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Three densities of the sex-reversed male Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (20, 25, 50 fish/m3) were cultivated in an integrated multi-trophic recirculating aquaculture system (IMRAS) that involves the ecological relationship between several living organisms, i.e., phytoplankton, zooplankton, and aquatic plants. The results indicated that, by providing proper interdependency between various species of living organisms, the concentrations of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and phosphate in the system were maintained below dangerous levels for Nile tilapia throughout the cultivation period. The highest wet weight productivity of Nile tilapia of 11 ± 1 kg was achieved at a fish density of 50 fish/m3. The aquatic plants in the treatment tank could effectively uptake the unwanted nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) compounds with the highest removal efficiencies of 9.52% and 11.4%, respectively. The uptake rates of nitrogen and phosphorus by aquatic plants could be ranked from high to low as: Egeria densa > Ceratophyllum demersum > Vallisneria spiralis and Vallisneria americana > Hygrophila difformis. The remaining N was further degraded through nitrification process, whereas the remaining P could well precipitate in the soil sediment in the treatment tank.

Shrimp undergo several morphologically different stages during development and therefore the expression of some immune-related genes such as prophenoloxidase (proPO), peroxinectin (Prx), crustin (Crus), penaeidin (Pen), transglutaminase (TGase), haemocyanin (Hc) and astakine (Ak) were determined during larval development of the shrimp (Penaeus monodon), i.e. nauplius 4 (N4), protozoea 1 and 3 (Z1 and 3), mysis 3 (My 3), post-larvae 3 (PL3) and also in haemocytes of juveniles. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis showed that all transcripts were already present in the early larval stage of N4 but at different levels. The transcript of proPO was found to be extremely low or even absent at N4, whereas Prx, Crus, Pen, TGase, Hc and Ak were significantly expressed at all larval stages. Up to now expression of proPO and Prx has only been reported from haemocytes in crustaceans and in this study Prx also appeared to be expressed in stages which appear to lack haemocytes. Thus, this may suggest that Prx is expressed in other cells than haemocytes. It is well known among invertebrates that the proPO system plays a crucial role as an immune effector molecule against microbes. However, in this study, the transcript of proPO was low during the larval stages and hardly present at all at N4. This might indicate that the development of immune-competent haemocytes during the larval stages is not completed and as a consequence they are likely to be more susceptible to infectious diseases during these stages.