Life Sciences Commons^™

Limnological Assistance For Lake Mead National Recreation Area: Quarterly Report, Period Ending December 31, 2011, Margaret N. Rees

Limnological Studies

Project 1

• Technical assistance with the implementation of the Interagency Monitoring Action Plan (IMAP) for Quagga Mussels is ongoing; remaining analyses are underway with report delivery rescheduled for 05/2012.
• Data have been delivered for Veliger abundance and settlement at different depths of Lake Mead with report delivery re-scheduled for 05/2012.
• Growth of adult quagga mussels within Las Vegas Wash/Las Vegas Bay
• The Interagency Quagga Mussel Meeting was held on 11/17/2011; the next meeting is scheduled for 02/16/2011.

Project 2

• Appendix 7, an addition to the Long-term Limnological and Aquatic Resource Monitoring and Research Plan for Lakes Mead and Mohave, has …

Occurrence Of The Invasion Associated Marker (Iam) In Campylobacter Jejuni Isolated From Cattle, Yasser M. Sanad, Issmat I. Kassem, Zhe Liu, Jun Lin, Jeffrey T. Lejeune, Gireesh Rajashekara

Animal Science Publications and Other Works

Background

The invasion associated marker (iam) has been detected in the majority of invasive Campylobacter jejuni retrieved from humans. Furthermore, the detection of iam in C. jejuni isolated from two important hosts, humans and chickens, suggested a role for this marker in C. jejuni's colonization of multiple hosts. However, no data exist regarding the occurrence of this marker in C. jejuni isolated from non-poultry food-animals such as cattle, an increasingly important source for human infections. Since little is known about the genetics associated with C. jejuni's capability for colonizing physiologically disparate hosts, we investigated the occurrence …

Enhanced Microbial Utilization Of Recalcitrant Cellulose By An Ex Vivo Cellulosome-Microbe Complex, Chun You, Xiao-Zhou Zhang, Noppadon Sathitsuksanoh, Lee R. Lynd

Dartmouth Scholarship

A cellulosome-microbe complex was assembled ex vivo on the surface of Bacillus subtilis displaying a miniscaffoldin that can bind with three dockerin-containing cellulase components: the endoglucanase Cel5, the processive endoglucanase Cel9, and the cellobiohydrolase Cel48. The hydrolysis performances of the synthetic cellulosome bound to living cells, the synthetic cellulosome, a noncomplexed cellulase mixture with the same catalytic components, and a commercial fungal enzyme mixture were investigated on low-accessibility recalcitrant Avicel and high accessibility regenerated amorphous cellulose (RAC). The cellbound cellulosome exhibited 4.5- and 2.3-fold-higher hydrolysis ability than cell-free cellulosome on Avicel and RAC, respectively. The cellulosome-microbe synergy was not completely …

Spt5 Affects The Rate Of Mrna Degradation And Physically Interacts With Ccr4 But Does Not Control Mrna Deadenylation, Yajun Cui, Yueh-Chin Chiang, Palaniswamy Viswanathan, Darren J. Lee, Clyde L. Denis

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

The CCR4-NOT complex has been shown to have multiple roles in mRNA metabolism, including that of transcriptional elongation, mRNA transport, and nuclear exosome function, but the primary function of CCR4 and CAF1 is in the deadenylation and degradation of cytoplasmic mRNA. As previous genetic analysis supported an interaction between SPT5, known to be involved in transcriptional elongation, and that of CCR4, the physical association of SPT5 with CCR4 was examined. A two-hybrid screen utilizing the deadenylase domain of CCR4 as a bait identified SPT5 as a potential interacting protein. SPT5 at its physiological concentration was shown to immunoprecipitate CCR4 and …

Thermal Adaptation And Diversity In Tropical Ecosystems: Evidence From Cicadas (Hemiptera, Cicadidae), Allen F. Sanborn, James E. Heath, Polly K. Phillips, Maxine S. Heath, Fernando G. Noriega

