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Environmental exosomes: Evidence of extracellular RNA release by aquatic organisms

Yonezawa, R.; Meng, L.; Hashimoto, N.; Igarashi, I.; Kimura, S.; Yasuda, N.; Mitsuyama, S.; Kobayashi, T.; Yoshitake, K.; Kinoshita, S.; Bailey-Kobayashi, N.; Maeyama, K.; Nagai, K.; Watabe, S.; Yoshida, T.; Asakawa, S.

2025-11-04 ecology
10.1101/2025.11.04.686478 bioRxiv
Show abstract

Aquatic organisms continuously interact with surrounding water, yet whether they release extracellular vesicles remains unknown. We hypothesized that pearl oysters (Pinctada fucata) release exosomes/small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) into the aquatic environment. To this end, we collected exosomes/sEV-sized components by ultrafiltration from tank water and open-sea culture areas. Microscopy revealed abundant vesicles consistent with exosome/sEV size, and RNA sequencing identified oyster-specific piRNAs that matched sequences previously detected in hemolymph exosomes. These findings demonstrated that pearl oysters actively released exosomes containing species-specific nucleic acids into surrounding water. We propose referring to these vesicles as environmental exosomes/environmental sEVs (eExosomes/esEVs). This finding suggests that aquatic exosomes serve as carriers of RNA and may contribute to inter-organismal communication networks. Beyond their functional role, eExosomes/esEVs also hold promise as novel targets for environmental DNA/RNA (eDNA/eRNA) analysis, offering new opportunities for ecological monitoring and biodiversity research.

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