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Full-Text Articles in Molecular Biology

Screening For Binding Partners And Protein-Protein Interactions Of A Fungal Transcription Factor- Xdr1, Nishadi Punsara Gallala Gamage Mar 2022

Screening For Binding Partners And Protein-Protein Interactions Of A Fungal Transcription Factor- Xdr1, Nishadi Punsara Gallala Gamage

Masters Theses

Clarireedia spp. (formerly Sclerotinia homoeocarpaF.T. Bennett) is the causal agent dollar spot, the most economically important turfgrass disease impacting golf courses in North America. The most effective strategy for dollar spot control is repeated application of multiple classes of fungicides. However, reliance on chemical application has led to resistance to four classes of fungicides as well as multidrug resistance (MDR). Fungi are known to detoxify xenobiotics, like fungicides, through transcriptional regulation of three detoxification phases: modification, conjugation and secretion. Little is known, however, of the protein-protein interactions that facilitate these pathways. Following next-generation RNA sequencing of Clarireedia spp., a …


Assessing Stress Tolerance Of Organelle Small Heat Shock Protein Mutants In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Parth Patel Dec 2020

Assessing Stress Tolerance Of Organelle Small Heat Shock Protein Mutants In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Parth Patel

Masters Theses

Molecular chaperones are proteins found in virtually every organism and are essential to cell survival. When plants are heat stressed, they upregulate and downregulate multiple genes, many of which are associated with the heat shock response. Small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) are one class of molecular chaperones that are upregulated during heat shock. They are proposed to act as the first line of defense by binding to heat sensitive proteins and preventing their irreversible aggregation. However, many details of sHSP function remain to be discovered and exactly what proteins they protect is unresolved. In addition to cytosolic sHSPs found in …


Investigation Of Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenases In S. Homoeocarpa For Chlorothalonil Biotransformation, Robert Green Jul 2017

Investigation Of Cytochrome P450 Monooxygenases In S. Homoeocarpa For Chlorothalonil Biotransformation, Robert Green

Masters Theses

Sclerotinia homoeocarpa (F.T. Bennett) is one of the most economically important pathogens on high amenity cool-season turfgrasses where it causes dollar spot. Due to decades of over-reliance and repeated chemical treatments, S. homoeocarpa has developed resistance and insensitivity to multiple classes of fungicides. To understand the genetic mechanisms of fungicide resistance, the whole genomes of two strains with varying resistance levels to fungicides, were sequenced. In unpublished data (Sang et al.), a RNA-sequencing analysis revealed three CYP450s that were validated to play a functional role in S. homoeocarpa’s resistance against different fungicide classes. We also identified CYP450 metabolic action …


Characterization Of Fusarium Species And Alternaria Alternata, And Their Effects On Switchgrass Health And Chemical Components, Sara Beth Collins Dec 2016

Characterization Of Fusarium Species And Alternaria Alternata, And Their Effects On Switchgrass Health And Chemical Components, Sara Beth Collins

Masters Theses

Panicum virgatum L., readily referred to as Switchgrass, is a perennial warm-season bunch grass, used as an alternative energy source for biofuel production. There is insufficient research on switchgrass pathogens, and is expected that an increase in disease pressure will result as more land is reserved for this perennial crop. The purpose of this research was to identify and characterize pathogenic Alternaria alternata and Fusarium species on Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), and to evaluate their impact on stand establishment and plant health. Molecular identifications of fungal isolates obtained from infected commercial switchgrass seed yielded eight species (A. alternata, …


Rapid Molecular Detection And Population Genetics Of Pityophthorus Juglandis, A Vector Of Thousand Cankers Disease In Juglans Spp., Emel Oren Dec 2016

Rapid Molecular Detection And Population Genetics Of Pityophthorus Juglandis, A Vector Of Thousand Cankers Disease In Juglans Spp., Emel Oren

Masters Theses

Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) is a disease complex involving the fungal pathogen Geosmithia morbida, an insect vector Pityophthorus juglandis, and the hosts, Juglans spp. and Pterocarya spp. Signs and symptoms of TCD include crown thinning due to branch dieback, yellowing and wilting of the leaves, appearance of epicormic shoots, numerous entrance/exit holes, gallery formation by P. juglandis, and the development of small, dark brown cankers underneath the bark. TCD originally described from western U.S., has now expanded to eastern U.S. and northwestern Italy. The disease complex is often difficult to diagnose due to the absence of symptoms …


