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The behaviour of individual abalone in a population is known to vary, and higher levels of activity are linked to better survival rate and faster growth. Considering that continuous illumination at night may cause stress to the abalone which would affect their behaviour over time, in this study observations were made under brief and minimal illumination. The observation lasted for 30 days. The relationships between activity traits were analysed in juvenile Haliotis discus hannai Ino, such as forage frequency, duration and trajectories; flow preference; and aggregation size. The aim was to identify an indicator of the abalone activity status, with the ultimate objective being to provide activity‐related data that might be useful in farm rearing. Ten traits related to locomotion behaviour of 47 juvenile abalone were recorded under laboratory conditions. The results showed that the exploratory level varied between individuals. More exploratory individuals foraged more frequently, spent more time outside hides, started foraging earlier and preferred higher water flow rate than less exploratory individuals. More exploratory and less exploratory individuals also differed in their extensive movements, hide‐shift frequency and aggregation size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juvenile Pacific abalone (Haliotis discus hannai Ino) are currently reared in land‐based aquaculture systems until they reach the necessary size for seeding in the sea. One problem that this industry faces is that an uneven distribution of juveniles in tanks can lead to variations in the growth rate. Understanding the cues that affect the sheltering behaviours exhibited by juvenile Pacific abalone—namely, the food distribution and the water flow velocity—will help optimize abalone culture settings. In this study, a group of 1,000 juvenile Pacific abalone (distributed across three tanks) was visually observed and enumerated during six experiments that were conducted over a 5‐month study period. It was found that juvenile Pacific abalone preferred to shelter close to food sources when the food was unevenly distributed. When the food was evenly distributed, the juveniles tended to avoid areas of rapid water flow and distributed evenly across the sheltered areas receiving the equal water velocity. This distribution might be the confounding effects between water flow velocity and food stimulus. Based on these findings, it was recommend that the food and water velocity be evenly distributed in an abalone aquaculture system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitogenome of Haliotis iris, an economically important shellfish endemic to New Zealand, was sequenced for the first time. The mitogenome was 17,131 base pairs (bp) in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes and a control region. All 13 genes were initiated by the start codon ATG, except for nad5 (ATA). Two typical stop codons, TAA and TAG, were present. All of the tRNAs could be folded into typical cloverleaf secondary structures except tRNASer1 and tRNALys, which lacked a DHU stem and complete amino acid acceptor stem, respectively. The control region was 1132 bp in length and contained six AT tandem repeats. According to the gene order of the mitogenome, the 30 analysed Vetigastropoda species could be classified into three types—type I: over half of the studied species were very similar to the gastropod ancestral gene order, and the rearrangements occurred in five tRNAs; type II: eight species were found to be missing several tRNA genes; type III: Fissurellidae, Lepetodrilidae showed a large inverted fragment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genes encoded in nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA), which comprise a multi-family of genes with tandem repeat units, play an important role in nucleolus formation. In the present study, we sequenced and analysed the complete rDNA sequence of an economically important shellfish in Australia, Haliotis rubra. The single rDNA unit measured 9881 base pairs (bp) in length and included the following elements in order: 18S rRNA (1858 bp), internal transcribed spacers (ITS, 756 bp), 28S rRNA (3413 bp) and an intergenic spacer (IGS, 3854 bp). The phylogenetic tree was constructed using abalone ITS sequences; here, the relationship revealed that abalone species within the same region and with same chromosome number tended to cluster within a clade. The positions of putative transcription termination and RNA transcription initiation sites were predicted in the IGS region. A comparative sequence complexity analysis and dot plots revealed a high level of variability in the IGS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The black-footed abalone Haliotis iris is an economically important shellfish species in New Zealand. We successfully amplified, sequenced and analysed the complete nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) of H. iris. The length of the nrDNA was determined to be around 9.6 kb and included, in order, small subunit ribosomal RNA (nrSSU, 1858bp), internal transcribed spacer (ITS, 749 bp), large subunit ribosomal RNA (nrLSU, 3412bp) and an intergenic spacer (IGS, 3560-3662 bp). The nrLSU genes were identical in two individuals, whereas the nrSSU and ITS regions existed at three and four base differences, respectively. The IGS was more variable than the other nrDNA regions. A phylogenetic tree was constructed based on the ITS sequence datasets, which revealed that Haliotidae has two major subclades, mainly distributed