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Effects Of Silencing Cyc2-Like Genes On Floral Development In Solanum Lycopersicum L. And Nicotiana Obtusifolia M. Martens & Galeotti (Solanaceae), Joonseog Kim Jan 2017

Effects Of Silencing Cyc2-Like Genes On Floral Development In Solanum Lycopersicum L. And Nicotiana Obtusifolia M. Martens & Galeotti (Solanaceae), Joonseog Kim

Theses and Dissertations

CYCLOIDEA (CYC) and DICHOTOMA (DICH) of the CYC2 clade of the TCP gene family have been shown to play a significant role in regulating the identity of the dorsal petals and abortion of the single dorsal stamen in Antirrhinum majus. It is believed that CYC2-like genes are responsible for the convergent evolution of floral zygomorphy, but their role in the development of actinomorphic flowers is still unknown. In Solanaceae, previous analysis has identified two paralogs of CYC2-like genes, CYC2A and CYC2B, resulting from a gene duplication that predates the origin the family. …


Effect Of Temperature And Genetic Structure On Adaptive Evolution At A Dynamic Range Edge In The North American Gypsy Moth (Lymantria Dispar L.), Trevor M. Faske Jan 2017

Effect Of Temperature And Genetic Structure On Adaptive Evolution At A Dynamic Range Edge In The North American Gypsy Moth (Lymantria Dispar L.), Trevor M. Faske

Theses and Dissertations

The study of biological invasions is not only essential to regulate their vast potential for ecological and economical harm, they offer a unique opportunity to study adaptive evolution in the context of recent range expansions into novel environments. The North American invasion of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., since its introduction in 1869 to Massachusetts, has expanded westward to Minnesota, northward to Canada, and southward to North Carolina. Fluctuating range dynamics at the southern invasive edge are heavily influenced by heat exposure over their optimal (supraoptimal) during the larval stage of development. We coupled genomic sequencing with reciprocal …


Evolution Of Antagonistic Relationships In Proteins: A Case Study Of Radialis- And Diviricata-Like Genes, Ao Gao Jan 2017

Evolution Of Antagonistic Relationships In Proteins: A Case Study Of Radialis- And Diviricata-Like Genes, Ao Gao

Theses and Dissertations

The antagonistic relationship of proteins describes the opponent interactions that result in one protein suppressing the function of another. Developmental genetic studies of Antirrhinum majus demonstrated that two transcription factors from the MYB gene family, RAD and DIV, interact through antagonism to regulate floral dorsoventral asymmetry. Interestingly, similar antagonistic interactions were found among proteins of FSM1 (RAD-like), MYBI (DIV-like), and DRIF in Solanum lycopersicum, which is involved in fruit development. Here, we report on the homology of these antagonistic MYB proteins based on reconstruction of the phylogeny of I-box-like and R-R-type clades, where RAD- and DIV-like belong, …


Drinking Motives Underlying Internalizing And Externalizing Pathways To Alcohol Misuse In College Students, Jeanne Savage Jan 2017

Drinking Motives Underlying Internalizing And Externalizing Pathways To Alcohol Misuse In College Students, Jeanne Savage

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol misuse, including heavy episodic use and negative consequences, is a major public health concern and a particular problem among college students. The etiology of alcohol misuse is not well resolved, with multiple and often contradictory factors implicated in its development. Genetic factors influence alcohol misuse but few specific genes have been identified. A potential reason for these challenges is that alcohol misuse is phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous; that is, there are multiple causal pathways underlying its development. Previous typologies have suggested that distinct internalizing and externalizing pathways are involved, with corresponding differences in profiles of personality, temperament, and comorbid …


Hub Proteins, Paralogs, And Unknown Proteins In Bacterial Interaction Networks, Neha Sakhawalkar Jan 2017

Hub Proteins, Paralogs, And Unknown Proteins In Bacterial Interaction Networks, Neha Sakhawalkar

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins are the functional units of cells. However, a major portion of the proteome does not have a known functional annotation. This dissertation explores protein -protein interactions, involving these uncharacterized or unknown function proteins. Initially, protein – protein interactions were tested and analyzed for paralogous proteins in Escherichia coli. To expand this concept further and to get an overview, protein – protein interactions were analyzed using ‘comparative interactomics’ for four pathogenic bacterial species including Escherichia coli, Yersinia pestis, Vibrio cholerae and Staphylococcus aureus. This approach was used to study unknown function protein pairs as well as to …


Modulating The Innate Immune Response To Electrospun Scaffolds And Polymer Degradative Byproducts, Daniel Abebayehu Jan 2017

Modulating The Innate Immune Response To Electrospun Scaffolds And Polymer Degradative Byproducts, Daniel Abebayehu

Theses and Dissertations

Implanted biomaterials often induce inflammation that frequently leads to the foreign body response, fibrosis, and the failure of the implant. Thus, it is important to evaluate how cells interact with materials to promote a more regenerative response. It is critical to determine how to modulate the response of tissue resident innate immune cells, as they are among the first cells to interact with implanted materials. Among tissue resident innate immune cells are mast cells, which are inflammatory sentinels that degranulate and orchestrate the fate of other cell populations, such as monocytes/macrophages and lymphocytes. Mast cells have also been reported to …


The Influence Of Genetic And Environmental Factors On Quit Attempt In Adolescent And Young Adult Twins, Gladys Langi Jan 2017

The Influence Of Genetic And Environmental Factors On Quit Attempt In Adolescent And Young Adult Twins, Gladys Langi

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the genetic and environmental influences on lifetime quit attempt in three US adolescent and young adult twin samples (N total = 6,322). The study utilized a common-contingent-causal (CCC) model to estimate these factors for lifetime quit attempts, after accounting for the factors for lifetime cigarette use and cigarettes per day. The study also examined age and sex differences, as well as the degree of relationship between these smoking phenotypes. The results demonstrated significant genetic influences for lifetime quit attempts in adolescents and young adults. No sex differences were observed for the contributions …


