Life Sciences Commons^™

Cross Amplification Of Microsatellite Loci Developed For Atractosteus Spatula In Atractosteus Tropicus, Sandra Bohn, Enrique Barraza, Caleb Mcmahan, Brian Kreiser

Faculty Publications

Due to recent population declines in tropical gar (Atractosteus tropicus), a greater understanding of its population structure is needed. A key step in gaining this understanding is the development of microsatellite loci for use in this species. For this purpose, 33 microsatellite loci from alligator gar (A. spatula) were screened in 52 individuals from a population in Zanjón del Chino, El Salvador. Twenty-five of these loci successfully amplified in this species, and 9 of those loci were polymorphic in this population. These loci should provide a useful tool for genotyping A. tropicus, both in studying …

Connecting The Dots: Understanding Migration In The Context Of Other Periods Of The Annual Cycle, Kristina Lee Paxton

Dissertations

Migration is a fundamental characteristic of the life history of many organisms. Large-scale seasonal movements expose migratory species to an array of differing environmental conditions such that the ecology, behavior, and life history strategies of migratory species must balance selection pressures associated with each phase of the annual cycle. Therefore, scientists increasingly realize that to understand the ecology of a migratory species in any one phase of the annual cycle requires an understanding of how other phases may interact with and influence the period of interest. That said, following individuals throughout the year poses a serious challenge.

The focus of …

The Status Of Plethodon Ainsworthi Lazell: Extinct, Extant, Or Nonexistent?, John G. Himes, David C. Beckett

Faculty Publications

Plethodon ainsworthi Lazell was described as a new species in the slimy salamander (Plethodon glutinosus [Northern Slimy Salamander]) complex from two specimens collected in Jasper County, MS, in 1964. Prior to their designation as the type and paratype of the newly described species in 1998, both specimens were presumably stored in strong formalin for 26 years and thus were in poor condition. Plethodon ainsworthi is distinguished from the sympatric Plethodon mississippi (Mississippi Slimy Salamander) by a more attenuated body, as evidenced by a higher snout-vent length (SVL)/head width (HW) ratio, and shorter limbs. Despite numerous searches between 1991 and …

Age, Growth, Mortality, And The Effects Of Trawling On Mortality Of The Longspine Porgy, Stenotomus Caprinus, Cher Marie Newman

Master's Theses

Stenotomus caprinus (Longspine Porgy) is one of the most abundant bycatch species caught in trawl fisheries in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Biological data of length, weight, and abundance have been collected since 1972 on the Southeast Area Monitoring and Assessment Program (SEAMAP) surveys with a variety of GOM species, including Longspine Porgy, using trawl nets during groundfish surveys. In 2010-2011 five Longspine Porgy were obtained from Groundfish and Pelagic surveys at each station for further analysis. Age distribution was determined through von Bertalanffy length and weight-age models. The samples were separated into two regions of the GOM to …

Assessing Respiration Rates And Nutrient Dynamics Of Aritifical Reef Biofilms And Bacterioplankton In The Mississippi Sound, Lynn Elizabeth Wilking

Master's Theses

Artificial reefs are primarily used to provide a suitable habitat for target fish populations, but the structures can also improve water quality and benefit non-target organisms. Laboratory incubation experiments were conducted in the presence of biofilm on rubble and in its absence to examine bacterial growth, community respiration, and nutrient dynamics at four artificial reef habitats in the Mississippi Sound. Biofilm samples were also collected from settlement plates deployed at each site and were analyzed for 813C and 81sN stable isotope content. Respiration rates were always higher in the presence of biofilm but bacterial abundance often declined over time, and …

Racial Differences In Self-Efficacy Expectations For Exercise, Selena P. Smith

Honors Theses

This project examined the link between race and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy pertains to an individual’s confidence in ability to complete or engage in a particular task or activity (Bandura, 1986). Prior research shows that self-efficacy has a great influence on exercise initiation and adherence (Bandura, 1986; Dishman, 1982; Rodgers and Sullivan, 2001). Research also supports that Caucasians are more likely to participate in exercise than African Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000).

