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Lipids in fish diets provide energy and play important roles in immunity and metabolism. Atlantic salmon, a species that migrates from freshwater to seawater, requires high energy, especially during smoltification. Juvenile teleosts have low lipid requirements, and a high dietary lipid content is known to have negative effects on their growth and digestion. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of two commercial rainbow trout feeds (low-lipid, 13.41% and 14.6%) on the growth and immune responses of early parr-stage Atlantic salmon compared to commercial salmon feed (high-lipid, 29.52%). Atlantic salmon parr (weight: 14.56 ± 2.1 g; length: 11.23 ± 0.44 cm) were randomly divided into three groups and fed either one of two commercial rainbow trout feeds (RTF1 and RTF2) or the commercial salmon feed (ASF) for 12 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, growth, haematology, histology and gene expression analyses were performed. There were no significant differences in weight gain rates or feed efficiency between the groups (p > 0.05). Superoxidate dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, lysozyme and immunoglobulin M activities were not different among the experimental groups (p > 0.05). A histological examination of the liver and intestinal tissues showed no pathological symptoms of inflammatory response or lipid accumulation in any of the groups. In an intestinal transcriptome analysis using RNA-seq, the expression levels of several genes linked to lipids, immune-related proteins, cytokines and chemokines did not differ significantly between the groups (p > 0.05). Commercial rainbow trout feed with low lipid content has no clear negative impact on the development of Atlantic salmon during the early parr stage (14.5 to 39.6 g). This study provides basic information for the development of economical feed for early parr-stage Atlantic salmon.

We report the complete chloroplast genomes of four Viola species (V. mirabilis, V. phalacrocarpa, V. raddeana, and V. websteri) and the results of a comparative analysis between these species and the published plastid genome of the congeneric species V. seoulensis. The total genome length of the five Viola species, including the four species analyzed in this study and the species analyzed in the previous study, ranged from 156,507 (V. seoulensis) to 158,162 bp (V. mirabilis). The overall GC contents of the genomes were almost identical (36.2-36.3%). The five Viola plastomes each contained 111 unique genes comprising 77 protein-coding genes, 30 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and 4 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Among the annotated genes, 16 contained one or two introns. Based on the results of a chloroplast genome structure comparison using MAUVE, all five Viola plastomes were almost identical. Additionally, the large single copy (LSC), inverted repeat (IR), and small single copy (SSC) junction regions were conserved among the Viola species. A total of 259 exon, intron, and intergenic spacer (IGS) fragments were compared to verify the divergence hotspot regions. The nucleotide diversity (Pi) values ranged from 0 to 0.7544. The IR region was relatively more conserved than the LSC and SSC regions. The Pi values in ten noncoding regions were relatively high (>0.03). Among these regions, all but rps19-trnH, petG-trnW, rpl16-rps3, and rpl2-rpl23 represent useful molecular markers for phylogenetic studies and will be helpful to resolve the phylogenetic relationships of Viola. The phylogenetic tree, which used 76 protein-coding genes from 21 Malpighiales species and one outgroup species (Averrhoa carambola), revealed that Malpighiales is divided into five clades at the family level: Erythroxylaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Salicaceae, and Violaceae. Additionally, Violaceae was monophyletic, with a bootstrap value of 100% and was divided into two subclades.

The chloroplast genome of Tetragonia tetragonioides (Aizoaceae; Caryophyllales) was sequenced to provide information for studies on phylogeny and evolution within Caryophyllales. The chloroplast genome of Tetragonia tetragonioides is 149,506 bp in length and includes a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 24,769 bp that separate a large single copy (LSC) region of 82,780 bp and a small single copy (SSC) region of 17,188 bp. Comparative analysis of the chloroplast genome showed that Caryphyllales species have lost many genes. In particular, the rpl2 intron and infA gene were not found in T. tetragonioides, and core Caryophyllales lack the rpl2 intron. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted using 55 genes in 16 complete chloroplast genomes. Caryophyllales was found to divide into two clades; core Caryophyllales and noncore Caryophyllales. The genus Tetragonia is closely related to Mesembryanthemum. Comparisons of the synonymous (Ks), nonsynonymous (Ka), and Ka/Ks substitution rates revealed that nonsynonymous substitution rates were lower than synonymous substitution rates and that Ka/Ks rates were less than 1. The findings of the present study suggest that most genes are a purified selection.

Arabis stellari var. japonica is an ornamental plant of the Brassicaceae family, and is widely distributed in South Korea. However, no information is available about its molecular biology and no genomic study has been performed on A. stellari. In this paper, the authors report the complete chloroplast genome sequence of A. stellari. The plastome of A. stellari was 153,683 bp in length with 36.4% GC and included a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 26,423 bp that separated a large single-copy (LSC) region of 82,807 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,030 bp. It was also found to contain 113 unique genes, of which 79 were protein-coding genes, 30 were transfer RNAs, and four were ribosomal RNAs. The gene content and organization of the A. stellari chloroplast genome were similar to those of other Brassicaceae genomes except for the absence of the rps16 protein-coding gene. A total of 991 SSRs were identified in the genome. The chloroplast genome of A. stellari was compared with closely related species of the Brassicaceae family. Comparative analysis showed a minor divergence occurred in the protein-coding matK, ycf1, ccsA, accD and rpl22 genes and that the KA/KS nucleotide substitution ratio of the ndhA genes of A. stellari and A. hirsuta was 1.35135. The genes infA and rps16 were absent in the Arabis genus and phylogenetic evolutionary studies revealed that these genes evolved independently. However, phylogenetic analysis showed that the positions of Brassicaceae species are highly conserved. The present study provides A. stellari genomic information that may be found useful in conservation and molecular phylogenetic studies on Brassicaceae.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Maianthemum dilatatum is sequenced and analyzed. The chloroplast genome is 156,921 bp, with 36.7% GC content. A pair of inverted repeats of 26,468 bp is separated by a large single-copy region (85,554 bp) and a small single-copy region (18,431 bp). It encodes 86 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. Of 132 individual genes, 19 genes are duplicated in the IR regions, while 14 genes are encoded with one intron and three genes with two introns.

We here show that highly conductive copper films are obtainable from Cu complex ink by laser sintering. The synthesized Cu formate ink was spin-coated onto polyimide substrate and the coated films were scanned by an ultraviolet laser beam at 355nm. During the sintering process, N2 gas was blown into the irradiated area to prevent oxidation. Unlike the typical thermal process, laser sintering resulted in tightly packed, dense structures. This made it possible to produce highly conducting thin films with uniform thickness. A minimum resistivity of 1.92 x 10-5Ωcm was obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]