Wellesley College View Institution's Website 5 articles published in JoVE Biology A Flame-Free Method for Sterilizing C. elegans Picks, Spatulas, and Scalpels Heidi Stifter1, Deborah E. Bauer1 1Neuroscience Department, Wellesley College This article describes a method for sterilizing worm picks, spatulas, and scalpels using a micro-incinerator in place of an open flame. Biology Isolation and Characterization of Cyanobacterial Extracellular Vesicles Steven J. Biller*1, María del Carmen Muñoz-Marín*2, Steeve Lima3,4,5, Jorge Matinha-Cardoso3,4, Paula Tamagnini3,4,6, Paulo Oliveira3,4,6 1Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College, 2Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Campus de Excelencia Internacional, Agroalimentario, Universidad de Córdoba, 3i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, 4IBMC - Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, 5MCbiology Doctoral Program, ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, 6Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto The present protocol providesdetailed descriptions for isolation, concentration,and characterization of extracellular vesicles from cyanobacterial cultures. Approaches for purifying vesicles from cultures at different scales, trade-offs among methodologies, and considerations for working with field samples are also discussed. Environment Using Changes in Leaf Transmission to Investigate Chloroplast Movement in Arabidopsis thaliana Martina Königer1, Anna Knapp1, Lauren Futami1, Susan Kohler1 1Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College Many plant species change the positioning of chloroplasts to optimize light absorption. This protocol describes how to use a straightforward, home-built instrument to investigate chloroplast movement in Arabidopsis thaliana leaves using changes in the transmission of light through a leaf as a proxy. Biology Production and Visualization of Bacterial Spheroplasts and Protoplasts to Characterize Antimicrobial Peptide Localization Dania M. Figueroa1, Heidi M. Wade1,2, Katrina P. Montales2, Donald E. Elmore1,2, Louise E.O. Darling1,3 1Biochemistry Program, Wellesley College, 2Department of Chemistry, Wellesley College, 3Department of Biological Sciences, Wellesley College Here we present a protocol to produce gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) spheroplasts and gram-positive Bacillus megaterium (B. megaterium) protoplasts to clearly visualize and rapidly characterize peptide-bacteria interactions. This provides a systematic method to define membrane localizing and translocating peptides. Biology Measuring Peptide Translocation into Large Unilamellar Vesicles Sara A. Spinella1, Rachel B. Nelson1, Donald E. Elmore1 1Department of Chemistry, Wellesley College This protocol details a method for the quantitative measure of peptide translocation into large unilamellar lipid vesicles. This method also provides information about the rate of membrane translocation and can be used to identify peptides that efficiently and spontaneously cross lipid bilayers.