Demographic analysis of the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus, Poey, 1868) in the equatorial Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

A demographic analysis of the night shark (Carcharhinus signatus) was carried out to establish the conservation status of this species caught by longlines on oceanic banks off northeastern Brazil. The biological input parameters (age at first maturity, longevity, fecundity and natural mortality) used for the construction of life tables were taken randomly from their respective probability distributions, taking into account the uncertainty of the parameter estimates by employing Monte Carlo simulations. Nine scenarios were generated from natural (M), total (Z), initial (Z₀—corresponding to the first year of life of the cohort) and population equilibrium (Z′) mortality rates. Each scenario was executed 1000 times, varying the vital input rates for the estimation of the demographic parameters (net reproductive rate, R₀; mean generation length, G; and intrinsic rate of population increase, r). Age at first maturity for C. signatus is 10 years; 89.2% of the stock is made up of juveniles, with fishery recruitment beginning at 5 years of age. The scenarios reveal that catches prior to first sexual maturity result in a significant reduction in population (−8.1%/year) and that the population would only support current efforts if the individuals caught are over 10 years of age or if mortality due to fishing efforts corresponded to the equilibrium rate beginning with recruitment at 5 years of age. A low survival rate is estimated for the first year of life. In order for the population to remain in equilibrium with current mortality rates and recruitment age, survival should be around 0.9. The combination of a low initial survival rate, low fecundity, fishery efforts and the large number of juveniles caught indicates that the C. signatus population off northeastern Brazil is being overexploited.     

Stimulation of ovarian growth by methyl farnesoate and eyestalk ablation in penaeoidean model shrimp,Sicyonia ingentis Burkenroad, 1938

The effect of methyl farnesoate (MF) administration on the vitellogenesis of the penaeoidean shrimp, Sicyonia ingentis, was studied. The short‐ and long‐term treatment effects as well as the effect of two MF injection regimens (0.1 and 1.0 μg MF/injection) were evaluated. The studies were also carried out to understand the pattern of vitellogenesis in eyestalk ablated adult and juvenile shrimps. A combination of endpoints, haemolymph vitellogenin (Vg) levels, gonadosomatic index (GSI) and histology, was used to study the effect of these treatments. The GSI increased in all the MF‐treated shrimp compared with the control shrimps. Although haemolymph Vg levels declined over the experimental period in all the treatments, the Vg levels decreased significantly only in the short‐term treatment with 1.0 μg MF. Similarly, haemolymph protein level also declined over the experimental period in all the treatment groups. However, except in the long‐term treatment with 0.1 μg MF, all treatments showed a significant decrease in haemolymph protein level. Conversely, in all eyestalk ablated adults and juveniles, haemolymph Vg, total protein and GSI increased over the experimental period, all of which were higher than the concurrent control. The discrepancy in the vitellogenic pattern between MF‐treated and eyestalk ablated shrimp was possibly due to the difference in the ovarian phase of the initial control. Although unilateral eyestalk ablation failed to induce vitellogenesis in juveniles, bilateral ablation induced vitellogenesis, which indicates that juveniles are competent to undergo vitellogenesis.     

Reconstructing overfishing: Moving beyond Malthus for effective and equitable solutions

Inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis of the root causes of overfishing can lead to misguided and ineffective fisheries policies and programmes. The “Malthusian overfishing narrative” suggests that overfishing is driven by too many fishers chasing too few fish and that fishing effort grows proportionately to human population growth, requiring policy interventions that reduce fisher access, the number of fishers, or the human population. By neglecting other drivers of overfishing that may be more directly related to fishing pressure and provide more tangible policy levers for achieving fisheries sustainability, Malthusian overfishing relegates blame to regions of the world with high population growth rates, while consumers, corporations and political systems responsible for these other mediating drivers remain unexamined. While social–ecological systems literature has provided alternatives to the Malthusian paradigm, its focus on institutions and organized social units often fails to address fundamental issues of power and politics that have inhibited the design and implementation of effective fisheries policy. Here, we apply a political ecology lens to unpack Malthusian overfishing and, relying upon insights derived from the social sciences, reconstruct the narrative incorporating four exemplar mediating drivers: technology and innovation, resource demand and distribution, marginalization and equity, and governance and management. We argue that a more nuanced understanding of such factors will lead to effective and equitable fisheries policies and programmes, by identifying a suite of policy levers designed to address the root causes of overfishing in diverse contexts.     

Growth performance,osmoregulatory and metabolic modifications in red porgy fry,Pagrus pagrus,under different environmental salinities and stocking densities

The effects of two different environmental salinities [brackish water (BW), 12‰; sea water (SW), 39‰] and initial stock densities [low (LD), 1.0 g L^?1; high (HD), 2.0 g L^?1] on growth, osmoregulation, stress and energy metabolism of the fry Pagrus pagrus were investigated over a period of 45 days. Pagrus pagrus (n=80, 5.51 ± 0.25 g mean initial body weight) were randomly divided in eight groups. Growth, weight gain and specific growth rate increased in BW‐acclimated fish compared with SW‐acclimated fish. No differences were observed between the two stock densities tested at either environmental salinity. Plasma osmolality was lowest in BW‐acclimated specimens, but the stock density had no effect on this parameter. Branchial Na⁺,K⁺‐ATPase activity was positively correlated with environmental salinity, but unaltered at the renal level. Plasmatic parameters were enhanced by salinity and stocking conditions. At the hepatic level, triglyceride values were enhanced in BW‐acclimated fish maintained at LD. Muscle metabolites (glycogen, glucose and lactate) increased in BW‐ compared with SW‐acclimated fish; stock density had no influence. Our data suggest that changes in metabolic parameters could be correlated with the higher growth rates observed in P. pagrus acclimated to BW, while no significant effects due to the stocking density used were observed.     

