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• An updated overview of HABs species over the last four decades in China is provided; • Both the frequency and intensity of HABs have been reportedly increasing since 1990; • Expansions of HABs species along the coastline of China have occurred over the last four decades. The first recorded micro-algae bloom in Chinese coastal waters dates back to 1933 and was caused by a mixture of Noctiluca scintillans and Skeletonema costatum sensu lato along the Zhejiang coast (the East China Sea). While well-documented harmful algal blooms (HABs) appeared to be extremely scarce from the 1950s to 1990, both the frequency and intensity have been reportedly increasing since 1990. Among them, the fish-killing HABs, mainly caused by Karenia mikimotoi, Karlodinium digitatum, Karlodinium veneficum, Margalefidinium polykrikoides , and Heterocapsa spp., have intensified. Karenia mikimotoi was responsible for at least two extremely serious events in the Pearl River Estuary in 1998 and the Taiwan Strait (in the East China Sea) in 2012, which appeared to be associated with abnormal climate conditions and excessive nutrients loading. Other major toxic algal blooms have been caused by the species responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (including Alexandrium catenella, Alexandrium pacificum, Gymnodinium catenatum) and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (including Dinophysis spp., and a couple of benthic dinoflagellates). Consequent closures of shellfish farms have resulted in enormous economic losses, while consumption of contaminated shellfish has led to occasional human mortality in the Bohai Sea and the East China Sea. Expansions of these HABs species along the coastline of China have occurred over the last four decades and, due to the projected global changes in the climate and marine environments and other anthropological activities, there is potential for the emergence of new types of HABs in China in the future. This literature review aimed to present an updated overview of HABs species over the last four decades in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhesus and cynomolgus macaques are currently used as ideal animal models of immune response. Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules play important roles in the susceptibility and/or resistance to many diseases. In this study, MHC-DMA and -DMB were first characterized by sequencing and cloning in 28 unrelated cynomolgus macaques from Vietnam and 34 unrelated Chinese rhesus macaques. A total of 23 novel alleles, including six high frequency alleles, were identified in this study. Our results showed that the alleles with the highest phenotypic frequencies were Mafa-DMA(∗)02:04:03 (57.1%), Mafa-DMB(∗)03:01:02 (76.9%), Mamu-DMA(∗)02:01:04 (88.2%), and Mamu-DMB(∗)03:02:02 (85%), respectively, indicating that distribution and frequencies of alleles had a few differences between Chinese rhesus macaques and cynomolgus macaques from Vietnam. Interestingly, compared to the cynomolgus macaques, we found that the combination of Mamu-DMA(∗)02:01:04-DMB(∗)03:02:02 was detected in 27 (79.4%) of 34 monkeys, suggesting that the combination of the MHC-DMA and -DMB alleles was probably a characteristic feature of the Chinese rhesus macaques. Our results will greatly increase the value of the two species as models for biomedical research., (Copyright © 2015 American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Hericium erinaceus possesses multiple medicinal values. To date, however, there have been few studies of the systemic screening of H. erinaceus strains, and the neuroprotective effects of H. erinaceus prepared from homogenized, fresh fruiting bodies are not fully understood. In this study, 4 random primers were selected and used in random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to screen and evaluate the genetic diversity of 19 commercial strains of H. erinaceus from different localities in China. A total of 66 bands were obtained, and the percentage of polymorphic loci reached 80.30%. Five dendrograms were constructed based on RAPD by Jaccard cluster and within-group linkage analysis. Primer S20 as well as all 4 primers had great potential as specific primers for RAPD-PCR molecular identification and differentiation of H. erinaceus strains. Based on the results of submerged culture and fruiting body cultivation, strains HT-N, HT-J1, HT-C, and HT-M were identified as superior among the 19 H. erinaceus strains. Further study showed that the oral preparation of homogenized, fresh fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus could attenuate the Aβ25-35-triggered damage in PC12 cells by significantly increasing cell viability and by decreasing the release of lactate dehydrogenase. In conclusion, RAPD-PCR combined with liquid and solid cultures can be used well in the screening and identification of H. erinaceus strains, and products prepared from homogenized, fresh fruiting bodies of H. erinaceus had neuroprotective effects on PC12 cells.