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Extension Of The Ergot Alkaloid Gene Cluster, Samantha Joy Fabian Jan 2023

Extension Of The Ergot Alkaloid Gene Cluster, Samantha Joy Fabian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Specialized metabolites produced by fungi impact human health. A large portion of the pharmaceuticals currently on the market are derived from metabolites biosynthesized by microbes. Ergot alkaloids are a class of fungal metabolites that are important in the interactions of environmental fungi with insects and mammals and also are used in the production of pharmaceuticals. In animals, ergot alkaloids can act as partial agonists or antagonists at receptors for 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin), dopamine, and noradrenaline as ergot alkaloids have chemical structures similar to those neurotransmitters. Therefore, they affect insects and mammals that consume them and can be used to produce drugs …


Factors Influencing Brook Trout Population Dynamics And Resilience In Central Appalachian Headwater Streams, Christopher W. Schwinghamer Jan 2022

Factors Influencing Brook Trout Population Dynamics And Resilience In Central Appalachian Headwater Streams, Christopher W. Schwinghamer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Central Appalachia has a unique history of human perturbation due largely to its historical economic reliance on extractive industry and timber harvest. Legacy impacts from these historic disturbances along with contemporary stressors in the form of continued industry, changing climates, altered land use, habitat fragmentation, and introduced species can present great threats to the region’s aquatic ecosystems. Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis are a species that has recreational and economic importance to the communities of central Appalachia but declines in size and abundance have been observed. Given the disturbances that threaten Brook Trout populations, understanding how their populations will respond to …


Impact Of Sire Selection And Breed On Parasite Resistance In Sheep, Andrew Ryan Weaver Jan 2020

Impact Of Sire Selection And Breed On Parasite Resistance In Sheep, Andrew Ryan Weaver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Selection within and among breeds are strategies to mitigate the impact of parasitism given failing chemotherapeutics. While Texels have improved marketability compared to other parasite-resistant breeds, the mechanism by which Texels reduce fecal egg count (FEC) is unclear. The immune response to Haemonchus contortus (Hc) was compared in Texel, parasite-resistant St. Croix, and parasite-susceptible Suffolk sheep. Adult worms exposed to St. Croix- and Texel-derived peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum in vitro had greater binding around the reproductive structures than Suffolk and worm egg release tended to be affected by breed (P = 0.09). Resistance in Texels …


The Effects Of Internal Physiology On Polyphenic Horn Development In The Dung Beetle Onthophagus Taurus, Naomi Garrett Williamson Jan 2020

The Effects Of Internal Physiology On Polyphenic Horn Development In The Dung Beetle Onthophagus Taurus, Naomi Garrett Williamson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

An organism’s phenotype can be affected in development by alterations to gene expression based on environmental inputs. Nutrition is one such environmental input and the central regulator of development of large horn or small horn phenotypes in the dung beetle species, Onthophagus taurus. However, little is known about the nature of chemical compounds that are critical to this plastic horn development. To better understand these compounds, we are utilizing an untargeted metabolomic approach as well as a targeted gene approach. Through the metabolomic approach, it was uncovered that environmental conditions tend to have a greater impact on metabolomic composition …


Utilization Of Fish For Constitutional And Acquired Chromosomal Abnormalities For Diagnostic And Prognostic Purposes, Amy L. Shackelford May 2014

Utilization Of Fish For Constitutional And Acquired Chromosomal Abnormalities For Diagnostic And Prognostic Purposes, Amy L. Shackelford

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

ABSTRACT Utilization of FISH for Constitutional and Acquired Chromosomal Abnormalities for Diagnostic and Prognostic Purposes Amy L. Shackelford Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) is a useful molecular cytogenetics technique for counting chromosomes and identifying specific chromosomal sequences of interest. FISH probe targets include centromeres, single loci, subtelomeres, and telomeres, using DNA or peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes. FISH probes were used to determine chromosome number, copy loss or gain, and signal size in four studies involving acquired chromosomal changes in malignancy, mosaicism, and aneuploidy in pre- and postnatal constitutional abnormalities. In the first series of experiments, subtelomere probes for 5p and …


