Understanding Cultivar-Specificity and Soil Determinants of the <i>Cannabis</i> Microbiome

Understanding microbial partnerships with the medicinally and economically important crop Cannabis has the potential to affect agricultural practice by improving plant fitness and production yield. Furthermore, Cannabis presents an interesting model to explore plant-microbiome interactions as it produces numerous secondary metabolic compounds. Here we present the first description of the endorhiza-, rhizosphere-, and bulk soil-associated microbiome of five distinct Cannabis cultivars. Bacterial communities of the endorhiza showed significant cultivar-specificity. When controlling cultivar and soil type the microbial community structure was significantly different between plant cultivars, soil types, and between the endorhiza, rhizosphere and soil. The influence of soil type, plant cultivar and sample type differentiation on the microbial community structure provides support for a previously published two-tier selection model, whereby community composition across sample types is determined mainly by soil type, while community structure within endorhiza samples is determined mainly by host cultivar.</p

A systematic review and meta-analysis of e-Mental Health interventions to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress

Quality control of RNA-seq data: Box Plot of transcript quantification levels. The distributions of FPKM scores across samples are visualized. (PDF 130 kb

2′-Methylseleno-modified oligoribonucleotides for X-ray crystallography synthesized by the ACE RNA solid-phase approach

Site-specifically modified 2′-methylseleno RNA represents a valuable derivative for phasing of X-ray crystallographic data. Several successful applications in three-dimensional structure determination of nucleic acids, such as the Diels–Alder ribozyme, have relied on this modification. Here, we introduce synthetic routes to 2′-methylseleno phosphoramidite building blocks of all four standard nucleosides, adenosine, cytidine, guanosine and uridine, that are tailored for 2′-O-bis(acetoxyethoxy)methyl (ACE) RNA solid-phase synthesis. We additionally report on their incorporation into oligoribonucleotides including deprotection and purification. The methodological expansion of 2′-methylseleno labeling via ACE RNA chemistry is a major step to make Se-RNA generally accessible and to receive broad dissemination of the Se-approach for crystallographic studies on RNA. Thus far, preparation of 2′-methylseleno-modified oligoribonucleotides has been restricted to the 2′-O-[(triisopropylsilyl)oxy]methyl (TOM) and 2′-O-tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) RNA synthesis methods

A new environmentally resistant cell type from Dictyostelium

This paper describes the serendipitous discovery and first characterization of a new resistant cell type from Dictyostelium, for which the name aspidocyte (from aspis: Greek for shield) is proposed. These cells are induced from amoebae by a range of toxins including heavy metals and antibiotics, and were first detected by their striking resistance to detergent lysis. Aspidocytes are separate, rounded or irregular-shaped cells, which are immotile but remain fully viable; once the toxic stress is removed, they revert to amoeboid cells within an hour. Induction takes a few hours and is completely blocked by the protein synthesis inhibitor cycloheximide. Aspidocytes lack a cell wall and their resistance to detergent lysis is active, requiring continued energy metabolism, and may be assisted by a complete cessation of endocytosis, as measured by uptake of the dye FM1-43. Microarray analysis shows that aspidocytes have a distinct pattern of gene expression, with a number of genes up-regulated that are predicted to be involved in lipid metabolism. Aspidocytes were initially detected in a hypersensitive mutant, in which the AMP deaminase gene is disrupted, suggesting that the inductive pathway involves AMP levels or metabolism. Since aspidocytes can also be induced from wild-type cells and are much more resistant than amoebae to a membrane-disrupting antibiotic, it is possible that they are an adaptation allowing Dictyostelium cells to survive a sudden onslaught of toxins in the wild

The Side Effects of Popular Antifungal Drugs

Color poster with text, charts, images, and graphs.Antifungal drugs such as Amphotericin B, Fluconazole, and Caspofungin have specific mechanisms of action which selectively eliminate fungal pathogens with lesser toxicity to the host. While antifungal drugs indeed target fungal cells, different antifungal drugs have varying levels of undesirable human toxicity based on their mechanisms of action. For example, Amphotericin B is known for its nephrotoxicity, while the steroid synthesis inhibitor, Fluconazole, has shown liver toxicity. With the use of a series of organelle-specific fluorescent probes, the effects of varying antifungal drugs on human cell lines can be visualized in real time with confocal microscopy. We have successfully monitored the mitochondrial damaging effects of Amphotericin B on human fibroblast cell lines using our own and other commercial fluorescent organelle probes. We will expand these studies to more relevant kidney and other human cell lines with Amphotericin B, Fluconazole, and Caspofungin as well as other commercial antifungal drugs.University of Wisconsin--Eau Claire Office of Research and Sponsored Program