Southern Illinois University

5 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Biology

Real-time Monitoring of Ligand-receptor Interactions with Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer

Navneet Dogra¹, Julia C. Reyes¹, Nishi Garg¹, Punit Kohli¹

¹Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Southern Illinois University

We demonstrate FRET between conjugated polymer polydiacetylene (PDA) and fluorophore attached to the surface of PDA liposomes for the sensing of biomolecules. PDA liposomes also contained receptor molecules on their surfaces for biomolecules to be used as probes. Ligand-receptor interactions lead to changes in the FRET efficiency between the fluorophore and PDA which is the basis of the sensing mechanism.

Environment

A Method for Quantifying Foliage-Dwelling Arthropods

Michael W. Eichholz¹, Kevin P. Sierzega¹

¹Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Center for Ecology, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University

We describe how to quantify leaf dwelling arthropods by sealing the leaves and end of branches in a bag, clipping and freezing the bagged material, and rinsing the previously frozen material in water to separate arthropods from the substrate for quantification.

Environment

Quantifying Corticolous Arthropods Using Sticky Traps

Michael W. Eichholz^*1, Elise C. Zarri^*2, Kevin P. Sierzega^*1

¹Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Center for Ecology, Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University, ²Montana Cooperative Research Unit, University of Montana

We describe a semi-quantitative approach of measuring characteristics of corticolous (bark-dwelling) arthropod communities. We placed commercially manufactured sticky traps on tree boles to estimate abundance, total length (a surrogate to biomass), richness, and Shannon diversity for comparison among tree species.

Environment

Simulating Impacts of Ice Storms on Forest Ecosystems

John L. Campbell¹, Lindsey E. Rustad¹, Charles T. Driscoll², Ian Halm³, Timothy J. Fahey⁴, Habibollah Fakhraei⁵, Peter M. Groffman^6,7, Gary J. Hawley⁸, Wendy Leuenberger⁹, Paul G. Schaberg¹⁰

¹Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Durham, NH, ²Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Syracuse University, ³Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, North Woodstock, NH, ⁴Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, ⁵Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Southern Illinois University, ⁶Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, ⁷Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, ⁸Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont, ⁹Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Kentucky, ¹⁰Northern Research Station, U.S. Forest Service, Burlington, VT

Ice storms are important weather events that are challenging to study because of difficulties in predicting their occurrence. Here, we describe a novel method for simulating ice storms that involves spraying water over a forest canopy during sub-freezing conditions.

JoVE Journal

Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes

Mitra Esfandiarei^1,2,3, Teodoro Bottiglieri⁴, Nafisa M. Jadavji^5,6,7

¹Department of Biomedical Sciences, Midwestern University, ²Department of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine Phoenix, University of Arizona, ³Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, & Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, ⁴Center of Metabolomics, Institute of Metabolic Disease, Baylor Scott & White Research Institute, ⁵Department of Physiology, Southern Illinois University, ⁶Department of Child Health, College of Medicine Phoenix, University of Arizona, ⁷Department of Neuroscience, Carleton University

This protocol describes the method for reducing dietary intake of folic acid or choline in female mice prior to pregnancy with the objective of investigating the impact of maternal diet on offspring health outcomes.