Identification And Genetic Diversity Of Lake Sturgeon Larvae On Artificial Reefs In The Huron-Erie Corridor, Jamie Marie Marranca May 2014

Identification And Genetic Diversity Of Lake Sturgeon Larvae On Artificial Reefs In The Huron-Erie Corridor, Jamie Marie Marranca

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

There are 27 species of sturgeon worldwide and most are currently extinct, endangered or threatened. Lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, one of the oldest species on the planet, evolved about 136 million years ago, and have had little morphological change, and are endemic to the freshwater lakes and rivers created by receding glaciers of the Laurentian ice sheet. Lake sturgeon have seen immense habitat loss due to human development and industrialization has nearly decimated populations. Changes to water and habitat quality, along with overharvesting, have caused declines to nearly 1% of their original population size. The Huron-Erie Corridor (HEC), includes the …


Effects Of Culverts On Brook Trout Genetic Diversity, Darren M. Wood May 2014

Effects Of Culverts On Brook Trout Genetic Diversity, Darren M. Wood

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are a species of concern within their native range due to a historical loss of habitat, overfishing, and stocking of non-native salmonids. Road culverts have been recognized as an additional impediment to population persistence as movement between diverse habitat types has been identified as an alternative life-history strategy to maximize spawning and growth. Brook trout were genetically analyzed using a suite of 13 microsatellite loci above 7 culverts with varying levels of passability classified through a physical protocol. While most sites were not found to have losses in genetic diversity, populations above culverts with a high …


Characterization Of Genes Involved In Sumoylation During Embryogenesis In Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Xiaowei Zang Aug 2013

Characterization Of Genes Involved In Sumoylation During Embryogenesis In Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Xiaowei Zang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

SUMOylation is the post-translational modification of proteins by the addition of the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO), which plays an important role in various cellular processes. It has been reported that SUMO and its related proteins are important in diverse reproductive functions such as ovulation, gametogenesis, and embryogenesis. Modification of target proteins by SUMO is an ATP-dependent enzymatic cascade involving three key enzymes: E1 activating enzyme (the heterodimer SAE1-SAE2), E2 conjugating enzyme (UBC9) and several E3 ligating enzymes (PIAS, RanBP2/Nup358 and Pc2). The objectives of this study were to characterize the genes involved in SUMOylation and determine their expression profiles during …


The Evolution Of The Paleopolyploid Genome In Family Salicaceae, Eli Rodgers-Melnick Aug 2013

The Evolution Of The Paleopolyploid Genome In Family Salicaceae, Eli Rodgers-Melnick

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Whole genome duplication is a recurrent phenomenon throughout the history of flowering plants, with at least 1 occuring in the history of each angiosperm lineage. However, following duplication the genome typically undergoes a period of increased structural rearrangements and gene loss, resulting in a diploidized genome with large stretches of syntenic regions resulting from the duplication. This process, termed fractionation, often exhibits biased patterns of gene retention, which appear to correspond with the putative connectedness of genes within biological networks. In this thesis, I explore the extent to which the same biases appear in duplicate genes from the most recent …


Genetic Basis For Thermal Tolerance In Two Different Strains Of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss): Case Western And Kamloops, Paola Reale Aug 2012

Genetic Basis For Thermal Tolerance In Two Different Strains Of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss): Case Western And Kamloops, Paola Reale

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This thesis examines the thermal tolerance based on how expression of Heat Shock Protein (HSP) 70 and HSP90 differ between two different strains of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), the Case Western strain and the Kamloops strain, and determines if cortisol levels affect HSP expression in red blood cells. The Case Western strain is considered the only warm water trout, only recently was any aspect of its thermal tolerance quantified. Porto (2012) determined critical thermal maxima (CTM) for the Case Western strain and found it to be about 0.15 °C higher than the Kamloops strain. This thesis is comprised of three …


Molecular Characterization Of Rainbow Trout Zar1 And Zar1-Like Genes: Their Potential Roles In Egg Quality, Chieh-Hung Lin Aug 2012

