RESUMO
This study aims to comprehensively understand the Gosikhurd Dam ecosystem (GDE) ecosystem by employing the Ecopath with Ecosim software (version 6.6.5) to construct a trophic mass balancing model. This model consisted of 16 functional groups of organisms, and their interactions and trophic levels were explored. The study focuses on various performance indicators to assess the ecosystem's maturity and complexity. To achieve these objectives, monthly fish samples were collected from June 2022 to May 2023. Performance indicators such as the connectance index (CI), system omnivory index (SOI), Finn's cycling index (FCI), mean path length (FML), ascendency, overhead, and Shannon diversity index were calculated to assess ecosystem maturity and complexity. The Finn's cycling index (FCI) and the mean path length (FML) were calculated as 1.81 and 2.20, respectively, indicating the ecosystem's responsiveness to environmental changes and overall system health and stability. Ascendency and overhead values were also analysed, with ascendency being relatively higher (41.58%), reflecting a system that utilises less than half of its total capacity. The overhead value (58.42%) indicated that the ecosystem is relatively stable and capable of adapting to external perturbations. Furthermore, the Shannon diversity index was 1.67, illustrating less diversity and validating the ecosystem's immaturity. The study identifies critical species and their roles in shaping the ecosystem dynamics, highlighting the importance of zooplankton, zoobenthos, and tilapia as keystone species. These indices propound that GDE is in its developmental stage and lacks complexity compared to mature ecosystems. The findings provide valuable insights into the current state of the ecosystem and can guide future management and conservation efforts.
Assuntos
Ecossistema , Monitoramento Ambiental , Peixes , Índia , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , Animais , BiodiversidadeRESUMO
The current research emphasis on identifying unconventional starch sources with varied properties to broaden industrial applications. The focus of this research is on the search for alternative sources of starch with different properties in order to expand their potential use in the industrial sector. Starch was extracted from Trapa natans and Nelumbo nucifera and analyzed for their physicochemical and functional properties. They had similar protein (0.35 %) and ash contents, but the nitrogen-free extract was slightly higher in Nelumbo starch (87.58 %) than in Trapa starch (85.09 %). The amylose and amylopectin contents were 23.89 % and 76.11 % in Trapa starch and 15.70 % and 84.30 % in Nelumbo starch, respectively. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy identified both as polysaccharides. The characteristic absorption bands assigned to the stretching of OH groups (3324 cm-1; 3280 cm-1), the asymmetric and symmetric stretching of aliphatic chain groups (2925 cm-1; 2854 cm-1), the bending vibration of CHO groups (1149 cm-1; 1144 cm-1) were present in both the starch samples, with the exception of CH3 which could not be detected in Trapa natans starch. X-ray diffraction confirmed hexagonal and orthorhombic crystal structures in Nelumbo nucifera and Trapa natans starch. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a smooth oval and a rough cuboidal shape for lotus and chestnut starch, respectively. Rheological analysis showed that both starch solutions exhibited gel behavior, with Trapa showing stronger gel behavior after the crossover point. These results suggest potential applications in various industries, including the food industry and beyond.
Assuntos
Nelumbo , Amido , Nelumbo/química , Amido/química , Fenômenos Químicos , Amilose/química , Amilose/análise , Espectroscopia de Infravermelho com Transformada de Fourier , Amilopectina/química , Difração de Raios X , LythraceaeRESUMO
Fish health management is critical to aquaculture and fisheries as it directly affects sustainability and productivity. Fish disease diagnosis has taken a massive stride because of advances in immunological and molecular diagnostic tools which provide a sensitive, quick, and accurate means of identifying diseases. This review presents an overview of the main molecular and immunological diagnostic methods for determining the health of fish. The immunological techniques help to diagnose different fish diseases by detecting specific antigens and antibodies. The application of immunological techniques to vaccine development is also examined in this review. The genetic identification of pathogens is made possible by molecular diagnostic techniques that enable the precise identification of bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms in addition to evaluating host reactions and genetic variation associated with resistance to disease. The combination of molecular and immunological methods has resulted in the creation of novel techniques for thorough evaluation of fish health. These developments improve treatment measures, pathogen identification and provide new information about the variables affecting fish health, such as genetic predispositions and environmental stresses. In the framework of sustainable fish farming and fisheries management, this paper focuses on the importance of these diagnostic techniques that play a crucial role in protecting fish populations and the aquatic habitats. This review also examines the present and potential future directions in immunological and molecular diagnostic techniques in fish health.
