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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
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Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer
Eco-Interoception: What Plants, Fungi And Protista Have Taught My Body, Sara Riley Dotterer
Art Theses and Dissertations
To me, ecology is the relational, full-body awareness that I am made up of and deeply connected to everything around me; and for better or worse, this is reciprocal. I form ecotones, an ecological transitional zone between two ecosystems, with the world around me. I use this ecotonal lens to blur binaries and dissolve boundaries between me and the world “outside my body.” During my Masters of Fine Arts at Southern Methodist University, I have continuously explored and represented the lives of various more-than-human species outside of my body, including plants, fungi and protista through an ecotonal lens. Although these …
The Effect Of Algal Wastewater Treatment Systems On Microbial Communities, Alexis Leach
The Effect Of Algal Wastewater Treatment Systems On Microbial Communities, Alexis Leach
University Honors Program Senior Projects
In collaboration with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and Gross-Wen Technologies, I examined the microbial communities in experimental tertiary wastewater treatment systems employing algal phytoremediation. Three algal phytoremediation systems were examined: two vertical conveyor belt systems, known as the 10-foot belt system and the series 4 system, and a third system lacking a converter belt in which planktonic algae grew in a control pond. I used EcoPlates to measure carbon substrate utilization by microorganisms in each system. EcoPlates contain thirty-one different carbon substrates, with a dye that indicates microbial use of each substrate. I conducted a Principal …
Consequences Of Biofilm Architecture On Vibrio Cholerae Ecology And Life History, Benjamin Ray Wucher
Consequences Of Biofilm Architecture On Vibrio Cholerae Ecology And Life History, Benjamin Ray Wucher
Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations
The diversity of microbes and the environments they inhabit are staggering. In many of these environments, bacteria have evolved to form sessile surface attached communities called biofilms. These biofilms have wide reaching impacts from importance in global carbon cycling, to persistent catheter infections, to biofouling and wastewater treatment. While many species of microbes form biofilms to survive in their environment, the architectures of these structures vary widely between organisms. Even though a great deal of work has been done to understand bacterial communities and their functions, little work has examined how the spatial aspects of biofilm architecture can affect the …
Effects Of Mass Death On Community Structure And Ecosystem Function, Abby Kimpton Jones
Effects Of Mass Death On Community Structure And Ecosystem Function, Abby Kimpton Jones
Theses and Dissertations
Death and decomposition are natural processes that are generally well-understood. However, large events of death, such as mass mortality events (MMEs) are increasing in frequency and their impacts on the ecosystem are largely unknown. These events may have both bottom-up effects from increased nutrient input as well as top-down effects from loss of an ecological functional group by the affected population. Different functional MMEs may result in different top-down effects, creating cascading effects. In Chapter 1, I test the hypothesis that scavenger and herbivore simulated MMEs generate novel bottom-up and top-down effects. Results indicate that MMEs have a significant effect …
Analysis And Identification Of Lipolytic Bacterial Species For The Degradation Of Wastewater Lipids, Lindsay C. Smoak
Analysis And Identification Of Lipolytic Bacterial Species For The Degradation Of Wastewater Lipids, Lindsay C. Smoak
Honors College Theses
The aim of this study was to isolate native bacterial strains from the wastewater treatment facilities of Statesboro, GA to identify their lipolytic activities. Obtained bacterial strains were further assessed via morphological and biochemical methods to determine their enzymatic capabilities. Use of the detergent Tween-20 in growth mediums was the first criteria to assess lipase activity, and these isolates were further investigated to quantitatively measure lipase presence and activity. Lipase protein was precipitated and dialyzed to perform a lipase activity assay, followed by Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate–Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to confirm the presence of the lipolytic enzymes. Sanger sequencing was …
Microbial Communities Hosted By Carnivorous Pitcher Plants: Diversity, Recruitment, Functions And Succession In Sarracenia Purpurea Microbiomes, Jacob Jeffrey Grothjan
