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We investigated the renal function of the brackish water clam, Ruditapes philippinarum, employing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This kidney consists of two renal tubules, a glandular (GT) and a saccular (ST) tubule. After exposure to seawater containing manganese ion (Mn2+) at 20℃, the intensity of the T1-weighted MRI and longitudinal relaxation rates (1/T1=R1) of the kidney were increased. In the ST, haemolymph containing Mn2+ entered directly from the auricle, and the Mn2+ concentration ([Mn2+]) increased in the initial part of the ST. Thereafter, [Mn2+] was almost constant until the posterior end of the kidney. The GT received haemolymph from the pedal sinus via the visceral sinus. The GT runs parallel inside the ST, and [Mn2+] increased progressively until it merged with the ST. In a range of seawater with [Mn2+] from 1 to 30 mol·l-1, the [Mn2+] increased 12 fold in the posterior part of the ST, compared to the ambient [Mn2+]. Based on these results, the epithelium of the initial part of the ST reabsorbs water from luminal fluid, building up a higher osmotic pressure. Using this osmotic gradient, hypertonic water is reabsorbed via the epithelium of the GT to the ST, and then transferred to the haemolymph via the epithelium of the ST. Excess water is excreted as urine. This model was supported by the increases in the [Mn2+] in the ST when the clams were exposed to seawater containing Mn2+ at salinity from 26.0 to 36.0‰, showing that the parallel-current system works in hypotonic seawater., (© 2024. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)

Culture collections such as the Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (LEGE-CC) hold approximately 1200 cyanobacterial strains and are critical community resources. However, many isolates in this and other collections have not been described with a polyphasic approach, and this limits further study. Here, we employed a polyphasic methodology that integrates 16S rRNA gene phylogenetic analyses, similarity (p-distance), 16S-23S ITS rRNA region secondary structures, morphological analyses, and habitat assessments to describe four novel cyanobacterial genera from the LEGE-CC, Portugal. Pseudolimnococcus planktonicus gen. et sp. nov. (Chroococcales) is phylogenetically and morphologically related to Limnococcus. The 16S rRNA gene similarity between the types of both genera is only 93.1%. Morphologically, Pseudolimnococcus cells do not reach the original spherical shape before the next division or have aerotopes and firm mucilage, while Limnococcus cells reach the original shape, lack aerotopes, and have diffluent mucilage. Eucapsopsis lusitanus gen. et sp. nov. (Chroococcales) is morphologically similar to Eucapsis but differs from it by having aerotopes and diffluent envelope. Eucapsis lacks aerotopes and has firm mucilaginous envelopes, rarely diffluent. Both genera are phylogenetically very distant from each other and have only 90.68% 16S rRNA gene similarity. Pseudoacaryochloris arrabidensis gen. et sp. nov. (Acaryochloridales) differs from Acaryochloris by the lack of mucilaginous envelope, which is present in Acaryochloris. Both genera are phylogenetically distant and have only 94.1% 16S rRNA gene similarity. Moreover, Acaryochloris is marine (sponge symbiont), while Pseudoacaryochloris is from freshwater. Vasconcelosia minhoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Nodosilineales) is phylogenetically related to Cymatolege but has only 94.3% similarity with this genus. Morphologically both genera are distinct. Vasconcelosia has a Romeria-like structure, while Cymatolege has a Phormidium-like structure. In all cases the 16S-23S ITS rRNA region secondary structures are in agreement with the other analyses. These novel genera expand the diversity of cyanobacteria in culture collections., (© 2024 Phycological Society of America.)

To investigate the effects of different typical exogenous salt concentrations on total soil salinity and the growth of Lycium barbarum under brackish water irrigation, and to determine the salinity threshold of irrigated brackish water that is conducive to the normal growth of Lycium barbarum while mitigating soil salinity accumulation. Four typical exogenous salts (NaCl, CaCl 2 , NaHCO 3 , Na 2 SO 4 ) were selected and set at four concentrations (0.1, 0.5, 2.0, 4.0 g L -1 ) to conduct a field crossover experiments in the downstream region of the Hetao Irrigation District. The results showed that in the same fertility period, the growth rates of new branches, ground diameter, and crown width first increased and then decreased with rising concentrations of NaCl, CaCl 2 , and Na 2 SO 4 , but showed an inverse relationship with NaHCO 3 concentrations. Furthermore, increasing salt concentrations linearly reduced the yield of dry fruits from Lycium barbarum and led to a notable accumulation of total soil salts. Utilizing an experimental research approach, a comprehensive analysis of involving multiple growth indices, stable yield, and soil salinity control of Lycium barbarum revealed that optimal growth occurs at salt concentrations of 0.1-0.5 g L -1 for different water quality areas within the irrigation area; using the method of path analysis identified the total soil salt and crown width as the primary direct and indirect factors influencing the yield of Lycium barbarum. The results of this study provide scientific basis and significant theoretical support for the safe and rational utilization of brackish water and cultivation of Lycium barbarum in typical regions with varying saline water qualities of Hetao irrigation area., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Drinking water requirements are rapidly increasing while the availability of drinking water is decreasing. Overcoming this problem requires a sustainable energy source, such as solar energy, to desalinate untreated water. The most essential and simplest application of brackish water desalination is solar distillation. However, a limitation of the widespread use of solar distillation is its low yield. Therefore, several research attempts were made to enhance its productivity. Current work deals with a comprehensive review study on the solar distillation system. It presents the most critical factors and parameters affecting the productivity of solar stills and adjustments made to improve daily yield. Weather factors cannot be controlled but affect the performance of solar stills, such as solar radiation, ambient air temperature, and wind speed, while the operational and design parameters of solar stills can be manipulated, such as controlling the depth of the aquarium water and the thickness and angle of inclination of the glass cover. Improve evaporation and condensation mechanisms by increasing the basin water temperature and decreasing the distiller cover temperature, respectively, and tightening the thermal insulation to reduce heat loss to the surroundings. It was concluded that the productivity of solar stills may improve by increasing solar radiation and wind speed, as well as by decreasing the ambient air temperature. As for operational parameters, productivity improves as the depth of the water decreases and the thickness of the cover decreases. Designally, single-slope solar stills captured more solar radiation at both high and low-latitude stations than their double-slope solar still counterparts. Adding a packed layer to the basin's bottom or attaching a rotating shaft to the basin's surface can also enhance the solar distillation system. It has also been shown that the most effective design approach to improving the performance of solar stills is to use a slowly rotating drum inside the still, which can result in a 200-300 % increase in water production. The review will help researchers understand previous designs and develop a new set of characteristics to increase the solar still system's thermal efficacy and produce more distillate. Additionally, limitations are discussed along with suggestions for future research that might improve the productivity and performance of the basin solar still typical operating conditions., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Authors.)

Brackish water can promote physicochemical changes in the soil. Aiming to mitigate the effect of excess salts in the soil, the use of organic matter promotes restructuring. The aim was to evaluate the productive and nutritional characteristics of cactus pear under different brackish water depths (ID) and levels of organic matter (OM). A factorial arrangement of 4 × 4 × 4 with four replications was utilized. Plots consisted of ID (0, 12, 20, and 28% reference evapotranspiration-ETo), and subplots were composed of OM levels (0, 15, 30, and 45 t/ha) and days after planting (DAP; 180, 270, 360, and 450 days). The growth, yield, and chemical composition of cactus pear were affected by ID and OM and/or by their interaction. The regular and increasing application of ID from 192 to 456 mm/year and a rainfall of 110 mm/year in cactus pear crops in biosaline systems improves the growth, freshness, dry matter yields, accumulation capacity per unit area, and chemical composition of cactus pear. The increase in OM up to the range from 30 to 45 Mg/ha linearly increases the agronomic performance of cactus pear. Biosaline systems with cactus pear should be adopted with the combined use of regular supplementary ID and OM, measuring at 304 mm/year and 45 Mg/ha, respectively.

The transition towards a sustainable society involves the utilization of lignocellulosic biomass as a renewable feedstock for materials, fuel, and base chemicals. Lignocellulose consists of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, forming a complex, recalcitrant matrix where efficient enzymatic saccharification is pivotal for accessing its valuable components. This study investigated microbial communities from brackish Lauwersmeer Lake, in The Netherlands, as a potential source of xylan-degrading enzymes. Environmental sediment samples were enriched with wheat arabinoxylan (WAX) and beechwood glucuronoxylan (BEX), with enrichment on WAX showing higher bacterial growth and complete xylan degradation compared to BEX. Metagenomic sequencing revealed communities consisting almost entirely of bacteria (>99%) and substantial shifts in composition during the enrichment. The first generation of seven-day enrichments on both xylans led to a high accumulation of Gammaproteobacteria (49% WAX, 84% BEX), which were largely replaced by Alphaproteobacteria (42% WAX, 69% BEX) in the fourth generation. Analysis of the protein function within the sequenced genomes showed elevated levels of genes associated with the carbohydrate catabolic process, specifically targeting arabinose, xylose, and xylan, indicating an adaptation to the primary monosaccharides present in the carbon source. The data open up the possibility of discovering novel xylan-degrading proteins from other sources aside from the thoroughly studied Bacteroidota.

