Phenolic Content,Antioxidant Activity,and Consumer Acceptability of Sorghum Cookies

Cookies were produced from different sorghum flours to determine their potential as vectors of antioxidants. Different sorghum cultivars and their flour extraction rates were evaluated for their effects on phenolic content and antioxidant activity of the cookies. Consumer acceptance of the sorghum cookies was compared with that of wheat flour cookies. For each sorghum cultivar, cookies of 100% extraction rate flours had two to three times more total phenolics compared with those of 70% extraction rate flours, while antioxidant activity was 22–90% higher. Cookies of the condensed tannin sorghum had two to five times more phenolics compared with those of condensed tannin‐free sorghum. Antioxidant activity was 145–227 μMol Trolox equivalents (TE)/g in cookies of condensed tannin sorghum compared with 10–102 μMol TE/g in those of condensed tannin‐free sorghum. The sorghum flours had slightly higher phenolic content and antioxidant activity values than their corresponding cookies. Cookies of the red tannin‐free sorghum flours (PAN 8564/8446) were equally liked as wheat flour cookies, except for texture. However, cookies of condensed tannin sorghum were least accepted compared with wheat flour cookies despite their high antioxidant activity.     

Losing a staging area: Eastward redistribution of Afro-Eurasian ruffs is associated with deteriorating fuelling conditions along the western flyway

The fuelling performance of long-distance migrants at staging areas indicates local conditions and determines the viability of migration routes. Here we present a first case study where long-term fuelling performance was documented along two migration routes with differential population trends. Ruffs (Philomachus pugnax) are shorebirds of inland freshwater wetlands that migrate from the sub-Saharan wintering grounds, via Europe, to the northern Eurasian breeding grounds. Assessments from 2001 to 2008 of fuelling during northward migration at the major western and eastern staging site revealed that daily mass gain rates steeply declined across years in the grasslands for dairy production in Friesland, The Netherlands, and remained constant in the Pripyat floodplains in Belarus, 1500 km further east. Migrants in Friesland decreased from 2001 to 2010 by 66%, amounting to a loss of 21,000 individuals when counts were adjusted for length of stay as determined by resightings. In the same period numbers in Pripyat increased by 12,000. Ruffs individually ringed in Friesland were resighted in subsequent springs at increasingly eastern sites including Pripyat. Our results corroborate published evidence for an eastward redistribution of Arctic breeding ruffs and suggest that the decreasing fuelling rates in the westernmost staging area contribute to this redistribution. The shift implies that responses occur within a single generation. The hypothesis that the choice of route during northward migration may be driven by food availability can now be tested by creating greater areas of wet grasslands in Friesland. When local staging conditions improve we predict that ruffs will make the reverse shift.     

Biochemical composition and energy content of six species of phytoplankton used in mariculture of bivalves

Diatoms Thalassiosira pseudonana (Hustedt) Hasle and Heimdal, Chaetoceros calcitrans (Paulsen) Takano and Chaetoceros sp. (Aquaculture Research Corporation), and phytoflagellates Isochrysis galbana Parke, Isochrysis aff. galbana Green (T-Iso) and Tetraselmis suecica (Kylin) Butcher were harvested at exponential and stationary phases of growth and biochemical compositions determined. Moisture content declined in all species at the stationary phase of growth. The siliceous nature of the diatom reduced inherent organic content relative to that of the flagellate. Total pigments were more concentrated in the stationary phases of all species except Tetraselmis. Inclusion of cellular lipid and protein was highest in species of Isochrysis with the carbohydrate constituents of the phytoflagellates presenting a complex mixture of glucose, galactose, mannose, xylose, arabinose, ribose, fucose, and rhamnose. Content of carbohydrates was generally higher in diatoms than phytoflagellates, with glucose the dominant sugar originating from a reserve glucan considered digestible by bivalves. Caloric content of lipid, carbohydrate and protein in phytoplankton allowed for ranking as sources of energy in the following decreasing order: Isochrysis aff. galbana (T-Iso), Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros calcitrans, Tetraselmis suecica, Thalassiosira pseudonana, and Chaetoceros sp. (ARC), with all but Thalassiosira exhibiting higher energy levels in the stationary cells.     

UK deep‐sea conservation: Progress,lessons learned,and actions for the future

1. Despite a relatively long history of scientific interest fuelled by exploratory research cruises, the UK deep sea has only recently emerged as the subject of targeted and proactive conservation. Enabling legislation over the past 10 years has resulted in the designation of marine protected areas and the implementation of fisheries management areas as spatial conservation tools. This paper reflects on progress and lessons learned, recommending actions for the future.
2. Increased investment has been made to improve the evidence base for deep‐sea conservation, including collaborative research surveys and use of emerging technologies. New open data portals and developments in marine habitat classification systems have been two notable steps to furthering understanding of deep‐sea biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in support of conservation action.
3. There are still extensive gaps in fundamental knowledge of deep‐sea ecosystems and of cause and effect. Costs of new technologies and a limited ability to share data in a timely and efficient manner across sectors are barriers to furthering understanding. In addition, whilst the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services are considered a useful tool to support the achievement of conservation goals, practical application is challenging.
4. Continued collaborative research efforts and engagement with industry to share knowledge and resources could offer cost‐effective solutions to some of these barriers. Further elaboration of the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services will aid understanding of the costs and benefits associated with human–environment interactions and support informed decision‐making in conserving the deep sea.
5. Whilst multiple challenges arise for deep‐sea conservation, it is critical to continue ongoing conservation efforts, including exploration and collaboration, and to adopt new conservation strategies that are implemented in a systematic and holistic way and to ensure that these are adaptive to growing economic interest in this marine area.

