Beech bark disease (BBD) results in high levels of initial mortality, leaving behind survivor trees that are greatly weakened and deformed. The disease is initiated by feeding activities of the invasive beech scale insect, Cryptococcus fagisuga, which creates entry points for infection by one of the Neonectria species of fungus. Without scale infestation, there is little opportunity for fungal infection. Using scale eggs to artificially infest healthy trees in heavily BBD impacted stands demonstrated that these trees were resistant to the scale insect portion of the disease complex1. Here we present a protocol that we have developed, based on the artificial infestation technique by Houston2, which can be used to screen for scale-resistant trees in the field and in smaller potted seedlings and grafts. The identification of scale-resistant trees is an important component of management of BBD through tree improvement programs and silvicultural manipulation.
23 Related JoVE Articles!
Transcript and Metabolite Profiling for the Evaluation of Tobacco Tree and Poplar as Feedstock for the Bio-based Industry
Institutions: Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Royal Holloway, University of London, VIB, UGhent, ETH Zurich, EMPA, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), European Research and Project Office GmbH, ABBA Gaia S.L., Pflanzenöltechnologie, Capax Environmental Services, Green Fuels, Neutral Consulting Ltd, University of Melbourne.
The global demand for food, feed, energy, and water poses extraordinary challenges for future generations. It is evident that robust platforms for the exploration of renewable resources are necessary to overcome these challenges. Within the multinational framework MultiBioPro we are developing biorefinery pipelines to maximize the use of plant biomass. More specifically, we use poplar and tobacco tree (Nicotiana glauca
) as target crop species for improving saccharification, isoprenoid, long chain hydrocarbon contents, fiber quality, and suberin and lignin contents. The methods used to obtain these outputs include GC-MS, LC-MS and RNA sequencing platforms. The metabolite pipelines are well established tools to generate these types of data, but also have the limitations in that only well characterized metabolites can be used. The deep sequencing will allow us to include all transcripts present during the developmental stages of the tobacco tree leaf, but has to be mapped back to the sequence of Nicotiana tabacum
. With these set-ups, we aim at a basic understanding for underlying processes and at establishing an industrial framework to exploit the outcomes. In a more long term perspective, we believe that data generated here will provide means for a sustainable biorefinery process using poplar and tobacco tree as raw material. To date the basal level of metabolites in the samples have been analyzed and the protocols utilized are provided in this article.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 87, botany, plants, Biorefining, Poplar, Tobacco tree, Arabidopsis, suberin, lignin, cell walls, biomass, long-chain hydrocarbons, isoprenoids, Nicotiana glauca, systems biology
Estimating Virus Production Rates in Aquatic Systems
Institutions: University of Tennessee.
Viruses are pervasive components of marine and freshwater systems, and are known to be significant agents of microbial mortality. Developing quantitative estimates of this process is critical as we can then develop better models of microbial community structure and function as well as advance our understanding of how viruses work to alter aquatic biogeochemical cycles. The virus reduction technique allows researchers to estimate the rate at which virus particles are released from the endemic microbial community. In brief, the abundance of free (extracellular) viruses is reduced in a sample while the microbial community is maintained at near ambient concentration. The microbial community is then incubated in the absence of free viruses and the rate at which viruses reoccur in the sample (through the lysis of already infected members of the community) can be quantified by epifluorescence microscopy or, in the case of specific viruses, quantitative PCR. These rates can then be used to estimate the rate of microbial mortality due to virus-mediated cell lysis.
Infectious Diseases, Issue 43, Viruses, seawater, lakes, viral lysis, marine microbiology, freshwater microbiology, epifluorescence microscopy
Use of Galleria mellonella as a Model Organism to Study Legionella pneumophila Infection
Institutions: Imperial College London.
, the causative agent of a severe pneumonia named Legionnaires' disease, is an important human pathogen that infects and replicates within alveolar macrophages. Its virulence depends on the Dot/Icm type IV secretion system (T4SS), which is essential to establish a replication permissive vacuole known as the Legionella
containing vacuole (LCV). L. pneumophila
infection can be modeled in mice however most mouse strains are not permissive, leading to the search for novel infection models. We have recently shown that the larvae of the wax moth Galleria mellonella
are suitable for investigation of L. pneumophila
infection. G. mellonella
is increasingly used as an infection model for human pathogens and a good correlation exists between virulence of several bacterial species in the insect and in mammalian models. A key component of the larvae's immune defenses are hemocytes, professional phagocytes, which take up and destroy invaders. L. pneumophila
is able to infect, form a LCV and replicate within these cells. Here we demonstrate protocols for analyzing L. pneumophila
virulence in the G. mellonella
model, including how to grow infectious L. pneumophila
, pretreat the larvae with inhibitors, infect the larvae and how to extract infected cells for quantification and immunofluorescence microscopy. We also describe how to quantify bacterial replication and fitness in competition assays. These approaches allow for the rapid screening of mutants to determine factors important in L. pneumophila
virulence, describing a new tool to aid our understanding of this complex pathogen.
