Life Sciences Commons^™

Linking Crude Oil And Dispersant Effects To Gene Expression Of Marine Sponge Cinachyrella, Yvain Desplat

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Because of their filter-feeding lifestyle, sponges (Phylum Porifera) have shown to be bio-accumulators of heavy metals, and bio-monitors for polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) contaminants. Furthermore, marine sponges have been shown to be regulators of reef ecosystems by fulfilling many ecological functions. However, very little is known about their behavior in the face of environmental changes. Consequently, our lab has developed the reef sponge Cinachyrella spp. as novel experimental model. We have designed an experiment to study the effects of WAF (Water Accommodated Fraction), Corexit 9500 dispersant, and CE-WAF (Chemically Enhanced Water Accommodated Fraction)mixtures, in an effort to mimic the conditions of the …

Wild Mice With Different Social Network Sizes Vary In Brain Gene Expression, Patricia C. Lopes, Barbara König

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Background

Appropriate social interactions influence animal fitness by impacting several processes, such as mating, territory defense, and offspring care. Many studies shedding light on the neurobiological underpinnings of social behavior have focused on nonapeptides (vasopressin, oxytocin, and homologues) and on sexual or parent-offspring interactions. Furthermore, animals have been studied under artificial laboratory conditions, where the consequences of behavioral responses may not be as critical as when expressed under natural environments, therefore obscuring certain physiological responses. We used automated recording of social interactions of wild house mice outside of the breeding season to detect individuals at both tails of a distribution …

Accessory Genes Contribute To Rewiring The Transcriptional Network In Fusarium Oxysporum, He Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

The presence of accessory chromosomes is one of the most fascinating features in the genomes of Fusarium oxysporum (Fo) species complex that includes both plant and animal pathogens. In plant-pathogenic Fo strains, these accessory chromosomes govern host-specific pathogenicity through unique sets of virulence factors, including secreted effectors and plant cell wall degrading enzymes, while the identity of such factors are largely unknown in human infecting strains. This dissertation is composed of three projects that focused on studying the gene composition and transcriptional regulation of human-pathogenic Fo strains. The first project deciphered the genome of the clinical Fo strain, …