Life Sciences Commons^™

Alpha-Class Glutathione S-Transferases In Wild Turkeys (Meleagris Gallopavo): Characterization And Role In Resistance To The Carcinogenic Mycotoxin Aflatoxin B1, Jong-Su Eun, B. R. Bunderson, A. Croasdell, A. K. Reed, Roger A. Coulombe, Jr.

ADVS Faculty Publications

Domestic turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) are one of the most susceptible animals known to the toxic effects of the mycotoxin aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), a potent human hepatocarcinogen, and universal maize contaminant. We have demonstrated that such susceptibility is associated with the inability of hepatic glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) to detoxify the reactive electrophilic metabolite exo-AFB1-8,9-epoxide (AFBO). Unlike their domestic counterparts, wild turkeys, which are relatively AFB1-resistant, possess hepatic GST-mediated AFBO conjugating activity. Here, we characterized the molecular and functional properties of hepatic alpha-class GSTs (GSTAs) from wild and domestic turkeys to shed light on the differences in resistance between these closely ...

Initial Characterization Of A Conserved Active Site Residue For The Cdc34 Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme, Arvin Akoopie

Theses

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) covalently modify protein substrates with ubiquitins. The active site cysteine residues on E2s are essential for catalyzing the transfer of ubiquitin from the E2 active site onto the protein substrate, however there is a limited amount of information available concerning additional active site residues for E2s that may also participate in catalysis. Cdc34 is an essential E2 that has merited the lion’s share of attention for biochemical analysis of the E2 family. Previous phylogenetic analysis of Cdc34 amino acid sequences has identified an invariably conserved histidine residue close to the active site cysteine in the primary ...

Boundaries Of A Complex World, Andrei Ludu

Andrei Ludu

No abstract provided.

The Biology Of Dendritic Cell Subsets In Allergen-Induced Asthma, Benny Dua

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways, and there has been growing insight into the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the inflammatory basis of this disease. Research into the inflammatory mechanisms of asthma has progressively shifted focus from downstream effectors, such as mast cells and eosinophils, up to Th2 lymphocytes and their proallergic cytokines. Even more upstream in the allergic cascade are dendritic cells (DCs), potent APCs that orchestrate immune responses. Evidence supporting a role of DCs in regulating airway allergic inflammation is derived mainly from animal studies. In animal models of asthma, myeloid DCs (mDCs) induce and maintain ...

In-Package Atmospheric Pressure Cold Plasma Treatment Of Strawberries, Nn Misra, Paula Bourke, Patrick J. Cullen, Sonal Patil

Articles

The ability to generate low temperature plasma at atmospheric pressure offers new opportunities to decontaminate biological materials, including fresh foods. In this study, strawberries were treated with atmospheric cold plasma (ACP), generated with a 60 kV dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) pulsed at 50 Hz, across a 40 mm electrode gap, generated inside a sealed package containing ambient air (42% relative humidity). The current-voltage characteristics revealed that the plasma operated in the filamentary regime. The background microflora (aerobic mesophillic bacteria, yeast and mould) of strawberries treated for 5 min was reduced by 2 log 10 within 24 h of post-ACP treatment ...

Massively Parallel Nonparametric Regression, With An Application To Developmental Brain Mapping, Philip T. Reiss, Lei Huang, Yin-Hsiu Chen, Lan Huo, Thaddeus Tarpey, Maarten Mennes

Philip T. Reiss

We propose a penalized spline approach to performing large numbers of parallel nonparametric analyses of either of two types: restricted likelihood ratio tests of a parametric regression model versus a general smooth alternative, and nonparametric regression. Compared with naively performing each analysis in turn, our techniques reduce computation time dramatically. Viewing the large collection of scatterplot smooths produced by our methods as functional data, we develop a clustering approach to summarize and visualize these results. Our approach is applicable to ultra-high-dimensional data, particularly data acquired by neuroimaging; we illustrate it with an analysis of developmental trajectories of functional connectivity at ...

