2024 Capstone Hypotheses by Rachel Watson

Hypothesis Example #1

2024-09-09 21:48:57 UTC

If the detection of bioaresols is found within human and wildlife's respiratory system, then it is suspected that there was inhalation to wildfire smoke.

Hypothesis Example #2

2024-09-09 21:51:33 UTC

The presences of bioaresols within humans and wildlife's respiratory system will be higher in more populated areas that have a high wildfire smoke value.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 02:54:44 UTC

The effects of wildfire on the pathogenicity of chronic wasting disease will ultimately decrease the number of cwd fatalities than those that were not subjected to wildfires.

Hypothesis A

2024-09-10 02:55:00 UTC

The unique soil ecology after wildfires is associated with an increase in production of antimicrobials, as well as an increase in diversity of these compounds.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 02:56:27 UTC

The relationship between cwd and wildfires will have a negative relationship post-fire where cwd cases will decrease and wildfire prevalence in the area increases.

Hypothesis B

2024-09-10 02:59:07 UTC

Species which produce antibiotic compounds with a secondary purpose (i.e. coumarins, phenazines, RLMEs) will have a competitive advantage leading to dominance during the first month of colonization post-wildfire.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 14:15:56 UTC

If a microbe placed inside wildfire smoke is altered in different ways such as composition, virulence, pathogenesis, shape, etc., compared to a microbe not placed in smoke and not showing an indication of being altered, it can be suspected that wildfire smoke can change a microbe.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 14:21:49 UTC

If a population in a certain area containing a high content of wildfire smoke appears to get infected more readily than a population in an area with little to no wildfire smoke, it can be suspected that this is due to wildfire smoke air containing more infectious microbes and people inhaling wildfire smoke.

Hypothesis #1

2024-09-10 15:29:30 UTC

Wildfires will significantly alter soil microbial communities, reducing beneficial microbes and disrupting ecosystem functions, which will lead to decreased plant growth and hinder post-fire ecosystem recovery.

Hypothesis #2

2024-09-10 15:29:45 UTC

Inoculating wildfire affected soil with beneficial microorganisms will enhance plant-microbe interactions, leading to accelerated plant regrowth.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 17:11:09 UTC

Frequent exposure to microbes in wildfire smoke increases the amount of harmful microbes in the respiratory system, escalating inflammation and the risk of chronic lung diseases.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 17:20:22 UTC

Sustained exposure to PM_2.5 will induce epigenetic changes in lung tissue, specifically leading to hypermethylation of the TGF-β gene promoter, which contributes to altered gene expression and increased risk of lung disease.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 17:33:43 UTC

If wildfire smoke contains higher than normal levels of viable microbe cells, then wildfire smoke can act as a mode of transmission to humans and wildlife in regular contact with it.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 17:45:18 UTC

Viable pathogenic cells dispersed by wildfire smoke can travel significant distances, infecting those miles away who inhale the smoke.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 18:04:35 UTC

Wildfires cause adaptations to occur in microbials, therefore causing mutations to be present in antimicrobial compounds to increase fitness in the new environment.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 18:06:36 UTC

Due to environmental changes being presented to microbes, this will force microbes to change processes to consume nutrients as compared to pre-fire microbes.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 18:18:19 UTC

The introduction of specific restorative microbes will accelerate the recovery of soil health in wildfire-affected soil by restoring microbial diversity, enhancing nutrient cycling, and promoting plant-microbe symbiosis.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 18:19:47 UTC

Wildfire-affected soil will alter the nutrient availability in the rhizosphere, increasing certain nutrients like phosphorus due to the combustion of organic matter, but reducing others due to loss of microbial-mediated nutrient cycling.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 18:58:29 UTC

Antimicrobial compounds will be secreted by bacteria and fungi following wildfires due to changes in available nutrients and competition.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 19:00:26 UTC

Various microbes will secrete antimicrobial compounds not previously present following a wildfire due to changes in soil chemical composition.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 19:59:05 UTC

The interactions of microbes in the soil have a positive effect on the plants ability to regrow faster after instances of fire.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 20:01:29 UTC

Because of the vast number of interactions between microbes and plants, their aid in a plants ability to sustain themselves can be used to regenerate plants faster after cases of wildfires through manipulation of microbial species within the soil.

Hypothesis 1

2024-09-10 20:03:50 UTC

If wildfire ash lands on wildlife in local fire gradient zones, then the skin microbiome will decrease in diversity allowing for a decrease in the immune system of local wildlife.

Hypothesis 2

2024-09-10 20:06:57 UTC

The interaction of microbes and wildlife immune systems will decrease due to an increase in wildfire incidents.

Experimental Protocol

2024-09-10 20:24:48 UTC

Set a specific testing group.
Make it clear what is being tested.
Specify species and values.
Create a gradient zone of where the tests will take place.
Determine how to measure the inhalation of smoke.
Determine what is considered a viable microbe.

Expected and Unexpected Outcomes

2024-09-10 20:36:41 UTC

Expected Outcomes

Microbes being transmitted through wildfire smoke.
Both humans and wildlife affected.
Pathogenic microbes are dispersed through wildfire smoke.

Unexpected Outcomes

Pathogenic cells do not travel significant distances.
Uninfected individuals and wildlife.
Data is not considered significant/limited.

2024-09-10 20:38:59 UTC

Experimental Procedure:

-Obtain Control(similar to pre-burn affected soil) vs Affected soil

-Sequence/Identify microbes in Soil (PCR maybe)

-Inoculate in controlled environment

-Observe over time

Expected:

-Inoculated burnt soil promotes growth faster

-Uninoculated burnt soil promotes growth at slower rate

Unexpected:

-Microbe used for inoculation decimates remaining microbiome in soil.

