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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Identification And Functional Characterization Of Effectors From An Anther Smut Fungus, Microbotryum Lychnidis-Dioicae., Venkata Swathi Kuppireddy Dec 2018

Identification And Functional Characterization Of Effectors From An Anther Smut Fungus, Microbotryum Lychnidis-Dioicae., Venkata Swathi Kuppireddy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microbotryum lychnidis-dioicae causes anther smut fungus in its host plant, Silene latifolia. The goal of this work is to identify and characterize the virulence determinants of this pathogen to better understand the molecular basis behind this host-pathogen interaction. This work studied for the first time the key effectors in the mechanism of infection by this fungal species. Using, yeast two-hybrid screens, I have identified the host plant interaction partners for the effector, MVLG_01732. A second effector MVLG_05720, interacts with other fungal proteins that appear to facilitate the fungal establishment and colonization during the infection. Our findings indicate that a …


The N-Terminal Methyltransferase Homologs Nrmt1 And Nrmt2 Exhibit Novel Regulation Of Activity Through Heterotrimer Formation., Jon David Faughn Aug 2018

The N-Terminal Methyltransferase Homologs Nrmt1 And Nrmt2 Exhibit Novel Regulation Of Activity Through Heterotrimer Formation., Jon David Faughn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Protein, DNA, and RNA methyltransferases have an ever-expanding list of novel substrates and catalytic activities. Even within families and between homologs, it is becoming clear the intricacies of methyltransferase specificity and regulation are far more diverse than originally thought. In addition to specific substrates and distinct methylation levels, methyltransferase activity can be altered through formation of complexes with close homologs. This work involves the N-terminal methyltransferase homologs NRMT1 and NRMT2. NRMT1 is a ubiquitously expressed distributive trimethylase. NRMT2 is a monomethylase expressed at low levels and in a tissue-specific manner. They are both nuclear methyltransferases with overlapping target consensus sequences …


The Role Of Ferric Reduction Oxidases In Plant Anti-Herbivore Defense., Virginia C. Nunamaker May 2018

The Role Of Ferric Reduction Oxidases In Plant Anti-Herbivore Defense., Virginia C. Nunamaker

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Honors Theses

Iron is an essential element required for plants to carry out metabolic functions such as photosynthesis, heme biosynthesis, and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Within Arabidopsis thaliana, eight ferric reduction oxidase (FRO) genes function in iron uptake and homeostasis with tissue specific expression. However, little else is known regarding the biological role of FROs. Recent studies identify the FRO gene family as particularly responsive to the green leaf plant derived volatile (GLV) cis-3-hexenyl acetate (z3HAC). Since z3HAC acts as a wound signal and cues unaffected parts of the plant to prime defenses prior to herbivory, an increase in FRO activity in response …


Functional And Structural Impact Of The Loss Of The Leucine-Rich Repeat Protein Lrit1 In The Mouse Retina., Catherine Ann Cobb May 2018

Functional And Structural Impact Of The Loss Of The Leucine-Rich Repeat Protein Lrit1 In The Mouse Retina., Catherine Ann Cobb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mutations in genes encoding the leucine-rich repeat (LRR) proteins nyctalopin and LRIT3 lead to complete congenital stationary night blindness because they are critical to depolarizing bipolar cell function in the retina. LRIT3 has two closely related family members, LRIT1 and LRIT2. In silico analyses of publicly available RNA-Seq data showed that Lrit1 was highly expressed in the retina. Here I describe the expression pattern and impact of loss of LRIT1 on retinal function. To enable these studies, we used CRISPR/Cas9 technology to create an Lrit1-/- mouse line. Retinal morphology and morphometry analyses showed no gross changes in retinal structure …