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Dactylogyrus is one of the most common parasitic diseases in fish and causes huge losses to the aquaculture industry. With the advantages of safety, low toxicity and easy degradation, plant‐derived drugs are ideal for the creation of green aquatic ingredients. The use of plant‐derived drugs in aquaculture is limited by their low content and high processing costs, which is a challenge that can be solved by the chemical synthesis of plant‐derived drugs. Eleven new coumarin derivatives were synthesized and assessed for their anthelmintic activity in this study. Among them, the derivative 7‐((1‐tosyl‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl)methoxy)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one (N11) has good anthelmintic activity and its mean anthelmintic efficacy against D. intermedius at a concentration of 10 μM reached 99.84%, which is even better than the anthelmintic activity of the positive control mebendazole. Further studies showed that N11 had concentration values of 3.31 and 1.94 μM for 50% maximal effect (EC50) against D. intermedius at 24 and 48 h, respectively. Furthermore, scanning electron microscopy revealed that N11 caused damage to D. intermedius. What is more noteworthy is that a substantial reduction in the ATP content of the parasite was observed following in vitro and in vivo administration of N11. Moreover, it was also found that N11 was able to inhibit the horizontal transmission of D. intermedius. Furthermore, real‐time quantitative PCR analysis was utilized to determine the expression profile of genes associated with anti‐inflammatory cytokines (IL‐10, TGF‐β and IL‐4) in goldfish. In all examined organs, it was observed that the expression of anti‐inflammatory cytokines increased subsequent to treatment with N11, according to the results. Thus, these results all suggest that N11 possesses good anthelmintic activity and is a potentially effective agent for the control of D. intermedius. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are widely used in industrial and commercial applications, but few studies systematically evaluate their developmental toxicity on aquatic organism. Using rare minnow ( Gobiocypris rarus) at early life stages as experimental models, developmental toxicity of functionalized single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) was investigated following exposure to 0-320 mg/L for 144 h. Results revealed that significantly increased in mortality and malformation was only observed after hatching. Decreased body length, heart rate and swimming speed provide a concentration-dependent manner on larvae; values of 144 h LC50 and EC50 were 140.8 and 109.8 mg/L, respectively. Antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione S-transferase) and antioxidant enzyme related mRNA expressions were significant changed; cell apoptosis activities (caspase-3, -8, -9) and cell apoptosis related mRNA expressions were significant up-regulated; reactive oxygen species and DNA damage were significantly induced when the concentration of SWCNTs above 100 mg/L. Fluorescence and electron microscopy sliced observation show that SWCNTs were well dispersed in larvae within 0.5 h, eventually cleared from the larvae at 144 h. This is the first study to define uptake kinetics and to focus on behavioral consequences, physiological changes and mRNA expression following SWCNTs exposure in the early life stages of fish. The results obtained in the present study demonstrated that functionalized SWCNTs have the potential to affect aquatic life when released into the aquatic environment and reached high concentration. In the increasing economical context of SWCNTs, complementary studies must be undertaken, especially including mechanistic and environmental investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selecting the 15-year abandoned land (AL) and three forest lands [Phyllostachys edulis plantation (PE), Schima superba secondary forest (SS), and Cunninghamia Lanceolata plantation (CL)] in Anfu County of Jiangxi Province as test objects, this paper studied the effects of land use change on the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and soil labile organic carbon (SLOC) contents. The soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC), hot-water extractable carbon (HWC), and readily oxidizable carbon (ROC) contents in the test lands were all in the order of PE>CL>SS>AL. As compared with those in AL, the SOC content, soil carbon stock, and soil labile organic carbon (SLOC) contents in the three forest lands all decreased with increasing soil depth, and had an obvious accumulation in surface soil. The proportions of different kinds of SLOC to soil total organic carbon differed markedly, among which, ROC had the highest proportion, while MBC had the smallest one. There existed significant relationships between SOC, MBC, HWC, and ROC. The MBC, HWC, and ROC contained higher content of active carbon, and were more sensitive to the land use change, being able to be used as the indicators for evaluating the soil quality and fertility in central Jiangxi Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) causes devastating losses in aquaculture. Coumarin has an advantageous structure for the design of novel antiviral agents with high affinity and specificity. In this study, we evaluated a hydroxycoumarin medicine, i.e., 7-(6-benzimidazole) coumarin (C10), regarding its anti-SVCV effects in vitro and in vivo . Results showed that up to 12.5 mg/L C10 significantly inhibited SVCV replication in the epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cell line, with a maximum inhibitory rate of >97%. Furthermore, C10 significantly reduced cell death and relieved cellular morphological damage in SVCV-infected cells. Decreased mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) also suggested that C10 not only protected mitochondria, but also reduced apoptosis in SVCV-infected cells. For in vivo studies, intraperitoneal injection of C10 resulted in an anti-SVCV effect and substantially enhanced the survival rate of virus-infected zebrafish. Furthermore, C10 significantly enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities and decreased reactive oxygen species (ROS) to maintain antioxidant-oxidant balance within the host, thereby contributing to inhibition of SVCV replication. The up-regulation of six interferon (IFN)-related genes also demonstrated that C10 indirectly activated IFNs for the clearance of SVCV in zebrafish. This was beneficial for the continuous maintenance of antiviral effects because of the low viral loads in fish. Thus, C10 is suggested as a therapeutic agent with great potential against SVCV infection in aquaculture.

As one of the most serious pathogens in the freshwater aquatic environment, Saprolegnia can induce a high mortality rate during the fish egg incubation period. This study investigated the anti-Saprolegnia activity of a total of 108 plants on Saprolegnia parasitica in vitro and Dioscorea collettii was selected for further studies. By loading on an open silica gel column and eluting with petroleum ether-ethyl acetate-methanol, dioscin (C45H72O16) was isolated from D. collettii. Saprolegnia parasitica growth was inhibited significantly when dioscin concentration was more than 2.0 mg L(-1). When compared with formalin and hydrogen peroxide, dioscin showed a higher inhibitory effect. As potential inhibition mechanisms, dioscin could cause the S. parasitica mycelium morphologic damage, dense folds, or disheveled protuberances observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and the influx of Propidium iodide. The structural changes in the treated mycelium were indicative of an efficient anti-Saprolegnia activity of dioscin. The oxidative stress results showed that dioscin also accumulated reactive oxygen species excessively and increased total antioxidant and superoxide dismutase activity. These situations could render S. parasitica more vulnerable to oxidative damage. Additionally, when dioscin concentration was less than 2.0 mg L(-1), the survival rate of embryos was more than 70%. Therefore, the use of dioscin could be a viable way of preventing and controlling saprolegniasis., (© FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)