Participants included 51 females, 31 Caucasians and 20 African Americans, between the ages of 18 and 50 years old. The women were recruited from local fitness gyms, …

Knockdown Of Selenocysteine-Specific Elongation Factor In Amblyomma Maculatum Alters The Pathogen Burden Of Rickettsia Parkeri With Epigenetic Control By The Sin3 Histone Deacetylase Corepressor Complex, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Khemraj Budachetri, José M.C. Ribeiro, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Selenocysteine is the 21st naturally-occurring amino acid. Selenoproteins have diverse functions and many remain uncharacterized, but they are typically associated with antioxidant activity. The incorporation of selenocysteine into the nascent polypeptide chain recodes the TGA stop codon and this process depends upon a number of essential factors including the selenocysteine elongation factor (SEF). The transcriptional expression of SEF did not change significantly in tick midguts throughout the blood meal, but decreased in salivary glands to 20% at the end of the fast feeding phase. Since selenoprotein translation requires this specialized elongation factor, we targeted this gene for knockdown by RNAi …

Morphological Divergence And Flow-Induced Phenotypic Plasticity In A Native Fish From Anthropogenically Altered Stream Habitats, Nathan R. Franssen, Laura K. Stewart, Jacob F. Schaefer

Faculty Publications

Understanding population-level responses to human-induced changes to habitats can elucidate the evolutionary consequences of rapid habitat alteration. Reservoirs constructed on streams expose stream fishes to novel selective pressures in these habitats. Assessing the drivers of trait divergence facilitated by these habitats will help identify evolutionary and ecological consequences of reservoir habitats. We tested for morphological divergence in a stream fish that occupies both stream and reservoir habitats. To assess contributions of genetic-level differences and phenotypic plasticity induced by flow variation, we spawned and reared individuals from both habitats types in flow and no flow conditions. Body shape significantly and consistently …

The Glucose Signaling Network In Yeast, Jeong-Ho Kim, Adhiraj Roy, David Jouandot Ii, Kyu Hong Cho

Faculty Publications

Background

Most cells possess a sophisticated mechanism for sensing glucose and responding to it appropriately. Glucose sensing and signaling in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae represent an important paradigm for understanding how extracellular signals lead to changes in the gene expression program in eukaryotes.

Scope of review

This review focuses on the yeast glucose sensing and signaling pathways that operate in a highly regulated and cooperative manner to bring about glucose-induction of HXT gene expression.

Major conclusions

The yeast cells possess a family of glucose transporters (HXTs), with different kinetic properties. They employ three major glucose signaling pathways—Rgt2/Snf3, …

Differential Reconstructed Gene Interaction Networks For Deriving Toxicity Threshold In Chemical Risk Assessment, Yi Yang, Andrew Maxwell, Xiaowei Zhang, Nan Wang, Edward J. Perkins, Chaoyang Zhang, Ping Gong

Faculty Publications

Background: Pathway alterations reflected as changes in gene expression regulation and gene interaction can result from cellular exposure to toxicants. Such information is often used to elucidate toxicological modes of action. From a risk assessment perspective, alterations in biological pathways are a rich resource for setting toxicant thresholds, which may be more sensitive and mechanism-informed than traditional toxicity endpoints. Here we developed a novel differential networks (DNs) approach to connect pathway perturbation with toxicity threshold setting.

Methods: Our DNs approach consists of 6 steps: time-series gene expression data collection, identification of altered genes, gene interaction network reconstruction, differential …

Molecular Characterization Of Tick Salivary Gland Glutaminyl Cyclase, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Chien-Chung Chao, Robert C. Bateman Jr., Wei-Mei Ching, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Glutaminyl cyclase (QC) catalyzes the cyclization of N-terminal glutamine residues into pyroglutamate. This post-translational modification extends the half-life of peptides and, in some cases, is essential in binding to their cognate receptor. Due to its potential role in the post-translational modification of tick neuropeptides, we report the molecular, biochemical and physiological characterization of salivary gland QC during the prolonged blood feeding of the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the gulf-coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum). QC sequences from I. scapularis and A. maculatum showed a high degree of amino acid identity to each other and other arthropods and …

Penetration Of Uv-Visible Solar Radiation In The Global Oceans: Insights From Ocean Color Remote Sensing, Zhongping Lee, Chuanmin Hu, Shaoling Shang, Keping Du, Marlon Lewis, Robert Arnone, Robert Brewin

Faculty Publications

Penetration of solar radiation in the ocean is determined by the attenuation coefficient (K-d()). Following radiative transfer theory, K-d is a function of angular distribution of incident light and water's absorption and backscattering coefficients. Because these optical products are now generated routinely from satellite measurements, it is logical to evolve the empirical K-d to a semianalytical K-d that is not only spectrally flexible, but also the sun-angle effect is accounted for explicitly. Here, the semianalytical model developed in Lee et al. (2005b) is revised to account for the shift of phase function between molecular and particulate scattering from the short …

