Project description:To determine whether and how warming affects the functional capacities of the active microbial communities, GeoChip 5.0 microarray was used. Briefly, four fractions of each 13C-straw sample were selected and regarded as representative for the active bacterial community if 16S rRNA genes of the corresponding 12C-straw samples at the same density fraction were close to zero.
Project description:Here we have compared adult wildtype (N2) C. elegans gene expression when grown on different bacterial environments/fod sources in an effort to model naturally occuring nematode-bacteria interactions at the Konza Prairie. We hypothesize that human-induced changes to natural environments, such as the addition of nitrogen fertalizer, have effects on the bacterial community in soils and this drives downstream changes in the structure on soil bacterial-feeding nematode community structure. Here we have used transcriptional profiling to identify candidate genes involved in the interaction of nematodes and bacteria in nature.
Project description:Exposure to indoor air pollution generated from the combustion of solid fuels is a major risk factor for a spectrum of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including lung cancer. In Chinaâs rural counties of Xuanwei and Fuyuan, lung cancer rates are among the highest in the country. While the elevated disease risk in this population has been linked to the widespread usage of bituminous (smoky) coal as compared to anthracite (smokeless) coal, the underlying physiologic mechanism that smoky coal induces in comparison to other fuel types is unclear. As we have previously used airway gene-expression profiling to gain molecular insights into the physiologic effects of cigarette smoke, here we profiled the buccal epithelium of residents exposed to the burning of smoky and smokeless coal in order to understand the physiologic effects of solid fuels. Buccal mucosa scrapings were collected from healthy, non-smoking female residents of Xuanwei and Fuyuan counties who burn coal indoors. RNA was isolated and hybridized onto Affymetrix Human gene 1.0 ST GeneChips, capturing the gene-expression response of (n=26) smoky coal users and (n=9) smokeless coal users. 24-hour indoor personal exposure levels (PM2.5, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) were also captured during this sampling period.