Molecular Characterization Of Rainbow Trout Zar1 And Zar1-Like Genes: Their Potential Roles In Egg Quality, Chieh-Hung Lin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Zygote arrest 1 (Zar1) is a maternal-effect gene that is essential for early embryonic development. Recently, a novel gene called Zar1-like (Zar1l) was discovered. Functional studies showed that Zar1l plays an important role in regulating oocyte-to-embryo transition in the mouse. The objectives of this study were to characterize the rainbow trout Zar1 and Zar1l genes and evaluate the potential roles of these genes in controlling egg quality in rainbow trout. Through database mining, we identified the cDNAs encoding rainbow trout Zar1 and Zar1l. The Zar1cDNA codes for a protein of 333 aa ,and the Zar1l cDNA encodes a protein of …


Temporal Patterns Of Gene Expression In The Mntb During Calyx Of Held Development, Douglas Richard Kolson Jan 2012

Temporal Patterns Of Gene Expression In The Mntb During Calyx Of Held Development, Douglas Richard Kolson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Brain development is inextricably linked to changes in gene expression. Providing insight into the mechanisms controlling these complex events is a current challenge in neuroscience. Neurons in the medial nucleus of the trapezoid body (MNTB) receive large specialized glutamatergic nerve terminals, the calyces of Held, which grow very quickly between postnatal day 2 (P2) and P4. Through both quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and microarray analysis, we examined the gene expression over time for a select group of voltage-gated potassium channels controlling ion channel function and composition to finely tune their biophysical properties. Low threshold activated potassium channels subunits Kv1.1 (Kcna1) …


Characterization And Genetic Manipulation Of Ergot Pathway Inefficiency In Fungi, Prashanthi Mulinti Aug 2011

Characterization And Genetic Manipulation Of Ergot Pathway Inefficiency In Fungi, Prashanthi Mulinti

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ergot alkaloids are mycotoxins that negatively affect humans and animals but also have useful pharmaceutical properties. Ergot alkaloids have been extensively studied in Claviceps purpurea, and also have been reported in other fungi, such as certain Penicillium spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, and several Neotyphodium spp. that are endophytes of grasses. There is a high degree of variation in the production of ergot alkaloids within an individual species and among producers from different taxa, which means different fungi accumulate different profiles of ergot alkaloids rather than a single pathway end product. These varied profiles result, in part, from inefficiency in the pathway …


Functional Analysis And Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Oocyte-Specific Transcription Factors During Early Embryogenesis In Cattle, Swamy Krishna Tripurani May 2011

Functional Analysis And Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Oocyte-Specific Transcription Factors During Early Embryogenesis In Cattle, Swamy Krishna Tripurani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Newborn ovary homeobox (NOBOX) is an oocyte-specific transcription factor essential for folliculogenesis and expression of many germ-cell specific genes in mice. However, the temporal and cell specific expression of NOBOX in bovine oocytes and potential function and regulation of NOBOX in early embryogenesis have not been described previously. Messenger RNA for bovine NOBOX is preferentially expressed in ovaries and undetectable by RT-PCR in somatic tissues examined. NOBOX protein is present in oocytes throughout folliculogenesis and is stage-specifically expressed during oocyte maturation and early embryonic development. Depletion of NOBOX in early embryos demonstrated that NOBOX is an essential maternal derived transcription …


Computational Hybrid Systems For Identifying Prognostic Gene Markers Of Lung Cancer, Ying-Wooi Wan Jan 2011

Computational Hybrid Systems For Identifying Prognostic Gene Markers Of Lung Cancer, Ying-Wooi Wan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Lung cancer is the most fatal cancer around the world. Current lung cancer prognosis and treatment is based on tumor stage population statistics and could not reliably assess the risk for developing recurrence in individual patients. Biomarkers enable treatment options to be tailored to individual patients based on their tumor molecular characteristics. To date, there is no clinically applied molecular prognostic model for lung cancer. Statistics and feature selection methods identify gene candidates by ranking the association between gene expression and disease outcome, but do not account for the interactions among genes. Computational network methods could model interactions, but have …


Analyzing The Role Of Ck2 And Pp2a In Drosophila Position Effect Variegation, Swati Banerjee Jan 2010

