Isolation of Magnetotatic Bacteria from a Graphite Mine in Upstate New York

Magnetotactic bacteria have the ability to orient and migrate along geomagnetic field lines. This unique ability is due to specific intracellular organelles called magnetosomes, which are membrane bound crystals of iron oxides called magnetite oriented linearly inside the bacterial cells. The properties of magnetotactic bacteria are of increasing interest in many fields, including environmental science and biogeology, and bacterial magnetites have proven useful as tools in both biological research and medicine. A sample of water from a graphite mine in Hague, New York was analyzed for the presence of magnetotatic bacteria. Potential magnetotatic bacteria were concentrated using a neodymium magnet attached to the sample. The concentrated sample was then isolated using the streak plate method on a ferric quinate agar medium incubated at 25°C. The isolated colonies were then tested for magnetotaxis by observing the movement of bacteria in the presence of a magnetic field. A magnetotatic bacterium was isolated using this method and presumptively identified as Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum. The presence of magnetotatic bacteria in an area of high nonmagnetic material shows the wide environmental range of these bacteria. Previously magnetotatic bacteria had only been isolated from areas containing high amounts of magnetic materials such as pond or sea water. This research expands the range of possible habitats for Aquaspirillum magnetotacticum, and demonstrates the ability of this bacterium to adapt to environments that do not provide large concentrations of the materials needed to maintain magnetotaxis

Judicial Reform: Setting the Prairies Afire

A Review of A Blueprint for Judicial Reform edited by Patrick B. McGuigan and Randall R. Rade

Hysteria and the Bill of Rights

This address was given at the Bill of Rights Symposium at BYU Law School on October 9, 1992

Feasibility study of resistance welding of aluminum alloys, stainless steel, and titanium in a hard vacuum Final report, Jun. 27, 1967 - Feb. 29, 1968

Tensile strength and X ray analysis of resistance spot welded aluminum and stainless steel alloy

Body size changes in passerine birds introduced to New Zealand from the UK

One feature of global geographic variation in avian body sizes is that they are larger on isolated islands than on continental regions. Therefore, this study aims to assess whether there have been changes in body size following successful establishment for seven passerine bird species (blackbird Turdus merula, song thrush T. philomelos, house sparrow Passer domesticus, chaffinch Fringilla coelebs, greenfinch Chloris chloris, goldfinch Carduelis carduelis, yellowhammer Emberiza citrinella) introduced from the continental islands of the UK to the more isolated oceanic landmass of New Zealand in the middle of the nineteenth century. Measures of tarsus length were taken from individuals from contemporary UK and New Zealand populations of these species, and from historical specimens collected around the time that individuals were translocated from the UK to New Zealand. Analysis of Variance was used to test for size differences between contemporary UK and New Zealand populations, and between historical UK and contemporary UK and New Zealand populations. Historical UK populations have longer tarsi, on average, than 12 (7 UK and 5 New Zealand) of the 14 contemporary populations. Significant decreases in tarsus length relative to the historical populations have occurred in the UK for blackbird, chaffinch and greenfinch, and in the New Zealand blackbird population. Contemporary New Zealand house sparrows have significantly longer tarsi, on average, than both historical and contemporary UK populations. Exposure to novel environments may be expected to lead to changes in the morphology and other traits of exotic species, but changes have also occurred in the native range. In fact, contrary to expectations, the most common differences we found were between contemporary and historical UK populations. Consideration of contemporary populations alone would underestimate the true scale of morphological change in these species over time, which may be due to phenotypic plasticity or genetic adaptation to environmental changes experienced by all populations in the last 150 years