Department of Biological Sciences

The latitudinal gradient in species diversity is a central problem in ecology. Expeditions covering approximately 16u549 of longitude and 21u49 of latitude and eight Argentine phytogeographic regions provided thermal adaptation data for 64 species of cicadas. We test whether species diversity relates to the diversity of thermal environments within a habitat. There are general patterns of the thermal response values decreasing in cooler floristic provinces and decreasing maximum potential temperature within a habitat except in tropical forest ecosystems. Vertical stratification of the plant communities leads to stratification in species using specific layers of the habitat. There is a decrease in …

Natural Variation In Gestational Cortisol Is Associated With Patterns Of Growth In Marmoset Monkeys (Callithrix Geoffroyi), Aaryn C. Mustoe, Andrew K. Birnie, Andrew V. Korgan, Jonathan Bruce Santo, Jeffrey French

Psychology Faculty Publications

High levels of prenatal cortisol have been previously reported to retard fetal growth. Although cortisol plays a pivotal role in prenatal maturation, heightened exposure to cortisol can result in lower body weights at birth, which have been shown to be associated with adult diseases like hypertension and cardiovascular disease. This study examines the relationship between natural variation in gestational cortisol and fetal and postnatal growth in marmoset monkeys. Urinary samples obtained during the mother’s gestation were analyzed for cortisol. Marmoset body mass index (BMI) was measured from birth through 540 days in 30- or 60-day intervals. Multi-level modeling was used …

Transcriptomic Profiles Of Peripheral White Blood Cells In Type Ii Diabetes And Racial Differences In Expression Profiles, Jinghe Mao, Junmei Ai, Xinchun Zhou, Ming Shenwu, Manuel Ong Jr., Marketta Blue, Jasmine T. Washington, Xiaonan Wang, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

Background: Along with obesity, physical inactivity, and family history of metabolic disorders, African American ethnicity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States. However, little is known about the differences in gene expression and transcriptomic profiles of blood in T2D between African Americans (AA) and Caucasians (CAU), and microarray analysis of peripheral white blood cells (WBCs) from these two ethnic groups will facilitate our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism in T2D and identify genetic biomarkers responsible for the disparities.

Results: A whole human genome oligomicroarray of peripheral WBCs was performed on 144 …

Morpholino Gene Knockdown In Adult Fundulus Heteroclitus: Role Of Sgk1 In Seawater Acclimation, Emily G. Notch, Joseph R. Shaw, Bonita A. Coutermarsh, Marisa Dzioba, Bruce A. Stanton

Dartmouth Scholarship

The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is an environmental sentinel organism used extensively for studies on environmental toxicants and salt (NaCl) homeostasis. Previous research in our laboratory has shown that rapid acclimation of killifish to seawater is mediated by trafficking of CFTR chloride channels from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane in the opercular membrane within the first hour in seawater, which enhances chloride secretion into seawater, thereby contributing to salt homeostasis. Acute transition to seawater is also marked by an increase in both mRNA and protein levels of serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1) within 15 minutes of transfer. …

Pentachlorophenol Decreases Tumor-Cell-Binding Capacity And Cell-Surface Protein Expression Of Human Natural Killer Cells, Tasia Hurd, Jasmine Walker, Margaret M. Whalen

Chemistry Faculty Research

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is an organochlorine pesticide that decreases the tumor-cell killing (lytic) function of human natural killer (NK) cells. NK cells defend against tumor cells and virally infected cells. They bind to these targets, utilizing a variety of cell-surface proteins. This study examined concentrations of PCP that decrease lytic function for alteration of NK binding to tumor targets. Levels of PCP that caused loss of binding function were then examined for effects on expression of cell-surface proteins needed for binding. Exposure to 10 µm PCP for 24 h (which caused a greater than 70% loss of lytic function) decreased NK …

A Shared Gene Expression Signature In Mouse Models Of Ebv-Associated And Non-Ebv-Associated Burkitt Lymphoma, Kathryn T. Bieging, Kamonwan Fish, Subbarao Bondada, Richard Longnecker

