Life Sciences Commons^™

Aspergillus Oxylipin Signaling And Quorum Sensing Pathways Depend On G Protein-Coupled Receptors, Katharyn J. Affeldt, Marion Brodhagen, Nancy P. Keller

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Oxylipins regulate Aspergillus development and mycotoxin production and are also involved inAspergillus quorum sensing mechanisms. Despite extensive knowledge of how these oxylipins are synthesized and what processes they regulate, nothing is known about how these signals are detected and transmitted by the fungus. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) have been speculated to be involved as they are known oxylipin receptors in mammals, and many putative GPCRs have been identified in the Aspergilli. Here, we present evidence that oxylipins stimulate a burst in cAMP in A. nidulans, and that loss of an A. nidulans GPCR, gprD, prevents this cAMP …

Long Distance Movements And Disjunct Spatial Use Of Harbor Seals (Phoca Vitulina) In The Inland Waters Of The Pacific Northwest, Sarah H. Peterson, Monique M. Lance, Steven J. Jeffries, Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Background

Worldwide, adult harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) typically limit their movements and activity toresult, the ecological impact of harbor seals is viewed as limited to relatively small spatial scales. Harbor seals in the Pacific Northwest are believed to remainsite, one of several contributing factors to the current stock designation. However, movement patterns within the region are not well understood because previous studies have used radio-telemetry, which has range limitations. Our objective was to use satellite-telemetry to determine the regional spatial scale of movements.

Methodology

Satellite tags were deployed on 20 adult seals (n=16 males and 4 females) from …

Type-I Prenyl Protease Function Is Required In The Male Germline Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Katie Adolpsen, Amanda Amell, Nathan Havko, Sara Kevorkian, Kyle Mears, Dietmar Schwarz, Sandra R. Schulze

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Many proteins require the addition of a hydrophobic prenyl anchor (prenylation) for proper trafficking and localization in the cell. Prenyl proteases play critical roles in modifying proteins for membrane anchorage. The type I prenyl protease has a defined function in yeast (Ste24p/Afc1p) where it modifies a mating pheromone, and in humans (Zmpste24) where it has been implicated in a disease of premature aging. Despite these apparently very different biological processes, the type I prenyl protease gene is highly conserved, encoded by a single gene in a wide range of animal and plant groups. A notable exception is Drosophila melanogaster, where …

Rapid Molecular Species Identification Of A Morphologically Cryptic Apple Pest., Emily Green

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Effective management of agricultural pests depends upon accurate identification of those pests. In Washington State, identification of the apple maggot, Rhagoletis pomonella, is hindered by the presence of Rhagoletis zephyria, a morphologically almost identical species. Using real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), I identified three markers which differ in allele frequency between the two populations. Using these markers and the software NewHybrids, I was able to identify pure R. pomonella, R. zephyria, and hybrid flies collected from apple, snowberry, and blackhaw fruit in Bellingham, WA, and flies collected from blackhaw in central Washington. Modeling reveals that NewHybrids is able to distinguish …

The Efficiency Of Introduced Pisolithus Tinctorius On Backcrossed Chestnut Germination And Survival., Jenise Bauman, Carolyn H. Keiffer, Shiv Hiremath

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

American chestnut was eliminated as a canopy tree from the Appalachian region of North America with the introduction of chestnut blight in the early 1900s. Breeding programs initiated in the 1980s have produced seedling lines that display the pure American morphology with potential resistance to chestnut blight. More work is required to assess their field performance in field sites representative of their native range. This study used American (Castanea dentata) and backcrossed hybrid chestnuts (C. dentata × C. mollissima) on an abandoned coal mine in southeastern Ohio. Half of the seeds were planted with ectomycorrhizal fungus …

Facilitation Of American Chestnut (Castanea Dentata) Seedling Establishment By Pinus Virginiana In Mine Restoration, Jenise Bauman, Carolyn H. Keiffer, Shiv Hiremath

