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Microarray-Based Method For Detection Of Unknown Genetic Modifications, Torstein Tengs

Dr. Torstein Tengs

Background

Due to the increased use of genetic modifications in crop improvement, there is a need to develop effective methods for the detection of both known and unknown transgene constructs in plants. We have developed a strategy for detection and characterization of unknown genetic modifications and we present a proof of concept for this method using Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa (rice). The approach relies on direct hybridization of total genomic DNA to high density microarrays designed to have probes tiled throughout a set of reference sequences.

Results

We show that by using arrays with 25 basepair probes covering both …

Vector And Parameters For Targeted Transgenic Rna Interference In Drosophila Melanogaster, Jian Quan Ni, Michele Markstein, Richard Binari, Barret Pfeiffer, Lu Ping Liu, Christians Villalta, Matthew Booker, Lizabeth Perkins, Norbert Perrimon

Michele Markstein

The conditional expression of hairpin constructs in Drosophila melanogaster has emerged in recent years as a method of choice in functional genomic studies. To date, upstream activating site–driven RNA interference constructs have been inserted into the genome randomly using P-element–mediated transformation, which can result in false negatives due to variable expression. To avoid this problem, we have developed a transgenic RNA interference vector based on the phiC31 site-specific integration method.

Statistical Issues In Proteomic Research, Jeffrey S. Morris

Jeffrey S. Morris

No abstract provided.

Non-Standard Sources In A Standardized World: Responsible Practice And Ethics Of Acquiring Turtle Specimens For Scientific Use, Edgar Lehr, Russell Burke, Linda Ford, Steve Mockford, Peter Pritchard, Jose Rosado, Darrell Senneke, Bryan Stuart

Edgar Lehr

No abstract provided.

Cerebrospinal Fluid And Serum Biomarkers Of Cerebral Malaria Mortality In Ghanaian Children, Winston A. Anderson

Winston Anderson

The Potential Role Of Probiotics In Reducing Poverty-Associated Infections In Developing Countries, Kingsley C. Anukam

Kingsley C Anukam

Probiotics are defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization/ World Health Organization as “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host” [1]. The potential benefits of their use have not been adequately investigated, especially in the developing world. Japan introduced Yakult, a probiotic fermented food drink in 1935, and in the Northern hemisphere, research and use of probiotics has gained an unprecedented momentum in the last decade [2]. Use of probiotics is not uncommon in Europe [3], but in many developing countries use of probiotics in its present definition is a foreign concept. …

The Pattern Of Β-Catenin-Responsiveness Within The Mammary Gland Is Regulated By Progesterone Receptor, Minoti Hiremath, John Lydon, Pamela Cowin

Minoti Hiremath

Experiments involving β-catenin loss- and gain-of-function in the mammary gland have decisively demonstrated the role of this protein in normal alveologenesis. However, the relationship between hormonal and β-catenin signaling has not been investigated. In this study, we demonstrate that activated β-catenin rescues alveologenesis in progesterone receptor (PR; Pgr)-null mice during pregnancy. Two distinct subsets of mammary cells respond to expression of ΔN89β-catenin. Cells at ductal tips are inherently β-catenin-responsive and form alveoli in the absence of PR. However, PR activity confers β-catenin responsiveness to progenitor cells along the lateral ductal borders in the virgin gland. Once activated …

Dessication Stress, Steven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze

Michael Menze

The threat of desiccation for organisms inhabiting the intertidal zone occurs during emersion at low tides or when organisms are positioned in the high intertidal zone, where wetting occurs primarily by spring tides, storm waves, and spray. Drying due to evaporative water loss is the most common mechanism for dehydration, although during winter in northern temperate regions freezing can also occur, which reduces the liquid water in extracellular fluids and can lead to intracellular dehydration in multicellular organisms. Freezing tolerance has been reported and characterized for a number of intertidal invertebrates, including gastropods such as an air-breathing snail and a …

