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Experiments were performed in triplicate and repeated three times with similar results. Bars display mean±S.D. One-way ANOVA (p<0.05) was performed using OriginPro® to test the differences of gene expressions between control and fluoxetine treated clams.
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The Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) is currently one of the most economically important aquatic species in China and has been used as a test organism in many environmental studies. However, the lack of genomic resources, such as sequenced genome, expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and transcriptome sequences has hindered the research on C. fluminea. Re...
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Background:
The Asian corn borer (Ostrinia furnacalis (Guenée)) is one of the most serious corn pests in Asia. Control of this pest with entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana has been proposed. However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the interactions between O. furnacalis and B. bassiana are unclear, especially under the conditions that...
Citations
... In terms of morphological and genetic classification, C. japonica closely resembles the Asian clam (Corbicula fluminea) (Park and Kwak, 2022). C. fluminea has been widely used as a bioindicator to assess water quality and toxicity in aquatic environments (Chen et al., 2013;Ferreira-Rodríguez et al., 2017;Guo and Feng, 2018;Bi et al., 2022). However, very few studies have assessed the potential of C. japonica as a bioindicator for monitoring aquatic environments from both ecological and molecular perspectives. ...
... High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) has been extensively used to generate transcriptomic data for characterizing gene expression profiles in response to stressors such as salinity and chemical changes (Nguyen et al., 2016;Zhang et al., 2017;Cui et al., 2019;Chen et al., 2013;Zou et al., 2021;Sun et al., 2022). Salinity changes are known to affect various molecular processes in aquatic organisms, including ion transport, energy metabolism, antioxidant systems, and signal transduction (Torres et al., 2007;Nikapitiya et al., 2014;Long et al., 2017;Yang et al., 2019). ...
The brackish water clam (Corbicula japonica) is constantly exposed to stressful salinity gradients and high levels
of heavy metals in the freshwater-saltwater interface of estuary environments, which are introduced from upstream
regions and land. To identify the key molecular pathways involved in the response to salinity changes and
heavy metal bioaccumulation, we obtained the transcriptomes of C. japonica inhabiting different salinities and
heavy metal distributions in Gwangyang Bay (Korea) using RNA sequencing. Among a total of 404,486 assembled
unigenes, 5534 differentially expressed genes were identified in C. japonica inhabiting different conditions,
1549 of which were significantly upregulated and 1355 were significantly downregulated. Correlation analyses
revealed distinct gene expression patterns between the low and high conditions of salinity and heavy metal
bioaccumulation. Functional annotation revealed significant downregulation of genes involved in “ubiquitindependent
protein catabolic process,” “tricarboxylic acid cycle,” and “intracellular protein transport” in
C. japonica from the high condition compared to the low condition. Transcription and translation pathways were
significantly enriched in the high condition. Additionally, upon comparison of the low and high conditions by
qRT-PCR and proteasome enzyme activity analyses, our findings demonstrated that environmental stress could
suppress the ubiquitin-proteasome complex (UPC). Additionally, transcriptomic changes under high salinity
stress conditions may be related to an increase in cellular protection by defense enzymes, which leads to more
energy being required and a disruption of energy homeostasis. Ultimately, this could cause growth retardation in
the clam C. japonica. In summary, this study provides the first evidence of UPC suppression induced by a
combination of high salinity and heavy metal bioaccumulation stress in C. japonica, which could compromise the
survival and growth of estuarine bivalves.
... Clam is economic important aquatic species in Asia, especially in Malaysia, China, and Thailand [1]. However, the demand of aquaculture product [2] including of Asian Clam is increase rapidly, meanwhile environmental problems are one of the causes of clam mortality. ...
... The Asian clam has spread throughout the world at an alarming rate, especially since the Asian clam was originally found in just Asiatic ecosystems. Specifically, the Asian clam species, also known as Corbicula fluminea, has spread throughout the world over the last century and has become a major invasive species in North America and Europe because it is considered a threat to the native aquatic communities [1]. The effects and importance of the Asian clam in lakes and waterways has been frequently debated and there are numerous positions that view the invasive species as detrimental to the environment. ...
... The animalTFDB 3.0 software predicted 1906 TFs and most of the TFs belonged to the bHLH and zf-C2H2 families, similar to a study on another shellfish, Coelomactra antiquata [35]. The MISA 1.0 software predicted 8873 SSRs, which was much more than the 2151 and 4279 SSRs reported by the second-generation RNA-seq [33,36]. The SSR types were mainly mono-nucleotide repeats and tri-nucleotide repeats, which is consistent with previous studies [33,36]. ...
