Synthesis and insecticidal activity of new amide derivatives of piperine

The natural lipophilic amides piperine and piperiline were isolated from Piper nigrum L (Piperaceae). Piperine was hydrolysed into piperic acid (85% yield) which was converted into 16 amides (28–89% yield). The contact toxicity of all synthetic amides, and also that of piperine and piperiline, at the dose 10 µg per insect, was evaluated for the Brazilian economically important insects Ascia monuste orseis Latr, Acanthoscelides obtectus Say, Brevicoryne brassicae L, Protopolybia exigua DeSaus and Cornitermes cumulans Kollar. The results demontrated that the insects have different sensivities to the various amides, with mortality ranging from 0 to 97.5% according to the compound and insect species. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Reconstructing the history of human impacts on coastal biodiversity in Chile: constraints and opportunities

• 1. Although Chile is at the forefront in evaluating experimentally the importance of human harvesting impacts on coastal biodiversity, there are no evaluations of such impacts on a long‐term historical basis (tens to thousands of years). Different types of archival information (i.e. contemporaneous, archaeological, and palaeontological) were used to carry out a research programme based on the historical assessment of the impacts and intensity of resource extraction on coastal biodiversity along the Chilean coast.
• 2. In addition to recent scientific literature, different sources of contemporaneous information (e.g. museum collections, old reports and accounts) can reveal the human impacts observed in the more recent past. Furthermore, the large number of prehistoric shell middens along the entire Chilean coast offer access to ～11 000 years of history along the entire coast, although the faunal composition, structure, and dynamics of most of them remain largely unstudied.
• 3. Finally, the rich and widespread fossil record of some marine groups provides the opportunity to reconstruct the structure and dynamics of benthic communities during different phases of human influence (e.g. pre‐human, prehistoric harvesting, and modern harvesting).
• 4. Preliminary comparisons of fossil versus modern bivalve assemblages suggest marked changes in the species composition. Human impacts seem very recent and shifts in the structure of benthic assemblages may have occurred only a few centuries/decades ago.
• 5. In contrast, prehistoric harvesting, although intense, was apparently not enough to cause a profound impact on coastal ecosystems. The approach herein envisaged can provide the basis to build a historical baseline to evaluate the human impacts on the coastal biodiversity in the region. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

     

Physiological responses of pink abalone Haliotis corrugata (Gray, 1828) exposed to different combinations of temperature and salinity

Physiological responses of pink abalone Haliotis corrugata were determined under different temperature and salinity conditions. Oxygen consumption rate was not affected by temperature and salinity. Ammonium excretion of pink abalone was inversely related to salinity. The O:N ratio indicated that abalone maintained in lower salinities had an interval of 4.9–7.7, which is indicative of a protein‐dominated metabolism, whereas the O:N in 35‰ was 28.8–35.5 for both temperatures, suggesting that carbohydrates were used as energy substrate. Haemolymph osmolality of abalone exposed to 20 and 24 °C was slightly hyperiso‐osmoconformic in salinity ranges of 20–35‰. The results of this study suggested that for optimized culture, pink abalone should be cultivated at 24 °C at a salinity of 35‰.     

Rapid sequence modification in the highly polymorphic region (HPR) of the hemagglutinin gene of the infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) suggests intra-segmental template switching recombination

The ISAV has a genome composed of eight segments of (–)ssRNA, segment 6 codes for the hemagglutinin–esterase protein, and has the most variable region of the genome, the highly polymorphic region (HPR), which is unique among orthomyxoviruses. The HPR has been associated with virulence, infectivity and pathogenicity. The full length of the HPR is called HPR0 and the strain with this HPR is avirulent, in contrast to strains with deleted HPR that are virulent to varying degrees. The molecular mechanism that gives rise to the different HPRs remains unclear. Here, we studied in vitro the evolution of reassortant recombinant ISAV (rISAV) in Atlantic salmon head kidney (ASK) cells. To this end, we rescued and cultivated a set of rISAV with different segment 6-HPR genotypes using a reverse genetics system and then sequencing HPR regions of the viruses. Our results show rapid multiple recombination events in ISAV, with sequence insertions and deletions in the HPR, indicating a dynamic process. Inserted sequences can be found in four segments of the ISAV genome (segments 1, 5, 6, and 8). The results suggest intra-segmental heterologous recombination, probably by class I and class II template switching, similar to the proposed segment 5 recombination mechanism.     