Floral Biology Of Physaria Ludoviciana (Brassicaceae), A Plant Rare To The Midwest, Ann E. Claerbout, Janice M. Coons, Henry R. Owen, Kenneth R. Robertson

Henry R. Owen

Physaria ludoviciana (Brassicaceae) is rare in Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Environmental effects on floral development are unclear. Both self-compatibility and self-incompatibility occur within Physaria species. Objectives were to describe flowers, to determine how photoperiod affects flower development, and to predict whether flowers are self-compatible or self-incompatible. For photoperiods, greenhouse-grown plants were placed in either 16 or 8 hr photoperiods. Inflorescences and open flowers were counted weekly. For pollination, flowers were self-pollinated or cross-pollinated. Plants developed inflorescences after 20 and 28 d in long and short days, respectively. Inflorescences/plant increased for both photoperiods throughout the study. In short days, plants produced …

Francisella Philomiragia Subsp. Noatunensis Subsp. Nov., Isolated From Farmed Atlantic Cod (Gadus Morhua L.), Torstein Tengs

Dr. Torstein Tengs

Seven bacterial isolates from farmed Atlantic cod displaying chronic granulomatous disease were characterized by phenotypic and molecular taxonomic methods. The isolates were Gram-negative, facultatively intracellular, non-motile, strictly aerobic coccobacilli which produced H2S from cysteine-supplemented media and are therefore phenotypically consistent with members of the genus Francisella. Comparison of 16S rRNA gene sequences and six partial housekeeping gene sequences (groEL, shdA, rpoB, rpoA, pgm and atpA) confirmed the organism as a member of the genus Francisella, with Francisella philomiragia as its closest relative (99.3% 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, 92.2–99.0% housekeeping gene sequence similarity). Despite the close relationship with F. philomiragia, …

Death Roll Of The Alligator: Mechanics Of Twist Feeding In Water, Frank E. Fish, S A. Bostic, A J. Nicastro, John T. Beneski

John T Beneski

Crocodilians, including the alligator ( Alligator mississippiensis), perform a spinning maneuver to subdue and dismember prey. The spinning maneuver, which is referred to as the 'death roll', involves rapid rotation about the longitudinal axis of the body. High-speed videos were taken of juvenile alligators ( mean length= 0.29 m) performing death rolls in water after biting onto a pliable target. Spinning was initiated after the fore- and hindlimbs were appressed against the body and the head and tail were canted with respect to the longitudinal body axis. With respect to the body axis, the head and tail bending averaged 49.2 …

Bactericidal Efficacy Of Liposomal Aminoglycosides Against Burkholderia Cenocepacia, Ali Azghani

Ali Azghani

A Conserved Role For Kinesin-5 In Plant Mitosis, Alex Bannigan, Wolf-Rüdiger Scheible, Wolfgang Lukowitz, Carey Fagerstrom, Patricia Wadsworth, Chris Somerville, Tobias Baskin

Tobias Baskin

The mitotic spindle of vascular plants is assembled and maintained by processes that remain poorly explored at a molecular level. Here, we report that AtKRP125c, one of four kinesin-5 motor proteins in arabidopsis, decorates microtubules throughout the cell cycle and appears to function in both interphase and mitosis. In a temperature-sensitive mutant, interphase cortical microtubules are disorganized at the restrictive temperature and mitotic spindles are massively disrupted, consistent with a defect in the stabilization of anti-parallel microtubules in the spindle midzone, as previously described in kinesin-5 mutants from animals and yeast. AtKRP125c introduced into mammalian epithelial cells by transfection decorates …

Swimming Kinematics Of The Florida Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Latirostris): Hydrodynamic Analysis Of An Undulatory Mammalian Swimmer, T Kojeszewski, Frank E. Fish

