THE STRUCTURE OF SUBTIDAL MACROALGAL ASSEMBLAGES AT THE TAMOIOS ECOLOGICAL STATION, A THREATENED CONSERVATION UNIT IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

The structure of subtidal rocky bottom communities at Tamoios Ecological Station (TES), situated in Ilha Grande Bay, Rio de Janeiro State, as well as in other Brazilian marine protected areas, is insufficiently characterized. The present study describes the macroalgal assemblages of shallow subtidal rocky bottoms on two islands of the TES-Imboassica (IM) and Búzios Pequena (BP)adopting species and genera as observational units. Two sites were surveyed on each island in summer 2011. Random 30x30 cm quadrats (n=3) were scraped to collect all macroalgae except crustose species. The subtidal assemblages, in which 58 macroalgal species occurred, were characterized by the high frequency and percent cover of Sargassum vulgare C. Agardh (56.8±8.4%). The sites differed significantly in total number of species and Shannon-Weiner diversity index (PERMANOVA, p5%) were Sargassum, Laurencia, Wrangelia, Canistrocarpus, Asparagopsis, Hypnea, Ceratodictyon, Gayliella, Spyridia and Chondria.Dissimilarities within and between the islands, as shown by nMDS of the cover data, suggest that different spatial scales should be considered in monitoring the rocky bottom communities of Ilha Grande Bay

Colonization and community development of fish assemblages associated with estuarine artificial reefs

Despite the long history of the development of artificial structures in NSW estuaries there are no studies that provide any comprehensive scientific evaluation of post-deployment goals. We assessed the effectiveness of estuarine artificial reefs as a fisheries enhancement initiative; described the diversity and abundance of species associated with them, and detailed the patterns of colonization and community development associated with an artificial reef deployment in Lake Macquarie, a large coastal barrier lagoon on the southeast coast of Australia. Six artificial reefs (one artificial reef group), constructed from artificial reef units (Reef Balls®), were deployed in December 2005 and sampled six times per season over two years using baited remote underwater video (BRUV). Colonization of the artificial reef group was relatively rapid with the majority of species identified over the two-year study period observed within the first year post-deployment. Overall, 27 species from 17 families were identified. Key colonising species included Pelates sexlineatus (Terapontidae), Acanthopagrus australis (Sparidae), Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) and Rhabdosargus sarba (Sparidae). Species richness showed evidence of potential seasonal fluctuations, being higher in warm water months (Summer/Autumn), and lower in the colder water months (Winter/Spring), while species diversity increased significantly with reef age. Fish assemblage composition remained relatively stable after the first year of sampling, with few discernible patterns in assemblage structure evident after the first year. Distinct separation in reef age groupings was evident during the second year of sampling; a pattern primarily driven by a decrease in abundance of P. sexlineatus, a result of the isolated nature of the artificial reefs and the interrelated effects of density dependence and predation.A despeito da longa história do desenvolvimento de estruturas artificiais nos estuários de NSW, não existem estudos que apresentem uma avaliação global sobre os efeitos obtidos com o estabelecimento dessas estruturas. No presente trabalho abordamos a efetividade dos recifes artificiais estuarinos como iniciativa para aumento da pesca; descrevemos a diversidade e abundância das espécies a eles associadas; descrevemos os padrões de colonização e o desenvolvimento das comunidades associadas a um recife artificial colocado no Lago Macquaire, extensa lagoa de barreira situada na costa sudeste da Australia. Seis recifes artificiais (formando um único grupo), construídos a partir de unidades artificiais (Reef Balls®), foram lançados em Dezembro de 2005 e amostrados seis vezes a cada estação do ano, durante dois anos, utilizando video subaquático remoto (BRUV). A colonizaç��o dentro do grupo de recifes ocorreu de maneira relativamente rápida, sendo que a maioria das espécies identificadas nos dois anos de estudo foi observada durante o primeiro ano de amostragem. Um total de 27 espécies pertencentes a 17 famílias foram identificadas. As espécies chave do processo de colonização foram Pelates sexlineatus (Teraponidae), Acanthopagrus australis (Sparidae), Pagrus auratus (Sparidae) and Rhabdosargus sarba (Sparidea). A riqueza de espécies mostrou evidência de sazonalidade, enquanto a diversidade aumentou significativamente com o aumento da idade do recife. A composição da assembléia de peixes permaneceu relativamente estável após o primeiro ano de amostragem, com poucos padrões identificáveis relativos à estrutura. Durante o segundo ano tornou-se evidente a formação de grupos por idade, padrão primariamente ocasionado pelo decréscimo na abundância de P. sexlineatus; por sua vez este decréscimo mostrou ser resultado da natureza isolada do recife artificial e dos efeitos interdependentes de abundância e predação

Genetic characterisation of molecular targets in carcinoma of unknown primary

Abstract Background Carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP) is a metastatic epithelial malignancy in the absence of an identifiable primary tumour. Prognosis for patients with CUP is poor because treatment options are generally limited to broad spectrum chemotherapy. A shift towards personalised cancer management based on mutation profiling offers the possibility of new treatment paradigms. This study has explored whether actionable, oncogenic driver mutations are present in CUP that have potential to better inform treatment decisions. Methods Carcinoma of unknown primary cases (n = 21) were selected and DNA was isolated from formalin-fixed paraffin embedded sections prior to amplification and sequencing. Two distinct yet complementary targeted gene panels were used to assess variants in up to 76 known cancer-related genes for the identification of biologically relevant and actionable mutations. Results Variants were detected in 17/21 cases (81%) of which 11 (52%) were potentially actionable with drugs currently approved for use in known primary cancer types or undergoing clinical trials. The most common variants detected were in TP53 (47%), KRAS (12%), MET (12%) and MYC (12%). Differences at the molecular level were seen between common CUP histological subtypes. CUP adenocarcinomas and poorly differentiated carcinomas harboured the highest frequency of variants in genes involved in signal transduction pathways (e.g. MET, EGFR, HRAS, KRAS, and BRAF). In contrast, squamous cell carcinoma exhibited a higher frequency of variants in cell cycle control and DNA repair genes (e.g. TP53, CDKN2A and MLH1). Conclusion Taken together, mutations in biologically relevant genes were detected in the vast majority of CUP tumours, of which half provided a potentially novel treatment option not generally considered in CUP

MOESM1 of Genetic characterisation of molecular targets in carcinoma of unknown primary

Additional file 1: Table S1. Combined gene list of the Oncomine Focus Assay (OFA) and Cancer Hotspot v2 (CHPv2) panel (ThermoFisher Scientific)