Fundamental remote science research program. Part 2: Status report of the mathematical pattern recognition and image analysis project

The Mathematical Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis (MPRIA) Project is concerned with basic research problems related to the study of he Earth from remotely sensed measurements of its surface characteristics. The program goal is to better understand how to analyze the digital image that represents the spatial, spectral, and temporal arrangement of these measurements for purposing of making selected inferences about the Earth. This report summarizes the progress that has been made toward this program goal by each of the principal investigators in the MPRIA Program

Monitoring global vegetation

An attempt is made to identify the need for, and the current capability of, a technology which could aid in monitoring the Earth's vegetation resource on a global scale. Vegetation is one of our most critical natural resources, and accurate timely information on its current status and temporal dynamics is essential to understand many basic and applied environmental interrelationships which exist on the small but complex planet Earth

Methods and Costs to Achieve Ultra Reliable Life Support

A published Mars mission is used to explore the methods and costs to achieve ultra reliable life support. The Mars mission and its recycling life support design are described. The life support systems were made triply redundant, implying that each individual system will have fairly good reliability. Ultra reliable life support is needed for Mars and other long, distant missions. Current systems apparently have insufficient reliability. The life cycle cost of the Mars life support system is estimated. Reliability can be increased by improving the intrinsic system reliability, adding spare parts, or by providing technically diverse redundant systems. The costs of these approaches are estimated. Adding spares is least costly but may be defeated by common cause failures. Using two technically diverse systems is effective but doubles the life cycle cost. Achieving ultra reliability is worth its high cost because the penalty for failure is very high

Self-Organization, Layered Structure, and Aggregation Enhance Persistence of a Synthetic Biofilm Consortium

Microbial consortia constitute a majority of the earth’s biomass, but little is known about how these cooperating communities persist despite competition among community members. Theory suggests that non-random spatial structures contribute to the persistence of mixed communities; when particular structures form, they may provide associated community members with a growth advantage over unassociated members. If true, this has implications for the rise and persistence of multi-cellular organisms. However, this theory is difficult to study because we rarely observe initial instances of non-random physical structure in natural populations. Using two engineered strains of Escherichia coli that constitute a synthetic symbiotic microbial consortium, we fortuitously observed such spatial self-organization. This consortium forms a biofilm and, after several days, adopts a defined layered structure that is associated with two unexpected, measurable growth advantages. First, the consortium cannot successfully colonize a new, downstream environment until it selforganizes in the initial environment; in other words, the structure enhances the ability of the consortium to survive environmental disruptions. Second, when the layered structure forms in downstream environments the consortium accumulates significantly more biomass than it did in the initial environment; in other words, the structure enhances the global productivity of the consortium. We also observed that the layered structure only assembles in downstream environments that are colonized by aggregates from a previous, structured community. These results demonstrate roles for self-organization and aggregation in persistence of multi-cellular communities, and also illustrate a role for the techniques of synthetic biology in elucidating fundamental biological principles

Influence of quorum sensing signal molecules on biofilm formation in Proteus mirabilis O18

The influence of basis of quorum sensing molecules on Proteus strains is much less known as compared to Pseudomonas or Escherichia. We have previously shown that a series of acylated homoserine lactones (acyl-HSL) does not influence the ureolytic, proteolytic, or hemolytic abilities, and that the swarming motility of Proteus mirabilis rods is strain specific. The aim of the presented study was to find out if the presence of a series of acyl-HSL influences biofilm formation of P. mirabilis laboratory strain belonging to O18 serogroup. This serogroup is characterized by the presence of a unique non-carbohydrate component, namely phosphocholine. Escherichia coli and P. mirabilis O18 strains used in this work contains cloned plasmids encoding fluorescent protein genes with constitutive gene expression. In mixed biofilms in stationary and continuous flow conditions, P. mirabilis O18 overgrow whole culture. P. mirabilis O18 strain has genetically proved a presence of AI–2 quorum sensing system. Differences in biofilm structure were observed depending on the biofilm type and culture methods. From tested acylated homoserine lactones (BHL, HHL, OHL, DHL, dDHL, tDHL), a significant influence had BHL on thickness, structure, and the amount of exopolysaccharides produced by biofilms formed by P. mirabilis O18 pDsRed2

Climatic change drives dynamic source–sink relationships in marine species with high dispersal potential

While there is now strong evidence that many factors can shape dispersal, the mechanisms influencing connectivity patterns are species‐specific and remain largely unknown for many species with a high dispersal potential. The rock lobsters Jasus tristani and Jasus paulensis have a long pelagic larval duration (up to 20 months) and inhabit seamounts and islands in the southern Atlantic and Indian Oceans, respectively. We used a multidisciplinary approach to assess the genetic relationships between J. tristani and J. paulensis, investigate historic and contemporary gene flow, and inform fisheries management. Using 17,256 neutral single nucleotide polymorphisms we found low but significant genetic differentiation. We show that patterns of connectivity changed over time in accordance with climatic fluctuations. Historic migration estimates showed stronger connectivity from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean (influenced by the Agulhas Leakage). In contrast, the individual‐based model coupled with contemporary migration estimates inferred from genetic data showed stronger inter‐ocean connectivity in the opposite direction from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean driven by the Subtropical Front. We suggest that the J. tristani and J. paulensis historical distribution might have extended further north (when water temperatures were lower) resulting in larval dispersal between the ocean basis being more influenced by the Agulhas Leakage than the Subtropical Front. As water temperatures in the region increase in accordance with anthropogenic climate change, a southern shift in the distribution range of J. tristani and J. paulensis could further reduce larval transport from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean, adding complexity to fisheries management

