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Este artículo contiene 18 páginas, 4 figuras., Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) and mass mortality events (MMEs) of marine organisms are one of their main ecological impacts. Here, we show that during the 2015–2019 period, the Mediterranean Sea has experienced exceptional thermal conditions resulting in the onset of five consecutive years of widespread MMEs across the basin. These MMEs affected thousands of kilometers of coastline from the surface to 45 m, across a range of marine habitats and taxa (50 taxa across 8 phyla). Significant relationships were found between the incidence of MMEs and the heat exposure associated with MHWs observed both at the surface and across depths. Our findings reveal that the Mediterranean Sea is experiencing an acceleration of the ecological impacts of MHWs which poses an unprecedented threat to its ecosystems' health and functioning. Overall, we show that increasing the resolution of empirical observation is critical to enhancing our ability to more effectively understand and manage the consequences of climate change., This paper was supported by Euromarine. Joaquim Garrabou acknowledges the funding by the “Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence” (CEX2019-000928-S), the MCIU/AEI/FEDER [HEATMED; RTI2018-095346-B-I00], Interreg-Med Programme MPA-Engage (1MED15_3.2_M2_337), the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Futuremares SEP-210597628). Nuria Teixido acknowledges the French National Research Agency (4Oceans-MOPGA grant, ANR-17-MPGA-0001) and internal funds from the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. Gil Rilov was supported by the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection. Hocein Bazairi, Free Spinosa, and Vasilis Gerovasileiou acknowledge the funding by the MAVA Fondation (MedKeyHabitats I Project) and the European Commission (Ecap-MED II Project; projects implemented by UNEP/MAP-RAC/SPA). Alfonso Ramos was supported the CIESM “Tropical Signals,” Stelios Katsanevakis and Maria Sini were supported by the Project “Coastal Environment Observatory and Risk Management in Island Regions AEGIS+” (MIS 5047038), implemented within the Operational Programme “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014–2020), co-financed by the Hellenic Government (Ministry of Development and Investments) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund), Stelios Katsanevakis, Maria Sini and Vasilis Gerovasileiou acknowledge the support of the MARISCA Project, co-funded by 85% by the EEA GRANTS, 2009–2014, and 15% by the Public Investments Programme (PIP) of the Hellenic Republic. Ivan Guala and Daniele Grech thanks thank the support of the project “Pinna nobilis—ricerca per la sopravvivenza: un'iniziativa di Citizen Science per tracciare la mortalità di massa di Pinna nobilis in Sardegna” project and the L/7 grant (CUP 87G17000070002) funded by the Regione Autonoma Sardegna. Jean-Baptiste Ledoux was funded by an assistant researcher contract framework of the RD Unit—UID/Multi/04423/2019—Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research—financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through COMPETE2020—Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and national funds through FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC). This research was supported by the Strategic Funding UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020 through national funds provided by the FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), in the framework of the program PT2020. Bernat Hereu and Cristina Linares acknowledge the support of the long-term monitoring programme of the catalan Natural Parks, funded by the Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Cristina Linares acknowledges the support of the ICREA Academia programme. David Díaz acknowledges the support the research grant CTM2016-77027-R of the Programa Estatal de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad and Program of Marines Strategies of Spain funded by MITERD. Jamila Ben Soussi was partially funded by the Fondation Albert 2 Monaco (MIMOSA Project) and the Tropical Signals Program of CIESM. Giovanni Chimienti was supported by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (PON 2014–2020, AIM 1807508–1, Linea 1), by the Ente Parco Nazionale del Gargano (Research agreement with CoNISMa N. 21/2018), and by the National Geographic Society (Grant EC-176R-18). Nathaniel Bensoussan acknowledges financial support from the European Commission through the programme “Caroline Herschell” in the context of the action “Developing Downstream applications and services on BIO-PHYsical characterization of the seascape for COASTal management” (BIOPHYCOAST). Monica Montefalcone and Annalissa Azzola collected some of their data on MMEs in the frame of the project “Mare Caldo” funded by Greenpeace Italy. Núria Marbà acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministries of Economy and Competitiveness (CTM2012-32603, CGL2015-71809-P) and Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RTI2018-095441-B-C21). Diego K. Kersting acknowledges support by the postdoctoral fellowship programme Beatriu de Pinós funded by the Secretary of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the European Union under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 801370.

