A growing interest in ecotoxicological study is on the development of tools and technical resources to assess or determine the effects of a variety of stresses on ecosystems. As many chemicals are synthesized and used for the various purposes, it is inevitable circumstance for organisms to meet the stressors in the environment. Thus, it is important for us to understand the impacts of the stressors to organisms and is essential to equip with a fast detecting system to predict of their behaviors. The high throughput technology using proteomic and metabolomic techniques has been introduced to satisfy such requirements to study the potential adverse effects of some chemicals. Ecotoxicproteomics and Ecotoxicometabolomics are discussed in this talk in terms of their possible role in ecotoxicological studies.

An understanding of oocyte gene expression is a necessary for the study of biological development. Recently, Oocyte has been used in many techniques such as somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and embryonic stem cell derivation. However, the molecular mechanism underlying porcine oocyte is still unclear. In this study, we present the description of the porcine oocyte proteome. Proteins within the isoelectric point ranges of 3.0 to 10.0 were analyzed separately using 2‐dimensional electrophoresis (2‐DE). About 450 spots were detected in 2‐ D gel of oocytes, stained with Coomassie blue. Subsequent excision of 227 spots from gels and MALDI‐TOF MS analysis allowed the identification of 85 proteins. Our results indicated the composite profiles of proteins in the porcine oocyte. Tubulin beta chain and meiosis‐specific nuclear structural protein 1 antibody was used to confirm those antibody expression levels in immature, mature and parthenogenetic embryo. Western blot analysis showed that expressions of those proteins increased during mature and parthenogenetic embryo. These protein profiles will make available important guides for the study of oocyte function and assist in functional analysis of the proteins.

Fruit fly is one of the most important pests for vegetables and crops worldwide. Since 1895, four species of fruit flies has invaded into Hawaii. In 2000, a group of scientists from Hawaii has initiated and implemented an area wide pest management program to suppress fruit fly population in Hawaii. Six techniques developed within the program has been transferred to many countries that have the fruit fly problem. Four techniques (monitoring, sanitation, bait spray, and male annihilation) are readily done by farmers. The other two techniques (sterile insect release and augmentative parasitoid release) involve mass fruit fly stock. Sterile insect technique (SIT) used in sterile insect release requires continuous mass rearing. Current mass rearing system has been satisfactory for rearing need. However, there are problems such as pesticide contamination of supporting material, spent diet management, labor intensive, and space issue. USDA-Agricultural Research Service looked for alternatives. In 2004, a novel fruit fly liquid diet has been developed. The core of this diet is using an inert substance (sponge cloth) to replace biological supporting material for mill feed (wheat product). During this diet development process, we have observed that fruit fly performance changes associate with the change of diet components. One of the most significant components is wheat germ oil. Larval diet supplemented with wheat germ oil (WGO) causes physiological reactions, such as increased fecundity and fertility, in some insects. Although the impact of WGO on insect physiology is important, the mechanisms of these actions are poorly understood. In this presentation, we will confirm our hypothesis that the addition of WGO to medium developed for larval oriental fruit flies modulates gene expression in the corresponding adults and further to identify when and how these gene expressed during different life cycle stages. We separately reared larvae of Bactrocera dorsalis on diets lacking or supplemented with WGO, and analyzed for expressed proteins in the resulting adult males and females by 2D-electrophoresis. Analysis of the gels revealed significant changes in expression levels of >70 proteins, 64 of which were identified by mass spectrometric analysis on MALDI-TOF/TOF. Apparent changes in expression levels for 6 of these proteins were confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR, showing that the changes in mRNA expression were reflected in changes in protein expression. These findings support the hypothesis that one mechanism of WGO actions in insect nutrition is the modulation of gene expression. Our goal is to identify molecular markers that serve as early indicators of the quality of insect culture media. Markers of deficient culture media will increase the efficiency of developing optimal systems for mass rearing beneficial insects and some pest species because decisions on culture media quality can be made without waiting through one or several life cycles.

Because of the irreversible nature of periodontal disease, early diagnosis is an important aspect of management of patients with periodontal disease. Human saliva is an attractive medium for disease diagnosis because its collection is noninvasive and simple. Analysis of saliva may be especially beneficial in the determination of current periodontal status and serve as means for the screening of periodontal disease. In the present study, we investigated potential biochemical markers in whole saliva samples for the screening of periodontal disease using proteomics technique. We enrolled five subjects each from four different groups on the basis of measures of periodontal health (healthy group, gingivitis group, chronic periodontitis group and aggressive periodontitis group). Eleven proteins in whole saliva samples were identified as differentially expressed proteins between the healthy and periodontal disease groups using 2-dimensional electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight / time-of-flight mass spectrophotometry (MADLI-TOF/TOF MS) approaches. Although the diagnostic value of oral fluid has been recognized for some time and potential biomarkers of periodontal disease have been identified in saliva, this, to our knowledge, is one of the first studies to examine large-scale proteomic profiling to identify the extent of periodontal destruction. Thus, this work provides an important framework for future efforts aimed at understanding salivary responses to periodontal destruction and predicting the future disease progression.