基于16S rRNA和rpoB基因的分子系统发育分析在铜绿假单胞菌鉴定中的应用

为对比16S rRNA和rpo B基因分子系统发育分析与传统表型分类法对铜绿假单胞菌的鉴定,评估16S rRNA和rpo B基因序列分析在铜绿假单胞菌鉴定中的应用,用表型分类方法对临床自动微生物鉴定系统鉴定为铜绿假单胞菌的23株分离株进行再鉴定,PCR扩增23株分离株16S rRNA和rpo B基因片段,并测序进行系统发育分析。结果表明,表型再鉴定结果与自动微生物鉴定系统鉴定结果一致。基于两个基因的系统发育分析均显示分离株p22与不动杆菌属序列聚为一枝,其余22株分离株与铜绿假单胞菌序列聚为一枝。因此p22应鉴定为不动杆菌,16S rRNA和rpo B基因序列分析均能准确鉴定铜绿假单胞菌并能较好建立假单胞菌属内种间关系。     

多药耐药铜绿假单胞菌氨基糖苷类修饰酶和16S rRNA甲基化酶基因分析

目的了解临床分离的铜绿假单胞菌对氨基糖苷类、β-内酰胺类、喹诺酮类抗菌药物耐药情况、氨基糖苷类耐药相关基因和16S rRNA甲基化酶基因存在情况以及菌株之间的亲缘性。方法采用琼脂稀释法测定临床分离的30株铜绿假单胞菌对7种临床常用于治疗铜绿假单胞菌感染的抗菌药物的敏感性,采用聚合酶链反应分析氨基糖苷类修饰酶、16S rRNA甲基化酶基因型及其他基因型,运用SPSS统计分析软件对菌株样本亲缘性做聚类分析。结果30株铜绿假单胞菌对临床常用抗生素的耐药率分别是奈替米星70%、妥布霉素63.3%、庆大霉素63.3%、环丙沙星53.3%、亚氨培南40%和阿米卡星13.3%,而多黏菌素B的耐药率为0。21株氨基糖苷类耐药菌株中（其中20株为多药耐药菌株）,氨基糖苷类耐药基因型aac（6＇）-Ⅰ阳性13株（61.9%）、aac（6＇）-Ⅱ阳性13株（61.9%）、ant（2＇＇）-Ⅰ阳性10株（47.6%）、ant（3＇＇）-Ⅰ阳性9株（42.9%）、aac（3）-Ⅱ阳性1株（4.8%）,另有1株菌oprD2基因缺失,未检出基因型aac（6＇）-Ⅰae、aph（3＇）-Ⅲ、aac（6＇）-aph（2＇＇）和ant（4＇）-Ⅰ;16S rRNA甲基化酶基因rmtA基因型阳性19株（90.4%）、armA基因型阳性有8株（38.1%）,未检出基因型rmtC、rmtD。聚类分析结果显示分离的菌株中存在克隆传播。结论大部分测试的铜绿假单胞菌对临床常用的铜绿假单胞菌抗感染药物已产生广泛耐药,尤其对氨基糖苷类抗生素。这些菌株的氨基糖苷类修饰酶常见耐药基因型检出率高,16SrRNA甲基化酶基因型rmtA和armA的检出率亦较高。30株测试菌株中存在克隆传播。     

铜绿假单胞菌氨基糖苷16SrRNA甲基化酶基因分析

目的调查215株湖州地区临床分离铜绿假单胞菌对氨基糖苷类抗生素的耐药性和16S rRNA甲基化酶基因分布情况。方法收集2011年1月至2012年12月湖州地区临床分离铜绿假单胞菌215株,琼脂稀释法测定5种氨基糖苷类抗菌药物（庆大霉素、阿米卡星、妥布霉素、伊帕米星、奈替米星）的MIC值;PCR检测armA、rmtA、rmtB、rmtC、rmtD和npmA六种氨基糖苷类16S rRN甲基化酶基因,序列分析明确基因型。测定产16S rRNA甲基化酶菌株对常见抗菌的敏感性,并检测碳青霉烯耐药株产碳青霉烯酶情况。结果铜绿假单胞菌对异帕米星敏感率最高为81.4%,对5种氨基糖苷类抗生素全部耐药的22株菌株中,17株检出armA基因;未发现其他16S rRNA甲基化酶基因阳性菌株。17株armA阳性菌株对碳青霉烯类抗生素耐药5株（耐药率为29.4%）,对头孢他啶、头孢吡肟、哌拉西林/他唑巴坦、环丙沙星耐药率均超过40%。5株碳青霉烯耐药菌株中检测到2株产VIM-2型金属碳青霉烯酶。结论铜绿假单胞菌对氨基糖苷类抗生素耐药率高,检测到16S rRNA甲基化酶基因armA。产16S rRNA甲基化酶铜绿假单胞菌耐药性强,部分菌株同时产金属碳青霉烯酶,给临床抗感染治疗及院内感染控制带来挑战。     