Finding Fault?: Exploring Legal Duties To Return Incidental Findings In Genomic Research, Elizabeth R. Pike, Karen H. Rothenberg, Benjamin E. Berkman

Faculty Scholarship

The use of whole genome sequencing in biomedical research is expected to produce dramatic advances in human health. The increasing use of this powerful, data-rich new technology in research, however, will inevitably give rise to incidental findings (IFs), findings with individual health or reproductive significance that are beyond the aims of the particular research, and the related questions of whether and to what extent researchers have an ethical obligation to return IFs. Many have concluded that researchers have an ethical obligation to return some findings in some circumstances, but have provided vague or context-dependent approaches to determining which IFs must ...

The Failure Of Evolution In Antiquity, Devin Henry

Devin Henry

This paper traces the emergence and rejection of evolutionary thinking in antiquity. It examines Empedocles' original theory of evolution and why his ideas failed to gain traction among his predecessors.

Vibrational Spectroscopy: Disease Diagnostics And Beyond, Hugh Byrne, Kamila Ostrowska, Haq Nawaz, Jennifer Dorney, Aidan Meade, Franck Bonnier, Fiona Lyng

Books/Book Chapters

Summary

This chapter outlines some developments in the applications of vibrational spectroscopy for disease diagnostics and demonstrates how the applications of the spectroscopic techniques can be extended to the analysis and evaluation of disease aetiology and the mechanisms of interaction and the cellular and subcellular responses to, for example chemotherapeutic agents and nanoparticles. The primary emphasis is on Raman spectroscopy, although some examples are based on infrared absorption spectroscopy. The studies presented are chosen to illustrate how a range of multivariate analytical techniques can be employed to maximize the potential benefits of the complex spectral information obtained from tissue or ...

Native And Domestic Browsers And Grazers Reduce Fuels, Fire Temperatures, And Acacia-Ant Mortality In An African Savanna, Duncan K. Kimuyu, Ryan L. Sensenig, Corinna Riginos, Kari E. Veblen, Truman P. Young

Kari E. Veblen

Despite the importance of fire and herbivory in structuring savanna systems, few replicated experiments have examined the interactive effects of herbivory and fire on plant dynamics. In addition, the effects of fire on associated ant-tree mutualisms have been largely unexplored. We carried out small controlled burns in each of 18 herbivore treatment plots of the Kenya Long-term Exclosure Experiment (KLEE), where experimentally excluding elephants has resulted in 42% greater tree densities. The KLEE design includes six different herbivore treatments that allowed us to examine how different combinations of megaherbivore wildlife, mesoherbivore wildlife, and cattle affect fire temperatures and subsequent loss ...

The Conservation Value Of Karst Dolines For Vascular Plants In Woodland Habitats Of Hungary: Refugia And Climate Change, Zoltán Bátori, János Csiky, Tünde Farkas, E. Anna Vojtkó, László Erdős, Dániel Kovács, Tamás Wirth, László Körmöczi, András Vojtkó

International Journal of Speleology

Limestone (karst) surfaces in Hungary are rich in dolines, in which many endangered vascular plant species occur. To date, the majority of studies dealing with doline vegetation have focused on the local rather than the landscape level, without using comparative data from other areas. However, in this study we aimed to compare the vegetation pattern and species composition of dolines under different climate regimes of Hungary with regard to regional species pools. The fieldwork was carried out between 2005 and 2012. Twenty dolines were selected in the Mecsek Mountains (southern Hungary) and nine dolines in the Aggtelek Karst area (northern ...

