Chondricthyes such as sharks, skates, rays, and chimeras share the slow maturation and low fecundity traits, thus making them susceptible to overexploitation. To ensure the survival of these vulnerable species it is necessary to protect the habitat important to their recruitment. The purpose of the present study was to determine the sediment preference of juvenile Beringraja binoculata to gain evidence as to where their nursery grounds may be located in the Salish Sea. To do this we conducted one-hour filming trials of three four-month old skates in a tank sectioned off into four different sediment size classes. Skate 1 died one-third of the way through the trials so was removed from statistical analysis. However, we found that Skate 2 and 3 preferred to bury and rest in the smallest sediment size of 0.125-0.3 mm grain size with p-values of 0.00126 and 0.0814 respectively. This is consistent with literature on different species of skates around the world. Ongoing research would be valuable to determining the reason behind this preference and to use the information to locate the Salish Sea nurseries.

 Homing endonucleases are highly specific DNA cleaving enzymes that are encoded by mobile genetic elements that allow for the invasion of coding sequences within a host genome. These site-specific nucleases generate double-strand breaks and they can be altered for novel gene targeting. I-Onul, a member of the “LAGLIDADG” class of homing endonucleases, has been engineered to disrupt expression of PD-1 in T cells, leading to the restoration of the effector activity of exhaustive T cells against solid tumor cells. However, the role of enzyme residues that were altered during each stage of the engineering process to the enzyme’s stability, behavior and DNA recognition specificity is unclear. In order to visualize the outcome of sequential engineering steps that led to eventual optimization of the enzyme, a series of selected constructs were expressed and purified. Their thermostability and enzymatic activity were determined and the structures of the five variants I-Onul are being solved by x-ray crystallography to identify how DNA recognition specificity is accomplished. So far, three structures have been solved. Our work emphasizes the importance of understanding the chemistry between DNA and protein interactions to develop better equipped endonucleases for gene targets of interest.

Thalassinidean shrimp, commonly known as mud and ghost shrimp, are derailing oyster beds, a profitable aquaculture venture in Washington, by burrowing under them and causing sinking. In an attempt to replace harsh chemicals as pest control, a brine solution to osmotically eliminate these shrimp has been researched. Osmoconformers cannot control their internal pressure and are susceptible because of high gill surface area. Unfortunately, when this high salinity water is pulled back to the ocean at high tide, subtidal invertebrates, like the common shrimp Pandalus danae are also potentially impacted. Here we show the death rates of P. danae in varying salinities, and gill dehydration due to osmotic pressure through histology. Mortality rates were high for all salinity treatments. All the gills processed through histology showed intense dehydration. Though time of death, and thus time of dehydration, varied by salinity treatment, amount of dehydration did not. Runoff from the brine treatments to kill mud shrimp will impact other species in the subtidal, especially other osmoconformers. They have no way to retain water and thus are very susceptible. This study could provide information about ecological impacts of other animals in the brine solution beyond just killing the mud shrimp.