Trawl fishing impacts on the status of seabed fauna in diverse regions of the globe

Bottom trawl fishing is a controversial activity. It yields about a quarter of the world's wild seafood, but also has impacts on the marine environment. Recent advances have quantified and improved understanding of large‐scale impacts of trawling on the seabed. However, such information needs to be coupled with distributions of benthic invertebrates (benthos) to assess whether these populations are being sustained under current trawling regimes. This study collated data from 13 diverse regions of the globe spanning four continents. Within each region, we combined trawl intensity distributions and predicted abundance distributions of benthos groups with impact and recovery parameters for taxonomic classes in a risk assessment model to estimate benthos status. The exposure of 220 predicted benthos‐group distributions to trawling intensity (as swept area ratio) ranged between 0% and 210% (mean = 37%) of abundance. However, benthos status, an indicator of the depleted abundance under chronic trawling pressure as a proportion of untrawled state, ranged between 0.86 and 1 (mean = 0.99), with 78% of benthos groups > 0.95. Mean benthos status was lowest in regions of Europe and Africa, and for taxonomic classes Bivalvia and Gastropoda. Our results demonstrate that while spatial overlap studies can help infer general patterns of potential risk, actual risks cannot be evaluated without using an assessment model that incorporates trawl impact and recovery metrics. These quantitative outputs are essential for sustainability assessments, and together with reference points and thresholds, can help managers ensure use of the marine environment is sustainable under the ecosystem approach to management.     

Hatch rate of channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque 1818) eggs treated with 100 mg L−1 copper sulphate pentahydrate

Catfish hatcheries use copper sulphate pentahydrate (CuSO₄·5H₂O) as an economical control for saprolegniasis on eggs. This study determines hatch rate of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque 1818), eggs in hatching troughs containing 23.8 °C flow‐through well water when treated with 100 mg L^?1 CuSO₄·5H₂O (10 times the proposed therapeutic dose). Eggs were treated daily until the embryos reached the eyed stage. Fry survival in the control and 100 mg L^?1 CuSO₄·5H₂O treatments was significantly different (15% and 71% respectively). This study demonstrates that there is a considerable margin of safety in using CuSO₄·5H₂O as a catfish egg treatment to control saprolegniasis.     

Green composites from maleated castor oil and jute fibres

Castor oil was converted to maleated castor oil (MACO) without any catalyst. MACO was characterized with FTIR, NMR, molecular weight and viscosity measurement. Tung oil (20 wt%) was added to MACO as reactive diluent. Non-woven jute felts were used as reinforcing material. The MACO was polymerized and crosslinked in situ during composite fabrication. The curing behavior of MACO with free radical catalyst was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The MACO/jute composites were tested for their flexural properties, impact strength and dynamic mechanical properties and compared with similar unsaturated polyester resin/jute composites. The flexural moduli of both the composites were nearly similar. The impact strength of MACO/jute composites was 42% higher than that of UPE/jute composites. The damping property of the MACO/jute composites was higher than that of UPE/jute composites over a wide range of temperature.     

Ralstonia solanacearum virulence in tomato seedlings inoculated by leaf clipping

Ralstonia solanacearum is a phytopathogenic bacterium that colonizes the xylem vessels of host plants leading to a lethal wilt disease. Although several studies have investigated the virulence of R. solanacearum on adult host plants, infection studies of this pathogen on the seedling stages of hosts are less common. In a preliminary observation, inoculation of R. solanacearum F1C1 on 6‐ to 7‐day‐old tomato seedlings by a simple leaf‐clip strategy resulted in a lethal pathogenic condition in seedlings that eventually killed these seedlings within a week post‐inoculation. This prompted testing of the effect of this inoculation technique in seedlings from different cultivars of tomato and similar results were obtained. Colonization and spread of the bacteria throughout the infected seedlings was demonstrated using gus‐tagged R. solanacearum F1C1. The same method of inoculating tomato seedlings was used with R. solanacearum GMI1000 and independent mutants of R. solanacearum GMI1000, deficient in the virulence genes hrpB, hrpG, phcA and gspD. Wildtype R. solanacearum GMI1000 was found to be virulent on tomato seedlings, whereas the mutants were found to be non‐virulent. This leaf‐clip technique, for inoculation of tomato seedlings, has the potential to be a valuable approach, saving time, space, labour and costs.     

