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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Root Hair Single Cell Type Specific Profiles Of Gene Expression And Alternative Polyadenylation Under Cadmium Stress, Jingyi Cao, Congting Ye, Guijie Hao, Carole Dabney-Smith, Arthur G. Hunt, Qingshun Q. Li May 2019

Root Hair Single Cell Type Specific Profiles Of Gene Expression And Alternative Polyadenylation Under Cadmium Stress, Jingyi Cao, Congting Ye, Guijie Hao, Carole Dabney-Smith, Arthur G. Hunt, Qingshun Q. Li

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Transcriptional networks are tightly controlled in plant development and stress responses. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) has been found to regulate gene expression under abiotic stress by increasing the heterogeneity at mRNA 3′-ends. Heavy metals like cadmium pollute water and soil due to mining and industry applications. Understanding how plants cope with heavy metal stress remains an interesting question. The Arabidopsis root hair was chosen as a single cell model to investigate the functional role of APA in cadmium stress response. Primary root growth inhibition and defective root hair morphotypes were observed. Poly(A) tag (PAT) libraries from single cell types, i.e., root …


Predicting Habitat Choice After Rapid Environmental Change, Philip H. Crowley, Pete C. Trimmer, Orr Spiegel, Sean M. Ehlman, William S. Cuello, Andrew Sih May 2019

Predicting Habitat Choice After Rapid Environmental Change, Philip H. Crowley, Pete C. Trimmer, Orr Spiegel, Sean M. Ehlman, William S. Cuello, Andrew Sih

Biology Faculty Publications

Decisions made while searching for settlement sites (e.g., nesting, oviposition) often have major fitness implications. Despite numerous case studies, we lack theory to explain why some species are thriving while others are making poor habitat choices after environmental change. We develop a model to predict (1) which kinds of environmental change have larger, negative effects on fitness, (2) how evolutionary history affects susceptibility to environmental change, and (3) how much lost fitness can be recovered via readjustment after environmental change. We model the common scenario where animals search an otherwise inhospitable matrix, encountering habitats of varying quality and settling when …


Effects Of Increased Precipitation On The Life History Of Spring- And Autumn-Germinated Plants Of The Cold Desert Annual Erodium Oxyrhynchum (Geraniaceae), Yanfeng Chen, Xiang Shi, Lingwei Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Huiliang Liu, Daoyuan Zhang Apr 2019

Effects Of Increased Precipitation On The Life History Of Spring- And Autumn-Germinated Plants Of The Cold Desert Annual Erodium Oxyrhynchum (Geraniaceae), Yanfeng Chen, Xiang Shi, Lingwei Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Huiliang Liu, Daoyuan Zhang

Biology Faculty Publications

Future increased precipitation in cold desert ecosystems may impact annual/ephemeral plant species that germinate in both spring and autumn. Our primary aim was to compare the life history characteristics of plants from spring-germinating (SG) and autumn-germinating (AG) seeds of Erodium oxyrhynchum. Plants in field plots with simulated increases in precipitation of 0, 30 and 50 % in spring and summer were monitored to determine seedling survival, phenology, plant size, seed production and biomass accumulation and allocation. Germination characteristics were determined in the laboratory for seeds produced by plants in all increased precipitation treatments. Increased precipitation in spring significantly improved survival …


Photocatalytic Degradation Of Profenofos And Triazophos Residues In The Chinese Cabbage, Brassica Chinensis, Using Ce-Doped Tio2, Xiangying Liu, You Zhan, Zhongqin Zhang, Lang Pan, Lifeng Hui, Kailin Liu, Xuguo Zhou, Lianyang Bai Mar 2019

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Profenofos And Triazophos Residues In The Chinese Cabbage, Brassica Chinensis, Using Ce-Doped Tio2, Xiangying Liu, You Zhan, Zhongqin Zhang, Lang Pan, Lifeng Hui, Kailin Liu, Xuguo Zhou, Lianyang Bai

Entomology Faculty Publications

Pesticides have revolutionized the modern day of agriculture and substantially reduced crop losses. Synthetic pesticides pose a potential risk to the ecosystem and to the non-target organisms due to their persistency and bioaccumulation in the environment. In recent years, a light-mediated advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) has been adopted to resolve pesticide residue issues in the field. Among the current available semiconductors, titanium dioxide (TiO2) is one of the most promising photocatalysts. In this study, we investigated the photocatalytic degradation of profenofos and triazophos residues in Chinese cabbage, Brassica chinensis, using a Cerium-doped nano semiconductor TiO2 (TiO …


Competition And Burn Severity Determine Post-Fire Sapling Recovery In A Nationally Protected Boreal Forest Of China: An Analysis From Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery, Lei Fang, Ellen V. Crocker, Jian Yang, Yan Yan, Yuanzheng Yang, Zhihua Liu Mar 2019

Competition And Burn Severity Determine Post-Fire Sapling Recovery In A Nationally Protected Boreal Forest Of China: An Analysis From Very High-Resolution Satellite Imagery, Lei Fang, Ellen V. Crocker, Jian Yang, Yan Yan, Yuanzheng Yang, Zhihua Liu

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Anticipating how boreal forest landscapes will change in response to changing fire regime requires disentangling the effects of various spatial controls on the recovery process of tree saplings. Spatially explicit monitoring of post-fire vegetation recovery through moderate resolution Landsat imagery is a popular technique but is filled with ambiguous information due to mixed pixel effects. On the other hand, very-high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery accurately measures crown size of tree saplings but has gained little attention and its utility for estimating leaf area index (LAI, m2/m2) and tree sapling abundance (TSA, seedlings/ha) in post-fire landscape remains …


