Individual and mixture effects of Nano-TiO2 and microplastics on antioxidant and immunological responses of Nile tilapia juvenile, Oreochromis niloticus (L.)

This study aims to evaluate the effect of nano titanium dioxide and microplastics, alone and in combination, on immune system function and oxidative stress of juvenile Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. For this purpose, fish were randomly divided into 27 100L tanks using a 3×3 factorial design, including three concentrations of Nano titanium dioxide (0, 1, and 5 mg/l) and three concentrations of microplastic (0, 0.5, and 1 mg/l) separately and together each in triplicate. The results showed that immunoglobulin, malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione reductase (GR) had significant effects in all groups (P<0.05). Lysozyme, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) showed significant differences between the combined groups and the control (P<0.05). No significant differences were observed in C3 and C4 between groups exposed to MPs and Nano-TiO2 and the control (P>0.05). Superoxide dismutase (SOD) showed significant differences between the group exposed to MPs and Nano-TiO2 alone and the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, the results showed that MPs could have a synergistic effect on the toxicity of Nano-TiO2

The complete description of the skeletal structure of Hafez loach, Turcinoemacheilus hafezi (Cypriniformes, Nemacheilidae)

The osteological characteristics is an important tool for clarification of the phylogenetic statue of the family Nemechelidae. Since any information is available about osteological features of the genus Turcinoemacheilus, hence the present study provides a detailed osteological characteristics of the Turcinoemacheilus hafezi as representative of this genus. Ten specimens of T. hafezi were collected from the Shalamzar Stream, Tigris basin, Iran and cleared and stained for osteological examination. According to the results, T. hafezi is osteologicaly characterized by absence of the preethmoideum-I and postcleithrum, having four basibranchials, presence of the sesamoid ossification, free and short epural with the reduced neural process and pleurostyle, connection of the hypural-1 to the parahypural, no connection of the hypurals 3, 4, and 5 to the pleurostyle, and no bony bridge between the parietal

Body shape comparison of Cyprinion macrostomum (Heckel, 1843) and Cyprinion watsoni (Day, 1872) using geometric moprphometrics method

This study investigated shape differences in two species of Cyprinion macrostomum from Tigris basin and Cyprinion watsoni from Hormuz basin using discriminate function analysis. Coordinates of 17 external landmark points on 2D pictures were used for the analysis. There were significant differences of the two species. C. macrostomum have longer head length, snout length, preventral distance, head height, body height and length of pectoral fin bases than those of C. watsoni. The caudal peduncle length, caudal peduncle depth and anal fin base length in C. watsoni are longer than those of C. macrostomum, the pectoral fin in C. macrostomum was originated more posteriorly than that C. watsoni. Based on the geometric morphometrics differences, the two species can be well recognized and differentiated

DESKRIPTIVNA OSTEOLOGIJA Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis (BĂNĂRESCU AND NALBANT, 1966) (CYPRINIFORMES, NEMACHEILIDAE)

Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis is an endemic species of the family Nemacheilidae from the Karkheh River drainage of the Tigris basin. This study was conducted to provide the detailed osteological characters of this species, comparing it with those of other endemic species of the genus Oxynoemacheilus from inland water basins of Iran viz. O. kiabii, O. persa and O. bergianus. For this purpose, eight specimens of O. kermanshaensis were collected and cleaned and stained for the osteological examination. Then a detailed description of its skeletal structure was provided. The results showed that O. kermanshahensis can be distinguished from other three compared Oxynoemacheilus species on the basis of the connection pattern of the frontal and parietal, presence of a supratemporal commissure and orbital shelf, connection pattern of two prootics, possessing a maxilla with convex margin, having the more vertebrae, bearing the least number of the branched ray in the dorsal fin, presence of the five hypurals, possessing fine and thin neural and hemal spines and the shape of swim bladder capsule.Oxynoemacheilus kermanshahensis je endemska vrsta iz obitelji Nemacheilidae iz rijeke Karkheh koja pripada slivu rijeke Tigris. Ovim istraživanjem se prikazuju detaljne osteološke karakteristike ove vrste, uspoređujući je s drugim endemskim vrstama roda Oxynoemacheilus iz otvorenih voda Irana: O. kiabii, O. persa i O. bergianus. Za ovu svrhu osam primjeraka O. kermanshaensis je skupljeno, očišćeno i bojano za osteološka ispitivanja te je potom dat detaljan opis njihove skeletne strukture. Rezultati su pokazali da se O. kermanshahensis može razlikovati od ostale tri vrste preko veze frontalnog i parijetalnog dijela neurokranijuma, prisutnosti supratemporalnih usana kao i orbitalnog pojasa, vezom od dva prootica, posjedovanjem čeljusti s konveksnom marginom te više kralježaka i najmanjeg broja mekih žbica u dorzalnoj peraji, prisutnosti pet hipurala, posjedovanjem fine i tanke živčane i hemalne košćice te oblikom capsule plivajućeg mjehura

