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Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Cardiovascular Disease Risk And Menopause: Effects Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, And Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Corinna Serviente
Cardiovascular Disease Risk And Menopause: Effects Of Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Exercise, And Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Corinna Serviente
Doctoral Dissertations
Menopause is associated with adverse changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors. A reduction in estrogens is most commonly associated with changing cardiovascular disease risk; however, recent observations suggest that the increase in follicle stimulating hormone that accompanies menopause may also influence risk, potentially through its influence on lipid levels. The changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors may adversely affect endothelial cell function, a pre-clinical marker for cardiovascular disease. Whether cardiorespiratory fitness is protective of endothelial health in this population, thereby mitigating the changes in risk that accompany menopause, is unclear. This dissertation evaluated differences in endothelial health and endothelial responses …
An Integrative Approach To Understanding Morphological Novelties: Anatomy, Development, Genetics, And Evolution Of An Extreme Craniofacial Trait In East African Cichlids, Moira R. Conith
Doctoral Dissertations
Phenotypic novelties are an important but poorly understood category of morphological diversity that are often associated with elevated rates of diversification and/or ecological success. The aim of this dissertation is to explore a phenotypic novelty at many levels to contribute to our understanding of how these unique traits can arise (e.g., genetically, developmentally, and evolutionarily) as well as their ecological consequences (e.g., trait function). The extreme snout of the Lake Malawi cichlid fish Labeotropheus is used as a case study. The first chapter establishes the Labeotropheus snout as a model of phenotypic novelty by characterizing the gross morphology, genetic architecture, …
Plants, Parasites, And Pollinators: The Effects Of Medicinal Pollens On A Common Gut Parasite In Bumble Bees, George Locascio
Plants, Parasites, And Pollinators: The Effects Of Medicinal Pollens On A Common Gut Parasite In Bumble Bees, George Locascio
Masters Theses
Declines in several pollinator species are due to a variety of factors, including pathogens. Incorporating pollinator-friendly plant species into wild and agricultural habitats could reduce the stress of pathogens if food sources act medicinally against pathogens. Previous research demonstrated one domesticated sunflower cultivar (Helianthus annuus) can dramatically reduce a gut pathogen (Crithidia bombi) of the common eastern bumble bee, Bombus impatiens. To ascertain the breadth of this medicinal trait, we tested whether pollen from several H. annuus cultivars and four relatives could also reduce C. bombi infections in B. impatiens. We also investigated whether …
Characterization Of She1 Spindle Role Using Ceullular, Biochemical, And Biophysical Methods, Yili Zhu
Characterization Of She1 Spindle Role Using Ceullular, Biochemical, And Biophysical Methods, Yili Zhu
Doctoral Dissertations
During development, metaphase spindles undergo large movement and/or rotation to determine the cell division axis. While it has been shown that spindle translocation is achieved by astral microtubules pulling and/or pushing the cortex, how metaphase spindle stability is maintained during translocation remains not fully understood. In budding yeast, our lab has previously proposed a model for spindle orientation wherein the mitotic spindle protein She1 promotes spindle translocation across the bud neck by polarizing cortical dynein pulling activity on the astral microtubules. Intriguingly, She1 exhibits dominant spindle localization throughout the cell cycle. However, whether She1 has any additional role on the …
Canonical Notch Signaling Positively Regulates Mir-155 Transcription In A Nfκb-Dependent Manner, Joe Torres
Canonical Notch Signaling Positively Regulates Mir-155 Transcription In A Nfκb-Dependent Manner, Joe Torres
Doctoral Dissertations
MicroRNA-155 (miR-155) is an important pro-inflammatory molecule that controls immune responses in both physiological and pathological settings. Although miR-155 is well studied, little is known about its transcriptional regulation in T cells. We sought to further understand the mechanisms by which miR-155 transcription is induced following T cell activation. We found that miR-155 transcription is dependent on the activity of the Notch and NFkB signaling pathways. It was determined that the canonical Notch signaling pathway was involved in this regulation and that it was dependent upon the activation of NFkB. Additional work confirmed that both NFkB and Notch1 directly bind …
