B-3 exopolysaccharide is extracted from the Antarctic psychrophilic bacterium Psychrobacter sp. B-3. We have previously shown that it activates macrophages and affects their immunoregulatory activities. To determine what genes are affected during this process, we detected the genes differentially expressed in cells of RAW264.7 macrophages treated with B-3 exopolysaccharide by transcriptomic analysis. B-3 exopolysaccharide treatment caused differential expression of 420 genes, of which 178 were up-regulated and 242 were down-regulated. These genes were shown to be involved in many aspects of cell function, mainly metabolism and immunity. Genes were enriched in multiple immune-related pathways, and the most significantly enriched genes were involved in antigen processing and presentation pathways. The pathway in which differentially expressed genes were the most significantly enriched was the metabolic pathway; specifically, the expression of many metabolic enzyme genes was altered by B-3 exopolysaccharide treatment. Additionally, the genes involved in metabolisms of amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleotides, varied to certain degrees. B-3 exopolysaccharide, therefore, appears to directly affect the immune function of RAW264.7 macrophages as an immunostimulant, or to indirectly change intracellular metabolism. This is the first study to determine the effect of an Antarctic psychrophilic bacterial exopolysaccharide on RAW264.7 macrophages. Our findings provide an important reference for research into the regulation of macrophage immune function by different polysaccharides.

As a major aldehyde pollutant widely existing in industry and our daily life, acetaldehyde is more and more harmful to human health. As characteristic habitat niche, bacteria from deep sea environments are abundant and distinctive in heredity, physiology and ecological functions. Thus, the development of acetaldehyde-degrading bacteria from deep sea provides a new method to harness acetaldehyde pollutant. Firstly, in this study, acetaldehyde-degrading bacteria in the deep sea water of the West Pacific Ocean were enriched in situ and in the laboratory respectively, and then the diversity of uncultured bacteria was studied by using 16S rRNA genes. Then acetaldehyde-degrading strains were isolated from two samples, including enrichment in situ and enrichment in laboratory samples of deep sea water from the West Pacific Ocean using acetaldehyde as the sole carbon source, and then the ability of acetaldehyde degradation was detected. Our results showed that the main uncultured bacteria of two samples with different enrichment approaches were similar, including Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Cyanobacteria, but the structure of bacterial community were significant different. Four subgroups, α, γ, δ and ε, were found in Proteobacteria group. The γ-Proteobacteria was dominant (63.5% clones in laboratory enriched sample, 75% clones in situ enriched sample). The species belonged to γ-Proteobacteria and their proportion was nearly identical between the two enrichment samples, and Vibrio was the predominant genus (45% in laboratory enriched sample, 48.5% in situ enriched sample), followed by Halomonas (9% in situ enriched sample) and Streptococcus (6% in laboratory enriched sample). A total of 12 acetaldehyde-degrading strains were isolated from the two samples, which belonged to Vibrio, Halomonas, Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudomonas and Bacillus of γ-Proteobacteria. Strains ACH-L-5, ACH-L-8 and ACH-S-12, belonging to Vibrio and Halomonas, have strong ability of acetaldehyde degradation, which could tolerate 1.5 g/L acetaldehyde and degrade 350 mg/L acetaldehyde within 24 hours. Our results indicated that bacteria of γ-Proteobacteria may play an important role in carbon cycle of deep sea environments, especial the bacteria belonging to Vibrio and Halomonas and these strains was suggested for their potentials in government of aldehyde pollutants.

Zooplankton plays an important role in aquatic food webs by fluxing of energy from primary producer to subsequent trophic levels in the food chain. The annual pattern of zooplankton communities and potential environmental drivers were studied in the Kohelia channel, Bangladesh from summer 2014 to spring 2015. Samples were collected using net at a depth of 1 m. A total of 32 species belonged to 18 orders, 27 families and 15 taxonomic groups were identified. Of these species, 22 distributed in all four seasons of which 8 were dominant and highly contributing to the total communities. Species number peaked in summer next to winter and fall in spring while maximum abundance was in summer and minimum in spring. Multivariate analyses showed that there was a clear annual pattern in the zooplankton communities. Species diversity and evenness peaked in spring but fall in autumn while the high value of species richness was found in winter. Biological-environmental best matching (BIO-ENV) analyses conformed that community pattern of zooplankton was mainly driven by transparency salinity, and temperature individually or combined with water nutrients. These results demonstrate that annual pattern of the zooplankton community shaped by channel environmental factors in subtropical channel ecosystems, thus might be used for community-based subtropical coastal water bioassessment.