Cold-Resistant Heterotrophic Ammonium and Nitrite-Removing Bacteria Improve Aquaculture Conditions of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

The aim of this study was isolation and characterization of heterotrophic bacteria capable of ammonium and nitrite removal at 15 \ub0C (optimal temperature for growing rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss). Environmental isolates were grown in liquid media containing ammonium or nitrite, and best strains in terms of growth and ammonium or nitrite removal were identified via 16S rRNA sequencing. Dyadobacter sp. (no. 68) and Janthinobacterium sp. (no. 100) were selected for optimal adaptation to growth at 15 \ub0C and best ammonium and nitrite removal (P < 0.05), respectively. A heterotrophic ammonium and nitrite removal (HAN) microbial complex, containing selected strains, was prepared and applied in a trout culture system. After 10 days, the effect of microbial HAN complex was investigated in terms of ammonium and nitrite removal, as well as stress and immune indices present in the plasma of cultivated trout. Compared to a standard cultivation setup, addition of the HAN complex had a clear beneficial effect on keeping the un-ionized ammonia and nitrite level below prescribed standards (P < 0.05). This resulted in reduction of stress and immune reactions of cultivated fish (P < 0.05), leading to an augmentation of final weight and survival. Application of the selected microbial complex resulted in a significant improvement of the aquaculture ecosystem

Simultaneous detection of Aeromonas hydrophila, and Escherichia coli in Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) by Duplex PCR

Rapid and accurate identification of microorganisms have a significant impact on strategies and fish health management programs. Hence, in this study a duplex PCR assay based on the 16s rRNA gene for simultaneous detection of Aeromonas hydrophila RTICC 1032 and Escherichia coli RTICC 2325 from pure cultures, and challenged fish tissues was performed and their results were compared with the results of single PCR assays for each bacterium. For this purpose, an experiment with three treatments including artificially infected with A. hydrophila, E. coli and a mixture of them with a control group was designed. Fish were injected intraperitoneally with 1 ml of sterile physiological saline containing 106CFU/ml of the corresponding bacteria. Samples were collected from liver, kidney and spleen 48 hrs post-injection. A duplex PCR based 16S rRNA genes was developed for the simultaneous detection of A. hydrophila and E. coli. The PCR reaction conditions were optimized to permit detection of organisms from agar plates and fish tissues in less than 8 hrs. Each of the two pairs of oligonucleotide primers exclusively targeted 16S rRNA gene of the specific microorganism. When duplex PCR assay was used to simultaneous detection of the pathogens in asymptomatic fish, spleen and liver were negative for A. hydrophila, whereas kidney was positive for two bacteria. Samples that were duplex PCR negative were also negative by the culture method. On the whole, the duplex PCR has advantages in terms of its accuracy, sensitivity, ease of use, time of length analysis and cost-effectiveness compared to the single PCR and traditional method

Methylation levels of lysozyme gene in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fed by commercial immunogen probiotic

In the present study, we evaluated the effect of commercial immunogenic prebiotic on the rate of methylation of type-C gene. A total of 120 rainbow trout were divided into two treatments, including a control group and another one with 2.0% commercial prebiotic immunogen each in three replicates. On the first, 15 and 45 days, DNA of adrenal tissue was extracted and treated with bisulfite. Samples were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced. Based on the results, there was no significant difference (P<0.05) between the 1st day (R), 15th day of control (C), 15th day of immunogen (I) and 40th day of control (CS). However, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) between the 45th day immunogenicity (IS) and other samples, i.e. the CpG islet methylation rate in the IS samples was lower leading to increase in the expression of the lysozyme gen

Phaeoacremonium and Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) decline in Kerman province (Iran)

Common cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.) is an east Mediterranean plant element and one of four native conifers in Iran. During spring and summer of 2012, a field survey was carried out in different areas of Kerman province (south-eastern Iran) to study cypress decline diseases. Samples were collected from crowns, trunks and branches of cypress trees showing yellowing, dieback, canker, wilting of leaves and internal wood discoloration. Isolations were made from symptomatic wood tissues. Based on morphological and molecular characteristics, four species of Phaeoacremonium, namely Phaeoacremonium parasiticum, Pm. aleophilum, Pm. iranianum and Pm. rubrigenum, and two species of the Botryosphaeriaceae, Botryosphaeria dothidea and Neofusicoccum parvum, were isolated and identified. Pathogenicity tests were undertaken to determine the role of these species on 2-year-old potted cypress plants and green shoots of grapevine. Neofusicoccum parvum was more virulent than the other species and caused the largest lesions on both hosts. The fungi were re-isolated from margins of lesions and healthy tissue, thus completing Koch’s postulates. This is the first report of B. dothidea, N. parvum, Pm. aleophilum, Pm. rubrigenum and Pm. iranianum as pathogens on Mediterranean cypress trees