Effects Of Excitation Pressure On Variegation And Global Gene Expression In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Rainer Bode

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

I assessed the effects of photosystem II excitation pressure on chloroplast biogenesis and leaf sectoring in the Arabidopsis thaliana variegated mutants im, spotty, var1, var2, chs5 and atd2. The plants were grown under varying degrees of excitation pressure induced by growth at increasing irradiance at different temperatures and the extent of variegation was quantified throughout the plant’s development. I found that the degree of variegation was positively correlated with excitation pressure, regardless of whether high light or low temperature was used to induce increased excitation pressure in all the mutants tested. This was irrespective of whether the mutation causing ...

From Heart Beats To Health Recipes: The Role Of Fractal Physiology In The Ancestral Health Movement, Aaron P. Blaisdell, Brent Pottenger, John S. Torday

Journal of Evolution and Health

The human body—an amazing biological system that scales up fractally from its cellular building blocks—exhibits an incredible ability to self heal. Why then, are chronic diseases and degeneration on the rise in the population? Why are we sicker, more obese, and more depressed and stressed than ever before in human history? Why can’t we heal? The answers to these questions may lie in our ancestry, and modern departure from the human ecological niche. The ability to heal requires proper spatio-temporal inputs—nutrition, sleep, stress, activity, and socialization—in order for cellular signaling to occur properly across semi-permeable ...

Functional Analysis Of The Acetic Acid Resistance (Aar) Gene Cluster In Acetobacter Aceti Strain 1023, Elwood Mullins, T Joseph Kappock

Department of Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Vinegar production requires acetic acid bacteria that produce, tolerate, and conserve high levels of acetic acid. When ethanol is depleted, aerobic acetate overoxidation to carbon dioxide ensues. The resulting diauxic growth pattern has two logarithmic growth phases, the first associated with ethanol oxidation and the second associated with acetate overoxidation. The vinegar factory isolate Acetobacter aceti strain 1023 has a long intermediate stationary phase that persists at elevated acetic acid levels. Strain 1023 conserves acetic acid despite possessing a complete set of citric acid cycle (CAC) enzymes, including succinyl-CoA:acetate CoA-transferase (SCACT), the product of the acetic acid resistance (aar ...

Biology Department Receives Grant To Assess Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Populations In Long Island Sound, Mark Beekey

Mark Beekey

No abstract provided.

Biology Department Receives Grant To Assess Juvenile Horseshoe Crab Populations In Long Island Sound, Jennifer Mattei

Jennifer Mattei

No abstract provided.

Changes In Poa Annua Populations In Response To Herbicides And Plant Growth Regulators, Jesse Brown

Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research in Agronomy and Horticulture

Poa annua (annual bluegrass; ABG) is an invasive weedy species in turfgrass. Herbicides and plant growth regulators (PGRs) are often used for ABG control, providing limited or inconsistent results. Identifying shifts in ABG populations in response to these treatments would be beneficial for understanding inconsistent control. Our research employed amplified fragment length polymorphic (AFLP) markers with the objective to determine if there are changes in genetic structure of ABG populations after multiple-year season-long control programs in three states. Annual bluegrass was sampled after the second or third year of seven different season-long ABG treatments consisting of herbicide or PGR applications ...

Development Of Food Safety Education And Pilot Study Specifically For Native Americans Audiences, Kristine M. Foley

Nutrition & Health Sciences Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a culturally appropriate food safety educational program using the conceptual change teaching method while preparing a meal. The food safety educational program was based on the FightBac!™ concepts (CLEAN, SEPARATE, COOK AND CHILL). Quantitative and qualitative date were collected, compared, and analyzed. Two pilot studies were conducted with Native American participants on non-reservation sites in Omaha and Lincoln. A total of 27 participants completed a pre and post knowledge survey and were video recorded preparing a meal. The majority of the participants were female (78%), had at least a high ...

