The night migration complex in the bottom zone of the shallow-water slope on the east coast of southern Lake Baikal near the village of Kluevka was investigated. According to the observations, it was established that the pelagic fish of the suborder Cottoidei and the pelagic amphipodMacrohectopus branickiican sporadically participate in the migration complex. The mass presence of benthic amphipods was highest in the first minute of observations, with more than 250 individuals/freeze-frame, and then stabilized at 43-65 individuals/freeze-frame. The Juday net-collected amphipods comprised only one typically benthic species,Micruropus wohlii platycercus, which is known to be a nocturnal migrant. For the first time, the typically pelagic speciesM. branickii, was observed in the migratory complex over shallow coastal shoal, which species, according to all previous studies, was considered to inhabit only greater depths and to avoid areas with depths of less than 100 m, such as shallow-water slope bottom zones.

Genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity facilitate the migration into new habitats and enable organisms to cope with a rapidly changing environment. In contrast to genetic adaptation that spans multiple generations as an evolutionary process, phenotypic plasticity allows acclimation within the life-time of an organism. Genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity are usually studied in isolation, however, only by including their interactive impact, we can understand acclimation and adaptation in nature. We aimed to explore the contribution of adaptation and plasticity in coping with an abiotic (salinity) and a biotic (Vibrio bacteria) stressor using six different populations of the broad-nosed pipefish Syngnathus typhle that originated from either high [14–17 Practical Salinity Unit (PSU)] or low (7–11 PSU) saline environments along the German coastline of the Baltic Sea. We exposed wild caught animals, to either high (15 PSU) or low (7 PSU) salinity, representing native and novel salinity conditions and allowed animals to mate. After male pregnancy, offspring was split and each half was exposed to one of the two salinities and infected with Vibrio alginolyticus bacteria that were evolved at either of the two salinities in a fully reciprocal design. We investigated life-history traits of fathers and expression of 47 target genes in mothers and offspring. Pregnant males originating from high salinity exposed to low salinity were highly susceptible to opportunistic fungi infections resulting in decreased offspring size and number. In contrast, no signs of fungal infection were identified in fathers originating from low saline conditions suggesting that genetic adaptation has the potential to overcome the challenges encountered at low salinity. Offspring from parents with low saline origin survived better at low salinity suggesting genetic adaptation to low salinity. In addition, gene expression analyses of juveniles indicated patterns of local adaptation, trans-generational plasticity and developmental plasticity. In conclusion, our study suggests that pipefish are locally adapted to the low salinity in their environment, however, they are retaining phenotypic plasticity, which allows them to also cope with ancestral salinity levels and prevailing pathogens.

Based on the chemical structure and the known chemical synthesis of the marine sponge alkaloid ageladine A, we synthesized the ageladine A-derivative 4-(naphthalene-2-yl)-1H-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine trifluoroacetate (LysoGlow84). The two-step synthesis started with the Pictet-Spengler reaction of histamine and naphthalene-2-carbaldehyde to a tetrahydropyridine intermediate, which was dehydrogenated with activated manganese (IV) oxide to LysoGlow84. Structure and purity of the synthesized LysoGlow84 were confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The fluorescence intensity emitted by LysoGlow84 depended strongly on the pH of the solvent with highest fluorescence intensity recorded at pH 4. The fluorescence maximum (at 315 nm excitation) was observed at 440 nm. Biocompatibility of LysoGlow84 was investigated using cultured rat brain astrocytes and the marine flatworm Macrostomum lignano. Exposure of the astrocytes for up to 6 h to micromolar concentrations of LysoGlow84 did not compromise cell viability, as demonstrated by several viability assays, but revealed a promising property of this compound for staining of cellular vesicles. Conventional fluorescence microscopy as well as confocal scanning microscopy of LysoGlow84-treated astrocytes revealed co-localization of LysoGlow84 fluorescence with that of LysoTracker® Red DND-99. LysoGlow84 stained unclear structures in Macrostomum lignano, which were identified as lysosomes by co-staining with LysoTracker. Strong fluorescence staining by LysoGlow84 was further observed around the worms’ anterior gut and the female genital pore which were not counterstained by LysoTracker Red. Thus, LysoGlow84 is a new promising dye that stains lysosomes and other acidic compartments in cultured cells and in worms.

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