Journal of Ocean University of Qingdao

This paper presents the results from laboratory experiments and theoretical analysis to investigate the development of scour around submarine pipeline under steady current conditions. Experiments show that the scour process takes place in two stages: the initial rapid scour and the subsequent gradual scour development stage. An empirical formula for calculating the equilibrium scour depth (the maximum scour depth) is developed by using the regression method. This formula together with the maximum entropy theory can be applied to establish a formula to predict the scour process for given water depth, diameter of pipeline and flow velocity. Good agreement between the predicted and measured scour depth is obtained.

for a long time, most studies about pyrite have focused on sediments while only a few have focused on pyrite in water. In this study, a method that combines the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS) was used to compare pyrite particles suspended in water to those in associated bottom sediments, both obtained from the mixing zone of the Yangtze Estuary. It was found that the pyrite particles in the two media have similar morphologies and size distributions. The particle morphology mainly includes two types, single crystal and aggregate, and the particle size mainly ranges from 0.5 to 2 µm. The pyrite particles in water exhibit an increase in relative content towards the sea, and their transport and deposit processes are mainly affected by hydrodynamic conditions. It is concluded that the pyrite particles in the suspended matter mainly derived from the resuspension of sediments, which are products of the early diagenesis. Precursor minerals may appear during the formation of pyrite, but are generally restricted by the diagenetic environment and local microenvironment.

Using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, the diffusion of oxygen, methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide in water was simulated in the canonical NVT ensemble, and the diffusion coefficient was analyzed by the clustering method. By comparing to the conventional method (using the Einstein model) and the differentiation-interval variation method, we found that the results obtained by the clustering method used in this study are more close to the experimental values. This method proved to be more reasonable than the other two methods.

Chinese government has provided vigorous financial supports to artificial reef (AR) projects to repair marine ecosystem. Qiansandao AR, an important AR project of Fishery Resource Restoration Program in Shandong Province, was built during 2002 to 2007. It has enhanced the local fishery harvest and generated positive economic benefits. Fat greenling (Hexagrammos otakii) is a major commercial reef fish in Qiansandao with high economic values. Its distribution characteristics need to be further studied. In this research, we studied the potential influence of environmental variables and distance from ARs on catch per unit effort (CPUE) and body length of fat greenlings. The results showed that the average body length of fat greenlings distributed within 10 m from ARs was longer than that of fat greenlings distributed more than 600 m away from ARs. Body length also increased with the increased salinity, while it declined as temperature increased. The probability of the presence of fat greenling increased when temperature was below 20°C, then it slightly decreased. CPUE decreased as the distance increased. Our results elucidate the potential effects of environmental variables and distance from ARs on the distribution of fat greenling, which may also be helpful to the distribution research of other reef fish species.

The wild Porphyra yezoensis collected from the Qingdao coast was used to prepare protoplasts by enzyme digestion. The pure line was constructed by cultivating the protoplasts. The 18S rDNA of the P. yezoensis pure line was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis was executed for this sequence and other 22 sequences retrieved from GenBank. A phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method. The results revealed a high diversity of 18S rDNA sequences in genus Porphyra and the considerable variation of 18S rDNA sequences in different strains of the same species P. yezoensis and P. tenera. Significant difference of 18S rDNA sequence was observed between P. yezoensis from Qingdao, China, and the two strains of P. yezoensis from Japan, but the three strains of P. yezoensis formed a stable clade in the phylogenetic tree. These results indicate the possibility of interspecies and intraspecies discrimination of Porphyra using the 18S rDNA sequences.

Acute toxicities of potassium permanganate, formalin, and Lugol’s iodine solution to a commonly occurred marine ciliate Pleuronema coronatum (Ciliophora, Scuticociliatida) were measured. Linear regression analysis of the results highlighted the close relationships between doses of the medicines and mortalities of the organisms, thus providing a capability to predict toxicity effects from the dose. Toxic effects of the medicines on the ciliates were described in the present paper, and the median lethal concentrations (LC50 values) were given. Results of measurements indicated that 2 h-LC50 and 12 h-LC50 values of formalin on P. coronatum were 59.00×10−6 and 43.57×10−6, while those of Lugol’s solutions were 90.13 and 67.84×10−6 respectively. The tolerance of P. coronatum to formalin is apparently lower than that to Lugol’s iodine solution and potassium permanganate is a suitable medicine to kill ciliates in short time.

Sequence variation of partial cytochrome b genes between two Coilia species, C. ectenes and C. mystus, was investigated. Of the 402 nucleotides, twenty-seven (6.72%) are polymorphic and all are synonymous substitutions. At the third positions of genetic condon of cytochrome b gene, the two species show an extreme anti-G bias (<4%) and a pronounced bias towards A and C (>68%). There is no amino acid sequence divergence between the partial cytochrome b genes of the two species, indicating a close genetic relationship between them. The k-2p genetic distance of partial cytochrome b segment of the two species is 0.072, suggesting that the species were separated 3.6 Ma ago, in the middle Pliocene. Our result reveals that the cytochrome b gene is an appropriate marker for studies of population genetic structures and phylogeographic patterns of the two species.

Fortilin is a multifunctional protein implicated in many important cellular processes. Since injection of Pm-fortilin reduces shrimp mortality caused by white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), there is potential application of fortilin in shrimp culture. In the present study, in order to improve trans-membrane transportation efficiency, the protein transduction domain of the transactivator of transcription (TAT) peptide was fused to fortilin. The Pichia pastoris yeast expression system, which is widely accepted in animal feeds, was used for production of recombinant fusion protein. Green fluorescence protein (GFP) was selected as a reporter because of its intrinsic visible fluorescence. The fortilin, TAT and GFP fusion protein were constructed. Their trans-membrane transportation efficiency and effects on immune response of shrimp were analyzed in vitro. Results showed that TAT peptide improved in vitro uptake of fortilin into the hemocytes and midgut of Litopenaeus vannamei. The phenoloxidase (PO) activity of hemocytes incubated with GFP-Fortilin or GFP-Fortilin-TAT was significantly increased compared with that in the control without expressed fortilin. The PO activity of hemocytes incubated with 200 μg mL−1 GFP-Fortilin-TAT was significantly higher than that in the group with the same concentration of GFP-Fortilin. Hemocytes incubated with GFP-Fortilin-TAT at all concentrations showed significantly higher nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity than those in the control or in the GFP-Fortilin treatment. The present in vitro study indicated that TAT fusion protein improved the immune effect of fortilin.