Infection, Issue 81, Bacterial Infections, Infection, Disease Models, Animal, Bacterial Infections and Mycoses, Galleria mellonella, Legionella pneumophila, insect model, bacterial infection, Legionnaires' disease, haemocytes
Enteric Bacterial Invasion Of Intestinal Epithelial Cells In Vitro Is Dramatically Enhanced Using a Vertical Diffusion Chamber Model
Institutions: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
The interactions of bacterial pathogens with host cells have been investigated extensively using in vitro
cell culture methods. However as such cell culture assays are performed under aerobic conditions, these in vitro
models may not accurately represent the in vivo
environment in which the host-pathogen interactions take place. We have developed an in vitro
model of infection that permits the coculture of bacteria and host cells under different medium and gas conditions. The Vertical Diffusion Chamber (VDC) model mimics the conditions in the human intestine where bacteria will be under conditions of very low oxygen whilst tissue will be supplied with oxygen from the blood stream. Placing polarized intestinal epithelial cell (IEC) monolayers grown in Snapwell inserts into a VDC creates separate apical and basolateral compartments. The basolateral compartment is filled with cell culture medium, sealed and perfused with oxygen whilst the apical compartment is filled with broth, kept open and incubated under microaerobic conditions. Both Caco-2 and T84 IECs can be maintained in the VDC under these conditions without any apparent detrimental effects on cell survival or monolayer integrity. Coculturing experiments performed with different C. jejuni
wild-type strains and different IEC lines in the VDC model with microaerobic conditions in the apical compartment reproducibly result in an increase in the number of interacting (almost 10-fold) and intracellular (almost 100-fold) bacteria compared to aerobic culture conditions1
. The environment created in the VDC model more closely mimics the environment encountered by C. jejuni
in the human intestine and highlights the importance of performing in vitro
infection assays under conditions that more closely mimic the in vivo
reality. We propose that use of the VDC model will allow new interpretations of the interactions between bacterial pathogens and host cells.
Infection, Issue 80, Gram-Negative Bacteria, Bacterial Infections, Gastrointestinal Diseases, Campylobacter jejuni, bacterial invasion, intestinal epithelial cells, models of infection
A Low Mortality Rat Model to Assess Delayed Cerebral Vasospasm After Experimental Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Institutions: SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY Upstate Medical University.
Objective: To characterize and establish a reproducible model that demonstrates delayed cerebral vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) in rats, in order to identify the initiating events, pathophysiological changes and potential targets for treatment.
Methods: Twenty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats (250 - 300 g) were arbitrarily assigned to one of two groups - SAH or saline control. Rat subarachnoid hemorrhage in the SAH group (n=15) was induced by double injection of autologous blood, 48 hr apart, into the cisterna magna. Similarly, normal saline (n=13) was injected into the cisterna magna of the saline control group. Rats were sacrificed on day five after the second blood injection and the brains were preserved for histological analysis. The degree of vasospasm was measured using sections of the basilar artery, by measuring the internal luminal cross sectional area using NIH Image-J software. The significance was tested using Tukey/Kramer's statistical analysis.
Results: After analysis of histological sections, basilar artery luminal cross sectional area were smaller in the SAH than in the saline group, consistent with cerebral vasospasm in the former group. In the SAH group, basilar artery internal area (.056 μm ± 3) were significantly smaller from vasospasm five days after the second blood injection (seven days after the initial blood injection), compared to the saline control group with internal area (.069 ± 3; p=0.004). There were no mortalities from cerebral vasospasm.
Conclusion: The rat double SAH model induces a mild, survivable, basilar artery vasospasm that can be used to study the pathophysiological mechanisms of cerebral vasospasm in a small animal model. A low and acceptable mortality rate is a significant criterion to be satisfied for an ideal SAH animal model so that the mechanisms of vasospasm can be elucidated 7, 8
. Further modifications of the model can be made to adjust for increased severity of vasospasm and neurological exams.
Medicine, Issue 71, Anatomy, Physiology, Neurobiology, Neuroscience, Immunology, Surgery, Aneurysm, cerebral, hemorrhage, model, mortality, rat, rodent, subarachnoid, vasospasm, animal model
Parasite Induced Genetically Driven Autoimmune Chagas Heart Disease in the Chicken Model
Institutions: University of Brasilia.
