Biology | Open Access Articles | Digital Commons Network™

Characterizing The Fitness Landscapes Of Gut Symbionts In Defined Community And Diet Contexts, Meng Wu

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A species' niche is the description of all the environmental conditions required to permit a population of that species to persist, including the effects of the population on those conditions. This definition includes the species' resource requirements, as well as stress tolerances and interactions with other species acting as competitors, predators, parasites, and mutualists. The human gut microbiota serves as a microbial `metabolic organ' tasked in part with the biotransformation of many components of our diet. Relatively little is known about the factors that allow members of the human gut microbiota to persist in a habitat that experiences marked changes …

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The Valley-Of-Death: Reciprocal Sign Epistasis Constrains Adaptive Trajectories In A Constant, Nutrient Limiting Environment, Kami E. Chiotti, Daniel J. Kvitek, Karen H. Schmidt, Gregory Koniges, Katja Schwartz, Elizabeth A. Donckels, Frank Rosenzweig, Gavin Sherlock

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The fitness landscape is a powerful metaphor for describing the relationship between genotype and phenotype for a population under selection. However, empirical data as to the topography of fitness landscapes are limited, owing to difficulties in measuring fitness for large numbers of genotypes under any condition. We previously reported a case of reciprocal sign epistasis (RSE), where two mutations individually increased yeast fitness in a glucose-limited environment, but reduced fitness when combined, suggesting the existence of two peaks on the fitness landscape. We sought to determine whether a ridge connected these peaks so that populations founded by one mutant could …

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Blattabacterium Genome: Structure, Function, And Evolution, Austin Alleman

Biology Theses

Blattabacterium, an obligate bacterial endosymbiont, functions as a mechanism of nitrogen recycling and nutrient synthesis within the Order Blattaria (cockroaches). Through genome annotation and the application of bioinformatics, the function of Blattabacterium within the cockroach Nauphoeta cinerea was described. Results of analyses indicate that the Blattabacterium genome, comprised of ~620,000 base pairs and ~620 individual genes, is drastically reduced when compared Flavobacterium, Blattabacteriumâ€™s closest free-living relative. However, the Blattabacterium genome retained functionality vital to host survival and fecundity and functions as a source of additional nutrient biosynthesis within its host. Like other intracellular endosymbionts, the Blattabacterium genome has a G+C …

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Characterization Of A Mutant Bacteriophage That Overcomes An Antitermination Defect In E. Coli Rna, Kimberly Baugh

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Mutations in the highly conserved zinc-binding domain of the β’ subunit of E.coli RNA polymerase prevent the growth of phage that use a unique RNA-based mechanism of transcription antitermination. Here, we describe the isolation and characterization of a mutant phage that overcomes this block. The genome of the mutant only differs from the parental phage by 2 nucleotides. Close inspection of the sequences surrounding the mutation suggested that a new promoter had been created. This was confirmed by cloning the potential promoter sequences into a promoter probe expression vector. We hypothesize that the new promoter permits the expression of phage …

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Cluster M Mycobacteriophages Bongo, Pegleg, And Rey With Unusually Large Repertoires Of Trna Isotopes, Welkin H. Pope, Kirk R. Anders, Madison Baird, Charles A. Bowman, Michelle M. Boyle, Gregory W. Broussard, Tiffany Chow, Kari L. Clase, Shannon Cooper, Kathleen A. Cornely, Randall J. Dejong, Veronique A. Delesalle, Lisa Deng, David Dunbar, Nicholas P. Edgington, Christina M. Ferreira, Kathleen Weston Hafer, Grant A. Hartzog, J. Robert Hatherill, Lee E. Hughes, Khristina Ipapo, Gregory P. Krukonis, Christopher G. Meier, Denise L. Monti, Matthew R. Olm, Shallee T. Page, Craig L. Peebles, Claire A. Rinehart, Michael R. Rubin, Daniel A. Russell, Erin R. Sanders, Morgan Schoer, Christopher D. Shaffer, James Wherley, Edwin Vazquez, Han Yuan, Daiyuan Zhang, Steven G. Cresawn, Deborah Jacobs-Sera, Roger W. Hendrix, Graham F. Hatfull

