Life Sciences Commons^™

Correlation Analysis Of Enzyme Activities And Deconstruction Of Ammonia-Pretreated Switchgrass By Bacterial-Fungal Communities, Abhiney Jain, H. Sandra Pelle, J. Michael Henson

Biology Faculty Publications

The mixed microbial communities that occur naturally on lignocellulosic feedstocks can provide feedstock-specific enzyme mixtures to saccharify lignocelluloses. Bacterial-fungal communities were enriched from switchgrass bales to deconstruct ammonia-pretreated switchgrass (DSG). Correlation analysis was carried out to elucidate the relationship between microbial decomposition of DSG by these communities, enzymatic activities produced and enzymatic saccharification of DSG using these enzyme mixtures. Results of the analysis showed that β glucosidase activities and xylosidase activities limited the extent of microbial deconstruction and enzymatic saccharification of DSG. The results also underlined the importance of ligninase activity for the enzymatic saccharification of pretreated lignocellulosic feedstock. The …

Glyphosate Induces Neurotoxicity In Zebrafish, Nicole M. Roy, Bruno Carneiro, Jeremy Ochs

Biology Faculty Publications

Glyphosate based herbicides (GBH) like Roundup^® are used extensively in agriculture as well as in urban and rural settings as a broad spectrum herbicide. Its mechanism of action was thought to be specific only to plants and thus considered safe and non-toxic. However, mounting evidence suggests that GBHs may not be as safe as once thought as initial studies in frogs suggest that GBHs may be teratogenic. Here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate exposure using technical grade glyphosate and the Roundup^® Classic formulation. We find morphological abnormalities including cephalic and …

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.