The Contribution of Nearshore Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) to Food Security and Livelihoods in Solomon Islands

Fish aggregating devices, or FADs, are used widely in developing countries to concentrate pelagic fish, making them easier to catch. Nearshore FADs anchored close to the coast allow access for rural communities, but despite their popularity among policy makers, there is a dearth of empirical analysis of their contributions to the supply of fish and to fisheries management. In this paper we demonstrate that nearshore FADs increased the supply of fish to four communities in Solomon Islands. Estimated total annual fish catch ranged from 4300 to 12 000 kg across the study villages, with nearshore FADs contributing up to 45% of the catch. While it is clear that FADs increased the supply of fish, FAD catch rates were not consistently higher than other fishing grounds. Villages with limited access to diverse or productive fishing grounds seemingly utilized FADs to better effect. Villagers believed FADs increased household income and nutrition, as well as providing a source of fish for community events. FADs were also perceived to increase intra-household conflict and reduce fishers'' participation in community activities. FADs need to be placed within a broader rural development context and treated as another component in the diversified livelihoods of rural people; as with other livelihood options they bring trade-offs and risks.     

Genome-wide comparative analysis of tonoplast intrinsic protein (TIP) genes in plants

Tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs) play a vital role in water transport across membranes. In the present study, we performed a comparative analysis of TIP genes in ten plant species including both monocots and dicots. A total of 100 TIP aquaporin genes were identified, and their relationships among the plant species were analyzed. Phylogenetic analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship of these genes within the plant species. Based on the phylogenetic analysis results, TIPs were classified into five distinct arbitrary groups (group I to group V), which represented TIP2, TIP5, TIP4, TIP1, and TIP3, respectively. Group I represented the largest arbitrary group, followed by group IV, in the phylogenetic tree. The result clearly indicates that TIP2 and TIP1 are abundant aquaporins and highly related among the species. In the present review, a comparative study of gene structure analysis between dicots and monocots has been performed to analyze their structural variation. Most of the predicted motifs are conserved among the species, signifying an evolutionary relationship. The gene expression analysis indicated that the expression of TIP genes varies during different developmental stages and also during stressed conditions. The results indicated a great degree of evolutionary relationship and variation in the expression levels of TIPs in plants.     

Physio-biochemical and molecular assessment of Iron (Fe2+) toxicity responses in contrasting indigenous aromatic Joha rice cultivars of Assam,India

Iron (Fe) toxicity is one of the major abiotic stresses which limits the yield of lowland rice. This study aims to investigate the physiological, biochemical, and molecular aspects of two contrasting aromatic Joha rice, viz., Keteki and Kola Joha of Assam. Oxidative damage caused due to Fe²⁺ toxicity was quantitatively determined. Fe²⁺ toxicity in the growth medium increases the level of ROS and anti-oxidative enzyme activity. Along with the aforementioned damage caused due to Fe²⁺ toxicity, chlorophyll content decreases in both the rice varieties. Detection of Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺ was also conducted by Perls’ Prussian and Turnbull blue method, respectively. In addition, spectrophotometric quantification of Fe²⁺ was determined by 2, 2′-Bipyridyl (Bpy). Above 2.5 mM, Fe²⁺ toxicity was found to be lethal in rice seedlings affecting their total growth and biomass. Gene expression analysis of iron-regulated transporter 1 (OsIRT1), Yellow Stripe-Like 15 (OsYSL15), and ferritin 1 (OsFer1) revealed the differential gene expression over a time period of Fe²⁺ toxicity. Our study suggested that the different parameters which are considered here can be helpful for the better understanding of how aromatic Joha rice performed under Fe²⁺ toxicity which can also help to reveal broader aspects that how gene players are involved in the iron homeostasis mechanism in Joha rice in coming future.

     

Ten years of dynamic co-management of a multi-species reef fishery

Co-management, a governance process whereby management responsibility is shared between resource users and other collaborators, is a mainstream approach for governing social and ecological aspects of small-scale fisheries. While many assessments of co-management are available for single time periods, assessments across longer time-scales are rare–meaning the dynamic nature, and long-term outcomes, of co-management are insufficiently understood. In this study we analyse ten-years of catch and effort data from a co-managed, multi-species reef fishery in Solomon Islands. To further understand social, ecological and management dynamics we also draw on interviews with fishers and managers that had been conducted throughout the same decade. We aimed to answer (1) what are the temporal trends in fishing effort, harvesting efficiency, and catch composition within and beyond a periodically-harvested closure (i.e. a principal and preferred management tool in Pacific island reef fisheries), and, (2) what are the internal and external drivers that acted upon the fishery, and its management. Despite high fishing effort within the periodically-harvested closure, catch per unit effort remained stable throughout the ten years. Yet the taxonomic composition of catch changed substantially as species targeted early in the decade became locally depleted. These observations indicate that both the frequency of harvesting and the volumes harvested may have outpaced the turnover rates of target species. We argue that this reflects a form of hyperstability whereby declining abundance is not apparent through catch per unit effort since it is masked by a shift to alternate species. While the community sustained and adapted their management arrangements over the decade as a response to internal pressures and some signs of resource changes, some external social and ecological drivers were beyond their capabilities to govern. We argue the collaborative, knowledge exchange, and learning aspects of adaptive co-management may need even more attention to deal with this complexity, particularly as local and distal pressures on multi-species fisheries and community governance intensify.

Graphical abstract

     

Design of inhibitors of the HIV-1 integrase core domain using virtual screening

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The integrase (IN) enzyme of HIV interacts with several cellular and viral proteins during the integration process. Thus, it represents an appropriate target for antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). We performed virtual screening of database compounds and designed analogues using Elvitegravir (EVG) as a standard compound. The 378 screened compounds were retrieved from ZINC, ChemSpider, PubChem, and ChemBank Chemical Databases based on chemical similarity and literature searches related to the structure of EVG. The Physiochemical properties, Bioactivity, Toxicity and Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion of Molecules (ADME) of these compounds were predicted and docking Experiments were conducted using Molegro Virtual Docker software. The docking and ADME suggested very significant results in regard to EVG. The MolDock and Rerank scores were used to analyze the results. The compounds ZINC26507991 (-84.22), Analogue 9 (-68.49), ZINC20731658 (-66.79), ZINC00210363 (-43.44) showed better binding orientation with IN receptor model with respect to EVG (182.52). The ZINC26507991 has showed significant ADME result.