Assuntos
Aquicultura , Doenças dos Peixes , Animais , Pesqueiros , Anticorpos , Técnicas de Diagnóstico Molecular , Doenças dos Peixes/diagnóstico , Doenças dos Peixes/genética , Peixes/genéticaRESUMO
The present study describes the water quality scenario of some freshwater springs of South Kashmir during the two-year period (2013-2015) because of rising pollution risks endangering water resources globally. The accessibility to quality drinking water has become a challenge and is receiving renewed attention. A total of 96 samples from twelve springs were collected and analyzed for major drinking water quality parameters. Piper trilinear and Durov diagram depicted dominance of Ca-Mg-HCO3 hydrochemical facies and simple dissolution and mixing process. Water quality was falling in very good to excellent class and well within the desirable limits of WHO thereby indicating huge potential for meeting rising drinking water demand. The principal component analysis (PCA) revealed the generation of three components (PC1, PC2, and PC3) with higher eigenvalues of 3 or more (3-6) explaining 40, 21, and 17% of the overall variance in water quality data sets, respectively. The components obtained from PCA indicate that the parameters responsible for variations are mainly related to discharge, temperature, and dissolved oxygen (natural), nutrients (agriculture), and cation and anions (lithology). The results suggest that the hydrochemistry of springs is jointly controlled by lithology and anthropogenic inputs.
Assuntos
Água Potável , Água Subterrânea , Poluentes Químicos da Água , Monitoramento Ambiental , Índia , Poluentes Químicos da Água/análise , Qualidade da ÁguaRESUMO
CONTEXT: Medicinal plants continue to act as a repository for novel drug leads with novel mechanisms of action. Podophyllum hexandrum Royale (Berberideceae) treats diverse conditions in folk medicine. OBJECTIVE: The antimutagenic potential of P. hexandrum was evaluated against endosulfan-induced clastogenicity in a piscine model by cytogenetic endpoints. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Podophyllum hexandrum rhizomes were subjected to successive solvent extraction. Fish were exposed to hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts (15 mg/L each) of plant and endosulfan (0.05 mg/L) alone followed by their combination for antimutagenicity estimates. Chromosomal aberrations (CA) were made from kidney cells and micronuclei (MN) slides from peripheral blood erythrocytes at 48, 72 and 96 h. Antioxidant activity was analyzed by the DPPH assay. Phytochemical analyses were carried out using chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. RESULTS: Endosulfan induced significant (p < .05) MN, authenticated by scanning electron microscopy, and CA in a time-dependent manner. However, methanol and ethyl acetate extracts revealed ameliorating effects. The column eluted methanolic fraction-2 (ME-F2) showed highest reduction profile of 83 and 84% in CA and MN, followed in its extent (73 and 72%) by ethyl acetate fraction-4 (EE-F4). ME-F2 and EE-F4 showed three and six major peaks when analyzed by GC-MS. To explore possible mechanism of action, ME-F2 showed potent antioxidant potential and strong correlation (R2 = .900) with antimutagenic activity, whereas EE-F4 seemed to act through a different mechanism. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This study confirms the antimutagenic potential of the subject plant with the identification of some novel compounds, justifying their use in folk medicine, and their corresponding benefit to mankind.
Assuntos
Antimutagênicos/farmacologia , Carpas/genética , Medicamentos de Ervas Chinesas/farmacologia , Endossulfano/toxicidade , Rim/efeitos dos fármacos , Mutagênese/efeitos dos fármacos , Mutagênicos/toxicidade , Mutação/efeitos dos fármacos , Podophyllum/química , Animais , Antimutagênicos/isolamento & purificação , Antioxidantes/isolamento & purificação , Antioxidantes/farmacologia , Berberidaceae , Compostos de Bifenilo/química , Carpas/metabolismo , Aberrações Cromossômicas/induzido quimicamente , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Medicamentos de Ervas Chinesas/isolamento & purificação , Eritrócitos/efeitos dos fármacos , Eritrócitos/ultraestrutura , Cromatografia Gasosa-Espectrometria de Massas , Rim/metabolismo , Rim/ultraestrutura , Micronúcleos com Defeito Cromossômico/induzido quimicamente , Microscopia Eletroquímica de Varredura , Compostos Fitoquímicos/isolamento & purificação , Compostos Fitoquímicos/farmacologia , Fitoterapia , Picratos/química , Plantas Medicinais , Rizoma , Solventes/química , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
The present study was undertaken to determine the incidence of helminth parasites in fishes with special reference to water quality parameters in Dal Lake and River Jhelum and correlate the observations. Water, fish, and parasite samples were collected during different seasons from various sites and processed. Three fish species, namely, Schizothorax niger Heckel 1838, Schizothorax esocinus Heckel 1838, and Schizothorax curvifrons Heckel 1838, were recovered from these water bodies. The physicochemical parameters temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and free carbon dioxide showed variation vis-à-vis the season and location of the stations in water bodies. Acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhynchus kashmirensis Kaw 1941 (27.47%) and two intestinal cestodes Bothriocephalus acheilognathi Yamaguti 1934 (30.63%) and Adenoscolex oreini Fotedar 1958 (32.43%) were recovered from all the three species of Schizothorax. All the three parasites showed higher prevalence during summer and the least prevalence during winter. Parasitic infections were prevalent more in male fishes compared to females. The presence of the parasites had reduced the condition coefficient of the infected fishes in both water bodies. The study also showed that some of the physicochemical features showed a significant positive correlation with the prevalence.
