Mucous cell size and distribution were investigated in the skin of five salmon using a novel stereology-based methodology: one (48 cm) fish to test 15 tissue treatment combinations on measures of cell area and density on the dorsolateral region and, using the most suitable treatment, we mapped mucous cell differences between body regions on four (52 cm) salmon, comprising a male and a female on each of two diets. The section site, decalcification, embedding medium and plane of sectioning all impacted significantly on mucous cell size, whereas mucous cell density is more robust. There were highly significant differences in both mucosal density and mean mucous cell size depending on body site: the dorsolateral skin of the four salmon had significantly denser (about 8% of skin area) and larger (mean about 160 μm(2)) mucous cells, whereas the lowest mean density (about 4%) and smallest mean area (115 μm(2)) were found on the head. We found that 100 random measurements may be sufficient to distinguish differences >7 μm(2) in mean mucous cell areas. The results further suggest that salmon exhibit a dynamic repeatable pattern of mucous cell development influenced by sex, diet and possibly strain and season.

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<p>Cold water benthic environments are a prolific source of structurally diverse molecules with a range of bioactivity against human disease. Specimens of a previously chemically unexplored soft coral, <i>Drifa</i> sp., were collected during a deep-sea cruise that sampled marine invertebrates along the Irish continental margin in 2018. Tuaimenal A (<b>1</b>), a compound representing new carbon scaffold with a highly substituted chromene core, was discovered through the exploration of the secondary metabolome of the soft coral through NMR-guided fractionation. VCD analysis was used to determine absolute stereochemistry. This molecule demonstrates a strong profile for inhibition of the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 based on <i>in silico </i>docking experiments. </p>