in the North Pacific, Europe and Australia. The complete nrDNA sequence will be useful for the classification, phylogeny and breeding of this shellfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai (Haliotidae, Gastropoda) is an economically important shellfish species in northern China. The complete nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) of Pacific abalone was amplified, sequenced, and analyzed. The length of the nrDNA was determined to be around 10.7 kb, and to contain, in order, small subunit ribosomal RNA (nrSSU) genes (1871 bp), internal transcribed spacer (ITS, 759-762 bp), large subunit ribosomal RNA (nrLSU) gene (3411 bp), and an intergenic spacer (IGS, 4624-4654 bp). The SSU and LSU regions were almost identical in different individuals, and show little variation from those of other abalone species. The two different variations of the ITS2 region were presented, and this phenomenon also existed in other species. A phylogeny tree was constructed, based on ITS region sequence datasets, to determine the evolutionary relationships of abalones. Abalones have two major subclades, mainly distributed in the North Pacific, Europe and Australia. The IGS region of the nrDNA was sequenced and analyzed for the first time. Several repeat fragments were present upstream of the sequence, and were significantly different between individuals (93.86% sequence identity). The complete nrDNA sequence will be useful for the classification, identification, phylogeny, germplasm management, and breeding of this shellfish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nutrient removal and biomass production of the internal circulating fluidized bed microalgae membrane bioreactor (ICFB-MMBR) was studied under different cultivation modes, influent TOC, influent pH, and influent N/P. Platymonas helgolandica tsingtaoensis was used as the biological source. The growth of P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis and the removal efficiency of pollutants in the mixotrophy culture mode were improved compared with other culture modes. With the increased influent TOC, the average growth rate of P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis increased, and ammonia nitrogen and total phosphorus removal rate were improved. The P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis growth rate and nutrient removal efficiencies at the influent pH of 8 were the best among the different influent pH values. As the influent N/P ratio increased from 5 to 20, the P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis growth rate and pollutant removal rate increased gradually. When the influent N/P ratio was higher than 20, the P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis growth rate and pollutant removal rate tended to be stable and did not significantly change with the increase of influent N/P ratio. At the proper influent conditions, the high P. helgolandica tsingtaoensis biomass and nutrient removal efficiency could be obtained in the microalgae membrane bioreactor, which could provide a theoretical basis for the application of the system for wastewater treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the biological fluidized bed system was used to treat seafood processing wastewater. The sludge was collected from the secondary sedimentation tank of a municipal wastewater treatment plant and acclimated for 200 days before the experiment. The treatment efficiencies of simulated seafood processing wastewater by biological fluidized bed system with different sludge concentrations, different hydraulic retention times (HRTs) and different bio-carriers were studied. The results showed that the removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus increased with the increasing sludge concentration and by extending hydraulic retention time, and the higher removal efficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus could be obtained with the higher specific surface area of the bio-carrier. The nitrogen removal process analysis showed that the nitrification and denitrification activity of sludge could be changed with different operation conditions resulting in different nitrogen removal efficiency in the biological fluidized bed system. This was mainly because the change tendency of the ammonia nitrogen oxidizing process, nitrite oxidizing process, nitrite reduction process and nitrate reduction process was different with different operation conditions in a high salinity environment. Theoretically, the difference of the inhibitory effect of a high-salt environment on different nitrification and denitrification processes could be used to realize shortcut nitrification denitrification by controlling a certain operation condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mariculture wastewater treatment performance for the combined system of anoxic filter and membrane bioreactor (AF-MBR) was investigated under different hydraulic retention times (HRTs), influent alkalinity, and influent ammonia nitrogen load. The results showed that the removal efficiencies of TOC and total nitrogen were slightly better at the HRT of 8 h than at other HRTs, and the phosphate removal efficiency decreased with the increase of HRT. With the increase of influent alkalinity, the removal of TOC and phosphate did not change significantly. With the increase of influent alkalinity from 300 mg/L to 500 mg/L, the total nitrogen removal efficiency of AF-MBR was improved, but the change of the removal efficiency was not obvious when the alkalinity increased from 500 mg/L to 600 mg/L. When the influent concentration