A Novel Signaling Network Essential for Regulating Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm Development

The important human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been linked to numerous biofilm-related chronic infections. Here, we demonstrate that biofilm formation following the transition to the surface attached lifestyle is regulated by three previously undescribed two-component systems: BfiSR (PA4196-4197) harboring an RpoD-like domain, an OmpR-like BfmSR (PA4101-4102), and MifSR (PA5511-5512) belonging to the family of NtrC-like transcriptional regulators. These two-component systems become sequentially phosphorylated during biofilm formation. Inactivation of bfiS, bfmR, and mifR arrested biofilm formation at the transition to the irreversible attachment, maturation-1 and -2 stages, respectively, as indicated by analyses of biofilm architecture, and protein and phosphoprotein patterns. Moreover, discontinuation of bfiS, bfmR, and mifR expression in established biofilms resulted in the collapse of biofilms to an earlier developmental stage, indicating a requirement for these regulatory systems for the development and maintenance of normal biofilm architecture. Interestingly, inactivation did not affect planktonic growth, motility, polysaccharide production, or initial attachment. Further, we demonstrate the interdependency of this two-component systems network with GacS (PA0928), which was found to play a dual role in biofilm formation. This work describes a novel signal transduction network regulating committed biofilm developmental steps following attachment, in which phosphorelays and two sigma factor-dependent response regulators appear to be key components of the regulatory machinery that coordinates gene expression during P. aeruginosa biofilm development in response to environmental cues

Inhibition of Biofilm Formation, Quorum Sensing and Infection in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Natural Products-Inspired Organosulfur Compounds

Using a microplate-based screening assay, the effects on Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 biofilm formation of several S-substituted cysteine sulfoxides and their corresponding disulfide derivatives were evaluated. From our library of compounds, S-phenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide and its breakdown product, diphenyl disulfide, significantly reduced the amount of biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa at levels equivalent to the active concentration of 4-nitropyridine-N-oxide (NPO) (1 mM). Unlike NPO, which is an established inhibitor of bacterial biofilms, our active compounds did not reduce planktonic cell growth and only affected biofilm formation. When used in a Drosophila-based infection model, both S-phenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide and diphenyl disulfide significantly reduced the P. aeruginosa recovered 18 h post infection (relative to the control), and were non-lethal to the fly hosts. The possibility that the observed biofilm inhibitory effects were related to quorum sensing inhibition (QSI) was investigated using Escherichia coli-based reporters expressing P. aeruginosa lasR or rhIR response proteins, as well as an endogenous P. aeruginosa reporter from the lasI/lasR QS system. Inhibition of quorum sensing by S-phenyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide was observed in all of the reporter systems tested, whereas diphenyl disulfide did not exhibit QSI in either of the E. coli reporters, and showed very limited inhibition in the P. aeruginosa reporter. Since both compounds inhibit biofilm formation but do not show similar QSI activity, it is concluded that they may be functioning by different pathways. The hypothesis that biofilm inhibition by the two active compounds discovered in this work occurs through QSI is discussed

agr-Mediated Dispersal of Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

The agr quorum-sensing system of Staphylococcus aureus modulates the expression of virulence factors in response to autoinducing peptides (AIPs). Recent studies have suggested a role for the agr system in S. aureus biofilm development, as agr mutants exhibit a high propensity to form biofilms, and cells dispersing from a biofilm have been observed displaying an active agr system. Here, we report that repression of agr is necessary to form a biofilm and that reactivation of agr in established biofilms through AIP addition or glucose depletion triggers detachment. Inhibitory AIP molecules did not induce detachment and an agr mutant was non-responsive, indicating a dependence on a functional, active agr system for dispersal. Biofilm detachment occurred in multiple S. aureus strains possessing divergent agr systems, suggesting it is a general S. aureus phenomenon. Importantly, detachment also restored sensitivity of the dispersed cells to the antibiotic rifampicin. Proteinase K inhibited biofilm formation and dispersed established biofilms, suggesting agr-mediated detachment occurred in an ica-independent manner. Consistent with a protease-mediated mechanism, increased levels of serine proteases were detected in detaching biofilm effluents, and the serine protease inhibitor PMSF reduced the degree of agr-mediated detachment. Through genetic analysis, a double mutant in the agr-regulated Aur metalloprotease and the SplABCDEF serine proteases displayed minimal extracellular protease activity, improved biofilm formation, and a strongly attenuated detachment phenotype. These findings indicate that induction of the agr system in established S. aureus biofilms detaches cells and demonstrate that the dispersal mechanism requires extracellular protease activity