Molecular Biology Commons^™

Unraveling The Regulatory Basis Of The Desiccation Tolerance Trait In Selaginella Lepidophylla, Madhavi Anuradha Ariyarathne Hewa Babarandhage

Dissertations and Theses

Desiccation tolerance was a crucial adaptation for plants during their transition to terrestrial environments. Some spike mosses, including S. lepidophylla, have evolved the remarkable ability to tolerate extreme desiccation, enabling survival in arid regions of the world. However, the regulatory basis of this trait remains unknown. This dissertation aims to unravel the genetic basis of desiccation tolerance in Selaginella lepidophylla and its potential for improving crop abiotic stress tolerance. To achieve this goal, three objectives were pursued. Objective 1 focused on determining the regulatory role of the SlbHLH transcription factor (TF) by overexpressing it in Arabidopsis thaliana to assess its …

Reconstructing The Germination Pathway From The Rafflesia Seed Transcriptome, Venkata Siva Sankar Maddu

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

Rafflesia (Rafflesiaceae) produces the largest flowers in the world but has no stems, roots, or leaves. It is a holoparasitic angiosperm that derives all its nutrients from its host vine, Tetrastigma. All species are also threatened with extinction, but propagating it has been incredibly challenging. Its germination from seed has never been observed. The thesis aims to reconstruct the germination pathway of Rafflesia from its published seed transcriptome to gain insight into its molecular genetics and understand what germination genes can be stimulated to facilitate infection of its host for ex-situ propagation. The published seed transcriptome of Rafflesia speciosa was …

The Gene Expression Patterns Of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium And Trametes Versicolor On Diverse Lignocellulosic Feedstocks, Noor Osama Alabbasi

Masters Theses

Plant biomass is considered to be an important future starting material for fuels and chemicals, thereby decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels. While direct combustion continues to be a source of fuel, the generation of liquid fuels from plant biomass for transportation has proven to be challenging. Among the limiting factors for conversion of this material to biofuels is the recalcitrant nature of lignocellulose, the primary component of non-starch plant biomass. A strategy to overcome this dilemma is to directly or indirectly use the enzymes from white-rot fungi, which have evolved a unique ability to deconstruct lignocellulose. However, the biochemical …

Initial And Advanced Stages Of Microbiota Establishment Within The Tsetse Fly, Miguel Eduardo Medina Munoz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Symbiosis is a long-term physical association between two or more species, although little is known regarding its evolutionary origins, particularly at the genetic level. Tsetse flies are the vector of African trypanosomes, causative agents of Human and Animal African Trypanosomiases. Tsetse provide an ideal model for studying initial and advanced stages of symbiosis. Tsetse have a simple digestive tract microbiota primarily consisting of two bacteria; the ancient mutualist Wigglesworthia glossinidia and the recently acquired Sodalis glossinidius. This work presents a chronological study in evolutionary terms of the history of a microbial-insect association. First, I present concepts on symbiosis and …

Hsp70-Mediated Regulation Of Hsf1 Transcriptional Activity In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Sara Peffer

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

In eukaryotic cells, protein homeostasis and cellular fitness is promoted by the transcription factor heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) during exposure to proteotoxic stress. HSF1 controls the basal and stress-induced expression of molecular chaperones and other protective targets. Dynamic regulation of HSF1 involves the major heat shock proteins Hsp70 and Hsp90. Recent advances in the understanding of this regulatory circuit in Saccharomyces cerevisiae have shown that the Hsp70 Ssa1 acts as a sensor for some proteotoxic stresses and is capable of a direct interaction with Hsf1. This work continues to explore the complex regulatory interaction between Hsf1 and Ssa1. I …

Rna Sequencing Analysis Of The Developing Chicken Retina, Christophe Langouet-Astrie*, Annamarie Meinsen*, Emily R. Grunwald*, Stephen Turner, Raymond A. Enke

Ray Enke Ph.D.

Live-Cell Monitoring Of Periodic Gene Expression In Synchronous Human Cells Identifies Forkhead Genes Involved In Cell Cycle Control, Gavin D. Grant, Joshua Gamsby, Viktor Martyanov, Lionel Brooks, Lacy K. George, J. Matthew Mahoney, Jennifer J. Loros, Jay C. Dunlap, Michael L. Whitfield

Dartmouth Scholarship

We developed a system to monitor periodic luciferase activity from cell cycle-regulated promoters in synchronous cells. Reporters were driven by a minimal human E2F1 promoter with peak expression in G1/S or a basal promoter with six Forkhead DNA-binding sites with peak expression at G2/M. After cell cycle synchronization, luciferase activity was measured in live cells at 10-min intervals across three to four synchronous cell cycles, allowing unprecedented resolution of cell cycle-regulated gene expression. We used this assay to screen Forkhead transcription factors for control of periodic gene expression. We confirmed a role for FOXM1 and identified two novel cell cycle …

Amphiregulin (Areg) And Epidermal Growth Factor (Egf): Disparate In Egfr Signaling And Trafficking, Andrea Jacqueline Baillo

Wayne State University Dissertations

We have previously shown that SUM-149 human breast cancer cells require an AREG/EGFR autocrine loop for cell proliferation. We also demonstrated that AREG can increase EGFR stability and promote EGFR localization to the plasma membrane. In the presented dissertation we successfully knocked-down AREG expression in SUM-149 cells by lenti-viral infection of AREG shRNA. In the absence of AREG expression, SUM-149 cell growth was slowed, but not completely inhibited. Furthermore, cells infected with AREG shRNA constructs showed an increase in EGFR protein expression by western blot. Immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy showed that following AREG knock-down, EGFR continued to localize to the …