Life Sciences Commons^™

Taking Apart The Time Machine: Investigating Space-For-Time Substitution Modeling In The Florida Everglades, Theresa Kelly Brown

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Space-for-Time substitution modeling has been used with increasing frequency to identify functional relationships between environmental drivers and ecological responses. I investigated the use of space-for-time substitution as a null model and beta diversity as a validity test for this null model in the Greater Everglades aquatic metacommunity. I began by conducting a literature review and analysis to investigate the suitability of the space-for-time substitution method as a null model. I then analyzed beta diversity of the Greater Everglades aquatic metacommunity through a sums-of-squares approach. Finally, I tested for correlation between the beta diversity analysis and the space-for-time models. Results indicate …

Characterizing Elasmobranch Species Diversity, Occurrence And Catches In Small-Scale Fisheries Of The Caribbean, Camila Cáceres

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although 95% of fishers are artisanal, little is known about the magnitude of their catches and impacts on marine ecosystems at a global scale. I used a rapid assessment framework to study elasmobranch occurrence, elasmobranch fisheries, and use in coastal small-scale fisheries in the Caribbean, combining observational data and fisher’s knowledge. A total of 800 Baited Remote Underwater Videos were deployed in addition to 660 interview surveys that were collected in Colombia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Tobago and the Florida Keys. In Colombia, I compared elasmobranch and teleost species richness and relative abundance within four coral reef habitats, where species targeted by …

Structural Basis For Chloroperoxidase Catalyzed Enantioselective Epoxidations And Mechanisms Of Selected Anticancer Drug Induced Apoptosis, Yongjian Guo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chloroperoxidase (CPO), a member of the heme peroxidase family, has diverse catalytic activities toward a broad range of substrates. In addition to catalyzing halogenation reactions involved in the biosynthesis of halogen-containing compounds, CPO also catalyzes reactions typical of traditional heme peroxidases, catalases, and cytochrome P450 enzymes. Despite the powerful and versatile catalytic activity of CPO, its applications have been thwarted by the difficulty in regenerating the active enzyme and substrate (peroxide) induced protein inactivation. To overcome these shorting comings of the protein, we investigate the fabrication and characterization of chloroperoxidase (CPO) and glucose oxidase (GOx) on the surface of MGO. …

Dual Role Of Rin1 In Cancer Cell Behavior: Is Cortactin A New Rin1-Interacting Partner?, Wei Zhang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Growth factors play an essential role in abnormalities in both intracellular trafficking and signal transduction pathways responsible in normal and cancer cells. Growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor, represent a main course on the activation of mitogenic signal that contribute to the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway affecting cell proliferation, which is driven by Ras GTPases. However, it also induces a profound morphological change by reorganization actin and other cytoskeleton proteins, which are driven by other GTPases (i.e., Rho and Rac). Ras interference 1 (Rin1) is a key cytosolic protein, that regulates both membrane trafficking and signaling pathways …

The Role Of Inositol Polyphosphate-4-Phosphatase Type Ii B (Inpp4b) In Obese Models And Endocrine Cancers, Manqi Zhang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

INPP4B is a dual-specificity phosphatase and a tumor suppressor in prostate and breast cancers. Progression of the prostate and breast cancers depends on the androgen receptor (AR) or estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling, respectively. In this work we demonstrated that INPP4B reprograms ERα transcriptional activity in breast cancer. INPP4B maintains expression and protein levels of progesterone receptor (PR), an ERα direct target gene required for mammary gland development. Consistently we demonstrated that Inpp4b knockout severely impairs lateral branching in the mammary gland of maturing virgin females. In advanced prostate cancer, activation and transcriptional reprogramming of AR frequently coincides with the …

Influence Of Vermicompost Tea On Secondary Metabolites In Solanum Lycopersicum Within South Florida, Daphne K. Sugino Souffront

