Biology Commons^™

Tracing Water Sources Of Terrestrial Animal Populations With Stable Isotopes: Laboratory Tests With Crickets And Spiders, Kevin E. Mccluney, John L. Sabo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Fluxes of carbon, nitrogen, and water between ecosystem components and organisms have great impacts across levels of biological organization. Although much progress has been made in tracing carbon and nitrogen, difficulty remains in tracing water sources from the ecosystem to animals and among animals (the ‘‘water web’’). Naturally occurring, nonradioactive isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen in water provide a potential method for tracing water sources. However, using this approach for terrestrial animals is complicated by a change in water isotopes within the body due to differences in activity of heavy and light isotopes during cuticular and transpiratory water losses. Here …

Counterintuitive Effects Of Large-Scale Predator Removal On A Midlatitude Rodent Community, John L. Maron, Dean E. Pearson, Robert J. Fletcher Jr.

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Historically, small mammals have been focal organisms for studying predator–prey dynamics, principally because of interest in explaining the drivers of the cyclical dynamics exhibited by northern vole, lemming, and hare populations. However, many small-mammal species occur at relatively low and fairly stable densities at temperate latitudes, and our understanding of how complex predator assemblages influence the abundance and dynamics of these species is surprisingly limited. In an intact grassland ecosystem in western Montana, USA, we examined the abundance and dynamics of Columbian ground squirrels (Spermophilus columbianus), deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), and montane voles (Microtus montanus …

What Brown Saw And You Can Too, Philip Pearle, Brian Collett, Kenneth Bart, David Bilderback, Dara Newman, D. Scott Samuels

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A discussion of Robert Brown’s original observations of particles ejected by pollen of the plant Clarkia pulchella undergoing what is now called Brownian motion is given. We consider the nature of those particles and how he misinterpreted the Airy disk of the smallest particles to be universal organic building blocks. Relevant qualitative and quantitative investigations with a modern microscope and with a “homemade” single lens microscope similar to Brown’s are presented.

Using Critical-Thinking Skills To Substantiate Or Challenge Controversial Claims Endorsing A Myriad Of Weight-Loss Products, Teresa F. Degolier

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

This exercise engages students in critically evaluating weight-loss products and programs. Specific objectives are to investigate, analyze, and substantiate claims made by the weight-loss industry and interpret how these claims may be fraudulent, misleading, or perhaps even truthful.

Hidden Consequences Of Living In A Wormy World: Nematode‐Induced Immune Suppression Facilitates Tuberculosis Invasion In African Buffalo, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Rampal S. Etienne, Gordon Luikart, Albano Beja-Pereira, Anna E. Jolles

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Most hosts are infected with multiple parasites, and responses of the immune system to co-occurring parasites may influence disease spread. Helminth infection can bias the host immune response toward a T-helper type 2 (Th2) over a type 1 (Th1) response, impairing the host’s ability to control concurrent intracellular microparasite infections and potentially modifying disease dynamics. In humans, immune-mediated interactions between helminths and microparasites can alter host susceptibility to diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and malaria. However, the extent to which similar processes operate in natural animal populations and influence disease spread remains unknown.We used cross-sectional, experimental, and genetic studies …

Hidden Consequences Of Living In A Wormy World: Nematode-Induced Immune Suppression Facilitates Tuberculosis Invasion In African Buffalo, Vanessa O. Ezenwa, Rampal S. Etienne, Gordon Luikart

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Most hosts are infected with multiple parasites, and responses of the immune system to co occurring parasites may influence disease spread. Helminth infection can bias the host immune response toward a T-helper type 2 Th2) over a type 1 Th1) response, impairing the host's ability to control concurrent intracellular microparasite infections and potentially modifying disease dynamics. In humans, immune-mediated interactions between helminths and microparasites can alter host susceptibility to diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis TB), and malaria. However, the extent to which similar processes operate in natural animal populations and influence disease spread remains unknown. We used cross-sectional, experimental, and …

Discovery And Analysis Of 4h-Pyridopyrimidines, A Class Of Selective Bacterial Protein Synthesis Inhibitors, Wendy Ribble, Walter E. Hill, Urs A. Ochsner, Thale C. Jarvis, Joseph W. Guiles, Nebojsa Janjic, James M. Bullard

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Bacterial protein synthesis is the target for numerous natural and synthetic antibacterial agents. We have developed a poly(U) mRNA-directed aminoacylation/translation protein synthesis system composed of phenyl-tRNA synthetases, ribosomes, and ribosomal factors from Escherichia coli. This system, utilizing purified components, has been used for high-throughput screening of a small-molecule chemical library. We have identified a series of compounds that inhibit protein synthesis with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC(50)s) ranging from 3 to 14 mu M. This series of compounds all contained the same central scaffold composed of tetrahydropyrido[4,3-d] pyrimidin-4-ol (e.g., 4H-pyridopyrimidine). All analogs contained an ortho pyridine ring attached to the central …

