title: Actinobacteria and cyanobacteria diversity in terrestrial Antarctic microenvironments using culture-dependent and independent methods

authors: Rego, Adriana

subjects: Actinobacteria

abstract: Bacterial diversity from McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, the largest desert on earth, has become more easily assessed with the development of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) techniques. However, some of the diversity remains unachievable by the power of sequencing. In this study, we combine cultivation and HTS techniques to survey Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria diversity along different soil and endolithic micro-environments of Victoria Valley in McMurdo Dry Valleys. Our results have demonstrated that the Dry Valleys Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria distribution is driven by environmental forces, in particular the effect of water availability and endolithic environments clearly conditioned the distribution of those communities. Data derived from HTS show that the percentage of Cyanobacteria decreases from about 20% in the sample closest to the water source to neglectable values on the last three samples of the transect with less water availability. Inversely, Actinobacteria abundance increases from the wet to the driest samples. Over 30% of the total HTS data set was composed of Actinobacterial strains, mainly distributed by 5 families: Sporichthyaceae, Euzebyaceae, Patulibacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae and Rubrobacteraceae. However, the 11 actinobacterial strains isolated in this study, belonged to Micrococcaceae and Dermacoccaceae families that were underrepresented in the HTS data set. A total of 10 cyanobacterial strains from the order Synechococcales were also isolated, distributed by 4 different genera (Nodosilinea, Leptolyngbya, Pectolyngbya, Acaryochloris). In agreement with the cultivation results, Lepyolyngbya was identified as dominant genera in the HTS data set. Acaryochloris genus were found exclusively in the endolithic sample and represented 44% of the total 16S rDNA sequences, although despite our efforts we were not able to properly isolate any strain from Acaryochloris genus. The importance of combining cultivation and sequencing techniques is highlighted, as we have shown that culture-dependent methods employed in this study were able to retrieve Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria taxa that were not detected in HTS data set, suggesting that the combination of both strategies can be usefull to recover both abundant and rare members of the communities.

text: Actinobacteria and cyanobacteria diversity in terrestrial Antarctic microenvironments using culture-dependent and independent methods Bacterial diversity from McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica, the largest desert on earth, has become more easily assessed with the development of High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) techniques. However, some of the diversity remains unachievable by the power of sequencing. In this study, we combine cultivation and HTS techniques to survey Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria diversity along different soil and endolithic micro-environments of Victoria Valley in McMurdo Dry Valleys. Our results have demonstrated that the Dry Valleys Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria distribution is driven by environmental forces, in particular the effect of water availability and endolithic environments clearly conditioned the distribution of those communities. Data derived from HTS show that the percentage of Cyanobacteria decreases from about 20% in the sample closest to the water source to neglectable values on the last three samples of the transect with less water availability. Inversely, Actinobacteria abundance increases from the wet to the driest samples. Over 30% of the total HTS data set was composed of Actinobacterial strains, mainly distributed by 5 families: Sporichthyaceae, Euzebyaceae, Patulibacteraceae, Nocardioidaceae and Rubrobacteraceae. However, the 11 actinobacterial strains isolated in this study, belonged to Micrococcaceae and Dermacoccaceae families that were underrepresented in the HTS data set. A total of 10 cyanobacterial strains from the order Synechococcales were also isolated, distributed by 4 different genera (Nodosilinea, Leptolyngbya, Pectolyngbya, Acaryochloris). In agreement with the cultivation results, Lepyolyngbya was identified as dominant genera in the HTS data set. Acaryochloris genus were found exclusively in the endolithic sample and represented 44% of the total 16S rDNA sequences, although despite our efforts we were not able to properly isolate any strain from Acaryochloris genus. The importance of combining cultivation and sequencing techniques is highlighted, as we have shown that culture-dependent methods employed in this study were able to retrieve Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria taxa that were not detected in HTS data set, suggesting that the combination of both strategies can be usefull to recover both abundant and rare members of the communities.

year: 2019

title: Classification and discrimination of automotive glass using LA-ICP-MS

authors: Grainger, Megan N.C.

