Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) function in soil phosphorus cycle, increasing the bioavailability of soil phosphorus for plants. Isolation and application of salt-tolerant or halophilic PSB will facilitate the development of saline-alkali soil-based agriculture. A moderately halophilic bacterium was isolated from the sediment of Daqiao saltern on the eastern coast of China, which also performs phosphate-solubilizing ability. The bacterium was assigned to genus Kushneria according to its 16S rRNA gene sequence, and accordingly named as Kushneria sp. YCWA18. The fastest growth was observed when the culturing temperature was 28°C and the concentration of NaCl was 6% (w/v). It was founds that the bacterium can survive at a concentration of NaCl up to 20%. At the optimum condition, the bacterium solubilized 283.16 μg/mL phosphorus in 11 days after being inoculated in 200 mL Ca3(PO4)2 containing liquid medium, and 47.52 μg/mL phosphorus in 8 days after being inoculated in 200 mL lecithin-containing liquid medium. The growth of the bacterium was concomitant with a significant decrease of acidity of the medium.

Mangrovibacterium diazotrophicum gen. nov., sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from a mangrove sediment, and proposal of Prolixibacteraceae fam. nov.

Microplastics with complex polymer compositions are present in a lot of local marine organisms.

Biodiversity of hydrothermal vents in the Indian Ocean, particularly those on the Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR), are still relatively poorly understood. The Tiancheng field on the SWIR was initially reported with only a low-temperature diffuse flow venting area, but here we report two new active areas, including a chimney emitting high-temperature vent fluids. Biological sampling in these new sites doubled the known megafauna and macrofauna richness reported from Tiancheng. Significantly, we found several iconic species, such as the scaly-foot snail and the first Alviniconcha population on the SWIR. Tiancheng shares a high proportion of taxa with vents on the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) and lacks a number of key taxa that characterize other vents investigated so far on the SWIR. Population genetics of the scaly-foot snail confirmed this, as the Tiancheng population was clustered with populations from the CIR, showing low connectivity with the Longqi field. Unlike the previously examined populations, scales of the Tiancheng scaly-foot snail were coated in zinc sulfide, although this results only from precipitation. The close connection between Tiancheng and CIR vents indicates that the dispersal barrier for vent endemic species is not the Rodriguez Triple Junction as previously suggested but the transformation faults between Tiancheng and Longqi, warranting further studies on deep currents in this area to resolve the key barrier, which has important implications for biological conservation.