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

The link between EBV infection and Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is strong, but the mechanism underlying that link has been elusive. We have developed a mouse model for EBV-associated BL in which LMP2A, an EBV latency protein, and MYC are expressed in B cells. Our model has demonstrated the ability of LMP2A to accelerate tumor onset, increase spleen size, and bypass p53 inactivation. Here we describe the results of total gene expression analysis of tumor and pretumor B cells from our transgenic mouse model. Although we see many phenotypic differences and changes in gene expression in pretumor B cells, the transcriptional …

Effects Of Dairy Consumption On Sirt1 And Mitochondrial Biogenesis In Adipocytes And Muscle Cells, Antje Bruckbauer, Michael B. Zemel

Nutrition Publications and Other Works

Background

Recent data from this laboratory suggest that components of dairy foods may serve as activators of SIRT1 (Silent Information Regulator Transcript 1), and thereby participate in regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. In this study, an ex-vivo/in-vitro approach was used to examine the integrated effects of dairy diets on SIRT1 activation in two key target tissues (adipose and muscle tissue).

Methods

Serum from overweight and obese subjects fed low or high dairy diets for 28 days was added to culture medium (similar to conditioned media) to treat cultured adipocytes and muscle cells for 48 hours.

Results

Treatment with high …

Reverse Protection Assay: A Tool To Analyze Transcriptional Rates From Individual Promoters, Yan O. Zubo, Victor V. Kusnetsov, Thomas Börner, Karsten Liere

Dartmouth Scholarship

Transcriptional activity of entire genes in chloroplasts is usually assayed by run-on analyses. To determine not only the overall intensity of transcription of a gene, but also the rate of transcription from a particular promoter, we created the Reverse RNase Protection Assay (RePro): in-organello run-on transcription coupled to RNase protection to define distinct transcript ends during transcription. We demonstrate successful application of RePro in plastid promoter analysis and transcript 3' end processing.

The Murine Caecal Microrna Signature Depends On The Presence Of The Endogenous Microbiota, Natasha Singh, Elize A. Shirdel, Levi Waldron, Regan-Heng Zhang, Igor Jurisica, Elena M. Comelli

Publications and Research

The intestinal messenger RNA expression signature is affected by the presence and compo-sition of the endogenous microbiota, with effects on host physiology. The intestine is also characterized by a distinctive micronome. However, it is not known if microbes also impact intestinal gene expression epigenetically. We investigated if the murine caecal microRNA expression signature depends on the presence of the microbiota, and the potential implica-tions of this interaction on intestinal barrier function. Three hundred and thirty four mi-croRNAs were detectable in the caecum of germ-free and conventional male mice and 16 were differentially expressed, with samples from the two groups clustering …

Satellite Evidence For A Large Source Of Formic Acid From Boreal And Tropical Forests, T Stavrakou, J F. Muller, J Peeters, A Razavi, L Clarisse, C Clerbaux, P Coheur, D Hurtmans, M De Maziere, C Vigouroux, Nicholas Deutscher, David Griffith, Nicholas Jones, Clare Paton-Walsh

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Formic acid contributes significantly to acid rain in remote environments1, 2. Direct sources of formic acid include human activities, biomass burning and plant leaves. Aside from these direct sources, sunlight-induced oxidation of non-methane hydrocarbons (largely of biogenic origin) is probably the largest source3, 4. However, model simulations substantially underpredict atmospheric formic acid levels5, 6, 7, indicating that not all sources have been included in the models. Here, we use satellite measurements of formic acid concentrations to constrain model simulations of the global formic acid budget. According to our simulations, 100–120 Tg of formic acid is produced annually, which is two …

Rational Design Of Pathogen-Mimicking Amphiphilic Materials As Nanoadjuvants, Bret D. Ulery, Latrisha K. Petersen, Yashdeep Phanse, Chang Sun Kong, Scott R. Broderick, Devender Kumar, Amanda E. Ramer-Tait, Brenda Carrillo-Conde, Krishna Rajan, Michael J. Wannemeuhler, Bryan H. Bellaire, Dennis W. Metzger, Balaji Narasimhan

