Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
- Institution
- Publication
- Publication Type
Articles 1 - 6 of 6
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Microbial Community Analysis: Biofilm Inhibition & Algae Associated Community Structure, Michelle V. Fong
Microbial Community Analysis: Biofilm Inhibition & Algae Associated Community Structure, Michelle V. Fong
University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations
Natural products chemistry is the pursuit of bioactive small molecules from living organisms. These can be classified as primary metabolites if they are essential to survival, and secondary metabolites if they are accessory, playing a role in communication, defense, recruitment, etc.. Natural products have made a significant contribution to society – of 1,881 FDA-approved drugs from 1981 to 2019, 4% were pure natural products, 19% were natural products derived, and 3% were synthetic drugs with a natural products pharmacophore targeting a wide range of diseases and infections (Newman & Cragg, 2020). Pharmacophores are structural components of drugs that are responsible …
Behavior And Chemical Signals As Markers Of Colony Identification In Argentine Ants (Linepithema Humile), Stephanie A. Rohrbach
Behavior And Chemical Signals As Markers Of Colony Identification In Argentine Ants (Linepithema Humile), Stephanie A. Rohrbach
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, are a highly successful invasive species around the globe and are especially prominent in states such as California and the southeastern United States. L.humile have a unique form of unicoloniality, called “supercolonies”. L. humile can detect colonymates through scent markers in their outer cuticle. With these chemical markers, ants will exhibit high aggression if they smell different from one another. In our study, we performed aggression assays among ten different nest sites and analyzed their CHCs through gas chromatography mass spectrometry, or GC-MS, analysis. For our behavior results, while within-nest interactions displayed low aggression as …
Characterization Of Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles In Southeastern Argentine Ant (Linepithema Humile) Colonies, Katherine R. Barrs
Characterization Of Cuticular Hydrocarbon Profiles In Southeastern Argentine Ant (Linepithema Humile) Colonies, Katherine R. Barrs
Honors College Theses
Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, are a globally invasive species that displaces native species and facilitates agricultural pests. Colonies occupy distinct territories with multiple nests and defend them against other colonies. Ants have a waxy coating of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs) and can detect (i.e. smell) differences in these CHCs to identify their own vs foreign colonies. In the US, Argentine ants have been primarily studied in California where they only form four massive colonies showing mutual aggression, some spanning more than 500 miles. In the Southeast, colony recognition remains largely unexplored; however, we have identified several smaller colonies based on …
It’S Not Easy Being Green: A Study Of The Chemical Phenology Of The Eastern Hemlock Throughout A Growing Season, Nick Houseman, Evan Preisser
It’S Not Easy Being Green: A Study Of The Chemical Phenology Of The Eastern Hemlock Throughout A Growing Season, Nick Houseman, Evan Preisser
Senior Honors Projects
Phenology is the study of seasonally timed developmental events that are driven by environmental cues. Phenolic compounds and terpenoids are the two main classes of secondary metabolites present in conifer needles, and speaking generally, they correlate with needle age. Understanding the phenology of secondary metabolites is important, since variation in these compounds can affect a tree’s resistance to pest and pathogen attack. Terpenoids function in a wide array of ecological processes vital to conifer survival, including regulating forest dynamics through allelopathic inhibition of seed germination, altering rates of soil nutrient cycling and nitrification, and conferring resistance to pathogenic fungi and …
Determinants Of Host Use In Tachinid Parasitoids (Diptera: Tachinidae) Of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) In Southwest Ohio, Matthew W. Duncan
Determinants Of Host Use In Tachinid Parasitoids (Diptera: Tachinidae) Of Stink Bugs (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) In Southwest Ohio, Matthew W. Duncan
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
Tachinid parasitoids in the subfamily Phasiinae are important natural enemies of heteropteran bugs. Host location by these flies occurs via antennal reception to the pheromones of their hosts; however little is known regarding the mechanisms which underlie host selection. Halyomorpha halys, the invasive brown marmorated stink bug, represents a potential novel host species in North America. This study was conducted to determine the suitability of H. halys as a host for phasiine species, and to assess cues used in host selection by the species Gymnoclytia occidua. Field attraction to pentatomid pheromones by both phasiines and pentatomids in Southwest Ohio were …
Characterization Of Sugar Diversity In Floral And Extra-Floral Nectar From The Coastal Coral Tree (Erythrina Caffra Thunb.) In Southern California, Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Kenny Morales, Renee Maser, Julius Doyle, Mera Gobrial
Characterization Of Sugar Diversity In Floral And Extra-Floral Nectar From The Coastal Coral Tree (Erythrina Caffra Thunb.) In Southern California, Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Kenny Morales, Renee Maser, Julius Doyle, Mera Gobrial
Biology Faculty Works
The Coastal Coral Tree (Erythrina caffra Thunb.) produces floral nectar (FN) that serves to attract pollinating insects, but also secretes nectar from extra-floral (EFN) glands that serves to at-tract predatory insects, such as ants. While stu-dies on myrmecophytes (i.e. specialized plants that attract and interact with ants) have primarily focused on interspecific evaluations of EFN chemistry, the Coastal Coral tree offers an op-portunity to contrast intraspecific nectar chemi-stry with differing evolutionary and ecological functions. We hypothesized that the richness of (molecular) sugar species, relative concentra-tions, and diversity of sugars in FN and foliar EFN would diverge due to differences in …