Thermocycle-Regulated Wall Regulator Interacting Bhlh Encodes A Protein That Interacts With Secondary-Cell-Wall-Associated Transcription Factors, Ian P. Whitney Mar 2015

Thermocycle-Regulated Wall Regulator Interacting Bhlh Encodes A Protein That Interacts With Secondary-Cell-Wall-Associated Transcription Factors, Ian P. Whitney

Masters Theses

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most abundant raw materials on earth that can be utilized to created carbon-neutral biofuels as a replacement for conventional fossil fuels. In order to create ideal energy crops, the regulation and deposition of cell wall polysaccharides must first be fully understood. Improved understanding of cell wall regulation will enable selection of traits that can optimize biofuel feedstocks. Herein, I utilize the grass model system Brachypodium distachyon in order to understand the transcriptional regulation of secondary cell wall deposition. Gene expression profiling was used to elucidate transcription factors that regulate secondary cell wall biosynthesis. Through …


Sequence Analysis Of Maize Yellow Stripe3 Candidate Genes, Dennis B. Depaolo Nov 2014

Sequence Analysis Of Maize Yellow Stripe3 Candidate Genes, Dennis B. Depaolo

Masters Theses

The work presented here focuses on the molecular mechanism of phytosiderophore secretion in graminaceous plants. In maize, yellow stripe3 (ys3) is a mutant that is deficient in its ability to secrete iron-chelating compounds of the mugineic acid family known as phytosiderophores. Phytosiderophores are specific to grasses and are used for the acquisition of iron. Genetic linkage mapping of the ys3 locus lead to a region of interest on chromosome 3 defined by marker UMC1773. The sequence of eleven candidate genes (GRMZM2G390345, GRMZM2G390374, GRMZM2G342821, GRMZM5G800764, GRMZM2G502560, GRMZM5G849435, GRMZM2G105766, GRMZM5G876835, GRMZM2G036976, GRMZM2G502563, miR167g) revealed several small deletions …


Bioconfinement Of A Putatively Sterile Nicotiana Hybrid And Development Of Tools For Assessing Gene Flow, John Hollis Rice Aug 2013

Bioconfinement Of A Putatively Sterile Nicotiana Hybrid And Development Of Tools For Assessing Gene Flow, John Hollis Rice

Masters Theses

Production of transgenic crops in open field environments is an ongoing concern of due to the potential for gene flow. New transgenic crops, such as plant-made-pharmaceuticals may generate additional concerns about effects of adventitious transgenes. Use of a bioconfinement strategy may alleviate any consequences by preventing gene flow. The following chapters discuss previous and current research on gene flow, testing of a Nicotiana hybrid system for bioconfinement efficiency, and development of methods for transgene detection. The candidate ‘platform plant’ that was tested is a Nicotiana hybrid (Nicotiana tabacum ‘TN 90’ × Nicotiana glauca) previously identified to be sexually …


Four Aspects Of Dogwood Pollination: Insect Visitation, A Novel Approach To Identify Pollen, Floral Volatile Emission, And Tracking Parentage, Paul Raymond Rhoades Aug 2010

Four Aspects Of Dogwood Pollination: Insect Visitation, A Novel Approach To Identify Pollen, Floral Volatile Emission, And Tracking Parentage, Paul Raymond Rhoades

Masters Theses

Part 1: Visitation of potential pollinators to Cornus florida and C. kousa flowers was assessed in East Tennessee in 2008 and 2009. Data regarding insect visitation rates to multiple trees per location were gathered throughout the flowering period. Diurnal and seasonal variations in visitation were recorded. Pollen coverage was assessed on portions of captured insect exoskeletons that were most likely to contact the stigma. Eleven families in four insect orders were collected from C. florida and 26 families in five orders from C. kousa. The most important pollinators in eastern Tennessee were bees in the Andrenidae and Halictidae. The most …