Report on a visit to Sri Lanka to study technical and socio-economic aspects of the BOBP Post-harvest Fisheries Programme

The team consider that the general marketing and postharvest handling of fish and fish products in Sri Lanka is efficient given the resource constraints. Conditions of under supply and high consumer demand promote competition. The fisheries sector is highly dynamic and responsive to changes in demand. Post-harvest losses in value, and quantity are minimal, though some issues of quality were identified

Post-harvest fisheries development: A guide to handling, preservation, processing, and quality

In the early 1980s, the Tropical Products Institute (a forerunner of NRI) published a two volume report entitled Fish Handling, Preservation and Processing in the Tropics. It was written to provide a basis for middle management training courses in government and industry in tropical developing countries. Over the years, the publication has been one of the most popular of NRI's series of technical and scientific reports; it has been reprinted on a number of occasions and distributed to thousands of people worldwide. The present book is an updated version of the original. It is designed to bring to a lay audience the basic concepts behind post-harvest fisheries science and technology, and to assist the non-specialist with decision making. Readers familiar with the previous publication will find that parts of this book have been extensively revised. Where possible, a list of suggested further reading has been included at the end of each chapter so that more details can be obtained if required. If readers have difficulty in obtaining these publications, or need further information, the fisheries group of NRI can be contacted for assistance

Report on final workshop on globalisation and seafood trade legislation: the effect on poverty in India. 23-24 January 2003, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India (NRI report no. 2721)

This report presents the proceedings and findings of a workshop held in the Green Park Hotel, Visakhapatnam from 23 to 24 January 2003. It was attended by participants (36 in all) representing a cross section of the fisheries industry from producer organisations, NGOs, government organisations and private companies involved in the fish export industry of India. (See appendix 1 ). The report outlines the results of the research project on "Globalisation and Seafood Trade Legislation – The Impact on Poverty in India" funded by the Post Harvest Fisheries Research Programme (PHFRP) of the Department for International Development (DFID). The workshop considered the status of the export industry in Kerala, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh and the effect that export legislation is having on livelihoods of the poor in these three states. The discussion of the issues raised is given in the main body of the report (section 2) with summaries of the presentations in the Appendices 3- 5

The influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the bacterial microbiome of gentoo penguins ( Pygoscelis papua ) in their natural environment

The microbiome is a key factor in the health, well-being, and success of vertebrates, contributing to the adaptive capacity of the host. However, the impact of geographic and biotic factors that may affect the microbiome of wild birds in polar environments is not well defined. To address this, we determined the bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence profiles in faecal samples from pygoscelid penguin populations in the Scotia Arc, focusing on gentoo penguins. This mesopredatory group breeds in defined colonies across a wide geographic range. Since diet could influence microbiome structure, we extracted dietary profiles from a eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene sequence profile. The bacterial microbiome profiles were considered in the context of a diverse set of environmental and ecological measures. Integrating wide geographic sampling with bacterial 16S and eukaryotic 18S rRNA gene sequencing of over 350 faecal samples identified associations between the microbiome profile and a suite of geographic and ecological factors. Microbiome profiles differed according to host species, colony identity, distance between colonies, and diet. Interestingly there was also a relationship between the proportion of host DNA (in relation to total 18S rRNA gene signal) and the microbiome, which may reflect gut passage time. Colony identity provided the strongest association with differences in microbiome profiles indicating that local factors play a key role in the microbiome structure of these polar seabirds. This may reflect the influence of local transfer of microbes either via faecal-oral routes, during chick feeding or other close contact events. Other factors including diet and host species also associate with variation in microbiome profile, and in at least some locations, the microbiome composition varies considerably between individuals. Given the variation in penguin microbiomes associated with diverse factors there is potential for disruption of microbiome associations at a local scale that could influence host health, productivity, and immunological competence. The microbiome represents a sensitive indicator of changing conditions, and the implications of any changes need to be considered in the wider context of environmental change and other stressors

Fate specification and tissue-specific cell cycle control of the <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> intestine

Coordination between cell fate specification and cell cycle control in multicellular organisms is essential to regulate cell numbers in tissues and organs during development, and its failure may lead to oncogenesis. In mammalian cells, as part of a general cell cycle checkpoint mechanism, the F-box protein β-transducin repeat-containing protein (β-TrCP) and the Skp1/Cul1/F-box complex control the periodic cell cycle fluctuations in abundance of the CDC25A and B phosphatases. Here, we find that the Caenorhabditis elegans β-TrCP orthologue LIN-23 regulates a progressive decline of CDC-25.1 abundance over several embryonic cell cycles and specifies cell number of one tissue, the embryonic intestine. The negative regulation of CDC-25.1 abundance by LIN-23 may be developmentally controlled because CDC-25.1 accumulates over time within the developing germline, where LIN-23 is also present. Concurrent with the destabilization of CDC-25.1, LIN-23 displays a spatially dynamic behavior in the embryo, periodically entering a nuclear compartment where CDC-25.1 is abundant