College of the Environment on the Peninsulas Publications

This study evaluated the influence of planting sites on the establishment and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) colonization of American chestnut (Castanea denetata (Marsh.) Borkh.) on an abandoned coal mine in an Appalachian region of the United States. Root morphotyping and sequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region were used to identify the ECM species associated with the chestnut seedlings. Germination, survival, ECM root colonization, and growth were assessed in three habitats: forest edge, center (plots without vegetation), and pine plots (a 10-year-old planting of Pinus virginiana). Seedlings in pine plots had higher survival (38%) than the other plot …

Occam's Razor Vol. 2 - Full (2012)

Occam's Razor

No abstract provided.

Prospects For The Study Of Evolution In The Deep Biosphere, Jennifer F. Biddle, Jason B. Sylvan, William J. Brazelton, Katina J. Edwards, Craig L. Moyer, John F. Heidelberg, William C. Nelson

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Since the days of Darwin, scientists have used the framework of the theory of evolution to explore the interconnectedness of life on Earth and adaptation of organisms to the ever-changing environment. The advent of molecular biology has advanced and accelerated the study of evolution by allowing direct examination of the genetic material that ultimately determines the phenotypes upon which selection acts. The study of evolution has been furthered through examination of microbial evolution, with large population numbers, short generation times, and easily extractable DNA. Such work has spawned the study of microbial biogeography, with the realization that concepts developed in …

Potential Effects Of Short-Term Climate Variation On Shrubs, Grasshoppers And Lizards In The Northern Great Basin Desert Scrub, Philip J. Dugger

WWU Graduate School Collection

Analyzing trophic interactions among organisms may refine our ability to predict the impacts of climate change on organismal communities in an ecosystem or biome. The Great Basin desert scrub biome comprises relatively simple biotic communities in which bottom-up trophic processes should be comparatively easy to document, analyze and understand. Observing 1) the direct effects of abiotic factors (precipitation and temperature) on desert primary producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers and 2) the indirect effects of abiotic factors on desert community members--as mediated by biotic effects--should enhance our understanding of community trophic dynamics and may improve the accuracy of biotic predictions …

An Inducible Predator Defense In The Marine Microalga Emiliania Huxleyi (Prymnesiophyceae) Is Linked To Its Heteromorphic Haploid-Diploid Life Cycle, Amelia Kolb

WWU Graduate School Collection

Marine phytoplankton are important players in the global ecosystem, contributing up to 50% of global primary productivity. Predation by microzooplankton is one of the most important sources of mortality for phytoplankton. However, phytoplankton defenses against predators are not well understood despite their expected importance. I tested for inducible defenses in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, an abundant and ecologically important bloom-forming species with a heteromorphic haploid-diploid life cycle, against the common ciliate predator, Strombidinopsis acuminatum. The calcifying diploid and non-calcifying, flagellated haploid phases of E. huxleyi likely occupy different ecological niches, potentially explaining the maintenance of haploid-diploidy in this species. The …

Characterization Of Phprp1, An Extracellular Arabinogalactan Protein From Petunia Hybrida Pistils, Megan Twomey

WWU Graduate School Collection

An extracellular arabinogalactan protein, PhPRP1, was identified from Petunia hybrida pistils on the basis of nucleotide sequence similarity with NaTTS from Nicotiana alata and TTS-1 from Nicotiana tabacum. PhPRP1 exhibits 83% and 81% nucleotide identity with NaTTS and TTS-1 cDNAs, respectively. The amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA predicts a 27.4 kDa polypeptide backbone with a 25 amino acid signal sequence. Sequence alignments of PhPRP1 and the TTS proteins reveals two hypervariable regions, including a proline-rich domain with noncontiguous KPP repeats. A short, highly-conserved histidinerich domain separates the two hypervariable regions. The C-terminal segment of the protein shows significant …

