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Reproduction, Embryonic Development, And Maternal Transfer Of Contaminants In The Amphibian Gastrophryne Carolinensis, William Alexander Hopkins, Sarah Elizabeth Durant, Brandon Patrick Staub, Christopher Lee Rowe, Brian Phillip Jackson Dec 2006

Reproduction, Embryonic Development, And Maternal Transfer Of Contaminants In The Amphibian Gastrophryne Carolinensis, William Alexander Hopkins, Sarah Elizabeth Durant, Brandon Patrick Staub, Christopher Lee Rowe, Brian Phillip Jackson

Dartmouth Scholarship

Although many amphibian populations around the world are declining at alarming rates, the cause of most declines remains unknown. Environmental contamination is one of several factors implicated in declines and may have particularly important effects on sensitive developmental stages. Despite the severe effects of maternal transfer of contaminants on early development in other vertebrate lineages, no studies have examined the effects of maternal transfer of contaminants on reproduction or development in amphibians. We examined maternal transfer of contaminants in eastern narrow-mouth toads (Gastrophryne carolinensis) collected from a reference site and near a coal-burning power plant. Adult toads inhabiting …


Prior Experience As A Stimulus Category Confound: An Example Using Facial Expressions Of Emotion, Leah H. Somerville, Paul J. Whalen Dec 2006

Prior Experience As A Stimulus Category Confound: An Example Using Facial Expressions Of Emotion, Leah H. Somerville, Paul J. Whalen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Facial expressions of emotion represent a stimulus set widely used to assess a broad range of psychological processes. However, a consideration of systematic differences between expression categories, other than differences relating to characteristics of the expressions themselves, has remained largely unaddressed. By collecting experience rankings in a large sample of undergraduates, we observed that the amount of reported experience individuals have had with different facial expressions of emotion systematically differed between all expression categories. These findings shed light on the potential for identifying confounds inherent to comparing some stimulus categories and, in this case, may aid in the interpretation of …


Limited Functional Redundancy And Oscillation Of Cyclins In Multinucleated Ashbya Gossypii Fungal Cells, A. Katrin Hungerbuehler, Peter Philippsen, Amy S. Gladfelter Nov 2006

Limited Functional Redundancy And Oscillation Of Cyclins In Multinucleated Ashbya Gossypii Fungal Cells, A. Katrin Hungerbuehler, Peter Philippsen, Amy S. Gladfelter

Dartmouth Scholarship

Cyclin protein behavior has not been systematically investigated in multinucleated cells with asynchronous mitoses. Cyclins are canonical oscillating cell cycle proteins, but it is unclear how fluctuating protein gradients can be established in multinucleated cells where nuclei in different stages of the division cycle share the cytoplasm. Previous work in A. gossypii, a filamentous fungus in which nuclei divide asynchronously in a common cytoplasm, demonstrated that one G1 and one B-type cyclin do not fluctuate in abundance across the division cycle. We have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of all G1 and B-type cyclins in A. gossypii to determine whether …


Vulnerability Of Pathogenic Biofilms To Micavibrio Aeruginosavorus, Daniel Kadouri, Nel C. Venzon, George A. O'Toole Nov 2006

Vulnerability Of Pathogenic Biofilms To Micavibrio Aeruginosavorus, Daniel Kadouri, Nel C. Venzon, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

The host specificity of the gram-negative exoparasitic predatory bacterium Micavibrio aeruginosavorus was examined. M. aeruginosavorus preyed on Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as previously reported, as well as Burkholderia cepacia, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and numerous clinical isolates of these species. In a static assay, a reduction in biofilm biomass was observed as early as 3 hours after exposure to M. aeruginosavorus, and an ∼100-fold reduction in biofilm cell viability was detected following a a 24-h exposure to the predator. We observed that an initial titer of Micavibrio as low as 10 PFU/well or a time of exposure to the predator as short as 30 …


The Allantois And Chorion, When Isolated Before Circulation Or Chorio-Allantoic Fusion, Have Hematopoietic Potential, Brandon M. Zeigler, Daisuke Sugiyama, Michael Chen, Yalin Guo, K. M. Downs, N. A. Speck Nov 2006

The Allantois And Chorion, When Isolated Before Circulation Or Chorio-Allantoic Fusion, Have Hematopoietic Potential, Brandon M. Zeigler, Daisuke Sugiyama, Michael Chen, Yalin Guo, K. M. Downs, N. A. Speck

