Life Sciences Commons^™

American Kestrel Reproduction: Evidence For The Selection Hypothesis And The Role Of Dispersal, Karen Steenhof, Julie A. Heath

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many hypotheses attempt to explain why younger, less experienced birds have relatively low reproductive output. We evaluated reproductive patterns of marked American Kestrels Falco sparverius nesting in boxes in southwestern Idaho from 1992 to 2006 to test predictions of these hypotheses. Results were consistent with the selection (differential mortality) hypothesis and did not support the constraint, restraint or recruitment hypotheses. Most known-age Kestrels nested in their first year of life, and there was no apparent short-term or long-term reproductive advantage to delayed breeding. The number of years that Kestrels nested in study area boxes ranged from 1 to 6 years, …

Seed Predation On Slickspot Peppergrass By The Owyhee Harvester Ant, Joshua P. White

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

1. (1) Seed predation can significantly restrict the reproductive output and individual fitness of plants, particular those plants that are rare or endangered. In some cases the total seed loss can reach 100%. Owyhee harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex salinus, actively remove the fruits and seeds of slickspot peppergrass, Lepidium papilliferum, a rare mustard endemic to southwest Idaho.
2. (2) Several experiments were conducted to quantify seed predation on L. papilliferum located within the foraging distance of P. salinus. Individuals exposed to harvester ants experienced a direct loss of fruits and seeds ( > 40%), whereas plants shielded from ants suffered almost …

New Species And Expanded Geographic Ranges Of Gut Fungi And Their Symbiotic Relationship With Insect Hosts, Molly Elizabeth Bench

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Trichomycetes from suitable immature aquatic lower dipteran, mayfly and stonefly hosts (Baetidae, Capniidae, Chironomidae, Nemouridae, and Simuliidae) were collected and identified biweekly over a twelve month period, from an ephemeral system, Cottonwood Creek, in Boise, Idaho. The abundances of eight species of obligate endosymbionts from the genera Genistelloides, Harpella, Lancisporomyces, Paramoebidium, Smittium, and Zygopolaris were evaluated with host abundance for potential correlative relationships. The abundances of all of the examined species of gut fungi, except Smittium elongatum and S. megazygosporum, were positively correlated with the abundances of the hosts. The two species with non-significant relationships with their hosts' abundance were …

Environmental Regulation Of Dormancy Loss In Lomatium Dissectum (Apiaceae) Seeds, Melissa Scholten, Jacklyn Donahue, Nancy L. Shaw, Marcelo Serpe

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background and aims Lomatium dissectum (Apiaceae) is a perennial, herbaceous plant of wide distribution in Western North America. At the time of dispersal, L. dissectum seeds are dormant and have underdeveloped embryos. The aims of this work were to determine the requirements for dormancy break and germination, to characterize the type of seed dormancy, and to determine the effect of dehydration after embryo growth on seed viability and secondary dormancy.

Methods The temperature requirements for embryo growth and germination were investigated under growth chamber and field conditions. The effect of GA3 on embryo growth was also analyzed to determine the …

Lead Bullet Fragments In Venison From Rifle-Killed Deer: Potential For Human Dietary Exposure, W. Grainger Hunt, Richard T. Watson, J. Lindsay Oaks, Chris N. Parish, Kurt K. Burnham, Russell L. Tucker, James R. Belthoff, Garret Hart

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human consumers of wildlife killed with lead ammunition may be exposed to health risks associated with lead ingestion. This hypothesis is based on published studies showing elevated blood lead concentrations in subsistence hunter populations, retention of ammunition residues in the tissues of hunter-killed animals, and systemic, cognitive, and behavioral disorders associated with human lead body burdens once considered safe. Our objective was to determine the incidence and bioavailability of lead bullet fragments in hunter-killed venison, a widely-eaten food among hunters and their families. We radiographed 30 eviscerated carcasses of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) shot by hunters with standard …

Correlation Between Animal And Mathematical Models For Prostate Cancer Progression, Zdzislaw Jackiewiczy, Cheryl L. Jorcyk, Mikhail K. Kolev, Barbara Zubik-Kowal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

This work demonstrates that prostate tumour progression in vivo can be analysed by using solutions of a mathematical model supplemented by initial conditions chosen according to growth rates of cell lines in vitro. The mathematical model is investigated and solved numerically. Its numerical solutions are compared with experimental data from animal models. The numerical results confirm the experimental results with the growth rates in vivo.

An Exon-Based Comparative Variant Analysis Pipeline To Study The Scale And Role Of Frameshift And Nonsense Mutation In The Human-Chimpanzee Divergence, Gongxin Yu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Chimpanzees and humans are closely related but differ in many deadly human diseases and other characteristics in physiology, anatomy, and pathology. In spite of decades of extensive research, crucial questions about the molecular mechanisms behind the differences are yet to be understood. Here I report ExonVar, a novel computational pipeline for Exon-based human-chimpanzee comparative Variant analysis. The objective is to comparatively analyze mutations specifically those that caused the frameshift and nonsense mutations and to assess their scale and potential impacts on human-chimpanzee divergence. Genomewide analysis of human and chimpanzee exons with ExonVar identified a number of species-specific, …

Pathogenic Bacillus Anthracis In The Progressive Gene Losses And Gains In Adaptive Evolution, Gongxin Yu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Sequence mutations represent a driving force of adaptive evolution in bacterial pathogens. It is especially evident in reductive genome evolution where bacteria underwent lifestyles shifting from a free-living to a strictly intracellular or host-depending life. It resulted in loss of function mutations and/or the acquisition of virulence gene clusters. Bacillus anthracis shares a common soil bacterial ancestor with its closely related bacillus species but is the only obligate, causative agent of inhalation anthrax within the genus Bacillus. The anthrax-causing Bacillus anthracis experienced the similar lifestyle changes. We thus hypothesized that the bacterial pathogen would follow a compatible evolution path. …

Caspase Cleavage Of The Amyloid Precursor Protein Is Prevented After Overexpression Of Bcl-2 In A Triple Transgenic Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Debra K. Kumasaka, Veronica Galvan, Elizabeth Head, Troy T. Rohn

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A recent study demonstrated the lack of beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaque formation and accumulation of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) in a triple transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (3xTg-AD) following overexpression of the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2 (Rohn et al., J. Neurosci. 28: 3051-9, 2008). The supposition from that study was the accumulation of APP resulted from a decrease in caspase-mediated processing of APP. To determine a direct role for the caspase-cleavage of APP in 3xTg-AD mice, we designed a site-directed caspasecleavage antibody to APP and demonstrated it is a specific marker for caspase-cleaved APP. Application of this antibody revealed neuronal …

Caspase-Cleaved Tar Dna-Binding Protein-43 In Pick’S Disease, Troy T. Rohn, Polina Kokoulina

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The hyperphosphorylation and proteolytic modification of the TAR DNA binding protein-43 (TDP-43) is a key finding in a number of neurodegenerative diseases including frontotemporal dementia with ubiquitin-positive inclusions (FTLD-U), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and most recently Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To examine whether proteolytic modifications of TDP-43 is a relevant finding in Pick’s disease, we utilized a novel site-directed caspase-cleavage antibody based upon a known caspase-3 cleavage consensus site within TDP-43 at position 219. Application of this antibody, termed TDP caspase-cleavage product (TDPccp) to postmortem Pick’s disease brain sections revealed the presence of caspase-cleaved TDP-43 in Pick and Hirano bodies predominantly …