Disappearing Plants: Why They Hide And How They Return, Jennifer R. Gremer, Anna Sala, Elizabeth E. Crone

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Prolonged dormancy is a life-history stage in which mature plants fail to resprout for one or more growing seasons and instead remain alive belowground. Prolonged dormancy is relatively common, but the proximate causes and consequences of this intriguing strategy have remained elusive. In this study we tested whether stored resources are associated with remaining belowground, and investigated the resource costs of remaining belowground during the growing season. We measured stored resources at the beginning and end of the growing season in Astragalus scaphoides, an herbaceous perennial in southwest Montana, USA. At the beginning of the growing season, dormant plants …

Octopamine Neuromodulatory Effects On A Social Behavior Decision-Making Network In Drosophila Males, Sarah J. Certel, Adelaine Leung, Chih-Yung Lin, Philip Perez, Ann-Shyn Chiang, Edward A. Kravitz

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Situations requiring rapid decision-making in response to dynamic environmental demands occur repeatedly in natural environments. Neuromodulation can offer important flexibility to the output of neural networks in coping with changing conditions, but the contribution of individual neuromodulatory neurons in social behavior networks remains relatively unknown. Here we manipulate the Drosophila octopaminergic system and assay changes in adult male decision-making in courtship and aggression paradigms. When the functional state of OA neural circuits is enhanced, males exhibit elevated courtship behavior towards other males in both behavioral contexts. Eliminating the expression of the male form of the neural sex determination factor, Fruitless …

Explaining Long-Distance Dispersal: Effects Of Dispersal Distance On Survival And Growth In A Stream Salamander, Winsor H. Lowe

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Long-distance dispersal (LDD) may contribute disproportionately to range expansions, the creation of new evolutionary lineages, and species persistence in human-dominated landscapes. However, because data on the individual consequences of dispersal distance are extremely limited, we have little insight on how LDD is maintained in natural populations. I used six years of spatially explicit capture–mark–recapture (CMR) data to test the prediction that individual performance increases with dispersal distance in the stream salamander Gyrinophilus porphyriticus. Dispersal distance was total distance moved along the 1-km study stream, ranging from 0 to 565 m. To quantify individual performance, I used CMR estimates of …

Pentamidine Inhibits Coxiella Burnetii Growth And 23s Rrna Intron Splicing In Vitro, Michael F. Minnick, Linda D. Hicks, James M. Battisti, Rahul Raghavan

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coxiella burnetii is the bacterial agent of Q fever in humans. Acute Q fever generally manifests as a flu-like illness and is typically self-resolving. In contrast, chronic Q fever usually presents with endocarditis and is often life-threatening without appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Unfortunately, available options for the successful treatment of chronic Q fever are both limited and protracted (>18 months). Pentamidine, an RNA splice inhibitor used to treat fungal and protozoal infections, was shown to reduce intracellular growth of Coxiella by ca. 73% at a concentration of 1 microM (ca. 0.6 microg/mL) compared with untreated controls, with no detectable toxic …

Interactive Effects Of Historical Logging And Fire Exclusion On Ponderosa Pine Forest Structure In The Northern Rockies, Naficy Cameron, Anna Sala, Eric G. Keeling, Jon Graham, Thomas H. Deluca

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Increased forest density resulting from decades of fire exclusion is often perceived as the leading cause of historically aberrant, severe, contemporary wildfires and insect outbreaks documented in some fire-prone forests of the western United States. Based on this notion, current U. S. forest policy directs managers to reduce stand density and restore historical conditions in fire-excluded forests to help minimize high-severity disturbances. Historical logging, however, has also caused widespread change in forest vegetation conditions, but its long-term effects on vegetation structure and composition have never been adequately quantified. We document that fire-excluded ponderosa pine forests of the northern Rocky Mountains …

Capture Of Ungulates In Central Asia Using Drive Nets: Advantages And Pitfalls Illustrated By The Endangered Mongolian Saiga Saiga Tatarica Mongolica, Joel Berger, Kim M. Murray, Bayarbaatar Buuveibaatar, Michael R. Dunbar, Badamjav Lkhagvasuren

