The Nemadji Review, Volume 4

Editor-in-Chief: Seth Love; Editor: Katie Wolden; Editorial Staff: Sydnee Chipman, Kelci Greenwood, Mara Martinson, Kourtney Sande, Rebekah Kromm; Faculty Advisors: Jayson Iwen, Hilary Fezzey, John McCormickVolume 4 of The Nemadji Review. Includes poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama

A Molecular Survey of S. Mutans and P. Gingivalis Oral Microbial Burden in Human Saliva Using Relative Endpoint Polymerase Chain Reaction (RE-PCR) within the Population of a Nevada Dental School Revealed Disparities among Minorities

Background: The University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine recently opened an orthodontic treatment clinic to address the needs of the racially and ethnically diverse population of Southern Nevada, primarily focusing on the treatment and care of low-income and minority patients. Although orthodontic treatment and therapy has been shown to induce changes in the oral cavity, much of this evidence was collected from traditional White, teenage orthodontic clinic populations. The primary goal of this study was to describe the microbial burden of the cariogenic and periodontal pathogens, Streptococcus mutans and Porphyromonas gingivalis within the UNLV-SDM patient population.Methods: Representative saliva samples were collected from healthy adult patients for DNA isolation. Relative endpoint polymerase chain reaction (RE-PCR) was performed to ascertain the presence and relative microbial burden of these oral pathogens.Results: Nearly one quarter (13/56) or 23.3% of these patients had elevated levels of S. mutans, while (10/56) and 17.8% of these samples were found to have elevated levels of P. gingivalis, - with (90%) of P. gingivalis-positive samples from minority patients (X-2 = 17.921, d.f. = 1; p \u3c 0.0001).Conclusions: These findings of elevated P. gingivalis levels, primarily among minority patients, may suggest underlying oral health practices contributing to adverse oral health conditions within this population. Oral health knowledge and practices among minority patients may be strongly influenced by other factors, including education and socioeconomic status, suggesting additional research may be needed to accurately determine the most appropriate standards for care and oral health education within this patient population

Developmental cycle and pharmaceutically relevant compounds of Salinospora actinbacteria isolated from Great Barrier Reef marine sponges

The diversity of the culturable microbial communities was examined in two sponge species-Pseudoceratina clavata and Rhabdastrella globostellata. Isolates were characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The bacterial community structures represented in both sponges were found to be similar at the phylum level by the same four phyla in this study and also at a finer scale at the species level in both Firmicutes and Alphaproteobacteria. The majority of the Alphaproteobacteria isolates were most closely related to isolates from other sponge species including alpha proteobacterium NW001 sp. and alpha proteobacterium MBIC3368. Members of the low %G + C gram-positive (phylum Firmicutes), high %G + C gram-positive (phylum Actinobacteria), and Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (phylum Bacteroidetes) phyla of domain Bacteria were also represented in both sponges. In terms of culturable organisms, taxonomic diversity of the microbial community in the two sponge species displays similar structure at phylum level. Within phyla, isolates often belonged to the same genus-level monophyletic group. Community structure and taxonomic composition in the two sponge species P. clavata and Rha. globostellata share significant features with those of other sponge species including those from widely separated geographical and climatic regions of the sea