Digital Commons Network^™

Metabolic And Molecular Approaches To The Study Of Bacterial Communities In Wetlands Of The Alberta Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Jessica Dawn Morrison

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Bacterial communities in wetlands from the Athabasca region (Alberta, Canada) were surveyed and their utility as bio-indicators for wetland reclamation was assessed. Sediment samples were collected from wetlands categorized as: (1) natural (off mining leases), (2) reference (on mining sites but not directly impacted by oil sands processed material (OSPM)), and (3) OSPM (directly affected by OSPM). Wetlands of the latter two groups ranged in age from 11 to 24 years. Analysis involved community level physiological profiling (CLPP) with BIOLOG™ EcoPlates, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Multivariate analysis applied to data from both techniques revealed differences in the bacterial …

Characterization Of The Interaction Between Arabidopsis Toc159 And Toc33 Gtpase Domains, Wesley A. Farquharson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Protein-protein interactions are critical for many biochemical processes and for cellular function. Understanding interactions between proteins and ligands, as well as other proteins are necessary for the modelling of biological systems. Protein import into chloroplasts is one such system where the understanding of interactions between members of the translocation complex is limited. The translocon at the outer envelope membrane of chloroplasts (Toe complex) consists of three core components: Toc75, Tocl59, and Toc34. Members of the Tocl59 and Toc34 gene families in Arabidopsis thaliana have been shown to assemble differentially into structurally and functionally distinct complexes. More specifically, there is evidence …

A Study Of The Waterborne And Dietary Toxicityof Cadmium To Hydra Attenuata And Daphnia Plux In Soft Waters And The Development Of Biotic Ligand Models To Predict Such Toxicity, Matthew S.A. Clifford

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The goal of this thesis was to compare the effects of waterborne Cd exposures and dietary Cd exposures to Hydra attenuata. Before the Hydra could be exposed to dietborne exposures of Cd, the effects of waterborne exposures had to be understood. This was done by looking at the sensitivity of D. pulex to Cd and then understanding the accumulation of Cd. After bioaccumulation patterns of Cd. to D. pulex were known, we could then feed the prey to the Hydra and comapre the effects to waterborne effects of Cd to Hydra.

To understand the waterborne effects of Cd to …

Using Chemical, Optical And Biological Methods To Characterize Cu Complexation By Different Natural Organic Matter Sources Collected From Canadian Shield Waters, Keegan Andrew Hicks

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The effects of natural organic matter (NOM) source on Cu complexation were characterized chemically, optically and biologically in soft waters. NOM from different Canadian Shield soft water lakes were concentrated using reverse osmosis and for comparison NOM was also sampled from a hard water source. NOM complexation capacity was assessed directly in Cu spiked solutions (with and without additions of NOM) by measuring free Cu activity using an ion selective electrode. Additional chemical and optical characterizations of NOM included specific absorbance coefficient (SAC; at 340 nm), excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy, protein content, and molecular weight fractionation (fraction of DOCkDa). The biological …