Cultivable microbiota associated with Aurelia aurita and Mnemiopsis leidyi

The associated microbiota of marine invertebrates plays an important role to the host in relation to fitness, health, and homeostasis. Cooperative and competitive interactions between bacteria, due to release of, for example, antibacterial substances and quorum sensing (QS)/quorum quenching (QQ) molecules, ultimately affect the establishment and dynamics of the associated microbial community. Aiming to address interspecies competition of cultivable microbes associated with emerging model species of the basal animal phyla Cnidaria (Aurelia aurita) and Ctenophora (Mnemiopsis leidyi), we performed a classical isolation approach. Overall, 84 bacteria were isolated from A. aurita medusae and polyps, 64 bacteria from M. leidyi, and 83 bacteria from ambient seawater, followed by taxonomically classification by 16S rRNA gene analysis. The results show that A. aurita and M. leidyi harbor a cultivable core microbiome consisting of typical marine ubiquitous bacteria also found in the ambient seawater. However, several bacteria were restricted to one host suggesting host-specific microbial community patterns. Interbacterial interactions were assessed by (a) a growth inhibition assay and (b) QS interference screening assay. Out of 231 isolates, 4 bacterial isolates inhibited growth of 17 isolates on agar plates. Moreover, 121 of the 231 isolates showed QS-interfering activities. They interfered with the acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL)-based communication, of which 21 showed simultaneous interference with autoinducer 2. Overall, this study provides insights into the cultivable part of the microbiota associated with two environmentally important marine non-model organisms and into interbacterial interactions, which are most likely considerably involved in shaping a healthy and resilient microbiota

Empirische Arbeit: Entwicklung von Skalen zur Erhebung domänenspezifischer Vorstellungen über das Lernen in der Biologie

In this paper we describe the development of scales for assessing learners' beliefs about learning in biology. The scales can be used for conducting scientific studies or diagnosing learning prerequisites. The paper argues that reliable instruments for assessing beliefs about knowledge, knowing and learning are still missing. The need to differentiate between beliefs about knowledge and knowing on the one hand and beliefs about learning on the other hand is lined out. Based on a literature review, scales measuring the beliefs about ability, effort, and speed to learn are developed. 363 teacher students for biology and nature and life (Sachunterricht) participated in the study. Factor analyses provide evidence for the assumed beliefs about learning. All scales reach high values for Cronbach's a ranging between .71 and .86. Discriminant validity of the scales is proved by the strict Fornell-Larcker-Criterion. The paper draws conclusions for further scale development

Development of a Questionnaire for Assessing Beliefs About Learning in Biology

Berding F, Basten M, Brauer H, et al. Entwicklung von Skalen zur Erhebung domänenspezifischer Vorstellungen über das Lernen in der Biologie. Psychologie in Erziehung und Unterricht. 2017;64(3):223-237.In this paper we describe the development of scales for assessing learners' beliefs about learning in biology. The scales can be used for conducting scientific studies or diagnosing learning prerequisites. The paper argues that reliable instruments for assessing beliefs about knowledge, knowing and learning are still missing. The need to differentiate between beliefs about knowledge and knowing on the one hand and beliefs about learning on the other hand is lined out. Based on a literature review, scales measuring the beliefs about ability, effort, and speed to learn are developed. 363 teacher students for biology and nature and life (Sachunterricht) participated in the study. Factor analyses provide evidence for the assumed beliefs about learning. All scales reach high values for Cronbach's a ranging between .71 and .86. Discriminant validity of the scales is proved by the strict Fornell-Larcker-Criterion. The paper draws conclusions for further scale development

A TEX 86 lake record suggests simultaneous shifts in temperature in Central Europe and Greenland during the last deglaciation

High-resolution quantitative temperature records from continents covering glacial to interglacial transitions are scarce but important for understanding the climate system. We present the first decadal resolution record of continental temperatures in Central Europe during the last deglaciation (similar to 14,60010,600cal. yrB.P.) based on the organic geochemical palaeothermometer TEX86. The TEX86-inferred temperature record from Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee, Switzerland) reveals typical oscillations during the Late Glacial Interstadial, followed by an abrupt cooling of 2 degrees C at the onset of Younger Dryas and a rapid warming of 4 degrees C at the onset of the Holocene, within less than 350years. The remarkable resemblance with the Greenland and regional stable oxygen isotope records suggests that temperature changes in continental Europe were dominated by large-scale reorganizations in the northern hemispheric climate system

A Network of Terrestrial Environmental Observatories in Germany

Multicompartment and multiscale long-term observation and research are important prerequisites to tackling the scientific challenges resulting from climate and global change. Long-term monitoring programs are cost intensive and require high analytical standards, however, and the gain of knowledge often requires longer observation times. Nevertheless, several environmental research networks have been established in recent years, focusing on the impact of climate and land use change on terrestrial ecosystems. From 2008 onward, a network of Terrestrial Environmental Observatories (TERENO) has been established in Germany as an interdisciplinary research program that aims to observe and explore the long-term ecological, social, and economic impacts of global change at the regional level. State-of-the-art methods from the field of environmental monitoring, geophysics, and remote sensing will be used to record and analyze states and fluxes for different environmental compartments from groundwater compartments from groundwater through the vadose zone, surface water, and biosphere, up to the lower atmosphere