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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Ecology And Diversity Of Boletes Of The Southeastern United States, Arian Farid Nov 2021

Ecology And Diversity Of Boletes Of The Southeastern United States, Arian Farid

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The boletes are conspicuous stipito-pileate macrofungi that are generally defined by their tubulose hymenophores. Molecular phylogenetic analyses have informed extensive taxonomic revisions across the boletes. Despite this, the boletes in the southeastern USA have been largely absent from the literature. This dissertation seeks to understand the microbiome inhabiting the tuberculate ectomycorrhizae of the bolete Hemileccinum rubropunctum, and addresses taxonomic revisions of boletes found in the Boletaceae and Suillaceae. The introduction provides a brief background on boletes, as well as our understanding of tuberculate ectomycorrhizae. The second chapter seeks to understand the composition of the microbiome tuberculate ectomycorrhizae of H. rubropunctum …


Genetic Structuring And Community Assembly In Neotropical Birds, Oscar Johnson Nov 2021

Genetic Structuring And Community Assembly In Neotropical Birds, Oscar Johnson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The factors that influence how species form is of fundamental interest to biology. Under the framework of the speciation cycle, the process begins by population subdivision creating structured populations that then diverge until two new species form. Following speciation, however, continued divergence is necessary for these new species to be able to coexist without adverse interactions, known as the transition to secondary sympatry. At this point the speciation cycle is complete and the process can begin anew. Many of the factors influencing these processes remain poorly understood. Here, I explore the factors that influence speciation and community assembly in Neotropical …


The Evolutionary History Of Camelina Crantz (Brassicaceae) And Domestication Of The Biofuel Crop, C. Sativa (L.) Crantz, Jordan Brock Aug 2021

The Evolutionary History Of Camelina Crantz (Brassicaceae) And Domestication Of The Biofuel Crop, C. Sativa (L.) Crantz, Jordan Brock

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The mustard family, Brassicaceae, is a large and economically important group of plants comprising ~350 genera and ~4060 species. Within the family, one genus, Camelina, has been neglected and nearly forgotten until recent decades. This genus comprises between 7 – 9 species, and includes Camelina sativa, an ancient oilseed crop cultivated for thousands of years in Europe. An allohexaploid, C. sativa contains high levels of omega-3 fatty acids and a seed oil composition amenable for production of aviation jet fuel. With a short generation time and ability to be cultivated on marginal soils with few inputs, C. sativa is set …


Comparative Genomics Methods And Applications, Emily N. Alden Jul 2021

Comparative Genomics Methods And Applications, Emily N. Alden

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Virtually all fields of biology have benefited from the advancements in comparative genomics technologies, specifically in the study of evolution. In this dissertation I develop and use comparative genomic technologies to investigate the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus, assembly the first genome of the black lace domestic angelfish and identify germline genetic variants associated with altered breast cancer-specific survival. Our genome tiling array for the novel coronavirus presents a rapid and cost-effective method to sequence the entire viral genome and can be used to track the rapid evolution of viral variants in the population. The domestic angelfish is a member of the …


From Psychology To Phylogeny: Bridging Levels Of Analysis In Cultural Evolution, Mason Youngblood Jun 2021

From Psychology To Phylogeny: Bridging Levels Of Analysis In Cultural Evolution, Mason Youngblood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cultural evolution, or change in the socially learned behavior of a population over time, is a fascinating phenomenon that is widespread in humans and present in some non-human animals. In this dissertation, I present an array of cultural evolutionary studies that bridge pattern and process in a wide range of research models including music, extremism, and birdsong. The first chapter is an introduction to the field of cultural evolution, including a bibliometric analysis of its structure. The second and third chapters are studies on the cultural dynamics of music sampling traditions in hip-hop and electronic music communities and far-right extremism …


Dynamics Of Hybrid Zones At A Continental Scale, Bradley T. Martin May 2021

Dynamics Of Hybrid Zones At A Continental Scale, Bradley T. Martin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hybridization has traditionally been viewed as a happenstance that negatively impacts populations, but is now recognized as an important evolutionary mechanism that can substantially impact the evolutionary trajectories of gene pools, influence adaptive capacity, and contravene or reinforce divergence. Physiographic processes are important drivers of dispersal, alternately funneling populations into isolation, promoting divergence, or facilitating secondary contact of diverged populations, increasing the potential for hybridization. In North America, glacial-interglacial cycles and geomorphological changes have provided a dynamic backdrop over the last two million years that promoted such oscillations of population contraction and expansion. These biogeographic processes have resulted in regional …


Identification And Sequence Analysis Of Set Superfamily Genes In Hymenopteran Insects, Tanima Joshi Jan 2021

Identification And Sequence Analysis Of Set Superfamily Genes In Hymenopteran Insects, Tanima Joshi

Scripps Senior Theses

Post-translational chemical modifications of histones, the proteins that package DNA, are a key component of the “language” of epigenetics. SET (Suppressor of Variegation 39, Enhancer of Zeste, Trithorax) domain-containing proteins are crucial enzymes that establish histone methylations as a major part of the histone code. Studies using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model organism have provided most of the known information on SET genes/protein diversity and function in insects. To expand our knowledge of this important protein family, I identified all SET domain-containing genes in a select group of insects belonging to the Hymenoptera order: wasps, bees, ants, …


Genome-Wide Characterization Of Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain Genes In Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.), Saleh M. Aljurbua Jan 2021

Genome-Wide Characterization Of Lateral Organ Boundaries Domain Genes In Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus L.), Saleh M. Aljurbua

Masters Theses

Lateral Organ Boundaries (LBD) gene family encodes transcription factors found only in plants with essential roles in growth, development, and response to biotic and abiotic factors. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus L., Asteraceae family) LBD genes were studied using different in silico and phylogenetic approaches including four major steps: gene identification, phylogenic analysis, structural analysis, and expression analysis. Sixty-four sunflower LBD genes (HaLBDs) were identified using query search of all Arabidopsis LBD genes against sunflower genome (version r1.2) followed by LBD domain sequence verification. A phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using MEGA-X program. The identified genes were phylogenetically classified into two main …