scholarly journals Interaction of Plastics with Marine Species

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 647-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafet Cagri Ozturk ◽  
Ilhan Altinok

The plastic litter in the seas and oceans has become one of the major threats for environment and a wide range of marine species worldwide. Microplastics are the most common litters in the marine environment corresponding to 60-80% of the total litter in the world’s seas. The risk factor of plastics is inversely associated with the size of the plastic. In the present study, we reviewed the state of knowledge regarding the impact of plastic pollution on marine environment and marine species, assessing the ingestion incidences, elimination of plastics, interactions of plastics with other pollutants, and effects on photosynthesis. Records of marine species ingesting plastic have increased and begin to attract considerable attention. Metadata generated from the review of related papers in the present study was used to evaluate the current knowledge on the plastic ingestion by different marine species. The retrieved data from reviewed articles revealed that the ingestion of plastic by marine animals have been documented in more than 560 species including fish, crustaceans, mammals, sea turtles, bivalves, gastropods even in sea stars and limpets. The size of ingested plastics varied from species to species generally depending on the feeding behavior. Microplastics showed the highest number of bibliographic citations in the plastic ingestion studies. They are mostly ingested by planktivorous and filter feeder species. Meso, macro, and occasionally megaplastics are reported in marine mammals and sea turtles since they often confuse plastic for their prey. The sensitivity and size of the detected plastics may vary based on the analytical plastic detection methods.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sathishkumar Pragasam

Abstract The impact of artificial lighting on birds and animals has been a subject of research for many decades. These studies have established that light pollution from offshore facilities result in disturbing effects on migratory birds and marine animals. It is understood from the various studies that light emanating from offshore structures attract birds at night and disorient them during their migratory flight. As they are distracted from their flight path, they are either found trapped by the light that they keep circling around the installations or make them to take shelter in the installations, ultimately making them miss their migratory journey. This results in reduced winter survival and reduced reproduction success. Many birds are also found to die eventually because of bird strike or by getting themselves incinerated in flares. Congregation of birds in offshore installations also lead to risks related to helicopter landing / take-off. It is also observed that artificial light attracts marine species like turtles and fishes, which result in adverse effects like alteration of feeding habits, impacted circadian rhythm and interference with their reproductive function. From the knowledge of aforementioned disruptive effects of artificial lighting, significant efforts have been made to develop lighting systems for offshore installations that are eco-friendly. Various means of mitigating the undesirable effects of artificial lighting in offshore installations are being tried in the last couple of decades.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiyi Lv ◽  
Qiongxuan Lu ◽  
Bo Dong

AbstractMorphogenesis is a process describing how the shapes of living tissues and bodies are created during development. Living and fossil organisms exhibit enormously diverse tissue architecture and body forms, although the functions of organs are evolutionally conserved. Current knowledge reveals that relatively conserved mechanisms are applied to control development among different species. However, the regulations of morphogenesis are quite diverse in detail. Animals in the ocean display a wide range of diversity of morphology suitable for their seawater environment. Nevertheless, compared with the intensive studies on terrestrial animals, research on marine animal morphogenesis is still insufficient. The increasing genomic data and the recently available gene editing methods, together with the fast development of imaging techniques, quantitative analyses and biophysical models, provide us the opportunities to have a deeper understanding of the principles that drive the diverse morphogenetic processes in marine animals. In this review, we summarize the recent studies of morphogenesis and evolution at molecular, cellular and tissue levels, with a focus on three model marine animals, namely ascidians, sea urchins and sea anemones.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanja Hofmann ◽  
Sonja S. Schmucker ◽  
Werner Bessei ◽  
Michael Grashorn ◽  
Volker Stefanski

During their lifespan, chickens are confronted with a wide range of acute and chronic stressors in their housing environment that may threaten their welfare and health by modulating the immune system. Especially chronic stressful conditions can exceed the individual’s allostatic load, with negative consequences for immunity. A fully functional immune system is mandatory for health and welfare and, consequently, also for high productivity and safe animal products. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the impact of housing form, light regime as well as aerial ammonia and hydrogen sulfide concentrations on the immune system in chickens. Certain housing conditions are clearly associated with immunological alterations which potentially impair the success of vaccinations or affect disease susceptibility. Such poor conditions counteract sustainable poultry production. This review also outlines current knowledge gaps and provides recommendations for future research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-86
Author(s):  
Andreea Lup ◽  
Mihai Gorea ◽  
Denisa Bruhs

