Tracing the trail of eroded fertile soils during a high intensity rainfall event: A fingerprinting study in war-torn tropical mountains.

The depletion of fertile topsoil presents a critical challenge in tropical mountain agroecosystems. Impacts are intensified during heavy storm events that strip unprotected topsoils and pose risks to downstream water ecosystems. To better understand such dynamics, we investigated an agricultural mountainous catchment located on the Democratic Republic of the Congo shore of Lake Kivu.

Open-top multisample dual-view light-sheet microscope for live imaging of large multicellular systems.

Multicellular systems grow over the course of weeks from single cells to tissues or even full organisms, making live imaging challenging. To bridge spatiotemporal scales, we present an open-top dual-view and dual-illumination light-sheet microscope dedicated to live imaging of large specimens at single-cell resolution. The configuration of objectives together with a customizable multiwell mounting system combines dual view with high-throughput multiposition imaging.

Retrograde movements determine effective stem cell numbers in the intestine.

The morphology and functionality of the epithelial lining differ along the intestinal tract, but tissue renewal at all sites is driven by stem cells at the base of crypts. Whether stem cell numbers and behaviour vary at different sites is unknown. Here we show using intravital microscopy that, despite similarities in the number and distribution of proliferative cells with an Lgr5 signature in mice, small intestinal crypts contain twice as many effective stem cells as large intestinal crypts.

Liver Colonization by Colorectal Cancer Metastases Requires YAP-Controlled Plasticity at the Micrometastatic Stage.

Unlabelled: Micrometastases of colorectal cancer can remain dormant for years prior to the formation of actively growing, clinically detectable lesions (i.e., colonization).

Epithelial GPR35 protects from Citrobacter rodentium infection by preserving goblet cells and mucosal barrier integrity.

Goblet cells secrete mucin to create a protective mucus layer against invasive bacterial infection and are therefore essential for maintaining intestinal health. However, the molecular pathways that regulate goblet cell function remain largely unknown. Although GPR35 is highly expressed in colonic epithelial cells, its importance in promoting the epithelial barrier is unclear.

Low NO and variable CH fluxes from tropical forest soils of the Congo Basin.

Globally, tropical forests are assumed to be an important source of atmospheric nitrous oxide (NO) and sink for methane (CH). Yet, although the Congo Basin comprises the second largest tropical forest and is considered the most pristine large basin left on Earth, in situ NO and CH flux measurements are scarce. Here, we provide multi-year data derived from on-ground soil flux (n = 1558) and riverine dissolved gas concentration (n = 332) measurements spanning montane, swamp, and lowland forests.

Self-defining memories-Narrative features in relation to adaptive and maladaptive personality traits (replication and extension of Blagov & Singer, 2004).

Objective: Self-defining memories (SDMs) are units of life-story analysis, whose features resemble elements from narrative identity's factorial structure. To bridge narrative-identity and personality-trait domains, we conducted a replication and extension of prior research.

Method: We linked four SDM features - affect, specificity, meaning making, and content - to the Big Three trait domains of personality and psychopathology in a small sample that was well-powered for multilevel modeling (133 participants, 1330 SDMs).

Fire-derived phosphorus fertilization of African tropical forests.

Central African tropical forests face increasing anthropogenic pressures, particularly in the form of deforestation and land-use conversion to agriculture. The long-term effects of this transformation of pristine forests to fallow-based agroecosystems and secondary forests on biogeochemical cycles that drive forest functioning are poorly understood. Here, we show that biomass burning on the African continent results in high phosphorus (P) deposition on an equatorial forest via fire-derived atmospheric emissions.

Towards Mapping of Soil Crust Using Multispectral Imaging.

Soil crusts and surface roughness are properties which are highly dynamic in both space and time that change in response to biotic processes, meteorological conditions and farming operations. These factors, however, are difficult to quantify and are usually described using simplified expert-based classes. This hampers a clear identification of the controlling factors and their relation to soil erosion and sediment generation processes.

