Ceniza y lava: revelaciones científicas junto al volcán

Para la exposición se ha contado con el apoyo del Museo de la Ciencia y el Cosmos (La Laguna, Tenerife) del Cabildo de Tenerife, uno de los centros más visitados en la comunidad canaria por su enfoque interactivo de la divulgación científica. Ceniza y lava acerca el fenómeno geológico al público general para que experimente y comprenda la naturaleza, promoviendo la percepción de lo plausible en nuestro entorno y que adquiera conocimientos básicos para actuar. A diferencia de otros eventos divulgativos similares, esta exposición busca acercar a la población la experiencia investigadora implementada por tierra, mar y aire con sus hallazgos: materiales recopilados, metodologías utilizadas y conclusiones adquiridas, y lo hace de una manera inmersiva, interactiva y didáctica. La exhibición, programada del 29 de junio de 2023 al 30 de junio de 2024, permite ver, y en algunos casos manipular, materiales e instrumentos utilizados en las investigaciones y que por primera vez se han recopilado y museizado para ser exhibidos. Se compone de dos partes: 1) Ceniza y lava. En esta primera sala se recrea la erupción a través de diversos elementos: proyecciones impactantes, datos clave en una pared, línea del tiempo geológica de La Palma, visión nocturna de la erupción a gran escala, evolución diaria de las coladas sobre una reproducción 3D de la isla de 2 m de longitud y caleidoscopio inmersivo de un tubo lávico. 2) Revelaciones científicas. La transición de una sala a otra se realiza a través de una carpa, réplica de un puesto de mando avanzado que sirvió de zona de trabajo, reunión, atención a medios e incluso de descanso del personal investigador. En la segunda sala se accede a materiales, herramientas y descubrimientos realizados en la erupción desde las perspectivas de tierra, mar y aire. Esta exposición es fruto de la sinergia entre el personal científico de los centros CSIC en Canarias que se desplazó a la erupción y el de otras entidades como GE3BCN, el servicio de PRL del CSIC, el MUNA o el GES del Gobierno de Canarias, entre otros.Los equipos de investigación de los centros de la Delegación del CSIC en Canarias (IPNA, IEO e IGME) desempeñaron un papel crucial en la erupción de La Palma abordándola desde diferentes perspectivas: tierra, mar y aire. Su misión: entender el comportamiento del volcán y proporcionar información valiosa a las autoridades locales y equipos de emergencias para la toma de decisiones en gestión de desastres y protección de la población. Con idea de visibilizar este trabajo, esta labor se plasmó en una exposición 360° que es un testimonio poderoso de cómo la colaboración científica puede iluminar fenómenos naturales y su impacto en nuestra comunidad.FECYTOrganismo Autónomo de Museos y Centros de Tenerife (OAMC)Delegación del CSIC en CanariasPeer reviewedEnlace a la visita virtual de la exposición: https://meta.yonders.io/tour/museo-ciencia-y-cosmo

Vitamin C Enhances Vitamin E Status and Reduces Oxidative Stress Indicators in Sea Bass Larvae Fed High DHA Microdiets

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential fatty acid necessary for many biochemical, cellular and physiological functions in fish. However, high dietary levels of DHA increase free radical injury in sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae muscle, even when vitamin E (α-tocopherol, α-TOH) is increased. Therefore, the inclusion of other nutrients with complementary antioxidant functions, such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid, vitC), could further contribute to prevent these lesions. The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of vitC inclusion (3,600 mg/kg) in high DHA (5 % DW) and α-TOH (3,000 mg/kg) microdiets (diets 5/3,000 and 5/3,000 + vitC) in comparison to a control diet (1 % DHA DW and 1,500 mg/kg of α-TOH; diet 1/1,500) on sea bass larvae growth, survival, whole body biochemical composition and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) content, muscle morphology, skeletal deformities and antioxidant enzymes, insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) and myosin expression (MyHC). Larvae fed diet 1/1,500 showed the best performance in terms of total length, incidence of muscular lesions and ossification degree. IGFs gene expression was elevated in 5/3,000 diet larvae, suggesting an increased muscle mitogenesis that was confirmed by the increase in the mRNA copies of MyHC. vitC effectively controlled oxidative damages in muscle, increased α-TOH larval contents and reduced TBARS content and the occurrence of skull deformities. The results of the present study showed the antioxidant synergism between vitamins E and C when high contents of DHA are included in sea bass larvae diets

Identification of potential invasive alien species in Spain through horizon scanning