Plastic debris represents a contemporary point of concern for the marine environment, being discharged into the ocean at an alarming scale. However, the quantity of waste that is found in the ocean is unknown. Where does this waste come from, and where does it end up are questions that scientists and researchers are still trying to accurately answer. The majority of plastic products that make their way into the ocean come mainly from human activities. Most of them land on beaches, and eventually find their way into the ocean, being washed away by waves and tides. To assess the impact of these pollutants that are found in the marine environment, it is necessary to determine the concentration of the chemicals accumulating in the biomass, and the effects they cause. There are numerous biological effects which lead to many obvious diseases in marine species. Also, these harmful effects determine changes in community structure, the modification of the habitat and local or complete extinction of many aquatic species. This review aims to lay out the present situation of the marine environment, and the effects of the pollution caused by industrialization and urbanization. Different types of remediation approaches have been discussed, such as physical remediation techniques. Besides that, the role of numerous bacteria and fungi that are capable of breaking down these chemicals that surround us, has been highlighted and point at some of the bioremediation technologies that are currently available.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sławomir Gonkowski ◽  
Magdalena Gajęcka ◽  
Krystyna Makowska

Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites produced by various fungal species. They are commonly found in a wide range of agricultural products. Mycotoxins contained in food enter living organisms and may have harmful effects on many internal organs and systems. The gastrointestinal tract, which first comes into contact with mycotoxins present in food, is particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of these toxins. One of the lesser-known aspects of the impact of mycotoxins on the gastrointestinal tract is the influence of these substances on gastrointestinal innervation. Therefore, the present study is the first review of current knowledge concerning the influence of mycotoxins on the enteric nervous system, which plays an important role, not only in almost all regulatory processes within the gastrointestinal tract, but also in adaptive and protective reactions in response to pathological and toxic factors in food.


2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1433-1466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Turner ◽  
James Aitken ◽  
Cecil Bozarth

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of supply chain complexity and extend this with literature developed within the project domain. The authors use the lens of ambidexterity (the ability both to exploit and explore) to analyse responses to complexity, since this enables the authors to understand the application of known solutions in conjunction with innovative ones to resolve difficulties. This research also seeks to investigate how managers respond to supply chain complexities that can either be operationally deleterious or strategically beneficial.Design/methodology/approachThe authors develop a descriptive framework based on the project management (PM) literature to understand response options to complexity, and then use interviews with supply chain managers in six organisations to examine the utility of this framework in practice. The authors ask the research question “How do managers in supply chains respond to complexities”?FindingsThe case study data show first that managers faced with structural, socio-political, or emergent supply chain complexities use a wide range of responses. Second, over a third of the instances of complexity coded were actually accommodated, rather than reduced, by the study firms, suggesting that adapting to supply chain complexity in certain instances may be strategically appropriate. Third, the lens of ambidexterity allows a more explicit assessment of whether existing PM solutions can be considered or if novel methods are required to address supply chain complexities.Practical implicationsThe descriptive framework can aid managers in conceptualising and addressing supply chain complexity. Through exploiting current knowledge, managers can lessen the impact of complexity while exploring other innovative approaches to solve new problems and challenges that evolve from complexity growth driven by business strategy.Originality/valueThis study addresses a gap in the literature through the development of a framework which provides a structure on ways to address supply chain complexity. The authors evaluate an existing project complexity concept and demonstrate that it is both applicable and valuable in non-project, ongoing operations. The authors then extend it using the lens of ambidexterity, and develop a framework that can support practitioners in analysing and addressing both strategically necessary supply complexities, together with unwanted, negative complexities within the organisation and across the supply chain.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Fromm ◽  
Christoph Dehio