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

An opportunity exists today for cross-cutting research utilizing advances in materials science, immunology, microbial pathogenesis, and computational analysis to effectively design the next generation of adjuvants and vaccines. This study integrates these advances into a bottom-up approach for the molecular design of nanoadjuvants capable of mimicking the immune response induced by a natural infection but without the toxic side effects. Biodegradable amphiphilic polyanhydrides possess the unique ability to mimic pathogens and pathogen associated molecular patterns with respect to persisting within and activating immune cells, respectively. The molecular properties responsible for the pathogen-mimicking abilities of these materials have been identified. The …

Reactions With Platinum (Ll) Complexes And Selenium-Containing Amino Acids, Stephanie Robey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

We have reacted [Pt(Me₄en)(D₂O)₂]²⁺ [Me₄En=N,N,N’N’-tetramethylethylenediamine] with Selenomethionine (SeMet), Methionine (Met), and Methylselenocysteine (MeSeCys). When MeSeCys was reacted with [Pt(Me₄en)(D₂O)₂]²⁺, we observed both stereoisomers of Se,N chelates, as well as [Pt(Me₄en)(MeSeCys)Cl]⁺ from ­¹­H NMR Spectroscopy; the latter formed due to the presence of Cl^- in the solution. Both isomers of the chelate seemed to form proportionally to one another, not favoring a specific stereoisomer. Eventually the [Pt(Me₄en)(MeSeCys)Cl]⁺ products became Se,N chelates. We incubated SeMet with …

The First Vouchered Milliped Records For Prince Edward Island And Additional New Records From The Maritime Provinces Of Canada (Arthropoda: Diplopoda), Rowland M. Shelley, Mary E. Smith

Insecta Mundi

Four milliped species, substantiated by preserved voucher samples, are reported from Prince Edward Island, Canada. All are introduced European species that now occur widely in both Canada and the United States, and the panglobal Asian paradoxosomatid, Oxidus gracilis (C. L. Koch, 1847), is listed as probable. Choneiulus palmatus (Némec, 1895) (Julida: Blaniulidae) is newly recorded from New Brunswick, and four representatives of the Julidae are cited from Nova Scotia. Discovery of Cylindroiulus punctatus (Leach, 1815) (Julidae) in this province constitutes the second record from both Canada and North America, the other being in Newfoundland.

Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) Of Puerto Rico, West Indies, James M. Carpenter, Julio A. Genaro

Insecta Mundi

The vespid fauna of Greater Puerto Rico is reviewed (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Three new species are described, Ancistrocerus isla Carpenter, Euodynerus jeitita Carpenter and Genaro, and Omicron aridum Carpenter and Genaro. Polistes crinitus americanus (Fabricius, 1775) and P. crinitus multicolor (Olivier, 1792) are both reduced to synonyms of nominotypical P. crinitus (Felton, 1765), revised status; Zeta abdominale hispaniolae (Bequaert and Salt, 1931) and Zeta abdominale ornatum (de Saussure, 1855) are both reduced to synonyms of nominotypical Zeta abdominale (Drury, 1770), revised status; and Zethus rufinodus monensis Bohart and Stange, 1965, and Zethus rufinodus virginicus Bohart and Stange, 1965, are both reduced …

Systematic Revision Of The American Taxa Belonging To The Genera Alloblackburneus Bordat, 2009, And Blackburneus Schmidt, 1913, With Description Of Seven New Species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), Marco Dellacasa, Giovanni Dellacasa, Robert D. Gordon

Insecta Mundi

The American species belonging to the genera Alloblackburneus Bordat and Blackburneus Schmidt (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) are redescribed and figured. Seven new species are described: Alloblackburneus guadalajarae, A. ibanezbernali; Blackburneus amazonicus, B. sanfilippoi, B. surinamensis, B. teposcolulaensis, B. thomasi. The neotype of Scarabaeus rubeolus Palisot de Beauvois, 1809 is designated. The lectotype of Blackburneus argentinensis (Schmidt, 1909) and of Blackburneus laxepunctatus (Schmidt, 1910) are designated. The following new combinations are proposed: Alloblackburneus aegrotus (Horn, 1870); Alloblackburneus cavidomus (Brown, 1927); Alloblackburneus cynomysi (Brown, 1927); Alloblackburneus fordi (Gordon, 1974); Alloblackburneus geomysi (Cartwright, 1939); Alloblackburneus lentus (Horn, 1870); Alloblackburneus rubeolus (Palisot de Beauvois, …

