Life Sciences Commons^™

Comparative And Cumulative Energetic Costs Of Odontocete Responses To Anthropogenic Disturbance, Dawn P. Noren, Marla M. Holt, Robin C. Dunkin, Nicole Thometz, Terrie M. Williams

Biology Faculty Publications

Odontocetes respond to vessels and anthropogenic noise by modifying vocal behavior, surface active behaviors, dive patterns, swim speed, direction of travel, and activity budgets. Exposure scenarios and behavioral responses vary across odontocetes. A literature review was conducted to determine relevant sources of disturbance and associated behavioral responses for several odontocete species (bottlenose dolphin, killer whale, harbor porpoise, and beaked whales). The energetic costs of species-specific responses to anthropogenic disturbance were then estimated. The energetic impact varies across species and scenarios as well as by behavioral responses. Overall, the cumulative energetic cost of ephemeral behavioral responses (e.g., performing surface active behaviors, …

Epigenetic Response To Environmental Change: Dna Methylation Varies With Invasion Status, Aaron W. Schrey, Travis R. Robbins, Jacob Lee, David W. Dukes Jr., Alexandria K. Ragsdale, Christopher J. Thawley

Biology Faculty Publications

Epigenetic mechanisms may be important for a native species’ response to rapid environmental change. Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta Santschi, 1916) were recently introduced to areas occupied by the Eastern Fence Lizard (Sceloporus undulatus Bosc & Daudin, 1801). Behavioral, morphological and physiological phenotypes of the Eastern Fence Lizard have changed following invasion, creating a natural biological system to investigate environmentally induced epigenetic changes.We tested for variation in DNA methylation patterns in Eastern Fence Lizard populations associated with different histories of invasion by Red Imported Fire Ants. At methylation sensitive amplified fragment length polymorphism loci, we detected a higher diversity …

De Novo Assembly And Analysis Of The Chilean Pencil Catfish Trichomycterus Areolatus Transcriptome, Thomas T. Schulze, Jonathan Ali, Maggie Bartlett, Madalyn Mcfarland, Emalie Clement, Harim Won, Austin G. Sanford, Elyssa Monzingo, Matthew C. Martens, Ryan M. Hemsley, Sidharta Kumar, Nicolas Gouin, Alan Kolok, Paul H. Davis

Biology Faculty Publications

Trichomycterus areolatus is an endemic species of pencil catfish that inhabits the riffles and rapids of many freshwater ecosystems of Chile. Despite its unique adaptation to Chile’s high gradient watersheds and therefore potential application in the investigation of ecosystem integrity and environmental contamination, relatively little is known regarding the molecular biology of this environmental sentinel. Here, we detail the assembly of the Trichomycterus areolatus transcriptome, a molecular resource for the study of this organism and its molecular response to the environment. RNA-Seq reads were obtained by next-generation sequencing with an Illumina® platform and processed using PRINSEQ. The transcriptome assembly was …

The Complete Mitochondrial Genome Of The Shoal Chub, Macrhybopsis Hyostoma, Sarah Gaughan, Robin Johnson, Jun Wang, Michael Wachholtz, Kirk Steffensen, Timothy King, Guoqing Lu

Biology Faculty Publications

The complete mitochondrial genome of the shoal chub (Macrhybopsis hyostoma) was determined to be 16,899 bp and contained 22 tRNA genes, 2 rRNA genes and 1 control region. The whole genome base composition was 30.5% A, 28.5% T, 24.9% C and 16.1 G. This complete mitochondrial genome provides essential molecular markers for resolving phylogeny and future conservation efforts.

Age Related Decline In Female Lar Gibbon Great Call Performance Suggests That Call Features Correlate With Physical Condition, Thomas A. Terleph, S. Malaivijitnond, Ulrich H. Reichard

Biology Faculty Publications

Background

White-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar) are small Asian apes known for living in stable territories and producing loud, elaborate vocalizations (songs), often in well-coordinated male/female duets. The female great call, the most conspicuous phrase of the repertoire, has been hypothesized to function in intra-sexual territorial defense. We therefore predicted that characteristics of the great call would correlate with a caller’s physical condition, and thus might honestly reflect resource holding potential (RHP). Because measurement of RHP is virtually impossible for wild animals, we used age as a proxy, hypothesizing that great call climaxes are difficult to produce and maintain …

Ship-Induced Depression Wakes And Shoreline Erosion, Luca Zaggia, Giuliano Lorenzetti, Georgia Manfe, Gian Marco Scarpaf, K. E. Parnell, John Rapaglia, E. Molinaroli

Biology Faculty Publications

Shoreline retreat as an effect of ship wakes was studied in a navigation channel of the industrial port of Venice, Italy: the Malamocco -Marghera Channel. The investigation revealed unprecedented erosion rates, up to 4 m y , that determined a total loss of about 1.2 million of m of soil in the period 1970 -2015. This interaction between navigation and the channel margins must be considered in order to understand the past evolution of the central Venice Lagoon and for a sustainable management of the port traffic in the future sea -level rise scenario.