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fresh Market Tomatoes provide a high revenue stream for Florida’s agricultural sector. To attain profitable yields, farmers introduce high inputs of pesticides to suppress pest invasion/damage. Heavy usage of pesticides has adverse effects on human and environmental health. A possible solution might be the incorporation of vermicompost in pest management. Typically used as a fertilizer, vermicompost has pest suppressant properties. Mechanisms influencing enhanced pest resistance are unknown. To identify such mechanisms, a study was conducted to evaluate physical and chemical changes of the BHN589 tomato plant following the addition of varying vermicompost tea treatments (T5%, T10%, and T20%) . Results …

Evolutionary Genetics Of The Genus Zamia (Zamiaceae, Cycadales), Michael Calonje

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The genus Zamia L. (Zamiaceae), consisting of 77 species, is the most species-rich and widely distributed cycad genus in the New World and is arguably the most morphologically and ecologically diverse genus in the Cycadales. We utilized a multilocus sequence dataset of 10 independent loci (9 single copy nuclear genes + 1 plastid) and extensive taxon sampling (over 90% of species) to infer phylogenetic relationships within Zamia. We infer a robust phylogenetic tree for the genus with a strong geographic delimitation of clades and find that four morphological characters typically used for diagnostic purposes in the genus exhibit a high …

Regulation Of Telomerase Activity By Rab5 Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors, Patric J. Hambleton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many cancerous cells display abnormalities in the signal transduction pathways responsible for responding to extracellular growth factors. Growth factors, such as insulin-like growth factor I, represent a major class of mitogenic ligands that can initiate the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. The role of the MAPK pathway in transducing growth signals to the interior of the cell and subsequently stimulating cell growth and proliferation is highlighted by the fact that roughly one quarter of all human tumors contain mutant forms of Ras proteins. Ras interference 1 (Rin1) is involved in key steps of receptor mediated endocytosis and can potentially …

Incorporating Early Life History And Recruitment In Analysis Of Population Dynamics Of Wetland Fishes, John Vincent Gatto

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hydrological variation is believed to be the major abiotic factor influencing fish recruitment in floodplain ecosystems. However, past studies fail to address the impact of hydrology on the three major drivers of recruitment: age-specific growth and mortality, and dispersal. I examined long-term recruitment dynamics for six fish species inhabiting the Everglades by addressing the impact of hydrology on these important characteristics. I then linked these changes to annual fluctuations in population size.

Before interpreting time-series data on recruitment, I evaluated the impact of size-selective bias from sampling gear on our interpretation of hydrological drivers of recruitment. Analyses revealed that individuals …

The Bottlenose Dolphin Epigenetic Aging Tool (Beat): A Molecular Age Estimation Tool For Small Cetaceans, Andria P. Beal, Jeremy J. Kiszka, Randall S. Wells, Jose M. Eirin-Lopez

Department of Biological Sciences

Age constitutes a critical parameter for the study of animal populations, providing information about development, environmental effects, survival, and reproduction. Unfortunately, age estimation is not only challenging in large, mobile and legally protected species, but often involves invasive sampling methods. The present work investigates the association between epigenetic modifications and chronological age in small cetaceans. For that purpose, DNA methylation at age-linked genes was characterized in an extensively studied, long-term resident common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) community from Sarasota Bay (FL, United States) for which sampled individuals have a known age. Results led to the identification of several …

The Genetics Of Olfactory And Visually Guided Attractive Behaviors In Aedes Aegypti Mosquito, Joshua Ibukun Raji

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mosquitoes detect their hosts and seek suitable resources crucial for survival by integrating chemosensory, thermal, and visual cues. The diversity of the cues involved in mosquito attractive behaviors has made the design of behavioral control strategies a challenge. The genetic basis of mosquito attractive behaviors can now be determined using genome editing. The contribution of the IR8a chemosensory pathway was uncovered by disrupting the IR8a co- receptor in Aedes aegypti using CRISPR/Cas9. Ir8a mutant female mosquitoes are not attracted to lactic acid, a behaviorally active component of human sweat, and lack odor-evoked responses to acidic volatiles. The loss of Ir8a …