Impact of Caligus treatments on unit costs of heterogeneous salmon farms in Chile

We measure the impact that sanitary treatments that control ectoparasite Caligus rogercresseyi abundance have on unit production costs of Salmo salar farms in Chile. We follow complete production cycles for a sample of farms between 2009 and 2015. We estimate a simultaneous salmon biomass growth and Caligus abundance model. The statistical analysis determines the effect of antiparasitic treatments, location of farms, environmental conditions and Caligus abundance on the salmon growth profile. Using outside cost information, we simulate how unit production costs vary by treatment and farm characteristics. Our results suggest that unit production costs increase on average by $1.4?US/kg with Caligus and treatments. Treatment costs are compensated by higher harvesting levels, and unit production costs are invariant to the situation without treatment. All estimated effects differ depending on farm’s environmental and spatial conditions, suggesting that the design of cost-effective intervention calls for discriminatory regulation under heterogeneous conditions.     

Reuse of water from biofloc technology for intensive culture of Nile tilapia ( Oreochromis niloticus ): effects on productive performance,organosomatic indices and body composition

During a growout period of 14 weeks, the productive performance, organosomatic indices and body composition of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus cultivated at high density reusing the water from systems with biofloc technology (BFT) were evaluated. Two treatments: tilapia cultured in biofloc (TB) and tilapia cultured in reused water biofloc (RW) were established. Mixed sex, juvenile Nile tilapia (average weight and length: 79.28 ± 14.44 g and 12.44 ± 0.70 cm) were stocked into 6 experimental units (0.2 m3) at a density of 100 fish/m3. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, total dissolved salts, pH, NH4–N, NH3–N and NO3–N were recorded daily, while NO2–N, general hardness, carbonate hardness and settleable solids were recorded weekly. The weight and length of the tilapias were recorded biweekly. Survival, productive performance, proximal composition and organosomatic indices of Nile tilapia were evaluated. The water parameters in RW treatment such as pH, total dissolved salts, NO2–N, NO3–N and carbonate hardness were significantly greater (p < 0.05), when compared to those obtained in TB treatment. Survival rate was > 98% under both treatments. The final weight (TB = 163.09 ± 42.34 g, RW = 159.23 ± 39.92 g), protein (19.1%) and lipid (2.2%) content of the tilapia were non-significantly different between treatments. In addition, no significant differences in the gonadosomatic and hepatosomatic indices were observed either between tilapia sex or between the treatments. The results suggest that the intensive cultivation of Nile tilapia in biofloc can be established using reuse water from BFT systems, without adverse effects on their survival, productive performance, proximal composition and gonadal development.     

Molecular and comparative mapping for heading date and plant height in oat

Selection of oat genotypes combining earliness and short plant height could stimulate oat cultivation worldwide. However, the mechanisms involved with the genetic control of heading date and plant height traits are not fully understood to date. This study aimed to identify genomic regions controlling heading date and plant height in two hulled by naked oat populations and to compare these genomic regions with that of other grass species. Recombinant inbred lines of each population and their parents were genotyped by a 6 K BeadChip Illumina Infinium array and assessed for heading date and plant height in two sowing dates. The quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting these traits were detected by simple interval mapping. The two oat populations showed different genetic mechanisms controlling heading date. A major QTL was identified in one of the populations, mapped into the ‘Mrg33’ consensus linkage group from the current oat map. Two other QTL were detected into the ‘Mrg02’ and ‘Mrg24’ groups, in the second population. On the other hand, both populations presented the same genomic region controlling plant height. Six SNP markers, mapping on the same linkage group within each population, were associated with the trait, regardless the sowing date, explaining more than 20% of the phenotypic variation. Five of these six markers were mapped into three different linkage groups on the oat consensus map. Genomic regions associated with heading date and plant height in oat seem to be conserved in Oryza sativa L. and Brachypodium distachyon. Our results provide valuable information for marker-assisted selection in oats, allowing selection for earliness and plant height on early segregating generations.