Life Sciences Commons^™

Biological Control Of Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum Salicaria): Factors Affecting Galerucella Pusilla And Galerucella Calmariensis Establishment In Tidal Areas, Lynda Kathryn Moore

Dissertations and Theses

Galerucella pusilla and G. calmariensis have provided successful biological control of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.) in non-tidal areas but only marginal control in areas of tidal influence. While a previous study identified mechanical scour by tidal waters as the main cause of establishment failure, purple loosestrife stem density explained more than 80% of the variability in presence and absence of Galerucella at my study sites in the Columbia River Estuary. A logistic regression model using purple loosestrife stem density, elevation, and their interaction as predictors accurately predicted 92.5% of Galerucella presence or absence observations of a test data …

A Phylogenetic Study Of The Old World Asclepiadinae (Apocynaceae) Based On Chloroplast And Nuclear Dna Sequence Data, David Chuba

Dissertations and Theses

Relationships within the African Asclepias generic complex (Asclepiadinae, Apocynaceae) have for a long time been only a matter of intuitive speculation and generic delimitations have been diverse and rather contentious. Generic delimitation in this group has been based on morphological characters that are usually not exclusive to any particular clade or genus. The difficulty of identifying taxonomically useful morphological characters for inferring generic delimitations has led to differences in the emphasized characters by different taxonomists. This study is aimed at understanding phylogenetic relationships of species within the African Asclepias complex based upon the nuclear PgiC and three chloroplast DNA regions, …

Phylogeographic And Phylogenetic Exploration Of Plethodon (Plethodontidae, Caudata) Salamanders In The Pacific Northwest, Tara Anne Pelletier

Dissertations and Theses

Genetic studies of amphibians often reveal substantial population structure due to either historical demographics from changing climate and geographic features over varying timeframes. Eight species of terrestrial salamanders (Family: Plethodontidae, Genus: Plethodon) reside in forests of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Plethodon vehiculum is the most widespread and abundant terrestrial salamander in the PNW yet evolutionary studies are lacking. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data (D-loop and cytb) questions regarding the phylogeography of P. vehiculum and phylogenetics of western Plethodons are explored. Two major clades were defined in P. vehiculum, a southern clade in the Klamath-Siskiyou region and a …

Analysis And Classification Of Sounds Produced By Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus), Sharon Stuart Glaeser

Dissertations and Theses

Relatively little is known about the vocal repertoire of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), and a categorization of basic call types and modifications of these call types by quantitative acoustic parameters is needed to examine acoustic variability within and among call types, to examine individuality, to determine communicative function of calls via playback, to compare species and populations, and to develop rigorous call recognition algorithms for monitoring populations.

This study defines an acoustic repertoire of Asian elephants based on acoustic parameters, compares repertoire usage among groups and individuals, and validates structural distinction among call types through comparison of manual and automated …

Preliminary Characterization Of Mitochondrial Atp-Sensitive Potassium Channel (Mitokatp) Activity In Mouse Heart Mitochondria, Venkat Raghav Aachi

Dissertations and Theses

Myocardial ischemia, infarction, heart failure and arrhythmias are the manifestations of coronary artery disease. Reduction of ischemic damage is a major concern of cardiovascular biology research. As per recent studies, the mitochondrial ATP-sensitive potassium channel (mitoK_ATP) opening is believed to play key role in the physiology of cardioprotection, protection against ischemia-reperfusion injury or apoptosis. However, the structural information of mitoK_ATP is not precisely known. Elucidating the structural integrity and functioning of the mitoK_ATP is therefore a major goal of cardiovascular biology research. The known structure and function of the cell ATP-sensitive potassium channel (cellK_ATP) …

Molecular Coevolution Of Pacific Northwest Hantaviruses And Their Host, The Deer Mouse, Peromyscus Maniculatus, Philip Darren Jones

Dissertations and Theses

Sin Nombre virus (SNV, family Bunyaviridae, genus Hantavirus), hosted by the deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus (family Cricetidae, Subfamily Neotominae), is the primary etiological agent of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) in the western United States. HPS, with known pathogenicity only to humans and for which there is no cure or prophylaxis, affects the epithelium of the lungs by making the capillaries leaky, thereby resulting in bilateral infiltrates, and eventually leading to respiratory failure and death by drowning in approximately 38% of hospitalized patients.

In the Americas, Peromyscus has been co-evolving with hantaviruses for approximately 12–20 million years, since the first …