of ammonia nitrogen varied from 20 mg/L to 50 mg/L, the removal efficiencies of TOC, phosphate, and total nitrogen by AF-MBR were stable. An interesting finding was that in all the different operation conditions examined, the treatment efficiency of AF-MBR was always better than that of the control MBR. The concentrations of NO3−-N in AF-MBR were relatively low, whereas NO3−-N accumulated in the control MBR. The reason was that the microorganisms attached to the carrier and remained fixed in the aerobic and anoxic spaces, so that there was a gradual enrichment of bacteria characterized by slow growth in a high-salt environment. In addition, the microorganisms could gather and grow on the carrier forming a biofilm with higher activity, a richer and more stable population, and enhanced ability to resist a load impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-COOH), a MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane was prepared by a vacuum filtration cross-linking method. The surface compositions and morphology of conductive membranes were studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy, respectively. The effects of cross-linked polymeric polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) on the conductive membrane properties such as the porosity, pore size distribution, pure water flux, conductivity, hydrophilicity, stability and antifouling properties were investigated. Results showed that the addition of PVA to the MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane decreased the pure water flux, porosity and the conductivity. However, the hydrophilicity of the modified MWCNTs/PVDF conductive membrane was greatly improved, and the contact angle of pure water was reduced from 70.18° to 25.48° with the addition of PVA contents from 0 wt% to 0.05 wt%. Meanwhile, the conductive membranes with higher content had a relatively higher stability. It was found that the conductive functional layer of the conductive membrane had an average mass loss rate of 1.22% in the 30 min ultrasonic oscillation experiment. The tensile intensity and break elongation ratio of the conductive membrane are improved by the addition of PVA, and the durability of the conductive membrane with PVA was superior to that without PVA added. The electric assisted anti-fouling experiments of modified conductive membrane indicated that compared with the condition without electric field, the average flux attenuation of the conductive membrane was reduced by 11.2%, and the membrane flux recovery rate reached 97.05%. Moreover, the addition of PVA could accelerate the clean of the conductive membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the complete mitochondrial genome of the hybrid of Haliotis discus hannai (♀) × Haliotis iris (♂) was sequenced and analyzed for the first time. The mitogenome had a length of 16,719 bp and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 rRNA genes, 22 tRNA genes, and 1 control region (CR). The sequence identity of the complete mtDNA sequences between the hybrid F1 and H. discus hannai was 99.40%, which revealed that the mitogenome of the hybrid subjected to the maternal inheritance rule. The phylogenetic analysis also presented that the hybrid F1 was relatively more close to H. discus hannai. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete mitochondrial genome of Pacific abalone Haliotis discus hannai, an economically valuable shellfish in China, was sequenced and analyzed. The mitogenome was 16,716 bp in length and contained 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes, and a putative control region. The gene arrangement and orientation were identical with other Haliotis species. Phylogenetic tree was constructed based on 13 PCGs of 7 Haliotidae species to assess their phylogenetic relationship, the tree revealed that H. discus hannai was more closely to H. rufescens and H. iris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) were operated at 35 °C (H-AnMBR) and 25 °C (L-AnMBR) for long-term wastewater treatment. Two aerobic forward osmosis membrane bioreactors (FOMBRs) were utilized to treat the effluents of H-AnMBR and L-AnMBR, respectively. During the 180 days of operation, it is worth noting that the combined system was feasible, and the pollutant removal efficiency was higher. Though the permeate chemical oxygen demand (COD) of H-AnMBR (18.94 mg/L) was obviously lower than that of L-AnMBR (51.09 mg/L), the permeate CODs of the FOMBRs were almost the same with the average concentrations of 7.57 and 7.58 mg/L for the H-FOMBR and L-FOMBR, respectively. It was interesting that for both the AnMBRs, the permeate total nitrogen (TN) concentration was higher than that in bulk phase. However, the TN concentrations in the effluent remained stable with the values of 20.12 and 15.22 mg/L in the H-FOMBR and L-FOMBR effluents, respectively. For the two systems, the characteristics of activated sludge flocs were different for H-AnMBR-FOMBR sludge and L-AnMBR-FOMBR sludge. The viscosity of L-AnMBR-activated sludge (2.09 Pa·s) was higher compared to that of H-AnMBR (1.31 Pa·s), while the viscosity of activated sludge in L-FOMBR (1.44 Pa·s) was a little lower than that in H-FOMBR (1.48 Pa·s). The capillary water absorption time of L-AnMBR-activated sludge (69.6 s) was higher compared to that of H-AnMBR (49.5 s), while the capillary water absorption time of activated sludge in L-FOMBR (14.6 s) was little lower than that in H-FOMBR (15.6 s). The particle size of H-AnMBR-activated sludge (119.62 nm) was larger than that of L-AnMBR-activated sludge (84.92 nm), but the