Prevalence of white spot virus and monodon baculovirus in shrimp culture systems of West Bengal, India

The global shrimp aquaculture is impacted by episodes of viral diseases resulting in huge income losses. This communication presents the results of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based surveillance of white spot virus (WSV) and monodon baculovirus (MBV) in shrimp culture systems of West Bengal, India. The WSV was detected in 14.87% of the total samples (N = 121) by first PCR and 16.53% of samples by nested PCR. The WSV infection was noticed in 12 of 65 Penaeus monodon, 6 of 39 Litopenaeus vannamei and 2 of 11 Macrobrachium rosenbergii samples. The MBV was detected in 8 of 65 P. monodon samples by non-nested PCR and all were also positive for WSV, thus indicating concurrent infection of shrimp. The results emphasized the need to observe strict quarantine measures during the seed selection to prevent the introduction of viral pathogens in grow-out systems

A comparative study of fatty acids profile of two Indian major carps (Gibelion catla, Hamilton, 1822 and Cirrhinus mrigala, Hamilton, 1822) using value added fish feed

Freshwater fishes are not only a major source of protein but they also possess nutritionally valuable lipids in the form of Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which play a crucial role in the normal growth, disease prevention, development, cardiovascular health and reproduction of human. The present study was performed to determine the incorporation rate of fatty acids profile and their composition in two common freshwater carps as Gibelion catla and Cirrhinus mrigala (in situ trial and experimental) in the different experimental time period (0 days, i.e. initial, 90 days and 180 days) by using of value added feed like flaxseed (?-linolenic acids, 51.26% – 54.94%) and soybean oil (?-linolenic acids, 7.95%-9.01%) as omega-3 supplements. To determine the specific growth pattern Length-Weight Relationships (LWRs) are analyzed where it showed positive allometric growth (b=3.20 in 90 days, b=3.11 in 180 days for Catla and b=3.18 in 90 days, b=3.1 in 180 days for Mrigala fish). The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) method also confirmed that the percentages of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) increased significantly (P< 0.05) in experimental (0.096a±0.41, initial; 5.16a±0.27, 90 days; 6.21b±0.36, 180 days Catla fish species and 0.019a±0.96 initial; 3.74b±0.37, 90 days; 3.50a±0.46 180 days for Mrigal fish species) fishes rather than controls (4.28a±0.27, 90 days; 4.36b±0.36, 180 days for Catla species and 2.24b±0.31 90 days; 2.50a±0.11 180 days for Mrigal species). Therefore, it was clearly indicated that formulated diet performed significantly to maintain the positive allometric growth as well as successive enrichment of PUFAs in experimental specimens, which is beneficial for human health as high source of protein and PUFAs as well

Prevalence of diseases caused by Flavobacterium spp. and other opportunistic bacteria in carps of sewage-fed farms in West Bengal, India

India is the second largest fish producing nation after China, contributing about 5.68% of the global fish production. The state West Bengal is occupying the second position in freshwater fish production after Andhra Pradesh. Although a number of constraints have been put forth, diseases and poor farm management are some of the most noticeable reasons for the reduced fish production in West Bengal. This study reports the prevalence of diseases caused by Flavobacterium spp. and other opportunistic bacteria in carps of sewage-fed farms in West Bengal. The bacteriological examination of the diseased carps revealed infections with different bacterial species and most of them were opportunistic pathogens. Flavobacteriosis, aeromoniasis, pseudomoniasis and other mixed bacterial infections, as confirmed by conventional biochemical tests and by VITEK 2 Compact system, were noted frequently. Antibiotic sensitivity of the opportunistic bacterial pathogens from the diseased carps indicated that some of these bacterial strains are resistant to potential human medicines like erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, oxytetracycline, nitrofurantoin, etc., which is a serious cause for concern. These results further present the fact that sewage-fed fish farms and the food fish from such systems may pose a serious public health risk from the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, if not handled properly

Lead-Free Halide Perovskite Materials and Optoelectronic Devices: Progress and Prospective