Can rice cultivar with submergence tolerant quantitative trait locus (SUB1) manage submergence stress better during reproductive stage?

Cultivars with submergence tolerant quantitative trait locus (SUB1) greatly enhance submergence tolerance at vegetative stage. Whether such cultivar is better off or not at reproductive stage submergence is not known. Due to uncertainties in rainfall pattern and delayed monsoon, flooding at later stages corresponding to reproductive stage is very much common now. Therefore, the main goal of the present investigation is to work out the effect of submergence at reproductive stage on yield and yield attributes in three rice cultivars namely Swarna, Swarna-Sub1, and Baliadhan (a traditional rice cultivar showed similar reaction to SUB1). The present study envisages that submergence at reproductive stage greatly decreased the grain yield even though there was no mortality of plants. Yield reduction was greater at flowering stage followed by booting and panicle initiation stage. Swarna-Sub1 performed significantly better compared to Swarna when submergence was given at panicle initiation stage. Swarna-Sub1 and Baliadhan both maintained greater quantities of carbohydrate and total dehydrogenase activity yet the yield reduction was greater in Swarna-Sub1 compared to Baliadhan due to greater chalf formation in the former. The cultivar with SUB1 is quite better off at reproductive stage submergence. Baliadhan is superior to Swarna-Sub1.     

Selenium hyperaccumulation offers protection from cell disruptor herbivores

Background  

Hyperaccumulation, the rare capacity of certain plant species to accumulate toxic trace elements to levels several orders of magnitude higher than other species growing on the same site, is thought to be an elemental defense mechanism against herbivores and pathogens. Previous research has shown that selenium (Se) hyperaccumulation protects plants from a variety of herbivores and pathogens. Selenium hyperaccumulating plants sequester Se in discrete locations in the leaf periphery, making them potentially more susceptible to some herbivore feeding modes than others. In this study we investigate the protective function of Se in the Se hyperaccumulators Stanleya pinnata and Astragalus bisulcatus against two cell disrupting herbivores, the western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis) and the two-spotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae).     

Lack of acute toxicity of an anthraquinone bird repellent to non-target crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) associated with rice-crayfish crop rotations

Aeroz™ (9,10-anthraquinone (AQ)), a chemical rice seed treatment that effectively deters birds from depredating newly planted fields, could be an important management tool that enables rice producers to plant earlier in the season and increase yields. This bird repellent, while non-lethal to birds, has unknown toxicity to crayfish that often are closely integrated with rice production in southern regions of the USA. This study was conducted to assess if AQ, the active ingredient in Aeroz™, could be acutely toxic to the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii (Girard), the crayfish species most often associated with rice cultivation, via seed ingestion and/or through their contact with chemical in pond water. Mortality data from a 96 h feeding study indicate that AQ-treated (1.76% by wt) rice seed was not acutely toxic to juvenile (∼3 mo.) crayfish through the ingestion exposure route. In addition, a 96 h aquatic acute toxicity test showed that the LC₅₀ of AQ in juvenile crayfish is >85 μg L⁻¹ and above the water solubility limit of AQ. These results indicate that very minimal, if any, acute toxicity would be observed in juvenile crayfish if exposed to AQ via ingestion or dissolved or suspended in the water column.     

Multilobular tumor of bone in the mandible of a dog

An 8-year-old Siberian husky dog was presented for a mass involving the rostral mandible. Intraoral radiographs demonstrated diffusely irregular bone and displacement of all mandibular incisor teeth. The mass was diagnosed as a grade I multilobular tumor of bone based on incisional biopsy. A bilateral rostral mandibulectomy was performed with tumor negative margins. Oral examination at 14-months following surgery indicated normal healing with minimal side effects and no evidence of tumor recurrence.