Publications by authors named "Koester I"

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is an ultracomplex mixture that plays a central role in global biogeochemical cycles. Despite its importance, DOM remains poorly understood at the molecular level. Over the last decades, significant efforts have been made to decipher the chemical composition of DOM by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS) and liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS).

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Coral bleaching is a well-documented and increasingly widespread phenomenon in reefs across the globe, yet there has been relatively little research on the implications for reef water column microbiology and biogeochemistry. A mesocosm heating experiment and bottle incubation compared how unbleached and bleached corals alter dissolved organic matter (DOM) exudation in response to thermal stress and subsequent effects on microbial growth and community structure in the water column. Thermal stress of healthy corals tripled DOM flux relative to ambient corals.

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Recent developments in molecular networking have expanded our ability to characterize the metabolome of diverse samples that contain a significant proportion of ion features with no mass spectral match to known compounds. Manual and tool-assisted natural annotation propagation is readily used to classify molecular networks; however, currently no annotation propagation tools leverage consensus confidence strategies enabled by hierarchical chemical ontologies or enable the use of new tools without significant modification. Herein we present ConCISE (Consensus Classifications of Elucidations) which is the first tool to fuse molecular networking, spectral library matching and class predictions to establish accurate putative classifications for entire subnetworks.

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The exchange of metabolites mediates algal and bacterial interactions that maintain ecosystem function. Yet, while thousands of metabolites are produced, only a few molecules have been identified in these associations. Using the ubiquitous microalgae Pseudo-nitzschia sp.

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Metabolites exuded by primary producers comprise a significant fraction of marine dissolved organic matter, a poorly characterized, heterogenous mixture that dictates microbial metabolism and biogeochemical cycling. We present a foundational untargeted molecular analysis of exudates released by coral reef primary producers using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to examine compounds produced by two coral species and three types of algae (macroalgae, turfing microalgae, and crustose coralline algae [CCA]) from Mo'orea, French Polynesia. Of 10,568 distinct ion features recovered from reef and mesocosm waters, 1,667 were exuded by producers; the majority (86%) were organism specific, reflecting a clear divide between coral and algal exometabolomes.

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Oceanic oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are globally significant sites of biogeochemical cycling where microorganisms deplete dissolved oxygen (DO) to concentrations <20 µM. Amid intense competition for DO in these metabolically challenging environments, aerobic nitrite oxidation may consume significant amounts of DO and help maintain low DO concentrations, but this remains unquantified. Using parallel measurements of oxygen consumption rates and N-nitrite oxidation rates applied to both water column profiles and oxygen manipulation experiments, we show that the contribution of nitrite oxidation to overall DO consumption systematically increases as DO declines below 2 µM.

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Article Synopsis
  • Molecular networking helps connect mass spectra based on fragmentation similarities, but different ion species from the same molecule often remain unconnected, causing redundancies.
  • The Ion Identity Molecular Networking (IIMN) method was developed to improve connectivity by correlating chromatographic peak shapes, linking different ion species of the same molecule.
  • This enhancement allows for better identification of related molecules, discovery of unknown ion-ligand complexes, and broader access to public spectral libraries.
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Genomics and metabolomics are widely used to explore specialized metabolite diversity. The Paired Omics Data Platform is a community initiative to systematically document links between metabolome and (meta)genome data, aiding identification of natural product biosynthetic origins and metabolite structures.

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Article Synopsis
  • Molecular networking is a technique used to analyze and visualize chemical compounds in non-targeted mass spectrometry data.
  • Feature-based molecular networking (FBMN) is a new analysis method within the GNPS framework that improves the detection and organization of chemical features.
  • FBMN allows for better quantitative analysis and differentiation of isomers, including those examined through ion mobility spectrometry.
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Global Natural Product Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) is an interactive online small molecule-focused tandem mass spectrometry (MS) data curation and analysis infrastructure. It is intended to provide as much chemical insight as possible into an untargeted MS dataset and to connect this chemical insight to the user's underlying biological questions. This can be performed within one liquid chromatography (LC)-MS experiment or at the repository scale.

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In our daily lives, we consume foods that have been transported, stored, prepared, cooked, or otherwise processed by ourselves or others. Food storage and preparation have drastic effects on the chemical composition of foods. Untargeted mass spectrometry analysis of food samples has the potential to increase our chemical understanding of these processes by detecting a broad spectrum of chemicals.

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The cars we drive, the homes we live in, the restaurants we visit, and the laboratories and offices we work in are all a part of the modern human habitat. Remarkably, little is known about the diversity of chemicals present in these environments and to what degree molecules from our bodies influence the built environment that surrounds us and vice versa. We therefore set out to visualize the chemical diversity of five built human habitats together with their occupants, to provide a snapshot of the various molecules to which humans are exposed on a daily basis.

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Remineralization and transformation of dissolved organic matter (DOM) by marine microbes shape the DOM composition and thus, have large impact on global carbon and nutrient cycling. However, information on bacterioplankton-DOM interactions on a molecular level is limited. We examined the variation of bacterial community composition (BCC) at Helgoland Roads (North Sea) in relation to variation of molecular DOM composition and various environmental parameters on short-time scales.

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Article Synopsis
  • Pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) using a novel endoscopic ablation system (EAS) shows promising results for treating drug-refractory atrial fibrillation (AF) with 60% of patients remaining free from symptoms after one year.
  • A study involving 40 patients revealed that 99% of targeted pulmonary veins were successfully isolated, and some patients experienced AF recurrence due to reconnection of isolated veins.
  • More extensive research with larger patient groups and longer follow-up is needed to fully assess the safety and effectiveness of EAS for AF treatment.
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  • The study aimed to evaluate the occurrence and severity of esophageal thermal lesions (ETLs) resulting from two different methods of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) in patients with atrial fibrillation.
  • In a comparison of an endoscopic ablation system (EAS) and radio frequency current (RFC), the EAS group had a higher percentage of patients with thermal lesions (18%) compared to the RFC group (15%), with a notable presence of ulcerations in the EAS group.
  • Although all detected thermal lesions healed within a few days, the findings suggest that the EAS method may produce more serious ETLs than the RFC method, warranting further research.
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  • CPVI is effective for restoring sinus rhythm (SR) in 43.2% of long-standing persistent AF patients, but often multiple procedures are necessary.
  • 205 patients with long-standing persistent AF underwent CPVI followed by additional techniques if needed, with 67.8% achieving SR after an average of 1.7 procedures.
  • The study highlights the need for caution due to risks like inadvertent left atrial appendage isolation during additional ablation strategies.
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  • High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) via a balloon catheter is a new method for treating paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (PAF), but its long-term effectiveness is still uncertain.
  • In a study of 32 patients, HIFU was able to isolate 87% of targeted pulmonary veins, and 56% of patients remained free of AF after a single procedure during a follow-up of about 1400 days.
  • Despite promising success rates comparable to traditional methods, significant complications from HIFU have caused its clinical use to be suspended.
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