Promoter Deletion Analysis And Identification Of Putative Cis-Elements Of Mute In Arabidopsis, Aaron Mahoney

WWU Graduate School Collection

Stomata are found on the surfaces of land plants and are crucial for regulating gas exchange between plants and the atmosphere. These structures are composed of a pore that is surrounded by two specialized guard cells. The critical importance of stomata in providing CO2 uptake while controlling the release of water has made them a prime target for improvement of plant productivity and water use efficiency. In Arabidopsis, the production of a mature stomata requires the expression of the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) master regulatory gene, MUTE. The function of MUTE and its expression pattern have been characterized. In this study, …

Land Use, Riparian Buffers, And Biological Stream Conditions In The Puget Lowlands Of Washington, Colin Wahl

WWU Graduate School Collection

Stream conservation and restoration strategies often focus on preserving extant riparian forest and restoring riparian habitat. In the Pacific Northwest, these efforts are often directed toward restoring and maintaining habitat that supports salmon populations. Riparian restoration, though beneficial to stream habitat, may not be sufficient to restore functioning stream ecosystems in watersheds heavily altered by intensive land use. To evaluate this hypothesis, I measured the biological condition of streams affected by human activity, and compared reaches with and without limited riparian corridors. I assessed 12 streams in watersheds dominated by different land use (cultivated, developed, forested, grassland) and sampled from …

Tts Protein Orthologs As Interspecific Reproductive Barriers In The Solanaceae, Tara D. Callaway

WWU Graduate School Collection

TTS (transmitting tissue-specific) proteins are abundant in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the transmitting tissue, which forms the pollen tube pathway in Nicotiana pistils. These arabinogalactan proteins stimulate pollen tube growth and are vital for optimal seed set. I have cloned and sequenced two putative orthologs, PiPRP1 and PaPRP1, which are expressed in the pistils of Petunia integrifolia and Petunia axillaris, respectively. Comparison of the domain architecture and cross-reactivity with anti-TTS protein antibodies confirm that the proteins encoded by these Petunia cDNA clones are orthologs of TTS proteins (TTSPs) from Nicotiana species. Using immunological detection methods, I have shown that …

The Effects Of Elevated Pco2 On The Physiology Of Emiliania Huxleyi, Tristen Wuori

WWU Graduate School Collection

This study examined the effects of elevated CO2 on the microalga Emiliania huxleyi. Two strains were compared, a calcifying (CCMP 2668) and a non-calcifying (CCMP 374) strain. The CO2 levels used were 390 ppm, 760 ppm, and 1000 ppm. The effects of CO2 on growth rate, cell size, calcification, particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPp), and chlorophyll were examined. Under elevated CO2, cell size in both strains and DMSPp in the calcifying strain increased. Calcification decreased under elevated CO2. DMSPp in the non-calcifying strain and chlorophyll content in the calcifying strain had non-linear responses when exposed to elevated CO2. Growth rate in both …

Rnai Suppressor Screen To Identify Novel Genetic Interactors With The Sydn-1/Pfs-2 Neurodevelopmental Pathway Of Caenorhabditis Elegans And Construction Of Plasmid Vectors For Yeast-Two-Hybrid And In Vivo Analyses, Mitchell Lee

WWU Graduate School Collection

Proper development of neuronal circuits are crucial for nervous system functioning. A novel pathway regulating axon and synapse development in Caenorhabditis elegans through nuclear 3'-end polyadenylation of nascent mRNA has recently been uncovered (Van Epps et al., 2010). In this pathway, the protein product of the gene synaptic defective enhancer (sydn-1) negatively regulates polyadenylation factor subunit homolog (PFS-2), an evolutionarily conserved scaffolding protein in a multi-protein complex involved in mRNA 3' -end processing. Although 3'-end processing of mRNA has a regulatory role in many cellular processes, regulation of synapse and axon development via this cellular mechanism has not been characterized. …