Frank E. Fish

The submerged swimming of the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris), a subspecies of the West Indian manatee, was studied by filming individuals as they swam rectilinearly in a large pool at several rehabilitation centers. The swimming was analyzed using videography to detail the kinematics in conjunction with a hydromechanical model to determine the power output (P-t) and propulsive efficiency (eta(p)). Manatees swam at velocities of 0.06 - 1.14 m s(-1). Locomotion was accomplished by undulation of the body and caudal fluke. Undulatory locomotion is a rapid and relatively high-powered propulsive mode involved in cruising and migrating by a variety of …

Tailed Forisomes Of Canavalia Gladiata: A New Model To Study Ca2+-Driven Protein Contractility, Winfried Peters, Michael Knoblauch, Stephen Warmann, Reinhard Schnetter, Amy Shen, William Pickard

Winfried S. Peters

Atplai Is An Acyl Hydrolase Involved In Basal Jasmonic Acid Production And Arabidopsis Resistance To Botrytis Cinerea, Xuemin Wang, Wenyu Yang, Shivakumar P. Devaiah, Xiangqing Pan, Giorgis Isaac, Ruth Welti

Xuemin (Sam) Wang

Barriers To Flow: The Effects Of Experimental Cage Structures On Water Velocities In High-Energy Subtidal And Intertidal Environments, Luke P. Miller, Brian Gaylord

Luke P. Miller

For decades, marine ecologists have used cages as biological enclosure or exclosure devices to manipulate movement, growth, and survival of organisms. The ability to control the densities of focal organisms makes these structures a powerful tool. However, cages can often produce artifacts that influence the outcome of experiments. Although a subset of these artifacts have been examined previously, the effects of cages on water motion have not been adequately addressed from a quantitative standpoint, especially in high-flow environments. We targeted this data gap by explicitly measuring the fractional degree of velocity reduction inside a variety of experimental cage structures across …

Depleted Carbon Monoxide In Fragment C Of The Jupiter-Family Comet 73p/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, M. A. Disanti, W. M. Anderson, G. L. Villanueva, B. P. Bonev, K. Magee-Sauer, E. L. Gibb, M. J. Mumma

Erika Gibb

Phenotypically Different Microalgal Morphospecies With Identical Ribosomal Rna: A Case Of Rapid Adaptive Evolution?, Torstein Tengs

Dr. Torstein Tengs

The agents driving the divergence and speciation of freeliving microbial populations are still largely unknown. We investigated the dinoflagellate morphospecies Scrippsiella hangoei and Peridinium aciculiferum, which abound in the Baltic Sea and in northern temperate lakes, respectively. Electron microscopy analyses showed significant interspecific differences in the external cellular morphology, but a similar plate pattern in the characteristic dinoflagellate armor. Experimentally, S. hangoei grew in a wide range of salinities (0–30), whereas P. aciculiferum only grew in low salinities (0–3). Despite these phenotypic differences and the habitat segregation, molecular analyses showed identical ribosomal DNA sequences (ITS1, ITS2, 5.8S, SSU, and partial …

Dislodged But Not Dead: Survivorship Of A High Intertidal Snail Following Wave Dislodgement, Luke P. Miller, Michael J. O'Donnell, Katharine J. Mach

Luke P. Miller

Waves breaking on rocky shorelines impart large forces on intertidal organisms, sometimes dislodging individuals. Dislodged individuals may be deposited in habitats that have a greater risk of predation or that prevent return to preferred regions on the shore. Thus, dislodgement is often assumed to be lethal. We experimentally dislodged Littorina keenae snails from high in the intertidal zone to test the likelihood of survival. Under a variety of wave conditions, we measured return rates to the high shore of 54–90%, so in this species, dislodgement is not equal to death. Snails showed a strong preference for returning to the approximate …

Antioxidants Preserve Macrophage Phagocytosis Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa During Hyperoxia, Ali Azghani

Ali Azghani

"Minimizing Injuries Resulting From Patient Handling In Nursing Home Staff" - A Hazard Control Plan, Vikas Singh

Vikas Singh

A concise hazard control plan for "Minimizing Injuries Resulting from Patient Handling In Nursing Home Staff".

