Life Sciences Commons^™

Midguts, Microbes, And Mosquitoes: An Analysis Of The Microbiomes Of Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus, Flor Alicia Martinez

Theses and Dissertations

Experiment 1: Mosquito microbiomes are influenced by the environment and diets of mosquitoes. There is great variability within and among mosquito populations with few microbe inhabitants being well established among mosquitoes of similar species and environments. By understanding the potential variation in midgut microbiomes in lab and wild populations, we may assess the effect that microbiomes have on vector competency.

Experiment 2: Mosquito midgut microbes are essential for development and may influence the vector competency. Native and non-native strains of the midgut inhabitant, Cedecea, were introduced to laboratory colonies of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes to help elucidate …

The Effect Of An Historical Geology Course On Students’ Attitudes Towards Science And Their Knowledge Of Deep Time As A Threshold To Their Knowledge Of Evolution, Allan Nolan

Dissertations

In America there exists a conflict between a small group of its citizens and the concept of evolution. Researchers have studied this conflict and the ways in which teachers might approach educational methodologies that not only address evolution in a sensitive manner, but also remain legally acceptable.

This research was designed to address teaching evolution in the context of deep time – the concept that time is vast and that geology and biology operate in a timescale of hundreds of millions to billions of years. In previous peer-reviewed works, it has been stated that deep time acts as a threshold …

Light-Induced Expression Of A Blue Coral Protein In An Industrial Fungus, Lindsay Tomczak

Honors Theses

The ultimate goal of this research project is to improve the growth and structural characteristics of an Ecovative Design LLC (Green Island, NY) production strain to produce commercial biomaterials for packaging. These biomaterials are produced from renewable resources and can be easily broken down after they fulfill their purpose, unlike the commonly used materials today (such as Styrofoam). In an effort to quantify the light-reactivity of the fungus, a codon-optimized DNA sequence coding a blue chromoprotein was introduced and utilized as a visual reporter gene. Transcriptional controlling sequences were identified from orthologs to specific light-regulated genes and were combined with …

Does Interest Equal Success? Evaluating Student Perceptions Of The Study Of Biology And Their Effects On Student Success In An Introductory Biology Course, Courtney Irene Barlow

Honors Theses

As instructors begin to devote more time to improving student perceptions of biology, the validity of these efforts should be determined. Do students possessing favorable views of biology regularly perform on a higher level than those with less favorable impressions, or would class time be better spent without exercises intended to increase student interest? The goal of this project was to address the research questions “How do students view the study of biology?”, “How do student perceptions of the subject area affect their performance in an Introductory Biology course?”, and “How does a student’s chosen area of study affect their …

Newall Glacier Nucleic Acid Analysis, Shannon Turner

Honors Projects

The Newall Glacier is located in Antarctica between Mount Newall and Mount Weyant, at approximately 77°30′S, 162°50′E. Having existed for millions of years, and being rarely touched by human populations, glaciers are a major source of information on climate and life in the past. During the past 5 decades, a multi-country team of scientists have collaborated to drill into many of Antarctica’s glaciers and ice fields, removing ice cores for scientific investigation. The ice core section chosen for this project was drilled from the Newall Glacier in 1988 and its depth was from 100.670 to 101.000 m. The purpose of …

Evaluating Effects Of Gene Mutations And Light Intensity On Arabidopsis Thaliana Development, Carolanne Bekus

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Arabidopsis thaliana is a model organism often compared to commercial crops. The completion of sequencing A. thaliana’s genome has led to the next crucial challenge of determining gene function in these plants. The discovery of gene function within these plants will provide insights on how gene function can affect commercial crop production. This work compared wild-type Columbia (Col-O) A. thaliana to single gene mutants VPI/ABI3-like 1 (VAL1) and basic region/leucine zipper motif (bZIP). These single gene mutations may affect several traits that, in turn, can result in morphological changes and/or time of development in seedlings. Wild-type and …

Evaluation Of A Small Molecule Agonist Of Epha2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase And Copalic Acid Analogs As Prostate Cancer Therapeutics, Nethrie Idippily

ETD Archive

Project I: Chemotherapeutic drugs have many side effects that are undesirable and are highly toxic. Therefore, there is a growing need for the development of drugs with enhanced efficacy, specificity, and potency to provide cancer patients with a better prognosis. It was discovered that a member of the Receptor Tyrosine Kinase family, EphA2, may prove to be a viable target in developing anti-cancer agents. In the presence of its ligand, EphA2 receptor is responsible for apoptotic and anti-migratory activity. However, in the absence of ligand, EphA2 is able to stimulate cell migration and therefore tumorigenic activity. These conflicting roles of …

Biomimetic Macromolecules For Macrophage Targeting And Modulation, Joshua Whited

ETD Archive

Carbohydrate recognition has come to the forefront of biological aiming to uncover the mechanisms of physiological and pathological processes. Cell surface glycans are involved in processes including cellular adhesion, cell signaling, and immune response. A new approach for profiling cell surface glycans has great potential for a wide range of biomedical applications. Lectins have been conventionally used to determine the structure and function of glycoproteins, however, their numbers are still restricted compared to the number of glycan structures. Boronic acid has proven a remarkable small molecule capable of binding diols in aqueous solution. This interaction indicates boronic acid derived molecules …

A Synthesis Platform For Temperature Responsive Star Polymers, Schmitt J. Richard Jr.