subjects: automotive glass

abstract: Glass is one of the most common types of trace evidence found at crime scenes and on suspects. The elemental analysis of float glass has become increasingly important as the range in values of refractive index has substantially narrowed due to increased quality control in glass manufacture. The purpose of this research was to investigate the variation of elements in automotive float glass relevant to New Zealand for the purpose of classifying and discriminating samples. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to analyse the elemental composition of 243 automotive glass samples. An intact side window (tempered pane) and an intact windscreen (laminated pane) were analysed to investigate the spatial trend of elements in automotive glass. Most elements displayed no spatial variation over the panes. Pb had the largest variation in the windscreen and was also found to have a large variation in the database. Most samples were able to be classified into the vehicles' country of origin using a multiclass classifier. However, this was not possible for all samples, due to the origin of glass differing from the origin of the vehicle in some cases. The elemental composition of Australian and Northern Hemisphere samples differed greatly making them easy to separate; however, there was little variation within the Australian samples, making it hard to discriminate between different samples. A three step method, which combined the use of elemental composition, △RI and RI, was used to discriminate database samples. The method distinguished 84% (172/204) of samples in the database. When Australian samples were removed from the analysis, the discrimination increased to 95% (148/156). The type II errors were reduced by using both elemental composition and RI measurement.

text: Classification and discrimination of automotive glass using LA-ICP-MS Glass is one of the most common types of trace evidence found at crime scenes and on suspects. The elemental analysis of float glass has become increasingly important as the range in values of refractive index has substantially narrowed due to increased quality control in glass manufacture. The purpose of this research was to investigate the variation of elements in automotive float glass relevant to New Zealand for the purpose of classifying and discriminating samples. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) was used to analyse the elemental composition of 243 automotive glass samples. An intact side window (tempered pane) and an intact windscreen (laminated pane) were analysed to investigate the spatial trend of elements in automotive glass. Most elements displayed no spatial variation over the panes. Pb had the largest variation in the windscreen and was also found to have a large variation in the database. Most samples were able to be classified into the vehicles' country of origin using a multiclass classifier. However, this was not possible for all samples, due to the origin of glass differing from the origin of the vehicle in some cases. The elemental composition of Australian and Northern Hemisphere samples differed greatly making them easy to separate; however, there was little variation within the Australian samples, making it hard to discriminate between different samples. A three step method, which combined the use of elemental composition, △RI and RI, was used to discriminate database samples. The method distinguished 84% (172/204) of samples in the database. When Australian samples were removed from the analysis, the discrimination increased to 95% (148/156). The type II errors were reduced by using both elemental composition and RI measurement.

year: 2012

title: He Matapihi Mā Mua, Mō Muri: The Ethics, Processes, and Procedures Associated with the Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge—The Pei Jones Collection

authors: Whaanga, Hēmi

abstract: The digital era has transformed how people live their lives and interact with the world and knowledge systems around them. In Aotearoa/New Zealand a range of initiatives incorporating Indigenous knowledge have been implemented to collect, catalog, maintain, and organize digital objects. In this article, we report on the ethics, processes, and procedures associated with the digitization of the manuscripts, works, and collected taonga (treasures) of the late Dr. Pei Te Hurinui Jones—and describe how it was transformed into a digital library. It discusses the decision-making processes and the various roles and responsibilities of the researchers, family members, and institute in this process.

text: He Matapihi Mā Mua, Mō Muri: The Ethics, Processes, and Procedures Associated with the Digitization of Indigenous Knowledge—The Pei Jones Collection The digital era has transformed how people live their lives and interact with the world and knowledge systems around them. In Aotearoa/New Zealand a range of initiatives incorporating Indigenous knowledge have been implemented to collect, catalog, maintain, and organize digital objects. In this article, we report on the ethics, processes, and procedures associated with the digitization of the manuscripts, works, and collected taonga (treasures) of the late Dr. Pei Te Hurinui Jones—and describe how it was transformed into a digital library. It discusses the decision-making processes and the various roles and responsibilities of the researchers, family members, and institute in this process.

year: 2015