Plastic pollution in a special protected area for migratory birds.

Plastic pollution in Special Protected Areas for Migratory Birds and Sites of Community Importance is a growing environmental concern. These areas, often designated to provide safe habitats for migratory bird species, are increasingly threatened by plastic litter. In this study, we conducted the first assessment of plastic litter, ranging from macro to microplastics, in beach sediments from two sites (Montorsoli Beach and Pylon Beach) along the coast of the Strait of Messina, a Special Protected Area, to assess beach quality and ecological risk.

Plastic litter colonization in a brackish water environment.

Transitional waters, including coastal ponds, represent unique environments. These distinct ecosystems are often among the most severely polluted systems due to intensive human activities. Our study marks the first evaluation of aquatic invertebrates associated with plastic litter in two brackish ponds.

Polymer Blends Based on 1-Hexadecyl-3-methyl Imidazolium 1,3-Dimethyl 5-Sulfoisophthalate Ionic Liquid: Thermo-Mechanical, Surface Morphology and Antibacterial Properties.

In this study, antibacterial polymer blends based on Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and Polystyrene-Ethylene-Butylene-Styrene (SEBS), loaded with the ionic liquid (IL) 1-hexadecyl-3-methyl imidazolium 1,3-dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate (HdmimDMSIP) at three different concentrations (1%, 5%, and 10%), were produced. The IL/blends were characterized by their thermo-mechanical properties, surface morphology, and wettability. IL release from the blends was also evaluated.

Characterization of Five Psychrotolerant spp. Strains Isolated from Antarctica.

Five psychrotolerant spp. strains were isolated from Antarctic coastal waters. Strains were screened for molecular and physiological properties and analyzed regarding their growth capacity.

Is Wild Marine Biota Affected by Microplastics?

The present review provides detailed information on the adverse effects of MPs on wild marine organisms, including tissue damage, fish condition, oxidative stress, immune toxicity, and genotoxicity. A bibliometric analysis was carried out on CiteSpace (version 6.1.

Investigating the effects of microplastic ingestion in Scyliorhinus canicula from the South of Sicily.

Plastic pollution is increasing dramatically worldwide, causing adverse effects on a wide variety of marine organisms at all trophic levels. As predators, sharks play a key role in marine ecosystems and they could especially be threatened by the ingestion of microplastics. This study contributes to expand the existing data on the MPs ingestion by a Mediterranean elasmobranch species, Scyliorhinus canicula, adding new information on the potential impact that this class of contaminants can have on the metabolism of this ecologically relevant species.

Shallow-Water Hydrothermal Vents as Natural Accelerators of Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance in Marine Coastal Areas.

Environmental contamination by heavy metals (HMs) poses several indirect risks to human health, including the co-spreading of genetic traits conferring resistance to both HMs and antibiotics among micro-organisms. Microbial antibiotic resistance (AR) acquisition is enhanced at sites anthropogenically polluted by HMs, as well as in remote systems naturally enriched in HMs, such as hydrothermal vents in the deep sea. However, to date, the possible role of hydrothermal vents at shallower water depths as hot spots of microbial AR gain and spreading has not been tested, despite the higher potential risks associated with the closer vicinity of such ecosystems to coasts and human activities.

Microplastics in the bogue, Boops boops: A snapshot of the past from the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.

The present investigation focuses on Boops boops specimens gathered in the Gulf of Patti in 2010. Providing a snapshot from the past, this paper represents, chronologically, the first record of microplastic ingestion in the Mediterranean bogue. The plastic abundance and composition in gastrointestinal tracts of the bogue was assess, in order to improve the knowledge on spatial-temporal variability of microplastics pollution in the Mediterranean basin and in particular, in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea.

Thermo-mechanical, antimicrobial and biocompatible properties of PVC blends based on imidazolium ionic liquids.

The aim of this study was the development of antimicrobial polyvinylchloride (PVC) blends loaded with 0.1-10% (w/w) of the ILs 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium 1,3-dimethyl 5-sulfoisophthalate (HdmimDMSIP) and 1-octyloximethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (OOMmimPF). The synthetized ILs were characterized by HNMR, MALDI-TOF, DSC and TGA.