Simulating Erosion-Induced Soil and Carbon Delivery From Uplands to Rivers in a Global Land Surface Model.

Global water erosion strongly affects the terrestrial carbon balance. However, this process is currently ignored by most global land surface models (LSMs) that are used to project the responses of terrestrial carbon storage to climate and land use changes. One of the main obstacles to implement erosion processes in LSMs is the high spatial resolution needed to accurately represent the effect of topography on soil erosion and sediment delivery to rivers.

Introducing the Stem Cell ASCL2 Reporter STAR into Intestinal Organoids.

Patient-derived organoids maintain functional and phenotypic characteristics of the original tissue such as cell-type diversity. Here, we provide protocols on how to label intestinal (cancer) stem cells by integrating the stem cell ASCL2 reporter (STAR) into human and mouse genomes via two different strategies: (1) lentiviral transduction or (2) transposon-based integration. Organoid technology, in combination with the user-friendly nature of STAR, will facilitate basic research in human and mouse adult stem cell biology.

Plutonium aided reconstruction of caesium atmospheric fallout in European topsoils.

Global nuclear weapon testing and the Chernobyl accident have released large amounts of radionuclides into the environment. However, to date, the spatial patterns of these fallout sources remain poorly constrained. Fallout radionuclides (Cs, Pu, Pu) were measured in soil samples (n = 160) collected at flat, undisturbed grasslands in Western Europe in the framework of a harmonised European soil survey.

Plasticity of Lgr5-Negative Cancer Cells Drives Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer.

Colorectal cancer stem cells (CSCs) express Lgr5 and display extensive stem cell-like multipotency and self-renewal and are thought to seed metastatic disease. Here, we used a mouse model of colorectal cancer (CRC) and human tumor xenografts to investigate the cell of origin of metastases. We found that most disseminated CRC cells in circulation were Lgr5 and formed distant metastases in which Lgr5 CSCs appeared.

Mobilization of aged and biolabile soil carbon by tropical deforestation.

In the mostly pristine Congo Basin, agricultural land-use change has intensified in recent years. One potential and understudied consequence of this deforestation and conversion to agriculture is the mobilization and loss of organic matter from soils to rivers as dissolved organic matter. Here, we quantify and characterize dissolved organic matter sampled from 19 catchments of varying deforestation extent near Lake Kivu over a two-week period during the wet season.

High-resolution 3D imaging of fixed and cleared organoids.

In vitro 3D organoid systems have revolutionized the modeling of organ development and diseases in a dish. Fluorescence microscopy has contributed to the characterization of the cellular composition of organoids and demonstrated organoids' phenotypic resemblance to their original tissues. Here, we provide a detailed protocol for performing high-resolution 3D imaging of entire organoids harboring fluorescence reporters and upon immunolabeling.

Assessing the performance of GIS- based machine learning models with different accuracy measures for determining susceptibility to gully erosion.

The main purpose was to compare discrimination and reliability of four machine learning models to create gully erosion susceptibility map (GESM) in a part of Ekbatan Dam Basin, Hamedan, western Iran. Extensive field surveys using GPS, and the visual interpretation of satellite images, used to prepare a digital map of the spatial distribution of gullies. 130 locations were sampled to elucidate the spatial distribution of the soil surface properties.

Integrative multi-omics analysis of intestinal organoid differentiation.

Intestinal organoids accurately recapitulate epithelial homeostasis , thereby representing a powerful system to investigate lineage specification and cellular differentiation. Here, we applied a multi-omics framework on stem cell-enriched and stem cell-depleted mouse intestinal organoids to obtain a holistic view of the molecular mechanisms that drive differential gene expression during adult intestinal stem cell differentiation. Our data revealed a global rewiring of the transcriptome and proteome between intestinal stem cells and enterocytes, with the majority of dynamic protein expression being transcription-driven.