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The study of mammals suffering intense poaching in remote areas poses an increasingly difficult conservation challenge, in part because the extreme flightiness of such species complicates safe capture. The benefits of handling (an opportunity to obtain biological information and attach radio collars) must be weighed against stress to the animals and potential capture-related mortality. In parts of Central Asia this problem is not trivial, as populations have been heavily harvested and opportunities for restraint are often limited. Mongolian saiga Saiga tatarica mongolica, being both Endangered and poached, typifies these issues. Here we describe capture protocols for adult females handled quickly …

"Beyond Bio2010: Celebration And Opportunities" At The Intersection Of Mathematics And Biology, John R. Jungck, Holly D. Gaff, Adam P. Fagen, Jay B. Labov

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

With this special edition of CBE-LSE, which focuses on connections between and integration of the biological and mathematical sciences, it is especially fitting that we report on an important symposium, Beyond BIO2010: Celebration and Opportunities,1 which was held at the National Acad- emy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington, D.C. on May 21–22, 2010. This symposium was organized to assess what progress has been made in addressing the challenges and recommendations in the National Research Council’s (NRC) report: BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (NRC, 2003a). Most of the presen- tations and posters at this event emphasized the increasing …

Mathematical Manipulative Models: In Defense Of "Beanbag Biology", John R. Jungck, Holly Gaff, Anton E. Weisstein

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mathematical manipulative models have had a long history of influence in biological research and in secondary school education, but they are frequently neglected in undergraduate biology education. By linking mathematical manipulative models in a four-step process-1) use of physical manipulatives, 2) interactive exploration of computer simulations, 3) derivation of mathematical relationships from core principles, and 4) analysis of real data sets-we demonstrate a process that we have shared in biological faculty development workshops led by staff from the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium over the past 24 yr. We built this approach based upon a broad survey of literature in mathematical educational …

Widespread Over-Expression Of The X Chromosome In Sterile F-1 Hybrid Mice, Jeffrey M. Good, Thomas Giger, Matthew D. Dean, Michael W. Nachman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The X chromosome often plays a central role in hybrid male sterility between species, but it is unclear if this reflects underlying regulatory incompatibilities. Here we combine phenotypic data with genome-wide expression data to directly associate aberrant expression patterns with hybrid male sterility between two species of mice. We used a reciprocal cross in which F-1 males are sterile in one direction and fertile in the other direction, allowing us to associate expression differences with sterility rather than with other hybrid phenotypes. We found evidence of extensive over-expression of the X chromosome during spermatogenesis in sterile but not in fertile …

Acaricidal Activity Of Eugenol Based Compounds Against Scabies Mites, Cielo Pasay, Kate Mounsey, Graeme Stevenson, Rohan Davis, Larry G. Arlian, Marjorie Morgan, Diann Vyszenski-Moher, Kathy Andrews, James Mccarthy

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Human scabies is a debilitating skin disease caused by the “itch mite” Sarcoptes scabiei. Ordinary scabies is commonly treated with topical creams such as permethrin, while crusted scabies is treated with topical creams in combination with oral ivermectin. Recent reports of acaricide tolerance in scabies endemic communities in Northern Australia have prompted efforts to better understand resistance mechanisms and to identify potential new acaricides. In this study, we screened three essential oils and four pure compounds based on eugenol for acaricidal properties.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Early Detection Of Population Declines: High Power Of Genetic Monitoring Using Effective Population Size Estimators, Tiago Antao, Andres Perez-Figueroa, Gordon Luikart

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Early detection of population declines is essential to prevent extinctions and to ensure sustainable harvest. We evaluated the performance of two N_e estimators to detect population declines: the two-sample temporal method and a onesample method based on linkage disequilibrium (LD). We used simulated data representing a wide range of population sizes, sample sizes and number of loci. Both methods usually detect a population decline only one generation after it occurs if N_e drops to less than approximately 100, and 40 microsatellite loci and 50 individuals are sampled. However, the LD method often out performed the temporal method by …

Incorporating Genomics And Bioinformatics Across The Life Sciences Curriculum, Zhaohui Xu, Jayna L. Ditty, Christopher A. Kvaal, Brad Goodner, Sharyn K. Freyermuth, Cheryl Bailey, Robert A. Britton, Stuart G. Gordon, Sabine Heinhorst, Kelynne Reed, Erin R. Sanders-Lorenz, Seth Axen, Edwin Kim, Mitrick Johns, Kathleen Scott, Cheryl A. Kerfeld

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Undergraduate life sciences education needs an overhaul, as clearly described in the National Research Council of the National Academies' publication BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists. Among BIO 2010's top recommendations is the need to involve students in working with real data and tools that reflect the nature of life sciences research in the 21st century [1]. Education research studies support the importance of utilizing primary literature, designing and implementing experiments, and analyzing results in the context of a bona fide scientific question [1]–[12] in cultivating the analytical skills necessary to become a …