Sharks and rays, besides their economic importance, are ecologically important organisms with a diverse group. After a pregnant Squatina sp. was captured as by-catch, Akyol et al. (2015) published this species as Squatina squatina while the COI and 16S rDNA analysis demonstrated that the species is S. aculeata. This complexity revealed that utilizing morphologic identification solely might not be enough to distinguish these two Squatina species accurately. We aim to compare morphologic and molecular techniques during species identification of critically endangered S. squatina and S. aculeata. Two different gene regions were used for molecular identification of 3 Squatina specimens obtained from the Aegean coasts of Turkey. Sequence analysis of two gene regions was conducted after PCR analysis. An aligned data set was used for creating phylogenetic trees. The results demonstrated that the previously identified S. squatina specimen was revealed as S. aculeata after molecular analysis. Two other specimens which were morphologically identified as S. squatina demonstrated the same results both with molecular and morphological analysis. Our results suggest that adopting morphological identification as the only tool is not enough to accurately determine the Squatina species; both morphological and molecular tools should be used for taxonomical identification of shark species, especially the endangered ones, to assure their conservation status.

Lead is a toxic element that accumulates in agricultural soils through various anthropogenic sources. It inhibits the growth and development of plants and causes mutations in DNA. Macroalgae such as Halopteris filicina contain multifunctional components that may improve plant tolerance to lead stress. In this study, seeds of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) were subjected to six treatments comprising two levels of lead exposure (60 or 120 μM PbCl2) with or without H. filicina extract (0.5% in distilled water), a distilled water control, and a positive control (H. filicina extract) for 7 days. Physiological responses were investigated. Seedlings that had been treated with 60 and 120 μM PbCl2 without H. filicina extract showed root growth reduction of 55% and 68.6%, respectively, relative to the control, whereas for 60 and 120 μM PbCl2-treated seedlings with H. filicina extract applied, the reductions in root growth were lower, at 27.44% and 50.51%. The seedling viability index was decreased by 68.14% at 120 μM PbCl2 application without H. filicina extract, whereas a 42.48% reduction was recorded for 120 μM PbCl2-treated seedlings with H. filicina extract applied. Moreover, PbCl2 accumulation resulted in a decrease in leaf pigment content. Leaf pigment content was high in plants receiving the H. filicina extract. The rate of lipid peroxidation caused by PbCl2 was reduced with application of H. filicina extract. Genomic template stability was determined by using the inter simple sequence repeat-PCR technique, which revealed a decrease in DNA stabilisation with an increase in lead accumulation. However, this was alleviated by application of H. filicina extract. Our findings indicate that H. filicina extract both stimulates plant growth and protects from toxic effects by reducing accumulation of metals in the cell.

In this study, we characterized the fatty acid production in Neochloris aquatica at transcriptomics and biochemical levels under limiting, normal, and excess nitrate concentrations in different growth phases. At the stationary phase, N. aquatica mainly produced saturated fatty acids such as stearic acid under the limiting nitrate concentration, which is suitable for biodiesel production. However, it produced polyunsaturated fatty acids such as alpha-linolenic acid under the excess nitrate concentration, which has nutritional values as food supplements. In addition, RNA-seq was employed to identify genes and pathways that were being affected in N. aquatica for three growth phases in the presence of the different nitrate amounts. Genes that are responsible for the production of saturated fatty acids were upregulated in the cells grown under a limiting nitrogen amount while genes that are responsible for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acid were upregulated in the cells grown under excess nitrogen amount. Further analysis showed more genes differentially expressed (DEGs) at the logarithmic phase in all conditions while a relatively steady trend was observed during the transition from the logarithmic phase to the stationary phase under limiting and excess nitrogen. Our results provide a foundation for identifying developmentally important genes and understanding the biological processes in the different growth phases of the N. aquatica in terms of biomass and lipid production., Istanbul Development Agency [ISTKA-TR/14/EVK/0039]; TUPRAS Energy Research Center [0038]; TUBITAK-CAYDAG [117Y215], This work was supported by grants from the Istanbul Development Agency (ISTKA-TR/14/EVK/0039), the TUPRAS Energy Research Center (0038) (to IHK); TUBITAK-CAYDAG with grant number 117Y215 (to FA).

Though benthic invertebrates are an important indicator for determining biological quality in freshwater ecosystems, there are still significant deficiencies in their faunistic composition. This study aimed to determine the diversity and species composition of benthic macroinvertebrates in Sangı Stream, Izmir (Turkey). Benthic macroinvertebrates were collected monthly from February 2018 to March 2019 in predefined six sampling stations. As a result of the analysis, four benthic macroinvertebrate groups, including Crustacea, Oligochaeta, Gastropoda, and Insecta, were identified in the Sangı stream. The most dominant taxa were Insecta among all benthic macroinvertebrates. Using species-based biodiversity indices and analyses spatial similarities and differences were also determined. This study is the first study for determining Sangı Stream benthic fauna; that's why all taxa diagnosed in the stream has been recorded for the first time.