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On the 81st anniversary of the sinking of the Australian warship HMAS Sydney (II) and the disguised German raider HSK Kormoran following a battle off the coast of Western Australia during WWII, Curtin University has revealed a new large-scale 3D reconstruction from the wreck sites.

As a bio]diversity hotspot, the East Indies (Coral) Triangle possesses the highest biodiversity on the earth. However, evolutionary hypotheses around this area remain controversial; e.g., center of origin, center of accumulation, and center of overlap have been supported by different species. This study aims to answer the evolutionary influence of the Indonesian Seaway on the biodiversity of the Coral Triangle by recovering the evolutionary origins of a wide-ranging ommastrephid squid (Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis) based on integrated molecular and oceanographic clues from the Indo-Pacific. Three new clades were revealed; viz., clade I from the South China Sea, clade II from the northern East Indian Ocean, and clade III from the southern East Indian Ocean. These two Indian Ocean clades formed a monophyly closely related to clade IV from the Central-Southeast Pacific. Clade VI from the central Equatorial Pacific and clade V from the northern Eastern Pacific sit in basal positions of phylogenetic trees. Ancestral Sthenoteuthis was inferred to have originated from the Atlantic Ocean and sequentially dispersed to the northern East Pacific, central Equatorial Pacific, and West Pacific through the open Panama Seaway and being transported by westward North Equatorial Current. The East Indian Ocean was likely colonized by an ancestral population of clade IV from the Southeast Pacific. Westward South Equatorial Circulation could have promoted transoceanic migration of S. oualaniensis through the wide paleo-Indonesian Seaway. Sea level regression since the Miocene and the closure of the Indonesian Seaway at 4-3 Ma were responsible for the population genetic differentiation of S. oualaniensis in the Indo-Pacific. Therefore, the Indonesian Gateway played an important role in influencing marine organisms' migration and population differentiation through controlling and reorganizing circulations in the Indo-Pacific.

The marine environment is most vital and flexible with continual variations in salinity, temperature, and pressure. As a result, bacteria living in such an environment maintain the adaption mechanisms that are inherent in unstable environmental conditions. The harboring of metal-resistant genes in marine bacteria contributes to their effectiveness in metal remediation relative to their terrestrial counterparts. A total of four mercury-resistant bacteria (MRB) i.e. NIOT-EQR_J7 (Alcanivorax xenomutans); NIOT-EQR_J248 and NIOT-EQR_J251 (Halomonas sp.); and NIOT-EQR_J258 (Marinobacter hydrocarbonoclasticus) were isolated from the equatorial region of the Indian Ocean (ERIO) and identified by analyzing the 16S rDNA sequence. The MRBs can reduce up to 70% of Hg(II). The mercuric reductase (merA) gene was amplified and the mercury (Hg) volatilization was confirmed by the X-ray film method. The outcomes obtained from ICP-MS validated that the Halomonas sp. NIOT-EQR_J251 was more proficient in removing the Hg from culture media than other isolates. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy results revealed alteration in several functional groups attributing to the Hg tolerance and reduction. The Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis confirmed that strain Halomonas sp. (NIOT-EQR_J248 and NIOT-EQR_J251) released Isooctyl thioglycolate (IOTG) compound under mercury stress. The molecular docking results suggested that IOTG can efficiently bind with the glutathione S-transferase (GST) enzyme. A pathway has been hypothesized based on the GC-MS metabolic profile and molecular docking results, suggesting that the compound IOTG may mediate mercuric reduction via merA-GST related detoxification pathway.

Key areas of the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the Pacific should be designated protected areas in order to safeguard vulnerable coastal communities' livelihoods, new research published this week reveals.

Dutch Owner Fined USD 3.4 Mn for Beaching a Ship.