Moving a Journal Article-Based Upper-Level Microbiology Dry Lab from In-Person to Online Instruction.

During the spring semester of 2020, a journal article-based upper-level microbiology laboratory course was offered through Western New Mexico University at Glendale Community College in Glendale, AZ. Because most of the students had taken a lower-level microbiology class with a traditional wet laboratory, a dry lab format was used instead. In the first period of each 2-week cycle, a microbiology article selected by the instructor from the primary literature was discussed using a PowerPoint presentation and a detailed study sheet.

Genomic sequencing of Gracilibacillus dipsosauri reveals key properties of a salt-tolerant α-amylase.

Gracilibacillus dipsosauri is a moderately-halophilic Gram-positive bacterium which forms an extracellular α-amylase that is induced by starch, repressed by D-glucose, and active in 2.0 M KCl. Previous studies showed that while enzyme activity could be measured with the synthetic substrate 2-chloro-4-nitrophenyl-α-D-maltotrioside (CNPG3), other assays were inconsistent and the protein showed aberrant mobility during nondenaturing gel electrophoresis.

Inhibition of urease activity in the urinary tract pathogens Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Proteus mirabilis by dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO).

Aims: Urease is a virulence factor for the urinary tract pathogens Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Proteus mirabilis. Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is structurally similar to urea, used as a solvent for urease inhibitors, and an effective treatment for interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). The aims of this study were to test DMSO as a urease inhibitor and determine its physiological effects on S.

Biochemistry laboratory reports: Filling in the introduction and discussion.

Laboratory reports written in the style of a standard scientific article are commonly used to assess student learning in biochemistry laboratory courses. While most students can complete the Materials and Methods or Results sections successfully, many have difficulty with the Introduction and Discussion. They fail to place their data in a larger experimental context or to compare their results to those previously published.

L-Proline catabolism by the high G + C Gram-positive bacterium Paenarthrobacter aurescens strain TC1.

Paenarthrobacter aurescens (formerly called Arthrobacter aurescens) strain TC1 is a high G + C Gram-positive aerobic bacterium that can degrade the herbicide atrazine. Analysis of its genome indicated strain TC1 has the potential to form a bifunctional PutA protein containing L-proline dehydrogenase and L-glutamate-γ-semialdehyde dehydrogenase (L-Δ-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase) activities. P.