Effects of food and topography on ranging behavior of black crested gibbon (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) in Wuliang mountain, Yunnan, China

We studied the ranging behavior of a habituated group of black crested gibbons (Nomascus concolor jingdongensis) in a high, seasonal habitat on Mt. Wuliang, central Yunnan, China, between March 2005 and April 2006. Our results indicated that the total home range size for the study group was 129 ha, or 151 ha if the lacunae within the borders in which gibbons were not observed were included. This is a much bigger range size than that of other gibbon species. However, 69.7% of their activities occurred within 29 ha. The intensity of quadrant use was significantly correlated with the distribution of important food patches. The mean yearly daily path length was 1,391 m. Gibbons traveled farther when they spent more time feeding on fruit. To avoid often passing through ridges with little food, gibbons usually stayed in the same valley for successive days, and then moved on to another valley for another several days, which resulted in a concentrated ranging pattern.

Effects of live food and formulated diets on survival, growth and protein content of first-feeding larvae of Plelteobagrus fulvidraco

In recent years, much progress has been made in the rearing of fish larvae fed only artificial diets. A preliminary study was made in an attempt to evaluate the effects of live food and formulated diets on survival, growth and body protein content of first-feeding larvae of Plelteobagrus fulvidraco. Three test diets varying in protein level were formulated: Feed 1 containing 45% protein, Feed 2 with 50% protein and Feed 3 with 55% protein. Larvae fed live food (newly hatched Artemia, unenriched) were the control. The experiment started 3 days post-hatch and lasted for 23 days. At the end of the 23-day trial, survival was best in the control group (65.6%) whereby the final body weight and specific growth rate (SGR) were significantly lower than those in the test feed groups. At the same time, coefficients of variation for SGR and final body weight in the test groups were significantly higher than those in the control. Whole body protein content in all treatments showed a similar tendency during development: significantly higher 3 days post-hatch, then decreasing significantly, and then increasing unstatistically 10 days post-hatch. All results suggest that live food is still better for first-feeding larvae of P. fulvidraco, since live food leads to healthier larvae growth.

Effect of food and temperature on the growth and development of Moina irrasa (Cladocera : Moinidae)

Body length, instar duration, fecundity, and survival rate of Moina irrasa from a subtropical Chinese lake were studied at three food concentrations (4, 8, and 40 mg/L, wet weight) and six temperatures (10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35degreesC) in the laboratory. Body length tended to decrease with increase of temperature, while the trend was reversed as food concentration rose. M. irrasa had three juvenile instars, except there were four at 10degreesC, and the number of adult instars showed great variation (3-15). Water temperature and food concentration both affected the duration time of adult instars. The largest broods were from the third to sixth adult instars, depending on food and temperature, and the mean highest number of offspring per brood was 56 at 25degreesC. A significant relationship between body length and brood size appeared at high (40 mg/L) and medium (8 mg/L) food concentrations, while there was no significant relationship at low food concentration except at 25 degreesC. The intrinsic rate of population increase ranged between 0.104 and 1.825 ind./day.

Effect of available food and temperature on the growth and reproduction of Daphnia rosea

Population parameters of Daphnia rosea were studied at various concentrations of Chlorella sp. (0.25, 0.75 and 3.0 mg C l(-1)) at several temperatures (20, 25, 28, and 30 degrees C) in the laboratory. Although there were some differences in the degrees of the effects of the various temperature-food combinations, both food and temperature exerted influences on almost all of the main population parameters of D. rosea. At a water temperature of 28 degrees C, growth and reproduction were reduced, and at the lowest food level (0.25 mgC l(-1)), reproduction failed. D, rosea did not survive at 30 degrees C in spite of abundant food supply, indicating that 30 degrees C is a physiological limit. A positive relationship between body length and brood size was recognized at high and medium food levels. The slope of the regression was the highest at the highest food level and at the lowest temperature (20 degrees C). The low food level exerted a negative influence on the net reproductive rate by lowering the size of egg-bearing females, by decreasing the brood size of each size class, by decreasing the brood number per female, and by increasing the period of empty brood chamber. High water temperature (28 degrees C) also exerted a negative influence on the net reproductive rate in a similar way. For the better understanding of the key factors driving the midsummer dynamics of daphnids in the field, it may be of crucial importance to compare the population parameters of the field populations with experimentally derived values under controlled conditions of food concentration and temperature.

