User talk:Adria Lwin/sandbox

Assignment 1 - Response Regulator Critique
In general this is a good introduction to response regulators. The lead section clearly provides the simplest explanation of response regulators, a brief summary of the rest of the article and connects them to two-component regulatory systems. The headings cover the crucial points and coverage is evenly distributed and presented in a neutral tone. A separate section on "Structure" might be useful, or perhaps an elaboration of the "Classification" section to include both structure and classification, as classification is already briefly mentioned in that section. All the information is relevant; however, certain facts are seemingly more suitable for the histidine kinase article, or could be reworded to bring the focus back to response regulators. There are two photos illustrating the 3D structure, but the article would benefit from an additional photo that allows readers to visualize the role of response regulators in a two component system.

Although all the references are reliable peer reviewed articles from scientific journals, more thorough citation is needed. For example in the "Classification" section, none of the three bullet points are cited and it is unclear from which source they originate. Furthermore the formatting of footnotes in the lead section could be improved, as they are all listed at end of the paragraph rather than following their respective facts. There are only eight referenced sources, however all the existing citations are hyperlinked to the correct pages and there does not appear to be any close paraphrasing. --Adria Lwin (talk) 17:45, 16 September 2017 (UTC)

Assignment 2 - Methylotroph Critique
The article on methylotrophs is categorized as start class with mid-level importance, which puts it in good consideration for editing. The article is of high notability, meaning there is significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the source material. Methylotrophic bacteria have applications and are widely covered in the context of agriculture, where they are useful in growing sustainable crops and improving soil and air quality. There are also several articles and journal reviews dedicated to methylotrophic metabolism, which is an area of rapid growth. In fact, many discoveries have been made in the field of methylotrophy in recent years with several sources contributing to its growth. The majority of these sources are reliable, peer-reviewed journal articles. There is currently only one source cited in the article.

With all of the above in mind, it is clear that this article is severely lacking. There are two sections in addition to the lead section, one of which only provides examples of methylotrophs in bullet points. The other briefly describes two types of methylotrophs. This is an incomplete representation of methylotrophic classification and diversity, which merits a section of its own. In addition, this article would benefit from sections on metabolic pathways, habitats, interactions with other organisms, and applications to name a few. An important section that I would like to add to is the environmental impact of methylotrophic bacteria. Methylotrophs are a viable sustainable alternative to industrial fertilizers which have many harmful effects on the environment. They can be used as a bioinculant due to their ability to promote growth of plants without pathogenic activity. Their role in regulating the carbon and nitrogen cycles could even reduce global warming. This information would greatly enhance the article by showcasing useful applications of methylotrophs and how they have a significant impact to humans.

--Adria Lwin (talk) 08:36, 27 September 2017 (UTC)

General microbiology
Methylotrophs are a diverse group, including both Gram-negative and Gram-positive genera. None of them make resting structures like exospores or cysts and none of them have the complex intracellular membrane systems that characterize methanotrophs growing on methane

There are two sub groups:
 * 1) obligate methylotrophs.
 * 2) facultative methylotrophs.

= Obligate methylotrophs
= A single obligate methylotroph (methylophilus) is known. It is Gram-negative, polarly flagellated rod capable of rapid growth with methanol. Some strains can also utilize formaldehyde or methylamines. Carbon is assimilated via the ribulose mono phosphate pathway.

= Facultative methylotrophs
= It is relatively widely distributed trait among heterotrophic bacteria. It may also be common among chemoautotrophs: several thiobacilli and nitrifying bacteria can drive CO2 assimilation via the Calvin-Benson cycle by formate oxidation.

Environmental Impact
As key players in the carbon cycle, methylotrophs work to reduce global warming primarily through the uptake of methane and other greenhouse gases. In aqueous environments, methanogenic bacteria produce 40-50% of the world's methane. Symbiosis between methanogens and methanotrophic bacteria greatly decreases the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.

Traditional chemical fertilizers, while needed to supply nutrients not readily available from soil, have negative effects on both humans and the environment, such as decreased crop yield, poor soil quality and plant diseases. In addition to reducing the environmental cost of producing chemical fertilizers, methylotrophs have high potential as alternative biofertilizers and bioinoculants. They form mutualistic relationships with several plant species, promoting their growth through production of plant hormones and supporting nutrient uptake. Methylotrophs also provide plants with nutrients such as soluble phosphorous and fixed nitrogen. Methylotrophic biofertilizers used either alone or together with chemical fertilizers have been shown to increase not only crop yield but crop quality as well. --Adria Lwin (talk) 06:59, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Jairah Alindogan's Peer Review
Overall, Adria Lwin’s edited content to the Wikipedia article “Methylotroph” succeeds in providing a clear, in-depth and justified summary of this organism’s environmental significance.

The placement of the content, i.e. the addition of a new section on Environmental Impact, is appropriate and Lwin supports the edit with relevant explanations. In an organized and balanced manner, Lwin presents two main ideas in separate paragraphs: the role of methylotrophs in biochemical processes and their potential as biofertilizers. Generally, Lwin’s writing is straightforward, using language that is easy to understand. Most sentences flow smoothly and there are no instances of close-paraphrasing. In addition, all statements are supported by peer-reviewed literature sources and presented neutrally. For example, Lwin does not directly convince the reader that methylotrophs would be viable fertilizers. Lwin avoids drawing conclusions, only referring to reliable evidence that suggest the potential of methylotrophic fertilizers. To improve, Lwin can edit the current second paragraph so that it is more concise and covers a balance of literature sources. The first two sentences, in particular, are long-winded. The author should merge and shorten these sentences. Also, this section leans heavily on the work of Kumar et al. to justify the potential of methylotrophs as fertilizers. Lwin should consider further diversifying the sources used for the second paragraph to avoid bias towards a single source.

Additionally, the author should consider avoiding information overlap with the Wikipedia article on methanotrophs, a subset of methylotrophs. Since methanotrophs are known to be specifically important in degrading pollutants, there is a chance that future edits related to global warming may already be extensively covered in the current “Methanotroph” page.

Jairahalindogan (talk) 02:20, 5 November 2017 (UTC)