Plastics occurrence in juveniles of Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardina pilchardus in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea.

We report the presence of microplastics on the external surface and in the gastrointestinal tract of white late-larval and juvenile stages (fry) of clupeid fishes caught in the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea. The average highest number of plastics debris was recorded on Sardina pilchardus (0.53 items/specimen); a lower average number of items was observed for Engraulis encrasicolus (0.

Quali-quantitative analysis of plastics and synthetic microfibers found in demersal species from Southern Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean).

This study highlights plastics occurrence in five demersal fish species from the Southern Tyrrhenian Sea: the Red mullet Mullus barbatus barbatus, the Piper gurnard Trigla lyra, the Blackmouth catshark Galeus melastomus, the Lesser spotted dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula and the Brown ray Raja miraletus. Overall, 125 fish were examined: 21 Red mullets, 16 Piper gurnards, 75 Blackmouth catsharks, 72 Dogfish and 1 Brown ray. The percentage of fish with ingested plastics was 14.

Plastics occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract of Zeus faber and Lepidopus caudatus from the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The present study investigates the occurrence of plastic pollution in two commercially important marine teleosts (Zeus faber and Lepidopus caudatus) from the northern coasts of Sicily (Tyrrhenian Sea). Plastics occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract was higher in Lepidopus caudatus (78.1%) than Zeus faber (51.

Detection of artificial cellulose microfibers in Boops boops from the northern coasts of Sicily (Central Mediterranean).

Pollution deriving from textile wastes, including industrial and household waste, is recently of great interest due to their environmental impacts. Anthropogenic and synthetic fibers are responsible for negative effects on the quality of water and soil, and, also, their presence damages plant and animal health. In this work, the authors revealed the occurrence of man-made cellulose fibers in specimens of Boops boops from the Northern Sicilian coasts.

First record of microplastics ingestion by European hake MERLUCCIUS MERLUCCIUS from the Tyrrhenian Sicilian coast (Central Mediterranean Sea).

A sample of 67 European hake Merluccius merluccius were examined to highlight the ingestion of microplastics in the Tyrrhenian Sea. In all samples, 31 black fibres were found in the stomach contents corresponding to 46.3% of the specimens.

The antioxidant power of horseradish, , underlies antimicrobial and antiradical effects, exerted .

(AR) was tested for antimicrobial and antioxidants power. The compound demonstrated to inhibit fish pathogens such as . The total phenolic content and the reducing power resulted higher in the water extract of AR, respect to the hydroalcoolic.

Isolation of a novel gene from Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida and analysis of the recombinant antigen as promising vaccine candidate.

Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (PDP) is the causative agent of fish pasteurellosis, a bacterial disease causing important losses in marine aquaculture. Vaccines against the pathogen can be a way to control the infection and avoid antibiotic treatments.

Comparison of 16SrDNA and toxR genes as targets for detection of Vibrio anguillarum in Dicentrarchus labrax kidney and liver.

Vibrio anguillarum is a pathogen that causes high mortality in marine and freshwater fish. The aim of this study was to develop a real-time PCR assay for identification and quantification of V. anguillarum in fish tissue.

First report on antibody response of Seriola dumerilii (Risso 1810) challenged with Listonella anguillarum.

The greater amberjack, Seriola dumerilii (Risso 1810) is a semi-pelagic fish and a worldwide species; it is considered a promising candidate for the diversification of Mediterranean aquaculture. In this paper an experimental injection with Listonella (Vibrio) anguillarum was performed to study the immune response of S. dumerilii.

Evaluation of different DNA-based fingerprinting methods for typing Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of three different molecular techniques, repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR (REP-PCR), enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus sequence PCR (ERIC-PCR) and the random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD-PCR) for rapid typing of Photobacterium damselae ssp. piscicida strains isolated from different species of marine fish and geographic areas. The results obtained by the three methods showed that RAPD and ERIC-PCR were more discriminative for suitable rapid typing of Ph.