红发夫酵母发酵虾青素的研究

红发夫酵母分离于北美西部高山地区和日本一些岛屿上落叶树的渗出液中，因其所产主要色素为在水产养殖、食品和医药工业有广阔应用前景的虾青素而成为研究的热点。本论文对红发夫酵母Phaffia rhodozyma 的生长特性、培养参数与培养基组分对生长和虾青素积累的影响及其优化、虾青素合成的调节控制、虾青素的提取测定及红发夫酵母耐高温菌种的诱变进行了系统的研究。 虾青素是红发夫酵母的胞内色素，要对其进行分析首先要对红发夫酵母进行破壁处理，实验发现二甲亚砜是最有效的破壁溶剂，用氯仿和丙酮可以有效地把类胡萝卜素从二甲亚砜破壁后的红发夫酵母细胞中提取出来。 在固定摇床转速为200 rpm，温度为20 ℃的条件下，当种龄为36 h，以10％的接种量接入装液量为30 mL的250 mL三角瓶，初始pH为5.5时最有利于红发夫酵母的生长及类胡萝卜素的合成。 本实验中红发夫酵母最佳利用碳、氮源分别为蔗糖和蛋白胨，但蛋白胨价格昂贵，不适宜作单一氮源，因此使用硫酸铵和酵母膏作为复合氮源。 本论文采用了BP神经网络结合遗传算法的方法来优化红发夫酵母的发酵培养基，得到红发夫酵母发酵培养基的最佳配比为：蔗糖45.10 g/L、硫酸铵3.00 g/L、硫酸镁0.80 g/L、磷酸二氢钾1.40 g/L、酵母膏3.00 g/L、氯化钙0.50 g/L，使用优化后的培养基发酵类胡萝卜素产量达到8.20 mg/L，干重达到9.47 g/L，类胡萝卜素的产量比起始培养基提高了95.90%，干重提高了89.40%。 从代谢途径出发对红发夫酵母合成虾青素调控调控，选择谷氨酸、乙醇、VB1作为添加剂，通过正交试验设计得出三者添加水平分别为0.2 g/L，0.1% (V/V)，10 mg/L时，类胡萝卜素产量提高了25.73%，达到了10.31mg/L。 通过上述优化培养，本论文中红发夫酵母的虾青素产量从1.33 mg/L提高到9.12 mg/L，产量提高了6.86倍；总类胡萝卜素产量从4.23 mg/L提高到10.31 mg/L，产量提高了2.44倍；细胞干重从5.00 g/L提高到11.35 g/L，提高了2.27倍，总体提高效果显著。 红发夫酵母属于中低温菌，本论文采用紫外复合诱变的方式，通过高温筛选，得到一株能在35 ℃下能生长的突变株，但所产类胡萝卜素中虾青素所占比例很小，可能是诱变改变了红发夫酵母的代谢途径，阻断了虾青素的合成。 Phaffia rhodozyma is a heterobasidiomyceteous yeast that was originally isolated from the slime fluxes of brich tree wounds in mountain regions of northern Japan and southern Alaska. Phaffia rhodozyma produces astaxanthin as its principal carotenoid pigment, which has potential applications in acquaculture, food and pharmaceutical industry. This paper researched ways to break cell, analysis of astaxanthin, characteristics of growth, culture parameters and the effects of components of medium on growth and astaxanthin formation , optimization of culture medium, control of astaxanthin synthesis and mutagenesis of Phaffia rhodozyma. It is necessary to disrupt the yeast cell for extracting astaxanthin considering the yeast accumulating carotenoids in cell. Dimethyisulphoxide was the most effective solvent for breaking the yeast cell; acetone and chloroform were effective to extract carotenoids out of the disrupted cell. The optimum pH for growth and carotenoids synthesis is 5.5, the optimum medium volume is 30 mL (in 250 mL flask), the optimum culture time of inoculum is 36 h, the optimum inoculum concentration is 10%. The research on culture medium showed: sucrose is the best one of 6 carbon sources for growth and astaxanthin synthesis. Peptone is the best nitrogen source for growth and astaxanthin synthesis. Uniform Design was used for trial design of the formula medium components, then back-propagation neural network was established to modeling the relationships between the carotenoid yield and the concentration of medium components. Genetic algorithm (GA) was used for global optimization of the model. The optimum combination of the medium was obtained: sucrose 45.10 g/L, ammonium sulfate 3.00 g/L, magnesium sulfate 0.80 g/L, potassium dihydrogen phosphate 1.40 g/L, yeast extract 3.00 g/L, calcium chloride 0.50 g/L. The yield of carotenoid reached 8.20 mg/L, which was 95.90% higher than that of the original medium. Glu, VB1 and ethanol were selected as fermentation addictives, after Orthogonal Test, the carotenoid contents increased by 25.73% when adding 0.16 g/L Glu, VB1 10 mg/L and ethanol 0.1% (V/V). After the above optimization, the astaxanthin content increased 6.86 folds, which is 9.12 mg/L. The carotenoids content increased 2.44 folds, which is 10.31 mg/L. The biomass increased 2.27 folds, which is 11.35 g/L. Phaffia rhodozyma grows in the mild temperature range of 0 to 27 ℃, in this work, a thermotolerant mutant was selected through UV-irradiation. It can grows at 35 ℃, and showed increased carotenoid content. The optimal growth temperature for this mutant is 30 ℃. But the mutant can only produce carotenoids with little astaxanthin accumulation.

Algal biotechnology industries and research activities in China

In old China there were very few people engaged in the study of the algae, but in new China, freshwater and marine algae are studied by over one hundred old and new phycologists. There is now an algal biotechnology industry consisting of an aquaculture industry, producing large amounts of the seaweeds Laminaria, Porphyra, Undaria, Gracilaria, eucheumoids, and the microalgae Dunaliella and Spirulina. There is also a phycocolloid industry, producing algin, agar and carrageenan; an industry producing chemicals and drugs, such as iodine, mannitol, phycocyanin, beta -carotene, PSS (propylene glycol alginate sulfate) and FPS (fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides) and an industry producing food, feed and fertilizer. The Laminaria cultivation industry produces about 900,000 t dry Laminaria, probably the largest producer in the world and 13,000 t algin, undoubtedly one of the largest algin producer in the world.