Substantial Red Wolf Genetic Ancestry Persists In Wild Canids Of Southwestern Louisiana, Jennifer R. Adams, John J. Cox, Lisette P. Waits Mar 2019

Substantial Red Wolf Genetic Ancestry Persists In Wild Canids Of Southwestern Louisiana, Jennifer R. Adams, John J. Cox, Lisette P. Waits

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Concerns over red wolf (Canis rufus) extinction caused by hybridization with coyotes (C. latrans) led to the capture and removal of remnant wild wolves from southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas, United States, during the 1970s. Here we show that despite decades of unmitigated hybridization, and declaration of endangered red wolves as functionally extinct in the wild, red wolf mitochondrial or nuclear DNA ancestry persists in ∼55% of contemporary wild canids sampled in southwestern Louisiana. Surprisingly, one individual had 78–100% red wolf ancestry, which is within the range for 75% red wolf, red wolf backcross, or putative …


Coarse Particulate Organic Matter Dynamics In Ephemeral Tributaries Of A Central Appalachian Stream Network, Ken M. Fritz, Gregory J. Pond, Brent R. Johnson, Chris D. Barton Mar 2019

Coarse Particulate Organic Matter Dynamics In Ephemeral Tributaries Of A Central Appalachian Stream Network, Ken M. Fritz, Gregory J. Pond, Brent R. Johnson, Chris D. Barton

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Headwater ephemeral tributaries are interfaces between uplands and downstream waters. Terrestrial coarse particulate organic matter (CPOM) is important in fueling aquatic ecosystems; however, the extent to which ephemeral tributaries are functionally connected to downstream waters through fluvial transport of CPOM has been little studied. Hydrology and deposition of leaf and wood, and surrogate transport (Ginkgo biloba leaves and wood dowels) were measured over month‐long intervals through the winter and spring seasons (6 months) in 10 ephemeral tributaries (1.3–5.4 ha) in eastern Kentucky. Leaf deposition and surrogate transport varied over time, reflecting the seasonality of litterfall and runoff. Leaf deposition …


Potential Economic Impacts Of Allocating More Land For Bioenergy Biomass Production In Virginia, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Janaki R. R. Alavalapati, Pankaj Lal, Domena A. Agyeman, Bernabas Wolde, Pralhad Burli Feb 2019

Potential Economic Impacts Of Allocating More Land For Bioenergy Biomass Production In Virginia, Thomas O. Ochuodho, Janaki R. R. Alavalapati, Pankaj Lal, Domena A. Agyeman, Bernabas Wolde, Pralhad Burli

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The growing attention to renewable energy and rural development has created greater demand for production of biomass feedstock for bioenergy. However, forest growth rates and the amount of land in most existing forests may not be sufficient to sustainably supply the forest biomass required to support existing forest products industries and the expanding bioenergy industry. Additionally, concerns about agricultural land use competition have dampened expansion of biomass production on agricultural land base. One of the ways to meet the growing forest biomass feedstock demand for bioenergy production is by allocating currently marginal non-forested land for growing bioenergy feedstocks. In Virginia, …


Seed Germination Responses To Seasonal Temperature And Drought Stress Are Species‐Specific But Not Related To Seed Size In A Desert Steppe: Implications For Effect Of Climate Change On Community Structure, Fengyan Yi, Zhaoren Wang, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Ruhan Ye, Hailian Sun, Yuanyuan Zhang, Xuehua Ye, Guofang Liu, Xuejun Yang, Zhenying Huang Feb 2019

Seed Germination Responses To Seasonal Temperature And Drought Stress Are Species‐Specific But Not Related To Seed Size In A Desert Steppe: Implications For Effect Of Climate Change On Community Structure, Fengyan Yi, Zhaoren Wang, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Ruhan Ye, Hailian Sun, Yuanyuan Zhang, Xuehua Ye, Guofang Liu, Xuejun Yang, Zhenying Huang

Biology Faculty Publications

Investigating how seed germination of multiple species in an ecosystem responds to environmental conditions is crucial for understanding the mechanisms for community structure and biodiversity maintenance. However, knowledge of seed germination response of species to environmental conditions is still scarce at the community level. We hypothesized that responses of seed germination to environmental conditions differ among species at the community level, and that germination response is not correlated with seed size. To test this hypothesis, we determined the response of seed germination of 20 common species in the Siziwang Desert Steppe, China, to seasonal temperature regimes (representing April, May, June, …


Wildfire Alters Spatial Patterns Of Available Soil Nitrogen And Understory Environments In A Valley Boreal Larch Forest, Jianjian Kong, Jian Yang, Bo Liu, Lin Qi Jan 2019

Wildfire Alters Spatial Patterns Of Available Soil Nitrogen And Understory Environments In A Valley Boreal Larch Forest, Jianjian Kong, Jian Yang, Bo Liu, Lin Qi

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Wildfire, a primary natural disturbance in many forests, affects soil nutrient availability and spatial distributions of forest plants. However, post-fire changes in soil nutrients and spatial patterns of understory environments at fine scales are poorly understood. Here, we characterized spatial patterns of soil nitrogen availability and site characteristics at a 3-year-post-fire and an unburned site in a valley boreal larch forest. We also examined the relationship between soil nitrogen availability and site characteristics. The results showed that the burned site had higher NO3 and lower NH4+ than the control. The herb, litter and coarse wood debris …