Identifying Indicator Species in Habitats Created by Coastal Structures

In this paper, three approachs were developed to find indicator species from the habitat created by coastal structures. These approachs consist of a model of species co-occurrence probability, a model of k-environmental factor probability and a composite model. Simultaneously, a case study was conducted in Hsinchu Fishing Port of north-western Taiwan. Based on the aforementioned models, three primary producer species, Ahnfeltiopsis flabelliformis, Chondrus ocellatus and Sarcodia montagneana, were chosen as the indicator species which had the highest co-occurrence probabilities and showed greater tolerance to more critical environment. It is imperative to understand how the three species under particular co-occurring conditions and environmental factors influence the composition of sessile assemblages in coastal water. The results indicate that for the purpose of increasing biodiversity, these models are feasible to find indicator species of artificial structures, and to help make it possible to design coastal structures based on biological considerations. This study provides an innovative approach for further advanced application in the artificial habitat of coast management.

Exploration of sea anemone-inspired high-performance biomaterials with enhanced antioxidant activity

Antioxidant biomaterials have attracted much attention in various biomedical fields because of their effective inhibition and elimination of reactive oxygen species(ROS)in pathological tissues.However,the difficulty in ensuring biocompatibility,biodegradability and bioavailability of antioxidant materials has limited their further development.Novel bioavailable antioxidant materials that are derived from natural resources are urgently needed.Here,an integrated multi-omics method was applied to fabricate antioxidant biomaterials.A key cysteine-rich thrombospondin-1 type Ⅰ repeat-like(TSRL)protein was efficiently discovered from among 1262 adhesive components and then used to create a recombinant protein with a yield of 500 mg L^(-1).The biocompatible TSRL protein was able to self-assemble into either a water-resistant coating through Ca^(2+)-mediated coordination or redox-responsive hydrogels with tunable physical properties.The TSRL-based hydrogels showed stronger 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH)radical scavenging rates than glutathione(GSH)and ascorbic acid(Aa)and protected cells against external oxidative stress significantly more effectively.When topically applied to mice skin,TSRL alleviated epidermal hyperplasia and suppressed the degradation of collagen and elastic fibers caused by ultraviolet radiation B(UVB)irradiation,confirming that it enhanced antioxidant activity in vivo.This is the first study to successfully characterize natural antioxidant biomaterials created from marine invertebrate adhesives,and the findings indicate the excellent prospects of these biomaterials for great applications in tissue regeneration and cosmeceuticals.