microPublication biologyPub Date : 2025-05-28eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001461
Martha Smith-Caldas, Christopher Herren, Victoria Thurm, Dasik Clouse, Aidan Ozga, Elizabeth Herrman, Ashley Hine, Kyla Hornback, Nathan Jones, Erika Kline, Lexi Pitts, Rece Buckmaster, Camille Carrier, Marie Dios, MacKenzie Dunigan, Selah Hageman, Maddy Kang, Molly Kang, Madison Sims, Landon Taylor, Bailey Wilson, Taz Zeigler
{"title":"Flint Hills Phages: Isolation Parameters and Genomic Characteristics of 23 Phages.","authors":"Martha Smith-Caldas, Christopher Herren, Victoria Thurm, Dasik Clouse, Aidan Ozga, Elizabeth Herrman, Ashley Hine, Kyla Hornback, Nathan Jones, Erika Kline, Lexi Pitts, Rece Buckmaster, Camille Carrier, Marie Dios, MacKenzie Dunigan, Selah Hageman, Maddy Kang, Molly Kang, Madison Sims, Landon Taylor, Bailey Wilson, Taz Zeigler","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001461","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001461","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacteriophages reported in this announcement were isolated on <i>Mycobacterium smegmatis</i> mc <sup>2</sup> 155, <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i> NRRL B-24224, and <i>Gordonia terrae</i> CAG3. The 24 phages span 19 different clusters, and range in genome length from 41.8 kbp to 151.1 kbp. Phage CherryTomatoes is only the fourth reported actinobacteriophage isolated using <i>G. terrae</i> that possesses a myovirus morphology.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12159759/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144287499","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 : 2025-05-27eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001532
Mina E Phipps, Penelope R Baker, Luise Bachmann, Soyeon Park, Malia J Perez, Shay Nair Sharma, Yvette Soto-Hernandez, Malaya Gaerlan, Marco Carrillo, Sofia Ceva, Sowmya Chundi, Binta Diallo, Juliana N Fong, Kelly Huang, Jennifer Jackson, Jasmine Padilla, Leslie Quintana, Katelyn Santa Maria, Sadie M Sarkisian, Paloma R Sequeira, Eva U Tatlock, Bryan H Juarez, Najva Akbari, Max Madrzyk, Lauren A O'Connell
{"title":"Olfactory cues elicit species-specific locomotive responses in poison frog tadpoles.","authors":"Mina E Phipps, Penelope R Baker, Luise Bachmann, Soyeon Park, Malia J Perez, Shay Nair Sharma, Yvette Soto-Hernandez, Malaya Gaerlan, Marco Carrillo, Sofia Ceva, Sowmya Chundi, Binta Diallo, Juliana N Fong, Kelly Huang, Jennifer Jackson, Jasmine Padilla, Leslie Quintana, Katelyn Santa Maria, Sadie M Sarkisian, Paloma R Sequeira, Eva U Tatlock, Bryan H Juarez, Najva Akbari, Max Madrzyk, Lauren A O'Connell","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001532","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001532","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Amphibian species rear their larvae in distinct environments that may influence how they respond to different sensory stimuli. Here, we investigated the olfactory-mediated locomotive responses of two poison frog species ( <i>Allobates femoralis</i> and <i>Ranitomeya imitator</i> ) that vary in life history strategies. We found that <i>A. femoralis</i> tadpoles spent more time near an injury cue compared to control, while <i>R. imitator</i> tadpoles increased their movement in response to high concentrations of amino acids. These experiments were done in an undergraduate laboratory course, demonstrating how simple behavior assays conducted in a classroom setting can provide practical research experiences and new insights into animal behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12152586/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144276893","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 : 2025-05-26eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001587
Jenna L Storz, Durward L Bevis, Richard W McLaughlin
{"title":"Isolation of <i>Bacillus cereus</i> Group from the Fecal Material of Turtles.","authors":"Jenna L Storz, Durward L Bevis, Richard W McLaughlin","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001587","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001587","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Members of the <i>Bacillus cereus</i> group can be animal and human pathogens. They can be found in foods, the environment and in animals. In this study, two <i>B. cereus</i> group members were isolated in a previous study from the fecal material of endangered Wood Turtles ( <i>Glyptemys insculpta</i> ) and three additional isolates found in the fecal material of painted turtles ( <i>Chrysemys picta</i> ) were characterized. The genomes of the five isolates were sequenced and the toxicogenic profiles were determined using the virulence factor database. The most common enterotoxin genes found were <i>BAS3109</i> , <i>hblA</i> , <i>hblC</i> , <i>hblD</i> , <i>inhA</i> , nheA. <i>nheB</i> , and <i>nheC</i> .</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12150069/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268005","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 : 2025-05-24eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001630
Sreyan Sarkar, Lucero E Rogel-Hernandez, Theresa Logan-Garbisch, Emily Fryer, Victoria Johnson, Miriam B Goodman
