Embryonic Hypoxia Alters Exploratory Movement in Adult Geckos

Environmental changes, such as temporary hypoxia, during the embryonic stage can impair brain development in leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius). We therefore tested whether this early brain damage produces behavioral deficits that persist into adulthood. The organization and kinematic properties of non-visual exploration between normal (n = 14) and hypoxia (n = 3) geckos were compared. Geckos were individually placed on a circular table (diam=91cm) and allowed to explore darkness for 60min while being recorded. The gecko\u27s coordinates were calculated at 5frames/second. Movement properties within each trial were evaluated across five 10min epochs. Total distance, peak speed, movement scaling (correlation between path length and peak speed), distance ratio, heading error, total stop time, mean stop time, number of stops, number of progressions, and progression distance were compared between groups and across epochs with a mixed Group X Epoch ANOVA. Movement properties did not differ across time epochs. However, hypoxia animals showed significantly lower peak speed [F(1,15) = 6.18, p = .025], and greater movement scaling [F(1,15) = 5.78, p = .03] scores, compared to controls. These results indicate that brain damage caused by early hypoxia causes adult geckos to move slowly, but they retain the ability to move normally and accurately estimate distance. Thus, the reduced speed is not caused by a general movement deficit. These preliminary results suggest that embryonic hypoxia alters exploratory behavior that persists into adulthood. This on-going study will continue to evaluate exploratory movement, and data will be added to the presentation as they become available

Neuronal Density in Navigation-Related Regions of the Adult Leopard Gecko Brain

Hypoxic conditions disrupt brain development in many species, but oxygen deprivation may be particularly detrimental to ectotherms such as reptiles. Our preliminary data suggest the brains of embryonic leopard geckos (Eublepharis macularius) are damaged following brief hypoxic conditions in ovo, and these developmental changes are associated with altered exploratory behavior in adulthood. The objective of this study is to understand the effects of such hypoxic conditions neuronally once the geckos have reached adulthood. However, no previous studies have evaluated the neuronal density of navigation-related brain regions in normal adult geckos, or whether these regions are sensitive to early hypoxia. Here, we present the optical density measurements from the medial cortex, the dorsal and lateral cortex, the dorsal lateral thalamus, and the septal region of adult geckos (n=2) that developed in normoxic conditions, to establish a baseline measure of cell density. Mean (SEM) optical density values are shown in the Table. These optical density values provide an important baseline for our on-going evaluation of neuronal sensitivity to hypoxic conditions in ovo. We anticipate that neuronal density values from hypoxic geckos will be reduced, relative to those of geckos that develop in normoxic conditions

Genome Sequence and Annotation of the B3 Mycobacteriophage Phayeta

Mycobacteriophage Phayeta was extracted from soil near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina using Mycobacterium smegmatis as a host. Annotation of the 68,700 base-pair circularly permuted genome identified 104 predicted protein-encoding genes, 34 of which have functional assignments. This article was published Open Access through the CCU Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund. The article was first published in Microbiology Resource Announcements: https://doi.org/10.1128/MRA.00915-2

Effect of endophytes on Anethum graveolens (dill), synthesis of volatile organic compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are emitted from plants and interact with the plants environment in various ways. Terpenes are the most widely released plant VOC’s, and specifically monoterpenes play a key role in the interactions between plants and insects. In Anethum graveolens (dill), methyl eugenol and limonene, are volatile compounds that attract various pollinators to the plant. Endophytes have been discovered to live symbiotically with various plants, but little is known regarding their role in the synthesis of volatile organic compounds. We propose that the presence of endophytes in Anethum graveolens (dill) will increase the synthesis of these secondary metabolites. Dill plants will be grown under four growth conditions: 1) sterile seeds and sterile soil, 2) unsterile seeds and sterile soil, 3) unsterile seeds and sterile soil, 4) unsterile seeds and unsterile soil. After maturation of the plants, floral organs will be sampled to examine gene expression of enzymes involved in the synthesis of methyl eugenol and limonene. The molecular data will be analyzed to determine the effect of the endophytes on the synthesis of these volatile organic compounds. Understanding the effect of endophytes on the synthesis of VOC\u27s could potentially be used to address multiple agricultural and ecological issues regarding pollination

Bioinformatics tool kit for interpreting genome sequencing in bacteriophages

Recent advances in genome sequencing have produced vast amounts of nucleotide sequences, but these sequences don’t contain easily understood information regarding the organism. For example, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells and many phage genomes have been sequenced, but still little is known regarding their genes structure and function. Bioinformatic techniques have been used to decipher the sequence into an understandable annotation. In this study, a bacteriophage discovered at Coastal Carolina University, was annotated using seven guiding principles of bioinformatic techniques for interpreting data from sequenced genomes. These guiding principles are: 1) longest reading frame, 2) looking for overlaps or gaps, 3) comparing annotated start codons, 4) coding potential, 5) nucleotide BLAST of start sequence, 6) ribosomal binding scores, 7) HHPRED function of sequence. This annotation will have various contributions to the scientific community through future applications in job fields with a focus on microbial life based on the understanding of newly annotated gene sequences. For example, the use of bacteriophages in developing new medicinal treatments such as phage therapy