Life Sciences Commons^™

Concise Review: Translating Regenerative Biology Into Clinically Relevant Therapies: Are We On The Right Path?, Jennifer Simkin, Ashley W. Seifert

Biology Faculty Publications

Despite approaches in regenerative medicine using stem cells, bio-engineered scaffolds, and targeted drug delivery to enhance human tissue repair, clinicians remain unable to regenerate large-scale, multi-tissue defects in situ. The study of regenerative biology using mammalian models of complex tissue regeneration offers an opportunity to discover key factors that stimulate a regenerative rather than fibrotic response to injury. For example, although primates and rodents can regenerate their distal digit tips, they heal more proximal amputations with scar tissue. Rabbits and African spiny mice re-grow tissue to fill large musculoskeletal defects through their ear pinna, while other mammals fail to regenerate …

Investigation Of Conical Spinneret In Generating More Dense And Compact Electrospun Nanofibers, Aya Hamed, Nader Shehata, Mohammad Elosairy

Biology Faculty Publications

Electrospinning is an important, widely used process to generate nanofibers. However, there is still an open window for different designs of both spinneret and collector electrodes to be investigated. This paper introduces the impact of new design of conical spinneret electrode on the generated electrospun nanofibers. In this work, the conical feeder is used to generate electrospun Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) nanofibers, and being compared to the traditional needle feeder at the same processing conditions. The jet’s mechanism is simulated using discrete bead model along with estimated calculations of both deposition area and fiber radius. The electric field distribution that is …

Editorial: Murine Models Of Leukemia And Lymphoma, Christine E. Cutucache, Pierluigi Porcu

Biology Faculty Publications

Murine models serve as an effective way to mimic the in vivo tumor microenvironmental interactions that take place in patients with leukemias and lymphomas. Specifically, leukemias and lymphomas rely heavily on the surrounding stroma and tissue microenvironmental cytokine and chemokine signals to ensure survival and expansion of tumor cells. Finally, leukemic cells migrate thanks to signals from varying regions of the host, furthering the progression and severity of disease. It is therefore impossible to fully understand such a dynamic relationship between tumor cells and their surrounding microenvironment, and the events to transformation in leukemias and lymphomas without an in vivo, …

Fates Of Rare Species Under Siege From Invasion: Persistence Of Coccinella Novemnotata Herbst In Western North America Alongside An Invasive Congener, Edward W. Evans

Biology Faculty Publications

Species invading new geographic regions may threaten continued existence of similar, indigenous relatives, particularly those species whose rarity may reflect an already tenuous existence. The spectacular colonization of North America in recent decades by Coccinella septempunctata L. has generated widespread concern over potentially adverse effects on population viability of native species of ladybird beetles (Coccinellidae). Coccinella novemnotata Herbst in particular has been hypothesized to be at great risk, as this species apparently dwindled in numbers across much of North America during the twentieth century. Here results of sampling diverse habitats over three decades are examined to address the fate of …

The Development Of A Specific Pathogen Free (Spf) Barrier Colony Of Marmosets (Callithrix Jacchus) For Aging Research, Corinna N. Ross, Steven Austad, Kathy Brasky, Celeste J. Brown, Larry J. Forney, Jonathan A. Gelfond, Robert Lanford, Arlan Richardson, Suzette D. Tardif

Biology Faculty Publications

A specific pathogen free (SPF) barrier colony of breeding marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) was established at the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. Rodent and other animal models maintained as SPF barrier colonies have demonstrated improved health and lengthened lifespans enhancing the quality and repeatability of aging research. The marmosets were screened for two viruses and several bacterial pathogens prior to establishing the new SPF colony. Twelve founding animals successfully established a breeding colony with increased reproductive success, improved health parameters, and increased median lifespan when compared to a conventionally housed, open colony. The improved health and longevity of marmosets …

Hydrogen Cyanide Produced By Pseudomonas Chlororaphis O6 Exhibits Nematicidal Activity Against Meloidogyne Hapla, Beom Ryong Kang, Anne J. Anderson, Young Cheol Kim

