Instructional Models for Course-Based Research Experience (CRE) Teaching

The course-based research experience (CRE) with its documented educational benefits is increasingly being implemented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. This article reports on a study that was done over a period of 3 years to explicate the instructional processes involved in teaching an undergraduate CRE. One hundred and two instructors from the established and large multi-institutional SEA-PHAGES program were surveyed for their understanding of the aims and practices of CRE teaching. This was followed by large-scale feedback sessions with the cohort of instructors at the annual SEA Faculty Meeting and subsequently with a small focus group of expert CRE instructors. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the survey data were analyzed for the aims of inquiry instruction and pedagogical practices used to achieve these goals. The results characterize CRE inquiry teaching as involving three instructional models: 1) being a scientist and generating data; 2) teaching procedural knowledge; and 3) fostering project ownership. Each of these models is explicated and visualized in terms of the specific pedagogical practices and their relationships. The models present a complex picture of the ways in which CRE instruction is conducted on a daily basis and can inform instructors and institutions new to CRE teaching

Instructional Models for Course-Based Research Experience (CRE) Teaching

The course-based research experience (CRE) with its documented educational benefits is increasingly being implemented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. This article reports on a study that was done over a period of 3 years to explicate the instructional processes involved in teaching an undergraduate CRE. One hundred and two instructors from the established and large multi-institutional SEA-PHAGES program were surveyed for their understanding of the aims and practices of CRE teaching. This was followed by large-scale feedback sessions with the cohort of instructors at the annual SEA Faculty Meeting and subsequently with a small focus group of expert CRE instructors. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the survey data were analyzed for the aims of inquiry instruction and pedagogical practices used to achieve these goals. The results characterize CRE inquiry teaching as involving three instructional models: 1) being a scientist and generating data; 2) teaching procedural knowledge; and 3) fostering project ownership. Each of these models is explicated and visualized in terms of the specific pedagogical practices and their relationships. The models present a complex picture of the ways in which CRE instruction is conducted on a daily basis and can inform instructors and institutions new to CRE teaching

Data from: Haemosporidian prevalence and parasitemia in the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

Haemosporidians are a diverse group of blood parasites that infect terrestrial vertebrates worldwide, but there is variability in parasite prevalence and parasitemia with infections ranging from virtually inconsequential to lethal. In this study, we determined prevalence and parasitemia of avian haemosporidians in the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor; n = 81). Plasmodium and Parahaemoproteus were detected and quantified from blood samples using microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Thirteen mitochondrial cytochrome b lineages of haemosporidian parasites were found including generalist and specialist lineages, and the data indicate that prevalence is 69.1% (Plasmodium-89.3%; Parahaemoprotues-7.1%; double infection-3.6%). However, parasitemia was low in all infected birds. Seasonally, parasite prevalence varied significantly, although prevalence and parasitemia were not associated with host sex, age, or health. Observations of infection in this naturally infected bird provide details on host susceptibility that are applicable to the understanding of haemosporidian parasites in other avian hosts

The complete mitochondrial genome of the Tennessee Dace (Chrosomus tennesseensis)

The Tennessee Dace, Chrosomus tennesseensis (Starnes and Jenkins 1988), is a small minnow (Cypriniformes: Leuciscidae) found in the upper Tennessee River watershed and Graves Creek, in the Mobile River watershed. Chrosomus tennesseensis occurs sporadically throughout its range and has been listed as vulnerable by the IUCN (NatureServe). Until recently, C. tennesseensis had been known only to occur in the upper Tennessee River watershed, however, it has been discovered in headwaters of the Black Warrior River of the Mobile River watershed. We sequenced the mitochondrial genome of C. tennesseensis collected in the Mobile River watershed to better understand the colonization of the Mobile River watershed and the interspecific relationships of Chrosomus. Furthermore, the availability of the mitochondrial genome will assist in designing specific environmental DNA (eDNA) primers that will allow for less intrusive sampling of threatened and endangered Chrosomus species

Complete mitochondrial genome of a livebearing freshwater fish (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae): Poecilia parae

Members of the fish family Poeciliidae (livebearing ‘tooth-carps’) have historically been used as models in medical research, behavior ecology, and biological control. This group of primarily freshwater fishes is highly tolerant to environmental factors such as salinity and warm temperatures and includes some invasive species. Here, we present the mitochondrial genome of Poecilia parae. A representative of this species was obtained from Suriname. The complete mitochondrial genome was sequenced using Oxford Nanopore technology and is 16,559 bp long. The genome contains 13 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNAs (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNAs (tRNAs), and one control region (D-loop). Phylogenetic analysis yielded topologies similar to those previously published. The data generated here will be useful in future studies of comparative biology and those utilizing environmental DNA (eDNA)

