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The prevalence of sexual assault cases and increasingly sensitive DNA analysis methods have resulted in sexual assault kit backlogs in the United States. Although traditional DNA extraction and purification utilizing detergents, proteinase K, and DTT have been the primary technique for lysing sperm cell fractions from these samples, it is labor‐intensive and inefficient regarding time and sperm DNA recovery – hindering the ability of forensic analysts to keep pace with evidence submissions. Thus, this study examined seven alternative sperm cell lysis techniques to develop a method that could efficiently lyse sperm and consistently generate high‐quality profiles while also reducing time, labor, and cost requirements. Microscopic examination of lysates indicated only Casework Direct and alkaline techniques could lyse all spermatozoa within samples, while quantification results demonstrated all methods performed comparably to the control method of forensicGEM™ Sperm (p > 0.06). Amplification with 0.25 ng DNA revealed that unpurified lysates from Casework Direct, alkaline, and NP‐40 techniques produced DNA profiles with acceptable mean STR peak heights and interlocus balance, both of which were similar to or better than the control. Overall, this study demonstrated the ability of Casework Direct, alkaline, and NP‐40 methods to efficiently lyse spermatozoa and provide high‐quality STR profiles despite the absence of a purification step. Ultimately, based on the data reported herein, alkaline lysis is the recommended alternative sperm lysis approach given its ability to generate high‐quality profiles, save time, and decrease the cost per reaction when compared to traditional sperm cell lysis methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Horticulturists have not promoted use of Dirca palustris L. (eastern leather-wood) despite its suite of traits valued by gardeners and landscapers. Horticultural production of D. palustris may be hindered by slow shoot growth and sensitivity of plants to edaphic conditions. Because of discrepancies in reported tolerances of D. palustris to root-zone pH, we assessed whether pH of soils supporting indigenous populations in Florida, Maine, and North Dakota corresponded to responses of seedlings from the three provenances to root-zone pH of 4.5 to 7.3 in soilless media. Regression showed that root zones at pH 5.8 promoted maximum stem length of seedlings from Florida and North Dakota, whereas root zones at pH 4.5 led to maximum stem length of seedlings from Maine. Root-zone pH 5.6 and 5.5 fostered maximum root and shoot dry weight, respectively, for seedlings from Florida, whereas root zones at pH 4.5 promoted maximum root and shoot dry weights of seedlings from Maine and North Dakota. Averaged over provenance, relative leaf greenness decreased by 62%, and foliar nitrogen, iron, manganese, and zinc decreased by 49%, 70%, 95%, and 48%, respectively, as root-zone pH increased from 4.5 to 7.3. Foliar phosphorus decreased at both low and high pH. The pH of soils where seeds were collected did not predict optimal root-zone pH for stem length or biomass accrual in soilless media; genotypes from soils with a pH of 7.4 in North Dakota did not exhibit greater tolerance to high pH than genotypes from Maine or Florida, where pH of indigenous soil was 6.1 and 5.2, respectively. Averaged over pH treatments, seedlings from Florida showed the greatest stem length and formed the most shoot biomass, whereas seedlings from North Dakota had stouter stems, greater root biomass, and greater root-to-shoot ratios than did seedlings from Florida and Maine. Our results illustrate that acidic media facilitate horticultural production of D. palustris, that further evaluation of provenance differences could facilitate selection of genotypes for horticulture, and that tolerances of genotypes to root-zone pH do not strictly correspond to the pH of salts on which they were indigenous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The geochemistry and microbiology of two ephemeral playa lakes in the Western United States, Surprise Valley Alkali Lake (SVAL) and Eldorado Playa (EP), were examined over one wetting cycle, revealing dramatic temporal changes in suspended mineralogy, aqueous chemistry, and bacterial populations. In SVAL the predominant suspended mineral changed from smectite to vermiculite and clinoptilolite, which led to a depletion of soluble Mg2+. Nitrate became depleted in both playas as a result of biological nitrogen demand imparted by unusually dense microbial communities reaching ∼1 × 108 cultivable heterotrophs per ml of water. One hundred eighty eight bacterial isolates were obtained, representing sixty phylotypes and four phyla: Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that the microbial communities reflected different phases of succession, with SVAL changing from a diverse community with abundant Yonghaparkia to a less diverse late summer community with abundant Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria such as Loktanella, Rhodobaca, Saccharospirillum, Flexibacter, and phylogenetically novel members of the Flexibacteriaceae. In EP, a diverse assemblage of bacteria often associated with soils was replaced very quickly by a much less even community dominated by Yonghaparkia, Sandarakinorhabdus, and relatives of Belliella baltica. Strikingly, the early summer microbial community from SVAL was not significantly different from the EP community that developed within one week of flooding, even though these playas are almost 1000 km apart, whereas sympatric communities in different phases of succession were different. To our knowledge, this is one of the first geomicrobiological studies of a recharge playa, the dominant playa type worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]