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As from January 2010 The Israeli Journal of Aquaculture-Bamidgeh (IJA) will be published exclusively as an on-line Open Access (OA) quarterly accessible by all AquacultureHub (http://www.aquaculturehub.org) members and registered individuals and institutions. Please visit our website (http://siamb.org.il) for free registration form, further information and instructions. This transformation from a subscription printed version to an on-line OA journal, aims at supporting the concept that scientific peer-reviewed publications should be made available to all, including those with limited resources. The OA IJA does not enforce author or subscription fees and will endeavor to obtain alternative sources of income to support this policy for as long as possible.

Sorafenib (SRF) presents undesirable effects in clinical treatment, due to the lack of targeting, poor water solubility, and obvious side effects. In this study, we constructed a novel nanodrug carrier system for accurate and efficient delivery of SRF, improving its therapeutic effects and achieving tumor-specific imaging. The hollow mesoporous MnO 2 (H-MnO 2 ) nanoparticles equipped with target substance aptamers (APT) on the surface were used to load SRF for the first time. The resulting H-MnO 2 -SRF-APT could specifically bound to glypican-3 (GPC3) receptors on the surface of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), rapidly undergoing subsequent degradation under decreased pH conditions in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and releasing the loaded SRF. In this process, Mn 2+ ions were used for T 1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging simultaneously. The in vitro cell experiments indicated that H-MnO 2 -SRF-APT showed much more effects on the inhibition in the proliferation of Huh7 and HepG2 HCC cells than that of the non-targeted H-MnO 2 -SRF and free SRF. Besides, the in vivo results further confirmed that H-MnO 2 -SRF-APT could effectively inhibit the growth of xenograft tumors Huh7 in the naked mouse with good biosafety. In conclusion, H-MnO 2 -SRF-APT could significantly enhance the therapeutic effect of SRF and is expected to be a new way of diagnosis and treatment of HCC.

Karenia mikimotoi is a widespread, toxic and non-calcifying dinoflagellate, which can release and produce ichthyotoxins and hemolytic toxins affecting the food web within the area of its bloom. Shifts in the physiological characteristics of K. mikimotoi due to CO2-induced seawater acidification could alter the occurrence, severity and impacts of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Here, we investigated the effects of elevated pCO2 on the physiology of K. mikimotoi. Using semi-continuous cultures under controlled laboratory conditions, growth, photosynthesis and inorganic carbon acquisition were determined over 4–6 week incubations at ambient (390ppmv) and elevated pCO2 levels (1000 ppmv and 2000 ppmv). pH-drift and inhibitor-experiments suggested that K. mikimotoi was capable of acquiring HCO3-, and that the utilization of HCO3- was predominantly mediated by anion-exchange proteins, but that HCO3- dehydration catalyzed by external carbonic anhydrase (CAext) only played a minor role in K. mikimotoi. Even though down-regulated CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) and enhanced gross photosynthetic O2 evolution were observed under 1000 ppmv CO2 conditions, the saved energy did not stimulate growth of K. mikimotoi under 1000 ppmv CO2, probably due to the increased dark respiration. However, significantly higher growth and photosynthesis [in terms of photosynthetic oxygen evolution, effective quantum Yield (Yield), photosynthetic efficiency (α), light saturation point (Ek) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) activity] were observed under 2000 ppmv CO2 conditions. Furthermore, elevated pCO2 increased the photo-inhibition rate of photosystem II (β) and non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) at high light. We suggest that the energy saved through the down-regulation of CCMs might lead to the additional light stress and photo-damage. Therefore, the response of this species to elevated CO2 conditions will be determined by more than regulation and efficiency of CCMs.

The exotic plant Spartina alterniflora is expanding rapidly along China's coast regions, seriously threatening native ecosystems. Soil bacteria are important for biogeochemical cycles, including those of carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur, in wetland ecosystems. There is growing evidence that microorganisms are important in case of plant invasion. In the present study, we studied the interlacing area of S. alterniflora and Suaeda heteroptera, selected soil of invaded and non‐invaded regions and explored the effect of the composition and diversity of bacterial communities in coastal wetlands. The bacterial community composition of invasive and noninvasive areas was subjected to high‐throughput sequencing. In the five areas tested, the main bacterial phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, and Acidobacteria; the richness of the bacterial community in the soil increased after S. alterniflora invasion, most changes occurred at the genus level. The relative abundances of Desulfobulbus and Sulfurovum were higher in invasive areas than in noninvaded areas. PCA, RDA, and LEfSe analyses found that the S. alterniflora invasion significantly influenced the bacterial community and physicochemical properties of wetland soil. In conclusion, soil microbial community composition was tightly associated with S. alterniflora invasion. This study provide an important scientific basis for further research on the invasion mechanism of S. alterniflora.