microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-11eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002174
Lola O McMullan, Joseph S Taylor, Regina Hanlon, Alex T Harris, Joel L Shuman, David G Schmale Iii, Bastiaan O R Bargmann
{"title":"A Non-Invasive Pathogen‑Responsive RUBY Reporter Enables Visible Monitoring of <i>PR1</i> Activation.","authors":"Lola O McMullan, Joseph S Taylor, Regina Hanlon, Alex T Harris, Joel L Shuman, David G Schmale Iii, Bastiaan O R Bargmann","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002174","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002174","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We report a non‑invasive, pathogen‑responsive reporter system in Arabidopsis thaliana generated by placing the PR1 (AT2G14610) promoter upstream of the betalain‑producing RUBY cassette. Two independent transgenic lines showed robust, dose‑dependent red pigmentation accumulation in response to flg22 (a flagellin-derived peptide) and salicylic acid (a defense-signaling molecule that induces <i>PR1</i> ) in both seedling and adult tissues. This reporter provides a simple, low‑cost visual readout of defense activation without the need for destructive sampling or specialized instrumentation. Seeds have been deposited at ABRC, and the plasmid has been made available through Addgene.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13507895/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148834030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-11eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002271
Rushali Kamath, Prasad Kasturi
{"title":"Revisiting the Small Heat Shock Protein Family in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans:</i> Insights from Phylogenetic, Structural, and Functional Analyses.","authors":"Rushali Kamath, Prasad Kasturi","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002271","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002271","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are ATP-independent molecular chaperones with diverse cellular functions. Here, we systematically reassessed two subfamilies of sHSPs in <i>C. elegans</i> by integrating evolutionary, genomic, and biophysical analyses. We report analysis of 18 α-crystallin domain-containing sHSPs, including two previously uncharacterized HSP-16-like proteins (designated <i>hsp-16.31</i> & <i>hsp-16.32</i> ). This analysis also supports the inclusion of two other proteins, ZK1128.7 and Y55F3BR.6 , as additional members of the <i>C. elegans</i> sHSP family. Comparative analyses reveal substantial diversity in tissue expression, intrinsic disorder, and liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) propensity, highlighting extensive functional specialization within the family.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13507900/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148835071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-11eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002251
Sofia Sileo, Daniela Lopez Llorens, Alaina Bowers, Trisha Chhabra, Natalie Clark, Himani Gangumolu, Lucy Gast, Madison Gicale, Vidhi Grover, Roby Hardesty, Kaylee Hutchison, Sanam Krishnani, Landon Patton, Logan Robinson, Ash Sheehan, Shelby Spencer, Nicholas Sugimoto, Simon Sy, Sophia Thomas, Claire A Rinehart, Rodney A King
{"title":"Complete Genome Sequences of Mycobacteriophages TribleTrouble, TClif, Llorens and CallaLilly.","authors":"Sofia Sileo, Daniela Lopez Llorens, Alaina Bowers, Trisha Chhabra, Natalie Clark, Himani Gangumolu, Lucy Gast, Madison Gicale, Vidhi Grover, Roby Hardesty, Kaylee Hutchison, Sanam Krishnani, Landon Patton, Logan Robinson, Ash Sheehan, Shelby Spencer, Nicholas Sugimoto, Simon Sy, Sophia Thomas, Claire A Rinehart, Rodney A King","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002251","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002251","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We report the genome sequences of four novel phages that infect <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> mc <sup>2</sup> 155. Phages TribleTrouble, TClif, Llorens and CallaLilly have siphovirus morphology and double-stranded DNA genomes consisting of 61,665bp, 61,466bp, 59,708bp and 59,631bp, respectively. Based on gene content similarity, these phages belong to the K cluster of Mycobacterium phages. No novel genomic features were noted beyond those previously observed for phages of the K cluster.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13561387/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148946301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-10eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002296
Brianna Lowry, Pablo Chialvo, Clare Scott Chialvo
{"title":"Gene model for the ortholog of <i>gfzf</i> in <i>Drosophila cardini</i>.","authors":"Brianna Lowry, Pablo Chialvo, Clare Scott Chialvo","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002296","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002296","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We developed a gene model for the <i>GST-containing FLYWCH zinc-finger protein</i> ortholog ( <i>gfzf</i> ) in the ASM1890373v1 Genome Assembly (GenBank Accession: GCA_018903735.1 ) of <i>Drosophila cardini</i> . This ortholog was characterized as part of a developing dataset for a comparative study of detoxification gene family evolution in the <i>immigrans</i> - <i>tripunctata</i> radiation of the genus <i>Drosophila</i> using an adapted Genomics Education Partnership gene annotation protocol for Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13501235/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148815103","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genomic Characterization of Bacteriophage Babydotz, Isolated from <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i>.","authors":"Harris McFerrin, Dahlia Ahmed, Justice Austin, Classie Baker, Skyler Brown, Kaionah Cooper, Kennedy Drake, Liyah Galbert, Jillian Harris, Nora Herrera, Gerald Jones, Camerin Kimble, Alicia Lewis, Leianna Yancey, Michael Khalil, Shaundessy Perry","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001869","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001869","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microbacteriophage Babydotz was isolated in Moorhead, Minnesota in 2020 by infecting <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i> NRRL B-24224. Based on gene content, is is assigned to actinobacteriophage cluster EG. With no identifiable genes involved in lysogeny, it is predicted to have a lytic life cycle.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13504424/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148820594","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-10eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002294
Madisyn A Hildenbrand, Klejdi Lako, Ugo Coppola