Biology Faculty Publications

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are parasites that attack many field crops and orchard trees, and affect both the quantity and quality of the products. A root-colonizing bacterium, Pseudomonas chlororaphis O6, possesses beneficial traits including strong nematicidal activity. To determine the molecular mechanisms involved in the nematicidal activity of P. chlororaphis O6, we constructed two mutants; one lacking hydrogen cyanide production, and a second lacking an insecticidal toxin, FitD. Root drenching with wild-type P. chlororaphis O6 cells caused juvenile mortality in vitro and in planta. Efficacy was not altered in the fitD mutant compared to the wild-type but was reduced in …

Mperiod2Brdm1 And Other Single Period Mutant Mice Have Normal Food Anticipatory Activity, Julie S. Pendergast, Robert H. Wendroth, Rio C. Stenner, Charles D. Keil, Shin Yamazaki

Biology Faculty Publications

Animals anticipate the timing of food availability via the food-entrainable oscillator (FEO). The anatomical location and timekeeping mechanism of the FEO are unknown. Several studies showed the circadian gene, Period 2, is critical for FEO timekeeping. However, other studies concluded that canonical circadian genes are not essential for FEO timekeeping. In this study, we re-examined the effects of the Per2^Brdm1 mutation on food entrainment using methods that have revealed robust food anticipatory activity in other mutant lines. We examined food anticipatory activity, which is the output of the FEO, in single Period mutant mice. Single Per1, Per2 …

Towards An Eco-Phylogenetic Framework For Infectious Disease Ecology, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones, William D. Pearse, Luis E. Escobar, Ana Alba-Casals, Scott Carver, T. Jonathan Davies, Simona Kraberger, Monica Papes, Kurt Vandegrift, Katherine Worsley-Tonks, Meggan E. Craft

Biology Faculty Publications

Identifying patterns and drivers of infectious disease dynamics across multiple scales is a fundamental challenge for modern science. There is growing awareness that it is necessary to incorporate multi-host and/or multi-parasite interactions to understand and predict current and future disease threats better, and new tools are needed to help address this task. Eco-phylogenetics (phylogenetic community ecology) provides one avenue for exploring multi-host multi-parasite systems, yet the incorporation of eco-phylogenetic concepts and methods into studies of host pathogen dynamics has lagged behind. Eco-phylogenetics is a transformative approach that uses evolutionary history to infer present-day dynamics. Here, we present an eco-phylogenetic framework …

A Statistical Estimator For Determining The Limits Of Contemporary And Historic Phenology, William D. Pearse, Charles C. Davis, David W. Inouye, Richard B. Primack, T. Jonathan Davies

Biology Faculty Publications

Climate change affects not just where species are found, but also when species’ key life-history events occur—their phenology. Measuring such changes in timing is often hampered by a reliance on biased survey data: surveys identify that an event has taken place (for example, the flower is in bloom), but not when that event happened (for example, the flower bloomed yesterday). Here, we show that this problem can be circumvented using statistical estimators, which can provide accurate and unbiased estimates from sparsely sampled observations. We demonstrate that such methods can resolve an ongoing debate about the relative timings of the onset …

Filamentation Involves Two Overlapping, But Distinct, Programs Of Filamentation In The Pathogenic Fungus Candida Albicans, Jahaun Azadmanesh, Austin M. Gowen, Paul E. Creger, Nicole D. Shafer, Jill R. Blankenship

Biology Faculty Publications

The ability of the human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch between yeast-like and filamentous forms of growth has long been linked to pathogenesis. Numerous environmental conditions, including growth at high temperatures, nutrient limitation, and exposure to serum, can trigger this morphological switch and are frequently used in in vitro models to identify genes with roles in filamentation. Previous work has suggested that differences exist between the various in vitro models both in the genetic requirements for filamentation and transcriptional responses to distinct filamentation-inducing media, but these differences had not been analyzed in detail. We compared 10 in vitro models …

