Growth of the abalone Haliotis diversicolor (Reeve) fed with macroalgae in floating net cage and plastic tank

The abalone Haliotis diversicolor (Reeve) or ‘tokobushi’ is being cultured in Kagoshima, southern Japan for stock enhancement of fishing grounds. However, with decreasing catches from the wild some fishermen's group may eventually resort to rearing tokobushi until of marketable size. Growth experiments of tokobushi fed macroalgae in floating net cage and plastic tanks were conducted to evaluate the influence of culture system, macroalgal food, age and water temperature on their culture. In floating net cage, marketable sizes were obtained at the age of 457–822‐day old (15–27‐month old) with highest growth rate of 2.36% g day^?1 and 0.21 mm day^?1. One advantage of the plastic tank culture system was that the tokobushi shell remained clean throughout the culture period. Macroalgal food affected the growth rate; Sargassum fusiforme (Setchell)‐ and Ulva pertusa (Kjellman)‐fed tokobushi were better than Meristotheca papulosa (Montagne)‐fed. Further, 1‐year‐old tokobushi had better growth performance and condition index than the 2‐year‐old cohort, and growth rates were higher at 17°C than at 12°C. These findings should help tokobushi farmers design their mariculture scheme considering both economic and environmental aspects.     

Effect of Oxygen Saturation in Water on Reproductive Performances of Pacu Piaractus brachypomus

Broodstock pacu Piaractus brachypomus as well as their eggs during their embryonic development were exposed to either normoxia (5.5–7.5 mg O₂/L) or hypoxia (2.0–4.5 mg O²/L) conditions. The plasma concentrations of 11-ketotestosterone in males and estradiol-17β in females, as well as that of their precursor testosterone (T) were significantly ( P < 0.01) higher in fish maintained under normoxic conditions than in fish exposed to hypoxia. After ovulation and spermiation induced by hormonal treatments, the plasma concentrations of T and 17,20β-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one (17,20βP) significantly ( P 0.05) increased in both sexes under both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. The plasma levels of T and 17,20βP achieved under normoxic conditions were higher than the ones recorded under hypoxia, except for those of 17,20βP in males. Males responded positively to the hormonal treatments, and the concentration of spermatozoa was 10.5 ± 0.8 10⁹/mL under both oxygen conditions. Hypoxia resulted in significantly lower survival of embryos (17.3 ± 28%) in comparison to normoxic conditions (68.5 ± 25%). Moreover, larval deformities were found when exposed to hypoxia (91.6 ± 6%). During embryonic development of this species 4 mg/L of oxygen is tolerated at 26–27 C without negative impact. We conclude that despite the highly adaptable nature of adult pacu to environmental hypoxia, oxygen concentrations below 4 mg/L severely impacted survival of embryos.     

Volatile components of peel and leaf oils of lemon and lime species

Peel and leaf oils of 43 taxa of lemons and limes were obtained from fruits and leaves collected from trees submitted to the same pedoclimatic and cultural conditions. Their chemical composition was investigated by capillary GC, GC-MS, and (13)C NMR, and the results were submitted to principal component analysis to check for chemical variability. Three major chemotypes were distinguished for lemon peel oils: limonene; limonene/beta-pinene/gamma-terpinene; and limonene/linalyl acetate/linalool. Two chemotypes were identified for lemon leaf oils: limonene/beta-pinene/geranial/neral and linalool/linalyl acetate/alpha-terpineol. In lime peel oils, four chemotypes were distinguished: limonene; limonene/gamma-terpinene; limonene/beta-pinene/gamma-terpinene; and limonene/gamma-terpinene/beta-pinene/oxygenated products. Four others were identified for lime leaf oils: beta-pinene/limonene; limonene/geranial/neral; limonene/linalool/citronellal; and limonene/sabinene/citronellal/linalool. These results were interpreted using principal component analysis.     

Constituents of Brosimum potabile.

The ethanolic extract from the stem of Brosimum potabile afforded (-)-centrolobin (1), isolated for the first time in this genus. The identification of this compound included COSY and NOESY two-dimensional NMR data.     

Ancient genetic bottleneck and Plio-Pleistocene climatic changes imprinted the phylobiogeography of European Black Pine populations

The historical changes in European Black Pine population size across the whole natural distribution in Europe and Asia Minor were analyzed facing the Plio-Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. Thirteen chloroplast SSRs and SNPs markers have been studied under the assumptions of “neutral evolution.” Populations and meta-populations had different histories of migration routes, and they were strongly affected by complex patterns of isolation, fragmentation, speciation, expansion (1.88–4.28 Ma), purification selection (2.09–21.41 Ma) and bottleneck (1.85–21.76 Ma). A significant number of populations (min. 29–41%) were in equilibrium for very long periods. Generally, the bottleneck revealed by chloroplast DNA is weaker than the bottleneck revealed by nuclear DNA. The N _e immediately after the bottleneck reaches between 1820 and 3640 individuals. Generally, the historical effective population sizes shrink significantly for the Tertiary period from 10–15 up to 2.5 Ma in Western Europe (by 82%), followed by Asia Minor (69%) and the Balkan Peninsula (28%), likely resulting from important climatic changes. The rates and frequencies of stepwise westwards migration waves have been not sufficient to prevent isolation between the meta-populations and to suppress “sympatric speciation.” The migration was weak for the Pliocene, but was maximal for the Pleistocene, and finally silent for the present interglacial period, namely the Holocene.     

