Eukaryotic food sources analysis in situ of tropical common sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota based on 18S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing

Sea cucumber Holothuria leucospilota is one of the most widespread tropical holothurian species.In this study,eukaryotic organism composition in foregut and hindgut contents of H.leucospilota and surrounding sediments was assessed by 18S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing.Eukaryon richness and diversity in the habitat sediments were significantly higher than those in foregut and hindgut contents of the sea cucumbers(P<0.05).The foregut content group,hindgut content group,and marine sediment group sequences were respectively assigned to 18.20±1.32,19.40±1.03,and 21.80±0.37 phyla.In the foregut contents,Nematoda(20.18%±9.59%),Mollusca(16.12%±10.49%),Chlorophyta(10.04%±4.85%),Annelida(8.72%±10.93%),Streptophyta(8.46%±4.65%),and Diatomea(5.99%±2.01%)were the predominant phyla,which showed the eukaryotic food sources of H.leucospilota were primarily belong to the above phyla.The predominant phyla in the hindgut contents were Streptophyta(45.55%±17.32%),Mollusca(4.93%±4.82%),Arthropoda(5.37%±3.08%),Diatomea(3.88%±2.34%),and Chlorophyta(3.79%±1.59%);and Annelida(37.80%±17.00%),Arthropoda(24.49%±12.53%),Platyhelminthes(7.14%±3.02%),Nematoda(4.14%±0.91%),and Diatomea(5.11%±1.35%)had large contents in the sediments.The comparatively high content of Paris genus in phylum Streptophyta in foregut contents indicated that land plants were one of the primary food sources of H.leucospilota,however the significantly higher contents of Streptophyta in hindgut contents than that in foregut contents might suggest a large part of the terrigenous detritus ingested might not be digested by H.leucospilota.UPGMA and PCoA analysis revealed that eukaryotic organism composition differed significantly between foregut contents of H.leucospilota and ambient sediments,indicating selective feeding feature of H.leucospilota.This study provided useful references for artificial feed of tropical sea cucumbers and enhanced understanding of the ecological roles of detritus-feeding macrobenthos.

Which species discovers novel food sources first?A camera trap study in a natural environment

Birds underlie a predation-starvation risk,and foraging should show a diurnal/circadian pattern.Camera traps were used to study visitation patterns and discovery of a novel food source in woodland birds in SW Germany.A total of 18 species occurred at feeders with nine of them being exploratory species.Great Tits(Parus major)discovered novel food sources first in most instances,and first discoveries occurred on average at 10:38,while it took 97 h for the first detection of the food source.Population size was correlated with discovery.The study supports the predation-starva-tion risk hypothesis with discovery of food sources in the morning.

Trans Fatty Acid Levels in Foods and Intakes among Population Aged 3 Years and above in Beijing and Guangzhou Cities,China

Objective To understand the dietary intake levels of trans fatty acids （TFA） in a Chinese population and establish a basis for health risk assessment of trans fatty acids. Methods The TFA contents data of 2613 food items and food consumption data of 10,533 people aged 3 years and above in two large cities in China were matched and a simple assessment method was used to estimate the distribution of dietary TFA intake. Results The mean content of TFA was highest in margarine （1.68±0.83 g/100g）, followed by chocolate and candy （0.89±2.68 g/100g）, edible vegetable oils （0.86±0.82 g/100g）, milk （0.83±1.56 g/100g）, and bakery foods （0.41±0.91 g/100g）. TFA intake accounted for 0.34%, 0.30%, 0.32%, and 0.29% of the total energy intake in the 3-6, 7-12, 13-17, and 〉18 year age groups, respectively. Of the populations studied, 0.42% demonstrated TFA intakes （as percentage of energy intake） greater than 1%. The main sources of dietary TFA intake were edible vegetable oils, milk, mutton, and beef, and baked foods, which accounted for 49.8%, 16.56%, 12.21%, and 8.87%, respectively. Conclusion The current intake of TFA among concern regarding the threshold of TFA intake people in two cities did not appear to be of major health as the percentage of total energy recommended by the World Health Organization. Because most TFA were derived from industrially processed foods, the government should reinforce nutrition labeling and regulate food producers to further reduce TFA in food and to provide scientific instruction for consumers to make sound choices.

Analysis of Nutrient Profile of Finger Millet(Eleusine coracana(L.)Gaertn.)for Baby Food Formulation Using Pigeon Pea(Cajanus cajan(L.)Millsp.)as Protein Source

Finger millet(Eleusine coracana(L.)Gaertn.)is a drought resistant crop with potentially tremendous but under-explored source of nutraceutical properties as compared to other regularly consumed cereals in the era of drawback of nutritional security,these characteristics must be harnessed to develop finger millet as a novel functional food.Under-nutrition caused by inadequate diets,and other factors that influence nutritional status,is the underlying factor in 45%child deaths.In Kenya only 25%of young children are fed adequately diverse diets.The main objective of this study was to prepare baby food formulas using finger millets with pigeon peas as protein source and to analyze their nutritional profiles.Two finger millets varieties(i)Snapping Green Early,low altitude and medium altitude varieties and(ii)U-15)were studied to determine effects of environment on nutrient profiles.This study showed that Snapping Green Early had better nutrient profiles(12.13%protein and is high in Ca,Mg,Fe,Zn and P)than U-15(11.69%protein and lower nutrients(Ca,Mg,Fe,Zn and P)),and hence was selected for use in the malting process as best variety.As expected,the pigeon peas had the highest protein value(21%).The samples malted for 72 h resulted in reduction of tannin concentration from 0.091%to 0.03%and the amount of nutrients(Ca,Mg,Fe and Zn)doubled and in fact the protein profile increased by 8.31%.The appropriate ratio for the formulation of the baby food was 70:30.The composting resulted in 18.5%increase in protein.

Effects of biscuit-type feeding supplementation on the neurocognitive outcomes of HIV-affected school-age children:a randomized,double-blind,controlled intervention trial in Kenya

Objective:To determine if meat or soy protein dietary supplementation will enhance the neuro-cognitive performance of HIV-affected children at-risk of malnutrition and food insecurity.Methods:A randomized,double-blind,controlled intervention trial evaluated the effect of nu-tritional supplementation on the neurocognitive outcomes of 49 HIV-affected school-age children in western Kenya.The intervention consisted in providing the mother,target child,and siblings with one of three isocaloric biscuit-type supplements-soy,wheat,or beef-on 5 days per week for 18 months.Neurocognitive outcomes of the target children were assessed by a battery of eight measures and followed up longitudinally for up to 24 months.Results:Mixed effects modeling demonstrated significant differences in the rates of increase over time among all three groups(F test degrees of freedom of 2,P<0.05)for Raven’s progressive matrices performance,but not for verbal meaning,arithmetic,digit span backward,forward,and total,embedded figure test,and Beery visual-motor integration scores.Conclusion:HIV-affected school-age children provided with soy protein supplementation showed greater improvement in nonverbal cognitive(fluid intelligence)performance compared with peers who received isocaloric beef or wheat biscuits.Soy nutrients may have an enhancing effect on neurocognitive skills in HIV-affected school-age children.