Three Dimensional Homology Modeling Of Organic Cation Transporter 3 To Identify Structural Elements Mediating Transporter-Substrate Interactions, Hebing Liu Jan 2017

Three Dimensional Homology Modeling Of Organic Cation Transporter 3 To Identify Structural Elements Mediating Transporter-Substrate Interactions, Hebing Liu

Theses and Dissertations

Organic cation transporters (OCTs) play a pivotal role in the absorption, tissue distribution, and excretion of a diverse array of substances, and currently the nature of the biochemical interactions between substrate and OCTs are unknown. Therefore, identifying which amino acid residues are critical for OCT-substrate interactions is of central importance to understanding and predicting interactions between drugs and OCTs. A three-dimensional (3-D) homology model of human OCT3 was generated using the crystal structure of a high affinity phosphate transporter from Piriformospora indica (PiPT) as template, and putative binding pocket for the prototypical hOCT3 ligand 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) was identified …


The Role Of The Nucleosome Remodeling Factor Nurf In Inhibiting T And Natural Killer Cell Mediated Antitumor Immunity By Suppressing Tumor Antigenicity And Natural Cytotoxicity Receptor Co-Ligands, Kimberly Mayes Jan 2017

The Role Of The Nucleosome Remodeling Factor Nurf In Inhibiting T And Natural Killer Cell Mediated Antitumor Immunity By Suppressing Tumor Antigenicity And Natural Cytotoxicity Receptor Co-Ligands, Kimberly Mayes

Theses and Dissertations

Tumor immunoediting is a dynamic process in which the immune response attacks tumor cells by detecting danger signals and tumor antigens. In order to survive, tumor cells develop mechanisms to avoid detection or destruction by the immune system. To counteract this, several strategies are being developed to enhance the antitumor immune response, including the depletion of immunosuppressive cells, enhancing the activation of antitumor immune cells and increasing tumor cell immunogenicity. These therapies have seen limited success individually, however, and it is likely that combination therapy with novel targets will be necessary to see reproducible beneficial responses. Epigenetic modifications are attractive …


Diabetes-Induced Expression And Regulation Of Glp-1 Levels By Bile Acid Receptors (Tgr5 & Fxr), Joseph R. Spengler Jan 2017

Diabetes-Induced Expression And Regulation Of Glp-1 Levels By Bile Acid Receptors (Tgr5 & Fxr), Joseph R. Spengler

Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes Mellitus has continued to drastically affect the health of the world and many complications can prove fatal. As long as this metabolic disease persist, research discoveries will need to continue to be made so that patient outcomes and healthcare are dramatically enhanced. In recent years, GLP-1 has been the topic of conversation for diabetes research, due to its promising effects in promoting insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, bile acids and their receptors (TGR5 & FXR) have shown promise in their actions in the regulation of GLP-1, and thus glucose homeostasis. Here we have shown the detection and increased expression of TGR5 …


Alpha6 Beta2 Subunit Containing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributions To Abuse-Related Effects Of Nicotine And Alcohol, Alexandra M. Stafford Jan 2017

Alpha6 Beta2 Subunit Containing Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributions To Abuse-Related Effects Of Nicotine And Alcohol, Alexandra M. Stafford

Theses and Dissertations

Pharmacotherapies for tobacco and alcohol cessation are only modestly successful, so it is important to better understand mechanisms underlying their use and abuse. The overarching goal of this research is to assess a6b2 subunit containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (a6b2*nAChR; *denotes possible assembly with other subunits) contributions to abuse-related effects of nicotine and alcohol. In the absence of a6b2*nAChR-selective agonists, a6b2*nAChR gain-of-function (a6L9’S) mice provide a tool for selective activation of a6b2*nAChRs. Using the a6L9’S mice together with nicotine doses sub-threshold for stimulation of native nAChRs, these studies tested the hypothesis that activation of a6b2*nAChRs is sufficient to promote neurochemical and …


Ethanol Reversal Of Oxycodone Tolerances, Joanna C. Jacob Jan 2017

Ethanol Reversal Of Oxycodone Tolerances, Joanna C. Jacob

Theses and Dissertations

Oxycodone is a semi-synthetic opioid originally developed as a safer alternative to morphine. It is commonly prescribed for its pain-relieving effects, but has recently been implicated as a major underlying cause of the current opioid epidemic due to its clinical limitations that include tolerance, dependence and a high abuse liability. Simultaneous consumption of opioids and ethanol has been shown to increase the risk of overdose and death from opioids in opioid-tolerant individuals. We hypothesized that ethanol reversed opioid tolerance and previous studies showed that ethanol reversed morphine tolerance. This dissertation investigated whether ethanol reversed tolerance to other opioids in mice, …


Effects Of Hydraulic Dredging And Vessel Operation On Atlantic Sturgeon Behavior In A Large Coastal River, Michael R. Barber Jan 2017

Effects Of Hydraulic Dredging And Vessel Operation On Atlantic Sturgeon Behavior In A Large Coastal River, Michael R. Barber

Theses and Dissertations

The tidal James River, a focus of VCU's Atlantic Sturgeon program, supports both commercial shipping and hydraulic dredging. These anthropogenic threats present documented but preventable sources of mortality to the endangered species. Using three separate VEMCO Positioning System (VPS) receiver arrays, spatial data of previously-tagged fish were collected. ArcGIS and Programita software were used to analyze fish spatial distributions in the presence and absence of potential threats, using additional data including automatic identification system (AIS) vessel locations, vessel passages compiled using camera footage, and dredge records provided by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The data showed a change in …