Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Evolutionary And Ecological Determinism Of Host Specificity In Arthropod Parasites, Joseph Levey
Evolutionary And Ecological Determinism Of Host Specificity In Arthropod Parasites, Joseph Levey
UCARE Research Products
Understanding why some diseases infect more species than others is crucial for predicting where and when disease will spread, which can inform the management of wildlife, agriculture, and human health. Currently, large scale patterns of host-parasite dynamics are being studied to understand where to look for and how to manage emerging human diseases (Leroy 2005; Benelli 2018). Previous research has used the Global Mammal Parasite Database (GMPD) to look at host breadth—the number and diversity of species a pathogen can infect—for various groups of parasites, e.g. helminths, arthropods, fungi, etc., from a host-centric perspective (Stephens et al. 2017; Park et …
Genetic Studies Of Wildlife, Brittaney L. Buchanan
Genetic Studies Of Wildlife, Brittaney L. Buchanan
School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Genetic techniques are being more frequently used to understand the biology and management of wildlife species. The wild turkey is one species of genetic interest because the correct identification of individuals to the subspecies level is difficult using traditional methods. Currently phenotypic differences in plumage, especially the upper tail coverts, are used to assign individuals to subspecies. To hunters wanting to complete a “grand slam,” identification of birds’ subspecies is important. This study focuses on the five extant subspecies: Eastern (M. g. silvestris), Osceola (M. g. osceola), Rio Grande (M. g. intermedia), Merriam’s ( …
Plant Mitochondrial Genome Evolution And Structure Has Been Shaped By Double-Strand Break Repair And Recombination, Emily Wynn
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Plant mitochondrial genomes are large but contain a small number of genes. These genes have very low mutation rates, but genomes rearrange and expand at significant rates. We propose that much of the apparent complexity of plant mitochondrial genomes can be explained by the interactions of double-strand break repair, recombination, and selection. One possible explanation for the disparity between the low mutation rates of genes and the high divergence of non-genes is that synonymous mutations in genes are not truly neutral. In some species, rps14 has been duplicated in the nucleus, allowing the mitochondrial copy to become a pseudogene. By …
A Systematic Review Of Genetic Influence On Psychological Resilience, Kosuke Niitsu, Michael J. Rice, Julia F. Houfek, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Kevin A. Kupzyk, Cecilia R. Barron
A Systematic Review Of Genetic Influence On Psychological Resilience, Kosuke Niitsu, Michael J. Rice, Julia F. Houfek, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Kevin A. Kupzyk, Cecilia R. Barron
Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications
When exposed to adversity, some individuals are at an increased risk of posttraumatic stress disorder, experiencing persistent biopsychosocial disturbances, whereas others adapt well, described as resilience. Resilience is a complex biopsychosocial phenomenon conceptualized as adaptation to adversity influenced by an individual’s genetic variants, epistasis, epigenetics, and gene-by-environment interactions. Studies on psychological resilience have focused on behavioral and psychosocial variables with far less examination of the genetic contributions. The purpose of this review is to identify specific genetic variants contributing to the biological capacity for psychological resilience. PubMed and PsycINFO were searched using the following key words: psychological resilience AND genotype …
Genetic Diversity And Distinctness Of Wild Nebraska Hops And Hop Cultivars (Humulus Lupulus L.), Megan Franklin
Genetic Diversity And Distinctness Of Wild Nebraska Hops And Hop Cultivars (Humulus Lupulus L.), Megan Franklin
Honors Theses
Background Commercial hop (Humulus lupulus) cultivars that are being grown in the Midwest are not performing as successfully as when they are grown in the Pacific Northwest, the region to which they are adapted. To increase adaptation to the Midwest environment, one strategy is to draw from the genetic pool of wild native Midwest hops, which have developed genes that allow them to grow successfully in this environment. Wild hop plants that are genetically distinct from commercial cultivars are likely to have more adaptations, such as pest/disease resistance and drought tolerance, which can be bred into commercial lines. The …
Bois 412/812: Human Genetics—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Colin D. Meiklejohn
Bois 412/812: Human Genetics—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Colin D. Meiklejohn
UNL Faculty Course Portfolios