... The MISA 1.0 software predicted 8873 SSRs, which was much more than the 2151 and 4279 SSRs reported by the second-generation RNA-seq [33,36]. The SSR types were mainly mono-nucleotide repeats and tri-nucleotide repeats, which is consistent with previous studies [33,36]. The Pfam, CNCI, and CPC databases were used to predict the coding potential of the transcripts, and 8974 lncRNAs were predicted by all three databases, suggesting that many of the transcripts may not have had protein-coding functions. ...
Air exposure is a common stress for Corbicula fluminea, an economically important freshwater shellfish consumed in China, during aquaculture and transportation. However, little is known about its molecular responses to air exposure. Therefore, this study used a combination of PacBio full-length and Illumina transcriptomes to investigate its molecular responses to air exposure. A total of 36,772 transcripts were obtained using PacBio sequencing. Structural analysis identified 32,069 coding sequences, 1906 transcription factors, 8873 simple sequence repeats, and 17,815 long non-coding RNAs. Subcellular localization analysis showed that most transcripts were located in the cytoplasm and nucleus. After 96-h of air exposure, 210 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the gill were obtained via Illumina sequencing. Among these DEGs, most of the genes related to glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle, lipid metabolism, and amino acid metabolism were upregulated. Additionally, many DEGs associated with immunity, cytoskeleton reorganization, autophagy, and ferroptosis were identified. These findings indicated that metabolic strategy change, immune response, cytoskeleton reconstruction, autophagy, and ferroptosis might be the important mechanisms that C. fluminea use to cope with air exposure. This study will enrich the gene resources of C. fluminea and provide valuable data for studying the molecular mechanisms coping with air exposure in C. fluminea and other freshwater mollusks.
... The toxicity data of the benthic species tested in the Netherlands expressed in terms of total sediment concentration were normalized to an organic carbon content of 2.43% to facilitate comparison with the results from the Chinese study tested ( Figs. 2 and 3). C. fluminea also is an economically important aquatic species in China and has been used as a test organism in many environmental studies (Chen et al. 2013). It is a suspension feeder that filter-feeds on unicellular algae, bacteria and detrital particles. ...
The fungicide fludioxonil, given its physicochemical properties, potentially accumulates and persists in sediments. Fludioxonil has a widespread agricultural use to control various fungal diseases. Its residues may cause toxic effects to benthic aquatic fauna, thereby impacting ecosystem service functions of aquatic ecosystems. To assess the potential environmental effects of fludioxonil in the sediment compartment of edge-of-field surface waters, sediment-spiked single-species toxicity tests with benthic macroinvertebrates were performed. In all experiments artificial sediment was used with an organic carbon content of 2.43% on dry weight basis. The single-species tests were conducted with 8 benthic macroinvertebrates covering different taxonomic groups typical for the Yangtze River Delta, China. The 28d-EC10 and 28-LC10 values thus obtained were used to construct species sensitivity distributions (SSDs). In addition, our dataset was supplemented with 28d-EC10 and 28-LC10 values for 8 different benthic invertebrates from a study in the Netherlands that used field-collected sediment. Based on SSDs constructed with 28d-EC10 or 28d-LC10 values hazardous concentrations to 5% of the species tested (HC5’s) were obtained. The HC5 values based on the toxicity tests from China were lower than those from the Netherlands, although 95% confidence bands overlapped. The HC5 values derived from the separate datasets from China and the Netherlands, as well as from the combined dataset, were compared to the Tier-3 Regulatory Acceptable Concentrations (RAC) for fludioxonil and the benthic invertebrate community derived from a sediment-spiked outdoor microcosm experiment conducted in the Netherlands. The HC5 values obtained appeared to be lower than this Tier-3 RAC when expressed in terms of total sediment concentration, but not always when expressed in terms of pore water concentrations.
... Similar case was also reported in America where this exotic clam posed an impact to lake ecosystem (Beaver et al., 1991). However, Asian clam is economic important aquatic species in China (Chen et al., 2013) and it became famous delicacy in Malaysia especially in Kelantan. Kelantanese prefer smoked Asian clam as a past time snack (Lee et al., 2013). ...
