Friend or Foe: The Importance of Identifying Bacteria with Biochemical Tests

Kirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Individual Non-Freshman category, grand prizeMartha CaldasBrett NaveDebolina DasguptaIdentifying bacteria by utilizing biochemical tests is important, as bacteria can have a great impact on humans. Some bacterial strains are helpful while others are harmful, and having the ability to precisely identify bacteria can be crucial in maintaining human health. Biochemical tests generally consist of both selective and differential medias. Selective media only allows particular organisms to grow on it, while differential media will produce differing results, like a change in color, with the growth of different species. In this report, two bacterial strains were identified by performing a Gram stain and a series of selective and differential tests. Using an expected results table, the strains were identified as _Enterococcus faecalis_, a probiotic, and _Proteus vulgaris_, a potentially pathogenic bacterium. Correctly identifying bacteria is important in determining further steps after discovering bacteria in area from the food industry to the medical field

Galois theory

Call number: LD2668 .R4 1966 S33

Defining the relationship between a baculoviral sulfhydryl oxidase and a potential accessory protein

Master of ScienceDivision of BiologyAna Lorena PassarelliBaculoviruses are a large, diverse, and an ecologically-important group of entomopathogens. The ac78 gene of the prototype baculovirus, Autographa californica multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (AcMNPV), is one of the 38 genes conserved among all baculoviruses sequenced to date. Previous studies show that Ac78 is essential for optimal production of occlusion-derived virions (ODVs) and budded virions (BVs), which are two virion types produced during baculovirus infection. However, the biochemical mechanism by which Ac78 is involved in these processes remains unknown. The AcMNPV sulfhydryl oxidase ac92 is a conserved gene, and its product, Ac92, is ODV and BV envelope-associated. Recently, the Ac78 and Ac92 homologs in Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) were reported to interact and co-localize to the site of BV and ODV formation. To investigate the relationship between Ac78 and Ac92, we determined their localization in the presence and absence of AcMNPV infection, performed co-immunoprecipitations to assess interaction relationships, and provided an updated report of Ac78 and Ac92 homology with other proteins. We concluded that in the absence of viral infection, Ac78 and Ac92 localized perinuclearly in the cytoplasm and that localization of Ac92 was not affected by Ac78. During AcMNPV infection, Ac78 and Ac92 co-localized within the nucleus and surrounding virus replication and assembly sites (ring zone). Co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that at least two differentially-tagged Ac78 proteins were part of a complex in the presence of other AcMNPV proteins. Ac78 did not associate with Ac92 during AcMNPV infection. Our characterization of the relationship between Ac78 and the AcMNPV sulfhydryl oxidase is a preliminary step in a broader effort to elucidate important biochemical pathways underlying the poorly described structural changes in capsid proteins and other proteins involved in virion stability, folding, and infectivity. In a separate project, the same approach was applied in a different virus system to determine the relationship between the small accessory protein C and the measles virus (MeV) replication complex. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that during MeV infection, C associated with large protein (L) and phosphoprotein (P), which comprise the MeV replication complex, and nucleoprotein (N), which encapsidates the RNA genome. Expression constructs for full-length MeV L were generated, and L was successfully expressed following transfection. Subsequent co-immunoprecipitation experiments showed that C did not precipitate with L, P, nor N when transfected in isolation from MeV infection, indicating that another factor resulting from MeV infection is necessary for the association of C with the MeV replication complex. The results of this investigation are an important step in elucidating a biochemical mechanism underlying the function of C as a quality control factor in MeV replication. MeV has been attenuated and is a highly effective vaccine against pathogenic MeV and an active subject of clinical research as an oncolytic agent for treating a number of human cancers. Taken together, the investigations of Ac78 and C and their respective relationships with the AcMNPV sulfhydryl oxidase and the MeV replication complex adds knowledge of biochemical mechanisms underlying the important functions of small accessory proteins containing less than 200 amino acids as mediators in viral replication processes of two different viral systems

Patientenkollektiv einer HIV-Schwerpunktpraxis

In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurden retrospektiv die 192 HIV-positiven Patienten des Jahres 2005 mit follow-up bis Ende 2006 der Praxis Dr. med. K. Isernhagen und Dr. med. K. Römer in Köln untersucht. Die Daten der Patienten wurden nach epidemiologischen, klinischen und laborchemischen Aspekten ausgewertet. Die Geschlechtsverteilung lag bei 65% männlichen und 35% weiblichen Patienten. Die Mehrzahl der Patienten stammte aus Deutschland. Der relevante Risikofaktor für die HIVInfektion lag bei weiblichen Patienten in der Herkunft aus einem Endemiegebiet. Bei den männlichen Patienten lag ungeschützter homo- oder bisexueller Geschlechtsverkehr an erster Stelle. Die Patienten waren bei Erstvorstellung im Jahr 2005 zwischen 18 und 71 Jahren alt. Das mediane Lebensalters bei lag bei 39 Jahren. Bei der Mehrzahl der Patienten wurde die HIV-Infektion erstmalig in den 90erJahren diagnostiziert. Es finden sich von 1993 bis 2000 zunehmend weibliche Patienten mit HIV-Neuinfektion. Die Patienten waren bei HIVErstdiagnose im Median 30 Jahre alt. Bei Beginn und am Ende des Beobachtungszeitraumes befand sich die Mehrzahl der Patienten im CDC-Stadium A (42% bzw. 38%). 5% der Patienten erkrankte während des Beobachtungszeitraumes neu an AIDS. Die Mehrzahl der Patienten erhielt bei Erstvorstellung im Jahr 2005 bereits eine antiretrovirale Therapie. 9% der Patienten erhielt erstmalig eine antiretrovirale Therapie mit 100%igem immunologischen und 65%igem virologischen Therapieerfolg. Die häufigste Medikamentenkombination bestand aus zwei NRTI mit einem PI. Das Therapieregime wurde bei weiblichen Patienten deutlich häufiger umgestellt als bei männlichen Patienten. 7 Schwangerschaften wurden ausgetragen. Am Ende des Beobachtungszeitraumes waren noch 16% der Patienten therapienaiv. 4% nahmen keine antiretrovirale Therapie. Insgesamt 4% der Patienten verstarben während des Beobachtungszeitraumes. Kein Patient verstarb während des Beobachtungszeitraumes an einer AIDS-definierenden Erkrankung

