Benitez, S., Duarte, C., Opitz, T., Lagos, N. A., Pulgar, J. M., Vargas, C. A., et al. (2017). Intertidal pool fish Girella laevifrons (Kyphosidae) shown strong physiological homeostasis but shy personality: The cost of living in hypercapnic habitats. Mar. Pollut. Bull., 118(1-2), 57–63.
Abstract: Tide pools habitats are naturally exposed to a high degree of environmental variability. The consequences of living in these extreme habitats are not well established. In particular, little it is known about of the effects of hypercanic seawater (i.e. high pCO(2) levels) on marine vertebrates such as intertidal pool fish. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of increased pCO(2) on the physiology and behavior in juveniles of the intertidal pool fish Girella laevifrons. Two nominal pCO(2) concentrations (400 and 1600 patm) were used. We found that exposure to hypercapnic conditions did not affect oxygen consumption and absorption efficiency. However, the lateralization and boldness behavior was significantly disrupted in high pCO(2) conditions. In general, a predator-risk cost of boldness is assumed, thus the increased occurrence of shy personality in juvenile fishes may result in a change in the balance of this biological interaction, with significant ecological consequences. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Cardenas, C., Guzman, F., Carmona, M., Munoz, C., Nilo, L., Labra, A., et al. (2020). Synthetic Peptides as a Promising Alternative to Control Viral Infections in Atlantic Salmon. Pathogens, 9(8), 600.
Abstract: Viral infections in salmonids represent an ongoing challenge for the aquaculture industry. Two RNA viruses, the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) and the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), have become a latent risk without healing therapies available for either. In this context, antiviral peptides emerge as effective and relatively safe therapeutic molecules. Based on in silico analysis of VP2 protein from IPNV and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from ISAV, a set of peptides was designed and were chemically synthesized to block selected key events in their corresponding infectivity processes. The peptides were tested in fish cell lines in vitro, and four were selected for decreasing the viral load: peptide GIM182 for IPNV, and peptides GIM535, GIM538 and GIM539 for ISAV. In vivo tests with the IPNV GIM 182 peptide were carried out using Salmo salar fish, showing a significant decrease of viral load, and proving the safety of the peptide for fish. The results indicate that the use of peptides as antiviral agents in disease control might be a viable alternative to explore in aquaculture.`
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Carrera, P., Campo, R., Mendez, R., Di Bella, G., Campos, J. L., Mosquera-Corral, A., et al. (2019). Does the feeding strategy enhance the aerobic granular sludge stability treating saline effluents? Chemosphere, 226, 865–873.
Abstract: The development and stability of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) was studied in two Sequencing Batch Reactors (SBRs) treating fish canning wastewater. R1 cycle comprised a fully aerobic reaction phase, while R2 cycle included a plug-flow anaerobic feeding/reaction followed by an aerobic reaction phase. The performance of the AGS reactors was compared treating the same effluents with variable salt concentrations (4.97-13.45 g NaCl/L) and organic loading rates (OLR, 1.80-6.65 kg CODs/(m(3).d)). Granulation process was faster in R2 (day 34) than in R1 (day 90), however the granular biomass formed in the fully aerobic configuration was more stable to the variable feeding composition. Thus, in R1 solid retention times (SRT), up to 15.2 days, longer than in R2, up to 5.8 days, were achieved. These long SRT5 values helped the retention of nitrifying organisms and provoked the increase of the nitrogen removal efficiency to 80% in R1 while it was approximately of 40% in R2. However, the presence of an anaerobic feeding/reaction phase increased the organic matter removal efficiency in R2 (80-90%) which was higher than in R1 with a fully aerobic phase (75-85%). Furthermore, in R2 glycogen-accumulating organisms (GAOs) dominated inside the granules instead of phosphorous-accumulating organisms (PADS), suggesting that GAOs resist better the stressful conditions of a variable and high-saline influent. In terms of AGS properties an anaerobic feeding/reaction phase is not beneficial, however it enables the production of a better quality effluent. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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del Rio, A. V., Pichel, A., Fernandez-Gonzalez, N., Pedrouso, A., Fra-Vazquez, A., Morales, N., et al. (2018). Performance and microbial features of the partial nitritation-anammox process treating fish canning wastewater with variable salt concentrations. J. Environ. Manage., 208, 112–121.
Abstract: The partial nitritation-anammox (PN-AMX) process applied to wastewaters with high NaCl concentration was studied until now using simulated media, without considering the effect of organic matter concentration and the shift in microbial populations. This research work presents results on the application of this process to the treatment of saline industrial wastewater. Obtained results indicated that the PN-AMX process has the capability to recover its initial activity after a sudden/acute salt inhibition event (up to 16 g NaCl/L). With a progressive salt concentration increase for 150 days, the PN-AMX process was able to remove the 80% of the nitrogen at 7-9 g NaCl/L. The microbiological data indicated that NaCl and ammonia concentrations and temperature are important factors shaping PN-AMX communities. Thus, the NOB abundance (Nitrospira) decreases with the increase of the salt concentration, while heterotrophic denitrifiers are able to outcompete anammox aftet a peak of organic matter in the feeding. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Harrison, R., & Lagunoff, R. (2019). Tipping points and business-as-usual in a global commons. J. Econ. Behav. Organ., 163, 386–408.
Abstract: This paper analyzes a dynamic strategic model of resource extraction from a global commons. Countries derive benefits from both direct extraction and aggregate conservation of an open access resource. Each period, a country's output depends both on its resource usage and on the global stock of the resource stored within the ecosystem. Leading examples are ocean fisheries, habitat preservation, forestry, and land carbon biomass. The production coefficients on these inputs vary across countries and evolve stochastically over time. A Business-as-usual (BAU) equilibrium characterizes each country's resource usage in the absence of an effective international agreement. Under non-concave resource dynamics, depletion of the resource in a BAU equilibrium may reach a tipping point below which the stock spirals downward toward a steady state of marginal sustainability. Under the assumptions of the model, the tipping points emerge endogenously. If the number of extractors exceeds some fixed, finite bound, the commons always tips regardless of the initial stock. We find that countries will accelerate their rates of extraction the closer they are to reaching the low-end steady state. By contrast, in the socially efficient plan the commons never tips if the initial stock is large. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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