The Trypanosoma cruzi acute infections acquired in infancy and childhood seem asymptomatic, but approximately one third of the chronically infected cases show Chagas disease up to three decades or later. Autoimmunity and parasite persistence are competing theories to explain the pathogenesis of Chagas disease 1, 2
. To separate roles played by parasite persistence and autoimmunity in Chagas disease we inoculate the T. cruzi
in the air chamber of fertilized eggs. The mature chicken immune system is a tight biological barrier against T. cruzi
and the infection is eradicated upon development of its immune system by the end of the first week of growth 3
. The chicks are parasite-free at hatching, but they retain integrated parasite mitochondrial kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) minicircle within their genome that are transferred to their progeny. Documentation of the kDNA minicircle integration in the chicken genome was obtained by a targeted prime TAIL-PCR, Southern hybridizations, cloning, and sequencing 3, 4
. The kDNA minicircle integrations rupture open reading frames for transcription and immune system factors, phosphatase (GTPase), adenylate cyclase and phosphorylases (PKC, NF-Kappa B activator, PI-3K) associated with cell physiology, growth, and differentiation 3, 5-7
, and other gene functions. Severe myocarditis due to rejection of target heart fibers by effectors cytotoxic lymphocytes is seen in the kDNA mutated chickens, showing an inflammatory cardiomyopathy similar to that seen in human Chagas disease. Notably, heart failure and skeletal muscle weakness are present in adult chickens with kDNA rupture of the dystrophin gene in chromosome 1 8
. Similar genotipic alterations are associated with tissue destruction carried out by effectors CD45+, CD8γδ+, CD8α lymphocytes. Thus this protozoan infection can induce genetically driven autoimmune disease.
Immunology, Issue 65, Infection, Genetics, Parasitology, Trypanosoma cruzi, Gallus gallus, transfer of mitochondrial kDNA minicircle, targeted-prime TAIL-PCR, genotype modifications, Chagas disease
Determining Soil-transmitted Helminth Infection Status and Physical Fitness of School-aged Children
Institutions: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are common. Indeed, more than 1 billion people are affected, mainly in the developing world where poverty prevails and hygiene behavior, water supply, and sanitation are often deficient1,2
. Ascaris lumbricoides
, Trichuris trichiura
, and the two hookworm species, Ancylostoma duodenale
and Necator americanus
, are the most prevalent STHs3
. The estimated global burden due to hookworm disease, ascariasis, and trichuriasis is 22.1, 10.5, and 6.4 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), respectively4
. Furthermore, an estimated 30-100 million people are infected with Strongyloides stercoralis
, the most neglected STH species of global significance which arguably also causes a considerable public health impact5,6
. Multiple-species infections (i.e., different STHs harbored in a single individual) are common, and infections have been linked to lowered productivity and thus economic outlook of developing countries1,3
For the diagnosis of common STHs, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the Kato-Katz technique7,8
, which is a relatively straightforward method for determining the prevalence and intensity of such infections. It facilitates the detection of parasite eggs that infected subjects pass in their feces.
With regard to the diagnosis of S.stercoralis
, there is currently no simple and accurate tool available. The Baermann technique is the most widely employed method for its diagnosis. The principle behind the Baermann technique is that active S.stercoralis
larvae migrate out of an illuminated fresh fecal sample as the larvae are phototactic9
. It requires less sophisticated laboratory materials and is less time consuming than culture and immunological methods5
Morbidities associated with STH infections range from acute but common symptoms, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and pruritus, to chronic symptoms, such as anemia, under- and malnutrition, and cognitive impairment10
. Since the symptoms are generally unspecific and subtle, they often go unnoticed, are considered a normal condition by affected individuals, or are treated as symptoms of other diseases that might be more common in a given setting. Hence, it is conceivable that the true burden of STH infections is underestimated by assessment tools relying on self-declared signs and symptoms as is usually the case in population-based surveys.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stephenson and colleagues highlighted the possibility of STH infections lowering the physical fitness of boys aged 6-12 years11,12
. This line of scientific inquiry gained new momentum recently13,14,15
. The 20-meter (m) shuttle run test was developed and validated by Léger et al.16
and is used worldwide to measure the aerobic fitness of children17
. The test is easy to standardize and can be performed wherever a 20-m long and flat running course and an audio source are available, making its use attractive in resource-constrained settings13
. To facilitate and standardize attempts at assessing whether STH infections have an effect on the physical fitness of school-aged children, we present methodologies that diagnose STH infections or measure physical fitness that are simple to execute and yet, provide accurate and reproducible outcomes. This will help to generate new evidence regarding the health impact of STH infections.
Infection, Issue 66, Immunology, Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Soil-transmitted helminths, physical fitness, Kato-Katz technique, Baermann technique, 20-meter shuttle run test, children
Long Term Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Airway Infection in Mice
Institutions: San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation.
A mouse model of chronic airway infection is a key asset in cystic fibrosis (CF) research, although there are a number of concerns regarding the model itself. Early phases of inflammation and infection have been widely studied by using the Pseudomonas aeruginosa
agar-beads mouse model, while only few reports have focused on the long-term chronic infection in vivo
. The main challenge for long term chronic infection remains the low bacterial burden by P. aeruginosa
and the low percentage of infected mice weeks after challenge, indicating that bacterial cells are progressively cleared by the host.
