Project description:Population dynamics of methanogenic genera was investigated in pilot anaerobic digesters. Cattle manure and two-phase olive mill wastes were codigested at a 3:1 ratio in two reactors operated at 37 ï¾°C and 55 ï¾°C. Other two reactors were run with either residue at 37 ï¾°C. Sludge DNA extracted from samples taken from all four reactors on days 4, 14 and 28 of digestion was used for hybridisation with the AnaeroChip, an oligonucleotide microarray targeting those groups of methanogenic archaea that are commonly found under mesophilic and thermophilic conditions (Franke-Whittle et al. 2009, in press, doi:10.1016/j.mimet.2009.09.017).
Project description:The performance of a lab-scale wastewater treatment plant during the start-up phase was investigated. A period of varying pH resulted in the loss of ammonium removal efficiency together with a decrease in the specific autotrophic oxygen uptake rate (OUR). From the OUR, it was inferred that the ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were inhibited by the fluctuation in the pH values. However, OUR alone could not provide the information as to how the AOB were affected at the molecular level. To gain a better insight, shotgun proteomic method was used in this work to quantify the total proteins in the system. Label-free quantification (LFQ) showed that during the time of poor ammonium removal, the marker enzyme hydroxylamine oxidase found in Nitrosomonas sp. was at the lowest LFQ intensity. Based on these results, proteomics has the potential to be used as a monitoring tool. Nevertheless, there are still some restrictions when measuring activated sludge using proteomic method such as the availability of a suitable proteomic database. In this paper, we describe our experience of using publicly available database for identification of activated sludge proteins.
Project description:Understanding the molecular basis of how the tick adapts to feed on different animal hosts is central to understanding tick and tick-borne disease (TBD) epidemiology. Tick adaptation to feed on vertebrate hosts is regulated by tick secretion of multiple tick saliva proteins (TSPs) and other molecules that regulate tick feeding. This study was initiated to determine if ticks such as Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum that are adapted to feed on multiple hosts utilized the same sets of proteins to accomplish feeding on all hosts. Our data suggest that ticks of the same species differentially express proteins when feeding on diffent hosts. SDS-PAGE and silver staining analysis revealed unique protein eletrophoretic profile in saliva of Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum that were stimulated to start feeding on different hosts: rabbits, humans, and dogs. LC-MS/MS sequencing and pairwise analysis of proteins in saliva of I. scapularis and A. americanum ticks that were non-stimulated and those that were stimulated to feed on rabbits, dogs, or humans identified TSPs that were unique to each treatment and those that were common. Overal, we identified a total of 276 and 340 non-redundant I. scapularis and A. americanum TSPs, which we have classified into 28 functional classes that include secreted conserved proteins (unknown functions), proteinase inhibitors, lipocalins, extracellular matrix/cell adhesion, heme/iron metabolism, signal transduction and immunity-related proteins being the most predominant in saliva of unfed ticks. With exception of Rhipicephalus microplus, anti-tick vaccine research relies on feeding lab animals. Data here suggest that lab animal data could result in prioritizing irrelevant targets as some tick genes are unique to ticks fed on lab animals. This study provides the platform that could be utilized to identify relevant target anti-tick vaccine antigens, and will facilitate early stage tick feeding research.
Project description:To identify genes differentially expressed during the molt, we collected RNA 30-40 minutes after feeding cessation at the start of the fourth larval stage (L4) lethargus. Additional time points for RNA collection were in the mid-L4 stage, approximately four hours prior to lethargus, and in the young adult stage, four hours after lethargus. These samples were interrogated with the Affymetrix C. elegans Genome Array. A total of 1,804 gene transcripts were up regulated, and 1,088 gene transcripts were down regulated, during the L4 lethargus period compared to the L4 and Adult stages (false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05).
Project description:To identify genes differentially expressed during L3 lethargus, we collected RNA during the third larval stage (L3) lethargus period, 37 hours after feeding developmentally-arrested L1 animals. Animals in lethargus were identified based on quiescence of locomotion and feeding. Additional time point for RNA collection was in the mid-L3 stage, 32 hours after feeding developmentally-arrested L1 animals. These samples were interrogated with the Affymetrix C. elegans Genome Array. A total of 153 gene transcripts were up regulated, and 48 gene transcripts were down regulated, during the L3 lethargus period compared to the L3 stage (false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.05).