Quantitative Spatial Upscaling Of Categorical Information: The Multi‐Dimensional Grid‐Point Scaling Algorithm, Daniel Gann

HWCOM Faculty Publications

1. Categorical raster datasets often require upscaling to a lower spatial resolution to make them compatible with the scale of ecological analysis. When aggregating categorical data, two critical issues arise: (a) ignoring compositional information present in the high‐resolution grid cells leads to high and uncontrolled loss of information in the scaled dataset; and (b) restricting classes to those present in the high‐resolution dataset assumes validity of the classification scheme at the lower, aggregated resolution.
2. I introduce a new scaling algorithm that aggregates categorical data while simultaneously controlling for information loss by generating a non‐hierarchical, representative, classification system for the aggregated scale. …

Same Species, Different Prerequisites: Investigating Body Condition And Foraging Success In Young Reef Sharks Between An Atoll And An Island System, Ornella C. Weideli, Ian A. Bouyoucos, Yannis Papastamatiou, Gauthier Mescam, Jodie L. Rummer, Serge Planes

Department of Biological Sciences

Acquiring and storing energy is vital to sharks of all age-classes. Viviparous shark embryos receive endogenous maternal energy reserves to sustain the first weeks after birth. Then, in order to maintain body condition, sharks must start foraging. Our goal was to understand whether maternal energy investments vary between blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) from two populations and to what extent body condition and the initiation of foraging might be affected by presumably variable maternal investments. A total of 546 young sharks were captured at St. Joseph atoll (Seychelles) and Moorea (French Polynesia) between 2014 and 2018, and indices …

Signal From The Noise: Model‐Based Interpretation Of Variable Correspondence Between Active And Passive Samplers, Joseph Parkos Iii, Jeffrey L. Kline, Joel C. Trexler

HWCOM Faculty Publications

Combining information from active and passive sampling of mobile animals is challenging because active‐sampling data are affected by limited detection of rare or sparse taxa, while passive‐sampling data reflect both density and movement. We propose that a model‐based analysis allows information to be combined between these methods to interpret variation in the relationship between active estimates of density and passive measurements of catch per unit effort to yield novel information on activity rates (distance/time). We illustrate where discrepancies arise between active and passive methods and demonstrate the model‐based approach with seasonal surveys of fish assemblages in the Florida Everglades, where …

How Much Forest Persists Through Fire? High-Resolution Mapping Of Tree Cover To Characterize The Abundance And Spatial Pattern Of Fire Refugia Across Mosaics Of Burn Severity, Ryan B. Walker, Jonathan D. Coop, William M. Downing, Meg A. Krawchuk, Sparkle L. Malone, Garrett W. Meigs

Department of Biological Sciences

Wildfires in forest ecosystems produce landscape mosaics that include relatively unaffected areas, termed fire refugia. These patches of persistent forest cover can support fire-sensitive species and the biotic legacies important for post-fire forest recovery, yet little is known about their abundance and distribution within fire perimeters. Readily accessible 30-m resolution satellite imagery and derived burn severity products are commonly employed to characterize post-fire landscapes; however, coarse image resolution, generalized burn severity thresholds, and other limitations can constrain accurate representation of fire refugia. This study quantifies the abundance and pattern of fire refugia within 10 fires occurring in ponderosa pine and …

Quantitative Methods For Assessing Local And Bodywide Contributions To Wolbachia Titer In Maternal Germline Cells Of Drosophila, Steen Christensen, Moises Camacho, Zinat Sharmin, A.J.M. Zahadee Momtaz, Laura Perez, Giselle Navarro, Jairo Triana, Michael Turelli, Laura Renee Serbus

Biomolecular Sciences Institute: Faculty Publications

Background

Little is known about how bacterial endosymbionts colonize host tissues. Because many insect endosymbionts are maternally transmitted, egg colonization is critical for endosymbiont success. Wolbachia bacteria, carried by approximately half of all insect species, provide an excellent model for characterizing endosymbiont infection dynamics. To date, technical limitations have precluded stepwise analysis of germline colonization by Wolbachia. It is not clear to what extent titer-altering effects are primarily mediated by growth rates of Wolbachia within cell lineages or migration of Wolbachia between cells.