Invasive alien species have widespread impacts on native biodiversity and ecosystem services. Since the number of introductions worldwide is continuously rising, it is essential to prevent the entry, establishment and spread of new alien species through a systematic examination of future potential threats. Applying a three-step horizon scanning consensus method, we evaluated non-established alien species that could potentially arrive, establish and cause major ecological impact in Spain within the next 10 years. Overall, we identified 47 species with a very high risk (e.g. Oreochromis niloticus, Popillia japonica, Hemidactylus frenatus, Crassula helmsii or Halophila stipulacea), 61 with high risk, 93 with moderate risk, and 732 species with low risk. Many of the species categorized as very high or high risk to Spanish biodiversity are either already present in Europe and neighbouring countries or have a long invasive history elsewhere. This study provides an updated list of potential invasive alien species useful for prioritizing efforts and resources against their introduction. Compared to previous horizon scanning exercises in Spain, the current study screens potential invaders from a wider range of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine organisms, and can serve as a basis for more comprehensive risk analyses to improve management and increase the efficiency of the early warning and rapid response framework for invasive alien species. We also stress the usefulness of measuring agreement and consistency as two different properties of the reliability of expert scores, in order to more easily elaborate consensus ranked lists of potential invasive alien species.This work is one of the main results of the InvaNET network (RED2018-102571-T, RED2022-134338-T, https://invasiber.org/InvaNET/), financially supported by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. We thank Guido Jones, funded by the Cabildo de Tenerife under the TFinnova Programme supported by MEDI and FDCAN, for revising the English.Peer reviewe

Diversity of cultivable fungi associated with Antarctic marine sponges and screening for their antimicrobial, antitumoral and antioxidant potential

The diversity of sponge-associated fungi has been poorly investigated in remote geographical areas like Antarctica. In this study, 101 phenotypically different fungal isolates were obtained from 11 sponge samples collected in King George Island, Antarctica. The analysis of ITS sequences revealed that they belong to the phylum Ascomycota. Sixty-five isolates belong to the genera Geomyces, Penicillium, Epicoccum, Pseudeurotium, Thelebolus, Cladosporium, Aspergillus, Aureobasidium, Phoma, and Trichocladium but 36 isolates could not be identified at genus level. In order to estimate the potential of these isolates as producers of interesting bioactivities, antimicrobial, antitumoral and antioxidant activities of fungal culture extracts were assayed. Around 51 % of the extracts, mainly from the genus Geomyces and non identified relatives, showed antimicrobial activity against some of the bacteria tested. On the other hand, around 42 % of the extracts showed potent antitumoral activity, Geomyces sp. having the best performance. Finally, the potential of the isolated fungi as producers of antioxidant activity seems to be moderate. Our results suggest that fungi associated with Antarctic sponges, particularly Geomyces, would be valuable sources of antimicrobial and antitumoral compounds. To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the biodiversity and the metabolic potential of fungi associated with Antarctic marine sponges.This work was supported by FONDECYT grant 11090192, Instituto Antártico Chileno (INACH) and “Programa Bicentenario de Ciencia y Tecnología” (Chile) project PDA13.Peer Reviewe

Fish skin pigmentation in aquaculture: the influence of rearing conditions and its neuroendocrine regulation

Skin pigmentation pattern is a species-specific characteristic that depends on the number and the spatial combination of several types of chromatophores. This feature can change during life, for example in the metamorphosis or reproductive cycle, or as a response to biotic and/or abiotic environmental cues (nutrition, UV incidence, surrounding luminosity, and social interactions). Fish skin pigmentation is one of the most important quality criteria dictating the market value of both aquaculture and ornamental species because it serves as an external signal to infer its welfare and the culture conditions used. For that reason, several studies have been conducted aiming to understand the mechanisms underlying fish pigmentation as well as the influence exerted by rearing conditions. In this context, the present review focuses on the current knowledge on endocrine regulation of fish pigmentation as well as on the aquaculture conditions affecting skin coloration. Available information on Iberoamerican fish species cultured is presented

Isolation, identification, and gene expression analysis of the main digestive enzymes during ontogeny of the neotropical catfish Pseudoplatystoma punctifer (Castelnau, 1855)