This paper presents a method for obtaining efficient long-term chronic infection in mice. This method is based on the embedding of the P. aeruginosa
clinical strains in the agar-beads in vitro
, followed by intratracheal instillation in C57Bl/6NCrl mice. Bilateral lung infection is associated with several measurable read-outs including weight loss, mortality, chronic infection, and inflammatory response. The P. aeruginosa
RP73 clinical strain was preferred over the PAO1 reference laboratory strain since it resulted in a comparatively lower mortality, more severe lesions, and higher chronic infection. P. aeruginosa
colonization may persist in the lung for over three months. Murine lung pathology resembles that of CF patients with advanced chronic pulmonary disease.
This murine model most closely mimics the course of the human disease and can be used both for studies on the pathogenesis and for the evaluation of novel therapies.
Infection, Issue 85, Opportunistic Infections, Respiratory Tract Infections, Inflammation, Lung Diseases, Cystic Fibrosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa
The Trier Social Stress Test Protocol for Inducing Psychological Stress
Institutions: Northern Arizona University.
This article demonstrates a psychological stress protocol for use in a laboratory setting. Protocols that allow researchers to study the biological pathways of the stress response in health and disease are fundamental to the progress of research in stress and anxiety.1
Although numerous protocols exist for inducing stress response in the laboratory, many neglect to provide a naturalistic context or to incorporate aspects of social and psychological stress. Of psychological stress protocols, meta-analysis suggests that the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) is the most useful and appropriate standardized protocol for studies of stress hormone reactivity.2
In the original description of the TSST, researchers sought to design and evaluate a procedure capable of inducing a reliable stress response in the majority of healthy volunteers.3
These researchers found elevations in heart rate, blood pressure and several endocrine stress markers in response to the TSST (a psychological stressor) compared to a saline injection (a physical stressor).3
Although the TSST has been modified to meet the needs of various research groups, it generally consists of a waiting period upon arrival, anticipatory speech preparation, speech performance, and verbal arithmetic performance periods, followed by one or more recovery periods. The TSST requires participants to prepare and deliver a speech, and verbally respond to a challenging arithmetic problem in the presence of a socially evaluative audience.3
Social evaluation and uncontrollability have been identified as key components of stress induction by the TSST.4
In use for over a decade, the goal of the TSST is to systematically induce a stress response in order to measure differences in reactivity, anxiety and activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) or sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) axis during the task.1
Researchers generally assess changes in self-reported anxiety, physiological measures (e.g. heart rate), and/or neuroendocrine indices (e.g. the stress hormone cortisol) in response to the TSST. Many investigators have adopted salivary sampling for stress markers such as cortisol and alpha-amylase (a marker of autonomic nervous system activation) as an alternative to blood sampling to reduce the confounding stress of blood-collection techniques. In addition to changes experienced by an individual completing the TSST, researchers can compare changes between different treatment groups (e.g. clinical versus healthy control samples) or the effectiveness of stress-reducing interventions.1
Medicine, Issue 56, Stress, anxiety, laboratory stressor, cortisol, physiological response, psychological stressor
A Venturi Effect Can Help Cure Our Trees
Institutions: Unversity of Padova.
In woody plants, xylem sap moves upwards through the vessels due to a decreasing gradient of water potential from the groundwater to the foliage. According to these factors and their dynamics, small amounts of sap-compatible liquids (i.e.
pesticides) can be injected into the xylem system, reaching their target from inside. This endotherapic method, called "trunk injection" or "trunk infusion" (depending on whether the user supplies an external pressure or not), confines the applied chemicals only within the target tree, thereby making it particularly useful in urban situations. The main factors limiting wider use of the traditional drilling methods are related to negative side effects of the holes that must be drilled around the trunk circumference in order to gain access to the xylem vessels beneath the bark.
The University of Padova (Italy) recently developed a manual, drill-free instrument with a small, perforated blade that enters the trunk by separating the woody fibers with minimal friction. Furthermore, the lenticular shaped blade reduces the vessels' cross section, increasing sap velocity and allowing the natural uptake of an external liquid up to the leaves, when transpiration rate is substantial. Ports partially close soon after the removal of the blade due to the natural elasticity and turgidity of the plant tissues, and the cambial activity completes the healing process in few weeks.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 80, Trunk injection, systemic injection, xylematic injection, endotherapy, sap flow, Bernoulli principle, plant diseases, pesticides, desiccants
Technique for Studying Arthropod and Microbial Communities within Tree Tissues
Institutions: Northern Arizona University, Acoustic Ecology Institute.
Phloem tissues of pine are habitats for many thousands of organisms. Arthropods and microbes use phloem and cambium tissues to seek mates, lay eggs, rear young, feed, or hide from natural enemies or harsh environmental conditions outside of the tree. Organisms that persist within the phloem habitat are difficult to observe given their location under bark. We provide a technique to preserve intact phloem and prepare it for experimentation with invertebrates and microorganisms. The apparatus is called a ‘phloem sandwich’ and allows for the introduction and observation of arthropods, microbes, and other organisms. This technique has resulted in a better understanding of the feeding behaviors, life-history traits, reproduction, development, and interactions of organisms within tree phloem. The strengths of this technique include the use of inexpensive materials, variability in sandwich size, flexibility to re-open the sandwich or introduce multiple organisms through drilled holes, and the preservation and maintenance of phloem integrity. The phloem sandwich is an excellent educational tool for scientific discovery in both K-12 science courses and university research laboratories.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 93, phloem sandwich, pine, bark beetles, mites, acoustics, phloem
The ITS2 Database
Institutions: University of Würzburg, University of Würzburg.
The internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) has been used as a phylogenetic marker for more than two decades. As ITS2 research mainly focused on the very variable ITS2 sequence, it confined this marker to low-level phylogenetics only. However, the combination of the ITS2 sequence and its highly conserved secondary structure improves the phylogenetic resolution1
and allows phylogenetic inference at multiple taxonomic ranks, including species delimitation2-8
The ITS2 Database9
presents an exhaustive dataset of internal transcribed spacer 2 sequences from NCBI GenBank11
. Following an annotation by profile Hidden Markov Models (HMMs), the secondary structure of each sequence is predicted. First, it is tested whether a minimum energy based fold12
(direct fold) results in a correct, four helix conformation. If this is not the case, the structure is predicted by homology modeling13
. In homology modeling, an already known secondary structure is transferred to another ITS2 sequence, whose secondary structure was not able to fold correctly in a direct fold.
The ITS2 Database is not only a database for storage and retrieval of ITS2 sequence-structures. It also provides several tools to process your own ITS2 sequences, including annotation, structural prediction, motif detection and BLAST14
search on the combined sequence-structure information. Moreover, it integrates trimmed versions of 4SALE15,16
for multiple sequence-structure alignment calculation and Neighbor Joining18
tree reconstruction. Together they form a coherent analysis pipeline from an initial set of sequences to a phylogeny based on sequence and secondary structure.
In a nutshell, this workbench simplifies first phylogenetic analyses to only a few mouse-clicks, while additionally providing tools and data for comprehensive large-scale analyses.
Genetics, Issue 61, alignment, internal transcribed spacer 2, molecular systematics, secondary structure, ribosomal RNA, phylogenetic tree, homology modeling, phylogeny
A Practical Guide to Phylogenetics for Nonexperts
Institutions: The George Washington University.
Many researchers, across incredibly diverse foci, are applying phylogenetics to their research question(s). However, many researchers are new to this topic and so it presents inherent problems. Here we compile a practical introduction to phylogenetics for nonexperts. We outline in a step-by-step manner, a pipeline for generating reliable phylogenies from gene sequence datasets. We begin with a user-guide for similarity search tools via online interfaces as well as local executables. Next, we explore programs for generating multiple sequence alignments followed by protocols for using software to determine best-fit models of evolution. We then outline protocols for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships via maximum likelihood and Bayesian criteria and finally describe tools for visualizing phylogenetic trees. While this is not by any means an exhaustive description of phylogenetic approaches, it does provide the reader with practical starting information on key software applications commonly utilized by phylogeneticists. The vision for this article would be that it could serve as a practical training tool for researchers embarking on phylogenetic studies and also serve as an educational resource that could be incorporated into a classroom or teaching-lab.
Basic Protocol, Issue 84, phylogenetics, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetic tree, BLAST executables, basic local alignment search tool, Bayesian models
Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity
Institutions: Case Western Reserve University.
Coexistence theory has often treated environmental heterogeneity as being independent of the community composition; however biotic feedbacks such as plant-soil feedbacks (PSF) have large effects on plant performance, and create environmental heterogeneity that depends on the community composition. Understanding the importance of PSF for plant community assembly necessitates understanding of the role of heterogeneity in PSF, in addition to mean PSF effects. Here, we describe a protocol for manipulating plant-induced soil heterogeneity. Two example experiments are presented: (1) a field experiment with a 6-patch grid of soils to measure plant population responses and (2) a greenhouse experiment with 2-patch soils to measure individual plant responses. Soils can be collected from the zone of root influence (soils from the rhizosphere and directly adjacent to the rhizosphere) of plants in the field from conspecific and heterospecific plant species. Replicate collections are used to avoid pseudoreplicating soil samples. These soils are then placed into separate patches for heterogeneous treatments or mixed for a homogenized treatment. Care should be taken to ensure that heterogeneous and homogenized treatments experience the same degree of soil disturbance. Plants can then be placed in these soil treatments to determine the effect of plant-induced soil heterogeneity on plant performance. We demonstrate that plant-induced heterogeneity results in different outcomes than predicted by traditional coexistence models, perhaps because of the dynamic nature of these feedbacks. Theory that incorporates environmental heterogeneity influenced by the assembling community and additional empirical work is needed to determine when heterogeneity intrinsic to the assembling community will result in different assembly outcomes compared with heterogeneity extrinsic to the community composition.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 85, Coexistence, community assembly, environmental drivers, plant-soil feedback, soil heterogeneity, soil microbial communities, soil patch
The Analysis of Purkinje Cell Dendritic Morphology in Organotypic Slice Cultures
Institutions: University of Basel.
