Life Sciences Commons^™

Characterization Of The Extracellular Proteome Of A Natural Microbial Community With An Integrated Mass Spectrometric / Bioinformatic Approach, Brian Keith Erickson

Doctoral Dissertations

Proteomics comprises the identification and characterization of the complete suite of expressed proteins in a given cell, organism or community. The coupling of high performance liquid chromatography (LC) with high throughput mass spectrometry (MS) has provided the foundation for current proteomic progression. The transition from proteomic analysis of a single cultivated microbe to that of natural microbial assemblages has required significant advancement in technology and has provided greater biological understanding of microbial community diversity and function.

To enhance the capabilities of a mass spectrometric based proteomic analysis, an integrated approach combining bioinformatics with analytical preparations and experimental data collection was …

Access To Mutualistic Endosymbiotic Microbes: An Underappreciated Benefit Of Group Living, Michael Lombardo

Michael P Lombardo

"The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com"

A central question in behavioral ecology has been why animals live in groups. Previous theories about the evolution of sociality focused on the potential benefits of decreased risk of predation, increased foraging or feeding efficiency, and mutual aid in defending resources and/or rearing offspring. This paper argues that access to mutualistic endosymbiotic microbes is an underappreciated benefit of group living and sets out to reinvigorate Troyer’s hypothesis that the need to obtain cellulolytic microbes from conspecifics influenced the evolution of social behavior in herbivores and to extend it to nonherbivores. This extension is …

Microbial Colonization Of The Cloacae Of Nestling Tree Swallows, Tamara Mills, Michael Lombardo, Patrick Thorpe

Michael P Lombardo

Microbes have the potential to be important selective forces in many aspects of avian biology. Microbes can affect fitness as a result of either their pathogenic or beneficial effects on host health. Little is known about the chronology of microbial colonization of nestlings or the effects of microbes on fledgling condition. We set out to (1) characterize the time course of microbial colonization of the cloacae of nestling Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), (2) examine the relationship between cloacal microbes and fledgling condition, and (3) determine if nest mates had similar assemblages of cloacal microbes. We repeatedly measured nestlings and sampled …