Population structure and phylogeography of the Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) across the Scotia Arc

Climate change, fisheries' pressure on penguin prey, and direct human disturbance of wildlife have all been implicated in causing large shifts in the abundance and distribution of penguins in the Southern Ocean. Without mark-recapture studies, understanding how colonies form and, by extension, how ranges shift is challenging. Genetic studies, particularly focused on newly established colonies, provide a snapshot of colonization and can reveal the extent to which shifts in abundance and occupancy result from changes in demographic rates (e.g., reproduction and survival) or migration among suitable patches of habitat. Here, we describe the population structure of a colonial seabird breeding across a large latitudinal range in the Southern Ocean. Using multilocus microsatellite genotype data from 510 Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) individuals from 14 colonies along the Scotia Arc and Antarctic Peninsula, together with mitochondrial DNA data, we find strong genetic differentiation between colonies north and south of the Polar Front, that coincides geographically with the taxonomic boundary separating the subspecies P. p. papua and P. p. ellsworthii. Using a discrete Bayesian phylogeographic approach, we show that southern Gentoos expanded from a possible glacial refuge in the center of their current range, colonizing regions to the north and south through rare, long-distance dispersal. Our findings show that this dispersal is important for new colony foundation and range expansion in a seabird species that ordinarily exhibits high levels of natal philopatry, though persistent oceanographic features serve as barriers to movement

Trypanosoma brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 is a high-affinity transporter for pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenic drugs and the main genetic determinant of resistance to these drugs.

OBJECTIVES: Trypanosoma brucei drug transporters include the TbAT1/P2 aminopurine transporter and the high-affinity pentamidine transporter (HAPT1), but the genetic identity of HAPT1 is unknown. We recently reported that loss of T. brucei aquaglyceroporin 2 (TbAQP2) caused melarsoprol/pentamidine cross-resistance (MPXR) in these parasites and the current study aims to delineate the mechanism by which this occurs. METHODS: The TbAQP2 loci of isogenic pairs of drug-susceptible and MPXR strains of T. brucei subspecies were sequenced. Drug susceptibility profiles of trypanosome strains were correlated with expression of mutated TbAQP2 alleles. Pentamidine transport was studied in T. brucei subspecies expressing TbAQP2 variants. RESULTS: All MPXR strains examined contained TbAQP2 deletions or rearrangements, regardless of whether the strains were originally adapted in vitro or in vivo to arsenicals or to pentamidine. The MPXR strains and AQP2 knockout strains had lost HAPT1 activity. Reintroduction of TbAQP2 in MPXR trypanosomes restored susceptibility to the drugs and reinstated HAPT1 activity, but did not change the activity of TbAT1/P2. Expression of TbAQP2 sensitized Leishmania mexicana promastigotes 40-fold to pentamidine and >1000-fold to melaminophenyl arsenicals and induced a high-affinity pentamidine transport activity indistinguishable from HAPT1 by Km and inhibitor profile. Grafting the TbAQP2 selectivity filter amino acid residues onto a chimeric allele of AQP2 and AQP3 partly restored susceptibility to pentamidine and an arsenical. CONCLUSIONS: TbAQP2 mediates high-affinity uptake of pentamidine and melaminophenyl arsenicals in trypanosomes and TbAQP2 encodes the previously reported HAPT1 activity. This finding establishes TbAQP2 as an important drug transporter

Multi-modal survey of Adélie penguin mega-colonies reveals the Danger Islands as a seabird hotspot

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 3926, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22313-w.Despite concerted international effort to track and interpret shifts in the abundance and distribution of Adélie penguins, large populations continue to be identified. Here we report on a major hotspot of Adélie penguin abundance identified in the Danger Islands off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). We present the first complete census of Pygoscelis spp. penguins in the Danger Islands, estimated from a multi-modal survey consisting of direct ground counts and computer-automated counts of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Our survey reveals that the Danger Islands host 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins, more than the rest of AP region combined, and include the third and fourth largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world. Our results validate the use of Landsat medium-resolution satellite imagery for the detection of new or unknown penguin colonies and highlight the utility of combining satellite imagery with ground and UAV surveys. The Danger Islands appear to have avoided recent declines documented on the Western AP and, because they are large and likely to remain an important hotspot for avian abundance under projected climate change, deserve special consideration in the negotiation and design of Marine Protected Areas in the region.We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Dalio Foundation, Inc. through the Dalio Explore Fund, which provided all the financing for the Danger Island Expedition. We would like to thank additional support for analysis from the National Science Foundation (NSF PLR&GSS 1255058 - H.J.L. and P.M.; NSF PLR 1443585 – M.J.P.) and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NNX14AC32G; H.J.L. and M.S.). Geospatial support for the analysis of high resolution satellite imagery provided by the Polar Geospatial Center under NSF PLR awards 1043681 & 1559691