Discrimination And Aggregative Patterns Among And Between Populations Of Entamoeba Spp., Katelyn M. Higgins

Honors Theses

Kin recognition facilitates the evolution of cooperation in animals, but its relevance in microorganisms and their behavior toward relatives remains unclear. The Entamoeba lineage constitutes an ideal model to determine the behavioral and signaling cues needed for aggregative preference. Chemical cues have been reported for E. histolytica but not E. dispar, suggesting cell-communication between con-specifics and behavioral differences with relevance for disease. Entamoeba varieties have been reported as ‘morphologically undistinguishable’. Two strains of E. invadens have been isolated from different hosts (VK-1: NS - Varanus komodoensis and IP1- serpentes) but were classified within the same ‘species’. Trophozoites …

Son Maintains Accurate Splicing For A Subset Of Human Pre-Mrnas, Alok Sharma, Michael P. Markey, Keshia Torres-Munoz, Sapna Varia, Madhavi P. Kadakia, Athanasios Bubulya, Paula A. Bubulya

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Serine-arginine-rich (SR) proteins play a key role in alternative pre-mRNA splicing in eukaryotes. We recently showed that a large SR protein called Son has unique repeat motifs that are essential for maintaining the subnuclear organization of pre-mRNA processing factors in nuclear speckles. Motif analysis of Son highlights putative RNA interaction domains that suggest a direct role for Son in pre-mRNA splicing. Here, we used in situ approaches to show that Son localizes to a reporter minigene transcription site, and that RNAi-mediated Son depletion causes exon skipping on reporter transcripts at this transcription site. A genome-wide exon microarray analysis was performed …

Does Weather Or Site Characteristics Influence The Ability Of Scavengers To Locate Food?, Rebekah E. Ruzicka, Michael R. Conover

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Olfactory predators and scavengers rely on odors to locate food, and they forage primarily at night. We hypothesized that weather (e.g. wind speed, humidity, and temperature), vegetation, and landscape features affect the dissipation of odors in the atmosphere and, thus, impact the foraging efficiency of olfactory predators. We tested this hypothesis by assessing what conditions were correlated with the persistence of bait along the dike surrounding Willard Bay Reservoir, Utah. We distributed 124 chicken eggs and 199 dead European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) as bait over 21 separate occasions spanning from May 21, 2009, to August 18, 2009. We used timers …

Synergistic Roles Of Eukaryotic Translation Elongation Factors 1bγ And 1a In Stimulation Of Tombusvirus Minus-Strand Synthesis, Zsuzsanna Sasvari, Lara Izotova, Terri Goss Kinzy, Peter D. Nagy

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Host factors are recruited into viral replicase complexes to aid replication of plus-strand RNA viruses. In this paper, we show that deletion of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1Bgamma (eEF1Bγ) reduces Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) replication in yeast host. Also, knock down of eEF1Bγ level in plant host decreases TBSV accumulation. eEF1Bγ binds to the viral RNA and is one of the resident host proteins in the tombusvirus replicase complex. Additional in vitro assays with whole cell extracts prepared from yeast strains lacking eEF1Bγ demonstrated its role in minus-strand synthesis by opening of the structured 3' end of the viral …

Reproducible Hairy Root Transformation And Spot-Inoculation Methods To Study Root Symbioses Of Pea, Scott R. Clemow, Lindsey Clairmont, Lene H. Madsen, Frédérique C. Guinel

Biology Faculty Publications

Pea has lagged behind other model legumes in the molecular study of nodulation and mycorrhizae-formation because of the difficulty to transform its roots and its poor growth on agar plates. Here we describe for pea 1) a transformation technique which permits the complementation of two known non-nodulating pea mutants, 2) a rhizobial inoculation method which allows the study of early cellular events giving rise to nodule primordia, and 3) a targeted fungal inoculation method which allows us to study short segments of mycorrhizal roots assured to be infected. These tools are certain to advance our knowledge of pea root symbioses.