Analyzing The Role Of Ck2 And Pp2a In Drosophila Position Effect Variegation, Swati Banerjee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The results of the investigation into the role of CK2 and PP2A in Drosophila position effect variegation (PEV) and chromatin modification are presented here. PEV is seen when a gene normally found in euchromatin is placed in close proximity to heterochromatin. The propensity of heterochromatin to spread down the chromosome often results in inactivation of the displaced gene by compaction into heterochromatin. The study presented here utilized two different PEV reporter genes for investigating the role of two posttranslational modifying enzymes, the kinase CK2 and the phosphatase PP2A in chromatin formation. The reporter genes used in this study encode for …


Preliminary Analysis Of The Environmental Effects On Rna Degradation: Modeling A Realistic Crime Scene, Beatriz A. Vianna Jan 2010

Preliminary Analysis Of The Environmental Effects On Rna Degradation: Modeling A Realistic Crime Scene, Beatriz A. Vianna

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In forensic science, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) became an indispensable tool given the limited amount of biological samples usually encountered at crime scenes. DNA analysis is used to identify the source of biological samples typically obtained from a single hair, or droplet of blood. Determining the source of the biological evidence can provide a spatial link, thereby including or excluding a suspect at a crime scene or other locations related to a crime investigation. In spite of the great efficiency in human identification, DNA analysis cannot provide any information regarding time of deposition of the sample. The ability to establish …


The Role Of Nonmuscle Myosin Iia In Endothelial Cell, Jing Zhu Jan 2010

The Role Of Nonmuscle Myosin Iia In Endothelial Cell, Jing Zhu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Myosins are molecular motors that convert chemical energy into mechanical force. Vertebrate cells contain three myosin II isoforms, designated as myosin IIA, IIB and IIC, and each isoform has unique biochemical and biophysical charasterics. It is generally accepted that all three isoforms are involved in regulating actin structures and cell contraction. However, it is unknown what role(s) each isoform plays in maintaining actin structures and generating cellular force. Experiments presented in this thesis will begin to document what role myosin IIA plays in endothelial cell contraction and actin dynamics.;Myosin IIA ablated from endothelial cells by infection with adenovirus encoding a …


Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Rpos And Hema In Salmonella, Amy Madeline Jones Dec 2009

Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Rpos And Hema In Salmonella, Amy Madeline Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The first part of this thesis is dedicated to translational regulation of rpoS mRNA by the small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs), DsrA and RprA, in two closely related enteric bacteria, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. The rpoS gene encodes a second vegetative sigma factor for RNA polymerase, which directs the cell's transcriptional response to general stress and entry into stationary phase. The rpoS gene is highly conserved among the gamma-branch of proteobacteria, and sRNAs are highly conserved in related species. In fact, sequence conservation is thought to have predictive value in sRNA discovery and functional conservation is largely assumed. …


Cryptic Subtelomeric Rearrangements And Studies Of Telomere Length, Jasen Lee Wise Dec 2009

Cryptic Subtelomeric Rearrangements And Studies Of Telomere Length, Jasen Lee Wise

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Study One. An estimated five percent of individuals with unexplained mental retardation (MR) have chromosomally unbalanced subtelomere regions. Around half of these individuals inherited the imbalance from a parent with a balanced rearrangement. The frequency of carriers for cryptic balanced translocations is unknown. To determine this frequency, blood samples received from 565 out of 978 phenotypically normal, unrelated individuals were examined using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) probes to analyze all subtelomere regions. No balanced subtelomeric rearrangements were identified. The frequency of balanced cryptic translocations in the general population was estimated to be 1/8,000 from the literature. However, three females …


Characterization Of Cold Shock Domain Proteins And Sumoylation System From Oryza Sativa, Vijaya Vardhana Reddy Chaikam Jan 2009

Characterization Of Cold Shock Domain Proteins And Sumoylation System From Oryza Sativa, Vijaya Vardhana Reddy Chaikam

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In the first part of this study, two novel c&barbelow;old s&barbelow;hock domain p&barbelow;roteins from rice (OsCSP) were cloned and subsequently characterized their roles during stress conditions and development. OsCSP1 and OsCSP2 ( Oryza sativa CSD protein) encode putative proteins consisting of an N-terminal CSD and glycine-rich regions that are interspersed by 4 and 2 CX2CX4HX4C (CCHC) retroviral-like zinc fingers, respectively. Using an in vitro DNA binding assay, I demonstrate that OsCSPs exhibit conserved ssDNA binding activity. In vivo functional complementation in a cold-sensitive bacterial strain, that lacks four cold inducible cold shock domain proteins revealed that OsCSPs function as RNA …


Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis In Aspergillus Fumigatus : Association With Sporulation And Clustered Genes Common Among Ergot Fungi, Christine M. Coyle Jan 2009

Ergot Alkaloid Biosynthesis In Aspergillus Fumigatus : Association With Sporulation And Clustered Genes Common Among Ergot Fungi, Christine M. Coyle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ergot alkaloids, indole-derived mycotoxins, interact with multiple monoamine neurotransmitter receptors and cause disease in exposed individuals. They have been well studied in the ergot fungus, Claviceps purpurea, and have been reported in some closely related grass endophytes, as well as the distantly related opportunistic human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. A. fumigatus, which sporulates prolifically, produces clavines, specifically festuclavine and fumigaclavines A, B, and C in association with asexual spores and the total mass of alkaloids constitutes over 1% of the spore mass. These alkaloids differ from those of most clavicipitaceous fungi, which consist of different clavines and often more complex lysergic …


Functional Analysis Of Arabidopsis Cold Shock Domain Proteins, Yongil Yang Jan 2009

Functional Analysis Of Arabidopsis Cold Shock Domain Proteins, Yongil Yang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

To understand the function of cold shock domain proteins in planta, I analyzed AtCSP3 (At2g17870), which is one of four A&barbelow;rabidopsis t&barbelow;haliana c&barbelow;old s&barbelow;hock domain p&barbelow;roteins (AtCSPs). Taq-Man probe quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis confirmed that AtCSP3 transcripts were expressed dominantly in reproductive and meristematic tissues. The homozygous loss of function mutant atcsp3 displays a distinct phenotype with an overall reduced sized of seedlings, small sized orbicular rosette leaves, and curled leaf blades. Microscopic visualization of cleared leaves revealed a reduction in size and increased circular shape of palisade mesophyll cells in atcsp3 leaves. Image analysis of palisade cell layers indicated …


Functions Of Rx In Early Vertebrate Ocular Development, Brian G. Zamora Jan 2009

Functions Of Rx In Early Vertebrate Ocular Development, Brian G. Zamora

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Patterning of the optic vesicle is a crucial step in early vertebrate eye development that organizes uncommitted optic vesicle cells into distinct distal, dorsal, and proximal regions that will give rise to the neural retina, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), and optic stalk, respectively. Originating from the same sheet of anterior neuroectoderm, uncommitted optic vesicle cells are patterned into neural and non-neural (RPE) retinal domains through the coordinated activities of extrinsic signaling molecules and intrinsic transcription factors. Neural retinal specification is driven by FGF signals emanating from the surface ectoderm and developing lens, while RPE is specified by signals from the …


Effects Of The Antimicrobial Agent Triclosan On Bacterial Resistance To Disinfection In Wastewater Treatment Processes, Meilin Liu Dec 2008

Effects Of The Antimicrobial Agent Triclosan On Bacterial Resistance To Disinfection In Wastewater Treatment Processes, Meilin Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

2-(2,5-Dichlorophenoxy)-5-chlorophenol or Triclosan is a widely used antimicrobial agent included in a multitude of products, such as soap, toothpaste, and personal care products.;The objective of this research was to investigate the effects of Triclosan on the resistance of activated sludge bacteria to conventional disinfection processes applied in wastewater treatment processes, such as chlorination and UV.;Specific Aim 1. A complex bacterial community collected from an active sludge was acclimated over several sub-cultures in the presence of different concentrations of Triclosan (from 0.0 to 20 mg L-1) and then exposed to sub-lethal doses of chlorine and UV irradiation. Determination of bacterial viability …


Non-Redundant Roles Of E(Spl) Proteins During Drosophila Neurogenesis, Jee-Eun Kim Jan 2008