Dartmouth Scholarship

The chorio-allantoic placenta forms through the fusion of the allantois (progenitor tissue of the umbilical cord), with the chorionic plate. The murine placenta contains high levels of hematopoietic stem cells, and is therefore a stem cell niche. However, it is not known whether the placenta is a site of hematopoietic cell emergence, or whether hematopoietic cells originate from other sites in the conceptus and then colonize the placenta. Here, we show that the allantois and chorion, isolated prior to the establishment of circulation, have the potential to give rise to myeloid and definitive erythroid cells following explant culture. We further …


Dictyostelium Myosin-Ie Is A Fast Molecular Motor Involved In Phagocytosis, Ulrike Durrwang, Setsuko Fujita-Becker, Muriel Erent, F. Jon Kull Oct 2006

Dictyostelium Myosin-Ie Is A Fast Molecular Motor Involved In Phagocytosis, Ulrike Durrwang, Setsuko Fujita-Becker, Muriel Erent, F. Jon Kull

Dartmouth Scholarship

Class I myosins are single-headed motor proteins, implicated in various motile processes including organelle translocation, ion-channel gating, and cytoskeleton reorganization. Here we describe the cellular localization of myosin-IE and its role in the phagocytic uptake of solid particles and cells. A complete analysis of the kinetic and motor properties of Dictyostelium discoideum myosin-IE was achieved by the use of motor domain constructs with artificial lever arms. Class I myosins belonging to subclass IC like myosin-IE are thought to be tuned for tension maintenance or stress sensing. In contrast to this prediction, our results show myosin-IE to be a fast motor. …


Gammaherpesvirus Persistence Alters Key Cd8 T-Cell Memory Characteristics And Enhances Antiviral Protection, Joshua J. Obar, Shinichiro Fuse, Erica K. Leung, Sarah C. Bellfy, Edward J. Usherwood Sep 2006

Gammaherpesvirus Persistence Alters Key Cd8 T-Cell Memory Characteristics And Enhances Antiviral Protection, Joshua J. Obar, Shinichiro Fuse, Erica K. Leung, Sarah C. Bellfy, Edward J. Usherwood

Dartmouth Scholarship

In herpesvirus infections, the virus persists for life but is contained through T-cell-mediated immune surveillance. How this immune surveillance operates is poorly understood. Recent studies of other persistent infections have indicated that virus persistence is associated with functional deficits in the CD8(+) T-cell response. To test whether this is the case in a herpesvirus infection, we used a mutant murine gammaherpesvirus that is defective in its ability to persist in the host. By comparing the immune response to this virus with a revertant virus that can persist, we were able to dissect the changes in the antiviral CD8(+) T-cell response …


Agswe1p Regulates Mitosis In Response To Morphogenesis And Nutrients In Multinucleated Ashbya Gossypii Cells, Hanspeter Helfer, Amy S. Gladfelter Aug 2006

Agswe1p Regulates Mitosis In Response To Morphogenesis And Nutrients In Multinucleated Ashbya Gossypii Cells, Hanspeter Helfer, Amy S. Gladfelter

Dartmouth Scholarship

Nuclei in the filamentous, multinucleated fungus Ashbya gossypii divide asynchronously. We have investigated what internal and external signals spatially direct mitosis within these hyphal cells. Mitoses are most common near cortical septin rings found at growing tips and branchpoints. In septin mutants, mitoses are no longer concentrated at branchpoints, suggesting that the septin rings function to locally promote mitosis near new branches. Similarly, cells lacking AgSwe1p kinase (a Wee1 homologue), AgHsl1p (a Nim1-related kinase), and AgMih1p phosphatase (the Cdc25 homologue that likely counteracts AgSwe1p activity) also have mitoses distributed randomly in the hyphae as opposed to at branchpoints. Surprisingly, however, …


Circadian Rhythmicity By Autocatalysis, Arun Mehra, Christian I. Hong, Mi Shi, Jennifer J. Loros, Jay C. Dunlap, Peter Ruoff Jul 2006

Circadian Rhythmicity By Autocatalysis, Arun Mehra, Christian I. Hong, Mi Shi, Jennifer J. Loros, Jay C. Dunlap, Peter Ruoff

Dartmouth Scholarship

The temperature compensated in vitro oscillation of cyanobacterial KaiC phosphorylation, the first example of a thermodynamically closed system showing circadian rhythmicity, only involves the three Kai proteins (KaiA, KaiB, and KaiC) and ATP. In this paper, we describe a model in which the KaiA- and KaiB-assisted autocatalytic phosphorylation and dephosphorylation of KaiC are the source for circadian rhythmicity. This model, based upon autocatalysis instead of transcription-translation negative feedback, shows temperature-compensated circadian limit-cycle oscillations with KaiC phosphorylation profiles and has period lengths and rate constant values that are consistent with experimental observations.


