Microbiota characterization of the green mussel Perna viridis at the tissue scale and its relationship with the environment

Research on the microbiota associated with marine invertebrates is important for understanding host physiology and the relationship between the host and the environment. In this study, the microbiota of the green mussel Perna viridis was characterized at the tissue scale using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and compared with the microbiota of the surrounding environment. Different mussel tissues were sampled, along with two environmental samples (the mussel's attachment substratum and seawater). The results showed that the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Spirochaetae were dominant in mussel tissues. The bacterial community composition at the family level varied among the tissues of P. viridis. Although the microbiota of P. viridis clearly differed from that of the surrounding seawater, the composition and diversity of the microbial community of the foot and outer shell surface were similar to those of the substratum, indicating their close relationship with the substratum. KEGG prediction analysis indicated that the bacteria harbored by P. viridis were enriched in the degradation of aromatic compounds, osmoregulation, and carbohydrate oxidation and fermentation, processes that may be important in P. viridis physiology. Our study provides new insights into the tissue-scale characteristics of mussel microbiomes and the intricate connection between mussels and their environment

Natural Disaster Risk Monitoring for Immovable Cultural Relics Based on Digital Twin

Natural disaster risk monitoring is an important task for disaster prevention and reduction. In the case of immovable cultural relics, however, the feedback mechanism, risk factors, monitoring logic, and monitoring indicators of natural disaster risk monitoring are complex. How to achieve intelligent perception and monitoring of natural disaster risk for immovable cultural relics has always been a focus and a challenge for researchers. Based on the analysis of the concepts and issues related to the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics, this paper proposes a framework for natural disaster risk monitoring for immovable cultural relics based on the digital twin. This framework focuses on risk monitoring, including the physical entities of natural disaster risk for immovable cultural relics, monitoring indicators, and virtual entity construction. A platform for monitoring the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics is proposed. Using the Puzhou Ancient City Site as a test bed, the proposed concept can be used for monitoring the natural disaster risk of immovable cultural relics at different scales

Effects of the probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on the growth, immunity, and disease resistance of Haliotis discus hannai

Abstract(#br)The effects of a diet containing the probiotic Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on the survival and growth of Haliotis discus hannai were evaluated by measuring growth and hematological parameters and the expression levels of nonspecific immune genes. In addition, the abalone’s response to Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection was assessed. H. discus hannai (shell length: 29.35 ± 1.81 mm, body weight: 4.28 ± 0.23 g) were exposed to an 8-week culture experiment in indoor aquariums and a 2-week V. parahaemolyticus artificial infection experiment. In each experiment, the control group (C) was fed daily with the basal feed; the experimental groups were fed daily with the experimental feed, prepared by spraying B. amyloliquefaciens onto the basal feed at final concentrations of 10 3 (group A1), 10 5 (A2), and 10 7 (A3) cfu/g. The survival rate, body weight specific growth rate, and food conversion efficiency in A2 and A3 were significantly higher than those in A1 and C ( P < 0.05). The total number of blood lymphocytes, the O 2 − and NO levels produced from respiratory burst, the activities of acid phosphatase, superoxide dismutase, and catalase, and the expression levels of catalase and thiol peroxidase in A2 were not significantly different from those in A3, but these factors were significantly higher in A2 compared to A1 and C ( P < 0.05). The total antioxidant capacity and expression levels of glutathione S-transferase in A1, A2 and A3 were significantly higher than those in C ( P < 0.05). At day 9 after infection with V. parahaemolyticus , all abalone in C were dead; at the end of the experiment, the cumulative mortality of abalone in A2 was significantly lower than that in any other group ( P < 0.05). Thus, the experimental feed containing 10 5 cfu/g B. amyloliquefaciens not only facilitated the food intake and growth of abalone, but also effectively enhanced their non-specific immunity and resistance to V. parahaemolyticus infection. In this regard, B. amyloliquefaciens may be a useful probiotic strain for abalone aquaculture

Differential proteomic profiles and characterizations between hyalinocytes and granulocytes in ivory shell Babylonia areolata

