• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.290-293
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• 2005

A known monoalkyl glycerol ether, ($\pm$)-1-nonadecyloxy-2,3-propanediol (1) was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of a soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea as a weakly cytotoxic constituent against four human cancer cell lines, A549, HT-29, HT-1080, and SNU-638. In addition, a known ceramide, (28,3R,4E,8E)-N-hexadecanoyl-2-amino-4,8-octadecadiene-1 ,3-diol (2), was also isolated as an inactive constituent. This is the first report on the isolation of the compounds 1 and 2 from the octocoral, Dendronephthya species.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.327-332
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• 2008

Soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (Verrill, 1864) is a conspicuous species dominating shallow sea waters of Jejudo Island, Korea. Recently its whole mitochondrial genome sequencing was completed by us and the sequence information provided an opportunity to test the age of Octocorallia and time of evolutionary separation between some representative orders of the subclass Octocorallia. Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 13 mitochondrial protein encoding genes revealed a polyphyletic relationship among octocorallians representing two orders (Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea) and four families (Alcyoniidae, Nephtheidae, Briareidae, and Gorgoniidae). Estimates of divergence times among octocorallians indicate that the first splitting might occur around end of or after Cretaceous period (50-79 million years ago (Ma)). The age is relatively young compared to the long history of stony sea corals (>240 Ma). Taken together our result suggests a possible relatively recent radiating evolution at least in the order Alcyonacea and Gorgonacea. Molecular dating and phylogenetic analysis based on much broader taxon sampling and many genes might give an insight into this interesting hypothesis.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.32.1-32.7
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• 2017

Recent in vitro studies have demonstrated that extract of soft coral Dendronephthya gigantea (SCDE) had strong anti-inflammatory activities. However, the direct effects of SCDE on anti-inflammatory activities in vivo model remained to be determined. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess in vivo anti-inflammatory effect of SCDE using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated zebrafish model. We also investigated whether SCDE has toxic effects in zebrafish model. The survival, heart beat rate, and developmental abnormalities were no significant change in the zebrafish embryos exposed to at a concentration below $100{\mu}g/ml$ of SCDE. However, lethal toxicity was caused after exposure to 200 and $400{\mu}g/ml$ of SCDE. Treating zebrafish model with LPS treatment significantly increased the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) generation. However, SCDE inhibited this LPS-stimulated ROS and NO generation in a dose-dependent manner. These results show that SCDE alleviated inflammation by inhibiting the ROS and NO generation induced by LPS treatment. In addition, SCDE has a protective effect against the cell damage induced by LPS exposure in zebrafish embryos. This outcome could explain the profound anti-inflammatory effect of SCDE both in vitro as well as in vivo, suggesting that the SCDE might be a strong anti-inflammatory agent.

• Animal Systematics, Evolution and Diversity
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.197-201
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• 2010

We sequenced the whole mitochondrial genome of Dendronephthya gigantea (Anthozoa: Octocorallia: Nephteidae), the first mitochondrial genome sequence report in the Family Nephtheidae. The mitochondrial genome of D. gigantea was 18,842 bp in length, and contained 14 protein coding genes (atp6 and 8, cox1-3, cytb, nd1-6 and 4L, and msh1), two ribosomal RNAs, and only one transfer RNA. The gene content and gene order is identical to other octocorals sequenced to date. The portion of the noncoding regions is slightly larger than the other octocorals (5.08% compared to average 3.98%). We expect that the information of gene content, gene order, codon usage, noncoding region and protein coding gene sequence could be used in the further analysis of anthozoan phylogeny.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2000

The genus Dendronephthya, generally known as soft corals, is reported as an abundant and variable taxon. They mostly distribute in warmer waters of the Undo-Pacific Ocean region including Korea. In spite of their abundance and ecological importance as habitats of marine organisms, there are difficulties in the study of their identification and systematics because they have morphological variabilities and limited taxonomec characters. To resolve the problems, we attempted to elucidate the genetic relationships in the genus Dendronephthya by using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. This study was based on eight dendronephthian species and one Alcyoniidae species, Alcyonium gracillimum, as an outgroup. The results from all analysis suggest that they could be classified into four groups by the growth form and the anthocodial grades as follows: the first one,D. putteri and D. suensoni with the divaricate form and VI grade; the second one,D. sp.1 and D. sp.2 with the divaricate form and III or IV grade; the third one, D. gigantea and D. aurea being closer than D. spinifera with the glomerate form and III grade; the last one, D. castanea related to D. gigantea rather than D. putteri with the umbellate form and IV grade. Moreover, the divaricate form was separated from the group of the glomerate and umbellate form. At the intraspecies level, the types of the D. castanea, D. gigantea and D. spinifera were separated depending on the feature of spicules in the polyp head, and the coloration could not influence genetic variation. From this study, we can confirm that their morphological characters are compatible with the genetic variation, also RAPD analysis is a very useful method for resolving the systematic relationships of den-deonephthians.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.342-347
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• 2008

Mortality and growth rate of the soft coral, Dendronephthya gigantea, from Jejudo Island on the southern coast of Korea were investigated from February 2003 to October 2004 using SCUBA diving. 48 individuals with variable sizes of D. gigantea of the depth of 15m were tagged with flagging tapes and plastic films, and then monitored with two month intervals. The average mortality of two-month term for the study period was 50.4%, with the peak of 84.6% during the summer storms in August - October 2003. About the size class mortality, individuals of size class I(${\leq}$10 cm) showed the highest mortality, followed by size class III(>20 cm) and size class II(10 cm-20 cm). Growth rate did not show a seasonal pattern. For growth in length, individuals of D. gigantea grew about 3cm in average for two-month period, with a maximum growth of 6.4 cm which occurred in August - October 2003. For growth in diameter, individuals grew about 0.3 cm for 2 month term, with a maximum of 1.4cm in April - June 2004. Individuals of size class I usually grew faster than those of larger size classes. D. gigantea population in Jejudo Island was strongly affected by summer storms, which was due to annual event of summer typhoon. Never the less, it appears that the local population can be maintained by fast growth of the juvenile stage and active recruitment to compensate the high mortality caused by the summer disturbance.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2012

