Life Sciences Commons^™

Characterizing Hematological And Reproductive Phenotypes In The Plk4+/– Mouse, Brayden Labute

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The polo-like kinases (Plks) are a family of serine/threonine kinases, of which there are five members. These protein kinases are involved in a multitude of processes associated with the cell cycle. These include centriole duplication, maturation of centrosomes, mitotic entry, and cytokinesis. Since the Plks are involved in such critical processes, dysregulation of these proteins are implicated in the development of a variety of malignancies. Higher and lower levels of Plk4 are both associated with tumourigenesis, therefore Plk4 can act as either an oncogene or tumour suppressor. While Plk4–/– mice are embryonic lethal, Plk4+/– mice are viable. Aged …

Studies Of Chemosensory Responses In The Pharynx Of The Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Hasan Huseyin Polat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The sea lamprey is a basal vertebrate, and the oldest extant species with taste buds. The objective of this thesis was to study the chemosensory responses from the sea lamprey’s pharynx, which is located caudal to oral cavity and medial to seven lateral brachiopores. The pharynx contains taste buds that detect and respond to tastants to inform lampreys about gustatory factors in the environment. The location of these taste buds along the lateral surface of the pharynx was first determined using scanning electron microscopy. Then using electrophysiology, our recordings from these pharyngeal regions containing taste buds picked up responses from …

The Design And Testing Of Fluorescence-Based Sensors For Phosphate And Phosphonate, Sara Hassanzadehroknabadi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is an essential compound for all living things, as it serves as a component of nucleic acids and ATP, which are required for plant growth and proliferation. However, when excess Pi enters the aquatic environment, it has severe detrimental effects through the induction of harmful algal blooms (HAB), which negatively impact aquatic life, the quality of drinking water as well as recreational activities. It is therefore critical to have fast, sensitive, and inexpensive sensors for Pi that quickly and quantitively measure its concentration in a field setting.

Phosphonates or organophosphorus compounds are phosphoric acids possessing alkyl or …

Mother Knows Best: Mechanistic Aspects Of Foraging Preference And Differential Arrestment Of Gravid Females: A Case Study On Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Vanessa Elizabeth Owen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Behavioural plasticity is a concept that describes a change in an organism’s behaviour due to their exposure to stimuli that differ from their usual environment. For instance, females of many insect species alter their behavioural responses when exposed to differing substances that they utilize for feeding, oviposition, and/or mating. Behaviours such as the frequency of walking, tasting, grooming exhibited by flies can be associated with the detection and acceptance of a suitable medium. For this thesis, the arrestment and behavioural response of gravid adult females of three species of blow flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Lucilia sericata Meigen, Phormia regina Meigen, and …

The Bouba/Kiki Effect On Gendered Objects In The Arabic Language, Ghadir Nassereddine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People are more likely to associate the nonword bouba with a round shape, and kiki with a sharp shape, an effect known as the Bouba/Kiki effect (BK) (Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001). Relatedly, female names are associated with a round shape whereas male names are associated with a sharp shape (Sidhu & Pexman, 2015) and this effect extends to grammatically gendered nonwords in French (Sidhu, Pexman, & Saint-Aubin, 2019). These associations have not been examined in Arabic, or with real words with a grammatical gender. The present study addresses this gap by examining the influences of letter sound …

Utilizing An Integrated Approach To Explore Niche In A Complex Equatorial System, Danielle Orrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our ability to identify and understand the relationships and distributions of organisms in nature is key to exploring the rich tapestry of life seen on Earth. The term "niche" describes how animals partition resources in space and time, shaped by behavioural choices and environmental conditions. Iterations of niche over time have focused on different aspects of a species' ecological characteristics, from Grinnell’s initial study of songbird distribution (‘spatial niche’) in 1917 to Elton’s description of functional attributes shaping trophic position (‘trophic niche’). The fusion of these niche definitions formed Hutchinson’s n-dimensional niche hypervolume. The coexistence of …

Leveraging Queueing Theory To Develop Advanced Synthetic Biological Circuits, Prajakta K. Jadhav

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complexity and redundancy in the network topology of the cell hinder our understanding of the natural system, making it challenging to engineer living organisms with the desired functionality. The long-term goal of synthetic biology and bioengineering is to engineer cells to perform specific functions with increased robustness. The robust engineered systems can be easily applied to different species with the same outcome. An effective approach is a bottom-up approach where we tease apart the biological pathways and study them independently. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of biological pathways can be further applied to construct complex biological circuits that function similarly …

Modeling The Flow And Creep Compliance Properties Of Ice-Cream Mixes, Hiran Ranaweera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work documented the influence of the protein source (MPC80 and WPC80), protein content (4-12%), and temperature (5-35ºC) on the rheological behavior (flow curve, frequency sweep, and creep-recovery) of ice-cream mixes (ICM). For each protein source, the viscosity of the ICM was satisfactorily modeled (𝑅2>0.98, 𝑅2 𝑎𝑑𝑗>0.98, and E0.99), while the recovery phase was represented by an empirical model. The percentage of recovery (%R) of the ICM significantly decreased with the protein content.

Genome-Wide Identification Of Wrky Transcription Factor Encoding Genes In Amborella Trichopoda Baill. (Amborellaceae), Bijaya Pradhan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

WRKY transcription factors (TFs) are DNA-binding proteins, which play important roles in managing plant stresses and regulating growth and development processes. The WRKY TF family has expanded significantly through genome/gene duplications in the plant evolutionary process. Although the WRKY TFs have been identified in hundreds of plant species, they are yet to be identified in Amborella trichopoda, a species that represents the most basal group of Angiosperms. The main objectives of this study were to conduct genome-wide identification of the WRKY gene family in A. trichopoda and to assess their homologs in Angiosperms. In this study, we identified …

Characterizing The Lir Domain Of Abin1 And Identifying Its Role As A Regulator Of Mitophagy, Andrew Rhiner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A20 Inhibitor of NF-κB (ABIN1/TNIP1) is a known regulator of TNFα signaling induced cell death and inflammation. The regulatory activity has been attributed to ABIN1’s recruitment of the ubiquitin editing enzyme TNF-α-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3/A20) to Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (RIPK1). The regulation of RIPK1 by ABIN1 and A20 relies on a third player, linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex (LUBAC), which is involved in the recruitment of ABIN1 to RIPK1. Loss of LUBAC or ABIN1 is embryonic lethal, but loss of A20 is not embryonic lethal. The embryonic lethality due to loss of ABIN1, paired with the lack of lethality …

Hemocyte-Mediated Immune Response To A Bacterial Infection In The Cat Flea (Ctenocephalides Felis), Melanie Muñoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite their continued medical and veterinary importance, the vectorial capacity of fleas (Order Siphonaptera) is often underestimated. Fleas are best described as ectoparasites of a variety of mammalian and aviary hosts. In humans, fleas are infamous for the transmission of several detrimental agents, including those that cause plague, murine typhus, and cat-scratch disease. Although their significance in flea immune responses remains unknown, phagocytic immune cells, known as hemocytes, are important players in the cell mediated immune response of insects. Among invertebrates, hemocytes provide defense against foreign microbes via phagocytosis, cellular encapsulation, and the production of humoral immune factors. As mentioned …