Non-Redundant Roles Of E(Spl) Proteins During Drosophila Neurogenesis, Jee-Eun Kim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The Enhancer of split Complex (E(spl)C) in Drosophila melanogaster encodes seven bHLH repressors that serve as the final effectors of the highly conserved Notch signaling pathway during the process of cell fate specification. These E(spl) proteins have been considered to be functionally redundant because of their structural similarity, and the observation that over-expression of individual E(spl) members leads to neural hypoplasia, in general. And additional compounding factor is that loss-of function alleles in individual E(spl) members have been unavailable. However, individual E(spl) members exhibit inordinate conservation through Drosophila evolution and are differentially expressed, findings which challenge the premise of functional …


Analysis Of Timekeeper Implicates Antagonism Between Ck2 And Pp2a During Drosophila Neurogenesis, Ezgi Kunttas Jan 2008

Analysis Of Timekeeper Implicates Antagonism Between Ck2 And Pp2a During Drosophila Neurogenesis, Ezgi Kunttas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

It is increasingly becoming apparent that dynamic control of phosphorylation and dephosphorylation underlies the proper spatial and temporal activities of many signaling circuits including Notch (N). Emerging evidence suggests that protein kinase CK2 mediates the effects of N during Drosophila eye and bristle development via phosphorylation of E(spl) repressors. Previous studies in our laboratory shown that reducing levels/activity of CK2 elicits rough eyes due to excess R8 founders and ectopic and split bristles due to excess SOP's, both indicative of impaired lateral inhibition and N signaling. While these studies implicate a role for CK2 in the regulation of E(spl), the …


Identification And Characterization Of The E(Var)3-5 Gene In Drosophila Melanogaster, Pranoti Sahasrabhojane Jan 2008

Identification And Characterization Of The E(Var)3-5 Gene In Drosophila Melanogaster, Pranoti Sahasrabhojane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The goals of my research project were to clone the E(var)3-5 gene and characterize the lethality of E(var)3-5 mutations. The E(var)3-5 gene was identified by dominant mutations that enhanced PEV of wm4, thus implicating the gene product in promoting a euchromatic chromatin structure (Dorn et al. 1993). These mutations were found to be recessive lethal as well and the lethal phenotype was used to map the E(var)3-5 gene (Dorn et al. 1993; this work). I characterized the lethality of E(var)3-5 mutations and found that lethality in E(var)3-5 hemizygotes is manifested at the pupal stage. I mapped the lethality to a …


Using Gain Of Function Genetics To Explore The Role Of Non-Histone Chromosomal Protein D1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, Marissa B. Smith Jan 2007

Using Gain Of Function Genetics To Explore The Role Of Non-Histone Chromosomal Protein D1 In Drosophila Melanogaster, Marissa B. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The organization of eukaryotic genomes requires a harmony between efficient compaction and accessibility. This is achieved through the packaging of chromatin and the influence of chromosomal proteins, a topic not well understood. A chromosomal protein that remains a mystery at present is the D1 protein. Identified in 1974 by Alfageme et al., D1 has been highly characterized but its function remains unknown. The goal of this study was to elucidate the function of D1 by overexpression analysis using the GAL4/UAS system in Drosophila melanogaster. Analysis of gain-of-function phenotypes due to D1 overexpression in a variety of tissues determined that ectopic …


Modulation Of Gene Expression And Dna Adduct Formation By Chlorophyllin In Human Mammary Cells Exposed To Benzopyrenes, Kaarthik John Dec 2006

Modulation Of Gene Expression And Dna Adduct Formation By Chlorophyllin In Human Mammary Cells Exposed To Benzopyrenes, Kaarthik John

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

This study investigated metabolic activation by benzopyrenes (BP and B[e]P) in human mammary cells and modulation by chlorophyllin (CHL, a chemopreventive agent). Among 6 NHMEC strains monitored using microarrays, 54 genes were up-regulated and 11 down-regulated by signal log ratio (SLR) ≥ 1.5 on treatment with BP alone. Pre CHL + post BP+CHL treatment up-regulated the expression of 129 genes and down-regulated those of 35 genes by SLR ≥ 1.5. Studies on CYP1 gene induction and BP-DNA adduct formation among 20 NHMECs revealed wide inter-individual variations both in the induction (3-96-fold for CYP1A1 and 4-43-fold for CYP1B1, respectively) and modulation …