$Dendronephthya$ $castanea$ Utinomi, 1952 is a member of the family Nephtheidae, and dominates shallow waters adjacent to the southern part of Jejudo Island, Korea. This species is a gonochoric internal brooder with a sex ratio of 1:1, and releases planulae around the time of the full and new moon from July to September, when the seawater temperature peaks. The gametogenic cycle is annual, and oogenesis (12 months) is longer than spermatogenesis (4-5 months). No difference in reproductive features including sexuality, sex ratio, gametogenesis and gametogenic cycles was found between the sympatric species $D.$ $castanea$ and $D.$ $gigantea$, and there was no temporal reproductive isolation. Investigation of the morphological taxonomy and molecular biology of these species indicates that they have very similar or identical traits, suggesting an absence of speciation and a need for taxonomic reclassification.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.319-324
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• 2000

Species boundaries among the Alcyonacean soft coral, the genus Dendronephthya, are often obscured by inter- and intraspecific morphological variations. In the present study, we attempted to infer the genetic relationships of eight dendronephthians based on their molecular characters, the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of ribosomal DNA, and then compared this result together with the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) data from our previous investigation. Dendronephthya. putteri and D. suensoni formed a divaricate form - VI grade specific clade, whereas D. castanea, D. gigantea, D. aurea and D. spinifera, formed a umbellate and glomerate form - IV and III grade specific clade. Therefore, we confirmed that the main characters the growth form and the anthocodial grade and formula, are important in identification of the species in dendronephthians despite some problems. Also, the relationships of the growth form are clarified as the glomerate form is much closer to the umbellate form than to the divaricate form based on two sets of independent molecular data. However, we cannot determine the molecular markers which limit the species boundaries among this genus with ITS sequences.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.21.1-21.8
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• 2018

In the present study, we first evaluated the melanin inhibitory effect of four crude 70% ethanol extracts separated from soft corals abundantly growing along the seawaters of Jeju Island, South Korea, including Dendronephthya castanea (DC), Dendronephthya gigantea (DG), Dendronephthya puetteri (DP), and Dendronephthya spinulosa (DS). Among the four ethanol extracts, the ethanol extract of DP (DPE) did not possess any cytotoxic effect on B16F10 cells. However, all other three extracts showed a cytotoxic effect. Also, DPE reduced the melanin content and the cellular tyrosinase activity without cytotoxicity, compared to the ${\alpha}-MSH$-stimulated B16F10 cells. Specifically, DPE downregulated the expression levels of tyrosinase and microphthalmia-associated transcription factor by activating the ERK signaling cascade in ${\alpha}-MSH$-stimulated B16F10 cells. Interestingly, the melanin inhibitory effect of DPE was abolished by the co-treatment of PD98059, an ERK inhibitor. According to these results, we suggest that DPE has whitening capacity with the melanin inhibitory effects by activating ERK signaling and could be used as a potential natural melanin inhibitor for cosmeceutical products.

• The Korean Journal of Malacology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.215-228
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• 2008

This study was performed to find out the community structure of macrobenthos and the environmental factors around Munseom coastal water in Jeju Island from June to December, 2007. Mean temperature and mean salinity were $19.6^{\circ}C$ and 34.03 psu, indicating stable water masses. Concentrations of DO, COD and SS were as low as those in the standard sea-water-quality classes I. Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged from 0.40 to 1.09 mg/L (mean, 0.69 mg/L), and higher concentration was observed in December rather than in June due to a blooming in winter. The mean concentration (their ranges are in parentheses) of nitrate, phosphate, and silicate were 0.15 mg/L (0.073-0.264 mg/L), 0.01 mg/L (0.004-0.011 mg/L) and 0.23 mg/L (0.039-0.464 mg/L), respectively. The values were higher near the Munseom due to influxes from the land. Of the 112 species that were identified, 40 species (36.0%) were Mollusca; 33 (28.8%) were Cnidaria; 13 (11.7%) were Porifera; 8 (7.2%) were Arthropoda and 17 species (15.3%) were others including Echinodermata. Density and biomass were estimated to be 4,340 individual/$m^2$ and $53,107.8\;gwwt/m^2$ respectively. Anthozoa was the most dominant group in abundance ($2,132\;ind./m^2$) as well as in the number of species, whereas Cnidaria was predominant in biomass ($37,630.9\;gwwt/m^2$). The dominant species were Dendronephthya gigantea, Scleronephthya gracillimum, Anthoplexaura dimorpha, Dendronephthya castanea, Thecocarpus niger, Dendronephthya spinulosa, Dendronephthya putteri, and Acabaria bicolor in the depth of 10-30 m. The seasonal variations of the number of individual and biomass of Cnidaria and Mollusca were observed. There was a slow increment in June, a decrement in October, and a drastic increasing in December. The biodiversity, evenness and richness index in surveyed stations were 2.715-3.413 (H'), 0.758-0.851(E'), and 5.202-8.720 (R) respectively. The dominance index was the highest in station M2 and the lowest in station M1.