Biology Faculty Publications

Genomic analysis of a large set of phages infecting the common hostMycobacterium smegmatis mc²155 shows that they span considerable genetic diversity. There are more than 20 distinct types that lack nucleotide similarity with each other, and there is considerable diversity within most of the groups. Three newly isolated temperate mycobacteriophages, Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey, constitute a new group (cluster M), with the closely related phages Bongo and PegLeg forming subcluster M1 and the more distantly related Rey forming subcluster M2. The cluster M mycobacteriophages have siphoviral morphologies with unusually long tails, are homoimmune, and have larger than average …

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A Course-Based Research Experience: How Benefits Change With Increased Investment In Instructional Time, Christopher D. Shaffer, Consuelo J. Alvarez, April E. Bednarski, David Dunbar, Anya L. Goodman, Catherine Reinke, Anne G. Rosenwald, Michael J. Wolyniak, Cheryl Bailey, Daron Barnard, Christopher Bazinet, Dale L. Beach, James E.J. Bedard, Satish Bhalla, John Braverman, Martin Burg, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Hui-Min Chung, Kari Clase, Randall J. Dejong, Justin R. Diangelo, Chunguang Du, Todd T. Eckdahl, Heather Eisler, Julia A. Emerson, Amy Frary, Donald Frohlich, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Adam Haberman, Amy T. Hark, Charles Hauser, Arlene Hoogewerf, Laura L.M. Hoopes, Carina E. Howell, Diana Johnson, Christopher J. Jones, Lisa Kadlec, Marian Kaehler, S. Catherine Silver Key, Adam Kleinschmit, Nighat P. Kokan, Olga Kopp, Gary Kuleck, Judith Leatherman, Jane Lopilato, Christy Mackinnon, Juan Carlos Martinez-Cruzado, Gerard Mcneil, Stephanie Mel, Hemlata Mistry, Alexis Nagengast, Paul Overvoorde, Don W. Paetkau, Susan Parrish, Celeste N. Peterson, Mary Preuss, Laura K. Reed, Dennis Revie, Srebrenka Robic, Jennifer Roecklein-Canfield, Michael R. Rubin, Kenneth Saville, Stephanie Schroeder, Karim Sharif, Mary Shaw, Gary Skuse, Christopher D. Smith, Mary A. Smith, Sheryl T. Smith, Eric Spana, Mary Spratt, Aparna Sreenivasan, Joyce Stamm, Paul Szauter, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Matthew Wawersik, James Youngblom, Leming Zhou, Elaine R. Mardis, Jeremy Buhler, Wilson Leung, David Lopatto, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Faculty Publications

There is widespread agreement that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs should provide undergraduates with research experience. Practical issues and limited resources, however, make this a challenge. We have developed a bioinformatics project that provides a course-based research experience for students at a diverse group of schools and offers the opportunity to tailor this experience to local curriculum and institution-specific student needs. We assessed both attitude and knowledge gains, looking for insights into how students respond given this wide range of curricular and institutional variables. While different approaches all appear to result in learning gains, we find that a significant …

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Bayesian Joint Selection Of Genes And Pathways: Applications In Multiple Myeloma Genomics, Lin Zhang, Jeffrey S. Morris, Jiexin Zhang, Robert Orlowski, Veerabhadran Baladandayuthapani

Jeffrey S. Morris

It is well-established that the development of a disease, especially cancer, is a complex process that results from the joint effects of multiple genes involved in various molecular signaling pathways. In this article, we propose methods to discover genes and molecular pathways significantly associ- ated with clinical outcomes in cancer samples. We exploit the natural hierarchal structure of genes related to a given pathway as a group of interacting genes to conduct selection of both pathways and genes. We posit the problem in a hierarchical structured variable selection (HSVS) framework to analyze the corresponding gene expression data. HSVS methods conduct …

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Between Two Fern Genomes, E. B. Sessa, J. A. Banks, M. S. Barker, J. P. Der, A. M. Duffy, S. W. Graham, M. Hasebe, J. Langdale, F. W. Li, D. B. Marchant, K. M. Pryer, C. J. Rothfels, S. J. Roux, M. L. Salmi, E. M. Sigel, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, D. W. Stevenson, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