La ontogenia de las capacidades digestivas en los peces es específica para cada especie y su conocimiento es esencial para entender los requerimientos nutricionales de las larvas de peces. Aunque la cuenca del Amazonas contiene la mayor biodiversidad de peces del mundo, todavía no se han descrito las bases moleculares de la fisiología digestiva temprana en ninguna especie de pez amazónico. Con el fin de aumentar el conocimiento básico sobre la ontogenia molecular del sistema digestivo de una especie de pez amazónico de importancia comercial, se aislaron e identificaron seis genes de enzimas digestivas (α-amilasa, fosfolipasa A2, lipoproteína lipasa, tripsina, quimotripsina y pepsina) y se analizó su expresión de 3 a 24 días postfecundación (dpf) en Pseudoplatystoma punctifer, una especie de bagre con alto potencial de diversificación acuícola. Los resultados actuales y los obtenidos previamente sobre el desarrollo de la actividad enzimática digestiva, mostraron que la expresión génica y las actividades enzimáticas están sincronizadas y que la maquinaria enzimática de P. punctifer esta completamente preparada para el inicio de la alimentación exógena (4 dpf, 6 mm de longitud total, TL) y alcanza su madurez entre 10 y 13 dpf (11-14 mm TL). Esto indica que la transición del modo de digestión larvario al juvenil se completó y eran aptos para el destete en condiciones de cultivo. Además, los análisis de expresión génica sugieren que esta especie muestra un comportamiento omnívoro con preferencia por la carnivoría durante el desarrollo temprano. El estudio proporciona el primer análisis ontogenético completo de la función digestiva desde un punto de vista molecular de una especie del género Pseudoplatystoma, y contribuye al desarrollo de estrategias de alimentación en el contexto de la diversificación acuícola sudamericana.Revisión por pares

The 1989 and 2015 outbursts of V404 Cygni: A global study of wind-related optical features

The black hole transient V404 Cygni exhibited a bright outburst in June 2015 that was intensively followed over a wide range of wavelengths. Our team obtained high time resolution optical spectroscopy (~90 s), which included a detailed coverage of the most active phase of the event. We present a data base consisting of 651 optical spectra obtained during this event, that we combine with 58 spectra gathered during the fainter December 2015 sequel outburst, as well as with 57 spectra from the 1989 event.We previously reported the discovery of windrelated features (P-Cygni and broad-wing line profiles) during both 2015 outbursts. Here, we build diagnostic diagrams that enable us to study the evolution of typical emission line parameters, such as line fluxes and equivalent widths, and develop a technique to systematically detect outflow signatures. We find that these are present throughout the outburst, even at very low optical fluxes, and that both types of outflow features are observed simultaneously in some spectra, confirming the idea of a common origin. We also show that the nebular phases depict loop patterns in many diagnostic diagrams, while P-Cygni profiles are highly variable on time-scales of minutes. The comparison between the three outbursts reveals that the spectra obtained during June and December 2015 share many similarities, while those from 1989 exhibit narrower emission lines and lower wind terminal velocities. The diagnostic diagrams presented in this work have been produced using standard measurement techniques and thus may be applied to other active low-mass X-ray binaries. © 2018 The Author(s).DMS acknowledges Fundacion La Caixa for the financial support received in the form of a PhD contract. TMD acknowledges support via a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2015-18148) and the Spanish MINECO project AYA2017-83216-P. JC acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the 2015 Severo Ochoa Program MINECO SEV-2015-0548, and to the Leverhulme Trust through grant VP2-2015-046. PAC gratefully acknowledges the receipt of a Leverhulme Emeritus Fellowship from the Leverhulme Trust. MAP's research is funded under the Juan de la Cierva Fellowship Programme (IJCI-2016-30867) from MINECO. ML is supported by EU's Horizon 2020 programme through a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship (grant nr. 702638). MAPT acknowledges support via a Ramon y Cajal Fellowship (RYC-2015-17854). AWS is supported by an NSERC Discovery Grant and a Discovery Accelerator Supplement. AJCT acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry MINECO Project AYA 2015-71718-R (including FEDER funds). We thank Javier Mendez (head of the ING Service Program), Chris Benn (head of Astronomy), Marc Balcells (director of ING) and all the ING SAs for their help in monitoring this unique event during ING Service and Discretionary time. We also thank Romano Corradi (director of GTC), Antonio Cabrera (head of science operations) and the GTC support team for the quick response during the multiples triggers of our program. This research has been carried out with telescope time awarded by the CCI International Time Programme at the Canary Islands observatories (program ITP13-8). We also thank the GTC DDT committee (coordinated by the IAC director, Rafael Rebolo) for the awarded time to our observing program. This paper is partially based on observations with INTEGRAL, an ESA project with instruments and science data centre funded by ESA member states (especially the PI countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain), and Poland, and with the participation of Russia and the USA. MOLLY software developed by T. R. Marsh is gratefully acknowledged