Saccharomyces Cerevisiae-Based Molecular Tool Kit For Manipulation Of Genes From Gram-Negative Bacteria, Robert M. Q. Shanks, Nicky C. Caiazza, Shannon M. Hinsa, Christine M. Toutain, George A. O'Toole Jul 2006

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae-Based Molecular Tool Kit For Manipulation Of Genes From Gram-Negative Bacteria, Robert M. Q. Shanks, Nicky C. Caiazza, Shannon M. Hinsa, Christine M. Toutain, George A. O'Toole

Dartmouth Scholarship

A tool kit of vectors was designed to manipulate and express genes from a wide range of gram-negative species by using in vivo recombination. Saccharomyces cerevisiae can use its native recombination proteins to combine several amplicons in a single transformation step with high efficiency. We show that this technology is particularly useful for vector design. Shuttle, suicide, and expression vectors useful in a diverse group of bacteria are described and utilized. This report describes the use of these vectors to mutate clpX and clpP of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and to explore their roles in biofilm formation and surface …


Medial Prefrontal Activity Differentiates Self From Close Others, Todd F. Heatherton, Carrie L. Wyland, C. Neil Macrae, Kathryn E. Demos, Bryan T. Denny, William M. Kelley Jun 2006

Medial Prefrontal Activity Differentiates Self From Close Others, Todd F. Heatherton, Carrie L. Wyland, C. Neil Macrae, Kathryn E. Demos, Bryan T. Denny, William M. Kelley

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.


Medial Prefrontal Dissociations During Processing Of Trait Diagnostic And Nondiagnostic Person Information, Jason P. Mitchell, Jasmin Cloutier, Mahzarin R. Banaji, C Neil Macrae Jun 2006

Medial Prefrontal Dissociations During Processing Of Trait Diagnostic And Nondiagnostic Person Information, Jason P. Mitchell, Jasmin Cloutier, Mahzarin R. Banaji, C Neil Macrae

Dartmouth Scholarship

Previous research has suggested that perceivers spontaneously extract trait-specific information from the behaviour of others. However, little is known about whether perceivers spontaneously engage in the same depth of social-cognitive processing for all person information or reserve such processing specifically for information that conveys diagnostic clues about another person's dispositions. Moreover, a question remains as to whether the processing of such nondiagnostic information can be affected by perceivers’ explicit goal to consider another's dispositions or not. To examine processing of diagnostic and nondiagnostic social information as a function of perceivers’ explicit social-cognitive goals, participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) …


An Essential Role For Endocytosis Of Rhodopsin Through Interaction Of Visual Arrestin With The Ap-2 Adaptor, Nicholas R. Orem, Luxi Xia, Patrick J. Dolph May 2006

An Essential Role For Endocytosis Of Rhodopsin Through Interaction Of Visual Arrestin With The Ap-2 Adaptor, Nicholas R. Orem, Luxi Xia, Patrick J. Dolph

Dartmouth Scholarship

Previously, we have identified a class of retinal degeneration mutants in Drosophila in which the normally transient interaction between arrestin2 (Arr2) and rhodopsin is stabilized and the complexes are rapidly internalized into the cell body by receptor-mediated endocytosis. The accumulation of protein complexes in the cytoplasm eventually results in photoreceptor cell death. We now show that the endocytic adapter protein AP-2 is essential for rhodopsin endocytosis through an Arr2-AP-2beta interaction, and mutations in Arr2 that disrupt its interaction with the beta subunit of AP-2 prevent endocytosis-induced retinal degeneration. We further demonstrate that if the interaction between Arr2 and AP-2 is …


Cardiac-Specific Elevations In Thyroid Hormone Enhance Contractility And Prevent Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction, Maria G. Trivieri, Gavin Y. Oudit, Rajan Sah, Benoit-Giles Kerfant, Hui Sun, Anthony O. Gramolini, Yan Pan, Alan D. Wickenden, Walburga Croteau Apr 2006

Cardiac-Specific Elevations In Thyroid Hormone Enhance Contractility And Prevent Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction, Maria G. Trivieri, Gavin Y. Oudit, Rajan Sah, Benoit-Giles Kerfant, Hui Sun, Anthony O. Gramolini, Yan Pan, Alan D. Wickenden, Walburga Croteau