{"title":"Valeric acid attracts <i>C. elegans</i> by activating the AWC neurons through a <i>tax-4</i> -dependent signaling pathway.","authors":"Sreyan Sarkar, Lucero E Rogel-Hernandez, Theresa Logan-Garbisch, Emily Fryer, Victoria Johnson, Miriam B Goodman","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001630","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001630","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Medicinal plants of the <i>Valeriana</i> genus have been traditionally used around the world to treat several nervous system disorders, yet our understanding of how they do so remains poorly understood. To deepen the understanding of their ability to influence nervous system pathways, we explored the ability of the model organism <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> to chemotax to crude extracts of <i>Valeriana officinalis</i> and found that <i>C. elegans</i> are weakly attracted to it. Upon investigating which chemical entities give rise to this behavior, we identified valeric acid (VA) as a primary candidate. Through chemotaxis assays, we show that wild-type <i>C. elegans</i> are strongly attracted to VA in a dose-dependent manner. Chemotaxis assays with mutant strains of <i>C. elegans</i> deficient in chemosensation indicate that the <i>tax-4</i> -dependent nervous pathways are most heavily responsible for detecting VA. However, <i>osm-9</i> -dependent pathways may also play a small role in regulating the worm's response to VA. Additionally, animals lacking AWC neurons are indifferent to this compound, and therefore, future research should focus on what molecular entities grant the AWC neurons the ability to detect VA.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12145527/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251187","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 : 2025-05-23eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001225
Nicolas L Cerioni, Harrison L Uhl, Mara A Welty, Jacob J Adler
{"title":"Soil microbiome analysis of cultivated tomato ( <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> ) plants.","authors":"Nicolas L Cerioni, Harrison L Uhl, Mara A Welty, Jacob J Adler","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001225","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microbial biodiversity is critical to tomato plant health. The symbiotic relationship between tomato plants and their soil microbiome influences the plants' ability to absorb nutrients and adapt to environmental stresses. This study compared the soil microbiome between tomato plants appearing healthy versus those appearing unhealthy. There were no significant differences in overall bacterial biodiversity between the conditions. However, a specific beneficial genus ( <i>Sphingomonas</i> ) and its phylum Proteobacteria (Pseudomonadota) were found at significantly higher amounts in healthy plants' soil compared to unhealthy plants' soil. Our findings show the need for further examination of the benefits of <i>Sphingomonas</i> for tomato plants.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12144567/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251186","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 : 2025-05-22eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001624
Marie Croisier, Coralie Busso, Nils Kalbfuss, Alexander Woglar, Graham Knott, Pierre Gönczy
{"title":"Electron microscopy ascertains presence of centrioles in rectal epithelial cells of <i>C. elegans</i> L1 larvae.","authors":"Marie Croisier, Coralie Busso, Nils Kalbfuss, Alexander Woglar, Graham Knott, Pierre Gönczy","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001624","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001624","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Centrioles are microtubule-based organelles important for cellular organization and function. <i>C. elegans</i> embryos undergo extensive programmed centriole elimination, with merely 7 post-mitotic cells retaining a focus of the centriolar proteins SAS-4 and SAS-7 in L1 larvae. Here, we addressed whether such foci correspond to <i>bona fide</i> centrioles by conducting serial-section electron microscopy. Our analysis ascertains that centriolar microtubule configurations are indeed present in the B, F, U and Y rectal epithelial cells. Therefore, centrioles are truly spared from elimination in these cells, calling for investigating the importance of such retention compared to the elimination program occurring in most post-mitotic cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12138532/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144236128","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 : 2025-05-22eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001540
Crystal Uminski, Shreya Sujith, Aneesh Nallani, Bryan Armpriest, L Kate Wright, Dina L Newman, Mingyu Yang
{"title":"Showing the Bonds-A Subtle but Important Difference in Figure Design that May Alleviate Student Confusion about ATP Hydrolysis.","authors":"Crystal Uminski, Shreya Sujith, Aneesh Nallani, Bryan Armpriest, L Kate Wright, Dina L Newman, Mingyu Yang","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001540","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001540","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A misconception among biology students is that breaking bonds in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) releases energy. This misconception may be related to imprecise representations of chemical bonding in common diagrams of ATP hydrolysis. We interviewed 33 undergraduate students and randomly assigned them to interpret a figure of ATP hydrolysis that either emphasized bond breaking in the reactants or the formation of new bonds in the products. Students who saw the figure emphasizing bond breaking were more likely to incorrectly classify ATP hydrolysis as endergonic, while students who saw the figure explicitly illustrating bond formation were more likely to use chemically-sound reasoning to describe the reaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12142379/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144251185","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 : 2025-05-21eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001492