A Gram-stain-negative, obligately aerobic, non-motile, rod-shaped bacterial strain designated SJW1-29 T was isolated from brackish water samples collected from the Seomjin River, Republic of Korea. The purpose of this study was to characterize strain SJW1-29 T and determine its taxonomic position as a potential new genus within the family Spirosomaceae . The strain grew within the range of 10-30 °C (optimum, 25 °C), pH 5.0-10.0 (optimum, 7.0), and 1-4% NaCl (optimum, 3%). Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene revealed that strain SJW1-29 T belongs to the family Spirosomaceae and is closely related to Persicitalea jodogahamensis Shu-9-SY12-35C T (91.3% similarity), Rhabdobacter roseus R491 T (90.6%), and Arundinibacter roseus DMA-K-7a T (90.0%), while the similarities to strains within the order Cytophagales were lower than 90.0%. The genome is 7.1 Mbp with a G+C content of 50.7 mol%. The use of genome-relatedness indices confirmed that this strain belongs to a new genus. The major polar lipid profile consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, and MK-7 was the predominant menaquinone. The predominant fatty acids were summed feature 3 (C 16:1 ω 7 c and/or C 16:1 ω 6 c ), iso-C 15:0 , iso-C 17:0 3-OH, and C 16:0 , representing more than 80% of the total fatty acids. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic, genetic, and phylogenetic properties suggest that strain SJW1-29 T represents a novel species within a new genus in the family Spirosomaceae , for which the name Salmonirosea aquatica gen. nov., sp. nov., is proposed. The type strain of Salmonirosea aquatica is SJW1-29 T (=KCTC 72493 T = NBRC 114061 T = FBCC-B16924 T ).

Soil salinity and freshwater scarcity are among the major global threats to sustainable development owing to their adverse impacts on agricultural productivity especially in arid and semi-arid regions. There is a need to find sustainable alternatives such as salt-tolerant crops and fish to improve people's livelihoods in marginal areas. This study aimed to maximize the growth and yield of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) and quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) cultivated under a biosaline integrated aquaculture-agriculture system. The study was laid in a randomized completely block design of three saline effluent treatments under three replicates: 5000 ppm (T1), 10,000 ppm (T2), 15,000 ppm (T3), and control (T0). Agro-morphological and physiological attributes of quinoa were measured. The crop yield in biomass and mineral element composition was also studied. Additionally, fish growth performance parameters such as feed intake and efficiency, growth, and survival rate were also calculated. Our results indicated that irrigating quinoa with saline aquaculture effluents above 10,000 ppm enhanced the plant growth, yield, and nutrient content of seeds. Furthermore, rearing striped catfish in saline water reaching up to 15,000 ppm did not have adverse impacts on the growth and survival of fish. Overall, integrating catfish and quinoa production under a salinity regime of 10,000 ppm could be a potential solution to ensuring alternative food sources in marginal areas., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The present work's objective is to give a comprehensive overview of the quality of groundwater in Qatar in terms of heavy metals content as well as investigating the cause and effect of the elevation in their levels above the WHO/US-EPA standards. The scope of the study included (1) physical and chemical analysis of 82 groundwater samples collected from various locations around Qatar, (2) development of ArcGIS maps depicting the variations in the levels, (3) assessment of the human health risks associated with the existing levels using three of the most used models which are: Hazard index (HI), Nemerow comprehensive pollution index (NCPI) and Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR). There is no extensive study ever reported to assess the health risks linked with the consumption of groundwater characterized with such heavy metals levels in Qatar. The chronic daily intake (CDI) of the investigated heavy metals (Ag, Mn, Cr, V, Mo and Sr) through ingestion and dermal pathways had a range of 1.4 × 10 -5 -6.7 × 10 -1 mg/kg/day while the NCPI's range was reported at 0-4.39. Moreover, the HI and ILCR were found to have a range of 0-3.2 and 5.6 × 10 -4 -5.5 × 10 -2 , respectively. The assessment of health risks, conducted in the present work, could be beneficial in building the baseline of heavy metals levels in groundwater in Qatar. This will also help in the determination of any future contamination of groundwater., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

In this study, composite electrodes with metal-organic framework (MOF) for brackish water desalination via capacitive deionization (CDI) were developed. The electrodes contained activated carbon (AC), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and zinc-benzene tricarboxylic acid (Zn-BTC) MOF in varying proportions, improving their electrochemical performance. Among them, the E4 electrode with 6% Zn-BTC MOF exhibited the best performance in terms of CV and EIS analyses, with a specific capacity of 88 F g -1 and low ion charge transfer resistance of 4.9 Ω. The E4 electrode showed a 46.7% increase in specific capacitance compared to the E1 electrode, which did not include the MOF. Physicochemical analyses, including XRD, FTIR, FESEM, BET, EDS, elemental mapping, and contact angle measurements, verified the superior properties of the E4 electrode compared to E1, showcasing successful MOF synthesis, desirable pore size, elemental and particle-size distribution of materials, and the superior hydrophilicity enhancement. By evaluating salt removal capacity (SRC) in various setups using an initially 100.0 mg L -1 NaCl feed solution, the asymmetric arrangement of E1 and E4 electrodes outperformed symmetric arrangements, achieving a 21.1% increase in SRC to 6.3 mg g -1 . This study demonstrates the potential of MOF-incorporated electrodes for efficient CDI desalination processes., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon is a highly eutrophic lacustrine system and has one of the longest histories of exploration and anthropic alteration in Brazil. Despite its relevance, limited studies explored the diversity of micro-eukaryotes in the lagoon. Ciliates (Alveolata, Ciliophora) are overlooked in environmental microbiology, especially in tropical and subtropical ecosystems, resulting in limited knowledge about their diversity and functional relevance in South American habitats, particularly in coastal lagoons. To fill this gap, here we investigated the diversity of ciliates in a brackish coastal lagoon in an urban area of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, applying and comparing the performance of morphological and metabarcoding approaches. The metabarcoding analysis, based on high-throughput sequencing of the hipervariable region V4 of the 18S rRNA genes detected 37 molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs) assigned to Ciliophora, representing only about a half (56.9%) of the diversity detected by microscopy, which counted 65 ciliate morphotypes. The most representative classes in both approaches were Spirotrichea and Oligohymenophorea. The metabarcoding analysis revealed that 35.3% of the ciliate MOTUs had less than 97% similarity to available sequences in the NCBI database, indicating that more than one-third of these MOTUs potentially represents still not represented or undescribed ciliate species in current databases. Our findings indicate that metabarcoding techniques can significantly enhance the comprehension of ciliate diversity in tropical environments, but the scarcity of reference sequences of brackish ciliates in molecular databases represents a challenge to the taxonomic assignment of the MOTUs. This study provides new insights into the diversity of ciliates in a threatened coastal lagoon, revealing a vast array of still unknown and rare ciliate taxonomic units in tropical environments., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Sociedade Brasileira de Microbiologia.)

Giant viruses, categorized under Nucleocytoviricota, are believed to exist ubiquitously in natural environments. However, comprehensive reports on isolated giant viruses remain scarce, with limited information available on unrecoverable strains, viral proliferation sites, and natural hosts. Previously, the author highlighted Pandoravirus hades , Pandoravirus persephone , and Mimivirus sp. styx, isolated from brackish water soil, as potential hotspots for giant virus multiplication. This study presents findings from nearly a year of monthly sampling within the same brackish water region after isolating the three aforementioned strains. This report details the recurrent isolation of a wide range of giant viruses. Each month, four soil samples were randomly collected from an approximately 5 × 10 m plot, comprising three soil samples and one water sample containing sediment from the riverbed. Acanthamoeba castellanii was used as a host for virus isolation. These efforts consistently yielded at least one viral species per month, culminating in a total of 55 giant virus isolates. The most frequently isolated species was Mimiviridae (24 isolates), followed by Marseilleviridae (23 isolates), Pandoravirus (6 isolates), and singular isolates of Pithovirus and Cedratvirus . Notably, viruses were not consistently isolated from any of the four samples every month, with certain sites yielding no viruses. Cluster analysis based on isolate numbers revealed that soil samples from May and water and sediment samples from January produced the highest number of viral strains. These findings underscore brackish coastal soil as a significant site for isolating numerous giant viruses, highlighting the non-uniform distribution along coastlines., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. MA serves as an editorial board member of Frontiers in Microbiology., (Copyright © 2024 Akashi, Takemura and Suzuki.)