The Effect Of Co2, Intracellular Ph And Extracellular Ph On Mechanosensory Proprioceptor Responses In Crayfish And Crab, Viresh Dayaram, Cole A. Malloy, Sarah Martha, Brenda Alvarez, Ikenna Chukwudolue, Nadera Dabbain, Dlovan D.Mahmood, Slavina Goleva, Tori Hickey, Angel Ho, Molly King, Paige Kington, Matthew Mattingly, Samuel Potter, Landon Simpson, Amanda Spence, Henry Uradu, Jacob Van Doorn, Dlovan Faiq, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

Proprioceptive neurons monitor the movements of limbs and joints to transduce the movements into electrical signals. These neurons function similarly in species from arthropods to humans. These neurons can be compromised in disease states and in adverse environmental conditions such as with changes in external and internal pH. We used two model preparations (the crayfish muscle receptor organ and a chordotonal organ in the limb of a crab) to characterize the responses of these proprioceptors to external and internal pH changes as well as raised CO₂. The results demonstrate the proprioceptive organs are not highly sensitive to changes …

Scaling Dissolved Nutrient Removal In River Networks: A Comparative Modeling Investigation, Sheng Ye, Alexander J. Reisinger, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Robert O. Hall, Emma J. Rosi, Murugesu Sivapalan

Biology Faculty Publications

Along the river network, water, sediment, and nutrients are transported, cycled, and altered by coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes. Our current understanding of the rates and processes controlling the cycling and removal of dissolved inorganic nutrients in river networks is limited due to a lack of empirical measurements in large, (nonwadeable), rivers. The goal of this paper was to develop a coupled hydrological and biogeochemical process model to simulate nutrient uptake at the network scale during summer base flow conditions. The model was parameterized with literature values from headwater streams, and empirical measurements made in 15 rivers with varying hydrological, …

Spatial-Temporal Dynamics Of Neotropical Velvet Ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) Communities Along A Forest-Savanna Gradient, Júlio Miguel Alvarenga, Cecília Rodrigues Vieira, Leandro Braga Godinho, Pedro Henrique Campelo, James P. Pitts, Guarino Rinaldi Colli

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding how and why biological communities are organized over space and time is a major challenge and can aid biodiversity conservation in times of global changes. Herein, spatial-temporal variation in the structure of velvet ant communities was examined along a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado to assess the roles of environmental filters and interspecific interactions upon community assembly. Velvet ants were sampled using 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for one year along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed on each trap recorded …

Effect Of Population, Collection Year, After-Ripening And Incubation Condition On Seed Germination Of Stipa Bungeana, Rui Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Qing Mo, Lijun Chen, Xiaowen Hu, Yanrong Wang

Biology Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the germination behavior of different populations of a species can be useful in the selection of appropriate seed sources for restoration. The aim of this study was to test the effect of seed population, collection year, after-ripening and incubation conditions on seed dormancy and germination of Stipa bungeana, a perennial grass used for revegetation of degraded grasslands on the Loess Plateau, China. Fresh S. bungeana seeds were collected from eight locally-adapted populations in 2015 and 2016. Dormancy and germination characteristics of fresh and 6-month-old dry-stored seeds were determined by incubating them over a range of alternating temperature …

The Geological Record And Phylogeny Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): A Revision Of Fossil Species And Their Phylogenetic Placement, Juanita Rodriguez, Caleb T. Walker, Carol D. Von Dohlen, James P. Pitts

Biology Faculty Publications

Accurate fossil identification has become increasingly relevant with the widespread use of phylogenetic divergence time estimation methods, which rely on fossil data to determine clade hard-minimum ages. Here we revise, diagnose and illustrate known spider wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) fossil species and place them within the latest Pompilidae phylogenetic hypothesis. Ceropalites infelix Cockerell, from the Florissant Fossil Beds (Priabonian), is no longer recognized as Pompilidae, but as Aulacidae. Agenioideus saxigenus (Cockerell) comb. nov., Deuteragenia wettweri (Statz) comb. nov., Caputelus scudderi (Cockerell, 1906) comb. nov., Pepsinites avitula (Cockerell, 1941) comb. nov., Pepsinites contentus (Theobald, 1937) comb. nov., …