Microenvironment Regulates Fusion Of Breast Cancer Cells, Peiran Zhu
Microenvironment Regulates Fusion Of Breast Cancer Cells, Peiran Zhu
Masters Theses
Fusion of cancer cells has been observed in tumors for more than a century and is thought to contribute to tumor development and drug resistance. The low frequency of cell fusion events and the instability of fused cells have hindered our ability to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern cell fusion. We have developed a patterned gel system that can isolate cell fusion events and we demonstrate that several breast cancer cell lines can fuse into multinucleated giant cells in vitro, and the initiation and longevity of fused cells can be regulated solely by biophysical factors. Dynamically tuning the adhesive …
Transposable Elements In Fusarium Oxysporum & Growth Inhibition Of Fusarium Oxysporum Using Pepper Extracts, Taylor Aguiar
Transposable Elements In Fusarium Oxysporum & Growth Inhibition Of Fusarium Oxysporum Using Pepper Extracts, Taylor Aguiar
Masters Theses
The following contains two projects focused on the fungal pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum. The first project was purely computational in the examination of transposable elements (TEs), which are mobile sequences with the ability to multiply and move in their host genome. In F. oxysporum, TEs such as miniature impala elements are associated with the secreted in xylem gene that are related to its virulence over its host. The F. oxysporum species complex can be utilized as a model system for the examination of TE content and TE expression during the infection cycle. To find whether TEs play a role …
Effects Of Floral Phytochemicals On Growth And Evolution Of A Parasite Of Bumble Bees, Evan Palmer-Young
Effects Of Floral Phytochemicals On Growth And Evolution Of A Parasite Of Bumble Bees, Evan Palmer-Young
Doctoral Dissertations
Background: Nectar and pollen are rich in phytochemicals, some of which can reduce disease in pollinators, including agriculturally important honey and bumble bees. Floral phytochemicals could influence the ecological and evolutionary relationships between plants, their pollinators, and parasites that cause pollinator disease. Antiparasitic effects of phytochemicals could be exploited to ameliorate pollinator disease and decline, and thereby sustain pollinator-dependent agricultural production. However, prior studies showed variable effects of phytochemicals on infection in live bees, where differences in bee genotype, abiotic conditions, and parasite strain could influence results. Approach: I used cell cultures of the intestinal trypanosome parasite of bumble bees, …
Effects Of The Floral Phytochemical Eugenol On Parasite Evolution And Bumble Bee Infection And Preference, Evan C. Palmer-Young, Austin C. Calhoun, Anastasiya Mirzayeva, Benn M. Sadd
Effects Of The Floral Phytochemical Eugenol On Parasite Evolution And Bumble Bee Infection And Preference, Evan C. Palmer-Young, Austin C. Calhoun, Anastasiya Mirzayeva, Benn M. Sadd
Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Graduate Student Publication Series
Ecological and evolutionary pressures on hosts and parasites jointly determine infection success. In pollinators, parasite exposure to floral phytochemicals may influence between-host transmission and within-host replication. In the bumble bee parasite Crithidia bombi, strains vary in phytochemical resistance, and resistance increases under in vitro selection, implying that resistance/infectivity trade-offs could maintain intraspecific variation in resistance. We assessed costs and benefits of in vitro selection for resistance to the floral phytochemical eugenol on C. bombi infection in Bombus impatiens fed eugenol-rich and eugenol-free diets. We also assessed infection-induced changes in host preferences for eugenol. In vitro, eugenol-exposed cells initially …
The Role Of Standing Variation In The Evolution Of Weedines Traits In South Asian Weedy Rice (Oryza Spp.), Zhongyung Huang, Shannon Kelly, Rika Matsuo, Lin-Feng Li, Yaling Li, Kenneth M. Olsen, Yulin Jia, Ana L. Caicedo
The Role Of Standing Variation In The Evolution Of Weedines Traits In South Asian Weedy Rice (Oryza Spp.), Zhongyung Huang, Shannon Kelly, Rika Matsuo, Lin-Feng Li, Yaling Li, Kenneth M. Olsen, Yulin Jia, Ana L. Caicedo
Biology Department Faculty Publication Series
Weedy rice (Oryza spp.) is a problematic weed of cultivated rice (O. sativa) around the world. Recent studies have established multiple independent evolutionary origins of weedy rice, raising questions about the traits and genes that are essential for the evolution of this weed. Among world regions, South Asia stands out due to the heterogeneity of its weedy rice populations, which can be traced to at least three origins: two through de-domestication from distinct cultivated rice varieties, and one from local wild rice (O. rufipogon/O. nivara). Here we examine five traits considered typical of …