User talk:Kevinxchan/sandbox

Assignment 1
ARTICLE: Chlorosome

CRITIQUE: The article has many claims without citations, as in the “Structure” and “An alternative energy source” sections - throughout both, no references are made. The section “Organization of light harvesting pigments” goes into unnecessary detail about a single reference’s methods, mentioning cryo-electron microscopy and NMR spectroscopy multiple times, suggesting redundancy and bias towards this reference. Although information is cited nearly once per paragraph, hard facts such as structural differences between chlorosomes in GSB vs FAP in the introductory paragraph also lack further citations.

Despite only containing 4 references in total, each reference is an article from peer-reviewed journals with all hyperlinks linked correctly. Close paraphrasing/plagiarism is not suspected after inspection of cited references. The article’s language and position is also neutral, as it does not use any value statements. However, more information with more references should be added as this would strengthen the fundamental knowledge in each section.

Suggestions include removing the “An alternative energy source” section, as it contains a single sentence with no reference and is phrased speculatively, and include research results instead of overly detailed methods. In the structure section, the conversation started in the article’s talk page concerning differing hypotheses about chlorosome structure (rods vs lamellar) should be included as both viewpoints are underrepresented. The article should be updated with information such as chlorosome distribution across different phyla (within the bacterial species list), the molecular structure of chlorosomes, and a diagram of chlorosome structure which can be used for visual reference.

REFERENCES:

Rod vs lamellar hypotheses:

http://pubs.acs.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03718 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/101060309285032P?via%3Dihub http://pubs.acs.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/pdf/10.1021/jp4011394

Structure and phyla distribution:

http://www.biochemj.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/474/13/2107 http://www.nature.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/articles/ncomms12454 http://pubs.acs.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b03718

Kevinxchan (talk) 06:39, 17 September 2017 (UTC)

Assignment 2 - Exoelectrogen
The article “Exoelectrogen” demonstrates high notability as it is a broad topic warranting coverage from the physiology, phylogenetic distribution, and mechanisms to the practical applications of such organisms; thereby benefitting from a wealth of scholarly references from both fields. While other articles elaborate on the specific topics mentioned in depth, this article merits improvement as it is in the intersection of basic and applied research, and should address both areas appropriately. There have been growing efforts to understand methods of extracellular electron transport, the organisms capable of it, and to explore industrial uses of exoelectrogenic bacteria – of particular recent interest has been the optimization and commercialization of microbial fuel cells. Furthermore, exoelectrogens have been shown to be effective in bioremediation , eliciting research from more sources.

Although the section “Extracellular Electron Transport Mechanisms” has two paragraphs describing the mechanisms of electron transport in Shewenella oneidensis and Geobacter sulfurreducens, both paragraphs do not go into sufficient detail about how both mechanisms increase conductivity. Both paragraphs also lack references to support claims about increased conductivity, and references to support claims of specific mechanisms used by the respective species. Furthermore, the section primarily focuses on two genera capable of extracellular electron transport, but more have been found.

The above section also fails to mention the use of chelating agents as a method of extracellular electron transport, which will be the primary area for improvement. Since the lead paragraph in the article mentions iron metabolism, the article would benefit from an expansion on iron-chelating mechanisms. This content would also demonstrate the diversity of the methods utilized by exoelectrogens, emphasizing the broadness of this topic. Studies have been conducted to demonstrate the usage of extracellular chelating agents in bacteria, mechanisms   and regulation ; therefore content including a brief background to iron-chelation in addition to the three areas mentioned (as a general overview) will be added.

Kevinxchan (talk) 23:41, 23 September 2017 (UTC)