广州市白云湖碳素纤维生态草硝化反硝化细菌分离鉴定

为从机理上研究碳素纤维生态草对广州市白云湖的水质净化效果,明确碳素纤维生态草上优势菌群的种类和数量,于2012 年11 月6日对广州市白云湖东湖及生态浮床3 个布设点的碳素纤维生态草进行了取样。运用自行设计的选择培养基,从3 个样品中分离到8 株硝化和反硝化细菌菌株,依次编号为1A、1B、1C、2A、2B、3A、3B、3C。根据形态学、生理生化特征和16S rDNA 基因序列分析,初步鉴定出菌株1C、2B和3C同为亚硝化单胞菌（Nitrosomonas communis）,菌株1B和3A同为变形假单胞菌（Pseudomonas plecoglossicida）,菌株1A 为荧光假单胞菌（Pseudomonas fluorescens）,菌株2A 为施氏假单胞菌（Pseudomonas stutzeri）,菌株3B为恶臭假单胞菌（Pseudomonas putida）,并分别构建了系统发育树。     

蕙兰根内可培养细菌的物种多样性

以MS基本培养基添加蕙兰菌根浸出液制成的培养基进行分离培养的方法,从野生蕙兰（Cymbidium faberi）根部首次分离到内生细菌。经过分离纯化培养获得纯菌株27株。经过16S rDNA基因序列测序,并与GenBank数据比对,其相似性均在98%以上,分析鉴定结果表明,存活的22株菌可分为8属14种。分别隶属于伯克氏菌属（Burkholderia）、假单胞菌属（Pseudomonas）、芽胞杆菌属（Bacillus）、Leifsonia属、贪食菌属（Variovorax）、欧文氏菌属（Erwinia）、Duganella属和不动杆菌属（Acinetobacter）。对这些菌株进行分离培养及鉴定有助于理解兰花与微生物之间的相互作用关系,为开发利用这些微生物开辟新的思路。     

五种假单胞菌的分离鉴定及其生物活性

【目的】从湖南长沙市采集到的土样中分离假单胞菌并进行归类,研究各菌株抑菌和抗肿瘤生物活性,以丰富假单胞菌菌种资源并为微生物次级代谢物的挖掘奠定基础。【方法】采用大蜡螟诱集法诱集分离假单胞菌,结合形态观察、生理生化特征和16S rRNA基因序列同源性分析,鉴定并归类各细菌,通过平板扩散法、对峙培养法和肿瘤细胞毒性试验分别研究各菌株抑制细菌、拮抗真菌和抗肿瘤细胞等生物活性。【结果】从湖南长沙市郊区菜地、林地中分离得到5株假单胞菌,归类并命名为Pseudomonas protegens CY01、绿针假单胞菌CY02(Pseudomonas chlororaphis CY02)、栖稻假单胞菌CY04(Pseudomonas oryzihabitans CY04)、Pseudomonas sp.CY05和恶臭假单胞菌CY06(Pseudomonas putida CY06)。P.protegens CY01和P.chlororaphis CY02对枯草芽胞杆菌(Bacillus subtillis)和金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)具有较好的抑菌效果,P.chlororaphis CY02对水稻稻瘟病菌(Pyricularia oryzae)具有良好的拮抗作用,对小鼠黑色素瘤细胞B16具有较强的细胞毒性。【结论】分离得到的P.chlororaphis CY02,在抑制病原细菌、拮抗水稻稻瘟病菌和抗肿瘤细胞等方面具有显著效果。     