Freshwater scarcity, salinity, and poor soil fertility are the major challenges affecting both food and feed productions in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Utilization of brackish water in the production of saline-tolerant fish and valuable field crops under an integrated system is promising in the maximization of yield per crop. The aim of this study, therefore, was to (1) assess the effect of saline aquaculture wastewater on the growth, yield, forage quality, and nutritive composition of sorghum seeds and (2) assess the effect of different water qualities on the survival, growth performance, and health status of Pangasianodon hypophthalmus. The experiment was conducted in a randomized completely block design of four salinity treatments with three replicates, i.e., control (freshwater mixed with inorganic fertilizers), 5000 ppm, 10,000 ppm, and 15,000 ppm. Our results indicated that although the control exhibited the highest growth (plant height, leaf number, internode number, leaf area, and soil-plant analysis development), grain, and forage yield, no significant differences were noted among the treatments. Likewise, no significant difference in the grain nutrient composition was noted among all the treatments. Assessment of the forage quality revealed improved crude protein content in the control compared to the saline treatments. However, no significant differences in the leaves and stalks fiber fractions were noted among all the treatments. Furthermore, rumen fermentation in terms of in vitro digestibility indicated no significant differences in the in vitro digestible dry matter, digestible organic matter, metabolic energy, net energy, microbial protein, short-chain fatty acids, and total dissolved nutrients among the treatments. However, rearing P. hypophthalmus in water salinities exceeding 10,000 ppm reduced the growth performance and health status of fish. Therefore, the integration of sorghum and P. hypophthalmus production in water salinities not exceeding 5000 ppm is a viable alternative to maximize brackish water productivity in freshwater-scarce regions., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The occurrence of large Microcystis biomass in brackish waters is primarily caused by its downward transportation from the upstream freshwater lakes and reservoirs through rivers rather than due to in situ bloom formation. Factors that determine the survival of freshwater cyanobacteria in brackish waters have not been well investigated. Here, we studied the spatiotemporal variability of inorganic nitrogen in an upstream lake and conducted laboratory and in-situ experiments to assess the role of nitrogen availability on the salt tolerance of Microcystis and the release of microcystins. A series of field experiments were carried out during bloom seasons to evaluate the salt tolerance of natural Microcystis colonies. The salt tolerance threshold varied from 7 to 17 and showed a positive relationship with intracellular carbohydrate content and a negative relationship with nitrogen availability in water. In August when upstream nitrogen availability was lower, the Microcystis colonies could maintain their biomass even after a sudden increase in salinity from 4 to 10. Laboratory-cultivated Microcystis that accumulated higher carbohydrate content at lower nitrogen availability showed better cell survival at higher salinity. The sharp release of microcystins into the surrounding water occurred when salinity exceeded the salt tolerance threshold of the Microcystis. Thus, Microcystis with higher salt tolerance can accumulate more toxins in cells. The obtained results suggest that the cell survival and toxin concentration in brackish waters depend on the physiological properties of Microcystis formed in the upstream waters. Thus, the life history of Microcystis in upstream waters could have a significant impact on its salt tolerance in downstream brackish waters, where the ecological risk of the salt-tolerant Microcystis requires special and careful management in summer at low nitrogen availability., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

Drip irrigation with brackish water increases the risk of soil salinization while alleviating water shortage in arid areas. In order to alleviate soil salinity stress on crops, polymer soil amendments are increasingly used. But the regulation mechanism of a polymer soil amendment composed of polyacrylamide polyvinyl alcohol, and manganese sulfate (PPM) on rapeseed photosynthesis under drip irrigation with different types of brackish water is still unclear. In this field study, PPM was applied to study the responses of the rapeseed ( Brassica napus L.) phenotype, photosynthetic physiology, transcriptomics, and metabolomics at the peak flowering stage under drip irrigation with water containing 6 g·L -1 NaCl (S) and Na 2 CO 3 (A). The results showed that the inhibitory effect of the A treatment on rapeseed photosynthesis was greater than that of the S treatment, which was reflected in the higher Na + content (73.30%) and lower photosynthetic-fluorescence parameters (6.30-61.54%) and antioxidant enzyme activity (53.13-77.10%) of the A-treated plants. The application of PPM increased the biomass (63.03-75.91%), photosynthetic parameters (10.55-34.06%), chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (33.83-62.52%), leaf pigment content (10.30-187.73%), and antioxidant enzyme activity (28.37-198.57%) under S and A treatments. However, the difference is that under the S treatment, PPM regulated the sulfur metabolism, carbon fixation and carbon metabolism pathways in rapeseed leaves. And it also regulated the photosynthesis-, oxidative phosphorylation-, and TCA cycle-related metabolic pathways in rapeseed leaves under A treatment. This study will provide new insights for the application of polymer materials to tackle the salinity stress on crops caused by drip irrigation with brackish water, and solve the difficulty in brackish water utilization.

Transitional waters, including coastal ponds, represent unique environments. These distinct ecosystems are often among the most severely polluted systems due to intensive human activities. Our study marks the first evaluation of aquatic invertebrates associated with plastic litter in two brackish ponds. We collected 43 items of plastic litter (including bottles and disposable plastics) during the winter and spring of 2022. Most of plastic litter (76.8 %) was colonized by aquatic invertebrates. A total of 495 individuals were observed on the plastic litter, with the number of individuals ranging from 1 to 54 (average = 13.4). The most abundant taxa were from the families Gammaridae, Serpulidae, and Sphaeromatidae. Invertebrates colonized both the external and internal surfaces of the plastic bottles. Plastic bottles trapped 25 % of the total biota. The internal entrapped taxa were mainly represented by gammarids, molluscs egg mass, and sphaeromatids. Open bottles could potentially serve as temporary or permanent traps for invertebrates colonizing their internal surfaces. We argue that the dispersal of species driven by plastics is possible but limited, just as water exchanges with the seas are limited. These brackish lakes could be transit areas, but more importantly, they could be hotspots for plastic litter., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