Fatty acid profile and carcass characteristics in castrated and uncastrated hair lambs

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of castration on carcass characteristics and fatty acid profile of visceral fat and meat from lambs. Eighteen six-month-old Santa Inês male lambs (18.9?±?2.4 kg of body weight (BW)) were used. Animals were assigned to two treatments according to their sexual condition: uncastrated (U) or castrated (C). During a 98-day experimental period, animals were kept on an Andropogon gayanus grass pasture area of 1 ha and supplemented with 200 g/animal/day of concentrate mixture. Water and mineral salt were available ad libitum. The lambs were weighed fortnightly, and at the last day of the trial, they were slaughtered for evaluation of carcass characteristics and fatty acids profile of perirenal fat and longissimus lumborum muscle samples. Castrated lambs showed higher BW than U during most part of the experiment (p?<?0.05). Fat deposition was higher in C lambs as evidenced by their increased carcass fat cover. Meat from U lambs showed lower content of C_16:0 and higher polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) (p?<?0.05) than that from C (U, 14.3 and C, 10.5%). Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content was not affected by castration (p?>?0.05) (U, 0.74 and C, 0.76%). The cis-9, cis-12 C_18:2n-6 (U, 10.6 and C, 6.86%) fatty acid and the PUFA:SFA (saturated fatty acids) ratio (U, 0.36 and C, 0.25) were higher in the muscle of U lambs (p?<?0.05), indicating that the meat from U animals may provide more benefits to human health than that of C.

     

Chemical Changes and Heavy Metal Partitioning in an Oxisol Cultivated with Maize (Zea mays, L.) after 5 Years Disposal of a Domestic and an Industrial Sewage Sludge

The need for solutions to minimize the negative environmental impacts of anthropogenic activities Fhas increased. Sewage sludge is composed of predominantly organic matter and can be used to improve soil characteristics, such as fertility. Therefore, its application in agriculture is an adequate alternative for its final disposal. However, there is a lack of information on its long-term effects on soil changes in tropical areas. Thus, the objectives of this study were to determine (i) the effect of sewage sludge application on heavy metal build-up in soil and maize grains and leaves, and (ii) the effects of soil amendment with sewage sludge on the chemical properties of a Brazilian oxisol. Besides the increasing levels of Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr, amending soil with sewage sludge also alters the distribution of these metals by increasing the mobile Phases, which correlated significantly with the increase in metal extraction with two single extractants, Mehlich 1 and DTPA (Diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid). The levels of Fe, Mn, Zn, and Cu in maize grains and leaves increased with the type and rate of sewage sludge application. Nevertheless, metal build-up in soil and plants was within the allowed limits. Significant differences were also found in soil characteristics like humic fractionation with the applied sewage doses. The data obtained does not indicate any expressive drawbacks in the use of sewage sludge as a soil amendment, as the heavy metal concentrations observed are unlikely to cause any environmental or health problems, even overestimated loadings, and are in accordance with the Brazilian regulations on farming land biosolid disposal.     

Apparent Digestible Energy and Nutrient Digestibility Coefficients of Diet Ingredients for Pacu Piaractus brachypomus

The digestible energy and apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients of common diet ingredients were determined for pacu Piaractus brachypomus (370.21 ± 17.56 g). Fish were fed with pelleted practical diets to apparent satiation and the feces were collected by siphoning. The digestibility value for each ingredient was determined by comparison of the digestibility of a test diet with a reference diet (24.5% crude protein and 1% chromic oxide). The digestible energy values of soybean meal (SBM), fish meal (FM), corn (CN), and wheat bran (WB) were 2382. 3826, 3353, and 1784 kcal/kg, respectively. The apparent dry matter digestibility coefficients were 83.72, 90.14, 89.13, and 82.05% for SBM, FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The apparent crude protein digestibility coefficients were 75.88, 90.49, 85.06, and 61.62% for SBM. FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The apparent lipid digestibility coefficients were 63.03, 77.00, 83.01, and 82.45% for SBM, FM, CN, and WB, respectively. The digestibility of protein, lipid, and energy from SBM were somewhat low compared to values for other warmwater omnivorous fishes, but similar to values reported for pacu-caranha P. mesopotamicus. Otherwise, the nutrient and energy availability of the ingredients to P. brachypomus was similar to that of other fish. This information will be useful in formulating nutritious, economical diets for pacus.