中华草龟荧光假单胞菌的分子鉴定及分析

从患病草龟病灶分离到几株优势菌,对该菌进行革兰氏染色、镜检,在普通肉汤培养基上进行观察。对分离菌株进行生化鉴定及16S rRNA基因序列的克隆、测定,并对其DNA进行测序,在NCBI上进行比对,构建系统进化树,对该菌的基因序列进行分析比对,基于形态学、生理学、生物化学和基因序列分析,将这些菌株鉴定为荧光假单胞菌。药敏实验结果表明该菌对复方新诺明、氧氟沙星、恩诺沙星、诺氟沙星高度敏感,对卡那霉素、四环素、庆大霉素、新霉素、氟苯尼考、氯霉素中度敏感,对头孢噻吩、甲氧苄啶有耐药性。     

高寒草地燕麦根际解植酸磷促生菌鉴定及其优势菌假单胞菌属菌株功能特性

旨为从高寒草地燕麦根际定向筛选解植酸磷微生物资源，筛选促生潜力菌株，分析植酸酶编码基因。采用国际植物研究所磷酸盐生长培养基（NBRIP）分离及筛选菌株，16S rRNA基因鉴定其分类地位，并测定菌株植酸酶活性及促生特性，结合简并PCR和高效热不对称交错PCR(hiTAIL-PCR)扩增植酸酶基因完整序列，并进行生物信息学分析及异源表达。共获得107株菌株，其中51株能在NBRIP培养基上形成清晰溶磷圈，鉴定为2门10科11属，以假单胞菌（Pseudomonas）为优势菌。14株不同种假单胞菌均检测出植酸酶活性，具有溶解有机/无机磷、分泌IAA(3-indoleacetic acid)、固氮及拮抗植物病原菌的促生活性。获得了3株菌株的植酸酶（PHY65、PHY101和PHY131）序列，预测为β-螺旋植酸酶（β-propeller phytases,BPPhy）家族蛋白，其中重组PHY65的比活性为28.2 U/mg。研究结果可为解磷生物菌剂的研发与利用提供优良菌株资源，为植酸酶的生产应用提供理论基础。     

呼吸道与非呼吸道标本主要非发酵菌分离株的耐药性比较

目的对2 229份住院患者标本进行分离培养,并对非发酵菌分离株进行药敏试验,了解呼吸道与非呼吸道主要分离株的耐药率差异,以便指导临床合理使用抗菌药物。方法收集2008年8月至2010年10月分离自患者呼吸道、非呼吸道标本的革兰阴性非发酵菌,采用VITEK-32全自动微生物鉴定药敏仪进行细菌鉴定,药敏测定采用K-B法,并比较呼吸道与非呼吸道标本所检出的主要革兰阴性非发酵菌对抗菌药物的耐药率差异。结果共检出非发酵菌556株,其中呼吸道标本366株,非呼吸道标本190株,前3位非发酵菌分离株分别为铜绿假单胞菌、鲍曼不动杆菌和嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌。非发酵菌菌株ESBLs、AmpC、MBL、同产ESBLs+AmpC和同产ESBLs+MBL检出率分别为17.62%、13.67%、14.39、12.23%和6.12%,其中呼吸道标本分离株铜绿假单胞菌的ESBLs、AmpC检出率明显高于非呼吸道标本(均P<0.05),鲍曼不动杆菌的ESBLs、AmpC检出率明显低于非呼吸道标本(均P<0.05);呼吸道、非呼吸道标本的铜绿假单胞菌、鲍曼不动杆菌和嗜麦芽窄食单胞菌分离株对多种抗生素的耐药率不同,差异均有统计学意义(均P<0.05)。结论呼吸道与非呼吸道标本分离的主要非发酵菌分离株对同一抗菌药物耐药率不同,治疗不同部位非发酵菌引起的感染,要考虑由于感染部位不同而产生的耐药性以及药物有效浓度的差异,根据药敏结果合理使用抗菌药物。     

泽普油田石油降解功能菌株的分离与鉴定

目的:在研究泽普油田产区菌株多态性的基础上,对石油降解功能菌株进行探讨。方法:通过稀释平板涂布法分离微生物;采用TLC和HPLC方法对分离菌株进行多糖成分鉴定,并进行16S rRNA和18S rRNA序列分析;采用溶血圈实验、排油圈法、石油黏度测定等方法,测定石油降解菌株降解能力。结果:分离菌株中有5株细菌和4株真菌,且菌株多糖的TLC分析结果与形态学鉴定结果基本相同;5株分离细菌中,2株细菌隶属于Bacillus属,3株细菌隶属于Enterobacter。另外4株真菌被鉴定为隶属于Penicillium属;分离菌株B2能降解石油。结论:泽普油田石油产区微生物的群落中存在一定丰度的细菌和真菌,含有B2的原油发酵液黏度为0.67±0.20 mPa.s.和原油在0.05水平上有显著性差异。推断B2对石油具有一定的降解能力。     

