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Quantification Of Salicylic Acid And Analysis Of Defense-Related Genes In The Moss Physcomitrella Patens, Ryan Jospeh Eller

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The moss Physcomitrella patens is an invaluable non-vascular plant specimen to study genetic interactions because its entire genome is sequenced. Therefore, any gene studies conducted in more evolved vascular plants can be transferred to this specimen fairly easily by utilizing comparative genomic techniques made possible through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The questions that were asked in this thesis revolved around the Systemic Acquired Resistance, or the basic mechanism that allows plants to protect themselves against biotic and abiotic stressors. Two main approaches were used to analyze this complex system. First, an analytical chemistry technique was used to …

The Passive Perching Mechanism In Passeriformes Birds, Deena Ahmed Elsahy

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Passeriformes, or perching birds and songbirds, are an order of birds that includes crows, jays, starlings, wrens, cardinals, finches and many other species. It has been suggested that these birds are able to passively perch due to a tendon locking mechanism. This mechanism allows them to rest for hours in trees without falling. When the bird's foot is placed on a perch, the weight of the bird causes the tendons to pull, thus closing the toes around the perch. However, there is currently much debate about whether the mechanism is entirely passive. Recent studies argue that the mechanism must be …

Fox Squirrel Response To Bark Calls, Michael Ryan Keller

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Sciurus niger (fox squirrel) produces a characteristic bark call that has long been assumed to serve as an alarm call. However, to date, no definitive research has been conducted to support these assumptions. Over the course of six months, I executed an audio playback study with free-living fox squirrels in central Indiana. When a squirrel came into view, its behavior was video recorded during a 30 second playing of either an S. niger bark call or a cardinal (Cardinalis cardinals) control call. The subjects were also filmed thirty seconds prior to and immediately following the call. Each squirrel's behavior was …

Investigation Of Fshr-L Protein Function In Regulating Synaptic Transmission At The Neuromuscular Junction In C. Elegans, Julie Christine Kolnik

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

euronal communication (synaptic transmission) is critical for nervous system function. This communication occurs at specialized junctions called synapses where chemical neurotransmitters signal from presynaptic to postsynaptic cells. Additional signaling via neuropeptide activated G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) fine-tunes synaptic communication. GPCRs are a large family of transmembrane receptor proteins that bind extracellular neurotransmitters and neuropeptides to activate intracellular signaling pathways. My project investigated the function of FSHR-l, a GPCR and potential neuropeptide receptor, in regulating synaptic transmission at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms, which share conservation of nervous system structure and function with humans. Worms lacking the fshr-I …

The Effects Of Jasmonic Acid And Chemicals In The Ja Pathway On The Defense Systems And Gene Expression In Moss, Physcomitrella Patens And Amblystegium Serpens, Allison Shanks

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) is a defense system used by plants that results in increased resistance to future pathogen infection following an initial pathogen exposure. SAR in vascular plants has been well documented; however, a similar defense system has only recently been documented in non-vascular plants. It is believed that chemicals in the jasmonic acid (JA) pathway are able to activate the SAR response in vascular plants. The non-vascular plant, Amb/ystegium serpens, will be used as a model to test if SAR is triggered by JA and two other molecules in the JA pathway, 12-oxo-phytodieonic acid, and methyl jasmonate. To …

Role Of 12-Oxo-Phytodienoic Acid And Β-Glucan Elicitor In Prevention Of Fungal Infection In Mnium Cuspidatum, Robert E. Spiller

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The moss, Mnium cuspidatum and the fungus, Pythium irregulare, were used to study the role of the plant hormone, 12-oxo-phytodienoic acid (OPDA) and the elicitor, β-glucan in the prevention of fungal infection. Each compound was applied before the inoculation of a fungal cube and a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses were done in order to determine the degree of infection within the moss. It was found that P. irregulare does infect and kill the cells of M. cuspidatum through chloroplast degradation, stem browning and appressoria injections within 24 hours. The pre-application of OPDA or β-glucan were unable to prevent …

Reproduction And Nesting In Teleost Fish, With A Focus On Reproduction In Centrarchids And Specific Analysis Of Nesting In Lepomis Megalotis, Rebecca Irene Allee

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Fish represent the most diverse and oldest living class of vertebrates, making up approximately 48% of all known members of the subphylum Vertebrata (Bolis, et al. 2001). They are able to live in a wide variety of habitats, from salt water to fresh water and from cold polar seas to areas of intense pressure in the depths of the ocean (Moyle and Cech 1996). Because of this overwhelming diversity, the evolution and ecology of fishes has been a dynamic field of study (Moyle and Cech 1996). Researchers have generally divided fish into three distinct groups: jawless fishes (Class Agnatha), …

Did Androgen-Binding Protein Paralogs Undergo Neo- And/Or Subfunctionalization As The Abp Gene Region Expanded In The Mouse Genome?, Robert C. Karn, Amanda G. Chung, Christina M. Laukaitis