While electrodialysis (ED) demonstrates lower energy consumption than reverse osmosis (RO) in the desalination of low salinity waters, RO continues to be the predominant technology for brackish water desalination. In this study, we probe this skewed market share and project the potential for future disruption by ED through systematic assessment of the levelized cost of water (LCOW). Using rigorous process- and economic-models, we minimize the LCOW of RO and ED systems, highlighting important tradeoffs between capital and operating expenditure for each technology. With optimized current state-of-the-art systems, we find that ED is more economical than RO for feed salinities ≤ 3 g L -1 , albeit to a minor extent. Considering that RO is a highly mature technology, we focus on predicting the future potential of ED by evaluating plausible avenues for capital and operating cost reduction. Specifically, we find that reduction in the price of ion-exchange membranes (i.e., < 60 USD m -2 ) can ensure competitiveness with RO for feed salinities up to 5 g L -1 . For higher feed salinities (≥ 5 g L -1 ) we reveal that the LCOW of ED may effectively be reduced by decreasing ion-exchange membrane resistance, while preserving high current efficiency. Through extensive assessment of structure-property-performance relationships, we precisely identify target membrane charge densities and diffusion coefficients which optimize the LCOW of ED, thus providing novel guidance for future membrane material development. Overall, we emphasize that with a unified approach - whereby ion-exchange membrane price is reduced and performance is enhanced - ED can become the economically preferable technology compared to RO across the entire brackish water salinity range., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Phytoremediation is an effective way to reduce heavy metal content in agricultural soil. The effects of brackish water irrigation on phytoremediation efficiency of plants have not yet been completely understood. In this study, the effects of brackish water irrigation on cadmium (Cd) uptake by maize as the phytoremediator were investigated. In a pot experiment, maize seedlings were grown in soil with exogenously added Cd (0, 5, 10, or 15 mg kg -1 ) and irrigated with deionized water (T1), natural brackish water (T2), or water with NaCl with salinity equal to that of natural brackish water (T3). Salt stress and cation antagonism caused by brackish water affected maize plant growth and Cd uptake. Under 5, 10, and 15 mg kg -1 Cd, Cd accumulation in maize shoots was 5.55, 7.08, and 5.71 μg plant -1 ; 4.08, 3.04, and 5.38 μg plant -1 ; and 2.48, 3.44, and 5.33 μg plant -1 under the T1, T2, and T3 treatments, respectively. Cd accumulation in the shoots was significantly lower under the T2 and T3 treatments than under the T1 treatment at 5 and 10 mg kg -1 Cd; however, no significant differences were observed among all treatments at 15 mg kg -1 Cd. These findings indicated that phytoremediation efficiency decreased in response to both salt stress and cation antagonism caused by brackish water under low soil-Cd concentrations; however, this effect was negligible under high soil-Cd concentration. Therefore, brackish water irrigation can be considered for the phytoremediation of soils contaminated with high Cd levels to save freshwater resources., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: As unicellular eukaryotes, ciliates are an indispensable component of micro-ecosystems that play the role of intermediate nutrition link between bacteria or algae and meiofauna. Recent faunistic studies have revealed many new taxa of hypotrich ciliates, indicating their diversity is greater than previously thought. Here we document an undescribed form isolated from an artificial brackish water pond in East China. Examination of its morphology, ontogenesis and molecular phylogeny suggests that it represents a new species., Results: The morphology and morphogenesis of the new brackish-water deviatid ciliate, Heterodeviata nantongensis nov. sp., isolated from Nantong, China, were investigated using live observations and protargol staining. The diagnostic traits of the new species include three frontal cirri, one buccal cirrus, one or two parabuccal cirri, an inconspicuous frontoventral cirral row of four to six frontoventral cirri derived from two anlagen, three left and two right marginal rows, two dorsal kineties, dorsal kinety 1 with 9-14 dikinetids and dorsal kinety 2 with only two dikinetids, and one to three caudal cirri at the rear end of dorsal kinety 1. Its main morphogenetic features are: (i) the old oral apparatus is completely inherited by the proter except undulating membranes, which are reorganized in situ; (ii) anlagen for marginal rows and the left dorsal kinety develop intrakinetally in both proter and opisthe; (iii) dorsal kinety 2 is generated dorsomarginally; (iv) five cirral anlagen are formed in both proter and opisthe; (v) in the proter, anlagen I and II very likely originate from the parental undulating membranes and the buccal cirrus, respectively, anlage III from anterior parabuccal cirrus, anlage IV originates from the parental frontoventral cirri and anlage V from the innermost parental right marginal row; and (vi) anlagen I-IV of the opisthe are all generated from oral primordium, anlage V from the innermost parental right marginal row. Phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rRNA gene sequence data were performed to determine the systematic position of the new taxon., Conclusions: The study on the morphology, and ontogenesis of a new brackish-water taxon increases the overall knowledge about the biodiversity of this ciliate group. It also adds to the genetic data available and further provides a reliable reference for environmental monitoring and resource investigations., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Water desalination mediated by electrochemical reactions to directly capture and release salt at electrode materials offers a low-voltage method for producing freshwater. Developing new system designs has allowed electrode materials to maximize their capacity for salt separation, especially when a multichannel system is used to introduce a separate electrode rinse solution. Here, we show that the use of an additive can provide a new strategy for improving electrode capacity and, hence desalination performance, which so far has been limited to increasing the electrolyte concentration. A custom-built, 2/2-channel flow cell divided by two cation exchange membranes and an anion exchange membrane was fed with 50 mM NaCl as the feed (two inner channels) and 0.5 M NaCl containing up to 0.1 M phosphate as the electrode rinse (two outer channels). Using manganese oxide electrodes with phosphate buffer-mediated redox reactions exhibited an improved desalination capacity of 68.0 ± 5.2 mg g -1 (0.55 mA cm -2 ) and a rate of 5.6 ± 1.3 mg g -1 min -1 (0.96 mA cm -2 ). The improvement was attributed to the buffer that served as a proton donor for promoting the H + insertion reaction of amorphous or poorly crystalline MnO 2 . Additionally, the buffering capacity against acidification and the creation of insoluble manganese phosphate on the electrode surface prevented the dissolution of Mn 2+ , which could otherwise occur at the anode due to a decrease in the local pH upon H + deinsertion. Thus, the use of manganese oxide electrodes coupled with phosphate provides a new strategy of increasing electrode capacity for water desalination.

In the present study, nine fabrics have been tested for brackish water treatment with the aim of industrial application under the concept of zero liquid discharge (ZLD). Moisture content was determined, where it was observed that the lignocellulosic fabrics had a moisture content ranging from 2.5 to 8.5%. The wetting contact angle showed that the flax with polylactic acid (LPLA) was the most hydrophobic. The determination of the liquid absorption capacity showed that, of the synthetic fabrics, the one with the highest absorption, both in distilled water and in brackish water, was the polyester (PES) fabric with an absorption of 816% compared to its initial weight. In the natural fabrics, the highest absorption capacity was shown by the wet-laid without treatment (WL-WT) fabric for both distilled water and brackish water, although it required several cycles of operation to maintain this stable absorption. Exposure to brackish water improved the absorption capacity of all samples. Mechanical and thermal characterization showed that the synthetic fabrics were more resistant than the natural fabrics, although they may compete in terms of applicability. The capillarity study showed that the most hydrophilic fabrics completed the test the fastest. Finally, the composting degradation test showed that those fabrics with polylactic acid (PLA) content degraded faster in the first 14 days and thereafter the degradation of the lignocellulosic content showed a slower degradation until 112 days. The Bam fabric did not degrade during the course of the experiment.

