Long-term effects and interactions of dietary vitamins C and E on growth and reproduction of yellow perch, Perca flavescens

This study was conducted to examine the effects of dietary vitamin C and/or E and their interaction on growth and reproductive performance in yellow perch. Yellow perch juveniles were divided into four treatments with triplicate groups and fed with one of four semi-purified diets for 32 weeks. The experimental diets were formulated to contain no or high vitamin E levels (160 mg/kg) without or with vitamin C supplementation (250 mg/kg) designated as diets −C−E, −C+E, +C−E, or +C+E, respectively. The growth rates and survival of yellow perch fed with +C−E and +C+E diets were significantly higher than the fish fed with −C−E diet. Total- and dehydro-ascorbate concentrations in liver and testis increased in response to its dietary supplementation. The -tocopherol concentration in sperm was significantly affected by dietary supplementation of vitamin C. Gonadosomatic index of males was lower in the fish fed with −C−E diet compared to that of fish fed with other diets. Hatching rates of embryos obtained from testing sperm viability was significantly improved in fish fed with the diets sufficient in vitamin C (82±7%) compared to the fish fed with the −C−E diet (59±7). This study indicates that supplementation of dietary vitamin C and E increase growth rate, and semen quality can be improved by dietary vitamin C supplementation within one maturation cycle, and vitamin C may spare sperm vitamin E depending on vitamin E stores in tissues.     

Eight urgent,fundamental and simultaneous steps needed to restore ocean health,and the consequences for humanity and the planet of inaction or delay

1. The ocean crisis is urgent and central to human wellbeing and life on Earth; past and current activities are damaging the planet's main life support system for future generations. We are witnessing an increase in ocean heat, disturbance, acidification, bio‐invasions and nutrients, and reducing oxygen levels. Several of these act like ratchets: once detrimental or negative changes have occurred, they may lock in place and may not be reversible, especially at gross ecological and ocean process scales.
2. Each change may represent a loss to humanity of resources, ecosystem function, oxygen production and species. The longer we pursue unsuitable actions, the more we close the path to recovery and better ocean health and greater benefits for humanity in the future.
3. We stand at a critical juncture and have identified eight priority issues that need to be addressed in unison to help avert a potential ecological disaster in the global ocean. They form a purposely ambitious agenda for global governance and are aimed at informing decision‐makers at a high level. They should also be of interest to the general public.
4. Of all the themes, the highest priority is to rigorously address global warming and limit surface temperature rise to 1.5°C by 2100, as warming is the pre‐eminent factor driving change in the ocean. The other themes are establishing a robust and comprehensive High Seas Treaty, enforcing existing standards for Marine Protected Areas and expanding their coverage, especially in terms of high levels of protection, adopting a precautionary pause on deep‐sea mining, ending overfishing and destructive fishing practices, radically reducing marine pollution, putting in place a financing mechanism for ocean management and protection, and lastly, scaling up science/data gathering and facilitating data sharing.
5. By implementing all eight measures in unison, as a coordinated strategy, we can build resilience to climate change, help sustain fisheries productivity, particularly for low‐income countries dependent on fisheries, protect coasts (e.g. via soft‐engineering/habitat‐based approaches), promote mitigation (e.g. carbon storage) and enable improved adaptation to rapid global change.

     

Longer migration not necessarily the costliest strategy for migrating humpback whales

1. Long‐distance migration is a demanding physical activity, and how well animals manage the associated costs will have important implications for their fitness.
2. The Oceania humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) population is recovering from past exploitation markedly slower than the neighbouring east Australian whales. The reasons for this are unknown, although higher energetic costs of longer migratory distances could be a possible explanation. Due to their fully aquatic lives, studying the energy expenditure of these large animals requires methods that do not rely on capturing the animal, such as bioenergetic models.
3. A state‐space model was fitted to satellite data to infer behavioural states for southern migrating whales. Travel speeds and behavioural states were used in a bioenergetic model to estimate the energetic cost of the migration phase. Relative differences in average duration, distance, and energetic costs were compared between migratory routes and distances.
4. Total energy used during migration was a trade‐off between cost of transport (determined by travel speed) and daily maintenance (determined by daily basal metabolic costs). Oceania whales migrating to the Amundsen and Bellingshausen Seas travelled fastest and furthest, 15 and 21% further than whales migrating to the d'Urville Sea (east Australian whales) and Ross Sea, respectively. Therefore, they had the highest cost of transport, 25 and 85% higher than for d'Urville Sea and Ross Sea whales, respectively. However, energy saved in terms of daily maintenance by using fewer days to complete a longer migration resulted in only a 6–7% increase in total energetic cost.
5. The results highlight that travelling further does not necessarily translate into an increase in total energy expenditure for migratory whales, since they can compensate for longer distance by travelling faster. Further research on the energetics of different whale populations could provide insight into the productivity of Southern Ocean feeding regions and help understand the environmental and anthropogenic effects on the whales' energy budgets.

