The Yuhuang hydrothermal field (YHF) is located between the Indomed and Gallieni fracture zones near the top of the off-axis slope on the south rift wall of Segment 29 on the ultraslow Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). Previous studies have shown that sulfides in the YHF formed during different mineralization episodes and the YHF has the greatest potential for the formation of large-scale seafloor massive sulfide deposits. However, the sulfide chronology and hydrothermal activity of the YHF remain poorly constrained. In this study, mineralogical analyses and ²³⁰Th/U dating were performed. Hydrothermal activity may start about (35.9 ± 2.3) ka from the southwest part of the YHF and may cease about (708 ± 81) a ago from the northeast part of the YHF. The 74 nonzero chronological data from hydrothermal sulfide samples provide the first quantitative characterization of the spatial and temporal history along the SWIR. Hydrothermal activity in the SWIR has been relatively active over the past 20 ka. In contrast, between 40 ka and 100 ka, hydrothermal activity was relatively infrequently and short in duration. The maximum activity occurred at 15–11 ka, 9–7 ka, 6–0.2 ka. There was a slight positive correlation between the maximal age and estimated surface area or estimated tonnage. The minimum mass accumulation rate of YHF is about 278 t/a, which is higher than most HFs related to ultramafic systems. The ultraslow spreading SWIR has the greatest potential to form large-scale seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) deposits. The results of this study provide new insights into the metallogenic mechanism of hydrothermal sulfides along ultraslow-spreading ridges.

Generally, a teleostean group (e.g., family or genus) owns one type or a set of similar mitochondrial gene arrangement. It is interesting, however, that four different types of gene arrangement have been found in the mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of Cynoglossidae species. So far, the possible mechanisms of mitogenomic gene rearrangement and its potential implications have aroused widespread attention and caused lots of controversy. Here, a total of 21 Cynoglossidae mitogenomes and a newly sequenced mitogenome of Cynoglossus puncticpes (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae) were compared. The length ranges from 16 417 bp to 18 369 bp, which is mainly caused by the length heteroplasmy of control region (CR). Further analysis reveals that the difference of tandem repeats acts as a determining factor resulting in the length heterogeneity. Like most gene rearrangements of Cynoglossinae mitogenomes, tRNA-Gln gene encoded by the L-strand has translocated to the H-strand (Q inversion), accompanied by the translocation of CR in C. puncticpes mitogenome. The typical IQM order (tRNA-Ile-Gln-Met) changed to QIM order. Tandem duplication/random loss and mitochondrial recombination were accepted as the most possible models to account for the rearrangements in C. puncticpes mitogenome. Phylogenetic trees showed a strong correlation between the gap spacer in the rearranged QIM area and phylogeny, which provides a fresh idea for phylogenetic studies in future.

Marine ciliates play important roles not only in linking the microbial loop to the classic pelagic and benthic food chains but also in regenerating nutrients, yet how dietary nutrient imbalance impacts their nutrient regeneration has not been thoroughly addressed. The growth and physiological responses of Euplotes vannus to low dietary nitrogen (LN) and low dietary phosphorus (LP) conditions were studied, with the bacterium Pseudomonas putida as prey. Feeding on LN prey reduced the growth rate of E. vannus. Dietary nutrient limitation changed the types and quantities of nutrient recycling. Feeding on LP prey enhanced dissolved organic carbon excretion but reduced orthophosphate excretion, whereas feeding on LN prey generally resulted in decreases in the excretion rate in all N forms (ammonium, urea, and nitrate). In addition, the proportion of ammonium in regenerated N increased significantly under the LN condition. These findings indicate that a nutrient-imbalanced diet triggers E. vannus to retain limited macronutrients and promotes the recycling of excessive macronutrients, which may potentially form positive and negative feedback to ambient N and P limitations, respectively.

Caulerpa sertularioides is an invasive potential blooming green alga in China but it remains poorly studied. We studied the effects of ecological factors on its growth. Optimum conditions of ecological factors, i.e., irradiance, temperature, and salinity, for the growth of its fragments were determined in the response surface methodology (RSM). The specific growth rates (SGR) of the fragments were determined in single-factor experiment. The results show that the SGR of C. sertularioides peaked under the conditions of irradiance 37.5 μmol/(m²·s), temperature 25℃, and salinity 30. Meanwhile, using the Box-Behnken design, the conditions were further optimized and verified to be: irradiance 39.03 μmol/(m²·s), temperature 25.29℃, and salinity 30.06, under which the SGR reached 4.66%. The results provide new theoretical data and solutions for the cultivation, invasion prediction, and monitoring of Caulerpa species in China and the world. The RSM method may have great potential applications in the environmental adaptation characteristics of new macroalgal cultivars, intensive orientation cultured germplasm, and environmental hazard analysis of cultivated species in the field.