Purkinje cells are an attractive model system for studying dendritic development, because they have an impressive dendritic tree which is strictly oriented in the sagittal plane and develops mostly in the postnatal period in small rodents 3
. Furthermore, several antibodies are available which selectively and intensively label Purkinje cells including all processes, with anti-Calbindin D28K being the most widely used. For viewing of dendrites in living cells, mice expressing EGFP selectively in Purkinje cells 11
are available through Jackson labs. Organotypic cerebellar slice cultures cells allow easy experimental manipulation of Purkinje cell dendritic development because most of the dendritic expansion of the Purkinje cell dendritic tree is actually taking place during the culture period 4
. We present here a short, reliable and easy protocol for viewing and analyzing the dendritic morphology of Purkinje cells grown in organotypic cerebellar slice cultures. For many purposes, a quantitative evaluation of the Purkinje cell dendritic tree is desirable. We focus here on two parameters, dendritic tree size and branch point numbers, which can be rapidly and easily determined from anti-calbindin stained cerebellar slice cultures. These two parameters yield a reliable and sensitive measure of changes of the Purkinje cell dendritic tree. Using the example of treatments with the protein kinase C (PKC) activator PMA and the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1) we demonstrate how differences in the dendritic development are visualized and quantitatively assessed. The combination of the presence of an extensive dendritic tree, selective and intense immunostaining methods, organotypic slice cultures which cover the period of dendritic growth and a mouse model with Purkinje cell specific EGFP expression make Purkinje cells a powerful model system for revealing the mechanisms of dendritic development.
Neuroscience, Issue 61, dendritic development, dendritic branching, cerebellum, Purkinje cells
Cortical Source Analysis of High-Density EEG Recordings in Children
Institutions: UCL Institute of Child Health, University College London.
EEG is traditionally described as a neuroimaging technique with high temporal and low spatial resolution. Recent advances in biophysical modelling and signal processing make it possible to exploit information from other imaging modalities like structural MRI that provide high spatial resolution to overcome this constraint1
. This is especially useful for investigations that require high resolution in the temporal as well as spatial domain. In addition, due to the easy application and low cost of EEG recordings, EEG is often the method of choice when working with populations, such as young children, that do not tolerate functional MRI scans well. However, in order to investigate which neural substrates are involved, anatomical information from structural MRI is still needed. Most EEG analysis packages work with standard head models that are based on adult anatomy. The accuracy of these models when used for children is limited2
, because the composition and spatial configuration of head tissues changes dramatically over development3
In the present paper, we provide an overview of our recent work in utilizing head models based on individual structural MRI scans or age specific head models to reconstruct the cortical generators of high density EEG. This article describes how EEG recordings are acquired, processed, and analyzed with pediatric populations at the London Baby Lab, including laboratory setup, task design, EEG preprocessing, MRI processing, and EEG channel level and source analysis.
Behavior, Issue 88, EEG, electroencephalogram, development, source analysis, pediatric, minimum-norm estimation, cognitive neuroscience, event-related potentials
Protein WISDOM: A Workbench for In silico De novo Design of BioMolecules
Institutions: Princeton University.
The aim of de novo
protein design is to find the amino acid sequences that will fold into a desired 3-dimensional structure with improvements in specific properties, such as binding affinity, agonist or antagonist behavior, or stability, relative to the native sequence. Protein design lies at the center of current advances drug design and discovery. Not only does protein design provide predictions for potentially useful drug targets, but it also enhances our understanding of the protein folding process and protein-protein interactions. Experimental methods such as directed evolution have shown success in protein design. However, such methods are restricted by the limited sequence space that can be searched tractably. In contrast, computational design strategies allow for the screening of a much larger set of sequences covering a wide variety of properties and functionality. We have developed a range of computational de novo
protein design methods capable of tackling several important areas of protein design. These include the design of monomeric proteins for increased stability and complexes for increased binding affinity.
To disseminate these methods for broader use we present Protein WISDOM (https://www.proteinwisdom.org), a tool that provides automated methods for a variety of protein design problems. Structural templates are submitted to initialize the design process. The first stage of design is an optimization sequence selection stage that aims at improving stability through minimization of potential energy in the sequence space. Selected sequences are then run through a fold specificity stage and a binding affinity stage. A rank-ordered list of the sequences for each step of the process, along with relevant designed structures, provides the user with a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the design. Here we provide the details of each design method, as well as several notable experimental successes attained through the use of the methods.
