@article{beasley_monsur_hu_dunn_madden_2022, title={The bacterial community of childcare centers: potential implications for microbial dispersal and child exposure}, volume={17}, ISSN={["2524-6372"]}, DOI={10.1186/s40793-022-00404-6}, abstractNote={Bacterial communities within built environments reflect differences in sources of bacteria, building design, and environmental contexts. These communities impact the health of their occupants in many ways. Children interact with the built environment differently than do adults as a result of their unique behaviors, size, and developmental status. Consequently, understanding the broader bacterial community to which children are exposed will help inform public health efforts and contribute to our growing understanding of the bacterial community associated with childcare centers.We sampled childcare centers to survey the variation in bacterial community composition across five surfaces found inside and outside twelve classrooms and six centers using 16S rRNA marker gene amplicon sequencing. We then correlated these bacterial community analyses of surfaces with environmental and demographic measures of illumination and classroom occupant density.The childcare environment was dominated by human-associated bacteria with modest input from outdoor sources. Though the bacterial communities of individual childcare centers differed, there was a greater difference in the bacterial community within a classroom than among centers. Surface habitats-fomites-within the classroom, did not differ in community composition despite differing proximity to likely sources of bacteria, and possible environmental filters, such as light. Bacterial communities did correlate with occupant density and differed significantly between high and low usage surfaces.Our results suggest built environments inhabited by young children are similar to functionally equivalent built environments inhabited by adults, despite the different way young children engage with their environment. Ultimately, these results will be useful when further interrogating microbial dispersal and human exposure to microorganisms in built environments that specifically cater to young children.}, number={1}, journal={ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME}, author={Beasley, D. E. and Monsur, M. and Hu, J. and Dunn, R. R. and Madden, A. A.}, year={2022}, month={Mar} }
 @article{beasley_fitzgerald_fowler_keleher_lopez-uribe_dunn_2019, title={Do Bee Wings Adapt for Flight in Urban Environments?}, volume={18}, ISSN={["1938-5412"]}, DOI={10.1656/058.018.0210}, abstractNote={Abstract Understanding how organisms respond to urban-associated environmental changes is key to protecting vulnerable species. Bees, in particular, have gained interest due to their economic and ecological roles. We used a geometric morphometric approach to describe changes in wing shape and size in the solitary bee Andrena barbara (Barbara's Miner) collected across an urban landscape. We found that, although the wing morphology suggests a limited dispersal ability in its short and narrow frame, the urban landscape did not significantly explain how wing shape or size vary. Our findings are consistent with other studies that show little variation in wing morphology in urban solitary bees, and suggests that urban habitats may potentially serve an important role in bee conservation.}, number={2}, journal={SOUTHEASTERN NATURALIST}, author={Beasley, DeAnna E. and Fitzgerald, Jacquelyn L. and Fowler, Alison and Keleher, Kirsten and Lopez-Uribe, Margarita M. and Dunn, Robert R.}, year={2019}, month={May}, pages={183–191} }
 @article{li_li_beasley_hedenec_xiao_zhang_li_lin_li_2016, title={Diet Diversity Is Associated with Beta but not Alpha Diversity of Pika Gut Microbiota}, volume={7}, ISSN={["1664-302X"]}, DOI={10.3389/fmicb.2016.01169}, abstractNote={Wild mammals often consume different food sources as they become geographical available. This change in diet composition is likely to influence the gut microbial community, yet it remains unclear what the relationship looks like—particularly in small herbivores—under natural conditions. We used DNA sequencing approaches to characterize the diet composition and gut microbial community of wild plateau pikas (Ochotona curzoniae) collected from three altitudes. We tested if diet and gut microbiota composition changes across altitudes, and the relationship between diet diversity and gut microbiota diversity. Our results showed that altitude significantly influences the composition of diet and gut microbial communities. Notably, the alpha diversity (Shannon diversity and observed OTUs) of individual diet was not significantly correlated with that of gut microbiota, whereas the beta diversity (Jaccard and Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) of diet was positively correlated with that of gut microbiota. Our study is the first time to highlight the relationship between diet and gut microbiota composition in wild pikas on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It suggests that the species richness within individual gut microbiota does not linearly increase with diet diversity, whereas those individuals that are more similar in diet composition harbor more similar gut microbiota.}, journal={FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY}, author={Li, Huan and Li, Tongtong and Beasley, DeAnna E. and Hedenec, Petr and Xiao, Zhishu and Zhang, Shiheng and Li, Jiabao and Lin, Qing and Li, Xiangzhen}, year={2016}, month={Jul} }
 @article{beasley_koltz_lambert_fierer_dunn_2015, title={The Evolution of Stomach Acidity and Its Relevance to the Human Microbiome}, volume={10}, ISSN={1932-6203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134116}, DOI={10.1371/journal.pone.0134116}, abstractNote={Gastric acidity is likely a key factor shaping the diversity and composition of microbial communities found in the vertebrate gut. We conducted a systematic review to test the hypothesis that a key role of the vertebrate stomach is to maintain the gut microbial community by filtering out novel microbial taxa before they pass into the intestines. We propose that species feeding either on carrion or on organisms that are close phylogenetic relatives should require the most restrictive filter (measured as high stomach acidity) as protection from foreign microbes. Conversely, species feeding on a lower trophic level or on food that is distantly related to them (e.g. herbivores) should require the least restrictive filter, as the risk of pathogen exposure is lower. Comparisons of stomach acidity across trophic groups in mammal and bird taxa show that scavengers and carnivores have significantly higher stomach acidities compared to herbivores or carnivores feeding on phylogenetically distant prey such as insects or fish. In addition, we find when stomach acidity varies within species either naturally (with age) or in treatments such as bariatric surgery, the effects on gut bacterial pathogens and communities are in line with our hypothesis that the stomach acts as an ecological filter. Together these results highlight the importance of including measurements of gastric pH when investigating gut microbial dynamics within and across species.}, number={7}, journal={PLOS ONE}, publisher={Public Library of Science (PLoS)}, author={Beasley, DeAnna E. and Koltz, Amanda M. and Lambert, Joanna E. and Fierer, Noah and Dunn, Rob R.}, editor={Li, XiangzhenEditor}, year={2015}, month={Jul}, pages={e0134116} }