Neural basis of the stress response in a pufferfish, Takifugu obscurus

Multi-bioinspired hierarchical integrated hydrogel for passive fog harvesting and solar-driven seawater desalination

In recent years, with the outbreak and epidemic of the novel coronavirus in the world, how to obtain clean water from the limited resources has become an urgent issue of concern to all mankind. Atmospheric water harvesting technology and solar-driven interfacial evaporation technology have shown great potential in seeking clean and sustainable water resources. Here, inspired by a variety of organisms in nature, a multi-functional hydrogel matrix composed of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), sodium alginate (SA) cross-linked by borax as well as doped with zeolitic imidazolate framework material 67 (ZIF-67) and graphene owning macro/micro/nano hierarchical structure has successfully fabricated for producing clean water. The hydrogel not only can reach the average water harvesting ratio up to 22.44 g g-1 under the condition of fog flow after 5 h, but also be capable of desorbing the harvested water with water release efficiency of 1.67 kg m-2 h-1 under 1 sun. In addition to excellent performance in passive fog harvesting, the evaporation rate over 1.89 kg m-2 h-1 is attained under 1 sun on natural seawater during long-term. This hydrogel indicates its potential in producing clean water resources in multiple scenarios in different dry or wet states, and which holds great promise for flexible electronic materials and sustainable sewage or wastewater treatment applications.

Heterogeneity of neuromasts in a fish without lateral line canals: the pufferfish (Takifugu obscurus) model

Fish detect water motion with their mechanosensory lateral line. The basic functional unit of the lateral line is the neuromast. In most fish species, neuromasts are located in lateral line canals (canal neuromasts) or on the skin (superficial neuromasts). In this paper, we describe the lateral line system of the pufferfish, Takifugu obscurus If threatened, this fish inflates its body by sucking water into the esophagus. Pufferfish lack a canal system but have neuromasts located directly on the skin or in open grooves. Each groove houses tall, medium and short neuromasts, based on the height of their pedestal. One or more medium neuromasts were always located between two tall neuromasts, and the short neuromasts were scattered between them. Tall neuromasts showed phasic responses to water jets, similar to the canal neuromasts of other fish species. In contrast, the medium and short neuromasts showed tonic responses to water jets. The response properties of nerve fibers that innervated the medium and short neuromasts were similar to those of the superficial neuromasts found in other fish species. Our results suggest that each groove of a pufferfish has two functional groups of neuromasts. This may allow pufferfish to extract spatial and temporal hydrodynamic information, despite the changes in body shape that occur during and after inflation. The short neuromasts at the bottom of a groove most likely supplement the medium neuromasts when the body is maximally inflated.