Jellyfish Body Plans Provide Allometric Advantages Beyond Low Carbon Content, Kylie A. Pitt, Carlos M. Duarte, Cathy H. Lucas, Kelly R. Sutherland, Robert H. Condon, Hermes Mianzan, Jennifer E. Purcell, Kelly L. Robinson, Shin-Ichi Uye

Faculty Publications

Jellyfish form spectacular blooms throughout the world's oceans. Jellyfish body plans are characterised by high water and low carbon contents which enables them to grow much larger than non-gelatinous animals of equivalent carbon content and to deviate from non-gelatinous pelagic animals when incorporated into allometric relationships. Jellyfish have, however, been argued to conform to allometric relationships when carbon content is used as the metric for comparison. Here we test the hypothesis that differences in allometric relationships for several key functional parameters remain for jellyfish even after their body sizes are scaled to their carbon content. Data on carbon and nitrogen …

Science Fair: Is It Worth The Work? A Qualitative Study On Deaf Students' Perceptions And Experiences Regarding Science Fair In Primary And Secondary School, Vivian Lee Smith

Dissertations

Science fairs have a long history in American education. They play an important role for establishing inquiry-based experiences in a science classroom. Students may be more motivated to learn science content when they are allowed to choose their own science fair topics. The purpose of this study was to examine Deaf college students’ perceptions and experiences regarding science fair participation during primary and/or secondary school and determine the influence of science fair involvement on the development of language skills, writing skills, and higher order thinking skills as well as its impact on choice of a STEM major.

This study examined …

Molecular Detection Of Tick-Borne Pathogens Associated With Ixodid Tick Species Infesting Migratory Songbirds And Ruminants, Nabanita Mukherjee

Master's Theses

Ticks are hematophagous arthropods and capable of inoculating various infectious agents to their vertebrate hosts. Ticks attached to birds and ruminants are capable of carrying tick-transmitted microorganisms. In our study, the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens was examined in ticks infesting migratory songbirds and Pakistani ruminants. During spring migration seasons, ticks were removed from northward-migrating songbirds in Louisiana and identified as Amblyomma Jongirostre, Amblyomma nodosum, Amb/yomma ca/caratum, Amblyomma maculatum, and Haemaphysalis species, all are considered as Neotropical ticks. Ticks removed from ruminants were identified as Hya/omma anatolicum, Hyalomma dromedarii, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus. A total of 112 and 72 bacterial …

Role Of Msa In Immune Evasion, Persistence, And Protease Regulation In The Human Pathogenic Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Maria Deepa Basco

Dissertations

Opportunistic pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus on entering the host can stay colonized at the foci of infection or evade the immune system to disseminate to other sites. In this study we investigated the regulatory influence of the modulator of sarA (msa) on immune evasion and host persistence, employing the hospital-acquired strain S. aureus UAMS-1 and community-acquired strain S. aureus USA300 LAC. In the murine sepsis model, mutation of the msa gene in LAC showed no change in dissemination of infection; however, in UAMS-1 a decrease in microbial load was observed in the lungs. Differential regulation by the msa gene was …

Developmental Expression Profile Of Bric Á Brac 2, Midline And H15 In The Developing Eye And Central Nervous System Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Petra Visic

Honors Theses

Aberrant activity of a single gene can lead towards development of cancerous cells. Drosophila melanogaster is a useful model system to study cancer because there is high degree of evolutionary conservation in signaling pathways between humans and flies that play major roles in regulating cell proliferation and growth (Miles et al., 2011). At The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Dr. Leal’s lab has gathered evidence suggesting that bab1 and bab2 interact with the T-box gene midline (mid) and its paralog H15, while the early developmental function of bab1 and bab2 remains unknown. That is why elucidating the early …

An Insight Into The Microbial Diversity And Expression Of Cysteine Protease Inhibitors (Cystatin) In Rickettsia Parkeri Infected Amblyomma Maculatum, Khemraj Budachetri

Master's Theses

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick) is an emerging tick species of public health significance in United States. It is a competent vector of Rickettsia parkeri, an etiological agent of a human rickettsiosis. In this study, we investigated the spotted fever group of rickettsial diversity in A. maculatum based on rickettsial ompA gene PCR. Our results showed A. maculatum harbors R. parkeri, R. amblyommii, and R. endosymbiont of A. maculatum. While only R. parkeri was detected in female salivary glands which suggest its ability to traffic from midgut to salivary glands via hemocoel. The presence of R. parkeri was further …