     

Temperature modulates liver lipid accumulation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) fed low dietary levels of long‐chain n‐3 fatty acids

Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) were fed five graded levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5n‐3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n‐3), from 1.4 to 5.2% of total fatty acids (FA, 5–17 mg kg^?1 feed), and grew from ~160 g to ~3000 g, with the period from 1450 g onwards conducted both at 6 °C and at 12 °C. All fish appeared healthy, and there were no diet‐related differences in haematological or plasma parameters, as well as intestinal histological or gut microbiota analysis. Fish reared at 6 °C had higher accumulation of storage lipids in the liver compared to fish reared at 12 °C. Liver lipids also increased with decreasing dietary EPA + DHA at 6 °C, while there was no such relationship at 12 °C. Gene expression of SREBP1 and 2, LXR, FAS and CPT1 could not explain the differences in liver lipid accumulation. In liver polar lipids, DHA was found to be reduced when dietary EPA + DHA was <2.7% of FAs, while the level of EPA in the membranes was not affected. In conclusion, reducing dietary EPA + DHA from 5.2 to 1.4% of total FAs had a minor impact on fish health. Temperature was the factor that most affected the liver lipid accumulation, but there was also an interaction with dietary components.     

半滑舌鳎Cs-UBE2D4基因的克隆、表达模式及启动子活性

泛素-蛋白酶体系统作为重要的蛋白质修饰途径,参与多个生物学过程,其中泛素结合酶E2作为关键酶可以决定泛素化对靶蛋白的影响。为了探究泛素结合酶E2在半滑舌鳎雌性性腺发育中的作用,本研究克隆了半滑舌鳎Cs-UBE2D4基因的开放阅读框ORF,检测了该基因在不同组织和不同发育阶段性腺中的表达模式;构建了其启动子报告基因载体(pGL3-Cs-UBE2D4)并进行了启动子活性分析。Cs-UBE2D4开放阅读框为360 bp,编码119个氨基酸,含有保守的泛素结合酶E2结构域。荧光定量PCR结果显示,Cs-UBE2D4在雌鱼的各组织中广泛表达,其中在卵巢和肝脏中表达量较高,而在雄鱼中几乎检测不到表达;在卵巢各发育阶段中,该基因的表达量从90日龄开始上调,6月龄达到峰值,之后开始下调,在1.5龄时表达量最低,在3龄时表达量有所回升,其中6月龄表达量为90日龄表达量的1.97倍。双荧光素酶活性检测结果显示,Cs-UBE2D4启动子具有较强的转录活性。本实验将为进一步开展Cs-UBE2D4基因对半滑舌鳎卵巢发育和性别调控相关机制的研究提供理论依据。     

南极鱼类DNA条形码及分子系统进化研究

本文采用COI基因兼并引物对15种36个南极鱼类DNA进行扩增测序,并结合Gen Bank已有序列进行联配分析,对南极鱼2科22属43种共97条COI基因片段(539 bp)进行序列比较和系统发生关系研究,探索了DNA条形码技术在辅助鱼类物种鉴定和分类中的适应性与可行性。结果分析表明,43种南极鱼科和鳄冰鱼科的鱼类COI基因的平均碱基组成为T:31.9%、G:18.3%、A:22.2%和C:27.6%,具有明显的碱基偏倚性。南极鱼类的种间平均距离为0.157,种内平均遗传距离为0.002,种间平均遗传距离是种内平均距离的79倍;系统分析结果显示,除南极小带腭鱼(Cryodraco antarcticus)和罗斯海小带腭鱼(Cryodraco atkinsoni)外,其余的鱼类皆能够形成独立的分支,且与形态学分支一致。由此可见,DNA条形码对南极鱼亚目鳄冰鱼科和南极鱼科鱼类能够进行有效的物种鉴定,基于COI基因所建的NJ(neighbor-joining)树对物种分类具有较为准确的辨识力。系统发生关系表明,DNA条形码可以对除南极小带腭鱼(Cryodraco antarcticus)和罗斯海小带腭鱼(Cryodraco atkinsoni)外的南极鱼物种进行鉴定,不仅可以作为形态学的辅助手段为南极鱼分类系统的必要补充和佐证,并且可以用于探讨南极鱼类近缘种的系统发育关系。     

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.     

Quantification of Flavobacterium psychrophilum in rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum), tissues by qPCR

A qPCR assay was developed for rapid and sensitive detection of Flavobacterium psychrophilum, the aetiological agent of bacterial cold-water disease and rainbow trout fry syndrome in salmonid fish worldwide. A set of F. psychrophilum-specific primers based on 16S rRNA gene sequences was designed and validated for specific detection and quantification of DNA isolated from representative strains of F. psychrophilum. The qPCR assay exhibited a high specificity for the 16S rRNA gene of F. psychrophilum (from 4 × 10(8) down to 11 copies per reaction) but not for other Flavobacterium species or other bacteria including fish pathogens. This qPCR-based method proved to be useful in the quantification of the F. psychrophilum titre present within organs dissected out from diseased fish. As the F. psychrophilum genome contains six copies of the 16S rRNA gene, we could infer a limit of detection corresponding to two bacteria per reaction, corresponding to 800 bacteria per fish tissue sample, and therefore 20 F. psychrophilum cells mg(-1) of tissue (for sample weighing 40 mg). The qPCR assay reported here could be a useful tool for veterinary diagnostic laboratories to monitor the F. psychrophilum infection level in fish farms.