Results

The objective of this work is to inform mechanisms of germline colonization through use of optimized …

A New Species Of Terrestrial-Breeding Frog (Amphibia, Strabomantidae, Noblella) From The Upper Madre De Dios Watershed, Amazonian Andes And Lowlands Of Southern Peru, Roy Santa-Cruz, Rudolf Von May, Alessandro Catenazzi, Courtney Whitcher, Evaristo Lopez Tejeda, Daniel L. Rabosky

Department of Biological Sciences

We describe and name a new species of Noblella Barbour, 1930 (Strabomantidae) from southern Peru. Key diagnostic characteristics of the new species include the presence of a short, oblique fold-like tubercle on the ventral part of the tarsal region, two phalanges on finger IV, and an evident tympanum. The elevational distribution of the new species spans 1250 m (240–1490 m) from lowland Amazon rainforest to montane forest on the eastern slopes of the Andes.

Recent Research In Science Teaching And Learning, Sarah L. Eddy

Stem Transformation Institute

The Current Insights feature is designed to introduce life science educators and researchers to current articles of interest in other social science and education journals. In this installment, I highlight three diverse research studies: one exploring what researchers actually mean when they talk about relevance; one describing the relationships between instructor mindset about intelligence and performance gaps in the classroom; and the last describing a novel short intervention to reduce student’s perceptions of costs.

Spatial Variability Of Mangrove Primary Productivity In The Neotropics, Rafaela De Albuquerque Ribeiro, Andre Scarlate Rovai, Robert R. Twilley, Edward Castaneda-Moya

SERC Faculty Publications

Mangroves are considered one of the most productive ecosystems in the world with significant contributions as carbon sinks in the biosphere. Yet few attempts have been made to assess global patterns in mangrove net primary productivity, except for a few assumptions relating litterfall rates to variation in latitude. We combined geophysical and climatic variables to predict mangrove litterfall rates at continental scale. On a per‐area basis, carbon flux in litterfall in the neotropics is estimated at 5 MgC·ha−1·yr−1, between 20% and 50% higher than previous estimates. Annual carbon fixed in mangrove litterfall in the neotropics is estimated at 11.5 TgC, …

Defining And Measuring Students’ Interest In Biology: An Analysis Of The Biology Education Literature, Ashley A. Rowland, Eva Knekta, Sarah L. Eddy, Lisa A, Corwin

Stem Transformation Institute

Understanding how students develop biology interests and the roles interest plays in biology contexts could help instructors and researchers to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics students’ motivation and persistence. However, it is currently unclear how interest has been defined or measured in the biology education research literature. We analyzed this body of literature to determine how interest has been defined and used by the biology education research community. Specifically, we determined the extent to which previously published work drew on theories that conceptualize interest. Further, we identified studies that measured student interest in biology and characterized the types of …

Coordinated Community Structure Among Trees, Fungi And Invertebrate Groups In Amazonian Rainforests, Jason Vleminckx, Heidy Schimann, Thibaud Decaens, Melanie Fichaux, Vincent Vedel, Gaëlle Jaouen, Melanie Roy, Emmanuel Lapied, Julien Engel, Aurélie Dourdain, Pascal Petronelli, Jerome Orivel, Christopher Baraloto

Department of Biological Sciences

Little is known regarding how trophic interactions shape community assembly in tropical forests. Here we assess multi-taxonomic community assembly rules using a rare standardized coordinated inventory comprising exhaustive surveys of five highly-diverse taxonomic groups exerting key ecological functions: trees, fungi, earthworms, ants and spiders. We sampled 36 1.9-ha plots from four remote locations in French Guiana including precise soil measurements, and we tested whether species turnover was coordinated among groups across geographic and edaphic gradients. All species group pairs exhibited significant compositional associations that were independent from soil conditions. For some of the pairs, associations were also partly explained by …

