Currently there is extensive interest in the health of honeybee colonies, both in the United States, and worldwide. A healthy and functioning agricultural system requires honeybees, and bees in turn, require nutritious, diverse forage that includes both nectar and pollen. This study involved analyzing the pollen collected by honeybee colonies maintained on the campus of Edmonds Community College, and matching that with pollen collected directly from local plants. We isolated pollen from honey collected and stored by the bees and also collected pollen directly from cells in the hive. In order to identify the different pollen species, the pollen was chemically extracted and acetolyzed to remove sugars and waxes. The treated pollen was then stained, slide-mounted and viewed by light microscopy. These pollen samples were compared to samples of pollen that were collected directly from local plants as well as to existing pollen databases. Preliminary analysis revealed the presence of pollen from brassica, salvia, and trifolium. We were unable to identify some of the extracted pollen species. During the coming foraging season we will expand our database of locally-collected pollen and will generate a local pollen identification key. This will allow us to conclusively identify all of the pollen found in the hives. Results of this study will help us track what the bees are eating and will inform decisions about what best to plant to insure healthy colonies.

Forensic entomology uses the life cycles of insects to determine the time of death (post mortem interval, PMI) of victims of homicide and abuse. Currently, PMI is not used on bodies that have been burned with the use of an accelerant because little is known about how the accelerants affect the life cycles of insects at the scene. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether flesh flies (Sarcophaga bullata) will colonize and complete a full life cycle on charred carrion that has been burned with an accelerant. Laboratory reared adult flesh flies were provided with various substrates; one not burned, one organically burned and one burned with the accelerant, gasoline. Early results of this experiment have shown normal progression of the fly life cycle with larvae deposited on the control carrion. No progression of the life cycle of the flies has been observed on either of the charred substrates. The results of these experiments can show how carrion burned with accelerants affects the colonization and life cycle of an important forensic indicator species, the flesh fly. This pilot study can lead to further studies regarding using PMI for charred remains. The broad scope of this study is to gain insight into the use of insect life cycles to determine the time of death of victims burned with accelerants.

The mutualistic metabolic relationships, called syntrophic relationships, between sulfur-reducing bacteria and methane-producing Archaea are responsible for a large part of the global methane cycle. However, the genetic adaptations and regulatory pathways of mutualism are poorly understood, due in part to the difficulty associated with directly observing the behavioral and metabolic interactions of these microbes. To better understand mutualistic adaptations of syntrophic organisms, the bacterium Desulfovibrio vulgaris and the archeaon Methanococcus maripaludis were grown in co-cultures over a period of 1000 generations and their gene expression analyzed. In anaerobic conditions, the metabolic byproducts of one fuels the growth of the other, and vice versa. During lactate fermentation, the growth rate of D. vulgaris is dependent on the level of hydrogen in the ambient environment. M. maripaludis consumes hydrogen to reduce carbon dioxide and produce methane. This relationship between D. vulgaris and M. maripaludis, although syntrophic, is experimentally imposed, and ensures that neither species in the study begins with naturally-derived adaptations. Elucidating the exact mechanisms these microorganisms use to react to stress and adapt to their environment is a fundamental part not only of understanding the mechanisms behind evolution, but also of how interacting populations of microorganisms may be better suited to survive stressful environmental conditions such as global climate change.