Trade-Offs In Male Lek Behavior, Sarah A. Cowles

Dissertations and Theses in Biological Sciences

In lek mating systems, males aggregate together and perform courtship displays to visiting females. However, display may be energetically expensive and reduce the time available for foraging. These costs in turn could lower energy reserves, which could decrease survival. I examined trade-offs in male lek behavior using two methods: 1) I conducted an empirical study of how sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus) males allocate time between courtship display (“dancing”), agonism, foraging, and inactivity in relation to female numbers both within and across days. I also measured head turning rates during these same behaviors as a proxy for visual attentiveness to the ...

A Population Model For Walleye In Nebraska Irrigation Reservoirs, Robert A. Kill

Dissertations & Theses in Natural Resources

Understanding how and why fish population size changes between years is a central theme in fisheries ecology. Fishery agencies have limited time and financial resources, thus there is a need for a quantitative way to direct the limited time and financial resources so agencies can manage fisheries more efficiently. I developed a tool for fishery managers that synthesizes common population indices and evaluated the relative importance of those indices given varying uncertainty in age-0 walleye Sander vitreus survival. Under most circumstances, I determined that resources are best utilized in reducing age-0 survival uncertainty when understanding walleye population growth. I applied ...

Transcriptomic Analyses Of The Co2-Concentrating Mechanisms And Development Of Molecular Tools For Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Andrew J. Brueggeman

Theses and Dissertations in Biochemistry

Microalgae, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, account for a large percentage of photosynthesis that occurs on the planet. Many algae possess a Carbon-Concentrating Mechanism, or CCM, that actively transports inorganic carbon (C_i) into the cell to create artificially high internal levels of CO₂, enhancing their rate of carbon fixation. The production of biofuels from algal sources can serve as both a renewable and carbon-neutral energy source. This thesis details research in Chlamydomonas, in the effort to both better understand the CCM in algae and improve laboratory and industrial manipulations with algae.

In the first chapter of this thesis, changes ...

Mechanisms For Regulation Of Plant Kinesins, Anindya Ganguly, Ram Dixit

Biology Faculty Publications

Throughout the eukaryotic world, kinesins serve as molecular motors for the directional transport of cellular cargo along microtubule tracks. Plants contain a large number of kinesins that have conserved as well as specialized functions. These functions depend on mechanisms that regulate when, where and what kinesins transport. In this review, we highlight recent studies that have revealed conserved modes of regulation between plant kinesins and their non-photosynthetic counterparts. These findings lay the groundwork for understanding how plant kinesins are differentially engaged in various cellular processes that underlie plant growth and development.

Identification Of Disulfide Bond Formation Between Mitoneet And Glutamate Dehydrogenase 1, Morgan E. Roberts, Jacquelyn P. Crail, Megan M. Laffoon, William G. Fernandez, Michael A. Menze, Mary E. Konkle

Michael Menze

MitoNEET is a protein that was identified as a drug target for diabetes, but its cellular function as well as its role in diabetes remains elusive. Protein pull-down experiments identified glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GDH1) as a potential binding partner. GDH1 is a key metabolic enzyme with emerging roles in insulin regulation. MitoNEET forms a covalent complex with GDH1 through disulfide bond formation and acts as an activator. Proteomic analysis identified the specific cysteine residues that participate in the disulfide bond. This is the first report that effectively links mitoNEET to activation of the insulin regulator GDH1.

Impact Of Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus And Triticum Mosaic Virus On Transmission By Aceria Tosichella Keifer (Eriophyidae) And Virus Epidemiology In Wheat, Camila F. De Oliveira

Dissertations and Student Research in Entomology

The wheat curl mite (WCM), Aceria tosichella Keifer, transmits a complex of viruses, Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV), Triticum mosaic virus (TriMV) and Wheat mosaic virus (WMoV), to wheat, Triticum aestivum, in the Great Plains. Co-infection of wheat by these viruses is frequently observed, increasing disease severity and yield loss.

Current genetic work classifies WCM populations into two genotypes, Type 1 and Type 2. It has been shown that different mite genotypes are able to transmit viruses at varying rates. WCM-virus relations are very specific and can impact vector biology. In this study, the primary objective was to determine if ...