     

Genetic differentiation among Atlantic island populations of the brown spiny lobster Panulirus echinatus (Decapoda: Palinuridae)

1. Declines in Panulirus echinatus Smith, 1869 populations along their wide distribution in the Atlantic Ocean have spurred efforts to improve their fisheries management and conservation. In this study, the genetic structure of these populations is reported for the first time.
2. In a survey of 18 species‐specific polymorphic microsatellite markers, 152 individuals were genotyped from five Atlantic oceanic islands, covering most of the insular distribution range of the species. The analyses revealed that P. echinatus is genetically partitioned into two stocks in the Atlantic Ocean. A highly significant genetic structure was observed between north‐east and south‐west Atlantic populations based on fixation index, discriminant analysis of principal components, and structure and barrier analysis.
3. We suggest that the Equatorial Circulation System represents a biophysical barrier that effectively limits migration among Atlantic subtropical gyre systems, as has been described for other species. Other physical and ecological barriers, such as the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge itself, the distance between the eastern and western sides of the Atlantic (Mid‐Atlantic Barrier) and water mass differences, as well as other biological aspects, may also influence larval dispersal and modulate the insular distribution of this species.
4. The results show the existence of two distinct genetic stocks of P. echinatus and have implications for fisheries management in the Atlantic Ocean, including their independent management according to their individual status. The Cabo Verde and the Canarian populations (north‐east Atlantic) showed the lowest level of genetic variability in comparison with the south‐western populations. A combination of factors that have occurred or are occurring in the Canary Islands, such as overfishing and volcanic eruptions, is likely to explain the reduced abundance of this lobster species in the area.

     

重组MBP-GnRH6融合蛋白的表达与鉴定

将人工合成促性腺激素释放激素(GnRH)六聚体基因片段连接至pMAL-c4x载体,获得的pMAL-c4x-GnRH6重组质粒转化到大肠杆菌TB1中进行表达.采用SDS-PAGE,Western blot进行鉴定,并通过动物实验对表达产物的免疫原性进行检测.获得了分子量大小约为50 kD的麦芽糖结合蛋白-GnRH六聚体(MBP-GnRH6),且融合蛋白与GnRH抗体的反应性较好,并能使睾丸萎缩、变性.表明重组MBP-GnRH6融合蛋白具有较好的反应原性和免疫原性,可用于小鼠的免疫去势.     

Ursolic acid induces allograft inflammatory factor-1 expression via a nitric oxide-related mechanism and increases neovascularization

Ursolic acid (UA), a triterpenoid compound found in plants, is used in the human diet and in medicinal herbs and possesses a wide range of biological benefits including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenic effects. Endothelial expression of allograft inflammatory factor-1 (AIF-1) mediates vasculogenesis, and nitric oxide (NO) produced by endothelial NO (eNOS) represents a mechanism of vascular protection. It is unclear whether UA affects the neovascularization mediated by AIF-1 and eNOS expression. This study investigated the effects and mechanisms of UA on angiogenesis in vivo in hind limb ischemic animal models and in vitro in human coronary artery endothelial cells (HCECs). This study explored the impact of UA on endothelial cell (EC) activities in vitro in HCECs, vascular neovasculogenesis in vivo in a mouse hind limb ischemia model, and the possible role of AIF-1 in vasculogenesis. The results demonstrate that UA enhances collateral blood flow recovery through induction of neovascularization in a hind limb ischemia mouse model. In vitro data showed that UA increases tube formation and migration capacities in human endothelial cells, and exposing HCECs to UA increased AIF-1 expression through a NO-related mechanism. Moreover, UA administration increased capillary density and eNOS and AIF-1 expression in ischemic muscle. These findings suggest that UA may be a potential therapeutic agent in the induction of neovascularization and provide a novel mechanistic insight into the potential effects of UA on ischemic vascular diseases.     

