Gymnothorax minor is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae found in the Western Pacific Ocean. We report here
its complete mitogenome as determined by Illumina next-generation sequencing and the phylogenetic relationship
with its congeners and other taxa of the family Muraenidae. The whole mitogenome of G. minor had a total length
of 16,574 bp, comprising 37 genes - 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) and 22
transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) genes - and a control region. Excepting cox1 with GTG, the other 12 PCGs had ATG
start codon. Seven of its PCGs had incomplete stop codon - five (nad2; cox1; cox2; nad3 and nad4) with T and two
(atp6 and cox3) with TA. Molecular phylogeny based on 13 PCGs was concordant with 15 mitochondrial genes (13 PCGs
and 2 rRNA genes). The subfamily Muraeninae as well as the subfamily Uropterygiinae were monophyletic. However,
the genus Gymnothorax was paraphyletic, with G. minor forming a sister group with Rhinomuraena quaesita in the
lineage containing also G. kidako and G. formosus forming a sister group with Enchelynassa canina. The phylogenetic
relationship of the genus Gymnothorax and related taxa of the family Muraenidae, based on the mitochondrial cob
gene, was in general similar to that based on 15 mt-genes. The mitogenome is useful for future studies on phylogenetics
and systematics of eels of the family Muraenidae and other taxa of the order Anguilliformes.
Seaweeds are an important ingredient of functional foods recommended for daily food, due to their unique compositions and nutritional value. Padina tetrastromatica is a brown edible seaweed that is commonly found along the coastal regions of Peninsular Malaysia and consumed as food by some coastal communities. This study investigates the nutritional and antihyperglycaemic potential of P. tetrastromatica extracts, which is generally accepted as an important functional food. In our methodology, we induced diabetes intraperitoneally in experimental animals with a dose of 65 mg kg-1 body weight of streptozotocin. Oral treatment with 200 and 400 mg kg-1 of P. tetrastromatica ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts were initiated, respectively, to experimental rats once daily for 18 days. Metformin was used as the positive control. Biochemical estimations and histopathological analysis were included in this study. Treatment with P. tetrastromatica extracts significantly lowered the plasma glucose levels in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In addition, P. tetrastromatica extract treatment also showed a significant reduction in serum alanine transaminase levels. However, no significant changes were observed in serum aspartate transaminase levels. The ethyl acetate extract of P. tetrastromatica at 400 mg kg-1 dose shows some nephroprotective effect, which is observed from the significant increase in the plasma albumin levels. Histopathological evaluation revealed no marked morphological changes in tissues of the isolated organs of the ethyl acetate extract-treated group, revealing the safe nature of P. tetrastromatica.