Zooplankton community structure in the tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) culture pond at Malacca, Malaysia

In aquaculture pond, zooplankton offer themselves as food to culture organism likes shrimp. Biomass and productivity of zooplankton in different size ranges are important factors modifying the productivity of higher trophic-level organisms as well as production of culture. In this view point, the composition of zooplankton was investigated in shrimp culture ponds for one culture cycle in the tropics. Zooplankton abundance did not differ significantly between old and new culture ponds. The major groups of zooplankton were copepods, rotifers, sergestidae, lucifer, gastropod larvae, bivalve larvae, pelagic polychaetes, nematodes, crustacean nauplii, insects and mysidacea. Among these, copepods (51.69-53.57%) and crustacean nauplii (28.39-41.81%) were the dominant groups in all culture ponds. Zooplankton density increased by >46% at the end of the culture period in all ponds probably due to the recruitment of zooplankton through reproduction in the ponds over time. The findings of this study suggests that zooplankton composition in culture ponds appeared to be an important source of food and nutrition for shrimp post larvae, at least for earlier period (1-4th week) after the ponds are stocked, hence managing of zooplankton density prior to stocking of post larvae in the culture pond is important

Water quality, primary productivity and carbon capture potential of microalgae in two urban manmade lakes, Selangor, Malaysia

The impact of climate change and weather conditions in small urban manmade lake is less understood. Most studies are done bimonthly or monthly without reference to weather conditions. The contribution of these small manmade lakes to carbon sequestration was largely ignored. There is not much study about water quality and primary production in relation to weather conditions and weekly observations in tropical lakes. Therefore, this study investigates the potential of using microalgae in freshwater bodies to mitigate global warming through carbon dioxide fixation in urban small manmade lakes. A comparative study for water quality and primary productivity in two manmade lakes was done from September 2014 to July 2015. Weekly sampling in triplicate for 500 ml water samples were done for phytoplankton biomass analysis, alkalinity and nutrient analysis, from the surface of the lake at 0.5m depth. Three sets of 4 BOD bottles were used to measure biological oxygen demand and primary productivity. Physical parameters were measured from surface water by Yellow Spring Instrument multi parameter probe model (YSI-556 MPS ). Water transparency was measured by Secchi disk a nd rain rainfall using rain gauge. Daily recording of weather was done at three times a day, then the weather was classified into three weather conditions. Statistical analyses were done by one-way ANOVA, and principal component analysis (PCA). The average water qualit y parameters of the lake during all weather conditions were : water temperature (28.95 ̊C) & (29.43 ̊C), pH(7.14) & (7.11), electrical conductivity (0.15 mScmˉ¹) & (0.41 mScm ˉ¹), dissolved oxygen (5.5 mg Lˉ1) & (4.5 mg Lˉ1), alkalinity (43.8 mgCaCo3/L) & (148.2 mgCaCo3/L), rthophosphates (0.02mg L’/) & (0.42 mg Lˉ1), nitrate-itrogen (0.20 mg Lˉ1) & (0.07 mg Lˉ1), ammonium- nitrogen ( 0.06 mg Lˉ1) & (0.96 mg Lˉ1), trophic status index (20.6) & (37.5) in Engineering lake and Seri Serdang Lake respectively. High averages of chlorophyll -a concentration were (0.71± 0.10 μ g Lˉ¹) & (3.47 ± 0.96 μ g Lˉ¹) during dry weather conditions in Engineering lake and Seri Serdang Lake respectively. Temporal fluctuations of primary production occurred in Engineering lake and Seri Serdang Lake with average of (0.57± 0.09 mg C Lˉ¹ hˉ¹) & (2.86 ± 0.37 mg C L ˉ¹ hˉ¹) respectively. A principal component analysis extracted two components after Varimax rotation and they contributed (22.50 % &15.56 %) and (28.95% &18.14%) in Engineering lake and Seri Serdang lake respectively. The we ather conditions such cloud covers and rain fall that significantly influence light intensity and water quality which in turn influence primary productivity in both lakes. Water quality, primary productivity and carbon capture potential of microalgae in two urban manmade lakes, Selangor, Malaysia

Studies on the genetic variation of the green unicellular alga Haematococcus pluvialis (Chlorophyceae) obtained from different geographical locations using ISSR and RAPD molecular marker.

Haematococcus pluvialis (Flotow) is a unicellular green alga, which is considered to be the best astaxanthin-producing organism. Molecular markers are suitable tools for the purpose of finding out genetic variations in organisms; however there have been no studies conducted on ISSR or RAPD molecular markers for this organism. The DNA of 10 different strains of H. pluvialis (four strains from Iran, two strains from Finland, one strain from Switzerland and three strains from the USA) was extracted. A genetic similarity study was carried out using 14 ISSR and 12 RAPD primers. Moreover, the molecular weights of the bands produced ranged from 0.14 to 3.4 Kb. The PCA and dendrogram clustered the H. pluvialis strains into various groups according to their geographical origin. The lowest genetic similarity was between the Iran2 and USA2 strains (0.08) and the highest genetic similarity was between Finland1 and Finland2 (0.64). The maximum numbers of bands produced by the ISSR and RAPD primers were 35 and 6 bands, respectively. The results showed that ISSR and RAPD markers are useful for genetic diversity studies of Haematococcus as they showed geographical discrimination

