Barcoding rotifer biodiversity in Mediterranean ponds using diapausing egg banks

The biodiversity of Mediterranean freshwater bodies is among the most threatened worldwide; therefore, its accurate estimation is an urgent issue. However, traditional methods are likely to underestimate freshwater zooplankton biodiversity due to its high species seasonality and cryptic diversity. We test the value of applying DNA barcoding to diapausing egg banks, in combination with the creation of a reference collection of DNA barcodes using adult individual samples, to characterize rotifer communities. We use monogonont rotifers from two lakes in Doñana National Park and one from Ruidera Natural Park in Spain as models to create a reference collection of DNA barcodes for taxonomically diagnosed adult individuals sampled from the water column, to compare with the sequences obtained from individual eggs from the diapausing egg banks. We apply two different approaches to carry out DNA taxonomy analyses, the generalized mixed Yule coalescent method (GMYC) and the Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), to the obtained sequences and to publicly available rotifer sequences. We obtained a total of 210 new rotifer COI sequences from all three locations (151 diapausing eggs and 59 adults). Both GMYC and ABGD generated the same 35 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), revealing four potential cryptic species. Most sequences obtained from diapausing eggs (85%) clustered with sequences obtained from morphologically diagnosed adults. Our approach, based on a single sediment sample, retrieved estimates of rotifer biodiversity higher than or similar to those of previous studies based on a number of seasonal samples. This study shows that DNA barcoding of diapausing egg banks is an effective aid to characterize rotifer diversity in Mediterranean freshwater bodies

Jonathan Weiner: The Beak of the Finch

This lecture on Jonathan Weiner\u27s The Beak of the Finch, delivered at Lawrence University on January 5, 2000, was designed for students and faculty in the college\u27s Freshman Studies program. Freshman Studies, a multidisciplinary introduction to the liberal arts, has been the cornerstone of the Lawrence curriculum for over fifty years. The lecturer, Beth DeStasio, holds the Raymond H. Herzog Professorship of Science at Lawrence. Professor DeStasio is a graduate of Lawrence University and the winner not only of Lawrence\u27s own Outstanding Young Teacher Award, but the Freshman Studies Teaching Prize

Review of Academic Librarian Burnout Causes and Responses

Review of Holm, C., Guimaraes, A. & Marcano, N. (2022). Academic librarian burnout causes and responses. Association of College and Research Libraries

Synchrotron spectromicroscopy for the life sciences: General considerations and special procedures

The effort to apply synchrotron spectromicroscopy techniques to life science problems is definitely beyond the feasibility-test stage. Furthermore, the commissioning of ultrabright, third-generation soft-X-ray sources such as Elettra in Trieste or the advanced light source in Berkeley has boosted this effort, most notably in the areas of scanning and electron-imaging photoelectron spectromicroscopy. Besides producing research results, the effort also develops new procedures and finds solutions for new conceptual problems. We first briefly review the basic experimental techniques in this domain; then we discuss some specific experimental issues, such as the specimen preparation problems caused by peculiar features of the techniques, e.g., their surface sensitivity. Third, we briefly present conceptual considerations on the optimization of the data-taking procedures. Finally, we illustrate the applications in biology with a few specific research examples, and analyze the probable future developments in this area. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, inc

Photoelectron spectromicroscopy with synchrotron radiation: Applications to neurobiology

We show that photoelectron spectromicroscopy with synchrotron radiation has been successfully exported from materials science to the life sciences. The transfer is well beyond mere feasibility tests. Photoelectron spectromicroscopy is in fact used for real, long-term studies in neurobiology. Specific examples are discussed, first to see in practice some applications to microchemical analysis of physiologic elements, and then to discuss present and future instrumentation development issues. This last point is illustrated by briefly presenting the MEPHISTO project and the CERVIN project for the Swiss Light Source. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V