Genetics, Issue 77, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Computational Biology, Genomics, Proteomics, Protein, Protein Binding, Computational Biology, Drug Design, optimization (mathematics), Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins, De novo protein and peptide design, Drug design, In silico sequence selection, Optimization, Fold specificity, Binding affinity, sequencing
Using the Threat Probability Task to Assess Anxiety and Fear During Uncertain and Certain Threat
Institutions: University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Fear of certain threat and anxiety about uncertain threat are distinct emotions with unique behavioral, cognitive-attentional, and neuroanatomical components. Both anxiety and fear can be studied in the laboratory by measuring the potentiation of the startle reflex. The startle reflex is a defensive reflex that is potentiated when an organism is threatened and the need for defense is high. The startle reflex is assessed via electromyography (EMG) in the orbicularis oculi muscle elicited by brief, intense, bursts of acoustic white noise (i.e.
, “startle probes”). Startle potentiation is calculated as the increase in startle response magnitude during presentation of sets of visual threat cues that signal delivery of mild electric shock relative to sets of matched cues that signal the absence of shock (no-threat cues). In the Threat Probability Task, fear is measured via startle potentiation to high probability (100% cue-contingent shock; certain) threat cues whereas anxiety is measured via startle potentiation to low probability (20% cue-contingent shock; uncertain) threat cues. Measurement of startle potentiation during the Threat Probability Task provides an objective and easily implemented alternative to assessment of negative affect via self-report or other methods (e.g.
, neuroimaging) that may be inappropriate or impractical for some researchers. Startle potentiation has been studied rigorously in both animals (e.g
., rodents, non-human primates) and humans which facilitates animal-to-human translational research. Startle potentiation during certain and uncertain threat provides an objective measure of negative affective and distinct emotional states (fear, anxiety) to use in research on psychopathology, substance use/abuse and broadly in affective science. As such, it has been used extensively by clinical scientists interested in psychopathology etiology and by affective scientists interested in individual differences in emotion.
Behavior, Issue 91,
Startle; electromyography; shock; addiction; uncertainty; fear; anxiety; humans; psychophysiology; translational
From Voxels to Knowledge: A Practical Guide to the Segmentation of Complex Electron Microscopy 3D-Data
Institutions: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Modern 3D electron microscopy approaches have recently allowed unprecedented insight into the 3D ultrastructural organization of cells and tissues, enabling the visualization of large macromolecular machines, such as adhesion complexes, as well as higher-order structures, such as the cytoskeleton and cellular organelles in their respective cell and tissue context. Given the inherent complexity of cellular volumes, it is essential to first extract the features of interest in order to allow visualization, quantification, and therefore comprehension of their 3D organization. Each data set is defined by distinct characteristics, e.g.
, signal-to-noise ratio, crispness (sharpness) of the data, heterogeneity of its features, crowdedness of features, presence or absence of characteristic shapes that allow for easy identification, and the percentage of the entire volume that a specific region of interest occupies. All these characteristics need to be considered when deciding on which approach to take for segmentation.
The six different 3D ultrastructural data sets presented were obtained by three different imaging approaches: resin embedded stained electron tomography, focused ion beam- and serial block face- scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM, SBF-SEM) of mildly stained and heavily stained samples, respectively. For these data sets, four different segmentation approaches have been applied: (1) fully manual model building followed solely by visualization of the model, (2) manual tracing segmentation of the data followed by surface rendering, (3) semi-automated approaches followed by surface rendering, or (4) automated custom-designed segmentation algorithms followed by surface rendering and quantitative analysis. Depending on the combination of data set characteristics, it was found that typically one of these four categorical approaches outperforms the others, but depending on the exact sequence of criteria, more than one approach may be successful. Based on these data, we propose a triage scheme that categorizes both objective data set characteristics and subjective personal criteria for the analysis of the different data sets.
Bioengineering, Issue 90, 3D electron microscopy, feature extraction, segmentation, image analysis, reconstruction, manual tracing, thresholding
Unraveling the Unseen Players in the Ocean - A Field Guide to Water Chemistry and Marine Microbiology
Institutions: San Diego State University, University of California San Diego.
Here we introduce a series of thoroughly tested and well standardized research protocols adapted for use in remote marine environments. The sampling protocols include the assessment of resources available to the microbial community (dissolved organic carbon, particulate organic matter, inorganic nutrients), and a comprehensive description of the viral and bacterial communities (via direct viral and microbial counts, enumeration of autofluorescent microbes, and construction of viral and microbial metagenomes). We use a combination of methods, which represent a dispersed field of scientific disciplines comprising already established protocols and some of the most recent techniques developed. Especially metagenomic sequencing techniques used for viral and bacterial community characterization, have been established only in recent years, and are thus still subjected to constant improvement. This has led to a variety of sampling and sample processing procedures currently in use. The set of methods presented here provides an up to date approach to collect and process environmental samples. Parameters addressed with these protocols yield the minimum on information essential to characterize and understand the underlying mechanisms of viral and microbial community dynamics. It gives easy to follow guidelines to conduct comprehensive surveys and discusses critical steps and potential caveats pertinent to each technique.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 93, dissolved organic carbon, particulate organic matter, nutrients, DAPI, SYBR, microbial metagenomics, viral metagenomics, marine environment
High-throughput Fluorometric Measurement of Potential Soil Extracellular Enzyme Activities
Institutions: Colorado State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Colorado.