Preparation of hair for measurement of elements by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS)

The preparation of hair for the determination of elements is a critical component of the analysis procedure. Open-beaker, closedvessel microwave, and flowthrough microwave digestion are methods that have been used for sample preparation and are discussed. A new digestion method for use with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) has been developed. The method uses 0.2 g of hair and 3 mL of concentrated nitric acid in an atmospheric pressurelow-temperature microwave digestion (APLTMD) system. This preparation method is useful in handling a large numbers of samples per day and may be adapted to hair sample weights ranging from 0.08 to 0.3 g. After digestion, samples are analyzed by ICP-MS to determine the concentration of Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, P, S, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ge, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Zr, Mo, Pd, Ag, Cd, Sn, Sb, I, Cs, Ba, Pt, Au, Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Th, and U. Benefits of the APLTMD include reduced contamination and sample handling, and increased precision, reliability, and sample throughput.     

外泌体在白血病中的重要调控作用

目前,白血病复发是患者死亡的主要原因之一。肿瘤细胞和微环境的相互作用,以及隐匿在骨髓中的肿瘤干细胞,促进了白血病的复发和向淋巴组织的转移,因此白血病的治疗、转移和复发问题受到广泛关注。外泌体是由绝大多数细胞分泌的双层脂质膜囊泡,可以调控细胞间的交流和信息传递。在白血病细胞、基质细胞和内皮细胞之间的相互联系中都涉及到外泌体,白血病细胞来源的外泌体存在于白血病患者的血浆中,能把其携带的白血病相关抗原及微小RNA呈递给靶细胞,促进白血病肿瘤细胞的增殖,有助于肿瘤细胞实现免疫逃避,保护白血病细胞抵抗化疗药物导致的细胞毒性作用,促进血管生成及肿瘤细胞的迁移。因此,外泌体与白血病的转移、治疗及预后密切相关,可以用来检测和监测白血病的进展。本文综述了外泌体的来源、形成与分泌机制,以及外泌体在白血病发生前、发展中、预后和免疫治疗中所扮演的重要角色。     

Assessing burrowing, nest construction, and hoarding in mice

Deterioration in the ability to perform "Activities of daily living" (ADL) is an early sign of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Preclinical behavioural screening of possible treatments for AD currently largely focuses on cognitive testing, which frequently demands expensive equipment and lots of experimenter time. However, human episodic memory (the most severely affected aspect of memory in AD) is different to rodent memory, which seems to be largely non-episodic. Therefore the present ways of screening for new AD treatments for AD in rodents are intrinsically unlikely to succeed. A new approach to preclinical screening would be to characterise the ADL of mice. Fortuitously, several such assays have recently been developed at Oxford, and here the three most sensitive and well-characterised are presented. Burrowing was first developed in Oxford. It evolved from a need to develop a mouse hoarding paradigm. Most published rodent hoarding paradigms required a distant food source to be linked to the home cage by a connecting passage. This would involve modifying the home cage as well as making a mouse-proof connecting passage and food source. So it was considered whether it would be possible to put the food source inside the cage. It was found that if a container was placed on the floor it was emptied by the next morning., The food pellets were, however, simply deposited in a heap at the container entrance, rather than placed in a discrete place away from the container, as might be expected if the mice were truly hoarding them. Close inspection showed that the mice were performing digging ("burrowing") movements, not carrying the pellets in their mouths to a selected place as they would if truly hoarding them. Food pellets are not an essential substrate for burrowing; mice will empty tubes filled with sand, gravel, even soiled bedding from their own cage. Moreover, they will empty a full tube even if an empty one is placed next to it. Several nesting protocols exist in the literature. The present Oxford one simplifies the procedure and has a well-defined scoring system for nest quality. A hoarding paradigm was later developed in which the mice, rather than hoarding back to the real home cage, were adapted to living in the "home base" of a hoarding apparatus. This home base was connected to a tube made of wire mesh, the distal end of which contained the food source. This arrangement proved to yield good hoarding behaviour, as long as the mice were adapted to living in the "home base" during the day and only allowed to enter the hoarding tube at night.     