Dartmouth Scholarship

Thyroid hormone (TH) is critical for cardiac development and heart function. In heart disease, TH metabolism is abnormal, and many biochemical and functional alterations mirror hypothyroidism. Although TH therapy has been advocated for treating heart disease, a clear benefit of TH has yet to be established, possibly because of peripheral actions of TH. To assess the potential efficacy of TH in treating heart disease, type 2 deiodinase (D2), which converts the prohormone thyroxine to active triiodothyronine (T3), was expressed transiently in mouse hearts by using the tetracycline transactivator system. Increased cardiac D2 activity led to elevated cardiac T3 levels and …


Talking To Themselves: Autoregulation And Quorum Sensing In Fungi, Deborah A. Hogan Apr 2006

Talking To Themselves: Autoregulation And Quorum Sensing In Fungi, Deborah A. Hogan

Dartmouth Scholarship

Extracellular autoinducing compounds in the supernatants of microbial cultures were first recognized for their roles in the induction of genetic competence in gram-positive bacteria and in the regulation of light production in marine vibrios. In 1994, this form of population-level regulation in microbes was dubbed “quorum sensing” since it enabled bacterial cells to chemically measure the density of the surrounding population. Subsequently, many examples of cell density-dependent regulation by extracellular factors have been found in diverse microorganisms. The widespread incidence of diverse quorum-sensing systems strongly suggests that regulation in accordance with cell density is important for the success of microbes …


A Pdz-Binding Motif As A Critical Determinant Of Rho Guanine Exchange Factor Function And Cell Phenotype, Miaoliang Liu, Arie Horowitz Feb 2006

A Pdz-Binding Motif As A Critical Determinant Of Rho Guanine Exchange Factor Function And Cell Phenotype, Miaoliang Liu, Arie Horowitz

Dartmouth Scholarship

We identified a Rho guanine exchange factor (GEF) expressed as two splice variants, which differ only in either having or lacking a Postsynaptic density 95, Disk large, Zona occludens-1 (PDZ) motif. The PDZ adaptor protein synectin bound the longer splice variant, Syx1, which was targeted to the plasma membrane in a synectin-dependent manner. The shorter variant, Syx2, was diffusely distributed in the cytoplasm. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) imaging revealed similar differences between the spatial patterns of active RhoA in Syx1 versus Syx2-expressing cells. Expression of Syx1 augmented endothelial cell (EC) migration and tube formation, whereas Syx2 expression did not. …


Rab-10 Is Required For Endocytic Recycling In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Intestine, Carlos Chih-Hsiung Chen, Peter J. Schweinsberg, Shilpa Vashist, Darren P. Mareiniss, Eric J. Lambie, Barth D. Grant Jan 2006

Rab-10 Is Required For Endocytic Recycling In The Caenorhabditis Elegans Intestine, Carlos Chih-Hsiung Chen, Peter J. Schweinsberg, Shilpa Vashist, Darren P. Mareiniss, Eric J. Lambie, Barth D. Grant

Dartmouth Scholarship

The endocytic pathway of eukaryotes is essential for the internalization and trafficking of macromolecules, fluid, membranes, and membrane proteins. One of the most enigmatic aspects of this process is endocytic recycling, the return of macromolecules (often receptors) and fluid from endosomes to the plasma membrane. We have previously shown that the EH-domain protein RME-1 is a critical regulator of endocytic recycling in worms and mammals. Here we identify the RAB-10 protein as a key regulator of endocytic recycling upstream of RME-1 in polarized epithelial cells of the Caenorhabditis elegans intestine. rab-10 null mutant intestinal cells accumulate abnormally abundant RAB-5-positive early …


Innate Antiviral Response Targets Hiv-1 Release By The Induction Of Ubiquitin-Like Protein Isg15, Atsushi Okumura, Gengshi Lu, Ian Pitha-Rowe, Paula M. Pitha Jan 2006

Innate Antiviral Response Targets Hiv-1 Release By The Induction Of Ubiquitin-Like Protein Isg15, Atsushi Okumura, Gengshi Lu, Ian Pitha-Rowe, Paula M. Pitha

Dartmouth Scholarship

The goal of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which type I IFN inhibits assembly and release of HIV-1 virions. Our study revealed that the IFN-induced ubiquitin-like protein ISG15 mimics the IFN effect and inhibits release of HIV-1 virions without having any effect on the synthesis of HIV-1 proteins in the cells. ISG15 expression specifically inhibited ubiquitination of Gag and Tsg101 and disrupted the interaction of the Gag L domain with Tsg101, but conjugation of ISG15 to Gag or Tsg101 was not detected. The inhibition of Gag-Tsg101 interaction was also detected in HIV-1 infected, IFN-treated cells. Elimination …