Plankton respiration is an important part of the carbon cycle and significantly affects the balance of autotrophic assimilation and heterotrophic production in oceanic ecosystems. In the present study, respiration rates of the euphotic zone plankton community (CR_eu), size fractionated chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a), bacterial abundance (BAC), and dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) were investigated during winter and summer in the northern South China Sea (nSCS). The results show that there were obvious spatial and temporal variations in CR_eu in the nSCS (ranging from 0.03 to 1.10 μmol/(L·h)), CR_eu in winter ((0.53±0.27) μmol/(L·h)) was two times higher than that in summer ((0.26±0.20) μmol/(L·h)), and decreased gradually from the coastal zone to the open sea. The distribution of CR_eu was affected by coupled physical-chemical-biological processes, driven by monsoon events. The results also show that CR_eu was positively correlated with Chl a, BAC, and DO, and that BAC contributed the highest CR_eu variability. Furthermore, the results of the stepwise multiple linear regression suggest that bacteria and phytoplankton were the dominant factors in determining CR_eu (R² = 0.82, p<0.05) in the nSCS. Based on this relationship, we estimated the integrated water column respiration rate (CR_int) within 100 m of the investigated area, and found that the relationship between the biomass of the plankton community and respiration may be nonlinear in the water column.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) represents a significant source of nutrients that supports the microbial-based food web in seagrass ecosystems. However, there is little information on how the various fractions of DOM from seagrass leaves contributed to the coastal biogeochemical cycles. To address this gap, we carried out a 30-day laboratory chamber experiment on tropical seagrasses Thalassia hemprichii and Enhalus acoroides. After 30 days of incubation, on average 22% carbon (C), 70% nitrogen (N) and 38% phosphorus (P) of these two species of seagrass leaf litter was released. The average leached dissolved organic carbon (DOC), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) of these two species of seagrass leaf litter accounted for 55%, 95% and 65% of the total C, N and P lost, respectively. In the absence of microbes, about 75% of the total amount of DOC, monosaccharides (MCHO), DON and DOP were quickly released via leaching from both seagrass species in the first 9 days. Subsequently, little DOM was released during the remainder of the experiment. The leaching rates of DOC, DON and DOP were approximately 110, 40 and 0.70 μmol/(g·d). Leaching rates of DOM were attributed to the nonstructural carbohydrates and other labile organic matter within the seagrass leaf. Thalassia hemprichii leached more DOC, DOP and MCHO than E. acoroides. In contrast, E. acoroides leached higher concentrations of DON than T. hemprichii, with the overall leachate also having a higher DON: DOP ratio. These results indicate that there is an overall higher amount of DOM leachate from T. hemprichii than that of E. acoroides that is available to the seagrass ecosystem. According to the logarithmic model for DOM release and the in situ leaf litter production (the Xincun Bay, South China Sea), the seagrass leaf litter of these two seagrass species could release approximately 4×10³ mol/d DOC, 1.4×10³ mol/d DON and 25 mol/d DOP into the seawater. In addition to providing readily available nutrients for the microbial food web, the remaining particulate organic matter (POM) from the litter would also enter microbial remineralization processes. What is not remineralized from either DOM or POM fractions has potential to contribute to the permanent carbon stocks.

A series of red tides were observed during 2015 in the Izmit Bay (the Marmara Sea) which is located in the most industrialized and populated region of Turkey. Six samplings were carried out in this area following the red tides. Nitrite-N, nitrate-N, ammonia, silica and orthophosphate concentrations were analyzed spectrophotometrically. Physicochemical conditions were measured by CTD probe. Plankton quantification was performed using counting chambers under microscopes. Prorocentrum micans was the most abundant species, except on May 14, 2015, when Noctiluca scintillans was dominant. The abundance of P. micans reached average 18×10⁶ ind./L on May 3, 2015 in the Karamürsel station, simultaneously with elevated levels of NH₃ and o-PO₄^3–. The sample was also abundant in dead amphipods ((72±12) ind./L) that had been covered by mucilage aggregates produced by P. micans. The highest biomass (calculated by carbon) was recorded as (268±26.0) mg/L on May 14 in the Hereke station. Beside the anthropogenic wastewater discharges, unknown sources and resuspensions caused increases in nutrient levels. After long term northeaster gusts (35 km/h for 5 d) an upwelling occurred on November 6, 2015 after wind-induced sediment resuspension. Although nutrient discharges remarkably decreased over 30 years through established wastewater treatment plants, harmful phytoplankton blooms still occur. Comparing the present results with other studies in nearby Mediterranean seas reveals that the most intense harmful dinoflagellate bloom in recent years occurred in the Izmit Bay. Therefore, additional protection measures necessary for a cleaner Izmit Bay. These incidents also demonstrate that contaminants, accumulated in sediment, may have long-lasting effects on enclosed marine ecosystems.