In the present study described the impact of water quality on the Asian clam, Corbicula fluminea, distribution in man – made Pergau Lake was carried out. Recently, Pergau Lake was gazette as state park and any activities related to fishery and agricultural were not allowed in the park. Subsequently, the nearby lake community was affected as many of them earn a living by carrying fisheries activity in the lake especially harvesting Asian clam. 10 sampling sites were selected in the lake to monitor water quality and Asian clam distribution. Water parameters data were also subjected to cluster analysis by using Ward’s method with squared Euclidean distances as a measure of similarity and a dendrogram was successfully generated. The water quality of the lake is under good condition and suitable to carry fishery activities by referred to Malaysia National Water Quality Standards (NWQS). The dendrogram revealed that the sampling sites can be divided into 2 clusters where Location 1 alone in its own cluster. Another cluster possesses 2 sub-clusters where Location 2 and 3 shared similar sub cluster. Another sub-cluster has two groups namely Location 5, 6 and 8 in one group whereas Location 4, 7, 9 and 10 shared similar group. The findings of the present study showed most of sampled Asian clam in Pergau Lake was semi mature indicating highly exploitation of Asian clam in the Lake. Furthermore, there were no correlation was detected between the population of Asian clam and water quality of the lake. Hence, we suggest that seasonal harvesting Asian clam should be implemented in order to conserve the population of Asian clam in the lake at the mean time the community to continue earn a living through carrying fishery activities in the lake.
... gov/), with most of the recent sequencing effort focusing on the production of chromosome-level assemblies. In the Venerida order, 6 species have their genomes assembled [24,[34][35][36][37] including one that is not scaffolded at a chromosomal level (Corbicula fluminea, [38]). In this framework, understanding the genetic components and features of these organisms can unlock multiple scientific fields, especially for enabling approaches and strategies to understand, prevent and mitigate diseases or to develop aquaculture stocks that resist infections and environmental stressors. ...
Background:
The hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria is a major marine resource along the Atlantic coasts of North America and has been introduced to other continents for resource restoration or aquaculture activities. Significant mortality events have been reported in the species throughout its native range as a result of diseases (microbial infections, leukemia) and acute environmental stress. In this context, the characterization of the hard clam genome can provide highly needed resources to enable basic (e.g., oncogenesis and cancer transmission, adaptation biology) and applied (clam stock enhancement, genomic selection) sciences.
Results:
Using a combination of long and short-read sequencing technologies, a 1.86 Gb chromosome-level assembly of the clam genome was generated. The assembly was scaffolded into 19 chromosomes, with an N50 of 83 Mb. Genome annotation yielded 34,728 predicted protein-coding genes, markedly more than the few other members of the Venerida sequenced so far, with coding regions representing only 2% of the assembly. Indeed, more than half of the genome is composed of repeated elements, including transposable elements. Major chromosome rearrangements were detected between this assembly and another recent assembly derived from a genetically segregated clam stock. Comparative analysis of the clam genome allowed the identification of a marked diversification in immune-related proteins, particularly extensive tandem duplications and expansions in tumor necrosis factors (TNFs) and C1q domain-containing proteins, some of which were previously shown to play a role in clam interactions with infectious microbes. The study also generated a comparative repertoire highlighting the diversity and, in some instances, the specificity of LTR-retrotransposons elements, particularly Steamer elements in bivalves.
Conclusions:
The diversity of immune molecules in M. mercenaria may allow this species to cope with varying and complex microbial and environmental landscapes. The repertoire of transposable elements identified in this study, particularly Steamer elements, should be a prime target for the investigation of cancer cell development and transmission among bivalve mollusks.
... In our sediment-spiked single-species toxicity tests with udioxonil, the Asian clam C. uminea appeared to be the most sensitive benthic species tested ( Fig. 2 and 3). C. uminea also is an economically important aquatic species in China and has been used as a test organism in many environmental studies (Chen et al. 2013). It is a suspension feeder that lter-feeds on unicellular algae, bacteria and detrital particles. ...
In China, the fungicide fludioxonil, that accumulates and persists in sediments, has a widespread agricultural use to control various fungal diseases. Its residues may cause toxic effects to benthic aquatic fauna, thereby impacting ecosystem service functions of aquatic ecosystems. To assess the potential environmental effects of fludioxonil in the sediment compartment of edge-of-field surface waters, sediment-spiked single-species toxicity tests with benthic macroinvertebrates were performed. In all experiments artificial sediment was used with an organic carbon content of 2.43% on dry weight basis. The single-species tests were conducted with 8 benthic macroinvertebrates covering different taxonomic groups typical for the Yangtze River Delta, China. The 28d-EC 10 and 28-LC 10 values thus obtained were used to construct species sensitivity distributions (SSDs). In addition, our data were supplemented with similar fludioxonil-spiked sediment toxicity data for benthic invertebrates from the Netherlands. Based on SSDs constructed with 28d-EC 10 values of 8 benthic species from our experiments in China, hazardous concentrations to 5% of the species tested (HC 5 ’s) of respectively 0.57 mg fludioxonil/kg dry weight sediment and 5.4 µg fludioxonil/L pore water were obtained. Supplementing our data from China with 8 similar toxicity data for other benthic species from the Netherlands, these HC 5 values became respectively 1.2 mg fludioxonil/kg dry weight sediment and 11 µg fludioxonil/L pore water.