Microbial Communities Hosted By Carnivorous Pitcher Plants: Diversity, Recruitment, Functions And Succession In Sarracenia Purpurea Microbiomes, Jacob Jeffrey Grothjan
Theses and Dissertations
The pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea supplements nutrient acquisition through carnivory, capturing insect prey which are digested by a food web community of eukaryotes and bacteria. Analysis of both bacterial and eukaryotic diversity, and an understanding of bacterial recruitment into pitchers and succession of bacterial and eukaryotic communities over time have not been well explored. This thesis presents three studies designed to address these gaps using field sampling and manipulative greenhouse experiments. Study I compared bacterial and eukaryotic composition and diversity of pitcher communities within and between populations of plants in two distinct wetland habitats. Genetic sequence analysis revealed an underappreciated …
The Gut Microbiota Of A Wild American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) Population, Sierra Gillman
The Gut Microbiota Of A Wild American Black Bear (Ursus Americanus) Population, Sierra Gillman
All NMU Master's Theses
The gut microbiome (GMB), the mutualistic microbial communities located in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT), has co-evolved in vertebrates to perform micro-ecosystem services to facilitate physiological functions. Despite the key role of the GMB in host health, wildlife managers have been slow to consider the ramifications of anthropogenic pressures to wildlife-GMB diversity. For example, although diet is one of the most influential determinants of a host’s GMB, many wildlife agencies allow baiting with human-provisioned foods to facilitate the harvest of wildlife such as American black bear (Ursus americanus). Additionally, much of our knowledge of wildlife-GMB relationships is based on …
Diversity Analysis Of Soil Fungus Communities In Disturbed, Nursery, And Mature Forest Conditions, Dana Whitmore
Diversity Analysis Of Soil Fungus Communities In Disturbed, Nursery, And Mature Forest Conditions, Dana Whitmore
All Master's Theses
Populations of soil fungi were examined in Derby Canyon Natives, Coeur d’Alene Forest Service nursery, Swamp Lake, and the Keechelus Lake wildlife overcrossing soils. All sampling sites were connected by their relation to the revegetation and native soil plug inoculation of the wildlife overpass. This study was an effort to describe soil fungi communities present on the overpass before plant introduction, those that plants would be bringing in their pots, and the fungi that could be introduced via soil plug transplantation. DNA was extracted from soil samples, then sequenced using next-generation sequencing methods, allowing for the analysis of species richness …
Bacterioplankton Biogeography Of The Mississippi River Basin, Jason Taylor Payne
Bacterioplankton Biogeography Of The Mississippi River Basin, Jason Taylor Payne
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Bacterioplankton are important structural and functional components of river networks yet their biogeographical patterns in these systems are largely unknown. Using Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene we characterized variation in bacterioplankton community alpha diversity (within-sample richness of operational taxonomic units OTUs) and beta diversity (between-sample differences in composition) (1) along a 1 300-km downstream reach of the Mississippi River (2) over a range of temporal scales in the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) and (3) along cross-sectional transects repeated monthly for six months across the LMR floodplain. Particle-associated assemblages were richer in bacterial OTUs and more productive than free-living …
Understanding The Relationship Between Hosts And Their Microbiome, Boahemaa Adu-Oppong
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
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 …
Ciliates Of Sagebrush-Steppe Soils Of Southwestern Idaho: Species Richness And Its Relationship To Changed Soil Variables After Wildfire Events, Laura G. Wendell
Ciliates Of Sagebrush-Steppe Soils Of Southwestern Idaho: Species Richness And Its Relationship To Changed Soil Variables After Wildfire Events, Laura G. Wendell
Boise State University Theses and Dissertations
I conducted a pilot study to examine species richness of terrestrial ciliates associated with big sagebrush habitat (Artemisia tridentata) in southwestern Idaho, USA. As wildland fires are a naturally occurring disturbance in this area, soil variables associated with these fires (% C, % N, pH, soil texture, and % clay) were measured at three sites, both in burned and unburned areas. These soil characteristics were compared to corresponding ciliate diversity and ratios of r-selected colpodeans to K-selected polyhymenophorans (C/P) in non-flooded Petri dish preparations. A total of 85 ciliate taxa were observed across the three sites, including …