Evaluation of strategies to optimize training populations for genomic prediction in oat (Avena sativa)

Genomic selection is a promising breeding methodology that could increase selection accuracy and intensity and reduce generation interval. As the cost of genotyping decreases, it will be important to optimize training populations for costly phenotypic experiments for many complex traits. The aim of this research was to evaluate different optimization strategies, by using historical data from the Norwegian oat breeding programme at Graminor. In this paper, we focus on the optimization criteria: genetic diversity, phenotypic variance and genetic similarity between the training and testing populations. The four training population strategies—prediction core, diversity core, phenotypic selection and random selection—were applied to an oat candidate population of 1124 lines. An independent testing population was used to calculate the mean prediction abilities for the traits days to heading and plant height. Moreover, the strategies were tested in three independent wheat populations. The results showed that prediction core was the most promising strategy to select training populations with high genetic similarity to the testing set, high genetic diversity, and high phenotypic variance, which resulted in higher prediction ability across population sizes and traits.     

Development of the “Applied Proteomics” Concept for Biotechnology Applications in Microalgae: Example of the Proteome Data in Nannochloropsis gaditana

Most of the marine ecosystems on our planet are still unknown. Among these ecosystems, microalgae act as a baseline due to their role as primary producers. The estimated millions of species of these microorganisms represent an almost infinite source of potentially active biocomponents offering unlimited biotechnology applications. This review considers current research in microalgae using the “omics” approach, which today is probably the most important biotechnology tool. These techniques enable us to obtain a large volume of data from a single experiment. The specific focus of this review is proteomics as a technique capable of generating a large volume of interesting information in a single proteomics assay, and particularly the concept of applied proteomics. As an example, this concept has been applied to the study of Nannochloropsis gaditana, in which proteomics data generated are transformed into information of high commercial value by identifying proteins with direct applications in the biomedical and agri-food fields, such as the protein designated UCA01 which presents antitumor activity, obtained from N. gaditana.     

The role of silicon fertilization in the synthesis of phenolic compounds on chestnut plants infected with P. cinnamomi and C. parasitica

Journal of Plant Diseases and Protection - Silicon is considered a beneficial nutrient for agricultural crops by conferred protection against diseases. The antifungal effect of the phenolic...     

Introgressiomics: a new approach for using crop wild relatives in breeding for adaptation to climate change

The need to boost agricultural production in the coming decades in a climate change scenario requires new approaches for the development of new crop varieties that are more resilient and more efficient in the use of resources. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are a source of variation for many traits of interest in breeding, in particular tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. However, their potential in plant breeding has largely remained unexploited. CWRs can make an effective contribution to broadening the genetic base of crops and to introgressing traits of interest, but their direct use by breeders in breeding programs is usually not feasible due to the presence of undesirable traits in CWRs (linkage drag) and frequent breeding barriers with the crop. Here we call for a new approach, which we tentatively call ‘introgressiomics’, which consists of mass scale development of plant materials and populations with introgressions from CWRs into the genetic background of crops. Introgressiomics is a form of pre-emptive breeding and can be focused, when looking for specific phenotypes, or un-focused, when it is aimed at creating highly diverse introgressed populations. Exploring germplasm collections and identifying adequate species and accessions from different genepools encompassing a high diversity, using different strategies like the creation of germplasm diversity sets, Focused identification of germplasm strategy (FIGS) or gap analysis, is a first step in introgressiomics. Interspecific hybridization and backcrossing is often a major barrier for introgressiomics, but a number of techniques can be used to potentially overcome these and produce introgression populations. The generation of chromosome substitution lines (CSLs), introgression lines (ILs), or multi-parent advanced inter-cross (MAGIC) populations by means of marker-assisted selection allows not only the genetic analysis of traits present in CWRs, but also developing genetically characterized elite materials that can be easily incorporated in breeding programs. Genomic tools, in particular high-throughput molecular markers, facilitate the characterization and development of introgressiomics populations, while new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) can enhance the introgression and use of genes from CWRs in the genetic background of crops. An efficient use of introgressiomics populations requires moving the materials into breeding pipelines. In this respect public–private partnerships (PPPs) can contribute to an increased use of introgressed materials by breeders. We hope that the introgressiomics approach will contribute to the development of a new generation of cultivars with dramatically improved yield and performance that may allow coping with the environmental changes caused by climate change while at the same time contributing to a more efficient and sustainable agriculture.     

Development and characterization of an eggplant (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Solanum melongena</Emphasis>) doubled haploid population and a doubled haploid line with high androgenic response

We developed an eggplant doubled haploid (DH) population from a commercial hybrid through androgenesis in microspore culture. Morphological variation, reproductive ability and androgenic responsiveness were evaluated. The DH population showed segregation in vegetative traits related to leaf, flower and fruit, and in reproductive traits such as fruit and seed setting or germination rate. The DH population and subsequent generations also presented variation in the androgenic response, with null, low and high response lines. From this population, we were able to identify the first eggplant highly androgenic DH line (DH36), remarkably similar to the donor hybrid in terms of morphology and reproductive ability, but stably producing four times more calli than the hybrid. The segregating DH population is potentially useful for genetic studies and mapping of several traits, whereas the highly androgenic line DH36 may be used as a model line to facilitate the study of eggplant androgenesis and embryogenesis for both basic and applied research.