... These watercourses are known for the introduction of many alien species, partly due to repopulations with fish material from North Italy, so much so that their bio coenoses currently present very clear signs of xenobio diversity (Tricarico et al., 2008;Nocita & Lenuzza, 2016;Cianfanelli et al., 2017;Marrone et al., 2019). Although Corbicula has not been observed in local markets, it is an edible mollusc, appreciated and bred in the countries of origin by the eastern communities (Cahn, 1951;Phelps, 1994;Chen et al., 2013). A remarkable Asian community resides in Italy in the provinces of Prato and Florence and the introduction into the watercourses of this area of other edible molluscs, such as Sinotaia quadrata (Ben son, 1842), currently collected, to sell in the local mar kets and consumed by these communities, is probably due to this illegal purpose (Cianfanelli et al., 2017). ...
In the present paper the taxonomic status of several Corbicula populations, collected in different sites from northern and central Italy, is evaluated. At least four different species have been identified: Corbicula flu minalis (Müller, 1778), Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1778), Corbicula largillierti (Philippi, 1844) and Corbicu la leana Prime, 1867. The first two taxa were reported in Italy some decades ago; the second ones are known only since 2018 but, it is shown here that they were already present in the Italian territory, respectively since 2014 (C. largillierti) and 2002 (C. leana). Moreover, another taxon similar to C. fluminea, here called as C. cf. fluminea, is detected for the first time in Italy. The identification of the different species was mainly carried out on the shell characters (general shape, number of ribs, appearance and position of the umbo, outer and inner colour of the valves); but for the most difficult taxa a morphometric analysis was also performed, by previously checking the range in which the growth follows a roughly isometric pattern. The morphometric analysis of C. fluminea, C. cf. fluminea and C. leana showed a wide variability of these characters, which do not always agree with diagnostic characters. However, some ratios are useful to distinguish these taxa, even if often only in their average values. Even the anatomical characters, in particular those related to the siphons, are quite variable and do not agree with other diagnostic characters. Such features would attest the presence of several distinct clones as, on the other hand, genetic investigations carried on specimens in other countries have confirmed. C. fluminalis is not a very common species. It is only present in northern Italy, in some lake basins, especially in Lake Garda and, rarely, in its emissary, the Mincio River. C. fluminea is the most widespread species in northern Italy, in the Po River from Turin and mostly in its left tributaries, but also in the Veneto basins, in the east up to the Lemene basin, while it is less frequent in Tuscany and Latium. C. cf. fluminea is quite widespread but only in the central-western area of the Po basin. C. largillierti is present only in the lower Lake Garda, rarely in its emissary and it was also collected in the terminal stretch of the Po River. C. leana is fairly widespread in the north and it is the most represented species in Tuscany, in the Serchio and Arno basins. However, the Corbicula clams occupy areas of the plain or at moderate altitudes, especially colonizing fine granulometry, sandy or muddy substrates, especially in lentic or lotic environments of potamal nature or in any case stable, such as artificial canals or irrigation networks. They are very tolerant to water pollution; however, they do not bear strong anoxia conditions, while they require waters with a good calcium hardness , moreover they react negatively to the aggressive conditions of the water, probably the main cause of umbonal corrosion that can lead to the formation of holes and death of the specimens. Since the Corbicula species are very invasive, it is hoped that prevention interventions will be adopted, in order to avoid their spread in still free areas, even if the multiple human activities, that are the main potential causes of diffusion, and the present vast distribution throughout northern Italy, leave little hope for the future. Riassunto Nel presente lavoro viene valutato lo stato tassonomico di numerose popolazioni di Corbicula, raccolte in diversi siti dell'Italia settentrionale e centrale. Sono state identificate almeno quattro specie differenti: Corbicula fluminalis (Müller, 1778), Corbicula fluminea (Müller, 1778), Corbicula largillierti (Philippi, 1844) e Corbicula leana Prime, 1867. I primi due taxa sono stati segnalati in Italia alcuni decenni fa; i secondi