Biology subjects

Tozser, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Tozser, D..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

3D scanning measurement method for seed size research

PremiseTraditionally used seed size and surface area calculation techniques are often inaccurate or destructive. This is especially relevant for organisms with irregular shapes. It is believed that three-dimensional (3D) printing and scanning could also be disruptive technologies. However, these methods hold immense potential for ecology and evolution sciences, which have a longstanding tradition of inventing and creating objects for research, education, and outreach. Methods and ResultsWe describe how to 3D scan seeds reproducible on an inexpensive structured light based commodity 3D scanner. We then compared novel 3D and traditional 2D approaches by reproducibility and timing. ConclusionsThis study demonstrates how 3D scanning methods are easily applicable to the quantification of seed shape and providing an easy entry into it.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2024

Assessment of the level of pollution based on soil and Tilia europaea leaves

Anthropic activities related to urbanization release pollutants, including potentially toxic elements, into the atmosphere and these are eventually deposited in soils, water, infrastructures, vegetation. Urban soil and plant leaves are widely used as ecological indicators to assess the effect of urbanization. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of urbanization based on the elemental concentration of soil and leaves of Tilia x europaea from urban, suburban, and rural areas along an urbanization gradient in Debrecen, Hungary. Using the ICP-OES technique, we measured the concentration of Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn and based on the measured concentration, bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was calculated. The highest concentration of all elements was found in soil samples from urban areas, with an increasing tendency along the urbanization gradient. A significant difference was found along the urbanization gradient only for Cr based on the plant leaves. T. x europaea showed bioaccumulation capacity for Cr and Sr. Our results suggest that urbanization has a remarkable effect on the elemental concentration of soil, which is a perfect ecological indicator. At the same time, we concluded that the T. x europaea was not sensitive enough to indicate the effect of urbanization.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2023

Bacterial colony size growth estimation by deep learning

The bacterial growth rate is important for pathogenicity and food safety. Therefore, the study of bacterial growth rate over time can provide important data from a medical and veterinary point of view. We trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) on manually annotated solid medium cultures to detect bacterial colonies as accurately as possible. Predictions of bacterial colony size and growth rate were estimated from image sequences of independent Staphylococcus aureus cultures using trained CNNs. A simple linear model for control cultures with less than 150 colonies estimated that the mean growth rate was 60.3 m/h for the first 24 h. Analyzing with a mixed effect model that also takes into account the effect of culture, smaller values of change in colony size were obtained (control: 51.0 m/h, rifampicin pretreated: 36.5m/h). An increase in the number of neighboring colonies clearly reduces the colony growth rate in the control group but less typically in the rifampicin-pretreated group. Based on our results, CNN-based bacterial colony detection and the subsequent analysis of bacterial colony growth dynamics might become an accurate and efficient tool for bacteriological work and research.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Raw milk for human consumption may carry antimicrobial resistance genes

BackgroundThe increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant threat to global health. The widespread use of antibiotics is increasingly shortening the time it takes for resistant strains to develop. More and more multi-drug-resistant bacterial strains cause life-threatening infections and the death of tens of thousands of people each year. Beyond disease control animals are often given antibiotics for growth promotion or increased feed efficiency, which further increase the chance of the development of multi-resistant strains. After the consumption of unprocessed animal products, these strains may meet the human bacteriota. Among the foodborne and the human populations, antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) may be shared by horizontal gene transfer. This study aims to test the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes in milk metagenome, investigate their genetic position and their linkage to mobile genetic elements. ResultsWe have analyzed raw milk samples from public markets sold for human consumption. The milk samples contained genetic material from various bacterial species and the detailed analysis uncovered the presence of several antimicrobial resistance genes. The samples contained complete ARGs influencing the effectiveness of acridine dye, cephalosporin, cephamycin, fluoroquinolone, penam, peptide antibiotics and tetracycline. One of the ARGs, PC1 beta-lactamase may also be a mobile element that facilitates the transfer of resistance genes to other bacteria, e.g. to the ones living in the human gut. ConclusionBesides the animal products antibiotic residuals, their potentially transmissible antimicrobial resistance gene content may also contribute to the development of human pathogenic bacterias antimicrobial resistance.

genomics↗