Abstract(#br)The haemocytes of the ivory shell, Babylonia areolata are classified by morphologic observation into the following types: hyalinocytes (H) and granulocytes (G). Haemocytes comprise diverse cell types with morphological and functional heterogene and play indispensable roles in immunological homeostasis of invertebrates. In the present study, two types of haemocytes were morphologically identified and separated as H and G by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. The differentially expressed proteins were investigated between H and G using mass spectrometry. The results showed that total quantitative proteins between H and G samples were 1644, the number of up-regulated proteins in G was 215, and the number of down-regulated proteins in G was 378. Among them, cathepsin, p38 MAPK, toll-interacting protein-like and beta-adrenergic receptor kinase 2-like were up-regulated in G; alpha-2-macroglobulin-like protein, C-type lectin, galectin-2-1, galectin-3, β-1,3-glucan-binding protein, ferritin, mega-hemocyanin, mucin-17-like, mucin-5AC-like and catalytic subunit of protein kinase A were down-regulated in G. The results showed that the most significantly enriched KEGG pathways were the pathways related to ribosome, phagosome, endocytosis, carbon metabolism, protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum and oxidative phosphorylation. For phagosome and endocytosis pathway, the number of down-regulation proteins in G was more than that of up-regulation proteins. For lysosome pathway, the number of up-regulation proteins in G was more than that of down-regulation proteins. These results suggested that two sub-population haemocytes perform the different immune functions in B. areolata

A multicentre study on the clinical characteristics of newborns infected with coronavirus disease 2019 during the omicron wave

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of newborns infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the Omicron wave.MethodsFrom December 1, 2022, to January 4, 2023, clinical data were collected from neonates with COVID-19 who were admitted to 10 hospitals in Foshan City, China. Their epidemiological histories, clinical manifestations and outcomes were analysed. The neonates were divided into symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The t test or χ2 test was used for comparisons between groups.ResultsA total of 286 children were diagnosed, including 166 males, 120 females, 273 full-term infants and 13 premature infants. They were 5.5 (0–30) days old on average when they were admitted to the hospital. These children had contact with patients who tested positive for COVID-19 and were infected through horizontal transmission. This study included 33 asymptomatic and 253 symptomatic patients, among whom 143 were diagnosed with upper respiratory tract infections and 110 were diagnosed with pneumonia. There were no severe or critical patients. Fever (220 patients) was the most common clinical manifestation, with a duration of 1.1 (1–6) days. The next most common clinical manifestations were cough with nasal congestion or runny nose (4 patients), cough (34 patients), poor appetite (7 patients), shortness of breath (15 patients), and poor general status (1 patient). There were no significant abnormalities in routine blood tests among the neonates infected with COVID-19 except for mononucleosis. However, compared with the asymptomatic group, in the symptomatic group, the leukocyte and neutrophil granulocyte counts were significantly decreased, and the monocyte count was significantly increased. C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were significantly increased (≥10 mg/L) in 9 patients. Myocardial enzyme, liver function, kidney function and other tests showed no obvious abnormalities.ConclusionsIn this study, neonates infected with the Omicron variant were asymptomatic or had mild disease. Symptomatic patients had lower leucocyte and neutrophil levels than asymptomatic patients

Pyrethroids as Promising Marine Antifoulants: Laboratory and Field Studies

【英文摘要】Due to the regulations and bans regarding the use of traditional toxic chemicals against marine fouling organisms and the practical impediments to the commercialization of natural product antifoulants, there is an urgent need for compounds that are antifouling-active, environmentally friendly, and have a potential for commercial application. In this study, a series of common, commercially available pyrethroid products, which are generally used as environmentally safe insecticides, was evaluated for antifouling activity in the laboratory using an anti-settlement test with cyprids of the barnacle Balanus albicostatus and also in a field experiment. Laboratory assay showed that all eleven pyrethroids (namely, rich d-trans-allethrin, Es-biothrin, rich d-prallethrin, S-prallethrin, tetramethrin, rich d-tetramethrin, phenothrin, cyphenothrin, permethrin, cypermethrin, and high active cypermethrin) were able to inhibit barnacle settlement (EC50 range of 0.0316 to 87.00 μg/ml) without significant toxicity. Analysis of structure–activity relationships suggested that the cyano group at the α-carbon position had a significant influence on the expression of antifouling activity in pyrethroids. In the field, the antifouling activity of pyrethroids was further confirmed, with the most potent pyrethroids being cypermethrin and high active cypermethrin, which displayed efficiency comparable with that of tributyltin. In summary, our investigation indicated that these pyrethroids have a great and practical commercial potential as antifouling agents