W263 Small Business Seminars: Promoting Economic Development Through A Community Of Support For Small Business, Amanda Mathenia, Michael Wilcox, Creig Kimbro, Alan Barefield

Marketing, Finances and Value-Added Agriculture

No abstract provided.

The Direct Role Of Enzyme Hydrolysis On Ammonium Regeneration Rates In Estuarine Sediments, Afonso C. Souza, Tamara K. Pease, Wayne S. Gardner

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Benthic ammonium (NH4 +) regeneration in coastal marine sediments has a fundamental role in nitrogen (N) cycling and N supply to primary producers. Nitrogen regeneration involves benthic microbial mineralization of organic-N, which, in turn, depends on protein hydrolysis. These processes were examined in Aransas Bay (Texas, USA) sediments by monitoring NH4 + evolution as a function of enzyme activity in controlled sediment slurries. Casein and tannic acid were added to evaluate the direct role of aminopeptidase on NH4 + production and the effects of a polyphenolic enzyme inhibitor, respectively. Casein additions increased the NH4 + concentration from 19 ± 0.3 …

Fine Roots Of Aspen Clones In High Salt And Petroleum Hydrocarbon Pollution, Kim Yrjälä, Ivika Ostonen, Shinjini Mukherjee, Timo Sipila, Lu-Min Vaario, Pertti Pulkkinen

Aspen Bibliography

The quality of polluted soil can much be improved and the environmental risks reduced by use of phytoremediation. Harmful hydrocarbon compounds can be degraded through the activity of plant and its associated microbes. We previously showed that PAHs increase aromatic ring-cleavage gene diversity in rhizosphere of birch (Sipilä et al. 2008, Yrjälä et al. 2010a) and the rhizosphere of aspen harbors Burkholderia bacteria able to degrade aromatics (Yrjälä et al. 2010b). The results are promising for successful remediation of polluted soils with woody plants. The aim of our studies is to elucidate the response of the plant and the associated …

F394 Soil And Media Information Sheet, Debbie Joines

Field & Commercial Crops

No abstract provided.

Distinct Peripheral Blood Rna Responses To Salmonella In Pigs Differing In Salmonella Shedding Levels: Intersection Of Ifng, Tlr And Mirna Pathways, Ting-Hua Huang, Jolita J. Uthe, Shawn M. D. Bearson, Cumhur Yusuf Demirkale, Dan Nettleton, Susan Knetter, Curtis Christian, Amanda Ramer-Tait, Michael J. Wannemuehler, Christopher K. Tuggle

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Transcriptomic analysis of the response to bacterial pathogens has been reported for several species, yet few studies have investigated the transcriptional differences in whole blood in subjects that differ in their disease response phenotypes. Salmonella species infect many vertebrate species, and pigs colonized with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (ST) are usually asymptomatic, making detection of these Salmonella-carrier pigs difficult. The variable fecal shedding of Salmonella is an important cause of foodborne illness and zoonotic disease. To investigate gene pathways and biomarkers associated with the variance in Salmonella shedding following experimental inoculation, we initiated the first analysis of the whole …

Modeling Protein Expression And Protein Signaling Pathways, Donatello Telesca, Peter Muller, Steven Kornblau, Marc Suchard, Yuan Ji

COBRA Preprint Series

High-throughput functional proteomic technologies provide a way to quantify the expression of proteins of interest. Statistical inference centers on identifying the activation state of proteins and their patterns of molecular interaction formalized as dependence structure. Inference on dependence structure is particularly important when proteins are selected because they are part of a common molecular pathway. In that case inference on dependence structure reveals properties of the underlying pathway. We propose a probability model that represents molecular interactions at the level of hidden binary latent variables that can be interpreted as indicators for active versus inactive states of the proteins. The …