Investigating The Impact Of Novel Iron Oxide Nanoparticles On Legionella Pneumophila Biofilms And Trophic Interactions, Brennen Jenkins
Investigating The Impact Of Novel Iron Oxide Nanoparticles On Legionella Pneumophila Biofilms And Trophic Interactions, Brennen Jenkins
All Theses
Microbial biofilms serve as the base of food webs and are important for nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Nanoparticles (NPs) that enter into these aquatic systems have the potential to settle and become trapped within biofilms. As NPs become further integrated into consumer products, understanding their fate and effects on aquatic ecosystems is of paramount importance. Previous studies from our lab show that gold NPs induce dispersal of Legionella pneumophila biofilms. NPs with platinum and iron oxide core chemistries also lead to similar dispersal events, however, silver core NPs do not seem to induce these events due to NP aggregation. …
Environmental Constraints On Cyanomyophage Abundance In The Subtropical Pacific Ocean, Tiana Maria Pimentel
Environmental Constraints On Cyanomyophage Abundance In The Subtropical Pacific Ocean, Tiana Maria Pimentel
Masters Theses
Viruses are abundant in the world’s oceans and are thought to be important participants in marine biogeochemical cycling. Of these viruses, cyanophages are considered especially important because they infect and lyse cyanobacteria, which are some of the main primary producers in marine environments. Cyanophages are thought to influence the abundance and diversity of cyanobacterial populations and impart significant mortality, thereby affecting primary productivity and microbial community structure. Despite their ecological relevance, little is known about how environmental factors shape cyanophage abundance and diversity over large temporal and spatial scales. To address this gap in knowledge, seawater samples were collected during …
Genetic And Ecological Characterization Of Indigoidine Production By Phaeobacter Sp. Strain Y4i, William Nathan Cude
Genetic And Ecological Characterization Of Indigoidine Production By Phaeobacter Sp. Strain Y4i, William Nathan Cude
Doctoral Dissertations
The Roseobacter clade is a widely distributed, abundant, and biogeochemically active lineage of marine alpha-proteobacteria. Members of the Roseobacter lineage are prolific surface colonizers in marine coastal environments, and antimicrobial secondary metabolite production has been hypothesized to provide a competitive advantage in colonization. In this work, Phaeobacter sp. strain Y4I was found to produce the water soluble, blue pigment indigoidine via a nonribosomal peptide synthase-based biosynthetic pathway encoded by a novel series of genetically linked genes, termed igiBCDFE. Comparison of wildtype, non-pigmented, and hyper-pigmented Y4I insertional mutants demonstrated a perfect correlation between indigoidine production and the inhibition of Vibrio …
Diversity And Activity Of Roseobacters And Roseophage, Charles Ryan Budinoff
Diversity And Activity Of Roseobacters And Roseophage, Charles Ryan Budinoff
Doctoral Dissertations
Bacteria of the Roseobacter lineage are dominant bacterioplankton in coastal systems and contribute significantly to secondary production in oceanic environments. Generalities of Roseobacter ecology, diversity, and distributions are known, but the intraspecific differences between species and their dynamics over short temporal periods is not well understood. Bacteriophage that infect Roseobacters (‘roseophage’) have the potential to shunt secondary production into the dissolved carbon pool and through the process of infection alter Roseobacter physiology. Despite their significance, little effort was made prior to the onset of this study to characterize roseophage. Using culture dependent and independent approaches, I describe the diversity and …
Characterization Of Aerobic Respiration In Great Basin Hot Springs, Caitlin N. Murphy
Characterization Of Aerobic Respiration In Great Basin Hot Springs, Caitlin N. Murphy
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Despite a wide diversity of possible electron donors available to fuel chemolithotrophy, it has been proposed that hydrogen is the single most important electron donor in geothermal ecosystems. To directly test this hypothesis, a simple system was devised to determine whether microorganisms in hot spring water and sediment are capable of using hydrogen and other electron donors for aerobic respiration using microrespirometry. The protocol for these experiments was developed using pure cultures of Thermocrinis ruber to determine the effect of growth conditions on the rate of oxygen consumption following the addition of electron donors. For field experiments, samples were collected …