Local Elements

The mission of Local Elements is to create an eco-urban park to harbor Boise’s local movement and need for recreational community space. This project is an integrated park that includes a cultural and artistic marketplace, an outdoor amphitheater, greenhouses and multipurpose educational facilities. A key aspect of Local Elements is to create a socio-economic space that enables sustainable development, through both its design and function. This will be accomplished through a collaborative plan including: a new construction method made from completely recycled building materials, geothermal heating, xeriscaping, rainwater recycling and solar power. Local Elements will stimulate the economy and steer Boise toward a connected local community focus. Local Elements is a valuable development project for the City of Boise. People of all ages will enjoy this addition to downtown, as it will remain a prominent place of interaction and use for generations to come

Comparing and Informing Morphological Species Identifications and Boundaries in Arthropod Gut-dwelling Protists Using Molecular Phylogenetic Analyses

Trichomycetes are fungal and protistan symbionts of arthropods and have been found in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats on every continent except Antarctica. Minimally, trichomycetes associate commensally with their immature aquatic hosts (including black flies, mayflies, stoneflies, isopods, and others) attaching to the chitinous lining of the mid or hindgut. Classified with trichomycetes are Paramoebidium, a group of protists which associate in an obligate manner with their hosts. To date, 16 species of Paramoebidium have been identified by morphological approaches. These descriptions have included characterization and discrimination of species based on thallus (body) length and width, differences in the holdfast (structure used to attach to the gut of the host), and the appearance of the asexual, motile amoebae they release. Several challenges arise from this method. Namely, Paramoebidium species can be unremarkable in appearance. Immature Paramoebidium can have large variation, and finding a specimen in the process of releasing amoebae is very difficult as live organisms must be dissected directly from host tissue. We have been using molecular and phylogenetic approaches (sequencing rDNA genes) to assess morpho-species boundaries and their potential to differentiate and infer evolutionary relationships among Paramoebidium species. To date, efforts to compare recent molecular findings to morphological data have not been done. We plan to perform a morphological comparison of specimens used in the molecular data to highlight the pros and cons of the current classification system for Paramoebidium

Phylogenentic Reconstruction of Paramoebidium, the Largest Genus of the Amoebidiales

Recently a revolution in our understanding of both early diverging fungi and protists has been realized with phylogenetic systematic studies that are better resolved with multigene analysis and broadened taxon sampling. This study will enhance our understanding of one of the earliest-diverging protist groups to become multicellular, the Paramoebidium, a major milestone in evolutionary history. A multigene approach will be used to place Paramoebidium within this history which will lead to a better understanding of our earliest animal ancestors. In addition this project will help to develop and test new PCR primers that can enhance the broader scientific community’s ability to interpret phylogenies and work with other early diverging protists

Complete Genome Sequence of the Plantaricin-Sensitive Strain Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 700965

Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 700965 was isolated from cheese in 1939 and is used as an indicator strain for plantaricin production. The complete genome was determined using both long (PacBio) and short (Illumina) read data resulting in a single, circular chromosome with 3,015,426 bp, a G+C content of 45%, and five plasmids

Phylogenetic Placement of the Arthropod Endosymbiont Paramoebidium, the Largest Genus of the Amoebidiales

Recently a revolution in our understanding of both early diverging fungi and protists has been realized with phylogenetic systematic studies that are better resolved with multigene analyses and broadened taxon sampling. This study aims to enhance our understanding of one of the earliest-diverging protist groups to become multicellular, specifically targeting the Paramoebidium, a genus that represents, in an evolutionary context, a significant but understudied lineage of arthropods endosymbionts. Target genes will be amplified and sequenced with a multigene approach to phylogenetically place Paramoebidium among its extant relatives. Other than expanded taxon sampling within Paramoebidium this study will lead to a better understanding of some of our earliest animal ancestors and in this case, evolutionary patterns with their hosts as well as an assessment of possible cryptic speciation. This project also will specifically test new PCR primers that could enhance the broader scientific community’s ability to employ them as molecular markers for these and other early diverging protist linages

Intestinal Lactobacillus in health and disease, a driver or just along for the ride?

Metagenomics and related methods have led to significant advances in our understanding of the human microbiome. Members of the genus Lactobacillus, although best understood for essential roles in food fermentations and applications as probiotics, have also come to the fore in a number of untargeted gut microbiome studies in humans and animals. Even though Lactobacillus is only a minor member of the human colonic microbiota, the proportions of those bacteria are frequently either positively or negatively correlated with human disease and chronic conditions. Recent findings on Lactobacillus species in human and animal microbiome research, together with the increased knowledge on probiotic and other ingested lactobacilli, have resulted in new perspectives on the importance of this genus to human health

Sensitivity to the two peptide bacteriocin plantaricin EF is dependent on CorC, a membrane-bound, magnesium/cobalt efflux protein.

Lactic acid bacteria produce a variety of antimicrobial peptides known as bacteriocins. Most bacteriocins are understood to kill sensitive bacteria through receptor-mediated disruptions. Here, we report on the identification of the Lactobacillus plantarum plantaricin EF (PlnEF) receptor. Spontaneous PlnEF-resistant mutants of the PlnEF-indicator strain L. plantarum NCIMB 700965 (LP965) were isolated and confirmed to maintain cellular ATP levels in the presence of PlnEF. Genome comparisons resulted in the identification of a single mutated gene annotated as the membrane-bound, magnesium/cobalt efflux protein CorC. All isolates contained a valine (V) at position 334 instead of a glycine (G) in a cysteine-β-synthase domain at the C-terminal region of CorC. In silico template-based modeling of this domain indicated that the mutation resides in a loop between two β-strands. The relationship between PlnEF, CorC, and metal homeostasis was supported by the finding that PlnEF-resistance was lost when PlnEF was applied together with high concentrations of Mg2+ , Co2+ , Zn2+ , or Cu2+ . Lastly, PlnEF sensitivity was increased upon heterologous expression of LP965 corC but not the G334V CorC mutant in the PlnEF-resistant strain Lactobacillus casei BL23. These results show that PlnEF kills sensitive bacteria by targeting CorC