Bartonella spp. are facultative intracellular pathogens that infect a wide range of mammalian hosts including humans. The VirB/VirD4 type IV secretion system (T4SS) is a key virulence factor utilized to translocate Bartonella effector proteins (Beps) into host cells in order to subvert their functions. Crucial for effector translocation is the C-terminal Bep intracellular delivery (BID) domain that together with a positively charged tail sequence forms a bipartite translocation signal. Multiple BID domains also evolved secondary effector functions within host cells. The majority of Beps possess an N-terminal filamentation induced by cAMP (FIC) domain and a central connecting oligonucleotide binding (OB) fold. FIC domains typically mediate AMPylation or related post-translational modifications of target proteins. Some Beps harbor other functional modules, such as tandem-repeated tyrosine-phosphorylation (EPIYA-related) motifs. Within host cells the EPIYA-related motifs are phosphorylated, which facilitates the interaction with host signaling proteins. In this review, we will summarize our current knowledge on the molecular functions of the different domains present in Beps and highlight examples of Bep-dependent host cell modulation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (17) ◽  
pp. 4429-4439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C Begara-Morales ◽  
Mounira Chaki ◽  
Raquel Valderrama ◽  
Capilla Mata-Pérez ◽  
Maria N Padilla ◽  
...  

Abstract Nitric oxide (NO) is an active redox molecule involved in the control of a wide range of functions integral to plant biology. For instance, NO is implicated in seed germination, floral development, senescence, stomatal closure, and plant responses to stress. NO usually mediates signaling events via interactions with different biomolecules, for example the modulation of protein functioning through post-translational modifications (NO-PTMs). S-nitrosation is a reversible redox NO-PTM that consists of the addition of NO to a specific thiol group of a cysteine residue, leading to formation of S-nitrosothiols (SNOs). SNOs are more stable than NO and therefore they can extend and spread the in vivo NO signaling. The development of robust and reliable detection methods has allowed the identification of hundreds of S-nitrosated proteins involved in a wide range of physiological and stress-related processes in plants. For example, SNOs have a physiological function in plant development, hormone metabolism, nutrient uptake, and photosynthesis, among many other processes. The role of S-nitrosation as a regulator of plant responses to salinity and drought stress through the modulation of specific protein targets has also been well established. However, there are many S-nitrosated proteins that have been identified under different abiotic stresses for which the specific roles have not yet been identified. In this review, we examine current knowledge of the specific role of SNOs in the signaling events that lead to plant responses to abiotic stress, with a particular focus on examples where their functions have been well characterized at the molecular level.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Lewandowski ◽  
Karin Meinikmann ◽  
Stefan Krause

The interactions of groundwater with surface waters such as streams, lakes, wetlands, or oceans are relevant for a wide range of reasons—for example, drinking water resources may rely on hydrologic fluxes between groundwater and surface water. However, nutrients and pollutants can also be transported across the interface and experience transformation, enrichment, or retention along the flow paths and cause impacts on the interconnected receptor systems. To maintain drinking water resources and ecosystem health, a mechanistic understanding of the underlying processes controlling the spatial patterns and temporal dynamics of groundwater–surface water interactions is crucial. This Special Issue provides an overview of current research advances and innovative approaches in the broad field of groundwater–surface water interactions. The 20 research articles and 1 communication of this Special Issue cover a wide range of thematic scopes, scales, and experimental and modelling methods across different disciplines (hydrology, aquatic ecology, biogeochemistry, environmental pollution) collaborating in research on groundwater–surface water interactions. The collection of research papers in this Special Issue also allows the identification of current knowledge gaps and reveals the challenges in establishing standardized measurement, observation, and assessment approaches. With regards to its relevance for environmental and water management and protection, the impact of groundwater–surface water interactions is still not fully understood and is often underestimated, which is not only due to a lack of awareness but also a lack of knowledge and experience regarding appropriate measurement and analysis approaches. This lack of knowledge exchange from research into management practice suggests that more efforts are needed to disseminate scientific results and methods to practitioners and policy makers.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (11) ◽  
pp. 973 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuncai Hu ◽  
Wieland Fricke ◽  
Urs Schmidhalter

Salinity is increasingly limiting the production of graminaceous crops constituting the main sources of staple food (rice, wheat, barley, maize and sorghum), primarily through reductions in the expansion and photosynthetic yield of the leaves. In the present review, we summarise current knowledge of the characteristics of the spatial distribution patterns of the mineral elements along the growing grass leaf and of the impact of salinity on these patterns. Although mineral nutrients have a wide range of functions in plant tissues, their functions may differ between growing and non-growing parts of the grass leaf. To identify the physiological processes by which salinity affects leaf elongation in non-halophytic grasses, patterns of mineral nutrient deposition related to developmental and anatomical gradients along the growing grass leaf are discussed. The hypothesis that a causal link exists between ion deficiency and / or toxicity and the inhibition of leaf growth of grasses in a saline environment is tested.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document