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Androgen-binding protein (Abp) region of the mouse genome contains 30 Abpa genes encoding alpha subunits and 34 Abpbg genes encoding betagamma subunits, their products forming dimers composed of an alpha and a betagamma subunit. We endeavored to determine how many Abp genes are expressed as proteins in tears and saliva, and as transcripts in the exocrine glands producing them. Using standard PCR, we amplified Abp transcripts from cDNA libraries of C57BL/6 mice and found fifteen Abp gene transcripts in the lacrimal gland and five in the submandibular gland. Proteomic analyses identified proteins corresponding to eleven of the …

Characterization Of Putative Defense Genes In Nonvascular Plants, Blaine Harlan

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Vascular plants have many known defenses against herbivory and pathogen infection. One inducible defense system that has been extensively studied in vascular plants is systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which is a plant-wide response that results in resistance to a wide range of pathogens Many genes that play a role in SAR have been characterized. Although several studies of plant-pathogen interactions in non-vascular plants have occurred, it was not until recently that the existence of SAR was shown in these plants. The goal of the present study was to confirm the presence of homologous defense genes in moss, and to study …

Beta Diversity Of Urban Floras Among European And Non-European Cities, Frank A. La Sorte, Myla F.J. Aronson, Nicholas S.G. Williams, Laura Celesti-Grapow, Sarel Cilliers, Bruce D. Clarkson, Rebecca W. Dolan, Andrew Hipp, Stefan Klotz, Ingolf Kühn, Pter Pyšek, Stefan Siebert, Marten Winter

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Aim- Cities represent an ideal study system for assessing how intensive land-use change and biotic interchange have altered beta diversity at broad geographic extents. Here we test the hypothesis that floras in cities located in disparate regions of the globe are being homogenized by species classified as invasive (naturalized species that have spread over a large area) or as a European archaeophyte (species introduced into Europe before ad 1500 from the Mediterranean Basin). We also test the prediction that the global influences of European activities (colonization, agriculture, commerce) have supported this outcome.

Location- One hundred and ten cities …

Nitrogen Fertilization Has A Stronger Effect On Soil Nitrogen-Fixing Bacterial Communities Than Elevated Atmospheric Co2, Sean T. Berthrong, Chris M. Yeager, Laverne Gallegos-Graves, Blaire Steven, Stephanie A. Eichorst, Robert B. Jackson, Cheryl R. Kuske

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Biological nitrogen fixation is the primary supply of N to most ecosystems, yet there is considerable uncertainty about how N-fixing bacteria will respond to global change factors such as increasing atmospheric CO₂ and N deposition. Using the nifH gene as a molecular marker, we studied how the community structure of N-fixing soil bacteria from temperate pine, aspen, and sweet gum stands and a brackish tidal marsh responded to multiyear elevated CO₂ conditions. We also examined how N availability, specifically, N fertilization, interacted with elevated CO₂ to affect these communities in the temperate pine forest. Based on data …

Characterization Of The Role Of Salicylic Acid In Plant-Pathogen Interactions In Moss, Erica Grabinski

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The central objective of this project is to explore defense systems that are induced in two moss species, Amblystegium serpens and Physcomitrella patens, upon inoculation with the fungus, Pythium irregulare. In vascular plants, systemic defense is associated with the plant hormone salicylic acid (SA). I hypothesize that when the moss are treated exogenously with SA, the organisms will undergo a systemic defense response, which will involve the induction of defense-related genes and increased resistance to future P. irregulare infection, that is directly correlated with the amount of hormone applied. If the role of SA in plant defense in A. serpens …

The Influence Of Light On Bryophytes And Their Response To Pathogen Infection: A Story Of Mnium Cuspidatum And Physcomitrella Patens, Bryce James Fawcett

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The influence of light on non-vascular plant-pathogen interactions were studied in two moss species, Mnium cuspidatum and Physcomitrella patens, using a fungal pathogen, Pythium irregulare, and a commonly used pathogenic elicitor (beta-glucan). The findings of this study suggest that light does playa role in moss defense but speci fic mechanisms remain unclear. In P. patens it was found that the defense gene AOe was up-regulated in the light compared to the dark when treated with beta-glucan elicitor. A phenotypic study of M. cuspidatum revealed that P. irregulare will infect and M cuspidatum will subsequently mount a defense response. Unexpectedly, samples …

Bacon's Swamp- Ghost Of A Central Indiana Natural Area Past, Rebecca W. Dolan

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Bacon’s Swamp was identified in the 1920s as a ca. 12 ha glacial kettle lake bog system at the southernmost limits of these habitats in Indiana. Located just 9.6 km from the center of Indianapolis, the site was all but destroyed in the mid-20th century by urban expansion. Prior to habitat conversion at the site, Bacon’s Swamp was a frequent location for Butler University ecology class field trips and student research projects. Herbarium specimens and published inventory records allow for analysis of the historical vegetation of Bacon’s Swamp using modern techniques. Floristic Quality Assessment applied to these historical records reveals …