Project description:We established simple synthetic microbial communities in a microcosm model system to determine the mechanisms that underlay cross-feeding in microbial methane-consuming communities. Co-occurring strains from Lake Washington sediment were used that are involved in methane consumption, a methanotroph and two non-methanotrophic methylotrophs.
Project description:In this study, the transcriptional profiles of four deep-sea sculpin fish species (Cottoidei) are described for the first time as part of the study of the adaptation of endemic fishes to different habitats in Lake Baikal. These studies will lead to a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms that ensure the adaptation of endemic species to specific habitats in Lake Baikal, even at depths of more than 500 m (up to 1600 m).
Project description:Color is an important trait in nature, playing a role in selection and speciation. The most important colorants in crustaceans are carotenoids, which in complexes with carotenoid-binding proteins provide an astonishing variety of colors from red to violet. Over 350 species and subspecies of amphipods (Crustacea: Amphipoda) endemic to Lake Baikal exhibit an impressive variability of colors and coloration patterns. However, the mechanisms forming this diversity are underexplored. In this work, we analyze the coloration of two species of endemic Lake Baikal amphipods, Eulimnogammarus cyaneus and E. vittatus. These species are brightly colored and, even more importantly, characterized by intraspecific color variability. We showed that the color of either species strongly correlated with the abundance of two putative carotenoid-binding proteins (the relative abundance of these proteins was higher in blue or teal-colored animals than in the orange- or yellow-colored ones.). With LC-MS/MS, we were able to identifiy these proteins, which turned out to be similar to the pheromone/odorant-binding protein family.
Project description:Bathymodiolin mussels are a group of bivalves associated with deep-sea reducing habitats, such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. These mussels usually engage in an obligatory symbiosis with sulfur and/or methane oxidizing Gammaproteobacteria. In addition to these bacteria, Bathymodiolus heckerae that inhabit gas and oil seeps in Campeche Bay, the southern Gulf of Mexico, host bacteria phylogenetically with the Cycloclasticus genus. We recently discovered the capability for short-chain alkane degradation in draft genomes of symbiotic Cycloclasticus. With proteomics, we investigated whether the genes required for this process are expressed by the symbionts.
Project description:Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) are a top-predator species in the Laurentian Great Lakes that are often used as bioindicators of chemical stressors in the ecosystem. Although many studies are done using these fish to determine concentrations of stressors like legacy persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals, there are currently no proteomic studies on the biological effects these stressors have on the ecosystem. This lack of proteomic studies on Great Lakes lake trout is because there is currently no complete, comprehensive protein database for this species. In this research, we aimed to use proteomic methods and established protein databases from NCBI and UniProtKB to identify potential proteins in the lake trout species. The current study utilized heart tissue and blood from two separate lake trout. Our previous published work on the lake trout liver revealed 4,194 potential protein hits in the NCBI databases and 3,811 potential protein hits in the UniProtKB databases. In the current study, using the NCBI databases we identified 838 potential protein hits for the heart and 580 potential protein hits for the blood of the first lake trout (biological replicate 1). In the second lake trout (biological replicate 2), using the NCBI databases we identified 1,180 potential protein hits for the heart and 561 potential protein hits for the blood. Similar results were obtained using the UniProtKB databases. This study builds on our previous work by continuing to build the first comprehensive lake trout protein database. Through this investigation, we are also able to make observations as to protein homology through evolutionary relationships.
