Distribution and density of Lutraria rhynchaena Jonas, 1844 relate to sediment while reproduction shows multiple peaks per year in Cat Ba-Ha Long Bay, Vietnam.

Lutraria rhynchaena Jonas, 1844 is of great commercial interest, but its reserves have dramatically declined over recent decades. Therefore, there is an urgent need of scientific basis to propose effective fishery management measures and improve artificial aquaculture of the clam. In this study, we investigated the distribution and density of L. rhynchaena, sediment characteristics, and established the clam's reproductive cycle through monthly observations from August 2017 to July 2018. The study results showed that distribution and density of clams are related to sediment types, and the sediment type of medium sand is likely the best benthic substrate for the clams. The spawning of clams occurred throughout the year with three spawning peaks in January, April and September. For the sustainable management of the clam resource in Cat Ba-Ha Long Bay, the fishery authorities can issue a ban on harvest of the clam in spawning peak months in January, April and September.

DNA barcoding of coastal ray-finned fishes in Vietnam.

DNA barcoding based on a fragment of the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene is widely applied in species identification and biodiversity studies. The aim of this study was to establish a comprehensive barcoding database of coastal ray-finned fishes in Vietnam. A total of 3,638 specimens were collected from fish landing sites in northern, central and southern Vietnam. Seven hundred and sixty-five COI sequences of ray-finned fishes were generated, belonging to 458 species, 273 genera, 113 families and 43 orders. A total of 59 species were newly recorded in Vietnam and sequences of six species were new to the Genbank and BOLD online databases. Only 32 species cannot be annotated to species level because difficulty in morphological identifications and their Kimura-2-Parameter (K2P) genetic distances to most similar sequences were more than 2%. Moreover, intra-specific genetic distances in some species are also higher than 2%, implying the existence of putative cryptic species. The mean K2P genetic distances within species, genera, families, orders and classes were 0.34%, 12.14%, 17.39%, 21.42%, and 24.80, respectively. Species compositions are quite different with only 16 common species among northern, central and southern Vietnam. This may attribute to multiple habitats and environmental factors across the 3,260 km Vietnamese coastline. Our results confirmed that DNA barcoding is an efficient and reliable tool for coastal fish identification in Vietnam, and also established a reliable DNA barcode reference library for these fishes. DNA barcodes will contribute to future efforts to achieve better monitoring, conservation, and management of fisheries in Vietnam.

Comparative extraction and simple isolation improvement techniques of active constituents' momilactone A and B from rice husks of Oryza sativa by HPLC analysis and column chromatography.

This paper reports comparative extraction efficiencies and enhancement methods for natural herbicidal (growth inhibitors) compounds, momilactone A and B, respectively from the dried husks of Oryza sativa using different extraction techniques and different solvent systems. Four different extraction techniques viz. percolation, agitation with heat, sonication and soxhlet using five solvent systems as ethyl acetate, acetone, acetonitrile, methanol and methanol:water (8:2) were evaluated. In these studies, it was observed that maximum extract yield was obtained using in methanol and methanol/water mixture as extracting solvent by soxhlet technique although the content of total momilactones A and B was higher in the methanol/water mixture in comparison to other extractions. The successive and simple isolation enrichment technique for momilactones A and B were achieved by solid-matrix partitioning after the treatment of methanolic extract with charcoal and using ethyl acetate as extracting solvent for momilactones A and B. The quantitative analysis of the extraction and enrichment development protocol was validated by a simple, accurate, reproducible RP-HPLC-UV-VIS method using a binary gradient elution comprising of acetonitrile and water (70:30). The separation was achieved on a waters Spherisorb S10 ODS 2 column (250 × 4.6 mm, I.D., 10 µm) that achieved a greater degree of linearity within an overall concentration of extracts and momilactones A and B, 1 mg mL-1 and higher degree of correlation (0.9928 ≤ r2 ≤ 0.9936) for momilactones A and B. So far, comparative extraction of momilactones A and B and HPLC of these compounds has not been reported. Standards of momilactones A (1) and B (2) were isolated along with other two compounds as orizaterpenoid (3) and 7-ketostigmaterol (4) from ethyl acetate extract of rice hulls of O. sativa and checked purity by HPLC-PDA-MS and identification of these isolated compounds (1-4) by complete spectroscopic techniques as IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D NMR and HR-MS. The qualitative analysis of momilactone A and B separation technique by thin layer chromatography was also developed.

The status and distribution of PCBs along the coast of Vietnam.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), well-known as an important scientific achievement, are now considered as one of the most persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that need to be strictly controlled and forbidden worldwide (the Stockholm convention on POPs). Vietnam is one of the countries that encounters with serious issues from PCB contamination. This study presented a comprehensive review on the status and contamination of PCBs along the coast of Vietnam. The contaminated PCBs data in the water, sediment and biological samples from 18 provinces along Vietnam coastline were collected from various sources. A comparison in PCBs contamination between Vietnam and other Asian countries was included. The status on PCBs contamination in Vietnam since participated as a party of the Stockholm convention on POPs in 2002 was also assessed. The results showed that Vietnam is facing serious PCBs contamination problems as it evidences the spread and accumulation of PCBs in the marine environment. The implementation of the Stockholm convention on POPs (PCBs in particular) has not yet demonstrated significant effect on the reduction in PCBs contamination in the environment. This information on PCBs contamination in Vietnam urges government to strengthen the mechanism, policy and legislation, the management capacity for PCBs as well as applying advanced and modern technologies in reducing, disposing and eliminating PCBs from the environment.