In this study, Ulva prolifera protein was used for preparing angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory peptide via virtual gastrointestinal digestion and in silico screening. Some parameters of the obtained peptide, such as inhibition kinetics, docking mechanism, stability, transport pathway, were explored by Lineweaver-Burk plots, molecular docking, in vitro stimulate gastrointestinal (GI) digestion and Caco-2 cells monolayer model, respectively. Then, a novel anti-ACE peptide LDF (IC₅₀, (1.66 ± 0.34) μmol/L) was screened and synthesized by chemical synthesis. It was a no-competitive inhibitor and its anti-ACE inhibitory effect mainly attributable to four Conventional Hydrogen Bonds and Zn701 interactions. It could keep activity during simulated GI digestion in vitro and was transported by peptide transporter PepT1 and passive-mediated mode. Besides, it could activate Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity to promote the production of NO and reduce Endothelin-1 (ET-1) secretion induced by Angiotensin II (Ang II) in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs). Meanwhile, it could promote mice splenocytes proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Our study indicated that this peptide was a potential ingredient functioning on vasodilation and enhancing immunity.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) is designed to divide the sea area into different types of functional zones, to implement corresponding development activities. However, the long-term impacts of anthropogenic activities associated with MSP practice on the marine microbial biosphere are still unclear. Yalu River Estuary, a coastal region in northeast of China, has been divided into fishery & agricultural (F&A) zone, shipping & port (S&P) zone and marine protected area (MPA) zone by a local MSP guideline that has been run for decades. To examine the effects of long-term executed MSP, benthic bacterial communities from different MSP zones were obtained and compared in this study. The results revealed significant differences in the bacterial community structure and predict functions among different zones. Bacterial genera enriched in different zones were identified, including SBR1031 in MPA, Woeseia and Sva0996 in S&P, and Halioglobus in F&A. In addition, correlations between some bacterial genera and sediment pollutants were uncovered. Furthermore, bacteria related to sulphide production were more abundant in the F&A zone, which was according to the accumulation of sulphides in this area. Moreover, bacteria associated with chemoheterotrophy and fermentation were more predominant in the S&P zone, consistent with high levels of organic matter and petroleum caused by shipping. Our findings indicated benthic bacterial communities could bring to light the anthropogenic activity footprints by different activities induced by long-term MSP practice.

The sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus plays important roles in marine benthic ecosystem as environmental cleaners, and it is the important aquaculture species in China. High water temperature poses critical threat for the survival of A. japonicus, which has resulted in extensive death in summer. To explore the genes expression profiles under different levels of heat stress, the high-throughput RNA-seq was applied in this study. Our results revealed a total of 1371, 1225 and 1408 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in 26℃ for 6 h, 26℃ for 48 h and 30℃ for 6 h respectively in comparison with Control group. The pathway analysis suggested “Protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum (ER)” was significantly enriched in all these heat stress (HS) treatment groups. The expression results of key DEGs in this pathway (Hsp70, Derlin, NEF, PDI, GPR94 and ERP57) by qRT-PCR was in accordance with the RNA-seq data. The subcluster analysis of DEGs revealed that a variety of heat shock proteins (HSPs) and calcium ion binding proteins had an obvious up-regulated expression in 26℃ for 6 h, comparatively low expression in 26℃ for 48 h, and the highest expression in 30℃ for 6 h. The other DEGs subcluster, consisting of critical components of extracellular matrix (ECM) and a subset of peptidases and proteases, showed significantly rising tendency in 30℃ for 6 h. Additionally, the expression of matrix metalloproteases (MMP1, MMP16 and MMP19) was prominently affected by HS, and peaked in 30℃ for 6 h. This study provides a series of candidate genes for further study about heat shock response in A. japonicus, especially genes associated with protein processing in ER and regulation of ECM, which also offers new insights into cellular homeostasis under stressful conditions in marine invertebrates.

