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Expression Profiling Of The Spermidine Synthase3 (Spds3) And Spermine Synthase ( Spms) Genes During The Life Of Arabidopsis, Charles F. Rice

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polyamines are low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds found in all living organisms. These omnipresent molecules have been extensively studied in plant systems and have been implicated in a number of physiological responses including growth, development, and stress response. The proposed role of polyamines in vital processes such as cell division and differentiation has sparked enthusiasm in further investigation of this relatively small biosynthetic pathway. Very little is known about the regulation of polyamine biosynthetic genes, an aspect that can elucidate further functions of these ubiquitous compounds. In the following study, the expression profiles of two of these genes, spermidine synthase3 …

Analysis Of Adc2 And Samdc1 Expression And The Effects Of Transgenic Manipulation Of Polyamine Biosynthesis On Flower Development In Arabidopsis, Vasavi Rani Challa

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polyamines are low molecular weight, aliphatic cationic molecules playing a vital role in all cellular and physiological processes such as cell growth, differentiation, abiotic stress, and somatic embryogenesis. The present study is aimed at unraveling their role during floral development in Arabidopsis thaliana by studying the temporal and spatial expression of ADC2 and SAMDC1 genes by promoter-reporter fusion analysis, and by the transgenic expression of mouse ODC and carrot SAMDC under tissue specific promoters AP1 and AP3, respectively. The expression of SAMDC1 was found to be prominent during different stages of development and in different whorls of flowers whereas ADC2 …

Structural Analysis Of Cytokine Signaling Modulators, Cristina Ileana Silvescu

Doctoral Dissertations

The N-linked glycans attached to cytokine receptors modulate signal transduction by interacting with galectin-3 and generating a cell surface lattice. This opposes constitutive endocytosis and reduces the thresholds for cytokine signaling. The preferred ligands for galectin-3 are the poly-N-acetyl lactosaminylated tetra-antennary glycans which are synthesized by Mgat 5 and are present at high levels in tumor cells. A null mutation in Mgat 5 inhibits lattice formation and cancer progression in cells with an oncogenic background. GlcNAc feeding reestablishes lattice formation, cytokine signaling and tumorigenesis.

A MALDI-TOF analysis was employed to identify the N-glycans involved in modulating signal transduction in wild …

Transposable Elements: What Have You Done For Me Lately? A Genomics Based Investigation Into The Potential Functional Roles Of Transposable Elements Using The Model Organism Caenorhabditis Elegans, Sarah Prescott Kenick

Doctoral Dissertations

The genomes of all organisms contain discrete DNA sequences present as disperse repetitive elements called transposons. Transposons have the unique ability to move to new chromosomal locations. Problems of uncontrolled movement of transposons can result in mutations, rearrangement, and even broken chromosomes. Often termed "selfish parasites" that invade a host genome, there is a longstanding question of whether they have a functional role. As a first step in an effort to investigate this question, I identified and annotated 276 full length and partial elements in the C.elegans genome. I determined the genomic location of each and looked for patterns resulting …

Calcium-Dependent Protein Kinases In Physcomitrella Patens, Kathryn Chervincky

Master's Theses and Capstones

Calcium-dependent protein kinases (CDPKs) are a group of plant serine-threonine kinases that are stimulated in response to increases in intracellular calcium concentrations. Physcomitrella patens is a moss and a member of the bryophyte family. Physcomitrella has gained popularity as a model research organism due to the simple morphology of the plant as well as many other desirable characteristics. My research utilized Physcomitrella to accomplish four goals. The first goal was to identify and obtain sequence for as many CDPKs as possible in Physcomitrella. The second goal was to confirm the calcium-activated protein kinase activity of the identified CDPKs. The third …