RESUMO
Schizothoracine fish commonly called snow trouts inhibit the entire network of snow and spring fed cool waters of Kashmir, India. Over 10 species reported earlier, only five species have been found, these include Schizothorax niger, Schizothorax esocinus, Schizothorax plagiostomus, Schizothorax curvifrons and Schizothorax labiatus. The relationship between these species is contradicting. To understand the evolutionary relation of these species, we examined the sequence information of mitochondrial D-loop of 25 individuals representing five species. Sequence alignment showed D-loop region highly variable and length variation was observed in di-nucleotide (TA)n microsatellite between and within species. Interestingly, all these species have (TA)n microsatellite not associated with longer tandem repeats at the 3' end of the mitochondrial control region and do not show heteroplasmy. Our analysis also indicates the presence of four conserved sequence blocks (CSB), CSB-D, CSB-1, CSB-II and CSB-III, four (Termination Associated Sequence) TAS motifs and 15bp pyrimidine block within the mitochondrial control region, that are highly conserved within genus Schizothorax when compared with other species. The phylogenetic analysis carried by Maximum likelihood (ML), Neighbor Joining (NJ) and Bayesian inference (BI) generated almost identical results. The resultant BI tree showed a close genetic relationship of all the five species and supports two distinct grouping of S. esocinus species. Besides the species relation, the presence of length variation in tandem repeats is attributed to differences in predicting the stability of secondary structures. The role of CSBs and TASs, reported so far as main regulatory signals, would explain the conservation of these elements in evolution.
Assuntos
Cyprinidae/genética , DNA Mitocondrial/genética , Especiação Genética , Polimorfismo de Fragmento de Restrição , Sequências Reguladoras de Ácido Nucleico , Animais , Sequência Conservada , Cyprinidae/classificação , DNA Mitocondrial/química , Repetições de Microssatélites , FilogeniaRESUMO
Over the past few decades, endosulfan, one of the polychlorinated pesticides still in use, has received considerable attention of a number of international regulations and restriction action plans worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate the cytogenetic effects of endosulfan using robust genotoxicity assays, along with the oxidative stress pathways in order to understand biochemical mechanism, in Carassius carassius L. The LC50-96 h (95% confidence limits) value of endosulfan was 0.070 (0.046-0.093) ppm; and on its basis three test concentrations (sub-lethal I: 0.052, II: 0.035 and III: 0.017 ppm) were selected for 35 d in vivo exposure. The mean concentration of endosulfan in aquaria was always constant, when analyzed by dispersive liquid-liquid micro extraction (DLLME) followed by GC-MS. Autopsy was done on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28 and 35 of endosulfan exposure; the micronucleus formation (MN), authenticated by scanning electron microscopy, and chromosomal aberrations (CA), were induced significantly (p<0.05) in all the treated groups, including positive control cyclophosphamide (4 ppm), when compared to negative control. Similarly lipid peroxidation (LPO) was induced significantly with the maximal at higher concentration (SL-I) on 4th day (722.45%; p<0.01). Antioxidant biomarkers like glutathione reduced, superoxide dismutase and catalase also fluctuated significantly (p<0.01) in all treatment groups. Collective findings demonstrated that genotoxic effects were invariably accompanied and correlated with increased oxidative stress and disturbance of antioxidant enzymes; and the MN and CA assays are useful tools in determining potential genotoxicity of aquatic xenobiotics and might be appropriate as a part of monitoring program.
Assuntos
Carpas/metabolismo , Endossulfano/toxicidade , Inseticidas/toxicidade , Estresse Oxidativo/efeitos dos fármacos , Poluentes Químicos da Água/toxicidade , Animais , Testes de MutagenicidadeRESUMO
Despite numerous studies on the taxonomy of a highly complex group of schizothoracine (snow trouts), with over five recognized species from Kashmir, India (Schizothorax niger, Schizothorax esocinus, Schizothorax plagiostomus, Schizothorax curvifrons and Schizothorax labiatus) based on traditional morphological data, the relationships between these species is poorly understood and the taxonomic validity is still under debate. To resolve the evolutionary relationships among these species, we sequenced mitochondrial fragments, including 16Sr RNA, Cytb and the D-loop. Separate analyses of 16S and Cytb showed intermixing of the species and 16S was found more conserved than Cytb. The D-loop was found highly variable and showed length variation between and within species. Length variation was observed in di-nucleotide (TA)n microsatellite repeats with a variable number of repeat units (n = 7-14) that did not show heteroplasmy. Central conserved sequence blocks (CSBs) in D-loop sequences were found comparable to other vertebrate species. All phylogenetic reconstructions recovered the focal taxa as a monophyletic clade within the schizothoracines. Analyses with combined mitochondrial data sets showed close genetic relationships of all the five species. In addition to a close relationship between S. niger and S. curvifrons, two distinct groupings of S. ecoscinus and S. plagiostomus were supported by all the analyses. This study gives an insight into molecular phylogeny of the species and improves our understanding of historical and taxonomic relationships derived from morphological and ecological studies.