Bacterivores play a key role in transferring energy through microbial food webs and are broadly classified as heterotrophic or mixotrophic based on the presence of inherent chloroplasts. Mixotrophs, especially in low-latitude regions, have recently gained attention due to their dual roles as primary producers and bacterial grazers, which enable them to thrive in nutrient-poor, stratified waters where traditional autotrophs or...

Ciliates are an important ecological component in the microbial food web, but few studies have been conducted on the spatial distribution of small-sized planktonic ciliate communities in the East China Sea (ECS). Investigating ciliate communities using conventional morphological approaches is particularly difficult for the small, fragile, and naked species. Therefore, we applied DNA metabarcoding analysis to explore the spatia...

Phthalate exposure is widespread and has a global impact. Growing evidence shows that mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (MEHP) exposure has a negative impact on human health. However, whether MEHP exposure is associated with mortality and other adverse outcomes in hemodialysis patients remains unknown. This study prospectively enrolled 217 patients on maintenance hemodialysis from June 30, 2021, to August 16, 2022. Baseline serum ME...