User:Rooner21/sandbox

Week 3 - Article Evaluation

 * the broader the topic... more subheadings, tangents, etc from a broad range of topics
 * for organism pages, always gives taxonomic grouping with links to kingdom, phylum, order, etc.

Week 4 - Add to an Article
Added to Phycocyanin page regarding phycocyanin fluorescence probes for cyanobacteria detection in fresh water...

"In addition, fluorescence detection of phycocyanin pigments in water samples is a useful method to monitor cyanobacteria biomass. "

Week 5 - Potential Articles

 * 1) Phycocyanin page is very short and could use some updating and organizing
 * 2) Anabaena
 * 3) Divinyl Chlorophyll a (Chl a2)
 * 4) Periplast
 * 5) YO-PRO
 * 6) Bacterioplankton counting methods

Week 6 - Finalize Topic
As a group, we decided on the topic of Bacterioplankton counting methods, a previously non-existant page that we created and fully researched.

Week 7-10 - Expanding Article
The following is my addition (to date) on the wiki page Bacterioplankton counting methods.

Epifluorescence Microscopy
Epifluorescence microscopy is an advanced optical microscope technique that relies on the use of fluorescent dyes that bind to specific biological markers, which then emit distinctive emission spectra that is identified through the lens. Fluorescent dyes include DAPI, Acridine Orange, SYBR Green 1, and YO-PRO-1, all 4 of which are capable of staining both DNA and RNA structures in biological samples such as bacteria and viruses. However, DNA staining is primarily used for bacterial cell identification. With modern epifluorescence microscopy, the industry standard for estimating and counting bacterial cell quantities is by the use of a DAPI stain. This technique can be performed for samples from a wide range of environments and sources, such as seawater, various sources of freshwater, as well as soils and sediments.

Enumeration Technique
In a standard experiment, prepared bacterial samples are placed onto counting slides and then viewed under an epifluorescence microscope. Magnification is set to a level where the 0.1 X 0.1 mm square units on the counting slide are clearly visible. To quantify the bacteria, cells are counted in 5-30 random square unit field-of-views and an average bacteria count per field is tabulated. This value is then extrapolated to estimate the total bacterial cell count per mL by determining the total number of fields-of-view on the slide deposition area and multiplying this by the average bacterial count.

Reliability
To enumerate bacterial cell quantities, only small portions of bacteria are physically counted for logistical reasons, upon which total abundances are estimated by extrapolation. Mean values are then used for comparison among samples. However the accuracy of this technique, where tabulation of only a small subset is used to estimate total abundance quantities, has been brought into question. Primarily, it has been shown that the distribution of bacterial cells on counting slides can be uneven and inconsistent. In addition, to get a legitimate estimate of bacterial counts by using this technique, it has been suggested that more than 350 individual cells, from 20 fields of view must be measured.

Week 11 - Complete and Respond to Peer Review
Completed a peer review of the wiki article Chrysochromulina. Available at student wiki sandbox, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SamiT/sandbox where review is posted on the "Talk" page. Reposted my peer response below....

Cameron's Peer Review
Overall, really like the professional look and layout of your page. Good work so far! Rooner21 (talk) 00:03, 16 March 2018 (UTC)

General Suggestions and Improvements
--Rooner21 (talk) 00:02, 16 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Introduction: I think the introduction could use some additional information added to it. What exactly is the functional group of this species? Is it a phytoplankton? What is a haptophyte? List off some well known types of haptophytes (eg. Coccolithophores).
 * Morphology: what are the plate-like scales made of? Is the haptonema used for locomotion? I would add a link to “flagella” wiki page.
 * Significance: If they “hold an essential role in carbon sequestration” then explain what this role is! Also the “T” in Tobin should be lowercase.
 * Toxicity: Haptophytes are very well known for producing DMS (dimethyl sulfide) gas, which is important in providing the nucleus for cloud formation. Probably interesting to mention this. Like Isabel said, more info on the toxins would be nice. What are the names of the toxins that are produced by Chrysochromulina?
 * Blooms and Viruses: Bloom section is nice with lots of details. Any blooms in the Pacific? Liked the section on the known infecting viruses! Really smart addition to the page. I agree with Isabel...needs a more intuitive title.

Potential Additions
I took a look at some other phytoplankton wiki pages and noted how they were structured and I think your page would benefit from adding some additional sections. These could include: --Rooner21 (talk) 00:02, 16 March 2018 (UTC)
 * Ecology related: role in the food web, predator/prey relations, nutrient requirements, life cycle, evolution, fossil record, etc
 * Photosynthetic pigments