Ferns are the only major lineage of vascular plants not represented by a sequenced nuclear genome. This lack of genome sequence information significantly impedes our ability to understand and reconstruct genome evolution not only in ferns, but across all land plants. Azolla and Ceratopteris are ideal and complementary candidates to be the first ferns to have their nuclear genomes sequenced. They differ dramatically in genome size, life history, and habit, and thus represent the immense diversity of extant ferns. Together, this pair of genomes will facilitate myriad large-scale comparative analyses across ferns and all land plants. Here we review the …

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Small Rna Expression During Programmed Rearragement Of A Vertebrate Genome, Joseph R. Herdy Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

The sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) undergoes programmed genome rearrangements (PGRs) during embryogenesis that results in the deletion of ~0.5 Gb of germline DNA from the somatic lineage. The underlying mechanism of these rearrangements remains largely unknown. miRNAs (microRNAs) and piRNAs (PIWI interacting RNAs) are two classes of small noncoding RNAs that play important roles in early vertebrate development, including differentiation of cell lineages, modulation of signaling pathways, and clearing of maternal transcripts. Here, I utilized next generation sequencing to determine the temporal expression of miRNAs, piRNAs, and other small noncoding RNAs during the first five days of lamprey …

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Genotyping-By-Sequencing For Populus Population Genomics: An Assessment Of Genome Sampling Patterns And Filtering Approaches, M. Schilling, Paul G. Wolf, A. M. Duffy, H. S. Rai, C. A. Rowe, B. A. Richardson, K. E. Mock

Biology Faculty Publications

Continuing advances in nucleotide sequencing technology are inspiring a suite of genomic approaches in studies of natural populations. Researchers are faced with data management and analytical scales that are increasing by orders of magnitude. With such dramatic advances comes a need to understand biases and error rates, which can be propagated and magnified in large-scale data acquisition and processing. Here we assess genomic sampling biases and the effects of various population-level data filtering strategies in a genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) protocol. We focus on data from two species of Populus, because this genus has a relatively small genome and is emerging …

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Full-Text Articles in Biology

Characterizing The Fitness Landscapes Of Gut Symbionts In Defined Community And Diet Contexts, Meng Wu

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Valley-Of-Death: Reciprocal Sign Epistasis Constrains Adaptive Trajectories In A Constant, Nutrient Limiting Environment, Kami E. Chiotti, Daniel J. Kvitek, Karen H. Schmidt, Gregory Koniges, Katja Schwartz, Elizabeth A. Donckels, Frank Rosenzweig, Gavin Sherlock

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Blattabacterium Genome: Structure, Function, And Evolution, Austin Alleman

Biology Theses

Characterization Of A Mutant Bacteriophage That Overcomes An Antitermination Defect In E. Coli Rna, Kimberly Baugh

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Biology Faculty Publications

Faculty Publications

Bayesian Joint Selection Of Genes And Pathways: Applications In Multiple Myeloma Genomics, Lin Zhang, Jeffrey S. Morris, Jiexin Zhang, Robert Orlowski, Veerabhadran Baladandayuthapani

Jeffrey S. Morris

Between Two Fern Genomes, E. B. Sessa, J. A. Banks, M. S. Barker, J. P. Der, A. M. Duffy, S. W. Graham, M. Hasebe, J. Langdale, F. W. Li, D. B. Marchant, K. M. Pryer, C. J. Rothfels, S. J. Roux, M. L. Salmi, E. M. Sigel, D. E. Soltis, P. S. Soltis, D. W. Stevenson, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

Small Rna Expression During Programmed Rearragement Of A Vertebrate Genome, Joseph R. Herdy Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Genotyping-By-Sequencing For Populus Population Genomics: An Assessment Of Genome Sampling Patterns And Filtering Approaches, M. Schilling, Paul G. Wolf, A. M. Duffy, H. S. Rai, C. A. Rowe, B. A. Richardson, K. E. Mock

Biology Faculty Publications