Effects of thyroxine,cod liver oil and potassium iodide on growth and survival of juvenile seahorse,Hippocampus barbouri

Low survival at early stage is the bottleneck in seahorse aquaculture, particularly in the feeding aspect since newborn seahorses must feed immediately upon birth to sustain themselves. Seahorses are visual predator, therefore preferred live feed such as zooplankton. In aquaculture, the most common live feed used is Artemia. In this study, two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of different Artemia enrichment on the growth and survival of newborn Hippocampus barbouri. In the first experiment, six treatments using Artemia enriched with Culture Selco Plus? (SELCO), thyroxine (T4), potassium iodide (KI), cod liver oil (CLO), cod liver oil in combination with thyroxine (CLO + T4) and potassium iodide (CLO+KI) were fed to newborn H. barbouri. Newly hatched Artemia were used as control. At the end of first experiment, treatments using CLO + T4 produced juvenile H. barbouri with the best (p < .05) wet weight (0.142 ± 0.000 g), while juvenile in treatment CLO+KI recorded the highest (p < .05) standard length (3.947 ± 0.014 cm). Subsequently, a second experiment was carried out using the two best enrichment (CLO + T4 and CLO + KI) from the first experiment, but given at different frequency (daily, twice a week, once a week, once in 2 weeks). Daily enrichment using both CLO + T4 and CLO + KI showed no significant (p > .05) difference in growth performance and survival of juvenile of H. barbouri. Interestingly, juvenile fed CLO + T4 enriched Artemia at frequency of twice a week also has no significant difference (p > .05) in survival and growth performance (except for final standard length) when compared with treatment CLO + T4 at daily frequency.     

中华卤虫家系构建几个关键技术探讨

本文就中华卤虫(Artemia.sinica)家系构建的几个关键技术进行了具体的讨论。交配产卵阶段基本参数研究结果表明,多数家系在抱对后24~60小时便开始产卵,平均间隔时间为55.68小时,具有较好的产卵及时性,同时有效地排除了假性交配现象,保证了在第20日龄时测定各性状值后建立家系、统计交配、产卵数据的准确性。各家系产卵情况统计结果表明,以生产2批卵的家系最多,46个,以产卵总量在151~200粒之间的家系最多,26个,产卵总量大于150粒的家系为70个,完全满足家系构建的需要。半同胞家系方面,在全同胞家系获得足够数量休眠卵的基础上,对仍在抱对的家系采用人工分离抱对雌雄个体的方法进行半同胞家系的组建,以便实现半同胞家系构建的同步性。本试验各生产阶段基本参数的获得,对指导中华卤虫构建家系进行遗传选育提供了理论依据。     

Association of RBP‐4 gene polymorphisms with follicular cysts in large white sows

Follicular cysts, which is a common infertility disease, can cause financial losses in pig breeding programmes. The pathogenesis and mechanisms of the formation of follicular cysts are not understood clearly. In our previous study, the concentration of retinol‐binding protein 4 (RBP‐4) in the follicular fluid (FF) of the ovary with follicular cysts was found to be significantly higher than that of normal ovary, thereby suggesting that RBP‐4 may be a candidate biomarker for porcine follicular cysts. To study the association of RBP‐4 and follicular cysts further, we detected the polymorphisms of the RBP‐4 gene and the presence of follicular cysts by PCR‐Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) assay. In this study, we screened the mutations of RBP‐4 gene in 79 sows with follicular cysts and 100 normal sows without cysts. Results showed that +249‐63G>C polymorphisms were significantly associated with follicular cysts, and sows with CC genotype in RBP‐4 gene had a high risk of developing follicular cysts. Hence, our findings further proved that RBP‐4 may be a novel biomarker for follicular cysts, which may be valuable for the diagnosis of follicular cysts and molecular breeding of pigs.     

Effect of carbon/nitrogen ratio manipulation in feed supplements on Artemia production and water quality in solar salt ponds in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

The effect of carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio manipulation in feed supplements on Artemia production and water quality was investigated in solar salt ponds in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. It was assumed that development of bacterial bioflocs through C/N manipulation would improve Artemia production and water quality as demonstrated in freshwater and marine aquaculture. Twelve ponds were used for three treatments and the control, in triplicates. Green water (GW) was supplied to all ponds, with the standard Vietnamese procedure of supplying GW and chicken manure (CM) as the control (C/N 1.8). Treatment ponds were supplemented with tapioca (TAP) as carbon source, combined with either CM, pig manure (PM) or rice bran (RB), with C/N ratios of 7.4, 10.5 or 20.1 respectively. After 6 weeks of culture, no single treatment supported both improved water quality and enhanced Artemia production. Overall, improved water quality was observed at C/N 20.1 and higher Artemia production at C/N 7.4. Although external field factors could have interfered with the set‐up, this is the first study on the effect of C/N manipulation in feed supplements in Artemia pond production systems and provides the basis for development of bacterial bioflocs as a technology to improve water quality and Artemia production.     