Challenges In The Conservation Of An Over-Harvested Plant Species With High Socioeconomic Values, Yan Chen, H. Liu, Joel Heinen

Department of Earth and Environment

Overexploitation to meet commercial demands has threatened the existence of many species. In theory, one can adopt a portfolio of policies and measures from both the supply (i.e., encourage cultivation while punishing poaching) and demand (i.e., education of consumers) sides to achieve sustainable use. Here we examine the effects of governmental policies and measures towards the utilization of Aquilaria sinensis, a threatened species with high cultural and economic values. We found that, despite national protected status and a suite of government initiatives and granted projects to implement cultivation of the species, poaching persisted and even intensified. From the consumer side, …

Understanding Rivers And Their Social Relations: A Critical Stepto Advance Environmental Water Management, Elizabeth P. Anderson, Sue Jackson, Rebecca E. Tharme, Michael Douglas, Joseph E. Flotemersch, Margreet Zwarteveen, Chicu Lokgariwar, Mariana Monotya, Alaka Wali, Gail T. Tipa, Timothy D. Jardine, Julian D. Olden, Lin Cheng, John Conallin, Barbara Cosens, Chris Dickens, Dustin Garrick, David Groenfeldt, Jane Kabogo, Dirk J. Roux, Albert Ruhi, Angela H. Arthington

Department of Earth and Environment

River flows connect people, places, and other forms of life, inspiring and sustaining diverse cultural beliefs, values, and ways of life. The concept of environmental flows provides a framework for improving understanding of relationships between river flows and people, and for supporting those that are mutually beneficial. Nevertheless, most approaches to determining environmental flows remain grounded in the biophysical sciences. The newly revised Brisbane Declaration and Global Action Agenda on Environmental Flows (2018) represents a new phase in environmental flow science and an opportunity to better consider the co‐constitution of river flows, ecosystems, and society, and to more explicitly incorporate …

A Systematic Review Of How Multiple Stressors From An Extreme Event Drove Ecosystem-Wide Loss Of Resilience In An Iconic Seagrass Community, Gary A. Kendrick, Robert J. Nowicki, Ylva S. Olsen, Simone Strydom, Matthew W. Fraser, Elizabeth A. Sinclair, John Statton, Renae K. Hovery, Jordan A. Thomas, Derek A. Burkholder, Kathryn M. Mcmahon, Kieryn Kilminster, Yasha Hetzel, James W. Fourqurean, Michael R. Heithaus, Robert J. Orth

Department of Biological Sciences

A central question in contemporary ecology is how climate change will alter ecosystem structure and function across scales of space and time. Climate change has been shown to alter ecological patterns from individuals to ecosystems, often with negative implications for ecosystem functions and services. Furthermore, as climate change fuels more frequent and severe extreme climate events (ECEs) like marine heatwaves (MHWs), such acute events become increasingly important drivers of rapid ecosystem change. However, our understanding of ECE impacts is hampered by limited collection of broad scale in situ data where such events occur. In 2011, a MHW known as the …

Population Structure, Connectivity, And Demographic History Of An Apex Marine Predator, The Bull Shark Carcharhinus Leucas, Agathe Pirog, Virginie Ravigné, Michael C. Fontaine, Adrien Rieux, Aude Gilabert, Geremy Cliff, Erica Clua, Ryan Daly, Michael R. Heithaus, Jeremy J. Kiszka, Philip Matich, John E.G. Nevill, Amy F. Smoothey, Andrew J. Temple, Per Berggren, Sebastien Jaquemet, Helene Magalon

Department of Biological Sciences

Knowledge of population structure, connectivity, and effective population size remains limited for many marine apex predators, including the bull shark Carcharhinus leucas. This large‐bodied coastal shark is distributed worldwide in warm temperate and tropical waters, and uses estuaries and rivers as nurseries. As an apex predator, the bull shark likely plays a vital ecological role within marine food webs, but is at risk due to inshore habitat degradation and various fishing pressures. We investigated the bull shark's global population structure and demographic history by analyzing the genetic diversity of 370 individuals from 11 different locations using 25 microsatellite loci …

