There is an increasing demand for development of sensors that continuously monitor freshwater safety and quality. Developing sensors with flexible substrates is of interest due to their malleability, cost-effectiveness, and durability. The accuracy and performance of sensors submerged in water for long times can be reduced by biofouling. The goal of this study was to investigate seasonal variation in biofouling microorganisms on two flexible substrates suspended in river and pond water obtained during the summer, winter, or spring. Next generation sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes was used to identify the most abundant adherent prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms on flexible substrates cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). At the domain level, Bacteria were the most abundant biofouling organisms on both COC and PET in river and pond water samples during each season. Protista were the next most abundant microorganism in river water during the summer. Fungi and Archaea were the next most abundant phyla in winter river and pond water. At the lower taxonomic levels, differences in biofouling organisms were observed seasonally and between river and pond water samples. Therefore, different strategies may be required to minimize their adherence to freshwater sensors made from flexible substrates.

Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecological cancer and is clinically classified as Type I or Type II. Type I EC expresses the estrogen receptor ERα, while Type II EC does not and is associated with a poorer prognosis. However, it was found that both Type I (RL95-2) and Type II (KLE) EC cells respond to estrogen, suggesting that an alternative receptor may be responsible for estrogen signaling in Type II EC. Previous studies have shown that G- protein-coupled receptor-30 (GPR30) can also modulate physiological responses to estrogen. GPR30 has also been implicated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which facilitates metastasis by inducing changes in cell characteristics. In this study, it was confirmed that KLE cells responded to estrogen and expressed GPR30. Inhibition of GPR30 in KLE cells decreased cell migration and viability. Furthermore, KLE cells expressed increased levels of vimentin and Snail compared to RL95-2 cells, which are associated with a mesenchymal phenotype. To demonstrate a direct connection between GPR30 and EMT, RL95-2 cells were treated with TGFβ to induce EMT, and levels of GPR30 increased. Understanding the role of GPR30 in Type II EC could lead to expanded therapy options, particularly for patients at risk for metastatic disease.

Adapting to climate change is an important multidisciplinary challenge for cities and metropolitan areas around the world. The availability of online mapping tools that analyze climate change patterns and their impacts may play a significant role in adapting urban systems. The interactive Fitzlab map tool used in this study predicts changes in temperature and rainfall for a given city in the year 2080 and then matches it to a sister city with a similar climate in 2020. The objective of our study was to evaluate climate change adaptation in Detroit, Michigan, by using Google Earth to contrast greenery and urban infrastructure with a comparator city presently experiencing the future climate of Detroit per the Fitzlab map tool. We hypothesized that tree canopy area, infrastructure space, and green space would all differ between Detroit and its comparator city. The Fitzlab map tool found that the 2080 climate of Detroit will be 4.8°C warmer and 63.6% wetter than present, and that its future climate is a match with the present climate of Chester, Pennsylvania. Relative to Chester, Detroit has significantly lower percentages of tree canopy area, significantly higher percentages of infrastructure space, and significantly more variable green space. Based on the present levels of urban vegetation and infrastructure, our study suggests that Detroit is unprepared for the predicted increases in temperature and rainfall over the next 60 years. We propose a citizen science approach for empowering high school STEM programs to support local cities in their exploration of short-term adaptation strategies via Google Earth.

Homing behavior allows individuals to return to a home site when displaced, presumably increasing fitness by increasing access to known food resources, refuges from predators, and breeding opportunities. Homing has been demonstrated in Gasterosteus aculeatus, also known as the threespine stickleback. We hypothesized that because stickleback males guard a nest and tend to the eggs and fry, they should be particularly incentivized to home. In an experiment, we marked and displaced nesting male stickleback over a variety of distances to see how far they were able to home and whether homing success declined with distance displaced. We found that stickleback males did home, which is consistent with other studies. Additionally, we found that the return probability decreased with distance displaced, though not significantly. However, some nests were clearly occupied by new, unmarked males after displacement, meaning that even if an experimentally displaced fish returned, they might not have been able to regain their nest. Removing these cases from the data strengthened the expected negative relationship between distance and return, suggesting that stickleback use landmark cues to navigate home.

Consuming vegetables poses a challenge for individuals with sitosterolemia, a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder characterized by heightened intestinal absorption and decreased biliary excretion of plant sterols. Pathogenic mutations in the ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily G Member 5 (ABCG5) and ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily G Member 8 (ABCG8) genes result in sitosterolemia. ABCG5 and ABCG8 form the ATP-binding cassette transporter protein ABCG5/ABCG8 that functions to efflux plant sterols and cholesterol from the liver and small intestine. This study seeks to predict the pathogenicity of the missense swaps G91E, F399C, R419C, and R419G. These variants were selected based on specific placement within the functional domains of ABCG5. Pathogenicity scores were compared to two pathogenic variants using Mutation Assessor, MetaLR, REVEL, CADD, PolyPhen, and SIFT. ConSurf predicted the amino acid position of each missense swap to be conserved, buried, structural, or exposed. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed differences in movement between the variants and the WT. Our results predict that these variants are pathogenic regarding sitosterolemia. These findings contribute to the understanding of genetic factors influencing sitosterolemia and underscore the importance of further investigations to elucidate the clinical implications of these variants for improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in managing this rare genetic disorder.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, occurs in a specific manner during development. The resulting cell corpses are then recognized and removed by a nearby phagocyte, regulated by three major known pathways in Caenorhabditis elegans. Mutations that inhibit the function of specific proteins in these pathways stop this from occurring efficiently. This study investigated the effects of mutations in these pathways on the development, lifespan, and removal of germline apoptotic cell corpses in a C. elegans model. Two proteins downstream in one of these pathways, the RAB-35 pathway, were also knocked down using RNA interference to study their effects on survival and development of the organisms, and on the removal of germline apoptotic cell corpses. These protein knockdowns provided a method to study the regulation of the CED-10 protein by the RAB-35 protien. The removal of the function of proteins in these pathways showed increased numbers of persisting cell corpses, while also showing slower development and decreased survival than the wildtype strain. The results from this study further the ongoing research into these pathways and their overall effects on the organisms.

Estuarine organisms, such as the model cnidarian the starlet sea anemone (Nematostella vectensis), experience daily variation in their marine environment. The adaptability of N. vectensis can be attributed not only to genetic recombination and natural selection, but potentially to DNA methylation, an heritable and reversible change in DNA expression where a methyl group is added to the five-position carbon on a cytosine ring to alternate gene expression in response to environment changes. This study focuses on understanding microbial metabolite interactions from Bacillus thuringiensis with N. vectensis using the solution containing secreted metabolites from bacterial growth known as cell-free supernatant (CFS). We examined larval development and methylation rates of adult polyp genes. For both experiments, larvae or adult N. vectensis were placed into a 0.5% concentration of CFS for a week. The larvae were observed to determine life stage progression at various time points, and adult N. vectensis had their DNA extracted after exposure. Examining larval development, development time was not affected by the presence of CFS. Analyzing the methylation of genes in adult N. vectensis, a total of 23 differentially methylated genes were noted. Multiple genes were identified as having unknown functions, being uncharacterized, or were pseudogenes. Genes that did present a function were functions related to cell wall integrity & stress response, ubiquitin-like-specific protease, and tRNAs. Genome methylation showed similar groupings of methylated genes between sexes rather than treatment types. Overall, our work provides insight into the role of CFS within estuarine environments and its potential effects on marine invertebrate survival.