User:Gu Yu/sandbox

A critique of the Wikipedia article Anaerobic respiration .

This Wikipedia article exhibit proper structure and a neutral point of view. The subtopics are somewhat developed but are roughly linked to one another.

There are several terminology and syntax issues. The use of “final electron acceptor” and “terminal electron acceptor” is not consistent throughout the article. “Lower” instead of “smaller” would be a more suitable adjective to describe reduction potential. The phrase “[…] meaning that they can respire only using anaerobic compounds” can be rephrased to “they can only respire anaerobically.”

In the section “Anaerobic respiration as compared with fermentation,” the first sentence is almost a direct quote from its reference article, which risk of plagiarisms (close paraphrasing). It also hints an emphasis on methane yet nowhere else in this section methane is mentioned. However, methane is reoccurring in the following section for methanogenesis, breaking the flow of this subtopic. The differences between fermentation and anaerobic respiration are contracted minimally, a repetitive issue discussed on the Talk page. Furthermore, the only cited source from this section targets respiration in a marine environment, which is too specific for this article.

The statement supported by reference 5 is not the primary focus of the article itself, although acceptable, a more suitable source could have been used. Contrarily, information from reference 6 was well extrapolated. There may be a need to include a reference for the first paragraph in the “Ecological importance” section. In the ensemble, references were appropriate and acceptable peer-reviewed journal articles or from extracts of reliable and educational textbooks.

Reflection of a Wikipedia article critique.

the most challenging and time-consuming part was to coordinate the information taken from the source and what is written in the article. The chosen article has a vivid Talk page, which obligated me to rewrite some my my points. Overall, it was a good experience to learn how to use the Sandbox and some navigators on the Wikipedia website.

- Gu Yu (talk) 17:41, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Choose your Wikipedia Article: Gas vesicles

This topic can generate an elaborate Wikipedia page as it is a highly notable subject in the scientific world. Many publications have targeted gas vesicles and extensive researches have been conducted on them. These include but not limited to the genomic regulations of the gas vesicle operons (gvp) on the transcriptional and translational levels as well as the regulation of their size and shape once gas vesicles have entered developmental stages. The cell physiology and gas vesicle’s phenotype changes resulting from genomic manipulations of gvp genes components have been observed. The functions of gas vesicles as buoyancy apparatuses for diverse microorganisms that serve to modulate physiological demands (ie. photosynthesis) in varying environments were also recorded. Despite its high notability, the Wikipedia article on gas vesicles lacks a few components that merit enrichment.

The first section of the article “Function” is severely underdeveloped and needs tremendous attention. It only surveys two reasons related to buoyancy that gas vesicles bring to organisms (photosynthesis and oxygen concentration). However, the significance of moving vertically within water columns via gas vesicles also contribute to light protection, dryness, and rainfall. Additionally, that article does not explain why these factors are important for the individual organism nor for a microorganism community. It is also missing the function of gas vesicles in vitro for other fields of scientific researches, particularly as tools in biotechnology and experimental medicine, an area I hope to add to this article.

Since gas vesicles are relatively stable biological structures that can easily be isolated and manipulated, they have been used as carrier vehicles to deliver antigens that can trigger long-lasting immunologic memories. This method can further serve as baseline for creating vaccines for several human diseases. Stimulus with recombinant gas vesicles and Chlamydia antigens has shown pro-inflammatory cytokine responses. Likewise, a similar protocol targeting Salmonella pathogens have yielded parallel immunologic results. By adding the above to the Wikipedia particle, not only the article will have the functional, genomic, and physical aspects of gas vesicles, but also the applications of them as the new border line for scientific discoveries.

- Gu Yu (talk) 00:53, 28 September 2017 (UTC) Original - "Gas vesicles"

Assignment 3

Original - "Gas vesicles"

Role in ultrasonic algaecide
Ultrasonic algae killing devices mode of action in blue-green algae is likely rupturing the cell's gas vesicles and causing the cells to lose buoyancy and sink to the bottom where they can no longer photosynthesize.

Edits - "Gas vesicles"

Role in ultrasonic algaecide
Ultrasonic algae killing devices mode of action in blue-green algae is likely rupturing the cell's gas vesicles and causing the cells to lose buoyancy and sink to the bottom where they can no longer photosynthesize.

Role in vaccine development
Gas vesicle gene gvpC from Halobacterium sp. are used as delivery system for vaccine studies.

Several characteristics of the protein encoded by the gas vesicle gene gvpC allow it to be used as carrier and adjuvant for antigens: it is stable, resistant to biological degradation, tolerates relatively high temperatures (up to 50°C), and non-pathogenic to humans. Several antigens from different human pathogens have been recombined into the gvpC gene to create subunit vaccines with long-lasting immunologic responses.

Chlamydia trachomatis pathogen’s major outer membrane protein (MOMP), outer membrane complex B (OmcP), and polymorphic outer membrane protein D (PompD) are successfully integrated into the gas vesicle gvpC gene of Halobacteria. In vitro assessments of cells show expression of the Chlamydia genes on cell surfaces through imagining techniques and show characteristic immunologic responses such as TLRs activities and pro-inflammatory cytokines production. Gas vesicle gene can be exploited as a delivery vehicle to generate a potential vaccine for Chlamydia.

A similar experiment uses the same gas vesicle gene and Salmonella enterica pathogen’s secreted inosine phosphate effector protein SopB4 and SopB5 to generate a potential vaccine vector. Immunized mice secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-9. Antibody IgG is also detected. After an infection challenge, none or significantly less amount of bacteria were found in the harvested organs such as the spleen and the liver. Potential vaccines using gas vesicle as an antigen display can be given via the mucosal route as an alternative administration pathway. Gas vesicle recombination vaccines may elicit wider range of immune responses within the body and increase the accessibility to more people.

- Gu Yu (talk) 21:54, 8 October 2017 (UTC)

Final Submission

Role in vaccine development
Gas vesicle gene gvpC from Halobacterium sp. is used as delivery system for vaccine studies.

Several characteristics of the protein encoded by the gas vesicle gene gvpC allow it to be used as carrier and adjuvant for antigens: it is stable, resistant to biological degradation, tolerates relatively high temperatures (up to 50°C), and non-pathogenic to humans. Several antigens from various human pathogens have been recombined into the gvpC gene to create subunit vaccines with long-lasting immunologic responses.

Different genomic segments encoding for several Chlamydia trachomatis pathogen’s proteins, including MOMP, OmcB, and PompD, are joined to the gvpC gene of Halobacteria. In vitro assessments of cells show expression of the Chlamydia genes on cell surfaces through imagining techniques and show characteristic immunologic responses such as TLRs activities and pro-inflammatory cytokines production. Gas vesicle gene can be exploited as a delivery vehicle to generate a potential vaccine for Chlamydia. Limitations of this method include the need to minimize the damage of the GvpC protein itself while including as much of the vaccine target gene into the gvpC gene segment.

A similar experiment uses the same gas vesicle gene and Salmonella enterica pathogen’s secreted inosine phosphate effector protein SopB4 and SopB5 to generate a potential vaccine vector. Immunized mice secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-9. Antibody IgG is also detected. After an infection challenge, none or significantly less amount of bacteria were found in the harvested organs such as the spleen and the liver. Potential vaccines using gas vesicle as an antigen display can be given via the mucosal route as an alternative administration pathway, increasing its accessibility to more people and eliciting a wider range of immune responses within the body.

Gu Yu (talk) 19:16, 18 November 2017 (UTC)