Monitoring and ming bio-physical parameters for hypoxia hazard in a coastal sand pit

Management of coastal areas requires monitoring and modeling of the anthropogenic drivers and the bio-physical processes affecting water quality. To assess the range of hydrographic conditions controlling oxygen distribution in the bottom layers of sand pits, a multi-year oceanographic survey has been conducted in a coastal area with several extraction pits. Hydrographic data including profiles of temperature, salinity and oxygen were collected and related to local wind conditions and circulation. Moreover, 1D and 3D high-resolution non-hydrostatic ocean models were used to describe turbulent mixing regimes and to obtain the range of wind speeds for which the critical anoxic conditions may occur. It is shown that wind speed appears to control the dynamics of oxygen concentrations, with oxygen depleted zones developing in a short time in low wind speed conditions. Moreover, the depth and the shape of the extraction pit contribute to decrease the mixing of the bottom layers and increase the water retention in the hole increasing the output and the persistence of oxygen depleted zones in the excavated area. The results of the numerical simulations show that the risk of hypoxia at the bottom of the sand pits is associated with higher temperatures and wind speed lower than 5 m/s, which is not infrequent during the summer season. However, the number of consecutive days of oxygen depletion can be considered lower than the danger threshold level assumed in the literature

Dietary amino acids impact sperm performance traits for a catadromous fish, Anguilla anguilla reared in captivity

Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modifications of the content of this paper are prohibited.[EN] Little is known about the role of dietary amino acids on male reproductive performance and gamete quality in fishes. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate how "enhanced" feeds (EH-4, EH-5, EH-6), with modified amino acid composition, and the standard on-growing diet (DAN-EX) impact body composition, milt biochemistry, and sperm performance in male European eel, Anguilla anguilla. The fatty acid composition of EH4, EH-5, and EH-6 was similar but differed to that in DAN-EX, while amino acid composition varied between all four diets. Diet did not influence organ-somatic indices (e.g. HSI, GSI), while males fed EH-4 were heavier than other groups. Arginine, alanine, and lysine were the most abundant amino acids in milt (>11%), followed by glycine, aspartic acid, valine, glutamic acid, and leucine ( >5.66%). Diet impacted milt arginine, serine, proline, methionine, and histidine levels. Specifically, males fed DAN-EX, EH-4, and EH-5 had the highest percentages of arginine, while males fed EH-4 to EH-6 had higher percentages of serine. Proline was most abundant in males fed DAN-EX, EH-5, and EH-6. Both methionine and histidine were detected at low percentages ( 0.5 mL) for fertilization procedures. Spermatocrit (43.1 +/- 1.80%) did not differ between the diets (ranged from 37.57 to 47.21%). Dietary regime had an impact on sperm motility, such that eels fed EH-5 and EH-6 had the greatest percentage of motile cells. In addition, fish fed EH-5 and EH-6 (or DAN-EX) had the fastest swimming sperm. Spermatogenic maturity index of hormonally treated eels varied within groups but did not differ between dietary treatment groups after 9 weeks of injections (ranged from 0.54 to 0.80). The most interesting amino acids to scrutinize from PCA plots were proline, histidine, and valine as well as lysine and arginine. Here, eels with highly motile sperm had milt with high relative proportions of proline, histidine, and valine, but were particularly low in lysine and arginine. Together, our findings add evidence that certain amino acids regulate milt biochemistry, and that male ejaculate traits may be promoted by amino acid intake. Further studies to evaluate effects of supplemented amino acid diets on fertilization ability