Halide perovskites, in the form of thin films and colloidal nanocrystals, have recently taken semiconductor optoelectronics research by storm, and have emerged as promising candidates for high-performance solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, photodetectors, and radiation detectors. The impressive optical and optoelectronic properties, along with the rapid increase in efficiencies of solar cells and LEDs, have greatly attracted researchers across many disciplines. However, most advances made so far in terms of preparation (colloidal nanocrystals and thin films), and the devices with highest efficiencies are based on Pb-based halide perovskites, which have raised concerns over their commercialization due to the toxicity of Pb. This has triggered the search for lower-toxicity Pb-free halide perovskites and has led to significant progress in the last few years. In this roadmap review, researchers of different expertise have joined together to summarize the latest progress, outstanding challenges, and future directions of Pb-free halide perovskite thin films and nanocrystals, regarding their synthesis, optical spectroscopy, and optoelectronic devices, to guide the researchers currently working in this area as well as those that will join the field in the future.I.L.-F., D.V., C.-Y.W., S.S., T.O., Y.-T.H., K.S., Y.L., V.S.C., J.Z., L.D.T., and D.G. contributed equally to this work. L.P. acknowledges the support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through the Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2018-026103-I) and the Spanish State Research Agency (Grant No. PID2020-117371RA-I00; TED2021-131628A-100), as well as the grant from the Xunta de Galicia (ED431F2021/05). C.-Y.W. acknowledges the financial support from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. K.S. acknowledges the financial support from China Scholarship Council (CSC), and P.M.-B. acknowledges support from Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy – EXC 2089/1–390776260 (e-conversion). V.B. and T.O. acknowledge the MEXT JSPS Grants 20J00974, 21K14580, and 23H01781. H.Z acknowledges the financial supported by NSFC (62222405, 52131304), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20220142), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (30922010713), and NSFC-RGC (62261160392). H.-T.S. acknowledges the financial support from JSPS KAKENHI (21H01743). Y.-T.H and R.L.Z.H. would like to thank the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for funding (no. EP/V014498/2). R.L.Z.H. also thanks the Royal Academy of Engineering through the Research Fellowships scheme (no. RF∖201718∖17101). D.V. and E.D. acknowledge financial support from the Research Foundation – Flanders through an FWO doctoral fellowship to D.V. (FWO Grant Number 1S45223N) and the KU Leuven Internal Funds (Grant Numbers STG/21/010, C14/23/090, and CELSA/23/018). T.D. acknowledges the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) for the Ramanujan Fellowship Award (RJF/2021/000125). I.M.-S. acknowledges Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain under Step-Up (TED2021-131600B-C31) project and by Generalitat Valenciana under Print-P (MFA/2022/020) project. V.S.C., I.M.-S. and J.P.M.-P acknowledges the support of the Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through the DROP-IT project (grant agreement no. 862656)

Polyvinylpyrrolidone modified barium zirconate titanate/polyvinylidene fluoride nanocomposites as self-powered sensor

Highly flexible biocompatible nanocomposites comprising of Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) modified Barium Calcium Zirconate Titanate (BCT-BZT) /Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) were fabricated. The crystalline BCT-BZT powders were synthesized by a simple sol-gel method. Rietveld refinement analysis confirmed the coexistence of orthorhombic and tetragonal phase in the synthesized powders. The structural, dielectric and ferro-electric properties of the composites were analysed. Addition of PVP modified BCT-BZT powders was observed to enhance the polar phase in PVDF matrix. The piezoelectric output response as a function of different weight percentage of ceramic powders in the PVDF matrix was investigated. The optimal device with 60wt% PVP modified BCT-BZT powders exhibited maximum peak to peak voltage of 23 V when tested for harnessing waste biomechamcal energy (human hand palm force). The nanogenerator was easily scaled up to 4 x 4 cm and the stored power was utilized for powering fifty five LEDs. The fabricated device is flexible, light- weight and eco-friendly Therefore, it can be explored as a potential candidate for application as self powered sensor