Settlement and metamorphosis of Styela canopus Savigny larvae in response to some neurotransmitters and thyroxin

【英文摘要】 The larvae of ascidian Styela canopus Savigny were treated with epinephrine, norepinephrine, L-DOPA, GABA and thyroxin to test the ability of these compounds to induce or inhibit larval settlement and metamorphosis. The results showed that epinephrine, norepinephrine and L-DOPA at the concentration of 1μmol/dm 3 induced larval settlement and metamorphosis in S. canopus, with short exposure (1 h) to 1 μmol/dm 3 of L-DOPA inducing rapid settlement. In contrast, GABA at the concentrations of 0.1 ～100.0 μmol/dm..

Identification and Characterization of Full-Length cDNAs in Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)

Background: Genome annotation projects, gene functional studies, and phylogenetic analyses for a given organism all greatly benefit from access to a validated full-length cDNA resource. While increasingly common in model species, fulllength cDNA resources in aquaculture species are scarce. Methodology and Principal Findings: Through in silico analysis of catfish (Ictalurus spp.) ESTs, a total of 10,037 channel catfish and 7,382 blue catfish cDNA clones were identified as potentially encoding full-length cDNAs. Of this set, a total of 1,169 channel catfish and 933 blue catfish full-length cDNA clones were selected for re-sequencing to provide additional coverage and ensure sequence accuracy. A total of 1,745 unique gene transcripts were identified from the full-length cDNA set, including 1,064 gene transcripts from channel catfish and 681gene transcripts from blue catfish, with 416 transcripts shared between the two closely related species. Full-length sequence characteristics (ortholog conservation, UTR length, Kozak sequence, and conserved motifs) of the channel and blue catfish were examined in detail. Comparison of gene ontology composition between full-length cDNAs and all catfish ESTs revealed that the full-length cDNA set is representative of the gene diversity encoded in the catfish transcriptome. Conclusions: This study describes the first catfish full-length cDNA set constructed from several cDNA libraries. The catfish full-length cDNA sequences, and data gleaned from sequence characteristics analysis, will be a valuable resource fo

Improved Sampling of Hemolymph and Screening of Anti-Coagulants of Hemocytes in the Snail <em>Babylonia areolata</em>

Our aim was to improve sampling of hemolymph from the snail Babylonia areolata in order to evaluate the physiological and immune capacities of hemocytes in aquaculture. We also identified appropriate types of hemolymph anti-coagulants for B. areolata. Hemolymph samples were collected using an improved foot plantaris puncture method. We screened five types of anti-coagulants from Penaeid shrimp (A), marine decapods (B), abalone (C), and oyster (D), as well as a home-made anti-coagulant (E), to act against Babylonia areolata hemocytes on the basis of cell death rate and hemocyte aggregation. We improved the former foot plantaris puncture method and identified the home-made anti-coagulant as the best anti-coagulant from the five which we tested

Antifouling activity of marine sessile organisms from China against barnacle settlement

National Natural Science Foundation of China [40906078]; China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [20090450836]The antifouling activity of a series of hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol and aqueous extracts from 11 species of marine sessile organisms collected from the south-east coast of China was investigated. Settlement inhibition of cyprid larvae of the barnacle Balanus albicostatus was used to evaluate their antifouling efficacy. Screening of the 44 extracts showed antifouling activity in 90.9% of the hexane extracts followed by 90.9% of the ethyl acetate, 72.7% of the ethanol and 36.4% of the aqueous extracts. The hexane extracts of Tubularia mesembryanthemum, Notarcus leachii cirrosus and Styela canopus, the ethyl acetate extracts of Bugula neritina and N. leachii cirrosus, and the ethanol extracts of B. neritina and Anthopleura sp. were the most active in inhibiting the settlement of B. albicostatus, with EC(50) values all below 50 mu g/ml. At least one of the four extracts of each tested species exhibited antifouling activity, suggesting that all 11 marine sessile organisms contained antifouling substances and they may have evolved chemical defences against biofouling on their surfaces