ETD Archive

Star polymers are a class of branched polymers comprised of several polymer chains extending from a central point. Star polymers have applications in biopharmaceuticals where they have been proposed to be suitable drug delivery vehicles. Star polymers have traditionally been synthesized through chemical synthesis with added functionality provided by grafting on the arms. This complex synthesis can be simplified by using a biosynthetic approach which enables precise control of molecular weight and composition. This approach is demonstrated using star polymers with arms composed of a temperature responsive protein-based polymer termed elastin-like polypeptide (ELP). Star polymers are characterized based on the …

The Naked Mole Rat Possesses A Differently Phased Core Clock System Along With A Different Glucose Handling And Mtor Systems Compared To The Common Lab Mouse, Soumyaditya Ghosh

ETD Archive

INTRODUCTION The Naked Mole Rat [ Heterocephalus glaber] is a type of rodent -with the highest average lifespan-30 years-among all the rodent species. It lives underground in sealed burrow systems with little to no exposure to day-night transitions on the surface. It shows polyphasic round the clock activity within its subterranean burrow system. The activity and physiology of most animals are governed by the biological circadian clock. The biological circadian clock is a system that oscillates with a rough periodicity of 24 hours. Environmental zeitgebers regulate the entrainment of the circadian clock to the 24-hour day-night cycle and light is …

The Effects Of Aqueous Nitrate On Freshwater Crayfish, Erik Hartman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Globalization and a rising need for greater production from the agricultural system have increased the use of fertilizer by farms across the entire country. The purpose of this experiment was to observe the effects of aqueous nitrate (commonly found in many fertilizers) on the metabolic rate and hemolymph lactate concentration of freshwater crayfish. After exposure, there was no observed change in metabolic rate, but there was a significant decrease in hemolymph lactate concentration in the groups exposed to nitrate.

Spatial And Temporal Dynamics Of Batesian Mimicry Between Adelpha Californica And Limenitis Lorquini, Louis Albert Prusa

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Conspicuous coloration is one of the main ways that animals communicate. The use of eye-catching color patterns to warn predators of an unprofitable trait is referred to as aposematism. Once predators learn to recognize the color pattern, a new signaling niche becomes available where other species can share the same signal. This mimicry niche can involve a “hide in plain sight” strategy by mimicking or parasitizing this signal, with mimics lacking the defense and associated costs that make them unprofitable. This is termed Batesian mimicry, and it decreases predation by taking advantage of the memory and learning of the predator …

Unknown And Cryptic Diversity In The Adelpha Serpa-Group, Cassidi Rush

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The tropics are host to incredible insect diversity. One of the most charismatic groups that exhibit this diversity are the butterflies. Despite the tropical butterfly fauna being heavily researched, there remains much hidden diversity in the form of undescribed life histories and cryptic species. This is especially true among the species rich Nymphalidae, the brush-footed butterflies. Species in the genus Adelpha are known to be “the most trying taxonomically of all nymphalids” DeVries (1987), and as such are fruitful ground for uncovering unknown diversity. About half of the species within Adelpha have undescribed life histories, while A. serpa stands out …

Should I Stay Or Should I Go? Complex Environments Drive The Developmental Plasticity Of Flight Capacity And Flight-Related Tradeoffs, Jordan R. Glass

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Animals must balance multiple, fitness-related traits in environments that are complex and characterized by co-varying factors, such as co-variation in temperature and food availability. Thus, experiments manipulating multiple environmental factors provide valuable insight into the role of the environment in shaping not only important traits (e.g., dispersal capacity or reproduction), but also trait-trait interactions (e.g., trade-offs between traits). We employed a multi-factorial design to manipulate variation in temperature (constant 28°C vs. 28±5°C daily cycle) and food availability (unlimited vs. intermittent access) throughout development in the sand field cricket, Gryllus firmus. We found that fitness-related, life-history traits and trait trade-offs can …

Neuromuscular Control Of The Calling Apparatus In The Túngara Frog (Engystomops Pustulosus), Kiran Kaur Grewal

