PepT1 mRNA expression levels in sea bream (Sparus aurata) fed different plant protein sources

[EN] The expression and regulation of intestinal oligopeptide transporter (PepT)-1 when vegetable sources are used as a substitute for fish meal in the diet of marine fish has not yet been explored. In the present study, as part of our ongoing work on elucidating PepT1 gene expression in relation to different dietary treatments, we have now isolated and deposited in Genbank database (accession no. GU733710) a cDNA sequence representing the PepT1 in the sea bream (Sparus aurata). The ?de novo? prediction of the three-dimensional structure of PepT1 protein is presented. We also analyzed diet-induced changes in the expression of PepT1 mRNA via real-time RT-PCR using the standard curve method. Sea bream were fed for 140 days with one of the following four diet formulations (43% protein/21% lipid): a control fast growth-promoting diet (C), and three diets with the same formulation but in which 15% of the fish meal was substituted by protein concentrates either from lupine (LPC), chick pea (CPC), or green pea (PPC). Fish fed PPC had significantly (p < 0.05) lower levels of PepT1 transcripts in the proximal intestine than the controls, whereas PepT1 transcript levels in fish fed LPC or CPC were not significantly different from the controls. Although growth was similar between fish fed with different diets during the first 72 days of feeding, growth of the fish fed with PPC was reduced during the second part of the trial and was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than fish fed LPC and CPC diets by the end of the experiment. Correlation between these results and fish growth performances highlights that the intestinal PepT1 mRNA level may serve as a useful marker of the dietary protein quality and absorption efficiency.

Los animales domésticos de los habitantes de la Cueva de Villaverde (Fuerteventura)

[ES] More than two hundred and fifty kilogrammes (six hundred pounds) of uncountable osseous fragments of domestic animals from the beginning óf our era have been extracted in the course of archeological excavations carried out in Villaverde. Their inventory and study have proved they belonged to, at least, five hundred goats. fifty sheep, half a dozen swine and two dogs. These animals show affinity with others from the Neolithic and Protohistoric periods of North Africa. Therefore, the goat may be included in the mamber goat group (mambrinus group) and the shepp in "longipes" group, both of them mummified by the Egyptians. Possibly, the swine is similar to the one found in Toukh (Egypt) and the dog may be included in the Saharan Kabyle sheepdog characterized by its small size.

Orígenes de la cabra paleo-canaria de villaverde (Fuerteventura)

[EN] After comparing the features of the group of goats from Villaverde ( osseous remains from the beginning of our era), -La Palma (recently extinct), and - Desertas (descendants of the anciet Canarian goat ), all of them cosidered to be of the same breed, with those of the neolithic and protohistoric goats from North Africa, greater affinity is found with the mamber goat of the predinastic Egypt and the Ancient Egyptian Empire, represented in King Ranusir's tomb (V Dinasty) 4.500 years ago, and affinity is also found with the neolithic goat painted in Amguid (Central Sahara) and the modern Sahel goats, although the paleo - Canarian goat has its own features.

Las pardelas pleistocenas de Hueso del Caballo

[EN] Osseous remains of numerous shearwaters and of eggshells of the only egg laid and often undamaged appear in the sand dunes of Jandía Península and more specifically in "Hueso del Caballo" which was one of their breeding si tes. Toe bones also visible in the sandy walls of a quarry were uncovered by the present aeolian erosion and are found in a layerwith Hymmenoptera nests and terrestrial mollusc shells in a dune dated by radiocarbon as being more than 30.000 years old. This fact proves there was a halt in the aeolian processes during a humid interval, probably related to the African aterían pluvial in Upper Pleistocene and a fixation of the dunes by vegetation.