Protein, Essential Amino Acid, and Fatty Acid Composition of Five Target Fishery Species of Central Mediterranean Sea.

The protein, essential amino acid, and fatty acid composition of European pilchard (), European hake (), surmullet (), red mullet (), and deep water rose shrimp () from the central Mediterranean Sea were investigated. All the species showed an essential amino acid content of about 50% of total amino acids, while the protein and total fatty acids content varied from 19.9 to 24.

Evidence for Selection on Mitochondrial OXPHOS Genes in the Mediterranean Killifish Valenciennes, 1821.

Mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) genes are a system subject to selection under determined environmental constraints despite a neutral evolution model that has long been hypothesized for the mitochondrial genome. In this study, the sequences of , , and OXPHOS genes were analyzed in six populations of the eurythermal and euryhaline killifish , to detect non-synonymous mutations leading to amino acid changes and to check whether selection acted on them using tests of recombination and selection. The results indicate a high and gene diversity and a high percentage of private haplotypes in all populations.

First Report of Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number Variation in (Insecta, Hemiptera, Cicadellidae) from Polluted and Control Sites.

Mitochondrial DNA easily undergoes alterations due to exposure to stress factors. In particular, mitochondrial DNA copy number (mtDNAcn) variation can be used as a biomarker of the effect of exposure to various environmental contaminants. In this study, a molecular investigation based on the evaluation of mtDNAcn variation was applied for the first time to individuals belonging to the species .

COIBar-RFLP Molecular Strategy Discriminates Species and Unveils Commercial Frauds in Fishery Products.

The DNA analysis is the best approach to authenticate species in seafood products and to unveil frauds based on species substitution. In this study, a molecular strategy coupling Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) DNA barcoding with the consolidated methodology of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), named COIBar-RFLP, was applied for searching pattern of restriction enzyme digestion, useful to discriminate seven different fish species (juveniles of and sold in Italy as "bianchetto" and sold as "rossetto"; icefish ; European perch, and the Nile Perch, striped catfish, ). A total of 30 fresh and frozen samples were processed for DNA barcoding, analyzed against a barcode library of COI sequences retrieved from GenBank, and validated for COIBar-RFLP analysis.

Immunity and inflammatory responses in gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) exposed to sub-lethal mixture of carbamazepine, cadmium chloride and polybrominated diphenyl ether.

Chemical contaminants such as industrial and urban by-products, pharmaceuticals, drugs metabolites and, plastics, are continuously found in the oceans, affecting its quality and organism's welfare. Although these compounds are found at concentrations ranged ng L, there is an increasing concern about the potential adverse effects of the interactions among those substances present, simultaneously, in a mixture. In the present study, specimens of sea bream (Sparus aurata) were exposed, by food, to rising concentrations of a mixture of carbamazepine, polybrominated diphenyl ether-47 and cadmium chloride, for 15 days and then, maintained, with the same control diet, without contaminants, for other 15 days.

Heavy metals concentrations in some commercially key species from Sicilian coasts (Mediterranean Sea): Potential human health risk estimation.

Trace elements were measured in the edible tissues of target marine species (Sardina pilchardus, Mullus barbatus, Mullus surmuletus, Merluccius merluccius and Parapenaeus longirostris) collected in some of the main ports of the Sicilian coast (southern Italy) in order to evaluate the potential human health risk associated to their consumption. Cadmium, Pb and Hg were below the tolerable limits reported by the European Union in foodstuffs (Commission Regulation (EC) 1881/2006) except for Hg in P. longirostris from one sampling site.