Microbes in soils and other environments produce extracellular enzymes to depolymerize and hydrolyze organic macromolecules so that they can be assimilated for energy and nutrients. Measuring soil microbial enzyme activity is crucial in understanding soil ecosystem functional dynamics. The general concept of the fluorescence enzyme assay is that synthetic C-, N-, or P-rich substrates bound with a fluorescent dye are added to soil samples. When intact, the labeled substrates do not fluoresce. Enzyme activity is measured as the increase in fluorescence as the fluorescent dyes are cleaved from their substrates, which allows them to fluoresce. Enzyme measurements can be expressed in units of molarity or activity. To perform this assay, soil slurries are prepared by combining soil with a pH buffer. The pH buffer (typically a 50 mM sodium acetate or 50 mM Tris buffer), is chosen for the buffer's particular acid dissociation constant (pKa) to best match the soil sample pH. The soil slurries are inoculated with a nonlimiting amount of fluorescently labeled (i.e.
C-, N-, or P-rich) substrate. Using soil slurries in the assay serves to minimize limitations on enzyme and substrate diffusion. Therefore, this assay controls for differences in substrate limitation, diffusion rates, and soil pH conditions; thus detecting potential enzyme activity rates as a function of the difference in enzyme concentrations (per sample).
Fluorescence enzyme assays are typically more sensitive than spectrophotometric (i.e.
colorimetric) assays, but can suffer from interference caused by impurities and the instability of many fluorescent compounds when exposed to light; so caution is required when handling fluorescent substrates. Likewise, this method only assesses potential enzyme activities under laboratory conditions when substrates are not limiting. Caution should be used when interpreting the data representing cross-site comparisons with differing temperatures or soil types, as in situ
soil type and temperature can influence enzyme kinetics.
Environmental Sciences, Issue 81, Ecological and Environmental Phenomena, Environment, Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology, Soil Microbiology, Ecology, Eukaryota, Archaea, Bacteria, Soil extracellular enzyme activities (EEAs), fluorometric enzyme assays, substrate degradation, 4-methylumbelliferone (MUB), 7-amino-4-methylcoumarin (MUC), enzyme temperature kinetics, soil
Fluorescent in situ Hybridization on Mitotic Chromosomes of Mosquitoes
Institutions: Virginia Tech.
Fluorescent in situ
hybridization (FISH) is a technique routinely used by many laboratories to determine the chromosomal position of DNA and RNA probes. One important application of this method is the development of high-quality physical maps useful for improving the genome assemblies for various organisms. The natural banding pattern of polytene and mitotic chromosomes provides guidance for the precise ordering and orientation of the genomic supercontigs. Among the three mosquito genera, namely Anopheles
, a well-established chromosome-based mapping technique has been developed only for Anopheles
, whose members possess readable polytene chromosomes 1
. As a result of genome mapping efforts, 88% of the An. gambiae
genome has been placed to precise chromosome positions 2,3
. Two other mosquito genera, Aedes
have poorly polytenized chromosomes because of significant overrepresentation of transposable elements in their genomes 4, 5, 6
. Only 31 and 9% of the genomic supercontings have been assigned without order or orientation to chromosomes of Ae. aegypti 7
and Cx. quinquefasciatus 8
, respectively. Mitotic chromosome preparation for these two species had previously been limited to brain ganglia and cell lines. However, chromosome slides prepared from the brain ganglia of mosquitoes usually contain low numbers of metaphase plates 9
. Also, although a FISH technique has been developed for mitotic chromosomes from a cell line of Ae. aegypti 10
, the accumulation of multiple chromosomal rearrangements in cell line chromosomes 11
makes them useless for genome mapping. Here we describe a simple, robust technique for obtaining high-quality mitotic chromosome preparations from imaginal discs (IDs) of 4th
instar larvae which can be used for all three genera of mosquitoes. A standard FISH protocol 12
is optimized for using BAC clones of genomic DNA as a probe on mitotic chromosomes of Ae. aegypti and Cx. quinquefasciatus,
and for utilizing an intergenic spacer (IGS) region of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) as a probe on An. gambiae
In addition to physical mapping, the developed technique can be applied to population cytogenetics and chromosome taxonomy/systematics of mosquitoes and other insect groups.
Immunology, Issue 67, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Entomology, Infectious Disease, imaginal discs, mitotic chromosomes, genome mapping, FISH, fluorescent in situ hybridization, mosquitoes, Anopheles, Aedes, Culex
Investigating the Microbial Community in the Termite Hindgut - Interview
Institutions: California Institute of Technology - Caltech.
Jared Leadbetter explains why the termite-gut microbial community is an excellent system for studying the complex interactions between microbes. The symbiotic relationship existing between the host insect and lignocellulose-degrading gut microbes is explained, as well as the industrial uses of these microbes for degrading plant biomass and generating biofuels.
Microbiology, issue 4, microbial community, diversity