Associative Learning Contributes To The Increased Water Intake Observed After Daily Injections Of Angiotensin Ii, Maggie Postolache, Jessica Santollo, Derek Daniels

Biology Faculty Publications

Daily injections of angiotensin II (AngII) cause a progressive increase of water intake that resembles a classically ascribed non-associative sensitization. Consistent with the presumption that the observed increase in intake was sensitization, we hypothesized that it resulted from a pharmacological interaction between AngII and its receptor. To test this hypothesis, and remove the influence of drinking itself, we implemented a delay in water access after injection of AngII (icv) on four consecutive ‘induction days,’ and then measured intake on the next day (‘test day’) when rats were allowed to drink immediately after AngII. The delay in water access effectively reduced …

Assessment Of Intra And Interregional Genetic Variation In The Eastern Red-Backed Salamander, Plethodon Cinereus, Via Analysis Of Novel Microsatellite Markers, Alexander C. Cameron, Jeffry J. Anderson, Robert B. Page

Biology Faculty Publications

The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) has long-served as a model system in ecology, evolution, and behavior, and studies surveying molecular variation in this species have become increasingly common over the past decade. However, difficulties are commonly encountered when extending microsatellite markers to populations that are unstudied from a genetic perspective due to high levels of genetic differentiation across this species’ range. To ameliorate this issue, we used 454 pyrosequencing to identify hundreds of microsatellite loci. We then screened 40 of our top candidate loci in populations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—including an isolated island population ~ 4.5 km off the …

Fast Shoreline Erosion Induced By Ship Wakes In A Coastal Lagoon: Field Evidence And Remote Sensing Analysis, Luca Zaggia, Giuliano Lorenzetti, Giorgia Manfe, Gian Marco Scarpa, Emanuela Molinaroli, Kevin E. Parnell, John Rapaglia, Maria Gionta, Tarmo Soomere

Biology Faculty Publications

An investigation based on in-situ surveys combined with remote sensing and GIS analysis revealed fast shoreline retreat on the side of a major waterway, the Malamocco Marghera Channel, in the Lagoon of Venice, Italy. Monthly and long-term regression rates caused by ship wakes in a reclaimed industrial area were considered. The short-term analysis, based on field surveys carried out between April 2014 and January 2015, revealed that the speed of shoreline regression was insignificantly dependent on the distance from the navigation channel, but was not constant through time. Periods of high water levels due to tidal forcing or storm surges, …

Improving The Pcr Protocol To Amplify A Repetitive Dna Sequence, J. Riet, L.R. V. Ramos, Randolph V. Lewis, L. F. Marins

Biology Faculty Publications

Although PCR-based techniques have become an essential tool in the field of molecular and genetic research, the amplification of repetitive DNA sequences is limited. This is due to the truncated nature of the amplified sequences, which are also prone to errors during DNA polymerase-based amplification. The complex structure of repetitive DNA can form hairpin loops, which promote dissociation of the polymerase from the template, impairing complete amplification, and leading to the formation of incomplete fragments that serve as megaprimers. These megaprimers anneal with other sequences, generating unexpected fragments in each PCR cycle. Our gene model, MaSp1, is 1037-bp long, …

Interest Exceeds Understanding In Public Support Of Bee Conservation, Joseph S. Wilson, Matthew L. Forister, Olivia Messinger Carril

Biology Faculty Publications

Recent analyses suggesting that certain populations of bees may be declining have led to a variety of conservation efforts, many of which rely on public support and participation. However, little is known about the public's knowledge of bee diversity. We carried out a survey to measure public understanding of bee diversity and found that although 99% of respondents believed that bees are critical or important, only 14% were able to guess within 1000 the actual number of bee species in the US. Furthermore, when reviewing a selection of photographs depicting various insects, many respondents were unable to discern bees from …

Deep Ancestry Of Programmed Genome Rearrangement In Lampreys, Vladimir A. Timoshevskiy, Ralph T. Lampman, Jon E. Hess, Laurie L. Porter, Jeramiah J. Smith