sono noti solo dal 2018 ma le nostre raccolte dimostrano che erano già presenti sul territorio italiano, rispettivamente dal 2014 (C. largillierti) e dal 2002 (C. leana). Inoltre, un altro taxon simile a C. fluminea, qui chiamato C. cf. fluminea, viene rilevato per la prima volta in Italia. L'identificazione delle diverse specie è stata effettuata principalmente sui caratteri della conchiglia (forma generale, numero di coste, aspetto e posizione dell'umbone, colore esterno e interno delle valve); ma per i taxa più difficili da determinare è stata effettuata anche un'analisi morfometrica, controllando in prece-denza l'intervallo in cui la crescita segue un andamento grossolanamente isometrico. L'analisi morfometri-ca di C. fluminea, C. cf. fluminea e C. leana ha mostrato un'ampia variabilità di questi caratteri, che non sempre concordano con i caratteri diagnostici. Tuttavia alcuni rapporti sono utili per distinguere questi taxa, anche se spesso solo nei loro valori medi. Anche i caratteri anatomici, in particolare quelli relativi ai
... Lipid peroxidation measured through the quantification of MDA content (Qu et al., 2016) indicates the cellular membrane damage. GPX, GR, and GST, the primary antioxidant enzymes of glutathione system, play an important role in body's detoxification by catalyzing the reduction of H 2 O 2 (Chen et al., 2013), reducing glutathione disulfide (GSSG) to the sulfhydryl form glutathione (GSH) (Yan et al., 2017), and catalyzing the conjugation of GSH with electrophilic compounds to metabolize xenobiotics, respectively (Chen et al., 2015). A significant increase (p < 0.05) was detected in SOD, CAT, and MDA levels after exposure to 1000 mg/L PFOS, and these results are in agreement with the findings of Li et al. (2018) who highlighted that the ROS levels exceeding the elimination capacity of antioxidant enzymes could induce adverse molecular level effects. ...
... Finally, it can be concluded that the high levels of PFOS exposure led to oxidative stress in clams. The heat shock proteins (HSPs) are named after their molecular weights and being applied as early warning biomarkers due to their sensitive responses to even minor stress (Chen et al., 2013). Hsp22, hsp40, and hsp60 are involved in the repair of protein damages induced by oxidative stress (Yan et al., 2017). ...
... folds after exposure to 100 mg/L and 1000 mg/L PFOS, respectively. These findings were in a partial agreement with those of Chen et al. (2013), who reported that the mRNA transcripts for hsp22, hsp40 and hsp60 were significantly increased after exposure to 0.5 mg/L and 5 mg/L fluoxetine in C. fluminea. Previously, the down-regulated expression of hsp22 in Chironomus riparius was also attributed to mere exposure to heat shock conditions (Martin-Folgar et al., 2015). ...
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) potentially adsorbs on the surface of suspended sediment (SPS), which can develop a toxic “pool” bioavailable to benthic organisms. In this study, the freshwater clam Corbicula fluminea was employed as a zoobenthos model to study the effects of SPS (collected from the Yellow River) on the bioaccumulation and toxicity (from the molecular level to cellular and physiological levels) caused by PFOS exposure. Besides, the enhanced integrated biomarker response (EIBR) system was applied as an index to evaluate the in-depth toxic effects of PFOS and SPS single and co-exposure at various treatment levels. Our results demonstrated that PFOS-SPS co-exposure (at sub-lethal doses of PFOS) significantly increased the bioaccumulation of PFOS, and induced the elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS), the significantly increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) enzymes, the significantly increased content of malondialdehyde (MDA), and the significantly upregulated expression levels of sod, selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (se-gpx), heat shock protein 22 (hsp22), heat shock protein 40 (hsp40) and cytochrome P450 30 (cyp30) genes. Further, the co-exposure induced the significantly higher histopathological alterations in the gonads and digestive glands, and even elevated the inhibition of siphoning behavior in clams. In addition, the EIBR index also revealed the highest values for PFOS and SPS co-exposure, compared to the individual SPS or PFOS exposure. The results indicated that at high levels of PFOS exposure (especially at 1000 μg/L), the presence of SPS might increase the generation of ROS by influencing the bioaccumulation of PFOS, which enhanced the toxicity of PFOS to C. fluminea. These results potentially provide basic information for the comprehensive evaluation of the toxic effects of PFOS on benthos in a multi-sediment river ecosystem.
