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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Understanding The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Pubudu Handakumbura Nov 2014

Understanding The Transcriptional Regulation Of Secondary Cell Wall Biosynthesis In The Model Grass Brachypodium Distachyon, Pubudu Handakumbura

Doctoral Dissertations

Secondary cell wall synthesis occurs in specialized cell types following completion of cell enlargement. By virtue of mechanical strength provided by a wall thickened with cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin, these cells can function as water-conducting vessels and provide structural support. Several transcription factor families regulate genes encoding wall synthesis enzymes. Certain NAC and MYB proteins directly bind upstream of structural genes and other transcription factors. The most detailed model of this regulatory network is established predominantly for a eudicot, Arabidopsis thaliana. In grasses, both the patterning and the composition of secondary cell walls are distinct from that of eudicots. …


Volatile Profiles And Resistance To Herbivory In Eastern Hemlock, Elizabeth A. Mckenzie Nov 2014

Volatile Profiles And Resistance To Herbivory In Eastern Hemlock, Elizabeth A. Mckenzie

Masters Theses

Eastern hemlock hosts the hemlock woolly adelgid, an introduced sap-feeding insect that causes rapid deterioration of the host. Like most conifers, eastern hemlock produces a variety of constitutive and induced defenses, primarily terpenoids. To explore the relationship of terpenoid defenses with adelgid infestations, we artificially infested hemlocks at a forest site and a plantation site, and compared their terpenoid concentrations to those in control trees. Infested trees showed lower terpenoid concentrations than control trees, suggesting that eastern hemlock not only fails to induce production of terpenoids in response to adelgid infestation, but becomes less able to produce carbon-based defenses due …


Sequence Analysis Of Maize Yellow Stripe3 Candidate Genes, Dennis B. Depaolo Nov 2014

Sequence Analysis Of Maize Yellow Stripe3 Candidate Genes, Dennis B. Depaolo

Masters Theses

The work presented here focuses on the molecular mechanism of phytosiderophore secretion in graminaceous plants. In maize, yellow stripe3 (ys3) is a mutant that is deficient in its ability to secrete iron-chelating compounds of the mugineic acid family known as phytosiderophores. Phytosiderophores are specific to grasses and are used for the acquisition of iron. Genetic linkage mapping of the ys3 locus lead to a region of interest on chromosome 3 defined by marker UMC1773. The sequence of eleven candidate genes (GRMZM2G390345, GRMZM2G390374, GRMZM2G342821, GRMZM5G800764, GRMZM2G502560, GRMZM5G849435, GRMZM2G105766, GRMZM5G876835, GRMZM2G036976, GRMZM2G502563, miR167g) revealed several small deletions …


Functional Analysis Of Moss Class Viii Myosin And Its Role In Plant Cell Division, Shu-Zon Wu Aug 2014

Functional Analysis Of Moss Class Viii Myosin And Its Role In Plant Cell Division, Shu-Zon Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

The moss Physcomitrella patens is a great model system for studying plant gene function using reverse genetic approaches. It undergoes efficient gene-targeting by homologous recombination, allowing the generation of specific gene knockout and tagging a gene at its endogenous locus. Additionally, RNAi is quite effective in P. patens, providing an effective tool for rapid gene silencing and phenotypic characterization. Taking advantage of these features, this dissertation described the establishment of a system to perform an unbiased gene-by-gene RNAi assay to screen for tip growth phenotypes in P. patens. A small set of RNAi constructs were tested, within them …


The Roles Of Myosin Xi And Rop In Moss Tip Growth, Graham M. Burkart Aug 2014

The Roles Of Myosin Xi And Rop In Moss Tip Growth, Graham M. Burkart

Doctoral Dissertations

Because of the large number of myosin XI and ROP genes found in many angiosperms, it has been difficult to determine their precise role with respect to tip growth. In contrast, there are only two myosin XI genes in four ROP genes in the moss Physcomitrella patens. To determine their role in tip growth using a loss-of-function approach, I used RNA interference (RNAi) and found that both of these proteins are essential for tip growth. Consistent with a role in tip growth, I show that a functional, full-length fusion of mEGFP to myosin XI accumulates at a subcortical, apical …