Characterizing The Persistence Of Sewage Enterococci In Mississippi Coastal Waters, Kimberly Anne-Marie Lewis

Master's Theses

Enterococci are microbiological indicators of marine recreation water quality.
Their reliability as fecal indicators is questioned as they are shown to persist in the environment. Multiple laboratory studies on their persistence have been done but few under natural environmental conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate how long sewage enterococci and enterococcal DNA persist in beach water and to determine whether there is a difference in the genetic diversity and hardiness of sewage vs. environmental isolates. To study persistence, sewage was diluted with beach water, placed in microcosms, and deployed at a beach site in Longbeach and Pass …

Development Of A Genetic Monitoring Program For Stock Enhancement Of Mississippi Spotted Seatrout (Cynoscion Nebulosus), Carly Renee Somerset

Master's Theses

The spotted seatrout is a coastal sciaenid fish that is intensively exploited in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico. A stock enhancement research program was initiated in 2004 to develop methods to culture juveniles and release them in natural habitats to increase recruitment in the fishery. The goal of this study was to initiate a genetic monitoring program for stock enhancement activities. Assays for 15 microsatellite loci were optimized. Simulations indicated that this panel of molecular markers was sufficient to identify recaptured hatchery fish with high confidence assuming genetic data on broodfish spawned to produce released fish were available. Stock structure …

Comparative Analysis Of Antiviral Responses In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells And In Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Jundi Wang

Master's Theses

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are cells that have unlimited capacity for selfrenewal and differentiation. These properties make ESCs a great cell source for application in regenerative medicine. When used for cell therapy, ESC-derived cells could be placed in a wounded area that is likely to be exposed to various pathogens. However, it is not well-understood whether ESCs and ESC-derived cells have active antiviral responses against infectious agents from the environment. To answer this important question, I comparatively analyzed the antiviral responses of ESCs and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs, C3H10Tl/2 cell line) to infectious agents. Using the expression of type I …

Rna Interference-Mediated Depletion Of N-Ethylmaleimide Sensitive Fusion Protein And Synaptosomal Associated Protein Of 25 Kda Results In The Inhibition Of Blood Feeding Of The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum, Rebecca Browning, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

The signalling pathways in tick salivary glands that control ‘sialo‐secretome’ secretion at the tick−host interface remain elusive; however, this complex process is essential for successful feeding and manipulation of the host haemostatic response. Exocytosis of the sialo‐secretome in the salivary glands requires a core of soluble N‐ethylmaleimide‐sensitive fusion (NSF) attachment proteins (SNAPs) and receptor proteins (SNAREs). SNAREs have been identified as the key components in regulating the sialo‐secretome in the salivary gland cells. In this study, we utilized RNA interference to investigate the functional role of two Amblyomma maculatum SNARE complex proteins, AmNSF and AmSNAP‐25, in the tick salivary glands …

Interventions For Improving Nutrition And Physical Activity Behaviors In Adult African American Populations: A Systematic Review, January 2000 Through December 2011, Jennifer Lemacks, Brittny A. Wells, Jasminka Z. Ilich, Penny A. Ralston

Faculty Publications

Introduction The incidence of preventable chronic diseases is disproportionally high among African Americans and could be reduced through diet and physical activity interventions. Our objective was to systematically review the literature on clinical outcomes of diet and physical activity interventions conducted among adult African American populations in the United States. Methods We used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta Analysis construct in our review. We searched Medline (PubMed and Ovid), Cochrane, and DARE databases and restricted our search to articles published in English from January 2000 through December 2011. We included studies of educational interventions with clinically …

Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells Are Deficient In Type I Interferon Expression In Response To Viral Infections And Double-Stranded Rna, Ruoxing Wang, Jundi Wang, Amber M. Paul, Dhiraj Acharya, Fengwei Bai, Faqing Huang, Yan-Lin Guo

Faculty Publications

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are considered to be a promising cell source for regenerative medicine because of their unlimited capacity for self-renewal and differentiation. However, little is known about the innate immunity in ESCs and ESC-derived cells. We investigated the responses of mESCs to three types of live viruses; La Crosse virus (LACV), West Nile virus (WNV), and Sendai virus (SeV). Our results demonstrated mESCs were susceptible to viral infection, but they were unable to express type I interferons (IFNα and IFNβ,IFNα/β which differ from fibroblasts (10T1/2 cells) that robustly express IFNα/β upon viral infections. The failure of mESCs to …