Toxic heavy metal (Pb and Cd) content in tobacco cigarette brands in Selangor state, Peninsular Malaysia

Cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) are ubiquitous metals widely distributed in the environment, resulting in toxic health effects. This project aims to evaluate Pb and Cd as toxic elements in 15 different tobacco ciga-rette brands produced and/or sold in Selangor state, Peninsular Malaysia. The concentrations of Pb and Cd in all tobacco brands tested in this study were deter-mined using the air-acetylene flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). On average, the concentrations of Pb and Cd in different tobacco brand samples ranged from 3.05 and 0.80 μg/g dw, respectively. The results indicate that assessment mean values of Pb in-haled from smoking one packet of 20 cigarettes were in the range of 1.55–3.51 μg. Furthermore, the concentration of Cd inhaled per packet of cigarettes (20 sticks) is estimated to be 0.04–0.36 μg. However, there was a significant difference in the concentrations of Pb and Cd between the different brands of tobacco cigarettes, among cigarette prices (cheap versus expensive) of tobacco brands. In conclusion, cigarette smokers in Selangor, Malaysia, are heavily exposed to Pb and Cd, and such exposure could adversely affect their health in the long term. The impact of toxic heavy metals on smokers in this state would be an area for future research

Effects of NaNO3 and KNO3 in Kosaric fertilizer on the growth of Arthrospira platensis

This study was carried out to determine whether the replacement of NaNO3 to KNO3 in Kosaric media can give better growth to Arthrospira platensis. The growth of A. platensis in different culture media was which are Kosaric media and Kosaric media with the modifications of NaN03 to KNO3 at concentration of 0.75, 1.25, and 1.75g/L in indoor condition. The pH value for Kosaric media shows the highest reading which is 9.63, followed by both modified Kosaric media with the addition of 1.25g/L KNO3 and 1.75g/L KNO3 which have the same reading of 9.58, and 9.56 for modified Kosaric media with the addition of 0.75g/L KNO3. Cell dry weight is 2.13mg/L for modified Kosaric media, I.78mg/L for modified Kosaric media with the addition of l .25g/L KNO3, 1.61 mg/L. for modified Kosaric media with the addition of 0.75g/L KNO3 and 1.18mg/L for Kosaric media. While for chlorophyll a content, Kosaric media shows the highest value which is 2.79mg/L, followed by modified Kosaric media with the addition of 1.75b/L KNO3 (1.65mg/L), modified Kosaric media with the addition of 1.25g/L KNO3 (1.29mg/L), and modified Kosaric media with the addition of 0.75g/L KNO3 (1.09mg/L). Kosaric media is still the best culture media for culturing of A. platensis. Except for cell dry weight, the modified Kosaric media with the addition of 1.75g/L KNO3 shows the highest reading. The alternative commercial fertilizer that are cheaper than Kosaric media are hoped to replace Kosaric media in culturing A. platensis

Capability of powder formulation of biooraganic containing Pseudomonas GanoEB3 for promoting the growth of oil palm seedlings

Oil palm is one of the important crops in Malaysia. As one of the biggest producers of oil palm products, Malaysia has to fulfill the global needs for fats and oils sustainability. The objective of this study was to develop bioorganic containing Pseudomonas GanoEB3 for promoting oil palm growth. Endophytic bacteria Pseudomonas GanoEB3 was isolated from healthy oil palm roots and cultured on nutrient agar media. A suspension containing 108 CFU/mL of the bacteria cells being mixed with vermiculite powder. The vermiculite powder containing bacteria has been formulated with bioorganic empty fruit bunch (EFB) and bioorganic real strong (RS). 30 g Bioorganic EFB mixed 30 g vermiculite containing bacteria and 10 g Bioorganic RS mixed 50 g vermiculite containing bacteria showed the best viability test after twelve months product storage and were chosen to be applied in the field study. Four-month-old Dura x Pisifera were obtained from Felcra Sungai Tekam, Pahang, Malaysia. The experiment was carried out with three treatments; T1; seedling untreated and uninfected, T2; seedling treated with Bioorganic Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) Pseudomonas GanoEB3 and T3; seedling treated with Bioorganic Real Strong (RS) Pseudomonas GanoEB3. 30 g of both fertilizers were applied to the seedlings according to their treatment every two month interval. Plant growth results showed T3 gave the highest result in plant height, stem diameter, chlorophyll content, leaf area index and biomass, followed by T2 and T1. This study revealed that bioorganic containing Pseudomonas GanoEB3 is suitable as an effective biological control agent for promoting the growth of oil palm seedlings

Behavioral and sensitivity responses of pomacea insularum to Cd and Cu toxicities

This chapter focuses on the toxicity test of Cd and Cu by using two different sized groups of Pomacea insularum as a test organism, with mortality as an endpoint. The findings indicate the mussel was more sensitive to Cu than Cd although the small size group was more sensitive than the large one since the small group had lower LC50 values than the large one. Results also indicated the ability of P. insularum as a potential bioindicator for acute and subacute exposures to Cu and Cd. This study has provides an important baseline information for Cd and Cu toxicities using P. insularum as a test organism which enables the comparison of the acute sensitivity of P. insularum towards Cd and Cu with other marine invertebrates