Description: This paper discusses research on acetylcholine-containing neuroepithelial cells in fish gills. Abstract: The neurochemical link between O2 chemoreceptors and afferent nerves that carry information about O2 levels to cardio-ventilatory centers in the brain has yet to be determined. This study examines the roles of two candidate neurotransmitters thought to be involved in O2 chemoreception, using channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus. Fish gills are the evolutionary progenitors of arterial arches (aortic and carotid) of mammals where O2 chemoreceptors are located. Neuroepithelial cells (NECs) containing serotonin (5-HT) and acetylcholine (Ach) were confirmed in the first gill arch using immunohistochemistry and laser confocal microscopy. 5-HT-containing NECs were aggregated around the efferent branchial artery, near tips of filaments and lamellae, ACh-containing NECs at the distal tips of filaments. Preliminary co-localization experiments indicate separate 5-HT and Ach-containing cells. This is the first demonstration of ACh-containing NECs and results of this study support pharmacological studies suggesting that ACh is the primary neurochemical involved in O2 chemoreception in vertebrates.

Description: This presentation discusses research on the Adopt-A-Molecule project. Adopt-A-Molecule was a 9-week long, two-part term project, undertaken by students enrolled in the first of the two-semester sequence in organic chemistry (Fall 2009). This newly developed project was an attempt to increase students' interest in organic chemistry by giving them semester-long opportunities to actively explore a range of organic compounds and their varied applications in the real world.

Description: This article discusses the AGC Kinase gene MtIRE. Abstract: The development of nitrogen fixing root nodules is complex and involves an interplay of signaling processes. During maturation of plant host cells and their endocytosed rhizobia in symbiosomes, host cells and symbiosomes expand. This expansion is accompanied by a large quantity of membrane biogenesis. The authors recently characterized an AGC kinase gene, MtIRE, that could play a role in this expansion. MtIRE's expression coincides with host cell and symbiosome expansion in the proximal side of the invasion zone in developing Medicago truncatula nodules. MtIRE's closest homolog is the Arabidopsis AGC kinase family IRE gene, which regulates root hair elongation. AGC kinases are regulated by phospholipid signaling in animals and fungi as well as in the several instances where they have been studied in plants. Here we suggest that a phospholipid signaling pathway may also activate MtIRE activity and propose possible upstream activators of MtIRE protein's presumed AGC kinase activity.

Description: This poster discusses research on antibiotic resistant bacteria emerging from the agricultural industry. The objectives of this study are: 1. Determine which antibiotics used in individual species feed have a direct correlation with increased levels of specific antibiotic resistant bacteria; 2. Investigate the possible link between antibiotic resistant bacteria and contamination of ground water due to waste runoff; 3. Investigate possible connections between animal husbandry workers and increased antibiotic resistant bacterial infection rates; 4. Investigate how resistance emerges; and 5. Investigate the cost to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Description: This article discusses BOV, a web-based BLAST output visualization tool. Abstract: Background: The BLAST program is one of the most widely used sequence similarity search tools for genomic research, even by those biologists lacking extensive bioinformatics training. As the availability of sequence data increases, more researchers are downloading the BLAST program for local installation and performing larger and more complex tasks, including batch queries. In order to manage and interpret the results of batch queries, a host of software packages have been developed to assist with data management and post-processing. Among these programs, there is almost a complete lack of visualization tools to provide graphic representation of complex BLAST pair-wise alignments. The authors have developed a web-based program, BLAST Output Visualization Tool (BOV), that allows users to interactively visualize the matching regions of query and database hit sequences, thereby allowing the user to quickly and easily dissect complex matching patterns. Results: Users can upload the standard BLAST output in pair-wise alignment format as input to the web server (including batch queries generated installing and running the stand-alone BLAST program on a local server). The program extracts the alignment coordinates of matching regions between the query and the corresponding database hit ...