Biology Faculty Publications

In most multicellular organisms, the structure and content of the genome is rigorously maintained over the course of development. However some species have evolved genome biologies that permit, or require, developmentally regulated changes in the physical structure and content of the genome (programmed genome rearrangement: PGR). Relatively few vertebrates are known to undergo PGR, although all agnathans surveyed to date (several hagfish and one lamprey: Petromyzon marinus) show evidence of large scale PGR. To further resolve the ancestry of PGR within vertebrates, we developed probes that allow simultaneous tracking of nearly all sequences eliminated by PGR in P. marinus and …

Comparison Of Proteomic Profiles Of The Venoms Of Two Of The 'Big Four' Snakes Of India, The Indian Cobra (Naja Naja) Andthe Common Krait (Bungarus Caeruleus), And Analyses Of Their Toxins, Manisha Choudhury, Ryan J.R. Mccleary, Manish Kesherwani, R. Manjunatha Kini, Devadasan Velmurugan

Biology Faculty Publications

Snake venoms are mixtures of biologically-active proteins and peptides, and several studies have described the characteristics of some of these toxins. However, complete proteomic profiling of the venoms of many snake species has not yet been done. The Indian cobra (Naja naja) and common krait (Bungarus caeruleus) are elapid snake species that are among the ‘Big Four’ responsible for the majority of human snake envenomation cases in India. As understanding the composition and complexity of venoms is necessary for successful treatment of envenomation in humans, we utilized three different proteomic profiling approaches to characterize these venoms: i) one-dimensional SDS-PAGE coupled …

The Nuclear And Mitochondrial Genomes Of The Facultatively Eusocial Orchid Bee Euglossa Dilemma, Philipp Brand, Nicholas Saleh, Hailin Pan, Cai Li, Karen M. Kapheim, Santiago R. Ramírez

Biology Faculty Publications

Bees provide indispensable pollination services to both agricultural crops and wild plant populations, and several species of bees have become important models for the study of learning and memory, plant–insect interactions, and social behavior. Orchid bees (Apidae: Euglossini) are especially important to the fields of pollination ecology, evolution, and species conservation. Here we report the nuclear and mitochondrial genome sequences of the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz. E. dilemma was selected because it is widely distributed, highly abundant, and it was recently naturalized in the southeastern United States. We provide a high-quality assembly of the 3.3 Gb genome, …

Tropical Cyclones Disrupt The Relationship Between Tree Height And Species Diversity: Comment, Teng-Chiu Lin, Lixin Wang, Chengyang Zheng, Ryan W. Mcewan, Chung-Te Chang, Jyh-Min Chiang, Chung-Hao Chi

Biology Faculty Publications

In a recent report on the patterns of tree species richness in eastern and western North America, Marks et al. (2016) claimed to have identified an operational indicator of environmental harshness (maximum tree height) and concluded that environmental stressors that limit tree height also act as ecological filters on species richness. Marks et al. (2017) attributed the positive association between species richness and maximum tree height to both the direct effects of environmental harshness on species richness and the indirect effects of environmental harshness on species richness as mediated by maximum tree height.

This finding overlooked the fact that many …

Differential Uptake Of Gold Nanoparticles By 2 Species Of Tadpole, The Wood Frog (Lithobates Sylvaticus) And The Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus), Lucas B. Thompson, Gerardo L.F. Carfagno, Kurt Andresen, Andrea J. Sitton, Taylor B. Bury, Laura L. Lee, Kevin T. Lerner, Peter P. Fong

Biology Faculty Publications

Engineered nanoparticles are aquatic contaminants of emerging concern that exert ecotoxicological effects on a wide variety of organisms. We exposed cetyltrimethylammonium bromide–capped spherical gold nanoparticles to wood frog and bullfrog tadpoles with conspecifics and in combination with the other species continuously for 21 d, then measured uptake and localization of gold. Wood frog tadpoles alone and in combination with bullfrog tadpoles took up significantly more gold than bullfrogs. Bullfrog tadpoles in combination with wood frogs took up significantly more gold than controls. The rank order of weight-normalized gold uptake was wood frogs in combination > wood frogs alone > bullfrogs in combination …