日本北海道虻类雌性外生殖器形态(双翅目：虻科)(英文)

【目的】利用日本北海道虻类评估和验证外生殖器在分类学上的意义。【方法】将虻类成虫标本浸渍在生理盐水中并置于双目显微镜下通过针和镊子在培养皿中进行解剖并绘图,观察第9背板、第10背板、尾叶、第8腹板、受精囊、受精囊管及生殖叉器的形态特征。【结果】在日本北海道共记录了虻科(Tabanidae) 3亚科7属38种。我们观察并描述了3亚科其中的6属24种的雌性外生殖器的主要特征。亚科之间存在明显差异;然而在一般情况下属之间很难建立一种方法来确定共同点;种之间只有在斑虻属Chrysops中有相似之处,其他属中则比较多样化。因此,亚科鉴定根据第9背板、第8腹板及受精囊足以进行区分,属及种鉴定需要结合第9背板、第10背板、尾叶、第8腹板、受精囊、受精囊管及生殖叉器各自的特征组合在一起才能区分开来。我们也制作了虻类外生殖器的检索表。【结论】和许多其他昆虫一样,外生殖器是虻科的重要分类特征,对于促进分类学和系统学的发展具有重要意义。本研究首次对分布在日本北海道的虻科雌性外生殖器进行了系统研究。     

Staining protocols for human pancreatic islets

Estimates of islet area and numbers and endocrine cell composition in the adult human pancreas vary from several hundred thousand to several million and beta mass ranges from 500 to 1500 mg. With this known heterogeneity, a standard processing and staining procedure was developed so that pancreatic regions were clearly defined and islets characterized using rigorous histopathology and immunolocalization examinations. Standardized procedures for processing human pancreas recovered from organ donors are described in part 1 of this series. The pancreas is processed into 3 main regions (head, body, tail) followed by transverse sections. Transverse sections from the pancreas head are further divided, as indicated based on size, and numbered alphabetically to denote subsections. This standardization allows for a complete cross sectional analysis of the head region including the uncinate region which contains islets composed primarily of pancreatic polypeptide cells to the tail region. The current report comprises part 2 of this series and describes the procedures used for serial sectioning and histopathological characterization of the pancreatic paraffin sections with an emphasis on islet endocrine cells, replication, and T-cell infiltrates. Pathology of pancreatic sections is intended to characterize both exocrine, ductular, and endocrine components. The exocrine compartment is evaluated for the presence of pancreatitis (active or chronic), atrophy, fibrosis, and fat, as well as the duct system, particularly in relationship to the presence of pancreatic intraductal neoplasia. Islets are evaluated for morphology, size, and density, endocrine cells, inflammation, fibrosis, amyloid, and the presence of replicating or apoptotic cells using H&E and IHC stains. The final component described in part 2 is the provision of the stained slides as digitized whole slide images. The digitized slides are organized by case and pancreas region in an online pathology database creating a virtual biobank. Access to this online collection is currently provided to over 200 clinicians and scientists involved in type 1 diabetes research. The online database provides a means for rapid and complete data sharing and for investigators to select blocks for paraffin or frozen serial sections.     

A phylogenetic analysis of 100+ genera and 50+ families of euasterids based on morphological and molecular data with notes on possible higher level morphological synapomorphies

 A data matrix of 143 morphological and chemical characters for 142 genera of euasterids according to the APG system was compiled and complemented with rbcL and ndhF sequences for most of the genera. The data were subjected to parsimony analysis and support was assessed by bootstrapping. Strict consensus trees from analyses of morphology alone and morphology + rbcL + ndhF are presented. The morphological data recover several groups supported by molecular data but at the level of orders and above relationships are only superficially in agreement with molecular studies. The analyses provide support for monophyly of Gentianales, Aquifoliales, Apiales, Asterales, and Dipsacales. All data indicate that Adoxaceae are closely related to Dipsacales and hence they should be included in that order. The trees were used to assess some possible morphological synapomorphies for euasterids I and II and for the orders of the APG system. Euasterids I are generally characterised by opposite leaves, entire leaf margins, hypogynous flowers, “early sympetaly” with a ring-shaped corolla primordium, fusion of stamen filaments with the corolla tube, and capsular fruits. Euasterids II often have alternate leaves, serrate-dentate leaf margins, epigynous flowers, “late sympetaly” with distinct petal primordia, free stamen filaments, and indehiscent fruits. It is unclear which of these characters represent synapomorphies and symplesiomorphies for the two groups, respectively, and there are numerous expections to be interpreted as reversals and parallelisms. Received August 28, 2000 Accepted August 7, 2001     