particle size of H-FOMBR-activated sludge (143.81 nm) was significantly smaller than that of L-FOMBR-activated sludge (293.38 nm). The observations of flocs indicated that the flocs of activated sludge in H-AnMBR were relatively loose, while the flocs of L-AnMBR were relatively tight. The fine sludge floc was less present in the L-FOMBR than in the H-FOMBR. Therefore, in the process of sewage treatment, the influent of each unit in the AnMBR-FOMBR system should have suitable organic content to maintain the particle sizes of sludge flocs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microalgae membrane bioreactor (MMBR) with internal circulating fluidized bed (ICFB) was constructed at room temperature to study the removal efficiency of marine aquaculture wastewater pollutants and continuously monitor the biomass of microalgae. Within 40 days of operation, the removal efficiency of NO3−–N and NH4+–N in the ICFB-MMBR reached 52% and 85%, respectively, and the removal amount of total nitrogen (TN) reached 16.2 mg/(L·d). In addition, the reactor demonstrated a strong phosphorus removal capacity. The removal efficiency of PO43−–P reached 80%. With the strengthening of internal circulation, the microalgae could be distributed evenly and enriched quickly. The maximum growth rate and biomass concentration reached 60 mg/(L·d) and 1.4 g/L, respectively. The harvesting of microalgae did not significantly affect the nitrogen and phosphorus removal efficiency of ICFB-MMBR. The membrane fouling of the reactor was investigated by monitoring transmembrane pressure difference (TMP). Overall, the membrane fouling cycle of ICFB-MMBR system was more than 40 days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the characteristics of activated sludge flocs were investigated and their effects on the evolution of membrane fouling were considered in the anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR), which were operated at 25 and 35 °C for municipal wastewater treatment. It was found that the membrane fouling rate of the AnMBR at 25 °C was more severe than that at 35 °C. The membrane fouling trends were not consistent with the change in the concentration of soluble microbial product (SMP). The larger amount of SMP in the AnMBR at 35 °C did not induce more severe membrane fouling than that in the AnMBR at 25 °C. However, the polysaccharide and protein concentration of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) was higher in the AnMBR at 25 °C in comparison with that in the AnMBR at 35 °C, and the protein/polysaccharide ratio of the EPS in the AnMBR at 25 °C was higher in contrast to that in the AnMBR at 35 °C. Meanwhile, the fouling tendencies measured for the AnMBRs could be related to the characteristics of loosely bound EPS and tightly bound EPS. The analysis of the activated sludge flocs characteristics indicated that a smaller sludge particle size and more fine flocs were observed at the AnMBR with 25 °C. Therefore, the membrane fouling potential in the AnMBR could be explained by the characteristics of activated sludge flocs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L, which can thrive in extreme environments of the Antarctic, could represent a promising alternative for polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) production. A new Δ12-fatty acid desaturase (FAD)-encoding gene (Δ12CiFAD), 1269 bp in size, was cloned from Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L. Bioinformatics analysis showed that Δ12CiFAD-encoded protein was homologous to known FADs with conserved histidine motifs, and localized to the chloroplast. Functional analysis of Δ12CiFAD indicated that recombinant Synechococcus 6803 expressing Δ12CiFAD could accumulate C18:2, whereas recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing this enzyme could not accumulate C18:2 or any other new fatty acids. These results indicate that Δ12CiFAD is a functional enzyme in the chloroplast that can adjust Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L cell membrane fluidity to adapt to Antarctic extreme low-temperature environments, which give us insights into the frigostable and cold-resistant mechanisms of hypothermic organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR) with ring membrane module were operated under mesophilic temperature (M-AnMBR) and atmospheric temperature (A-AnMBR). Compared to the M-AnMBR, the removal efficiency of the A-AnMBR was found to be lower and the faster membrane fouling occurred in the A-AnMBR under corresponding hydraulic retention time (HRT). The MiSeq high-throughput sequencing was applied to analyze the microbial community structure. The HRT change had different effects on the community richness and diversity of the cake and bulk sludge. The abundance of phylum Proteobacteria in the M-AnMBR was higher than that in the A-AnMBR, which should account for the higher removal of nutrients in the M-AnMBR. The faster membrane fouling would occur in the A-AnMBR due to the relatively high abundance of Bacteroidetes in the bulk sludge and cake sludge. Moreover, specific comparison down to the genus level showed that the dominant abundant bacterial genera were Candidate division OP8 norank and Anaerolineaceae uncultured in the cake sludge for M-AnMBR, and were VadinHA17 norank, WCHB1-69 norank, VadinBC27 wastewater-sludge group, and Synergistaceae uncultured in the cake sludge for A-AnMBR The different representative genera with the variation of the HRTs for the two bioreactors might indicate the different performance between the two AnMBRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]