Life Sciences Commons^™

18s Rdna Dataset Profiling Microeukaryotic Populations Within Chicago Area Nearshore Waters, Daniel Searle, Emily Sible, Alexandria Cooper, Catherine Putonti

Catherine Putonti

Despite their critical role in the aquatic food web and nutrient cycling, microeukaryotes within freshwater environments are under-studied. Herein we present the first high-throughput molecular survey of microeukaryotes within Lake Michigan. Every two weeks from May 13 to August 5, 2014, we collected surface water samples from the nearshore waters of four Chicago area beaches: Gillson Park, Montrose Beach, 57th Street Beach, and Calumet Beach. Four biological replicates were collected for each sampling date and location, resulting in 112 samples. Eighty-nine of these samples were surveyed through targeted sequencing of the V7 and V8 regions of the 18S rDNA gene. …

Bacteriophages Isolated From Lake Michigan Demonstrate Broad Host-Range Across Several Bacterial Phyla, Kema Malki, Alex Kula, Katherine Bruder, Emily Sible, Thomas Hatzopoulos, Stephanie Steidel, Siobhan C. Watkins, Catherine Putonti

Catherine Putonti

BACKGROUND:

The study of bacteriophages continues to generate key information about microbial interactions in the environment. Many phenotypic characteristics of bacteriophages cannot be examined by sequencing alone, further highlighting the necessity for isolation and examination of phages from environmental samples. While much of our current knowledge base has been generated by the study of marine phages, freshwater viruses are understudied in comparison. Our group has previously conducted metagenomics-based studies samples collected from Lake Michigan - the data presented in this study relate to four phages that were extracted from the same samples.

FINDINGS:

Four phages were extracted from Lake Michigan …

Freshwater Fungal Infections, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Dennis J. Baumgardner, MD

Fungal infections as a result of freshwater exposure or trauma are fortunately rare. Etiologic agents are varied, but commonly include filamentous fungi and Candida. This narrative review describes various sources of potential freshwater fungal exposure and the diseases that may result, including fungal keratitis, acute otitis externa and tinea pedis, as well as rare deep soft tissue or bone infections and pulmonary or central nervous system infections following traumatic freshwater exposure during natural disasters or near-drowning episodes. Fungal etiology should be suspected in appropriate scenarios when bacterial cultures or molecular tests are normal or when the infection worsens or fails …

In Vitro Studies On Metabolism Of Salvinorin A, Lukasz M. Kutrzeba, Vardan T. Karamyan, Robert C. Speth, John S. Williamson, Jordan K. Zjawiony

John S. Williamson

Microbial transformation of natural products is a well established model for mammalian metabolism. Salvinorin A, a diterpenoid isolated from the hallucinogenic mint Salvia divinorum Epling & Játiva-M (Lamiaceae), is a potent non-nitrogenous κ-opioid receptor agonist. The metabolism of salvinorin A has still not yet been well established. Thirty fungal species were screened for the ability to metabolize salvinorin A. We observed that salvinorin A undergoes fast hydrolysis of the acetate group at carbon atom C2, resulting in formation of the pharmacologically inactive product, salvinorin B. Ex vivo experiments were also performed using organelle fractions isolated from rat liver and brain. …

Genomic Plasticity And Rapid Host Switching Can Promote The Evolution Of Generalism: A Case Study In The Zoonotic Pathogen Campylobacter, Dan J. Woodcock, Peter Krusche, Norval J. C. Strachan, Ken J. Forbes, Frederick M. Cohan, Guillaume Meric, Samuel K. Sheppard

Frederick M. Cohan