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Male túngara frogs can add a distinctive note ("chuck”) to their mating call. Production of the chuck involves vibrating a pair of laryngeal fibrous masses that is attached to the vocal cords. The muscular control of this mechanism remains unknown. Recent studies revealed a split in the laryngeal dilator muscle, which unveiled the deep dilator as a novel laryngeal muscle with unique attachments, innervation, and (likely) function. The deep dilator may position the fibrous masses for chuck production. The goals of this study were 1) to confirm the innervation of the novel muscle through electrophysiology; and 2) to determine the …

Endocrine Responses To Repeated Adrenocorticotropic Hormone Administration In Free-Ranging Elephant, Molly Mccormley

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the physiological response of marine mammals to anthropogenic stressors can inform marine ecosystem conservation strategies. Stress stimulates release of glucocorticoid (GC) hormones, which increase energy substrate availability while suppressing energy-intensive processes. Exposure to repeated stressors can potentially affect an animal’s ability to respond to and recover from subsequent challenges. To assess the endocrine response of a marine mammal to repeated stressors, we administered adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to free-ranging juvenile northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris; n=7) once daily for four days. ACTH administration induced significant, but transient (<24 h) elevation in circulating cortisol levels (p < 0.0001). These increases did not vary in magnitude between the first ACTH challenge on day 1 and the last challenge on day 4. In contrast, aldosterone levels remained elevated above baseline for at least 24 hours after each ACTH injection (p < 0.001), and responses were greater on day 4 than day 1 (p < 0.01). Total triiodothyronine (tT3) levels were decreased on day 4 relative to day 1 (p < 0.01), while reverse triiodothyronine (rT3) concentrations increased relative to baseline on days 1 and 4 (p < 0.001) in response to ACTH, indicating a suppression of thyroid hormone secretion. There was no effect of ACTH on the sex steroid dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These results suggest that elephant seals are able to mount adrenal responses to multiple ACTH challenges. However, repeated stress results in facilitation of aldosterone secretion and suppression of tT3, which may impact osmoregulation and metabolism. We propose that aldosterone and tT3 are informative additional indicators of repeated stress in marine mammals.

Evidence That A Partner-Switching Regulatory System Modulates Hormogonium Motility In The Filamentous Cyanobacterium Nostoc Punctiforme, Kelsey Wynne Riley

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Partner-switching regulatory systems (PSRSs) are utilized by many different bacteria to regulate a wide array of cellular responses, from stress response to expression of virulence factors. The filamentous cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme can transiently differentiate motile filaments, called hormogonia, in response to various changes in the environment. Hormogonia utilize a Type IV pilus (T4P) complex in conjunction with a secreted polysaccharide for gliding motility along solid surfaces. This study identified three genes, designated hmpU, hmpW, and hmpV, encoding the protein components of a PSRS involved in regulation of hormogonium motility in N. punctiforme. Although mutant strains with in-frame deletions in hmpU, …

Crispr Genetic Editing: Paths For Christian Acceptance And Analysis Of In Vivo And In Vitro Efficiency, Mandeep Sandhu

Scripps Senior Theses

With advancements in CRISPR-cas9 broadening the potential paths for clinical usage of genetic editing, conversations about genetic editing have grown to outside simply scientific communities and into mainstream conversations. This study focuses specifically on Christian discourse of genetic editing and locates four major tensions for many Christians when they think about genetic editing: beginning of life, Creator-human relationship, imago Dei, and stewardship. With these major concerns in mind, I identify epigenetics, somatic cell genetic editing, and in vivo genetic editing research as important research paths to pursue as they can potentially produce techniques that more Christian individuals would feel comfortable …

Investigating The Ecology Of A Rare Species On St. John, Usvi: Reintroducing Solanum Conocarpum In Light Of Climate Change, Cecilia Rogers

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Approximately two thirds of St. John is National Park territory. However, the land has been threatened with tourism and development, greatly impacting island biodiversity. One species that may become extinct due to this degradation is Solanum conocarpum. S. conocarpum is a rare shrub, endemic to the dry tropical forests of St. John, USVI. This plant is a species of conservation concern and is one of very few native and endemic plants on this island. Very little is known about the ecology and reproduction of S. conocarpum. Most plants are found on the southern half of the island. Recent observations …

Lipin1 Regulates Skeletal Muscle Differentiation Through The Pkc/Hdac5/Mef2c:Myod -Mediated Pathway, Abdulrahman M. Jama

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Our previous characterization of global lipin1-deficient (fld) mice demonstrated that lipin1 played a novel role in skeletal muscle (SM) regeneration. The clinical relevance of lipin1 has been observed in patients with lipin1 null mutations where they exhibited severe rhabdomyolysis with aggregated and dysfunctional mitochondria. Lipin1 is a key gene that plays an important role in lipid biosynthesis and metabolism. It has dual functions as it contains a phosphatase activity that converts phosphatidic acid (PA) to diacylglycerol (DAG), the penultimate step in triglycerides (TAG) biosynthesis as well as transcriptional co-activator function. In the cytosol and ER, lipin1 carries out its lipid …