Transplantation of adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells for acute thoracolumbar disc disease with no deep pain perception in dogs

Thirty-four dogs with no deep pain perception due to acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disc disease underwent decompression surgery within 1 week of diagnosis. All dogs underwent hemilaminectomy. Adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) were transplanted into the injured spinal cord parenchyma for the AD-MSCs transplant dogs. Long-term outcome was evaluated at the end of the follow-up period (> 6 months). AD-MSCs combination treatment showed better recovery outcomes compared to decompression surgery alone. These results indicate that this stem cell therapy is a potential therapeutic strategy to overcome the limitations of treatment for spinal cord injury in clinical medicine.     

Does Dietary Administration of Lactococcus lactis Modulate the Gut Microbiota of Grouper,Epinephelus coioides

The effect of dietary administration of probiotic Lactococcus lactis MM1 for 60 d on the autochthonous microbiota in the foregut, midgut and hindgut of juvenile grouper, Epinephelus coioides, was evaluated using polymerase chain reaction‐denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Samples collected from the probiotic and control groups showed different DGGE patterns, while 11 common bands presented in both groups. The similarity dendrogram revealed three different clusters depending on the three sections of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and the probiotic triplicates in each GI section were generally clustered into one group distinctly different from the corresponding control triplicates. Increased species richness and Shannon index were observed in the foregut, midgut, and hindgut samples in the probiotic group compared with the control group, which suggested that probiotic L. lactis MM1 could improve the autochthonous microbial diversity along the GI tract of E. coioides. The growth of many potentially beneficial and unidentified bacteria was stimulated by the probiotic, whereas the growth of some potential harmful species, like Staphylococcus saprophyticus, was depressed.     

Effects of Salinity and Soil–Drying on Radiation Use Efficiency,Water Productivity and Yield of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.)

Drought and salinity reduce crop productivity especially in arid and semi‐arid regions, and finding a crop which produces yield under these adverse conditions is therefore very important. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is such a crop. Hence, a study was conducted in field lysimeters to investigate the effect of salinity and soil–drying on radiation use efficiency, yield and water productivity of quinoa. Quinoa was exposed to five salinity levels (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 dS m^?1) of irrigation water from flower initiation onwards. During the seed‐filling phase the five salinity levels were divided between two levels of irrigation, either full irrigation (FI; 95 % of field capacity) or non‐irrigated progressive drought (PD). The intercepted photosynthetically active radiation was hardly affected by salinity (8 % decrease at 40 dS m^?1) and did not differ significantly between FI and PD. Radiation use efficiency of dry matter was similar between salinity levels and between FI and PD. In line with this, no negative effect of severe salinity and soil–drying on total dry matter could be detected. Salinity levels between 20 and 40 dS m^?1 significantly reduced the seed yield by ca. 33 % compared with 0 dS m^?1 treatment owing to a 15–30 % reduction in seed number per m², whereas the seed yield of PD was 8 % less than FI. Consequently, nitrogen harvested in seed was decreased by salinity although the total N‐uptake was increased. Both salinity and drought increased the water productivity of dry matter. Increasing salinity from 20 to 40 dS m^?1 did not further decrease the seed number per m² and seed yield, which shows that quinoa (cv. Titicaca) acclimated to saline conditions when exposed to salinity levels between 20 and 40 dS m^?1.     

Ontogenetic Development of the Digestive System in Agastric Chinese Sucker,Myxocyprinus asiaticus,Larvae

This study was conducted to determine the ontogenetic development of the digestive tract and its accessory structures (liver, pancreas, and gall bladder) in agastric larval Chinese sucker Myxocyprinus asiaticus with the histological and ultrastructural approaches from hatching to 56 days after hatching (DAH). On the basis of its feeding mode, and analyzing the main histological features of the digestive system, larval development in Chinese sucker was divided into three stages from hatching: stage 1 (endotrophic period): 1–6 DAH; stage 2 (endoexotrophic period): 7–14 DAH; stage 3 (exclusively exotrophic period): from 15 DAH onward. At hatching, the digestive tract of the larvae consisted of an undifferentiated straight tube. At 4 DAH, the mouth opened, and the digestive tract was differentiated into buccopharyngeal cavity, esophagus and intestine. At 7 DAH, fish started to feed exogenously. Yolk sac was completely exhausted at 15 DAH. Until 56 DAH, the digestive tract of the larvae displayed regularly arranged microvilli, abundant vacuoles, and protein inclusion bodies. The pancreas, liver, and gall bladder were functional from 6 DAH, which enabled larvae to ingest, digest, and assimilate the first exogenous food. In comparison with teleosts that have a stomach, the development of the digestive tract of the agastric Chinese sucker seemed relatively slow .