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Antimicrobial Assay Of Sagebrush Roots, Lauren Rachel (Moody) Mcfadden

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Plants produce secondary metabolites for various functions, one of which is antibacterial activities. Sagebrush has historically been used by Native Americans for different medicinal purposes, suggesting that it may have secondary metabolites that would have medicinal values, including antimicrobial activities, and can be a natural source for antibiotics. This study aims to carry out the antimicrobial activity of Sagebrush root extract against a handful of bacteria. We tested the antimicrobial activity of root extract of Sagebrush against six bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, E. coli DHSα (Lab cloning strain), Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101 (Lab cloning strain), Pseudomonas …

Effect Of Wood Chips As A Component Of Soilless Media On Growth And Nutrition Of Food And Ornamental Crops, Kristen Bullough

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Peat is the central component of the soil-less media mix in all greenhouse crop production but it is expensive because it is harvested in Canada and shipped to greenhouses across North America. Wood chips provide a local, low-cost alternative to peat, but observations by growers indicate potential growth reductions from the addition of wood to peat-based media. Here I report the effects of the addition of wood chips to peat-based media. The study included four treatments: two controls (peat/vermiculite: 50/50 and 75/25) and two treatments with wood chips ' (peat/wood chips: 50/50 and 75/25) with three species (sunflowers, soybeans, and …

Developing An Optimized Light Spectrum For Plant Growth And Development, Kevin Richard Cope

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are a rapidly developing technology for plant growth lighting and have become a powerful tool for understanding the spectral effects of light on plants. Several studies have shown that some blue light is necessary for normal growth and development, but the effects of blue light appear to be species dependent and may interact with other wavelengths of light as well as photosynthetic photon flux (PPF). Here we report the photobiological effects of three types of white LEDs (warm, neutral and cool) on the growth and development of radish, soybean, and wheat. All species were grown at two …

Lifespan Of Prokaryote Model Organism Escherichia Coli K-12, Hyrum Gillespie

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Bacteria are amazingly resilient organisms, in that they have evolved and adapted to the many extreme environments of Earth (from salt, to pH, to temperature extremes etc.). The bacterial lifespan and death rates are as important as its growth rates in these extreme environments. Bacteria would be useful to determine the effects of age on single cells, but because bacteria reproduce asexually by binary cell fission (clonal replication), calculating the lifespan has proven elusive. Without the determination of a lifespan, age studies using bacteria have limited application. Further, it has been proposed that organisms whose somatic cell line is not …

Discovering Metabolic Networks Of Bovine Fertilization, Erin Lynn Young

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

At the time of fertilization, a dramatic change occurs in the oocyte that transforms this cell from a metaphase arrested state into a metabolically active and dynamic state. The view of the flow of biological processes within organisms has recently shifted from that of a linear path to a more complex network. Biological processes are no longer thought of in the simple terms of DNA to RNA, RNA to proteins, and proteins to final activity. It is now known that many biological processes involve interconnected networks and feedback loops in which DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites perform specific roles. We …

Extending The Season For Sustainability In Utah, Britney Hunter

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The importance of providing fresh produce on a local level is becoming a widespread consideration among people concerned with the character of their food. For regions without an opportune growing climate, extending the growing season can drastically advance productivity. High tunnels are one way to effectively and profitably extend the growing season in cold climates. The benefits of growing in a high tunnel go beyond raising the temperature. High tunnels contribute to higher quality small fruits and vegetables. The benefits of growing in high tunnels have been explored in other states and could be exploited by Utah growers. Utah's climate …

Influence Of Soil Compaction On Nitrogen Volatilization In A Management Intensive Grazing System: Estimation Of Gaseous N Losses Using Mass Balance In Intact Soil Cores, Luke Alan Petersen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Increasing concern about the environmental impacts of greenhouse gases and PM 2.5 particulates has prompted many researchers to examine the processes of gaseous loss of nitrogen (N) from agricultural land. As agricultural production becomes more competitive and producers strive to become more efficient by reducing input costs, they will increasingly employ practices such as the rotational stocking, also called Management Intensive Grazing (MIG). MIG utilizes high animal stocking rates for short periods of time to efficiently harvest pasture crops. Unfortunately, MIG also produces relatively high concentrations of livestock excreta. This has caused intensive grazing practices to become a focal point …

Identification Of Key Genes Required For Abiotic Stress Response In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Saori Endo

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

To identify key genes that are required for stress response, a reverse genetics approach was taken to manipulate expression of candidate genes in plants. In this project, two potential regulatory genes which were originally identified as stress-responsive genes from a microarray experiment in Arabidopsis were examined for their roles in stress tolerance. Over-expression of gene A, which was up-regulated under stress conditions based on the array data, caused earlier flowering and improved plant growth under salinity and dehydration stress conditions at the seedling stage. Over-expression of gene B, which was down-regulated under stress conditions based on the array data, resulted …

Discussion And Measurement Of Soil Erosion In Iceland, Kimberly Jane Richardson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Soil erosion has occurred since the beginning of time. It is a natural process, but one that has been increasing at an alarming rate. Once soil is eroded--whether it is blown out to sea or washed down a river to sedimentize a lake--it is lost. It is almost impossible to reestablish similar soil components and characteristics in a given system. Since soil and vegetation reestablishment is expensive, the prevention of soil erosion by controlling its causes has become the most cost-effective reclamation effort.

After spending six months in Iceland, I wrote this paper on the unique erosion problems facing that …

The Effect Of Urea On The Sedimentation Coefficient Of The Curly Top Virus Dimer, Allen H. Smith

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of increasing concentrations of urea on the sedimentation rate of the curly top virus dimer as measured by ultracentrifugation techniques. In general, urea causes the breaking of hydrogen bonds in macromolecules--in the case of the virus, increased concentrations of urea should cause changes in the configuration of the virus and may possibly cause a separation of the dimer into monomers. From previous centrifugation studies, we know that the dimer has a characteristic sedimentation coefficient(S) of about 80 Svedbergs; the monomer has an S value of about 55 Svedberg units. Increased …

Measurement Of Soil Water Potential By Adsorption Conductivity, V. Philip Rasmussen Jr.

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Current methods of measuring soil water potential are reviewed, and the limitations of each are noted. The need for a transducer that will measure soil water potential over a wide moisture range for long periods of time is delineated. The concept of utilizing an adsorptive surface that resembles the soil in its water holding capacity as a transducer is discussed. Various designs and materials are tested for such a transducer.

All designs tested did not fulfill the requirements needed for a truly useful transducer. However, experimental results show that modification of the adsorptive surface should allow construction of a unit …

The Effect Of The Herbicide Glyphosate On The Growth Of Selenastrum Capricornutum, Judith Susan Eisen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The herbicide glyphosate (MON-0139), an isopropylamine salt of N- (phosphonemethyl)glycine, was tested to determine its effects on the growth of the fresh water green alga Selenastrum capricornutum. Experiments were carried out to determine algicidal, algistatic, and inhibitory concentrations of the compound.

Concentrations from 5 ppm to 1000 ppm were inhibitory to the growth of the alga, but the effects were algistatic, rather than algicidal. At concentrations from 0.1 ppm to 1.0 ppm the growth of the alga was stimulated by the presence of the herbicide, while at concentrations from 0.001 ppm to 0.05 ppm the effects of the herbicide were …