and inter-linked early developmental stages are required.This study was funded by the Innovation Fund Denmark under grant agreements no. 5184-00093B (EEL-HATCH) and 7076-00125B (ITSEEL). Butts IAE, was also supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1013854. Gallego V has a post-doc grant from the MICIU (Juan de la Cierva-Incorporacion; IJCI-201734200).Butts, IAE.; Hilmarsdóttir, GS.; Zadmajid, V.; Gallego Albiach, V.; Stottrup, JG.; Jacobsen, C.; Krüger-Johnsen, M.... (2020). Dietary amino acids impact sperm performance traits for a catadromous fish, Anguilla anguilla reared in captivity. Aquaculture. 518:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2019.734602112518Abd-Elrazek, A. M., & Ahmed-Farid, O. A. H. (2017). Protective effect of L-carnitine and L-arginine against busulfan-induced oligospermia in adult rat. Andrologia, 50(1), e12806. doi:10.1111/and.12806Akiyama, T., Shiraishi, M., Yamamoto, T., & Unuma, T. (1996). Effect of Dietary Tryptophan on Maturation of Ayu Plecoglossus altivelis. Fisheries science, 62(5), 776-782. doi:10.2331/fishsci.62.776Alavi, S. M. H., Pšenička, M., Policar, T., Rodina, M., Hamáčková, J., Kozák, P., & Linhart, O. (2009). Sperm quality in male Barbus barbus L. fed different diets during the spawning season. Fish Physiology and Biochemistry, 35(4), 683-693. doi:10.1007/s10695-009-9325-7Asturiano, J. F., Sorbera, L. A., Carrillo, M., Zanuy, S., Ramos, J., Navarro, J. C., & Bromage, N. (2001). Reproductive performance in male European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, L.) fed two PUFA-enriched experimental diets: a comparison with males fed a wet diet. Aquaculture, 194(1-2), 173-190. doi:10.1016/s0044-8486(00)00515-9Asturiano, J. F., Perez, L., Garzon, D. L., Penaranda, D. S., Marco-Jimenez, F., Martinez-Llorens, S., … Jover, M. (2005). Effect of different methods for the induction of spermiation on semen quality in European eel. Aquaculture Research, 36(15), 1480-1487. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2109.2005.01366.xBaeza, R., Mazzeo, I., Vílchez, M. C., Gallego, V., Peñaranda, D. S., Pérez, L., & Asturiano, J. F. (2014). Effect of thermal regime on fatty acid dynamics in male European eels (Anguilla anguilla) during hormonally-induced spermatogenesis. Aquaculture, 430, 86-97. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2014.03.045Baeza, R., Mazzeo, I., Vílchez, M. C., Gallego, V., Peñaranda, D. S., Pérez, L., & Asturiano, J. F. (2015). Relationship between sperm quality parameters and the fatty acid composition of the muscle, liver and testis of European eel. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 181, 79-86. doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2014.11.022Baeza, R., Peñaranda, D. S., Vílchez, M. C., Tveiten, H., Pérez, L., & Asturiano, J. F. (2015). Exploring correlations between sex steroids and fatty acids and their potential roles in the induced maturation of the male European eel. Aquaculture, 435, 328-335. doi:10.1016/j.aquaculture.2014.10.016Bahadorani, M., Tavalaee, M., Abedpoor, N., Ghaedi, K., Nazem, M. N., & Nasr-Esfahani, M. H. (2018). 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(2013). Evaluation of Methods to Determine Sperm Density for the European eel,Anguilla anguilla. Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 48(6), 936-944. doi:10.1111/rda.12189Støttrup, J. G., Jacobsen, C., Tomkiewicz, J., & Jarlbaek, H. (2012). Modification of essential fatty acid composition in broodstock of cultured European eelAnguilla anguillaL. Aquaculture Nutrition, 19(2), 172-185. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2095.2012.00967.xStøttrup, J. G., Tomkiewicz, J., Jacobsen, C., Butts, I. A. E., Holst, L. K., Krüger-Johnsen, M., … Kaushik, S. (2015). Development of a broodstock diet to improve developmental competence of embryos in European eel,Anguilla anguilla. Aquaculture Nutrition, 22(4), 725-737. doi:10.1111/anu.12299Dayal, J. S., Ahamad Ali, S., Thirunavukkarasu, A. R., Kailasam, M., & Subburaj, R. (2003). Nutrient an