Effects Of Food Dispersion On Dominance Related Behaviors In Garnett's Bushbaby (Otolemur Garnettii)?, Kyle Daniel Edens

Dissertations

Socio-ecological theorists tie primate social structure diversity to variations in habitats within which primate species reside. This premise permits laboratory researchers to investigate specific factors that influence or relate to social structure formation and maintenance. The focus of the current investigation was three fold. We first aimed to determine the relationships between traditional and non-traditional behavioral measures of dominance, then evidence for dominance hierarchy formation was examined, and various hypotheses were tested to discern if adjustments in the foraging context altered social behaviors in Garnett’s bushbaby (Otolemur garnettii). It was determined that animals likely to displace conspecifics were …

Investigations Toward Tunability Of Mechanical, Thermal, And Impact Properties Of Thiol-Ene Networks For Novel High Energy Absorbing Materials, Olivia Devon Mcnair

Dissertations

The UV polymerization of thiols with electron rich alkenes is a highly resourceful reaction that has been utilized by scientists within various disciplines to produce an even more versatile display of applications. This dissertation focuses on a newer application, thiol-ene network (TEN) materials for energy absorption devices. TEN networks display a host of positive polymer properties such as low stress, high optical clarity and uniformity, but they also suffer from unfavorable mechanical properties such as low toughness and elongation at break. The poor mechanical properties demonstrated by TENs prohibit them as choice materials for applications requiring thicker material forms, including …

Identification Of An Unknown Intracellular Organism In Karenia Brevis, Daniel O. Mcarthur

Honors Theses

The dinoflagellate K. brevis is a mixotrophic marine alga that is of ecological importance in coastal waters especially along the Gulf of Mexico. They are one of a few species of algae responsible for the production of “harmful algae blooms” or HABs in which they release neurotoxins called brevetoxins which negatively impact fishing industries, local wildlife, tourism, and coastal health. Because of the danger these algae pose their lifecycle and characteristics merit intensive study.

During a previous experiment in Dr. McLean’s lab involving salinity stressing cultured K. brevis, the stressed cultures exhibited an unusual data pattern when having their …

Fluctuating Asymmetry Of Menidia Beryllina As A Measure Of The Environmental Stress Caused By The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Savannah A. Michaelsen

Honors Theses

Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) is often used as an indicator of environmental stress on a population. Stress encountered during development can result in asymmetries in bilateral traits. By quantifying fluctuating asymmetry in Menidia beryllina, FA can be used as an indicator of possible environmental stress linked to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The hypothesis states that the levels of FA will be greater in M. beryllina from post oil spill samples compared to pre oil spill samples. Menidia beryllina were used because they are a numerically dominant species found in high wave action coastal …

The Trap-Neuter-Return Program As A Means For Collecting, Analyzing, And Comparing Data In Animal Care Facilities In Florida, Louisiana, And Mississippi, Stephanie T. Doty

Honors Theses

The TNR program has been met with both scrutiny and approval as a result of conflicting data from studies that examine its usefulness as a means of controlling the free-roaming cat population explosion (Levy & Crawford, 2004). Though the differing opinions will be discussed, it is not the intention of this paper to provide evidence in support of one or the other; instead, the purpose is to examine the various clinics’ implementation of the TNR program and its usefulness in providing data. In addition, an analysis of the data was done to determine what they may suggest about the free-roaming …

Molecular Characterization And Functional Significance Of The Vti Family Of Snare Proteins In Tick Salivary Glands, Ashley M. Villarreal, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Khemraj Budachetri, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Exocytosis involves membrane fusion between secretory vesicles and the plasma membrane. The Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment proteins (SNAPs) and their receptor proteins (SNAREs) interact to fuse vesicles with the membrane and trigger the release of their sialosecretome out of the tick salivary gland cells. In this study, we examined the functional significance of the Vti family of SNARE proteins of blood-feeding Amblyomma maculatum and Amblyomma americanum. Vti1A and Vti1B have been implicated in multiple functional roles in vesicle transport. QRT-PCR studies demonstrated that the highest transcriptional expression of vti1a and vti1b genes occurs in unfed salivary glands, suggesting that …