Origin And Development Of True Karst Valleys In Response To Late Holocene Sea‐Level Change, The Transverse Glades Of Southeast Florida, Usa, John (Jack) Meeder, Peter Harlem

SERC Faculty Publications

The Miami Limestone is an oolite depositional body that is used as an analog model for geological interpretation of the rock record. Barrier‐bar complex, oolite banks, extensive bryozoan flats and tidal creeks, referred to as transverse glades, have been described. High‐resolution LiDAR data are used to produce unprecedented, detailed topographic maps of the transverse glades in the southern Atlantic Coastal Ridge. These maps were originally used to calculate historic discharge from the Everglades but revealed features inconsistent with the prevailing theory that the topography is of a depositional origin. Field observations verified an epikarst terrain truncated by collapsed subsurface conduits …

Comparative Mitogenomics Of The Decapoda Reveals Evolutionary Heterogeneity In Architecture And Composition, Mun Hua Tan, Han Ming Gan, Yin Peng Lee, Heather D. Bracken-Grissom

Department of Biological Sciences

The emergence of cost-effective and rapid sequencing approaches has resulted in an exponential rise in the number of mitogenomes on public databases in recent years, providing greater opportunity for undertaking large-scale comparative genomic and systematic research. Nonetheless, current datasets predominately come from small and disconnected studies on a limited number of related species, introducing sampling biases and impeding research of broad taxonomic relevance. This study contributes 21 crustacean mitogenomes from several under-represented decapod infraorders including Polychelida and Stenopodidea, which are used in combination with 225 mitogenomes available on NCBI to investigate decapod mitogenome diversity and phylogeny. An overview of mitochondrial …

Mechanisms For The Persistence Of The Coral Holobiont In The Warming Oceans Of The Anthropocene, Daniel G. Merselis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coral Reefs are rapidly deteriorating in response to an onslaught of human-mediated stressors. Just one stressor alone, climate change, may extirpate coral reef ecosystems within a human lifetime, threatening societal and ecological catastrophe. Reef-derived ecosystem services are crucial for sustenance, coastal protection, and economic prosperity in over 100 countries. Near-term human decisions will determine whether reef-corals, the ecosystems they engineer, the 25% of marine biodiversity they support, and the human communities that depend upon them can be protected. My dissertation aims to characterize the potential for corals' adaptive mechanisms to facilitate their continued survival- information which will only represent hope …

True Grit: Passion And Persistence Make An Innovative Course Design Work, Anne M. Casper, Sarah L. Eddy, Scott Freeman

Department of Biological Sciences

Our first two experiments on adapting a high-structure course model to an essentially open-enrollment university produced negative or null results. Our third experiment, however, proved more successful: performance improved for all students, and a large achievement gap that impacted underrepresented minority students under traditional lecturing closed. Although the successful design included preclass preparation videos, intensive active learning in class, and weekly practice exams, student self-report data indicated that total study time decreased. Faculty who have the grit to experiment and persevere in making evidence-driven changes to their teaching can reduce the inequalities induced by economic and educational disadvantage.

Predation And Crypsis In The Evolution Of Electric Signaling In Weakly Electric Fishes, Philip K. Stoddard, Alex Tran, Rudiger Krahe

Department of Biological Sciences

Eavesdropping by electroreceptive predators poses a conflict for weakly electric fish, which depend on their Electric Organ Discharge (EOD) signals both for navigation and communication in the dark. The EODs that allow weakly electric fish to electrolocate and communicate in the dark may attract electroreceptive predators such as catfishes and Electric Eels. These predators share with their prey the synapomorphy of passive electric sense supported by ampullary electroreceptors that are highly sensitive to low-frequency electric fields. Any low-frequency spectral components of the EOD make weakly electric fish conspicuous and vulnerable to attack from electroreceptive predators. Accordingly, most weakly electric fish …