Short Telomeres In Short-Lived Males: What Are The Molecular And Evolutionary Causes?, Stephanie Jemielity, Masayuki Kimura, Karen M. Parker, Joel D. Parker, Xiaojian Cao, Abraham Aviv, Laurent Keller

Joel D Parker

Telomere length regulation is an important aspect of cell maintenance in eukaryotes, since shortened telomeres can lead to a number of defects, including impaired cell division. Although telomere length is correlated with lifespan in some bird species, its possible role in aging and lifespan determination is still poorly understood. Here we investigate telomere dynamics (changes in telomere length and attrition rate) and telomerase activity in the ant Lasius niger, a species in which different groups of individuals have evolved extraordinarily different lifespans. We found that somatic tissues of the short-lived males had dramatically shorter telomeres than those of the much …

Using Math In Cell Biology: A Tale Of Two Channel Types, Borbala Mazzag

Borbala Mazzag

No abstract provided.

The Distribution Of Apolipoprotein E In Mouse Olfactory Epithelium, Britto P. Nathan, Sreenivas Nannapaneni, Salina Gairhe, Ikemefuna Nwosu, Robert G. Struble

Britto P. Nathan

Previous studies from our laboratory suggest that apolipoprotein (apoE), a lipid transporting protein, facilitates olfactory nerve regeneration. We have shown that apoE is enriched in the olfactory nerve and around the glomeruli of the olfactory bulb (OB). The studies reported herein were undertaken to identify possible sources of apoE in the olfactory epithelium (OE). Immunoblotting results revealed apoE expression in the OE of wild-type (WT) mice, but not in apoE deficient/knockout (KO) mice. Immunohistochemical studies revealed that the perikarya and processes of sustentacular (Sus) cells expressed apoE-like immunoreactivity. Minimal neuronal apoE immunostaining was seen, although apoE was observed in the …

The Carnegie Protein Trap Library: A Versatile Tool For Drosophila Developmental Studies, Anna K. Allen

Anna Allen

Correction: African American Mitochondrial Dnas Often Match Mtdnas Found In Multiple African Ethnic Groups, Bert Ely, Jamie L. Wilson, Fatimah Linda Collier Jackson, Bruce A. Jackson

Fatimah Linda Collier Jackson

Esa And Environmental Justice, George Middendorf, Charles Nilon

George Middendorf

No abstract provided.

Dna Extraction From Resting Eggs Of The Clam Shrimp Eulimnadia Texana (Branchiopoda : Spinicaudata : Limnadiidae), R. Joel Duff, Chiara Benvenuto, Traci L. Branch, Stephen C. Weeks

R. Joel Duff

Large branchiopod crustaceans inhabiting ephemeral ponds are well adapted to their highly unpredictable habitat with a life cycle that includes a short-lived adult stage and a long-lived, desiccation-resistant egg stage. One well studied large branchiopod is the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana, an androdioecious species with populations comprised of males and self-compatible hermaphrodites. Likely due to the harsh environments in which the eggs are found, e.g., dry areas with high heat and high irradiation, extraction of DNA from individual eggs for genetic analyses can be problematic. Here we report a number of modifications that we have tested allowing for increased efficiency …

Activity Patterns, Behavioural Repertoires, And Agonistic Interactions Of Crayfish: A Non-Manipulative Field Study, Karen M. Davis, Robert Huber

Robert Huber

Agonistic behaviour of crayfish has been studied extensively in laboratory settings where pairs or groups of individuals are allowed to interact within an experimental arena. Crayfish agonistic behaviour within its natural context, however, has received little attention to date. The present, non-manipulative field study explored activity patterns, behavioural repertoires, and agonistic encounters of rusty crayfish (Orconectes rusticus) during the summer months using continuous, 24-hour, underwater video recording at a series of representative field sites. Following the filming, crayfish within the vicinity of the camera site were captured and measured. Individual densities were high, reaching a maximum of 68 individuals/m 2 …