Broad Activation Of Latent Hiv-1 In Vivo, Kirston Barton, Bonnie Hiener, Anni Winckelmann, Thomas Aagaard Rasmussen, Wei Shao, Karen Byth, Robert Lanfear, Ajantha Solomon, James Mcmahon, Sean Harrington, Maria Buzon, Mathias Lichterfeld, Paul W. Denton, Rikke Olesen, Lars Østergaard, Martin Tolstrup, Sharon R. Lewin, Ole Schmeltz Søgaard, Sarah Palmer

Biology Faculty Publications

The ‘shock and kill’ approach to cure human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) includes transcriptional induction of latent HIV-1 proviruses using latency-reversing agents (LRAs) with targeted immunotherapy to purge infected cells. The administration of LRAs (panobinostat or vorinostat) to HIV-1-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy induces a significant increase in cell-associated unspliced (CA-US) HIV-1 RNA from CD4+ T cells. However, it is important to discern whether the increases in CA-US HIV-1 RNA are due to limited or broad activation of HIV-1 proviruses. Here we use single-genome sequencing to find that the RNA transcripts observed following LRA administration are genetically diverse, indicating activation of …

Acoustic Detection Reveals Fine-Scale Distributions Of Myotis Lucifugus, Myotis Septentrionalis, And Perimyotis Subflavus In Eastern Nebraska, Jeremy A. White, Cliff A. Lemen, Patricia W. Freeman

Biology Faculty Publications

Before white-nose syndrome arrives in Nebraska, it is important to document the preexposure distributions of cave bats in the state. We examined the distributions of Myotis lucifugus (little brown myotis), Myotis septentrionalis (northern long-eared myotis), and Perimyotis subflavus (tri-colored bat) in eastern Nebraska by setting acoustic detectors for a single night at 105 sites in wooded habitats during summers of 2012 and 2014. We compared 2 methods of determining presence at each site. Results of our analyses are fine-scale distributional maps for these bats and some range extensions from published records. Results for M. septentrionalis and P. subflavus are largely …

Diagnostic Doses And Times For Phlebotomus Papatasi And Lutzomiya Longipalpis Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phleboominae) Using The Cdc Bottle Bioassay To Assess Insecticide Resistance, David S. Denlinger, Joseph A. Creswell, J. Laine Anderson, Connor K. Reese, Scott A. Bernhardt

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Insecticide resistance to synthetic chemical insecticides is a worldwide concern in phlebotomine sand flies (Diptera: Psychodidae), the vectors of Leishmania spp. parasites. The CDC bottle bioassay assesses resistance by testing populations against verified diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for an insecticide, but the assay has been used limitedly with sand flies. The objective of this study was to determine diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for laboratory Lutzomyia longipalpis (Lutz & Nieva) and Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) to ten insecticides, including pyrethroids, organophosphates, carbamates, and DDT, that are used worldwide to control vectors.

Methods: Bioassays were conducted in 1,000-ml …

Comparing Process-Based And Constraint-Based Approaches For Modeling Macroecological Patterns, Xiao Xiao

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecological patterns arise from the interplay of many different processes, and yet the emergence of consistent phenomena across a diverse range of ecological systems suggests that many patterns may in part be determined by statistical or numerical constraints. Differentiating the extent to which patterns in a given system are determined statistically, and where it requires explicit ecological processes, has been difficult. We tackled this challenge by directly comparing models from a constraint-based theory, the Maximum Entropy Theory of Ecology (METE) and models from a process-based theory, the size-structured neutral theory (SSNT). Models from both theories were capable of characterizing the …

Association Of The Female Of Perdita (Xeromacrotera) Cephalotes (Cresson), And A Replacement Name For Perdita Bohartorum Parker (Hymenoptera: Andrenidae), Zach Portman, Terry L. Griswold, James P. Pitts

Biology Faculty Publications

The monotypic Perdita subgenus Xeromacrotera Timberlake is currently known only from the male sex. Here, the female of Perdita (Xeromacrotera) cephalotes (Cresson, 1878) is associated, resulting in two new junior synonyms of P. (X.) cephalotes: Perdita (Procockerellia) excellens Timberlake, 1958, new synonym and Perdita (Cockerellia) autumnalis Timberlake, 1977, new synonym. The true number of maxillary palpi are reported, and updated subgeneric and species diagnoses are provided. In addition, Perdita boharti Portman & Griswold, new name, is designated as a replacement name for the primary junior homonym P. bohartorum Parker, 1983 …

Enhancing The Stem Ecosystem Through Teacher-Researcher Partnerships, William E. Tapprich, Neal Grandgenett, Heather Leas, Steven N. Rodie, Robert Duncan Shuster, Chris Schaben, Christine E. Cutucache

Biology Faculty Publications

STEM faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) have partnered with teachers and administrators in the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) to implement a Teacher-Researcher Partnership Program. This program establishes resources and infrastructure that engage K-12 science teachers in scientific research experiences. In the first implementation of this program, eleven UNO faculty mentors, drawn from several STEM disciplines, were matched with eleven OPS teachers to conduct genuine research projects in support of their teaching.

The Biology Of Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, Kay Etheridge

Biology Faculty Publications

Book Description: This facsimile of one of the most beautiful books of natural history ever created contains sixty magnificent illustrations showing exotic insects, with the original descriptions. The reissue is the same size as the original and is enriched with an illustrated introduction about the life, work and significance of Maria Sibylla Merian, and a new scientific description of all the insects, animals and plants.

The life and work of this German woman who moved to the Netherlands has been the subject of international research by botanists, entomologists and historians concerned with the history of science, art, religion and economics. …

Two New Species Of Geosesarma De Man, 1892 (Crustacea: Brachyura: Sesarmidae) From Palawan, The Philippines, Hendrik Freitag, Marivene Manuel-Santos, Peter K.L Ng

Biology Faculty Publications

Two new and relatively large species of semi-terrestrial sesarmid crabs of the genus Geosesarma De Man, 1892, are described from Palawan Island, Philippines. They are distinguishable from congeners by the characteristic structure of their carapace, chelipeds, ambulatory legs and male first gonopods. Aspects of their ecology are briefly discussed