Even though pre-oxidation is usually considered as a promising method to alleviate membrane fouling, information on performance and inner mechanisms of pre-oxidation-influenced membrane fouling during nanofiltration of brackish water is still limited. This study is the first work in which oxidant reduction byproducts and interaction between different pollutants were particularly considered to address these problems. Herein, nanofiltration experiments with different pre-oxidized synthesis brackish water containing inorganic salts and organic pollutants were conducted. Membrane flux results showed that both NaClO and K 2 FeO 4 aggravated membrane fouling, but 0.45 mg/mg TOC KMnO 4 mitigated it when simulation results of NICA-Donnan model showed that the complexation between calcium ions and humic acid (HA) was weakened. However, membrane fouling was enhanced by higher dosage of KMnO 4 . Fourier transform infrared spectrometer using attenuated total reflection (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectrum showed that the aggravated membrane fouling was mainly caused by the generation of amorphous manganese oxide, which was oxidant reduction byproduct and had strong capacity for adsorption of HA. Particle size distribution and zeta potential variation indicated that the accumulation of HA could enhance the crystallization process and then the electrostatic attraction between membrane and bulk crystallization was induced. According to SEM images and fitting results of Hermia's models, the already-formed bulk crystallization by 1.90 mg/mg TOC KMnO 4 could deposit on membranes more easily, followed by the formation of a denser fouling layer. Overall, the present study provided new insights into the design of reliable pre-oxidation strategies for alleviating membrane fouling during nanofiltration of brackish water., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Growing Nile tilapia in brackish water showed promising results, but the possibility of ammonia exposure can interrupt health status and productivity. Herein, the study tested the combined effects of water salinity and ammonia exposure on the antioxidative status, serum biochemistry, and immunity of Nile tilapia. Fish were assigned to eight groups where fish were reared in saline water (5, 10, and 15 ppt) with continuous or intermittent (every 3 days) total ammonia (TAN) exposure (5 mg TAN/L) (2 × 4 factorial design). After 30 days, the water salinity, TAN, and their interaction were markedly (P < 0.05), affecting the growth performance (final weight, weight gain, and specific growth rate) and survival rate of Nile tilapia. The growth performance and survival rate were markedly lower in tilapia grown in 15 ppt with continuous TAN exposure than in the remaining groups. The results showed that fish exposed to higher salinity levels (10 and 15 ppt) and continuous TAN exposure had a more robust antioxidative response, as evidenced by higher superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activities and lower malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the homogenates of the gills, intestines, and livers. The gills were notably affected, with congestion of primary filaments blood vessels and degeneration or shedding of secondary filaments epithelium, especially at salinity levels of 10 and 15 ppt. Additionally, the intestines displayed hyperplasia and inflammatory cell infiltration of intestinal mucosa at 5-10 ppt salinity, degeneration and sloughing of the intestinal epithelium at 15 ppt saline water, and increased goblet cell number at salinity of 10 ppt. The study found that continuous TAN exposure had a more significant impact on the fish, especially at higher salinity levels. Water salinity, TAN, and their interaction significantly affected all measured blood bio-indicators (total, albumin, globulin, ALT, AST, creatinine, urea, glucose, and cortisol levels). The phagocytic activity and index were markedly lowered in fish reared in 15 ppt with continuous TAN exposure, while the lysozyme activity was decreased in fish grown in 5, 10, and 15 ppt with continuous TAN exposure. In conclusion, Nile tilapia showed the possibility of growth with normal health status in brackish water (5-10 ppt); however, continuous TAN exposure can impair the productivity of tilapia, especially with high salinity (15 ppt)., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Coastal freshwater ecosystems play major roles as reservoirs of biodiversity and provide many ecosystem services and protection from extreme weather events. While they are of particular importance worldwide, they are affected by a large variety of anthropogenic threats, among which salinization has been less studied, particularly regarding large temporal and spatial data sets based on real case scenarios, while salinity can impact biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. In this study, we investigated the variations of salinity across long-term (1996-2020) and seasonal (monthly records) temporal scales and spatial (varying distance to the coastline) scales in water bodies of two typical temperate coastal wetlands situated on the Atlantic coast of France. We complemented our analyses with models of sea water levels computed at both sites across 2000-2020. Our detailed data set allowed for highlighting that salinity in ponds varied seasonally (higher during summer, due to decreased precipitation and higher temperature), but also spatially (higher closer to the seashore, which pattern increased through time). Over the long term, decreased precipitation but not increased temperature induced increasing salinity. We also highlighted contrasted long-term patterns of salinity changes on these two coastal wetlands, with one site were salinity decreased over time linked to the responses to marine flood, allowing to document the temporal dynamics of salinity following a massive intrusion of sea water. Complementarily, at both sites, water levels at high tides increased through time, a pattern which can induce additional salinization. To our knowledge, our study is the first to investigate long-term changes in salinity in coastal wetlands through natural processes (e.g. seaspray, seasonal variations) and ongoing climate perturbations (e.g. marine surges linked to extreme weather events, increased temperature and decreased precipitations)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A bacterial strain was isolated from a brackish water sample of Tagus river, Alcochete, Portugal and was designated TO1&#95;6 T . It forms light pink colonies on M13 medium supplemented with N-acetylglucosamine. Cells are pear-shaped to spherical, form rosettes and divide by budding. Strain TO1&#95;6 T presents a mesophilic and neutrophilic profile, with optimum growth at 20 to 25 °C and pH 7.0 to 7.5, and vitamin supplementation is not required to promote its growth. The genome of the novel isolate is 7.77 Mbp in size and has a DNA G + C content of 56.3%. Based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence, this strain is affiliated with the phylum Planctomycetota. Further taxonomic characterization using additional phylogenetic markers, namely rpoB gene sequence (encoding the β-subunit of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase), as well as Percentage of conserved proteins, average nucleotide identity and average amino acid identity, suggest the affiliation of strain TO1&#95;6 T to the genus Stieleria, a recently described taxon in the family Pirellulaceae, order Pirellulales and class Planctomycetia. Based on the genotypic, phylogenetic and physiological characterization, we here describe a new species represented by the type strain TO1&#95;6 T (= CECT 30432 T , = LMG 32465 T ), for which the name Stieleria tagensis sp. nov. is proposed., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane-based desalination system with various configurations has emerged as a critical option for reclaiming brackish water. This study aims to evaluate the environmental performance of the combination of photovoltaic-reverse osmosis (PVRO) membrane treatment system via life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA was calculated using SimaPro v9 software with ReCiPe 2016 methodology and EcoInvent 3.8 database following the ISO 14040/44 series. The findings identified the chemical and electricity consumption at both the midpoint and endpoint level across all impact categories with terrestrial ecotoxicity (27.59 kg 1,4-DCB), human non-carcinogenic toxicity potential (8.06 kg 1,4-DCB) and GWP (4.33 kg CO 2 eq) as the highest impacts for the PVRO treatment. As for the endpoint level, the desalination system affected human health, ecosystems and resources at 1.39 × 10 -5 DALY, 1.49 × 10 -7 species·year and 0.25 USD2013 respectively. The construction phase for the overall PVRO treatment plant was also assessed and impacted less significantly compared to the operational phase. Three different scenarios (i.e. S1: Grid input (Baseline); S2: Photovoltaic (PV)/Battery; S3: PV/Grid) based on different sources of electricity used were also compared as electricity consumption is one of the significant impacts in the operational phase. The study found that S2 had the lowest environmental impact, while S1 contributed the highest when both midpoint and endpoint approaches are considered., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Capacitive electrodialysis (CED) is an emerging and promising desalination technology for decentralized drinking water production. Brackish water, often used as a drinking water source, may contain organic micropollutants (OMPs), thus raising environmental and health concerns. This study investigated the transport of OMPs in a fully-functional decentralized CED system for drinking water production under realistic operational conditions. Eighteen environmentally-relevant OMPs (20 µg L -1 ) with different physicochemical properties (charge, size, hydrophobicity) were selected and added to the feed water. The removal of OMPs was significantly lower than that of salts (∼94%), mainly due to their lower electrical mobility and higher steric hindrance. The removal of negatively-charged OMPs reached 50% and was generally higher than that of positively-charged OMPs (31%), whereas non-charged OMPs were barely transported. Marginal adsorption of OMPs was found under moderate water recovery (50%), in contrast to significant adsorption of charged OMPs under high water recovery (80%). The five-month operation demonstrated that the CED system could reliably produce water with low salt ions and TOC concentrations, meeting the respective WHO requirements. The specific energy consumption of the CED stack under 80% water recovery was 0.54 kWh m -3 , which is competitive to state-of-the-art RO, ED, and emerging MCDI in brackish water desalination. Under this condition, the total OPEX was 2.43 € m -3 , of which the cost of membrane replacement contributed significantly. Although the CED system proved to be a robust, highly adaptive, and fully automated technology for decentralized drinking water production, it was not highly efficient in removing OMPs, especially non-charged OMPs., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Marine sedimentary environment serves as an important sink of terrigenous nanoplastics (NP) and graphene oxides (GO). In this study, we discovered that GO of varying sizes exhibited distinct binding modes with 200 nm NP in 35 practical salinity unit (PSU) seawater, resulting in varying impacts on the mobility of NP in porous media. GO-8, with a size of 8±2 nm, firmly adhered to the surface of NP and formed stable primary heterogeneous aggregates, which promoted NP mobility and increased the mass recovery of effluent (M eff ) from 24.74% to 31.08%. GO-250 (246±10 nm) partly enveloped NP and only slightly increased the volume of heteroaggregates, which had minimal effect on NP transport. Conversely, GO-850 (855±55 nm) wrapped numerous NP particles to form large secondary heteroaggregates that clung to sand surfaces, providing additional attachment sites for NP, resulting in complete inhibition of NP mobility in porous media (M eff  = 0%). In brackish water with 3.5 PSU, all GO-8, GO-250 and GO-850 achieved enhanced mobility of NP, with M eff increasing from 50.35% to 85.62%, 69.45% and 75.41%, respectively. The results indicate that GO size effects on NP mobility are also salinity-dependent., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Utilizing brackish water resources has imposed a high requirement on the design and construction of nanofiltration membranes. To overcome the limitation of high salt concentration on the nanofiltration separation performance resulting from the weakened Donnan effect, a nanofiltration membrane with the effect of salt-responsive ion valves was developed by incorporating zwitterionic nanospheres into the polyamide layer (PA-ZNs). The interaction between the nanospheres and membranes at high salinity was revealed through a combination analysis from the perspectives of water transport model, positron annihilation spectroscopy, and solute rejection, contributing to the formation of the valve effect. The PA-ZNs membrane presented a breakthrough in overcoming the limitation of increased salt concentrations on nanofiltration separation performance, achieving a high selectivity of 105 for mono/multivalent anions. To reveal the role of the ion valve effect in ion transport through the membrane, the membrane conductance was determined at different salt concentrations, confirming channel-controlled transport at low salinity and ion valve-controlled transport at high salinity. Moreover, the main membrane separation mechanisms were systematically studied. The concept of salt-responsive ion valves may contribute to expanding the application of nanofiltration in brackish water treatment.