The distribution of phytoplankton and its correlation with environmental factors were studied monthly during August 2012 to July 2013 in the Yantian Bay. A total of 147 taxa of phytoplankton were identified, and the average abundance was in the range of 0.57×10⁴ to 7.73×10⁴ cell/L. A total of 19 species dominated the phytoplankton assemblages, and several species that are widely reported to be responsible for microalgae blooms were the absolutely dominant species, such as Skeletonema costatum, Navicula sp., Thalassionema nitzschioides, Pleurosigma sp., and Licmophora abbreviata. The monthly variabilities in phytoplankton abundance could be explained by water temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and suspended solids. The results of a redundancy analysis showed that pH and nutrients, including DIN and silicate (SiO₄), were the most important environmental factors controlling phytoplankton assemblages in specific months. It was found that nutrients and pH levels that were mainly influenced by mariculture played a vital role in influencing the variation of phytoplankton assemblages in the Yantian Bay. Thus, a reduction of mariculture activities would be an effective way to control microalgae blooms in an enclosed and intensively eutrophic bay.

The tide-induced mixing plays an important role in the regulation of ocean circulation. Numerical simulation of continental shelf circulation is found to exhibit an unreasonable vertical thermohaline structure without consideration of tide effects. In this study, we establish a harmonic analyzed parameterization of tide-induced (HAT) mixing, by which means to derive time-depended function of mixing coefficient based on harmonic analysis of the vertical mixing coefficient. By employing HAT mixing parameterization scheme, a series of numerical experiments are conducted for the Yellow Sea. Numerical results show that an ocean circulation model with the HAT mixing involved is capable of reproducing the reasonable thermohaline structure of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass, similar to structures produced by explicit tidal forcing on the open boundary. The advantage of the HAT method is its faster computation time, compared with models that directly resolve explicit tidal motion. The HAT parameterization for the tide-induced mixing has potential to improve both the accuracy and efficiency of ocean circulation and climate models.

Based on satellite altimeter and reanalysis data, this paper studies the relationships between the intensity of the Kuroshio current in the East China Sea (ECS) and the East Asian winter monsoon (EAWM). The mechanisms of their possible interaction are also discussed. Results indicate that adjacent transects show consistent variations, and on an interannual timescale, when the EAWM is anomalously strong (weak), the downstream Kuroshio in the ECS is suppressed (enhanced) in the following year from February to April. This phenomenon can be attributed to both the dynamic effect (i.e., Ekman transport) and the thermal effect of the EAWM. When the EAWM strengthens (weakens), the midstream and downstream Kuroshio in the ECS are also suppressed (intensified) during the following year from October to December. The mechanisms vary for these effects. The EAWM exerts its influence on the Kuroshio's intensity in the following year through the tropospheric biennial oscillation (TBO), and oceanic forcing is dominant during this time. The air-sea interaction is modulated by the relative strength of the EAWM and the Kuroshio in the ECS. The non-equivalence of spatial scales between the monsoon and the Kuroshio determines that their interactions are aided by processes with a smaller spatial scale, i.e., local wind stress and heating at the sea surface.

The northern slope of the South China Sea is a gas-hydrate-bearing region related to a high deposition rate of organic-rich sediments co-occurring with intense methanogenesis in subseafloor environments. Anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) coupled with bacterial sulfate reduction results in the precipitation of solid phase minerals in seepage sediment, including pyrite and gypsum. Abundant aggregates of pyrites and gypsums are observed between the depth of 667 and 850 cm below the seafloor (cmbsf) in the entire core sediment of HS328 from the northern South China Sea. Most pyrites are tubes consisting of framboidal cores and outer crusts. Gypsum aggregates occur as rosettes and spheroids consisting of plates. Some of them grow over pyrite, indicating that gypsum precipitation postdates pyrite formation. The sulfur isotopic values (δ³⁴S) of pyrite vary greatly (from –46.6‰ to –12.3‰ V-CDT) and increase with depth. Thus, the pyrite in the shallow sediments resulted from organoclastic sulfate reduction (OSR) and is influenced by AOM with depth. The relative high abundance and δ³⁴S values of pyrite in sediments at depths from 580 to 810 cmbsf indicate that this interval is the location of a paleo-sulfate methane transition zone (SMTZ). The sulfur isotopic composition of gypsum (from –25‰ to –20.7‰) is much lower than that of the seawater sulfate, indicating the existence of a ³⁴S-depletion source of sulfur species that most likely are products of the oxidation of pyrites formed in OSR. Pyrite oxidation is controlled by ambient electron acceptors such as MnO₂, iron (Ⅲ) and oxygen driven by the SMTZ location shift to great depths. The δ³⁴S values of gypsum at greater depth are lower than those of the associated pyrite, revealing downward diffusion of ³⁴S-depleted sulfate from the mixture of oxidation of pyrite derived by OSR and the seawater sulfate. These sulfates also lead to an increase of calcium ions from the dissolution of calcium carbonate mineral, which will be favor to the formation of gypsum. Overall, the mineralogy and sulfur isotopic composition of the pyrite and gypsum suggest variable redox conditions caused by reduced seepage intensities, and the pyrite and gypsum can be a recorder of the intensity evolution of methane seepage.