{"title":"Pilot: Wnt signaling controls <i>pgam2</i> expression in zebrafish cardiomyocytes.","authors":"Madisyn A Hildenbrand, Klejdi Lako, Ugo Coppola","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002294","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002294","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The relationship between developmental signaling pathways and basal metabolism in zebrafish hearts is still unexplored. Given the key role of canonical Wnt signaling in zebrafish cardiac development, our study analyzes the responsiveness to Wnt of <i>phosphoglycerate mutase 2</i> ( <i>pgam2</i> ), which catalyzes the glycolytic conversion of 3-phosphoglycerate to 2-phosphoglycerate. Notably, Pgam2 emerged as a gateway between glycolytic and cholesterol metabolism for its intersection with ATP generation within the cell. Since Pgam2 is linked to overall metabolic homeostasis and multiple cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), it represents a perfect candidate to dissect the Wnt involvement in the basic metabolism of developing cardiomyocytes.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13504425/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148820574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-10eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002241
Symphony A Rutkowski, Neila V Serumaga, Eva J Bond, Jane C Kim
{"title":"Rad51 strand invasion function is needed for its role in CCTG tetranucleotide DNA repeat contractions.","authors":"Symphony A Rutkowski, Neila V Serumaga, Eva J Bond, Jane C Kim","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002241","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002241","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Myotonic Dystrophy Type 2 is a genetic disorder caused by expanded CCTG DNA repeats in the <i>CNBP</i> gene. By using a genetic assay in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> and knocking out <i>RAD51</i> , we previously found that homologous recombination is involved in large-scale CCTG repeat contractions. In this study, we measured contraction rates using the <i>RAD51-II3A</i> allele, which is defective in homology search and strand invasion. We found that the mean contraction rate in the <i>RAD51-II3A</i> strain was indistinguishable from <i>rad51Δ</i> , indicating that structural properties alone of the repetitive CCTG sequence cannot initiate double strand break repair by promoting strand invasion.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13504426/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148820522","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-09eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002217
Ava Chon, Runtian Jiang, Yuxuan Guo, Yamin K Phyu, Lilly M Goldberg, Erin C Schiksnis, Amy E Pasquinelli, Sierra D Palumbos
{"title":"The miRNA Argonaute protein, ALG-2, maintains neurobehaviors in adult <i>C. elegans</i>.","authors":"Ava Chon, Runtian Jiang, Yuxuan Guo, Yamin K Phyu, Lilly M Goldberg, Erin C Schiksnis, Amy E Pasquinelli, Sierra D Palumbos","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002217","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002217","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>microRNAs (miRNAs) are short, non-coding RNAs essential for gene regulation in many different processes, including neuronal development. However, the role of the miRNA pathway in maintaining neuronal health throughout aging is less understood. Here, we ask how the miRNA pathway in adulthood impacts neurobehaviors in <i>C. elegans</i> . Argonaute-like Gene 2 ( ALG-2 ) is a protein required for the accumulation and function of certain miRNAs in <i>C. elegans</i> . Using the auxin-inducible degron 2 (AID2) system for temporal knockdown, we demonstrate that the miRNA Argonaute protein, ALG-2 , is required throughout adulthood to maintain two well-characterized neurobehaviors, basal slowing response and mechanosensation.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13499938/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148809554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-07eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002295
Autumn E Gray, Catherine E Lipovsky
{"title":"Cardiotoxic Effects of Acute 4.5 mM Caffeine Exposure in 2-to-3-Day-Old Zebrafish are Attenuated by Tricaine.","authors":"Autumn E Gray, Catherine E Lipovsky","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002295","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002295","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A previous study reported that 4 mM caffeine halted cardiac activity in 2-to-3-day-old zebrafish embryos by 72 minutes of exposure, although it remains unclear whether this resulted from a combined effect of caffeine and anesthesia. We demonstrate that 4.5 mM Caffeine significantly alters heart rate and rhythm in 2-to-3-day-old zebrafish embryos with or without tricaine anesthesia but rarely abolishes cardiac activity, even after ~24.5 hours of exposure. Notably, tricaine anesthesia co-administration significantly attenuated caffeine-induced bradycardia at ~2.5 hours and reduced the incidence of arrhythmias at both ~2.5 and ~24.5 hours post-treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13498993/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148802727","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
microPublication biologyPub Date : 2026-08-06eCollection Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.002266
Emma R Haxen, Mazharul Islam, Alexandra Grabowski, Sofie Mohlin, Nicole R Posth, Sandeep Gopal, Emma U Hammarlund
{"title":"Ecologically relevant low oxygen levels reduce unfertilized oocyte output in <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i>.","authors":"Emma R Haxen, Mazharul Islam, Alexandra Grabowski, Sofie Mohlin, Nicole R Posth, Sandeep Gopal, Emma U Hammarlund","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002266","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.002266","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> naturally inhabits low-oxygen environments but is typically studied at 21% oxygen. We cultured adult <i>C. elegans</i> at 2.5%, 5%, and 21% oxygen during the fertile period, quantifying daily output of hatched larvae, unfertilized oocytes, and abnormal progeny (unhatched embryos, dead or deformed larvae). While we found no evidence for increased fertility at low oxygen levels compared to 21%, we observed a trend towards fewer unfertilized oocytes after peak fertility at 5% oxygen and significantly fewer at 2.5%. Our results indicate that reproductive output differs between laboratory conditions (high oxygen) and moderately low oxygen levels (closer to natural environments).</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2026 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13494709/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148802185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}