In view of increasing threats arising from the shortage of fresh water, there is an urgent need to propose sustainable technologies for the exploitation of unconventional water sources. As a derivative of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial desalination cell (MDC) has the potential of desalinating saline/brackish water while simultaneously generating electricity, as well as treating wastewater. Therefore, it is worth investigating its practicability as a potential sustainable desalination technology. This review article first introduces the fundamentals and annual trends of MDCs. The desalination of diverse types of solutions using MDCs along with their life cycle impact assessment (LCIA)  and economic analysis is studied later. Finally, limitations and areas for improvement, prospects, and potential applications of this technology are discussed. Due to the great advantages of MDCs, improving their design, building materials, efficiency, and throughput will offer them as a significant alternative to the current desalination technologies., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Global Challenges published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Background: Soil salinity, soil infertility, and freshwater scarcity are among the major constraints affecting agricultural ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Hence, there is a need to look for salt-tolerant crops and fish that can be successfully cultivated and reared respectively in such harsh environments. The implementation of biosaline integrated aquaculture-agriculture systems (IAAS) utilizing both salt-tolerant crops and fish could improve food and feed production in arid and semi-arid regions. This study, therefore, investigated the influence of salinity on the biometric traits of striped catfish (Pangasianodon hypophthalmus) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) under an IAAS., Method: The experiment followed a randomized completely block design of three salinity treatments with three replicates namely, T0: Control (freshwater mixed with chemical fertilizers), T1: 5,000 ppm, T2: 10,000 ppm, and T3: 15,000 ppm., Results: Irrigating barley with saline aquaculture wastewater at different salinities (5,000 ppm, 10,000 ppm, and 15,000 ppm) did not significantly affect the agro-morphological parameters (internode number per plant, stalk diameter, leaf number per plant, leaf area index, and leaf chlorophyll content (SPAD)) of the plants at 90 days after sowing. Moreover, the forage yield and forage quality in terms of fiber fraction, nutrient composition, and in vitro digestibility of the forage biomass were not severely affected by high salinity compared to the control (freshwater and inorganic fertilizers). Our results also showed that rearing striped catfish in saline water not exceeding 10,000 ppm did not negatively impact the growth performance (final weight, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, specific growth rate, condition factor, and survival) and the health status of the fish., Conclusions: The integration of striped catfish and barley production in water salinities below 15,000 ppm could be a feasible alternative in safeguarding food and feed security in regions affected by soil salinity, soil infertility, and freshwater scarcity. Moreover, the salinity regime of 5,000 ppm could bring higher economic gains to farmers regarding higher crop yields (fish and forage yield)., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Although the autopsies of reverse osmosis (RO) membranes from full-scale, brackish water desalination plants identify the co-presence of silica and Ca-based minerals in scaling layers, minimal research exists on their formation process and mechanisms. Therefore, combined scaling by silica and either gypsum (non-alkaline) or amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP, alkaline) was investigated in this study for their distinctive impacts on membrane performance. The obtained results demonstrate that the coexistence of silica and Ca-based mineral salts in feedwaters significantly reduced water flux decline as compared to single type of Ca-based mineral salts. This antagonistic effect was primarily attributed to the silica-mediated alleviation of Ca-based mineral scaling. In the presence of silica, silica skins were immediately established around Ca-based mineral precipitates once they emerged. Sheathing by the siliceous skins hindered the aggregation and thus the morphological evolution of Ca-based mineral species. Unlike sulfate precipitates, ACP precipitates can induce the formation of dense and thick silica skins via an additional condensation reaction. Such a phenomenon rationalized the notion concerning a stronger mitigating effect of silica on ACP scaling than gypsum scaling. Meanwhile, coating by silica skins altered the surface chemistries of Ca-based mineral precipitates, which should be fully considered in regulating membrane surface properties for combined scaling control. Our findings advance the mechanistic understanding on combined mineral scaling of RO membranes, and may guide the appropriate design of membrane surface properties for scaling-resistant membrane tailored to brackish water desalination., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Brackish water was an important alternative source of freshwater. Desalination using flow electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) needs to explore the role of ion exchange membranes (IEM) of FCDI. In this study, brackish water was desalinated using FCDI, and anion exchange membranes with different characteristics were used in the FCDI cell to investigate their influence. The result showed that the membrane polymer matrix was the main influencing factor for ion transport. Ion exchange capacity (IEC) has a huge impact that low IEC made the various ion transport priority. Low IEC not only limits ion transport but also leads to ion leakage in seawater. Resistance had a significant blockage to the effect with weak intensity.

Background: The mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) of the family Serpulidae are characterized by a high nucleotide sequence divergence and a significant number of gene order rearrangements compared with other families within the phylum Annelida. However, only two of 50 genera of serpulids have mitogenomes already sequenced. In this study, we report the first sequencing and assembly of the complete mitogenome of Ficopomatus, thus providing further knowledge on mitochondrial gene sequences of Serpulidae., Methods and Results: A mitogenome of the invasive reef-building polychaete Ficopomatus enigmaticus was amplified by long PCR and sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq System. It comprised 15,853 bp and consisted of 12 protein-coding genes (atp8 was not found), 23 tRNA, and two rRNA genes. The AT and GC skew values were infrequent when compared to annelid mitogenomes but similar to other serpulids sequenced to date (i.e., Spirobranchus and Hydroides). The mitochondrial gene order of F. enigmaticus was highly rearranged compared to other serpulids. To amplify 16S rRNA gene sequences, we developed a 16S rRNA primer set by modifying the universal primer set 16SarL/16SbrH. We detected the 16S rRNA sequence of F. enigmaticus deposited in GenBank erroneously characterized as of serpulid origin. We reported for the first time the presence of two lineages of F. enigmaticus in Japan, which have already been identified in California, Australia, and the Mediterranean., Conclusions: The first mitochondrial genome of F. enigmaticus showed a unique gene order rearrangement, corroborating the remarkable diversity in the previously reported mitogenomes of other serpulid species. The presence of the two lineages of F. enigmaticus identified for the first time in Japan represents another case of cryptic invasion. The first 16S rRNA gene sequences of F. enigmaticus obtained in the present study can be used as reference sequences in future DNA metabarcoding studies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Toxic benthic mats of cyanobacteria are associated with water quality problems and animal poisonings around the world. A strain of the filamentous cyanobacterial genus Kamptonema was isolated from a water bloom in the Baltic Sea four decades ago and later shown to produce cylindrospermopsins. However, the exact habitat of this strain remains unclear and cylindrospermopsins have not yet been reported from water blooms in the Baltic Sea. Here, we report the isolation of Kamptonema sp. UHCC 0994 from a benthic microbial mat collected in shallow water on the coast of Helsinki. We obtained draft genome sequences for the Kamptonema spp. PCC 7926 and UHCC 0994 strains that were isolated from the Baltic Sea. These genomes were 90-96% similar to previously studied Kamptonema sp. PCC 6506 and Kamptonema formosum PCC 6407, which were isolated from benthic and North American freshwater environments, respectively. The genomes of all four Kamptonema strains encode complete cylindrospermopsin biosynthetic gene clusters. We detected the production of cylindrospermopsin and 7-epi-cylindrospermopsin in the four Kamptonema strains using high-resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. The four strains encode genes for producing gas vesicles distributed in two to three different regions of their genomes. Kamptonema spp. UHCC 0994 and PCC 7926 have both retained the ability to regulate their buoyancy when grown in liquid culture. Together this suggests that these toxic cyanobacteria may exhibit a tychoplanktic lifestyle in the Baltic Sea. This study suggests that microbial mats containing cyanobacteria could be a source of environmental toxins in the Baltic Sea., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

An isolation effort focused on sporogenous Actinomycetota from the Tagus estuary in Alcochete, Portugal, yielded a novel actinomycetal strain, designated MTZ3.1 T , which was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. MTZ3.1 T is characterised by morphology typical of members of the genus Streptomyces , with light beige coloured substrate mycelium, which does not release pigments to the culture medium and with helicoidal aerial hyphae that differentiate into spores with a light-grey colour. The phylogeny of MTZ3.1 T , based on the full 16S rRNA gene sequence, indicated that its closest relatives were Streptomyces alkaliterrae OF1 T (98.48 %), Streptomyces chumphonensis KK1-2 T (98.41 %), Streptomyces albofaciens JCM 4342 T (98.34 %), Streoptomyces paromomycinus NBRC 15454 T (98.34 %) and Streptomyces chrestomyceticus NRBC 13444 T (98.34 %). Moreover, average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridisation (dDDH) are below the species cutoff values (ANI 67.70 and 68.35 %, AAI 77.06 and 76.71 % and dDDH 22.10 and 21.50 % for S. alkaliterrae OF1 T and S. chumphonensis KK1-2 T , respectively). Whole genome sequencing revealed that MTZ3.1 T has a genome of 5 644 485 bp with a DNA G+C content of 71.29 mol% and 5044 coding sequences. Physiologically, MTZ3.1 T is strictly aerobic, able to grow at 15-37 °C, optimally at 25 °C and between pH5 and 8 and showed high salinity tolerance, growing with 0-10 %(w/v) NaCl. Major cellular fatty acids are C 15 : 0 , iso-C 15 : 0 , anteiso-C 15 : 0 and iso-C 16 : 0 . Furthermore, it was able to utilise a variety of nitrogen and carbon sources. Antimicrobial screening indicated that MTZ3.1 T has potent anti- Staphylococcus aureus activity. On the basis of the polyphasic data, MTZ3.1 T is proposed to represent a novel species, Streptomyces meridianus sp. nov. (= CECT 30416 T = DSM 114037 T =LMG 32463 T ).