Christophe Regeard, Florence Constantinesco-Becker, Anne Lopes, Ana A Arteni, Malika Ouldali, Laura Pieri, Monique Auberdiac, Daniel Delaruelle, Kevin Tambosco, Hakima Abes, Clément Almeida-Monge, Félix Benard, Lucie Boucard, Elsa Chaouat, Juliette Charazac, Caroline Comte, Marie Coutard, Téo Denis, Clarisse Deschamps-Martin, Erwin Filloux, Anastasia Gaultier, Madeleine Gautheret, Hafsa Harrat, Océane Hill, Mattéo Jalmain, Cécile Jolivet, Diane Le Tyrant, Sarah Lopez, Cléa Medin, Camille Outtier, Mélissa Roze, Maria Rubio-Espinal, May-Blue Zeni, Ombeline Rossier
{"title":"Genome Sequences of <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i> Phages BouleyBill and Carostasia, isolated in France.","authors":"Christophe Regeard, Florence Constantinesco-Becker, Anne Lopes, Ana A Arteni, Malika Ouldali, Laura Pieri, Monique Auberdiac, Daniel Delaruelle, Kevin Tambosco, Hakima Abes, Clément Almeida-Monge, Félix Benard, Lucie Boucard, Elsa Chaouat, Juliette Charazac, Caroline Comte, Marie Coutard, Téo Denis, Clarisse Deschamps-Martin, Erwin Filloux, Anastasia Gaultier, Madeleine Gautheret, Hafsa Harrat, Océane Hill, Mattéo Jalmain, Cécile Jolivet, Diane Le Tyrant, Sarah Lopez, Cléa Medin, Camille Outtier, Mélissa Roze, Maria Rubio-Espinal, May-Blue Zeni, Ombeline Rossier","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001492","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001492","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bacteriophages BouleyBill and Carostasia, exhibiting siphovirus morphology, were isolated in France. Both infected <i>Microbacterium foliorum</i> strain NRRL B-24224. Their 39,215-bp and 40,393-bp genomes were assigned to subclusters EA4 and EA10, respectively, widening for the first time the known geographical distribution of these subclusters to Europe.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12138531/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144236129","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 : 2025-05-19eCollection Date: 2025-01-01DOI: 10.17912/micropub.biology.001605
Jennifer M Piechowski, Brian Bagatto
{"title":"Qualitative chemical analysis of cinnamon flavored e-cigarette vapor to identify compounds of interest that may affect cardiovascular function.","authors":"Jennifer M Piechowski, Brian Bagatto","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001605","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001605","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Previous work on the impact of cinnamon flavored electronic cigarette vapor on heart function during early development in zebrafish indicate chemical compounds in the vapor, aside from nicotine, can significantly affect heart function. To determine which compounds were present in the vapor used in our prior study, non-targeted, qualitative gas chromatography/mass spectrometry was performed. Nicotine was found to be present in the nicotine-containing vapor, and it was confirmed to be absent in the nicotine-free vapor. Other chemical compounds that may have affected cardiovascular function in zebrafish were also identified in the analyzed vapors including cinnamaldehyde and eugenol among others.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12131086/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144217730","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":"The Curli Accessory Protein CsgF of <i>Salmonella Typhimurium</i> Influences the in vitro Aggregation of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide.","authors":"Osmar Meza-Barajas, Clayton Connelly, Alejandra Lopez, Isamar Aranda, Ashwag Binmahfooz, Allison Newell, Sajith Jayasinghe","doi":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001565","DOIUrl":"10.17912/micropub.biology.001565","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Curli secretion gene product F (CsgF) is a critical component of the assembly of Curli, proteinaceous filaments, found on the outer surface of gram-negative bacteria such as <i>E. Coli</i> and <i>Salmonella</i> . Herein we describe the ability of CsgF to influence the in-vitro aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP), an amyloidogenic polypeptide that is unrelated to Curli. In the presence of CsgF no increase in Thioflavin T fluorescence was observed for freshly solubilized hIAPP monitored as a function of time, suggesting that CsgF prevents the aggregation of hIAPP during the period of observation. A variant of CsgF lacking the first 65 residues in the N-terminus of CsgF retained the ability to inhibit the aggregation of hIAPP suggesting that the ability of CsgF to inhibit the aggregation of hIAPP is mediated by the C-terminal half of the protein.</p>","PeriodicalId":74192,"journal":{"name":"microPublication biology","volume":"2025 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12131071/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144217731","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}