This portfolio focuses on Human Genetics, an upper-division course taken primarily by biology majors to fulfill elective credit in their degree. This course studies the genetic basis for human variation, with the goal of placing this variation in the context of human evolutionary history and the consequences of this variation for medical understanding and treatments. In Human Genetics, students complete an original synthetic research paper on a human genetic disorder. Through writing this paper, students are expected to learn how to navigate electronic databases and online resources on human genetic diseases, and to read and synthesize the primary scientific literature. …
Estimation Of Breed-Specific Heterosis Effects For Birth, Weaning, And Yearling Weight In Cattle, Lauren N. Schiermiester, R. M. Thallman, Larry Kuehn, Stephen D. Kachman, Matthew L. Spangler
Estimation Of Breed-Specific Heterosis Effects For Birth, Weaning, And Yearling Weight In Cattle, Lauren N. Schiermiester, R. M. Thallman, Larry Kuehn, Stephen D. Kachman, Matthew L. Spangler
Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications
Heterosis, assumed proportional to expected breed heterozygosity, was calculated for 6834 individuals with birth, weaning and yearling weight records from Cycle VII and advanced generations of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) Germplasm Evaluation (GPE) project. Breeds represented in these data included: Angus, Hereford, Red Angus, Charolais, Gelbvieh, Simmental, Limousin and Composite MARC III. Heterosis was further estimated by proportions of British × British (B × B), British × Continental (B × C) and Continental × Continental (C × C) crosses and by breed-specific combinations. Model 1 fitted fixed covariates for heterosis within biological types while Model 2 fitted …
Genome-Wide Prediction Of Age At Puberty And Reproductive Longevity In Sows, Julie Kathleen Tart, Rodger K. Johnson, Justin W. Bundy, N. N. Ferdinand, A. M. Mcknite, Jennifer R. Wood, Phillip S. Miller, M. F. Rothschild, Matthew L. Spangler, Dorian J. Garrick, Stephen D. Kachman, Daniel C. Ciobanu
Genome-Wide Prediction Of Age At Puberty And Reproductive Longevity In Sows, Julie Kathleen Tart, Rodger K. Johnson, Justin W. Bundy, N. N. Ferdinand, A. M. Mcknite, Jennifer R. Wood, Phillip S. Miller, M. F. Rothschild, Matthew L. Spangler, Dorian J. Garrick, Stephen D. Kachman, Daniel C. Ciobanu
Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications
Traditional selection for sow reproductive longevity is ineffective due to low heritability and late expression of the trait. Incorporation of DNA markers into selection programs is potentially a more practical approach for improving sow lifetime productivity. Using a resource population of crossbred gilts, we explored pleiotropic sources of variation that influence age at puberty and reproductive longevity. Of the traits recorded before breeding, only age at puberty significantly affected the probability that females would produce a first parity litter. The genetic variance explained by 1-Mb windows of the sow genome, compared across traits, uncovered regions that influence both age at …
Evaluating Genetic Viability Of Pronghorn In Wind Cave National Park, Jonathan A. Jenks, Christopher N. Jacques, Jaret D. Sievers, Robert W. Klaver, R. Terry Bowyer, Daniel E. Roddy
Evaluating Genetic Viability Of Pronghorn In Wind Cave National Park, Jonathan A. Jenks, Christopher N. Jacques, Jaret D. Sievers, Robert W. Klaver, R. Terry Bowyer, Daniel E. Roddy
The Prairie Naturalist
The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) was reintroduced into Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, in 1914 and thus, has inhabited the Park for almost a century. A decline in the population has raised concern for the continued existence of pronghorn inside Wind Cave National Park. Historically, pronghorn numbers reached greater than 300 individuals in the 1960's but declined to about 30 individuals by 2002. The primary objective of our study was to evaluate genetic characteristics of pronghorn to determine if reduced heterozygosity contributed to the decline of pronghorn in Wind Cave National Park. Microsatellite DNA was collected from 75 …
Microevolutionary Patterns And Molecular Markers: The Genetics Of Geographic Variation In Ascaris Suum, Steven A. Nadler
Microevolutionary Patterns And Molecular Markers: The Genetics Of Geographic Variation In Ascaris Suum, Steven A. Nadler
Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty and Staff Publications
Molecular markers have been used only rarely to characterize the population genetic structure of nematodes. Published studies have suggested that different taxa may show distinct genetic architectures. Isoenzyme and RAPD markers have been used to investigate geographic variation of Ascaris suum at the level of infrapopulations (nematodes within individual hosts), within localities, and among geographic regions. Independent estimates of genetic differentiation among population samples based on isoenzyme and RAPD data showed similar patterns and substantial correlation. Heterozygote deficiencies within infrapopulations and large values for inbreeding coefficients among infrapopulations suggested that the composition of these populations was not consistent with a …