Effects Of Cultivar And Maternal Environment On Seed Quality In Vicia Sativa, Rong Li, Lijun Chen, Yanpei Wu, Rui Zhang, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Xiaowen Hu

Biology Faculty Publications

Production of high quality seeds is of fundamental importance for successful crop production. However, knowledge of the effects of increased temperature resulting from global warming on seed quality of alpine species is limited. We investigated the effect of maternal environment on seed quality of three cultivars of the leguminous forage species Vicia sativa, giving particular attention to temperature. Plants of each cultivar were grown at 1700 and 3000 m a.s.l., and mass, germination, electrical conductivity (EC) of leakage and longevity were determined for mature seeds. Seeds of all three cultivars produced at the low elevation had a significantly lower …

Current Status Of American Bullfrog, Lithobates Catesbeianus, Invasion In Uruguay And Exploration Of Chytrid Infection, Gabriel Laufer, Noelia Gobel, Claudio Borteiro, Alvaro Soutullo, Claudio Martinez-Debat, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

The American bullfrog Lithobates catesbeianus is an invasive species that can strongly affect native amphibian communities through competition, predation, or introduction of diseases. This frog has invaded multiple areas in South America, for which niche models predict suitable environments across much of the continent. This paper reveals the state of the invasion of this species in Uruguay and its possible relationship with the chytrid pathogenic fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Surveys at invaded sites were conducted from 2007 to 2015, identified two populations undergoing recent range expansion (one of them exponential), two populations that failed to establish, and a new record …

Ion Channel Signaling Influences Cellular Proliferation And Phagocyte Activity During Axolotl Tail Regeneration, Brandon M. Franklin, S. Randal Voss, Jeffrey L. Osborn

Biology Faculty Publications

Little is known about the potential for ion channels to regulate cellular behaviors during tissue regeneration. Here, we utilized an amphibian tail regeneration assay coupled with a chemical genetic screen to identify ion channel antagonists that altered critical cellular processes during regeneration. Inhibition of multiple ion channels either partially (anoctamin1/Tmem16a, anoctamin2/Tmem16b, K_V2.1, K_V2.2, L-type CaV channels and H/K ATPases) or completely (GlyR, GABA_AR, K_V1.5 and SERCA pumps) inhibited tail regeneration. Partial inhibition of tail regeneration by blocking the calcium activated chloride channels, anoctamin1&2, was associated with a reduction of cellular proliferation in …

Nutritional, Endocrine, And Social Influences On Reproductive Physiology At The Origins Of Social Behavior, Karen M. Kapheim

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding the evolutionary origins of social behavior in insects requires understanding the physiological basis for reproductive plasticity. Solitary bees and wasps or those living in small, flexible societies will be key to understanding how conserved pathways have evolved to give rise to reproductive castes. Nutrient-sensing and endocrine pathways are decoupled from reproduction in some life stages of social insects. Heterochrony, particularly as it is related to diapause physiology, may be an important mechanism by which this decoupling occurs. Additional research is needed to understand how these pathways became sensitive to cues from the social environment. Future research targeting species with …

Chondrocranium And Internal Oral Morphology Of The Tadpole Of Corythomantis Greeningi (Anura: Hylidae), Marianna Isabella Rosa Rodrigues De Oliveira, Luiz Norberto Weber, Rafael O. De Sá, Johnny Sousa Ferreira, Anna Evelin Coimbra Libório, André Masahide Guimarães Takazone

Biology Faculty Publications

Corythomantis greeningi is a casque-headed frog that occurs in xeric and sub-humid regions of northeastern Brazil. Individuals are often found on rocks on banks of temporary streams or in ponds upon “lajedos”. Suctorial tadpoles are often found clasping to the rocks in the streams so as not to be dragged by the current; therefore, they have modified external and internal morphology. Here, we describe the internal oral anatomy and the chondrocranium of the tadpole of C. greeningi and compare it to the available descriptions of Lophyohylinae and other suctorial tadpoles. The internal oral morphology in C. greeningi resembles pond-dwelling casque-headed …