 , Hongsheng Yang  1   2
Affiliations

Impact of hypoxia stress on the physiological responses of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus: respiration, digestion, immunity and oxidative damage

Da Huo et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Hypoxia is one of the most frequently occurring stressors confronted by industrial cultures of sea cucumber and can cause large economic losses and resource degradation. However, its responsive mechanisms are still lacking. In this paper, the physiological responses of Apostichopus japonicus to oxygen deficiency was illustrated, including induced oxidative response and immune defense and changed digestive enzymes activities. Significantly increased activities of alpha-amylase (AMS), acid phosphatase (ACP), lactate dehydrogenase, catalase, peroxidase, succinate dehydrogenase and higher content of malondialdehyde, and decreased activities of lipase and trypsin (TRY) were observed after hypoxia exposure (dissolved oxygen [DO] 2 mg/L). Expressions of key genes showed that AMS, peptidase, ACP, alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, heat shock protein 70 and glutathione peroxidase were increased and TRY was decreased under hypoxia. With the decline of the DO level, the decreased tendency of oxygen consumption rates was different in varied weight groups. Moreover, respiratory trees were observed degraded under long-term hypoxia stress, thus leading a negative effect of respiration. These results could help to develop a better understanding of the responsive mechanism of sea cucumber under hypoxia stress and provide a theoretical basis for the prevention of hypoxia risk.

Keywords: Anoxia; Aquatic environment; Dissolved oxygen; Echinoderm; Metabolism; Physiological behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the dissolved oxygen control system.
The system was constructed by aerator, solenoid valve, on-line oxygen dissolving meter, dissolved oxygen probe, wave maker, nitrogen container and water bucker.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Tissue section of respiratory tree in sea cucumber under long-term hypoxia.
(A) respiratory tree of sea cucumber under normal conditions; (B) respiratory tree of sea cucumber under hypoxia.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Oxygen consumption rates of A. japonicus at different dissolved oxygen levels.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Activities of digestive enzymes in sea cucumber under different dissolved oxygen levels.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Activities of immune enzymes in sea cucumber under different DO levels.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Activities of antioxidative enzymes in sea cucumber under different DO levels.
(A) Activities of CAT, T-AOC, POD, SDH, PPO, GSH-PX, SOD in sea cucumber under different DO levels; (B) activity of LDH in sea cucumber under different DO levels; (C) content of MDA in sea cucumber under different DO levels.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Real-time PCR analysis of the key genes related to digestive function.
Figure 8
Figure 8. Real-time PCR analysis of the key genes related to immune defense.
Figure 9
Figure 9. Real-time PCR analysis of the key genes related to oxidative response.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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