The scarcity of freshwater resources has increased the use of nonconventional water resources such as brackish water, reclaimed water, etc., especially in water-scarce areas. Whether an irrigation cycle using reclaimed water and brackish water (RBCI) poses a risk of secondary soil salinization to crop yields needs to be studied. Aiming to find an appropriate use for different nonconventional water resources, pot experiments were conducted to study the effects of RBCI on soil microenvironments, growth, physiological characteristics and antioxidation properties of crops. The results showed the following: (1) compared to FBCI, the soil moisture content was slightly higher, without a significant difference, while the soil EC, sodium and chloride ions contents increased significantly under the RBCI treatment. With an increase in the reclaimed water irrigation frequency (Tri), the contents of EC, Na + and Cl - in the soil decreased gradually, and the difference was significant; the soil moisture content also decreased gradually. (2) There were different effects of the RBCI regime on the soil's enzyme activities. With an increase in the Tri, the soil urease activity indicated a significant upward trend as a whole. (3) RBCI can alleviate the risk of soil salinization to some extent. The soil pH values were all below 8.5, and were without a risk of secondary soil alkalization. The ESP did not exceed 15 percent, and there was no possible risk of soil alkalization except that the ESP in soil irrigated by brackish water irrigation went beyond the limit of 15 percent. (4) Compared with FBCI, no obvious changes appeared to the aboveground and underground biomasses under the RBCI treatment. The RBCI treatment was conducive to increasing the aboveground biomass compared with pure brackish water irrigation. Therefore, short-term RBCI helps to reduce the risk of soil salinization without significantly affecting crop yield, and the irrigation cycle using reclaimed-reclaimed-brackish water at 3 g·L -1 was recommended, according to the experimental results.

Brazil stands out as the largest producer of sour passion fruit; however, the water available for irrigation is mostly saline, which can limit its cultivation. This study was carried out with the objective of evaluating the effects of salicylic acid in the induction of tolerance in sour passion fruit to salt stress. The assay was conducted in a protected environment, using a completely randomized design in a split-plot scheme, with the levels of electrical conductivity of the irrigation water (0.8, 1.6, 2.4, 3.2, and 4.0 dS m -1 ) considering the plots and concentrations of salicylic acid (0, 1.2, 2.4, and 3.6 mM) the subplots, with three replications. The physiological indices, production components, and postharvest quality of sour passion fruit were negatively affected by the increase in the electrical conductivity of irrigation water, and the effects of salt stress were intensified in the second cycle. In the first cycle, the foliar application of salicylic acid at concentrations between 1.0 and 1.4 mM partially reduced the harmful effects of salt stress on the relative water content of leaves, electrolyte leakage, gas exchange, and synthesis of photosynthetic pigments, in addition to promoting an increase in the yield and quality parameters of sour passion fruit.

Spotted scat ( Scatophagus argus ) can tolerate a wide range of salinity fluctuations. It is a good model for studying environmental salinity adaptation. Lipid metabolism plays an important role in salinity adaptation in fish. To elucidate the mechanism of lipid metabolism in the osmoregulation, the liver transcriptome was analyzed after 22 d culture with a salinity of 5 ppt (Low-salinity group: LS), 25 ppt (Control group: Ctrl), and 35 ppt (High-salinity group: HS) water by using RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) in spotted scat. RNA-seq analysis showed that 1276 and 2768 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the LS vs. Ctrl and HS vs. Ctrl, respectively. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that the pathways of steroid hormone biosynthesis, steroid biosynthesis, glycerophospholipid metabolism, glycerolipid metabolism, and lipid metabolism were significantly enriched in the LS vs. Ctrl. The genes of steroid biosynthesis ( sqle , dhcr7 , and cyp51a1 ), steroid hormone biosynthesis ( ugt2a1 , ugt2a2 , ugt2b20 , and ugt2b31 ), and glycerophospholipid metabolism ( cept1 , pla2g4a , and ptdss2 ) were significantly down-regulated in the LS vs. Ctrl. The pathways related to lipid metabolisms, such as fatty acid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) signaling pathway, adipocytokine signaling pathway, fatty acid degradation, and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis, were significantly enriched in the HS vs. Ctrl. The genes of unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis ( scd1 , hacd3 , fads2 , pecr , and elovl1 ) and adipocytokine signaling pathway ( g6pc1 , socs1 , socs3 , adipor2 , pck1 , and pparα ) were significantly up-regulated in the HS vs. Ctrl. These results suggest that the difference in liver lipid metabolism is important to adapt to low- and high-salinity stress in spotted scat, which clarifies the molecular regulatory mechanisms of salinity adaptation in euryhaline fish.

In the event of uranium release into the environment due to an accident, confirming the presence of uranium contamination is difficult because uranium is a naturally occurring element. In this study, we developed a method based on X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for the facile screening of uranium in brackish water samples in the event of an accident in a coastal area. Graphene oxide nanosheets were added to uncontaminated brackish water sampled from different sites to adsorb the uranium present in the samples, if any. The graphene oxide nanosheets were then collected using a membrane filter and analyzed using XRF. The results revealed that the signal intensity of the U Lα peak was proportional to the salinity. Hence, uranium contamination could be confirmed when the intensity of the U Lα peak was significantly greater than that derived from the background uranium content, as estimated from the salinity value. Thus, in the event of an accident, the salinity of the collected brackish water should be measured, and XRF analysis should be performed using our developed method. This method is useful for screening brackish water for uranium contamination.

Cletocamptusthailandensis sp. nov. was discovered in a water body at the base of a small mountain near the Phang Rat River Delta in Rayong Province, Eastern Thailand. The new species resembles C.goenchim Gómez, Ingole, Sawant & Singh, 2013 and C.koreanus Chang, 2013, but it can be distinguished from these two species based on the armament of the endopodal lobe of the male P5, ornamentations of the abdominal segments, the caudal ramus, the male P3Endp-3, and the relative length of the aesthetasc on the fourth segment of the female antennule. According to the combinations of certain female characteristics, including the number of setae on the P3Endp-2, the relative length of the caudal ramus, the relative length of the inner apical seta on the P3Endp-2, the shape of the P5, and the number of setae on the P3Exp-2, five groups of the Cletocamptus species can be defined., (Chaichat Boonyanusith, Koraon Wongkamhaeng.)

Fruit orchards are frequently irrigated with brackish water. Irrigation with poor quality water is also a major cause of salt accumulation in soil. An excess of salts results in stunted growth, poor yield, inferior quality and low nutritional properties. Melatonin is a low molecular weight protein that shows multifunctional, regulatory and pleiotropic behavior in the plant kingdom. Recently, its discovery brought a great revolution in sustainable fruit production under salinity-induced environments. Melatonin contributed to enhanced tolerance in Zizyphus fruit species by improving the plant defense system's potential to cope with the adverse effects of salinity. The supplemental application of melatonin has improved the generation of antioxidant assays and osmolytes involved in the scavenging of toxic ROS. The tolerance level of the germplasm is chiefly based on the activation of the defense system against the adverse effects of salinity. The current study explored the contribution of melatonin against salinity stress and provides information regarding which biochemical mechanism can be effective and utilized for the development of salt-tolerant germplasm in Zizyphus .

Microplastics (MPs) are one of the most abundant and widespread anthropogenic pollutants worldwide. In addition to the global spread and threats of plastic to native species by carrying toxic substances, its slow degradation rate and resulting long retention time in the environment constitute a problem that is still poorly understood. In this study, five of the most manufactured plastic types were weathered under simulated beach conditions for 18 months in freshwater, brackish water, and seawater. Those included polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PP was the first polymer type that fragmented after 9 months of weathering and influenced the pH of the surrounding water. Molecular surface changes were detected for all polymers, just after the first week. Hydroxyl bonds were one of the first groups incorporated into the polymers, weakening 2-3 weeks later. Carbonyl groups were also measured early, but with significantly different developments with time between the polymer types. Differences in degradation rates were proven between the water media, with the fastest degradation in seawater compared to brackish water and freshwater for PE and PP. These results are consistent with previous findings on MPs aged under environmental conditions and provide initial long-term observations of MP degradation pathways under simulated environmental conditions. These findings are valuable for assessing the fate and hazards of MPs in aquatic systems.