Prevalence of diseases caused by Flavobacterium spp. and other opportunistic bacteria in carps of sewage-fed farms in West Bengal, India

India is the second largest fish producing nation after China, contributing about 5.68% of the global fish production. The state West Bengal is occupying the second position in freshwater fish production after Andhra Pradesh. Although a number of constraints have been put forth, diseases and poor farm management are some of the most noticeable reasons for the reduced fish production in West Bengal. This study reports the prevalence of diseases caused by Flavobacterium spp. and other opportunistic bacteria in carps of sewage-fed farms in West Bengal. The bacteriological examination of the diseased carps revealed infections with different bacterial species and most of them were opportunistic pathogens. Flavobacteriosis, aeromoniasis, pseudomoniasis and other mixed bacterial infections, as confirmed by conventional biochemical tests and by VITEK 2 Compact system, were noted frequently. Antibiotic sensitivity of the opportunistic bacterial pathogens from the diseased carps indicated that some of these bacterial strains are resistant to potential human medicines like erythromycin, cotrimoxazole, oxytetracycline, nitrofurantoin, etc., which is a serious cause for concern. These results further present the fact that sewage-fed fish farms and the food fish from such systems may pose a serious public health risk from the antibiotic-resistant bacteria, if not handled properly

Meningoencephalitis in farmed monosex Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) caused by Streptococcus agalactiae

Aquaculture of tilapia is a new research venture in India. With intensification in farming practices, tilapia are increasingly susceptible to bacterial infections. This article describes the isolation and identification of pathogenic bacteria from cultured monosex Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (L.), that experienced moderate to severe mortalities in West Bengal, India between September and August 2014 and histopathological alterations in various organs. Gram-positive diplococci, identified as Streptococcus agalactiae with Streptococcus identification kits and 16S rDNA sequencing analysis, were isolated from the brain, operculum, and kidney. Other bacteria from the kidney were identified as Aeromonas sobria, A. caviae, Klebsiella pneumoniae ssp. pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, and Enterobacter cloacae. Staphylococcus epidermis was isolated from opercular hemorrhages. Histological sections of the infected tilapia brain revealed meningoencephalitis and granulomatous lesions. Sections from other organs indicated congestion, hemorrhagic and hyperplastic cells, necrosis, vacuolation, hemosiderin deposition, hypertrophic nuclei, melanomacrophage aggregation, and ruptured veins. This report is the first description of S. agalactiae as a primary pathogen causing meningoencephalitis in cultured tilapia in India

Not Available

Not AvailableMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small single stranded non-coding RNAs that performed significant role in post-transcriptional regulation of target gene product. They are typically conserved among the organisms and also involved in multiple biological processes by degrading the targeted mRNAs by suppression or destabilization. Their conserved nature in various organisms provide a good source of miRNA identification and characterization using comparative genomic approaches through the bio-computational tools. The present work highlighted about common carp’s (Cyprinus carpio) conserved miRNAs which were identified and characterized using some bioinformatical strategies based on miRBase, Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) and Genomic Survey Sequence (GSS) databases. Using web based tools total 10 selected miRNAs belongs to 10 different families were illustrated and functionally categorized in Cyprinus carpio. Which have elemental role in regulation and expression of gene-protein interaction specially focused in biological processes of carp. Through real time application of mature miRNA sequences as probe the effective targets for selected common carp miRNAs were detected and catagorised using local BLAST online program and miRBase software. Imperative miRNAs of Cyprinus carpio are indentified via miRBase database and cautiously characterized with the associated gene encoded target protein. Those proteins having a key regulatory role in cellular signal transduction, transcription factor and associated biomolecules responsible for the metabolism, growth and development of carp skeletal muscle as well as preconditioning of skeletal myoblasts components. These selected miRNAs and their targets in common carp may enhance the better understanding and knowhow of miRNAs as superior role in regulating the metabolism, growth and developmental factors of Cyprinus carpio.Not Availabl