The Effect Of Increased Quizzing On Retention Of Material By Histology Laboratory Students, R. J. Nogrady

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In traditional approaches to teaching, examinations and quizzes have been considered secondary activities, designed to assess and motivate learning, but not generally as teaching tools in themselves (Roediger and Butler, 2011). However, abundant psychological research in laboratory settings indicates that the act of taking a quiz or examination on the material can directly enhance retention of that material in ways which are distinct from and often more effective than restudying of the material. This phenomenon is now referred to as the testing effect. The testing effect hypothesis asserts that (1) repeated retrieval attempts have a longer lasting effect on retention …

Characterizing Low Nutrient Stress Resistance In Crop Sunflowers (Helianthus Annus), Casey Croshaw

All Master's Theses

Historically agriculture has met global food production demands, but abiotic stresses are predicted to decrease crop yield in the context of climate change. In order to prevent losses in crop yield under conditions of increasing environmental stress and to reduce environmental damage from unsustainable farming practices, improvements must be made in crop breeding and bioengineering. However, these improvements require insight into the mechanisms of abiotic stress resistance. In this study, 60 different genetic sunflower (Helianthus annuus) lines were grown in the field under fertilized and unfertilized treatments to assess phenotypic traits associated with low nutrient stress resistance. Sunflowers …

Distribution And Stability Of The Lampricide 3-Trifluoromethyl-4-Nitrophenol (Tfm) In Non-Target Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) And White Sucker (Catostomus Commersonii), Darren Foubister

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The lampricide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) is applied to tributaries of the Great Lakes to control invasive sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus). Although TFM is selectively toxic to larval sea lampreys, non-target mortality can occur during lampricide treatments. It is important to know whether or not TFM played a role in the death of these fishes, and the most direct means to do this is using forensic science principles. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine the acute toxicity of TFM to the non-target fishes, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and white sucker (Catostomus commersonii), and how the lampricide is …

Lonicera Maackii Alters Decay Dynamics Of Coarse Woody Debris, Michaela J. Woods

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Since industrialization, anthropogenic carbon emissions have led to excess atmospheric carbon dioxide that may alter the stability of ecosystem processes. Microorganisms are essential in mitigating excess carbon and play a notable role in the breakdown of organic material. This process, decomposition, is essential in forested ecosystems where microorganisms can recycle nutrients and store carbon in soil organic matter or release it through respiration. Fungi participate in decomposition through the release of enzymes responsible for carrying out the chemical reactions that break down plant material. Species introductions have the potential to alter decomposition dynamics. In the Midwestern US, the invasive shrub …

Osmotic Activation Of Sperm Motility Via Water Flow Through Aquaporins In The Freeze-Tolerant Cope's Gray Treefrog, Dryophytes Chrysoscelis, Deja Miller

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Gametes of gray treefrogs, Dryophytes chrysoscelis, are deposited into freshwater ponds. Sperm undergo spermatogenesis and maturation beginning in the seminiferous tubules and migrating to the lumen. In mammals and fishes, these cells are immotile within the isosmotic fluid of the testes and have motility activated by exposure to a hyper- or hypoosmotic medium. Water flows into or out of the sperm cell, altering intracellular ionic concentrations, and ultimately stimulates flagellar movement. We tested the hypothesis that exposure to a hypotonic environment activates motility of gray treefrog sperm. We also hypothesized that osmotic water uptake is facilitated by expression of water …

Low-Impact Yoga Improves Flexibility, But Has No Effect On Heart Rate Variability In Sedentary Adult Women, Lauren Marie Shafer

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Heart disease is the leading cause of death among adults in the United States and more than 600,000 people per year die when the condition goes untreated. Many cardiovascular maladies, such as high blood pressure and heart disease, can be markedly improved with lifestyle changes, including eating a healthy diet and regular exercise. In this study, 15 sedentary adult women (aged 19-63 years) participated in a prescribed 12-week yoga program. Electrocardiography was used to measure Heart Rate Variability, a tool that assesses autonomic tone on the heart. Autonomic nervous system activity is assessed at VLF, LF, and HF spectral components. …

Monitoring Ohio Bat Communities And Populations Using Mobile Acoustics, Molly C. Simonis

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The goal of my thesis is to: 1) provide baseline information of where Ohio bats are foraging in Wright State University's (WSU) campus woods in relation to forest age and habitat (Chapter 1), 2) determine potential roost availability for local bats (Chapter 1), and 3) examine changes in state-wide species composition following the introduction of White-nose Syndrome (WNS; Chapter 2). In Chapter 1, I created walking bat acoustic routes and used generalized linear models to determine what forest ages and habitats had the greatest bat activity in the WSU campus woods. I conducted habitat transects throughout all forest ages to …