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Understanding The Relationship Between Hosts And Their Microbiome, Boahemaa Adu-Oppong Aug 2017

Understanding The Relationship Between Hosts And Their Microbiome, Boahemaa Adu-Oppong

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microbes are bountiful and associated with every animal and plant kingdom. Furthermore, microbes can alter host phenotype, development, health and functioning. However, this is not a one-way interaction, hosts can structure microbial communities by changing the environment to be suitable for certain microbial species. Several studies have characterized microbial communities associated with hosts to answer two2 main questions in ecology: who’s there, and what are they doing? However, two questions from the field of community ecology are often ignored (1) what forces are structuring the microbial communities (how was the community formed) and (2) how stable are these communities. Vellend …


Microbial Community Richness Distinguishes Shark Species Microbiomes In South Florida, Rachael Cassandra Karns Jul 2017

Microbial Community Richness Distinguishes Shark Species Microbiomes In South Florida, Rachael Cassandra Karns

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The microbiome (microbial community) of individuals is crucial when characterizing and understanding processes that are required for organism function and survival. Microbial organisms, which make up an individual’s microbiome, can be linked to disease or function of the host organism. In humans, individuals differ substantially in their microbiome compositions in various areas of the body. The cause of much of the composition diversity is yet unexplained, however, it is speculated that habitat, diet, and early exposure to microbes could be altering the microbiomes of individuals (Human Microbiome Project Consortium, 2012b, 2012a). To date, only one study has reported on microbiome …


The Role Of The Seagrass Leaf Microbiome In Assisting Nitrogen Uptake By The Western Australian Seagrass, Posidonia Sinuosa, Flavia Tarquinio Jan 2017

The Role Of The Seagrass Leaf Microbiome In Assisting Nitrogen Uptake By The Western Australian Seagrass, Posidonia Sinuosa, Flavia Tarquinio

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Microorganisms play a key role in facilitating the cycling of several elements in coastal environments, including nitrogen (N). N is a key component for maintaining high seagrass productivity and is often the limiting nutrient in marine environments. Seagrasses harbour an abundant and diverse microbial community (the ‘microbiome’), however their ecological and functional roles related to the seagrass host are still poorly understood, in particular regarding N cycling. Microorganisms capable of mineralising dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) may play a pivotal role in enhancing N availability in coastal environments such as seagrass meadows. Thus, the overall aim of my thesis was to …


The External Microbiome Of Bats: Effects Of Season, Site, Host Species, And Body Region, Kyle G. George Jan 2017

The External Microbiome Of Bats: Effects Of Season, Site, Host Species, And Body Region, Kyle G. George

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

White-nose syndrome is a cutaneous fungal disease that has been detrimental to North American bats for over 10 years, but few investigators have examined the natural microbiota living on these mammals. I explored the influence of season, geographic site, host species, and body region on the external microbiome of four cave-hibernating and two migratory species. Automated ribosomal intergenic spacer analysis was used to profile bacterial communities from three cutaneous regions of 222 bats across winter and summer sites in Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky. Season, site, host species, and body region all influenced the composition of external bacterial communities, but geographic …