A Microplate Assay to Assess Chemical Effects on RBL-2H3 Mast Cell Degranulation: Effects of Triclosan without Use of an Organic Solvent

Mast cells play important roles in allergic disease and immune defense against parasites. Once activated (e.g. by an allergen), they degranulate, a process that results in the exocytosis of allergic mediators. Modulation of mast cell degranulation by drugs and toxicants may have positive or adverse effects on human health. Mast cell function has been dissected in detail with the use of rat basophilic leukemia mast cells (RBL-2H3), a widely accepted model of human mucosal mast cells^3-5. Mast cell granule component and the allergic mediator β-hexosaminidase, which is released linearly in tandem with histamine from mast cells⁶, can easily and reliably be measured through reaction with a fluorogenic substrate, yielding measurable fluorescence intensity in a microplate assay that is amenable to high-throughput studies¹. Originally published by Naal et al.¹, we have adapted this degranulation assay for the screening of drugs and toxicants and demonstrate its use here.Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent that is present in many consumer products and has been found to be a therapeutic aid in human allergic skin disease^7-11, although the mechanism for this effect is unknown. Here we demonstrate an assay for the effect of triclosan on mast cell degranulation. We recently showed that triclosan strongly affects mast cell function². In an effort to avoid use of an organic solvent, triclosan is dissolved directly into aqueous buffer with heat and stirring, and resultant concentration is confirmed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry (using ε₂₈₀ = 4,200 L/M/cm)¹². This protocol has the potential to be used with a variety of chemicals to determine their effects on mast cell degranulation, and more broadly, their allergic potential.     

Genetic Manipulation in Δku80 Strains for Functional Genomic Analysis of Toxoplasma gondii

Targeted genetic manipulation using homologous recombination is the method of choice for functional genomic analysis to obtain a detailed view of gene function and phenotype(s). The development of mutant strains with targeted gene deletions, targeted mutations, complemented gene function, and/or tagged genes provides powerful strategies to address gene function, particularly if these genetic manipulations can be efficiently targeted to the gene locus of interest using integration mediated by double cross over homologous recombination.Due to very high rates of nonhomologous recombination, functional genomic analysis of Toxoplasma gondii has been previously limited by the absence of efficient methods for targeting gene deletions and gene replacements to specific genetic loci. Recently, we abolished the major pathway of nonhomologous recombination in type I and type II strains of T. gondii by deleting the gene encoding the KU80 protein^1,2. The Δku80 strains behave normally during tachyzoite (acute) and bradyzoite (chronic) stages in vitro and in vivo and exhibit essentially a 100% frequency of homologous recombination. The Δku80 strains make functional genomic studies feasible on the single gene as well as on the genome scale^1-4.Here, we report methods for using type I and type II Δku80Δhxgprt strains to advance gene targeting approaches in T. gondii. We outline efficient methods for generating gene deletions, gene replacements, and tagged genes by targeted insertion or deletion of the hypoxanthine-xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HXGPRT) selectable marker. The described gene targeting protocol can be used in a variety of ways in Δku80 strains to advance functional analysis of the parasite genome and to develop single strains that carry multiple targeted genetic manipulations. The application of this genetic method and subsequent phenotypic assays will reveal fundamental and unique aspects of the biology of T. gondii and related significant human pathogens that cause malaria (Plasmodium sp.) and cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium).     

Automated High-throughput Behavioral Analyses in Zebrafish Larvae

We have created a novel high-throughput imaging system for the analysis of behavior in 7-day-old zebrafish larvae in multi-lane plates. This system measures spontaneous behaviors and the response to an aversive stimulus, which is shown to the larvae via a PowerPoint presentation. The recorded images are analyzed with an ImageJ macro, which automatically splits the color channels, subtracts the background, and applies a threshold to identify individual larvae placement in the lanes. We can then import the coordinates into an Excel sheet to quantify swim speed, preference for edge or side of the lane, resting behavior, thigmotaxis, distance between larvae, and avoidance behavior. Subtle changes in behavior are easily detected using our system, making it useful for behavioral analyses after exposure to environmental toxicants or pharmaceuticals.