Procedures for high quality RNA extraction from Paracentrotus lividus (LAMARCK, 1816) embryos and gonadal tissue

The extraction protocol described below is part of the CISAS project, aimed at the realization, within CNR, of an “International Centre of advanced study in environment, ecosystem and human health”. In this report we describe a RNA extraction protocol from Paracentrotus lividus embryos and gonadal tissue

Moving Toward a Strategy for Addressing Climate Displacement of Marine Resources: A Proof-of-Concept

Realistic predictions of climate change effects on natural resources are central to adaptation policies that try to reduce these impacts. However, most current forecasting approaches do not incorporate species-specific, process-based biological information, which limits their ability to inform actionable strategies. Mechanistic approaches, incorporating quantitative information on functional traits, can potentially predict species- and population-specific responses that result from the cumulative impacts of small-scale processes acting at the organismal level, and can be used to infer population-level dynamics and inform natural resources management. Here we present a proof-of-concept study using the European anchovy as a model species that shows how a trait-based, mechanistic species distribution model can be used to explore the vulnerability of marine species to environmental changes, producing quantitative outputs useful for informing fisheries management. We crossed scenarios of temperature and food to generate quantitative maps of selected mechanistic model outcomes (e.g., Maximum Length and Total Reproductive Output). These results highlight changing patterns of source and sink spawning areas as well as the incidence of reproductive failure. This study demonstrates that model predictions based on functional traits can reduce the degree of uncertainty when forecasting future trends of fish stocks. However, to be effective they must be based on high spatial- and temporal resolution environmental data. Such a sensitive and spatially explicit predictive approach may be used to inform more effective adaptive management strategies of resources in novel climatic conditions

Historical separation and present-day structure of common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) populations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea

The common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus) is an epipelagic, mid-trophic level, highly migratory species distributed throughout the world’s tropical and subtropical oceans in waters greater than 20C. Life-history variables, migratory behaviour, and genetic markers have been used to define major stocks in the central Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Here, we used the mitochondrial DNA gene NADH subunit 1 (688 bp) to test for differences between population groups. A total of 103 haplotypes were detected among 203 fish. Gene diversities in samples were large and similar among populations (mean h ¼ 0.932; range 0.894–0.987), but nucleotide diversities varied widely among samples (range p ¼ 0.004–0.034) and appear to reflect population histories. Principal component analysis revealed two large populations groups, and the analysis of molecular variation and pairwise values of UST resolved population structure within these groups. Populations in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean showed the largest amounts of divergence from one another (UCT ¼ 0.331). Adult movement and biophysical barriers to larval dispersal may explain contemporary differences between stocks, but the divergent populations in the Mediterranean Sea are likely due to isolations by cold temperature barriers during Pleistocene glaciations. The geographically large stock groupings require international cooperation in the harvest management and conservation of local dolphinfish populations

Erudition, et commerce épistolaire. Jean Mabillon et la tradition monastique, Paris, Vrin, 688p. (Collection « Textes et Traditions », 6).

International audienc

Identification of subpopulations in pelagic marine fish species using amino acid composition

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Source and nature of inhaled atmospheric dust from trace element analyses of human bronchial fluids

Rapid volcanic eruptions quickly ejecting large amount of dust provoke accumulation of heavy metal in people living in the rounding areas. Analyses of bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL) collected on people exposed to the paroxysmal 2001 Etna eruption reveal a strong enrichment on many heavy toxic metals. Comparing the BAL to the dust composition of the South-eastern Sicily, we found that only the V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co and U enrichment can be related to the volcanic event, whereas Ni, Cu, Cd and Pb contents come from the dissolution of particles having an anthropogenic origin. Furthermore, the nature of these inhaled anthropogenic particles is revealed by anomalous La and Ce concentrations in studied BAL that are consistent to a mixture of road dust and emissions of petroleum refineries. Obtained results indicate that trace element distribution in BAL is suitable to represent a tracer or human exposure to different inhaled atmospheric particulates, allowing to investigate the origin of source materials inhaled by people subjected to atmospheric fallout