The chemical diversity of scleractinian corals is closely related to their physiological, ecological, and evolutionary status, and can be influenced by both genetic background and environmental variables. To investigate intraspecific variation in the metabolites of these corals, the metabolomes of four species (Pocillopora meandrina, Seriatopora hystrix, Acropora formosa, and Fungia fungites) from the South China Sea were analyzed using untargeted mass spectrometry-based metabolomics. The results showed that a variety of metabolites, including amino acids, peptides, lipids, and other small molecules, were differentially distributed among the four species, leading to their significant separation in principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering plots. The higher content of storage lipids in branching corals (P. meandrina, S. hystrix, and A. formosa) compared to the solitary coral (F. fungites) may be due to the high densities of zooxanthellae in their tissues. The high content of aromatic amino acids in P. meandrina may help the coral protect against ultraviolet damage and promote growth in shallow seawater, while nitrogen-rich compounds may enable S. hystrix to survive in various challenging environments. The metabolites enriched in F. fungites, including amino acids, dipeptides, phospholipids, and other small molecules, may be related to the composition of the coral’s mucus and its life-history, such as its ability to move freely and live solitarily. Studying the chemical diversity of scleractinian corals not only provides insight into their environmental adaptation, but also holds potential for the chemotaxonomy of corals and the discovery of novel bioactive natural products.

Single-species management ignores the interactions between species, and ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) has become a main method to fisheries management. Understanding food web structures and species interactions is essential for the implementation of EBFM and maintenance of ecosystem functions. Overfishing is one of the main reasons behind the depletion, which could even lead to the depletion of some target species in local areas. So understanding the impacts of species depletion on food web structures is important for the implementation of EBFM. The impacts of species depletion can be transmitted through the food web and cause the local extinction of both target and non-target species. In this study, topological network analysis was applied to examine the impacts of species depletion on the food web structure of Haizhou Bay. Results showed that fine crayfish Leptochela gracilis, squid Loligo sp., and Japanese snapping shrimp Alpheus japonicus have the highest numbers of outgoing links (48, 32 and 31 respectively); thus, these species may be considered key prey species. Whitespotted conger Conger myriaster, fat greenling Hexagrammos otakii, and bluefin gurnard Chelidonichthys kumu were key predators with the highest number of incoming links (37, 36 and 35 respectively). The competition graphs derived from the Haizhou Bay food web were highly connected (more than 40% predators sharing over 10 common prey species), and showed close trophic interaction between high trophic level fishes. Simulation analysis showed that the food web structure has small changes to the depletion of species in a highly complex food web. The most-connected target species did not necessarily indicate high structural importance; however, some species with low connectivity may demonstrate stronger trophic interactions and play important ecological roles in the food web. But most species were more sensitive to the depletion of the most-connected target species than other target species (for instance, for zooplankton, closeness centrality 13.876 in D6, but closeness centrality 82.143 in original food web). Therefore, EBFM should focus on the most-connected target species, but also on those species with few but strong links and feeding relationships in the food web.

Fine-grained silt is widely distributed in the Huanghe River Delta (HRD) in China, and the sedimentary structure is complex, meaning that the clay content in the silt is variable. The piezocone penetration test (CPTu) is the most widely approved in situ test method. It can be used to invert soil properties and interpret soil behavior. To analyse the strength properties of surface sediments in the HRD, this paper evaluated the friction angle and its inversion formula through the CPTu penetration test and monotonic simple shear test and other soil unit experiments. The evaluation showed that the empirical formula proposed by Kulhawy and Mayne had better prediction and inversion effect. The HRD silts with clay contents of 9.2%, 21.4% and 30.3% were selected as samples for the CPTu variable rate penetration test. The results show as follows. (1) The effects of the clay content on the tip resistance and the pore pressure of silt under different penetration rates were summarized. The tip resistance Q_t is strongly dependent on the clay content of the silt, the $ {B}_{q} $ value of the silt tends to 0 and is not significantly affected by the change of the CPTu penetration rate. (2) Five soil behavior type classification charts and three soil behavior type indexes based on CPTu data were evaluated. The results show that the soil behavior type classification chart based on soil behavior type index ${I}_{{\rm{SBT}}}$, the Robertson 2010 behavior type classification chart are more suitable for the silty soil in the HRD.