Real-time intermembrane force measurements and imaging of lipid domain morphology during hemifusion

Membrane fusion is the core process in membrane trafficking and is essential for cellular transport of proteins and other biomacromolecules. During protein-mediated membrane fusion, membrane proteins are often excluded from the membrane-membrane contact, indicating that local structural transformations in lipid domains play a major role. However, the rearrangements of lipid domains during fusion have not been thoroughly examined. Here using a newly developed Fluorescence Surface Forces Apparatus (FL-SFA), migration of liquid-disordered clusters and depletion of liquid-ordered domains at the membrane-membrane contact are imaged in real time during hemifusion of model lipid membranes, together with simultaneous force-distance and lipid membrane thickness measurements. The load and contact time-dependent hemifusion results show that the domain rearrangements decrease the energy barrier to fusion, illustrating the significance of dynamic domain transformations in membrane fusion processes. Importantly, the FL-SFA can unambiguously correlate interaction forces and in situ imaging in many dynamic interfacial systems.open0

Changes in zooplankton community, and seston and zooplankton fatty acid profiles at the freshwater/saltwater interface of the Chowan River, North Carolina

The variability in zooplankton fatty acid composition may be an indicator of larval fish habitat quality as fatty acids are linked to fish larval growth and survival. We sampled an anadromous fish nursery, the Chowan River, during spring of 2013 in order to determine how the seston fatty acid composition varied in comparison with the zooplankton community composition and fatty acid composition during the period of anadromous larval fish residency. The seston fatty acid profiles showed no distinct pattern in relation to sampling time or location. The mesozooplankton community composition varied spatially and the fatty acid profiles were typical of freshwater species in April. The Chowan River experienced a saltwater intrusion event during May, which resulted in brackish water species dominating the zooplankton community and the fatty acid profile showed an increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), in particular eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The saltwater intrusion event was followed by an influx of freshwater due to high precipitation levels in June. The zooplankton community composition once again became dominated by freshwater species and the fatty acid profiles shifted to reflect this change; however, EPA levels remained high, particularly in the lower river. We found correlations between the seston, microzooplankton and mesozooplankton fatty acid compositions. Salinity was the main factor correlated to the observed pattern in species composition, and fatty acid changes in the mesozooplankton. These data suggest that anadromous fish nursery habitat likely experiences considerable spatial variability in fatty acid profiles of zooplankton prey and that are correlated to seston community composition and hydrodynamic changes. Our results also suggest that sufficient prey density as well as a diverse fatty acid composition is present in the Chowan River to support larval fish production

Flexibility of a Eukaryotic Lipidome – Insights from Yeast Lipidomics

Mass spectrometry-based shotgun lipidomics has enabled the quantitative and comprehensive assessment of cellular lipid compositions. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has proven to be a particularly valuable experimental system for studying lipid-related cellular processes. Here, by applying our shotgun lipidomics platform, we investigated the influence of a variety of commonly used growth conditions on the yeast lipidome, including glycerophospholipids, triglycerides, ergosterol as well as complex sphingolipids. This extensive dataset allowed for a quantitative description of the intrinsic flexibility of a eukaryotic lipidome, thereby providing new insights into the adjustments of lipid biosynthetic pathways. In addition, we established a baseline for future lipidomic experiments in yeast. Finally, flexibility of lipidomic features is proposed as a new parameter for the description of the physiological state of an organism

Cholesterol Induces Specific Spatial and Orientational Order in Cholesterol/Phospholipid Membranes

In lipid bilayers, cholesterol facilitates the formation of the liquid-ordered phase and enables the formation of laterally ordered structures such as lipid rafts. While these domains have an important role in a variety of cellular processes, the precise atomic-level mechanisms responsible for cholesterol's specific ordering and packing capability have remained unresolved

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Age-dependent Increase in Desmosterol Restores DRM Formation and Membrane-related Functions in Cholesterol-free DHCR24−/− Mice

Cholesterol is a prominent modulator of the integrity and functional activity of physiological membranes and the most abundant sterol in the mammalian brain. DHCR24-knock-out mice lack cholesterol and accumulate desmosterol with age. Here we demonstrate that brain cholesterol deficiency in 3-week-old DHCR24−/− mice was associated with altered membrane composition including disrupted detergent-resistant membrane domain (DRM) structure. Furthermore, membrane-related functions differed extensively in the brains of these mice, resulting in lower plasmin activity, decreased β-secretase activity and diminished Aβ generation. Age-dependent accumulation and integration of desmosterol in brain membranes of 16-week-old DHCR24−/− mice led to the formation of desmosterol-containing DRMs and rescued the observed membrane-related functional deficits. Our data provide evidence that an alternate sterol, desmosterol, can facilitate processes that are normally cholesterol-dependent including formation of DRMs from mouse brain extracts, membrane receptor ligand binding and activation, and regulation of membrane protein proteolytic activity. These data indicate that desmosterol can replace cholesterol in membrane-related functions in the DHCR24−/− mouse

Cholesterol Induces Specific Spatial and Orientational Order in Cholesterol/Phospholipid Membranes

In lipid bilayers, cholesterol facilitates the formation of the liquid-ordered phase and enables the formation of laterally ordered structures such as lipid rafts. While these domains have an important role in a variety of cellular processes, the precise atomic-level mechanisms responsible for cholesterol's specific ordering and packing capability have remained unresolved

Evolutionary effects of alternative artificial propagation programs: implications for viability of endangered anadromous salmonids

Most hatchery programs for anadromous salmonids have been initiated to increase the numbers of fish for harvest, to mitigate for habitat losses, or to increase abundance in populations at low abundance. However, the manner in which these programs are implemented can have significant impacts on the evolutionary trajectory and long-term viability of populations. In this paper, we review the potential benefits and risks of hatchery programs relative to the conservation of species listed under the US Endangered Species Act. To illustrate, we present the range of potential effects within a population as well as among populations of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) where changes to major hatchery programs are being considered. We apply evolutionary considerations emerging from these examples to suggest broader principles for hatchery uses that are consistent with conservation goals. We conclude that because of the evolutionary risks posed by artificial propagation programs, they should not be viewed as a substitute for addressing other limiting factors that prevent achieving viability. At the population level, artificial propagation programs that are implemented as a short-term approach to avoid imminent extinction are more likely to achieve long-term population viability than approaches that rely on long-term supplementation. In addition, artificial propagation programs can have out-of-population impacts that should be considered in conservation planning