Divergence of the diapause transcriptome in apple maggot flies: winter regulation and post-winter transcriptional repression

Citation: Meyers, P. J., Powell, T. H. Q., Walden, K. K. O., Schieferecke, A. J., Feder, J. L., Hahn, D. A., . . . Ragland, G. J. (2016). Divergence of the diapause transcriptome in apple maggot flies: winter regulation and post-winter transcriptional repression. Journal of Experimental Biology, 219(17), 2613-2622. doi:10.1242/jeb.140566The duration of dormancy regulates seasonal timing in many organisms and may be modulated by day length and temperature. Though photoperiodic modulation has been well studied, temperature modulation of dormancy has received less attention. Here, we leverage genetic variation in diapause in the apple maggot fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, to test whether gene expression during winter or following spring warming regulates diapause duration. We used RNAseq to compare transcript abundance during and after simulated winter between an apple-infesting population and a hawthorn-infesting population where the apple population ends pupal diapause earlier than the hawthorn-infesting population. Marked differences in transcription between the two populations during winter suggests that the 'early' apple population is developmentally advanced compared with the 'late' hawthorn population prior to spring warming, with transcripts participating in growth and developmental processes relatively up-regulated in apple pupae during the winter cold period. Thus, regulatory differences during winter ultimately drive phenological differences that manifest themselves in the following summer. Expression and polymorphism analysis identify candidate genes in the Wnt and insulin signaling pathways that contribute to population differences in seasonality. Both populations remained in diapause and displayed a pattern of up-and then down-regulation (or vice versa) of growth-related transcripts following warming, consistent with transcriptional repression. The ability to repress growth stimulated by permissive temperatures is likely critical to avoid mismatched phenology and excessive metabolic demand. Compared with diapause studies in other insects, our results suggest some overlap in candidate genes/pathways, though the timing and direction of changes in transcription are likely species specific

Data from: Ovary development and cold tolerance of the invasive pest Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) in the central plains of Kansas, United States

Environmental challenges presented by temperature variation can be overcome through phenotypic plasticity in small invasive ectotherms. We tested the effect of thermal exposure to 21, 18, and 11°C throughout the whole life cycle of individuals, thermal exposure of adults reared at 25°C to 15 and 11°C for a 21-d period, and long (14:10 hr) and short (10:14 hr) photoperiod on ovary size and development in Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) cultured from a recently established population in Topeka, Kansas (United States). Examination of the response to temperature and photoperiod variation in this central plains population provides insight into the role of phenotypic plasticity in a climate that is warmer than regions in North America where D. suzukii was initially established. We found both low temperature and short photoperiod resulted in reduced ovary size and level of development. In particular, reduced ovary development was observed following exposure to 15°C, indicating that ovary development in females from the central plains population is more sensitive to lower temperature compared with populations examined from the northern United States and southern Canada. We also provide evidence that D. suzukii reared at 25°C are capable of short-term hardening when exposed to −6°C following 4°C acclimation, contrary to previous reports indicating flies reared at warm temperatures do not rapidly-cold harden. Our study highlights the central role of phenotypic plasticity in response to winter-like laboratory conditions and provides an important geographic comparison to previously published assessments of ovary development and short-term hardening survival response for D. suzukii collected in cooler climates

Ovary and Cold Tolerance D. suzukii Data

A spreadsheet containing ovary dimensional sizes and stages of development for D. suzukii samples in different rearing/temperature conditions

<i>Kiluluma ceratotherii</i> (Nematoda: Strongylida) in a White Rhinoceros (<i>Ceratotherium simum</i>) from the United States: Case Report

Nematodes of the genus Kiluluma (Strongylidae, Cyathostominae) parasitize African rhinoceros. We describe the case of a one-year-old male white rhinoceros calf that presented with colonic inflammation and hemorrhage at necropsy. The animal had died following a neurological episode. We recovered and identified adult nematodes from the colon using morphology and ITS2 gene sequences as Kiluluma ceratotherii. We also generated nuclear ITS1, 5.8S, ITS2, and mitochondrial cox1 sequences for future studies and deposited them in GenBank (OR142644–OR142653). Since the animal was born in the same zoo and never transported, infection likely originated within the herd. This is the first report of this nematode from a white rhinoceros in the United States

The C Protein Is Recruited to Measles Virus Ribonucleocapsids by the Phosphoprotein

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