Life Sciences Commons^™

Intraspecific Diversity In Sinningia Speciosa (Gesneriaceae: Sinningieae), And Possible Origins Of The Cultivated Florist's Gloxinia, David Zaitlin

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The florist's gloxinia is a familiar houseplant in the Gesneriaceae, the botanical family that includes the African violet (Saintpaulia) and other ornamental species. The gloxinia's wild progenitor is Sinningia speciosa (Lodd.) Hiern, a Brazilian endemic. Although it has been cultivated for almost 200 years, little is known about the genetic diversity in S. speciosa, how the wild populations relate to one another or even where the cultivated forms originated. Using available wild collections, preliminary phenetic and phylogenetic investigations were conducted to elucidate the interspecific relationships within S. speciosa and to infer the origins of the cultivars.

METHODOLOGY: …

Comparative Mitogenomic Analysis Of Damsel Bugs Representing Three Tribes In The Family Nabidae (Insecta: Hemiptera), Hu Li, Haiyu Liu, Fan Song, Aimin Shi, Xuguo Zhou, Wanzhi Cai

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Nabidae, a family of predatory heteropterans, includes two subfamilies and five tribes. We previously reported the complete mitogenome of Alloeorhynchus bakeri, a representative of the tribe Prostemmatini in the subfamily Prostemmatinae. To gain a better understanding of architecture and evolution of mitogenome in Nabidae, mitogenomes of five species representing two tribes (Gorpini and Nabini) in the subfamily Nabinae were sequenced, and a comparative mitogenomic analysis of three nabid tribes in two subfamilies was carried out.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Nabid mitogenomes share a similar nucleotide composition and base bias, except for the control region, where differences are observed at the …

2012 Kentucky Healthcare Market Report, Alison Davis

Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky Reports

No abstract provided.

Phylogeny And Biogeography Of The Carnivorous Plant Family Sarraceniaceae, Aaron M. Ellison, Elena D. Butler, Emily Jean Hicks, Robert F. C. Naczi, Patrick J. Calie, Charles D. Bell, Charles C. Davis

Regulatory Services Faculty Publications

The carnivorous plant family Sarraceniaceae comprises three genera of wetland-inhabiting pitcher plants: Darlingtonia in the northwestern United States, Sarracenia in eastern North America, and Heliamphora in northern South America. Hypotheses concerning the biogeographic history leading to this unusual disjunct distribution are controversial, in part because genus- and species-level phylogenies have not been clearly resolved. Here, we present a robust, species-rich phylogeny of Sarraceniaceae based on seven mitochondrial, nuclear, and plastid loci, which we use to illuminate this family's phylogenetic and biogeographic history. The family and genera are monophyletic: Darlingtonia is sister to a clade consisting of Heliamphora+Sarracenia. Within Sarracenia, two …

Sustainable Agriculture Undergraduate Degree Programs: A Land-Grant University Mission, Krista L. Jacobsen, Kim L. Niewolny, Michelle S. Schroeder-Moreno, Mark Van Horn, Alison H. Harmon, Yolanda H. Chen Fanslow, Mark A. Williams, Damian Parr

Horticulture Faculty Publications

There has been considerable growth in the number undergraduate degree programs in sustainable agriculture (SA) in universities and colleges across the country in the past 25 years. As a subset of this national trend, land-grant universities (LGUs) are emerging as catalysts in innovative SA program development, in part due to the LGU tripartite mission of education, extension, and research. This mission compels LGUs to develop undergraduate degree offerings to engage student, faculty, and community stakeholders who are increasingly interested in SA. In this article, which is an outcome of a gathering of faculty, staff and students from SA programs at …

Sustainable Agriculture Education And Civic Engagement: The Significance Of Community-University Partnerships In The New Agricultural Paradigm, Kim L. Niewolny, Julie M. Grossman, Carmen J. Byker, Jennifer L. Helms, Susan F. Clark, Julie A. Cotton, Krista L. Jacobsen

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Universities and colleges across the United States are making innovative strides in higher education programming to catalyze a more sustainable era of agriculture. This is clearly exemplified through the formation of community-university partnerships as critical illustrations of civic engagement (CE) for sustainable agriculture (SA) education. This paper explores the praxis of CE for SA education by focusing on the ways in which five land-grant universities (LGUs) with undergraduate programs in SA have developed and put into practice community-university partnerships. Drawing upon these programs and supportive literature, this article specifically attempts to describe the role and significance of CE for SA …

Development And Functional Analysis Of Novel Genetic Promoters Using Dna Shuffling, Hybridization And A Combination Thereof, Rajiv Ranjan, Sunita Patro, Bhubaneswar Pradhan, Alok Kumar, Indu B. Maiti, Nrisingha Dey

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Development of novel synthetic promoters with enhanced regulatory activity is of great value for a diverse range of plant biotechnology applications.

METHODOLOGY: Using the Figwort mosaic virus full-length transcript promoter (F) and the sub-genomic transcript promoter (FS) sequences, we generated two single shuffled promoter libraries (LssF and LssFS), two multiple shuffled promoter libraries (LmsFS-F and LmsF-FS), two hybrid promoters (FuasFScp and FSuasFcp) and two hybrid-shuffled promoter libraries (LhsFuasFScp and LhsFSuasFcp). Transient expression activities of approximately 50 shuffled promoter clones from each of these libraries were assayed in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi) protoplasts. It was observed that most …

Rna Interference Of Nadph-Cytochrome P450 Reductase Results In Reduced Insecticide Resistance In The Bed Bug, Cimex Lectularius, Fang Zhu, Sarah Sams, Tim Moural, Kenneth F. Haynes, Michael F. Potter, Subba R. Palli

Entomology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) plays a central role in cytochrome P450 action. The genes coding for P450s are not yet fully identified in the bed bug, Cimex lectularius. Hence, we decided to clone cDNA and knockdown the expression of the gene coding for CPR which is suggested to be required for the function of all P450s to determine whether or not P450s are involved in resistance of bed bugs to insecticides.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The full length Cimex lectularius CPR (ClCPR) cDNA was isolated from a deltamethrin resistant bed bug population (CIN-1) using a combined PCR strategy. Bioinformatics and in …

A Spatial Cluster Analysis Of Tractor Overturns In Kentucky From 1960 To 2002, Daniel M. Saman, Henry P. Cole, Agricola Odoi, Melvin L. Myers, Daniel I. Carey, Susan C. Westneat

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Agricultural tractor overturns without rollover protective structures are the leading cause of farm fatalities in the United States. To our knowledge, no studies have incorporated the spatial scan statistic in identifying high-risk areas for tractor overturns. The aim of this study was to determine whether tractor overturns cluster in certain parts of Kentucky and identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

METHODS: A spatial statistical analysis using Kulldorff's spatial scan statistic was performed to identify county clusters at greatest risk for tractor overturns. A regression analysis was then performed to identify factors associated with tractor overturns.

RESULTS: The spatial analysis …

The Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook For 2013, Kevin Heidemann, Miranda Hileman

Kentucky Agricultural Economic Outlook

No abstract provided.