Mass selection for small‐sized cysts in Artemia franciscana produced in Vinh Chau salt ponds,Vietnam

Unidirectional mass truncation selection for small‐sized cysts was carried out on brine shrimp (Artemia franciscana Kellogg 1906), Vinh Chau strain, Vietnam, through cyst sieving and then culturing the selected individuals (<5% of the population) under field and laboratory conditions over two successive generations (F₁ and F₂). The results showed that at both culture scales, the cyst size of the selected line was smaller (P < 0.05) compared with the control (non‐selected) line, illustrating that there was a response to selection. The cyst size decreased about 3% per generation and the accumulated gain on the target trait was in the range 5.82–6.07% at the end of the selection process compared with the base population. The realized heritability estimation (h²) for cyst size was 0.23 ± 0.06 and 0.74 ± 0.19 in the field trials and 0.34 and 0.51 in the laboratory test for the F₁ and F₂ generation respectively. The variations found between the respective trials may be explained as the result of environmental interaction with the selection process, but the results show that a selection program for small‐sized cysts in Artemia by mass selection is possible.     

犬前列腺疾病概述

犬前列腺疾病是临床常见的公犬泌尿生殖道疾病,通常发生于老龄公犬,特别是6岁以上的未去势公犬。常见的犬前列腺疾病主要有前列腺炎、良性前列腺增生、前列腺囊肿、前列腺脓肿和前列腺癌。前列腺疾病的临床表现相似,表现为排尿困难、尿淋漓、血尿、前列腺液成分改变、便秘等,因此仅从病史、临床症状方面难以对疾病进行确诊,需要借助于X光检查、B超检查、前列腺液检查、组织/细胞学检查等特殊的诊断方法。在确诊的基础上根据不同的发病原因采取抗生素治疗,去势,前列腺切除手术等治疗方法。论文对各种常见犬前列腺疾病的病因、临床表现、诊断和治疗方案进行综述。     

Insecticidal activity of Vitex mollis

Organic extracts from the leaves of Vitex mollis were assessed for their toxic effect on fall armyworm neonate larvae (Spodoptera frugiperda), an important insect pest of corn. The extracts showed insecticidal and insect growth regulatory activity, being CHCl(3)-MeOH (1:1) extract the most active, also found to be toxic in the Artemia salina test.     

Evaluation of frozen Umbrella‐stage Artemia as first animal live food for Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone) larvae

An alternative larval shrimp feeding regime, in which umbrella‐stage Artemia were constituting the first zooplankton source was evaluated in the culture of Litopenaeus vannamei. In a preliminary experiment, umbrella‐stage Artemia were fed to larvae from zoea 2 (Z2) to mysis 2 (M2) stages to identify the larval stage at which raptorial feeding starts and to determine daily feeding rates. The following experiment evaluated the performance of two feeding regimen that differed during the late zoea/early mysis stages: a control treatment with frozen Artemia nauplii (FAN), and a treatment with frozen umbrella‐stage Artemia (FUA). The ingestion rate of umbrella‐stage Artemia increased from nine umbrella per larvae day^?1 at Z2 stage to 21 umbrella per larvae day^?1 at M2. A steep increase in ingestion and dry weight from Z3 to M2 suggests a shift to a raptorial feeding mode at the M1 stage. Treatment FUA exhibited a significantly higher larval stage index (P < 0.05) during the period that zoea larvae metamorphosed to the mysis stage, and a higher final biomass, compared with treatment FAN. Based on these results and on practical considerations, a feeding regime starting with umbrella‐stage Artemia from Z2 sub‐stage can be recommended for L. vannamei larvae rearing.     

Data envelopment analysis for production efficiency improvement: An empirical application on brine shrimp Artemia franciscana culture in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam

Artemia culture in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, is becoming more and more important to satisfy the global demands of cyst production. Nevertheless, Artemia cyst productivity in the Mekong Delta has been fluctuating largely due to not only technical inefficiencies and external factors but also farms’ characteristics. This study employed a data envelopment analysis to evaluate the production efficiencies in correlation with biological and cost inputs of Artemia culture in Vinh Chau and Bac Lieu located in the Mekong Delta. The key factors affecting technical efficiency (TE) were determined using ordinary least squares regression model. The empirical results indicated that production efficiencies of farms in Vinh Chau and Bac Lieu were similar with metatechnology ratios of 0.97 and 0.96 respectively. About 62.8% of surveyed farms were operating in technically inefficient circumstances. Farmers’ experience, educational level and culture technique training participation had positive effects on TE, while climate effects and water problems have been proved to have negative effects on TE. To improve production efficiency, inefficient farms are suggested to have moderately increasing combinations of organic fertilizer, chemical and feed. The use of probiotics should be reduced as it increases production cost and affects TE. Notably, a collaboration of scientists and feed processing companies is recommended to produce a specific formulated feed for Artemia in commercial scales. This study also proposes adaptive policies for local governments and cooperatives to assist coastal famers in the Mekong Delta overcome technical inefficiencies, improve cyst productivity and obtain economic sustainability in Artemia culture.     

海洋细菌B177的鉴定及活性物质研究

运用卤虫和玉米纹枯病菌为筛选靶标,从中国南海海泥的94株细菌中分离筛选到1株具有杀虫、抗菌活性的海洋细菌B177菌株。卤虫和玉米纹枯病菌筛选模型测定结果表明,当PSA为发酵液时,LD50值最低,为1.3μg.mL-1;当滤纸片加20μL(5mg.mL-1浓度)发酵粗提取物溶液时,抗玉米纹枯病菌抑菌圈直径可达26mm。对B177的形态特征、培养特征、生理生化特征、16S rDNA序列进行了系统的研究,鉴定其为Micrococcus yunnanensis,其16S rDNA GenBank登录号为HQ439904。对其活性物质进行初步分离纯化研究。