Accelerated sea-level rise is expected to cause the salinization of freshwater wetlands, but the responses to salinity of the availability of soil phosphorus (P) and of microbial genes involved in the cycling of P remain unexplored. We conducted a field experiment to investigate the effects of salinity on P cycling by soil microbial communities and their regulatory roles on P availability in coastal freshwater and brackish wetlands. Salinity was positively correlated with P availability, with higher concentrations of labile P but lower concentrations of moderately labile P in the brackish wetland. The diversity and richness of microbial communities involved in P cycling were higher in the brackish wetland than the freshwater wetland. Salinity substantially altered the composition of the P-cycling microbial community, in which those of the brackish wetland were separated from those of the freshwater wetland. Metagenomic sequence analysis indicated that functional genes involved in the solubilization of inorganic P and the subsequent transport and regulation of P were more abundant in coastal soils. The relative abundances of most of the target genes differed between the wetlands, with higher abundances of P-solubilization (gcd and ppa) and -mineralization (phoD, phy, and ugpQ) genes and lower abundances of P-transport genes (pstB, ugpA, ugpB, ugpE, and pit) in the brackish wetland. A significant positive correlation between the concentration of labile P and the abundances of the target genes suggested that salinity may, at least in part, improve P availability by regulating the P-cycling microbial community. Our results suggest that the P-cycling microbial community abundance and P availability respond positively to moderate increases in salinity by promoting the microbial solubilization and mineralization of soil P. Changes in microbial communities and microbially mediated P cycling may represent microbial strategies to adapt to moderate salinity levels, which in turn control soil function and nutrient balance., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

The environmental factors contributing to the Microcystis aeruginosa bloom (hereafter referred to as Microcystis bloom) are still debatable as they vary with season and geographic settings. We examined the environmental factors that triggered Microcystis bloom outbreak in India's largest brackish water coastal lagoon, Chilika. The warmer water temperature (25.31-32.48 °C), higher dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loading (10.15-13.53 μmol L -1 ), strong P-limitation (N:P ratio 138.47-246.86), higher water transparency (46.62-73.38 cm), and low-salinity (5.45-9.15) exerted a strong positive influence on blooming process. During the bloom outbreak, M. aeruginosa proliferated, replaced diatoms, and constituted 70-88% of the total phytoplankton population. The abundances of M. aeruginosa increased from 0.89 × 10 4  cells L -1 in September to 1.85 × 10 4  cells L -1 in November and reduced drastically during bloom collapse (6.22 × 10 3  cells L -1 ) by the late November of year 2017. The decrease in M. aeruginosa during bloom collapse was associated with a decline in DIN loading (2.97 μmol L -1 ) and N:P ratio (73.95). Sentinel-3 OLCI-based satellite monitoring corroborated the field observations showing Cyanophyta Index (CI) > 0.01 in September, indicative of intense bloom and CI < 0.0001 during late November, suggesting bloom collapse. The presence of M. aeruginosa altered the phytoplankton community composition. Furthermore, co-occurrence network indicated that bloom resulted in a less stable community with low diversity, inter-connectedness, and prominence of a negative association between phytoplankton taxa. Variance partitioning analysis revealed that TSM (16.63%), salinity (6.99%), DIN (5.21%), and transparency (5.15%) were the most influential environmental factors controlling the phytoplankton composition. This study provides new insight into the phytoplankton co-occurrences and combination of environmental factors triggering the rapid onset of Microcystis bloom and influencing the phytoplankton composition dynamics of a large coastal lagoon. These findings would be valuable for future bloom forecast modeling and aid in the management of the lagoon., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In northwest China, the limited amount of water resources are classified mostly as brackish water. Nanofiltration is a widely applied desalination technology used for brackish water treatment; however, membrane fouling restricts its application. Herein, we modified the membrane with triethanolamine (TEOA) and optimized the operating conditions (transmembrane pressure, temperature, and crossflow velocity) to control the nanofiltration membrane fouling by brackish water. Based on the physiochemical characteristics and desalination performance of the prepared membranes, the membrane modified with 2% TEOA (MPCM2) was identified as the optimal membrane, and 0.5 MPa, 25 °C, and 7 cm/s were identified as the optimal operating conditions through a series of nanofiltration experiments. Moreover, the membrane cleaning procedure for fouled MPCM2 was further determined, and a two-step cleaning procedure using ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid disodium followed by HCl with a permeance recovery rate of 98.77% was identified as the optimal cleaning procedure. Furthermore, the characterizations of the fouled and cleaned MPCM2 showed that the optimized cleaning procedure could recover the properties of MPCM2 to near virgin. This study is of great significance for the long-term stable operation of nanofiltration processes in brackish water treatment to ensure the supply of healthy water in the water-deficient areas of northwest China.

Aquaculture is seen as an essential food-producing sector for improving global food security and nutrition indices. This cross-sectional study examined the health complaints and mental health status of aquaculture workers, as well as their relationship with quality of life, with respect to the brackish water and freshwater aquaculture cultivation system in Penang, Malaysia. The workers’ health complaints were collected, and mental health status was evaluated as means of depression, anxiety, stress and self-esteem. Self-perceived quality of life was assessed using a structured questionnaire. This study involved the participation of 88 brackish water (84.6%) and 16 freshwater (15.4%) aquaculture workers. A total of 72.7% of the brackish water aquaculture workers were aged beyond 50 years old and had worked within five years (77.3%) in the aquaculture industry. Both brackish water and freshwater cultivation workers were confronted with fatigue, pain and insomnia. Up to 48%, 40.4%, 26% and 24% of them were facing depression, anxiety, stress and low self-esteem, respectively. A total of 3.4% of the brackish water aquaculture workers were having bad quality of life. The complaints of neck/shoulder/arm pain (F = 13.963; p < 0.001), back pain (F = 10.974; p < 0.01), hand/wrist pain (F = 8.041; p < 0.01), knee/hip pain (F = 12.910; p < 0.01) and insomnia (F = 10.936; p < 0.01) were correlated with bad quality of life among the workers. For mental health status, self-esteem (F = 4.157; p < 0.05) was found to be negatively correlated with quality of life scores. The results outlined the concerning level of health complaints and psychological distress among the aquaculture workers. The study emphasized the importance of developing an appropriate occupational health strategy in the aquaculture industry. Longitudinal investigations aimed to explore the effects of psychological distress on employment productivity among the high-risk workers are warranted.

Climate change is projected to cause brownification of some coastal seas due to increased runoff of terrestrially derived organic matter. We carried out a mesocosm experiment over 15 days to test the effect of this on the planktonic ecosystem. The experiment was set up in 2.2 m 3 plastic bags moored outside the Tvärminne Zoological Station at the SW coast of Finland. We used four treatments, each with three replicates: control (Contr) without any manipulation; addition of a commercially available organic carbon additive called HuminFeed (Hum; 2 mg L -1 ); addition of inorganic nutrients (Nutr; 5.7 µM NH 4 and 0.65µM PO 4 ); and a final treatment of combined Nutr and Hum (Nutr+Hum) additions. Water samples were taken daily, and measured variables included water transparency, organic and inorganic nutrient pools, chlorophyll a (Chla), primary and bacterial production and particle counts by flow cytometry., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2022 The Author(s).)

In the present work, the adsorptive removal of chromium (Cr) from water by carbide-derived carbon (CDC) was investigated. The morphology and structure of the CDC were characterized by using FTIR, SEM, TEM, XRD, and N 2 adsorption-desorption measurements. The effect of adsorption parameters including contact time, initial Cr concentration, temperature, initial solution pH, and CDC dosage was examined on the removal of Cr ions. The kinetic analysis revealed that the experimental data on the removal of Cr ions on CDC is well correlated with the pseudo-second order kinetic model (with R 2  > 0.999), while the equilibrium data were fitted by the Redlich-Peterson isotherm model (with R 2  > 0.992). The Langmuir and Sips models were also in good compliance with the equilibrium data, indicating a monolayer coverage of Cr ions onto the CDC surface with some heterogeneous active adsorption sites. The CDC revealed a notable Langmuir adsorption capacity of 159.1 mg/g for Cr ions at pH 6 and room temperature. The thermodynamic analysis illustrated that the Cr ions elimination by CDC is a feasible adsorption process and endothermic in nature. After five adsorption/desorption cycles, less than 18% reduction in the adsorption capacity was obtained indicating the stability and reusability of the CDC. Moreover, the CDC demonstrated an excellent potential in removing the Cr ions from real brackish water. According to the adsorption data, both physical and chemical adsorption processes occurred, and the adsorption was mainly controlled by electrostatic interactions with a possible reduction of hexavalent Cr to trivalent Cr at acidic conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lake Qinghai is an ancient brackish water lake in which several endemic diatom species have been discovered. In this study, a species of Diatoma is observed under light and scanning electron microscopy and described as new, Diatomasinensis sp. nov. The living cells of D.sinensis always lie in girdle view due to the cell depth being much larger than valve width (3.3-8.8 vs. 2.0-3.0 μm). The valves of D.sinensis are characterized by their narrow, linear-lanceolate outline, with capitate to subcapitate apices, the presence of two rimoportulae, one at each apex, embedded in the last rib or located among striae and a 4:2 configuration of girdle bands in normal vegetative cells, with four bands assigned to the epivalve and two to the hypovalve. The new taxon is compared with similar species from the genera Diatoma and Distrionella ., (Li Yuan, Bing Liu, Patrick Rioual, Ji-Yan Long, Yu-Mei Peng.)