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Multispecies Genomic Sex Identification Using Ddx3 Gene Polymorphisms, Jessica Felts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

PCR sex determination assays must be reliable and cost effective due to the frequent and integral use of these assays in biological research and the animal production industry. Thus, the design of proof of a primer pair with a built-in control is warranted to not only bypass the extra cost of a multiplex reaction, but also to prevent anomalous results that have been documented with other primer pairs.

The objective of this study was to design primer pairs with built in PCR amplification control to identify sex in Equus caballus (domestic horse), Homo sapiens (humans), Macaca mulatta (rhesus macaque), and …

Treatment Of Yellow Fever Virus With The Ns4b Inhibitor Bdaa And Effects On Rna‐Sensing Innate Immune Pathways In Hamster And Mouse Models, Abbie E. Weight

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Yellow fever (YF) is an acute and often severe disease cause by yellow fever virus (YFV). Although there is an effective vaccine available to prevent YF, there are no antiviral drugs approved to treat the disease, which has a considerable disease burden in endemic areas of South America and Africa. BDAA is an experimental antiviral treatment which has shown efficacy against YFV both in cell culture and when administered before infection in an animal model of disease. BDAA targets the YFV protein NS4B and has two reported mechanisms of action: the primary mechanism of action is the direct inhibition of …

A Mechanistic Examination Of Interspecific Competition Between Wild And Domestic Herbivores, Courtney Check

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Large herbivores, such as mule deer and cattle have similar life histories and likely compete for resources. However, quantifying the extent to which these species compete and the specific resources they compete for has proved challenging. My research examines if cattle influence deer abundance and behavior due to competition for forage, competition for shade, and/or by affecting the predation risk of deer. Using a grid of autonomous trail cameras, I was able to determine if cattle abundance influences local deer abundance in relation to specific resources and habitat features. Using GPS data from collared deer, I was also able to …

Consumption Of A Western Diet Enhanced Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer And Dysbiosis Of The Fecal Microbiome In Mice Notwithstanding Dietary Intervention Or Fecal Microbiome Transfer, Daphne Michelle Rodriguez Jimenez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In a rodent model of inflammation-associated colorectal cancer, consumption of a Western-style diet increases gut inflammation and enhances risk of developing colon tumors. The goal of this dissertation was to understand the contribution of bacteria within the large intestine on colon inflammation and colon tumorigenesis. Two pre-clinical animal studies were performed using two different intervention strategies to shift the microbiome, and potentially gut inflammation and tumor development: 1) an experiment using dietary supplementation with black raspberries, a functional food enriched in bioactive anthocyanins with purported antiinflammatory activity, and 2) an experiment using fecal microbiota transfer from mice fed a healthy …

Anthropogenic Factors Affecting Common Raven Occurrence And Depredation Of Artificial Nests Within Greater Sage‐Grouse Habitat In Southern Utah, Zoë S. Moffett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Certain species of wildlife are more generalist and adaptive than others. These species often flourish when supported by human activities that provide additional food and habitat for them. The common raven (Corvus corax; hereafter raven) is one such species; their populations have risen and spread throughout the Intermountain West. As generalist scavengers and predators, ravens have been found to pose a severe threat to several threatened or sensitive species, including the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter sage-grouse). The purpose of my research was to determine the specific anthropogenic and habitat factors that may increase the threat …

Establishment Of A Transgenic Human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 Hamster Infection Model For The Evaluation Of Therapeutics Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Scott A. Gibson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The virus SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019 and has gone on to spread throughout the global population. The virus is still the cause of a healthcare crisis two years after being identified. Viral infection in humans leads to the development of the disease COVID-19. A complex disease that can result in a wide variety of outcomes for infected individuals. In the majority of individuals, COVID-19 will manifest as either an asymptomatic disease state or a mild to moderate disease state that is resolved in approximately one week. In some infected patients COVID-19 will manifest with the rapid onset of severe …

Effect Of Increasing Levels Of Gossypol And Fatty Acids Coming From Whole Cottonseed On Rumen Fermentation, Nutrient Digestibility And Microbial Community Composition In Continuous Culture Fermenters, Camila Castro Veloz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this study we determined the impact of increasing dietary whole cottonseed (WCS) on rumen fermentation, nutrient digestibility, and microbial community composition. This study contributes novel information to the dairy community deepening the understanding of how including different levels of WCS can affect the rumen environment. This research was conducted in continuous culture fermenters. Treatments included a control diet without WCS, or the control diet plus 5, 10, or 15% (dry matter) WCS. The control diet was a 50:50 orchardgrass hay:concentrate mixture fed twice daily. In the second experiment, soybean meal and cottonseed meal (CSM) were included, and rations were …

Social Factors Driving Grouping Dynamics In Bighorn Sheep Ewe, Toni Proescholdt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding and predicting movement is critical for conservation planning and disease risk mitigation, and important environmental drivers of animal movement have received extensive attention in the ecological literature. Social factors surrounding group fission and fusion events also directly affect movement. However, these events are infrequently measured in the wild and rarely linked to underlying mechanisms such as relatedness, agreement in reproductive status, or shared life stage. While some social factors cannot be directly observed in the field, individual animals congregating in groups and moving about a landscape can. In animal societies, groups may merge together in a fusion event, and …

Habitat Selection By Desert Carnivores: How Water, Intraguild Predation, And Prey Impact Animal Space Use, Nadine A. Pershyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Across North America large carnivores have lost nearly half of their historic range, creating openings for smaller (< 15 kg) carnivores to take over their ecological roles. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have seen a significant range expansion, including into arid deserts. It was believed that the addition of artificial water sources by humans allowed coyotes to expand into desert ecosystems where they were previously unable to survive. The kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a small, desert-adapted carnivore with declining populations that faces threats from coyotes of intraguild predation. This is when carnivores compete over the same prey, and the larger carnivore (intraguild predator) kills the smaller carnivore (intraguild …