Complete mitochondrial genome of the imperiled Trispot Darter (Etheostoma trisella)

The Trispot Darter (Etheostoma trisella) is an imperiled small-bodied freshwater fish that inhabits headwaters of the upper Coosa River watershed in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of this species to develop non-invasive environmental DNA (eDNA) surveillance protocols. A mitochondrial phylogenomic analysis reveals the Trispot Darter to have diverged from soon after the common ancestor of genus Etheostoma. The mitochondrial genome sequence of E. trisella is similar to other darter species in terms of GC content and gene order, but the sequence is sufficiently divergent to permit the design of species-specific eDNA primers

Environmental disturbances of trophic interactions and their impacts on a multi-host sapronotic pathogen

Sapronotic pathogens are constituents of complex trophic networks, such as those that structure aquatic and soil ecosystems. In such habitats, sapronotic pathogens live and reproduce among microbial consortia, and occasionally infect hosts and cause sapronotic disease (sapronosis). Sapronotic pathogens include almost all fungal microparasites and about a third of the bacterial pathogens infecting humans, including for instance non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Even though sapronotic agents are naturally present in the environment, their population dynamics are unknown. Despite growing rates of sapronotic disease incidence among humans and other animals, very few studies have examined sapronotic transmission and dynamics in the context of spatially explicit trophic networks. Patterns of sapronotic pathogen transmission arise from complex interactions, including pathogen natural history, non-host and host environments, and spatial and temporal scales of the system. In order to infer and ultimately predict how environmental disturbances affect trophic interactions and influence sapronotic ecology, we analyzed host and non-host species interacting as prey and as micro- and macropredators within a metacommunity context. Using a set of differential equation models, we assessed responses of environmental load dynamics of a sapronotic disease agent, i.e., a mycobacterial pathogen, within a general framework of environmental disturbance. We show that variation in top-down and horizontal interactions mediated sapronotic pathogen abundance and dynamics in the environment. Our findings indicate that habitat change and trophic interactions within host-pathogen relationships may strongly affect sapronotic pathogen ecology through both synergistic and opposing mechanisms. This work provides for the first time an understanding of environmental disturbance consequences on trophic webs that include major sapronotic pathogens. In addition, the results provide a basis for interpreting the development of epidemics and epizootics in the context of ecosystem modifications, particularly that of agriculture. Further research of this type will provide a better understanding of the complex dynamics of sapronotic pathogens in animals and humans responding to global change

A need for null models in understanding disease transmission: the example of Mycobacterium ulcerans (Buruli ulcer disease)

International audienceUnderstanding the interactions of ecosystems, humans and pathogens is important for disease risk estimation. This is particularly true for neglected and newly emerging diseases where modes and efficiencies of transmission leading to epidemics are not well understood. Using a model for other emerging diseases, the neglected tropical skin disease Buruli ulcer (BU), we systematically review the literature on transmission of the etiologic agent, Mycobacterium ulcerans (MU), within a One Health/EcoHealth framework and against Hill's nine criteria and Koch's postulates for making strong inference in disease systems. Using this strong inference approach, we advocate a null hypothesis for MU transmission and other understudied disease systems. The null should be tested against alternative vector or host roles in pathogen transmission to better inform disease management. We propose a re-evaluation of what is necessary to identify and confirm hosts, reservoirs and vectors associated with environmental pathogen replication, dispersal and transmission; critically review alternative environmental sources of MU that may be important for transmission, including invertebrate and vertebrate species, plants and biofilms on aquatic substrates; and conclude with placing BU within the context of other neglected and emerging infectious diseases with intricate ecological relationships that lead to disease in humans, wildlife and domestic animals

Understanding the transmission of bacterial agents of sapronotic dseases in aquatic ecosystems: a first spatially realistic metacommunity model

Pathogens such as bacteria, fungi and viruses are important components of soil and aquatic communities, where they can benefit from decaying and living organic matter, and may opportunistically infect human and animal hosts. One-third of human infectious diseases is constituted by sapronotic disease agents that are natural inhabitants of soil or aquatic ecosystems. They are capable of existing and reproducing in the environment outside of the host for extended periods of time. However, as ecological research on sapronosis is infrequent and epidemiological models are even rarer, very little information is currently available. Their importance is overlooked in medical and veterinary research, as well as the relationships between free environmental forms and those that are pathogenic. Here, using dynamical models in realistic aquatic metacommunity systems, we analyze sapronosis transmission, using the human pathogen Mycobacterium ulcerans that is responsible for Buruli ulcer. Our work constitutes the first set of metacommunity models of sapronotic disease transmission, and is highly flexible for adaptation to other types of sapronosis. The importance of sapronotic agents on animal and human disease burden needs better understanding and new models of sapronosis disease ecology to guide the management and prevention of this important group of pathogens