Toxic And Repellent Effects Of Pyrethroids Used In Orchards On The Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Erin M. Ingram

Dissertations and Student Research in Entomology

Managed honey bee colonies provide valuable pollination services and are rented by fruit orchards to improve fruit quality and yield. The placement of colonies in this agricultural setting increases the possibility of exposure to pyrethroids used for broad-spectrum pest control in orchards. Although highly toxic to bees, pyrethroids are believed to pose a relatively low hazard due to their low application rates in the field as well as their contact repellent properties. Previous studies have noted a decrease in foraging visits following pyrethroid application possibly preventing bees from acquiring a lethal dose in the field.

This research quantified behaviors associated ...

Clustering And Classification Of Multi-Domain Proteins, Neethu Shah

Computer Science and Engineering: Theses, Dissertations, and Student Research

Rapid development of next-generation sequencing technology has led to an unprecedented growth in protein sequence data repositories over the last decade. Majority of these proteins lack structural and functional characterization. This necessitates design and development of fast, efficient, and sensitive computational tools and algorithms that can classify these proteins into functionally coherent groups.

Domains are fundamental units of protein structure and function. Multi-domain proteins are extremely complex as opposed to proteins that have single or no domains. They exhibit network-like complex evolutionary events such as domain shuffling, domain loss, and domain gain. These events therefore, cannot be represented in the ...

Rna Interference Targeting Glucose-Regulated-Protein 78 Induces Hepg2 Cell Apoptosis, Brittany Blackman

Dissertations and Theses

Cancer is a complex genetic disease that is driven by genetic mutations resulting in chronic, inappropriate cell proliferation. Many current cancer therapies lack specificity towards tumor tissues, ultimately leading to adverse side effects and limited clinical efficacy. Recently, selective cancer cell therapy has examined a well-characterized cell surface marker that is preferentially expressed on tumor cells. The over-expression of an endoplasmic reticulum chaperone protein, 78-kDa glucose-regulated-protein (GRP78), has been observed on the surface of cancer cells, but not on normal tissues. By selectively targeting GRP78 with short-interfering RNA (siRNA), potent GRP78 silencing is anticipated by the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway ...

Identification Of Disulfide Bond Formation Between Mitoneet And Glutamate Dehydrogenase 1, Morgan E. Roberts, Jacquelyn P. Crail, Megan M. Laffoon, William G. Fernandez, Michael A. Menze, Mary E. Konkle

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

MitoNEET is a protein that was identified as a drug target for diabetes, but its cellular function as well as its role in diabetes remains elusive. Protein pull-down experiments identified glutamate dehydrogenase 1 (GDH1) as a potential binding partner. GDH1 is a key metabolic enzyme with emerging roles in insulin regulation. MitoNEET forms a covalent complex with GDH1 through disulfide bond formation and acts as an activator. Proteomic analysis identified the specific cysteine residues that participate in the disulfide bond. This is the first report that effectively links mitoNEET to activation of the insulin regulator GDH1.

Body Size Variation In Two Adjacent Populations Of Black Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis Nigra) In East Tennessee, Jesse Weber, Joshua Ennen

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Applying Tlc (A Targeted Learning Community) To Transform Teaching And Learning In Science, Hillary H. Steiner, Michelle L. Dean, Stephanie M. Foote, Ruth A. Goldfine

Learning Communities Research and Practice

This article describes the development of a Targeted Learning Community (TLC) that supports first-year science students enrolled in a General Chemistry course. Drawing on student feedback and knowledge and expertise in their respective disciplines, four faculty members from two colleges at Kennesaw State University came together to develop a learning community that would prevent early attrition in the science majors and increase student metacognition. In this paper, the design of the TLC is presented, and the effect it had on faculty vitality is discussed.

Ruth A. Goldfine is Chair of the Department of First-Year and Transition Studies at Kennesaw State ...