-Inoculated microbes alter microbiomes to be different from pre-burn biomes.

Aims:

-We will figure out if we should intervene by inoculating in post-burn environments.

-We will find if inoculation is beneficial to affected soil microbiomes.

-We will determine if specific microbes have a negative or positive impact on the environment.

-We will determine what microorganisms are in soil pre- and post-burn.

Specific Aim

2024-09-10 20:39:34 UTC

The specific aim of the hypothesis should be to develop a mode of measuring smoke inhalation based on microbial transmission. This will allow a baseline to be compared against active/past wildfires.

Outcomes and aims

2024-09-10 20:50:45 UTC

You could sample lung sputum samples from a population before and after a wildfire near them. You could then do a culture to get a cell count and run the genomes of all the microbes to identify the harmful microbes. The expected outcome would be that wildfire smoke increases the amount of harmful microbes in the lungs. The unexpected would. be that it decreases the amount of harmful microbes in the lungs.

specific aim:

Looking at the quantity of microbes in the lungs after wildfire exposure will yield information about how smoke effects the human microbiome

This article may be helpful for a better understanding of methods you could use.

Goolam Mahomed T, Peters R, Pretorius G, Goolam Mahomed A, Ueckermann V, Kock MM, Ehlers MM. Comparison of targeted metagenomics and IS-Pro methods for analysing the lung microbiome. BMC Microbiol. 2021 Aug 18;21(1):228. doi: 10.1186/s12866-021-02288-x. PMID: 34407769; PMCID: PMC8371770.

Experimental Protocols

2024-09-10 20:56:04 UTC

Collect samples of soil before and after wildfire.
Sequence soil genomes to find genes for antimicrobial compound production.
Run a mass spectrometry on the different soil samples.
Compare the presence of antimicrobial compounds before and after wildfire.
Plate sampled microbes with the antimicrobials to see who is getting hindered.
This should help us understand the competitive advantage that comes with these compounds.

Expected outcomes

There should be an increase in the activation of antimicrobial genes following wildfire.
There should be an increase in the number of competitive secondary metabolite compounds found in the soil following wildfire.
The compounds present will give certain microbes a competitive advantage over other microbes found in the soil.

Unexpected outcomes

There is no change in the expression of antimicrobial-producing genes following a wildfire.
There are no antimicrobials produced before or after the wildfire.
The antimicrobial compounds do not give any of the microbes a competitive advantage.

Specific Aim

Test field soil samples with Chromium X to find antibiotic and antifungal genes. Use an HPLC-Mass Spectrometer to see which chemical compounds are present in the soil. Plate sampled cells with present antimicrobials to see the competitive advantages they give.

Outcomes and Aims

2024-09-10 21:01:14 UTC

You could test this by collecting "before" and "after" soils, doing extractions with various solvents to obtain a majority of compounds from the environment, and then do Liquid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) to identify the antimicrobials in the environment and how much of each antimicrobial there is.

An expected outcome could be wildfires will cause certain microbes to mutate, allowing for new antimicrobials to enter the environment. An unexpected outcome could be wildfires decrease the diversity of antimicrobials in the environment.

NEW hyp. 2

2024-09-10 21:21:16 UTC

The number of interactions between microbes and plants can be used to regenerate plants faster after cases of wildfires through manipulation of microbial species in the soil.

Hypothesis 1 Revised

2024-09-10 21:23:00 UTC

Frequent exposure to microbes in wildfire smoke increase the presence of pathogenic microbes in the respiratory system.

Hypothesis Example #2 Rewrite

2024-09-10 21:23:02 UTC

The presence of of bioaresols within humans and wildlife's respiratory system will be higher in more populated areas that have higher smoke values such as those who live in mountain towns versus those who live in the city.

Revised Hypothesis

2024-09-10 21:23:12 UTC

A population within an area with high wildfire sites, will be more readily infected with microbes compared to a population in an area with little to no wildfire sites.

New hyp. 1

2024-09-10 21:23:56 UTC

Wildfire ash on the skin of local wildlife species will create a harsh enough environment for different types of skin microbes to decrease in diversity.

New Hypothesis

2024-09-10 21:24:16 UTC

Prevalent wildfire smoke increases the potential of pathogenic microbes in the atmosphere, spreading to surrounding areas and life.

New Hypothesis

2024-09-10 21:24:22 UTC

Microbial's from post-fire soil will produce more and in higher frequency antimicrobials.

New Hypothesis #1

2024-09-10 21:25:07 UTC

The introduction of beneficial microbes to a post-wildfire soil will lead to improved plant microbial interactions and improve post-fire ecosystem recovery.

Hypothesis 1.0

2024-09-10 21:25:18 UTC

Introducing specific restorative microbes will accelerate soil health recovery in wildfire-affected areas by restoring microbial diversity, enhancing nutrient cycling, and promoting plant-microbe symbiosis.

New hyp 2.

2024-09-10 21:25:31 UTC

A decrease in the amount of microbes in the wildlife skin microbiome due to wildfire ash will create an inhibited immune system response.

Hypothesis A 2.0

2024-09-10 21:29:59 UTC

The unique soil ecology after fires will be associated with an increase in the diversity of antimicrobials.

Fixed Hypothesis?

2024-09-10 21:31:38 UTC

Antibiotic and antifungal compounds will be secreted by various bacteria and fungi in larger amounts following a wildfire due to the changes in the chemical compositions of soil.