Natalia Filipowicz

HS-SPME/GC Analysis Reveals the Population Variability of Terpene Contents in Juniperus communis Needles

Juniperus communis var. communis L. is an aromatic plant – typical boreal element of flora. In the extensive literature concerning J. communis, there is much data on the composition and the content of essential oil of needles and coneberries, but a detailed analysis of terpene distribution within and between populations is missing. A representative pool of 74 J. communis individuals originating from ten populations of Northern Poland was investigated in order to evaluate the intra‐ and interpopulational variability of the terpene pattern. Headspace solid‐phase microextraction (HS‐SPME) coupled with GC/MS and GC/FID was applied in achiral and enantioselective analysis. The majority of the samples (85%), despite different origin, were similar in the terpene pattern. High diversity of terpenes was observed within the populations and low diversity between them. High variation of enantiomeric composition was in accordance with large variation of individual compounds in general (achiral analysis). J. communis samples from Northern Poland could be distinguished by the α‐pinene/sabinene ratio, and they were divided into three chemical races.

Taxonomic Clarification of the Unusual Dinophyte Gymnodinium limneticum Wołosz. (Gymnodiniaceae) from the Tatra Mountains

The Gymnodiniaceae -even in a strict sense- comprise a vast diversity of dinophytes regarding morphology and ecology. Taxonomy and nomenclature of their constituent species remain problematic, although crucial to fully explore the biology of the group. Here, we present the rarely documented dinophyte Gymnodinium limneticum from its type locality at Lake Morskie Oko in Poland, for which we established strains and made extensive morphological studies. The species was unusual in exhibiting capsoid cells as predominant life-history stage, which were embedded and dividing in extensive mucilage leading to an enkaptic pseudocolonial system. We also generated ribosomal RNA sequences that were included in a comprehensive molecular phylogeny. Our species was clearly identified as a member of the Gymnodiniaceae s.str. but within the lineage, it was only distantly related to the type species of Gymnodinium, G. fuscum. Rather, it constituted a monophyletic group together with species assigned to Spiniferodinium and as a nomenclatural result, we propose two new combinations (i.e., Sp. limneticum comb. nov., Sp. palustre comb. nov.). As Spiniferodinium now includes dinophyte species inhabiting marine or freshwater environments as well, our investigations may provide evidence for an evolutionary scenario with corresponding transitions being more frequent than considered before.

Immunophenotyping and transcriptional profiling of in vitro cultured human adipose tissue derived stem cells

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) have become an important research model in regenerative medicine. However, there are controversies regarding the impact of prolonged cell culture on the ASCs phenotype and their differentiation potential. Hence, we studied 10 clinical ASCs replicates from plastic and oncological surgery patients, in six-passage FBS supplemented cultures. We quantified basic mesenchymal cell surface marker transcripts and the encoded proteins after each passage. In parallel, we investigated the differentiation potential of ASCs into chondrocytes, osteocytes and adipocytes. We further determined the effects of FBS supplementation and subsequent deprivation on the whole transcriptome by comprehensive mRNA and miRNA sequencing. Our results show that ASCs maintain differentiation potential and consistent profile of key mesenchymal markers, with apparent expression of distinct isoforms, in long-term cultures. No significant differences were observed between plastic and oncological surgery cohorts. ASCs in FBS supplemented primary cultures are almost committed to mesenchymal lineages as they express key epithelial-mesenchymal transition genes including early mesenchymal markers. Furthermore, combined mRNA/miRNA expression profiling strongly supports a modulatory role for the miR-30 family in the commitment process to mesenchymal lineages. Finally, we propose improvements to existing qPCR based assays that address alternative isoform expression of mesenchymal markers.

Towards global distribution maps of unicellular organisms such as calcareous dinophytes based on DNA sequence information

Despite recent fruitful attempts to elucidate microbial biogeography in more detail, knowledge of distribution still lags behind for dinophytes. Evolutionary phenomena, such as cryptic speciation and modification due to the environment, hamper reliable conclusions about the distribution of this important plankton group. We combined newly collected samples from the Black Sea (ten new strains from three localities) with occurrence data, which have been gathered extensively over the past decade, in order to provide the first global distribution maps of four specific ribotypes assigned to the Scrippsiella lineage (Thoracosphaeraceae, Peridiniales) collected at a total of 39 sites. They showed a wide, partly overlapping distribution and shared the presence primarily at the coastal localities. Differences in abundance of specific ribotypes were observed, but the ribotype corresponding to the globally most frequently encountered species Scrippsiella acuminata has not yet been found in the Black Sea. We discuss the significance of DNA-based records for distribution maps particularly of unicellular organisms such as dinophytes. Based on a collective approach as exemplified in our study, we may start to understand in detail the ecological basis and the dynamics of the individual colonisation/invasion events, species establishment and consequent distribution in the microbiome, all of which have been changing drastically due to the ongoing climate change.

Author Correction: Mild hypothermia provides Treg stability

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.