Activated Rhoa Binds To The Pleckstrin Homology (Ph) Domain Of Pdz-Rhogef, A Potential Site For Autoregulation, Zhe Chen, Frank Medina, Mu-Ya Liu, Celestine Thomas, Stephen R. Sprang, Paul C. Sternweis

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) catalyze exchange of GDP for GTP by stabilizing the nucleotide-free state of the small GTPases through their Dbl homology/pleckstrin homology (DH.PH) domains. Unconventionally, PDZ-RhoGEF (PRG), a member of the RGS-RhoGEFs, binds tightly to both nucleotide-free and activated RhoA (RhoA.GTP). We have characterized the interaction between PRG and activated RhoA and determined the structure of the PRG-DH.PH-RhoA.GTPgammaS (guanosine 5'-O-[gamma-thio]triphosphate) complex. The interface bears striking similarity to a GTPase-effector interface and involves the switch regions in RhoA and a hydrophobic patch in PRG-PH that is conserved among all Lbc RhoGEFs. The two surfaces that bind activated and …

Habitat–Performance Relationships: Finding The Right Metric At A Given Spatial Scale, Jean-Michel Gaillard, Mark Hebblewhite, Anne Loison, Mark Fuller, Roger Powell, Mathieu Basille, Bram Van Moorter

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The field of habitat ecology has been muddled by imprecise terminology regarding what constitutes habitat, and how importance is measured through use, selection, avoidance and other bio-statistical terminology. Added to the confusion is the idea that habitat is scale-specific. Despite these conceptual difficulties, ecologists have made advances in understanding ‘how habitats are important to animals’, and data from animal-borne global positioning system (GPS) units have the potential to help this clarification. Here, we propose a new conceptual framework to connect habitats with measures of animal performance itself—towards assessing habitat–performance relationship (HPR). Long-term studies will be needed to estimate consequences of …

The Interpretation Of Habitat Preference Metrics Under Use–Availability Designs, Hawthorne L. Beyer, Daniel T. Haydon, Juan M. Morales, Jacqueline L. Frair, Mark Hebblewhite, Michael Mitchell, Jason Matthiopoulos

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Models of habitat preference are widely used to quantify animal–habitat relationships, to describe and predict differential space use by animals, and to identify habitat that is important to an animal (i.e. that is assumed to influence fitness). Quantifying habitat preference involves the statistical comparison of samples of habitat use and availability. Preference is therefore contingent upon both of these samples. The inferences that can be made from use versus availability designs are influenced by subjectivity in defining what is available to the animal, the problem of quantifying the accessibility of available resources and the framework in which preference is modelled. …

Resolving Issues Of Imprecise And Habitat-Biased Locations In Ecological Analyses Using Gps Telemetry Data, Jacqueline L. Frair, John Fieberg, Mark Hebblewhite, Francesca Cagnacci, Nicholas J. Decesare, Luca Pedrotti

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Global positioning system (GPS) technologies collect unprecedented volumes of animal location data, providing ever greater insight into animal behaviour. Despite a certain degree of inherent imprecision and bias in GPS locations, little synthesis regarding the predominant causes of these errors, their implications for ecological analysis or solutions exists. Terrestrial deployments report 37 per cent or less non-random data loss and location precision 30 m or less on average, with canopy closure having the predominant effect, and animal behaviour interacting with local habitat conditions to affect errors in unpredictable ways. Home-range estimates appear generally robust to contemporary levels of location imprecision …

Correlation And Studies Of Habitat Selection: Problem, Red Herring Or Opportunity?, John Fieberg, Jason Matthiopoulos, Mark Hebblewhite, Mark S. Boyce, Jacqueline L. Frair

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

With the advent of new technologies, animal locations are being collected at ever finer spatio-temporal scales. We review analytical methods for dealing with correlated data in the context of resource selection, including post hoc variance inflation techniques, ‘two-stage’ approaches based on models fit to each individual, generalized estimating equations and hierarchical mixed-effects models. These methods are applicable to a wide range of correlated data problems, but can be difficult to apply and remain especially challenging for use–availability sampling designs because the correlation structure for combinations of used and available points are not likely to follow common parametric forms. We also …

Distinguishing Technology From Biology: A Critical Review Of The Use Of Gps Telemetry Data In Ecology, Mark Hebblewhite, Daniel T. Haydon

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In the past decade, ecologists have witnessed vast improvements in our ability to collect animal movement data through animal-borne technology, such as through GPS or ARGOS systems. However, more data does not necessarily yield greater knowledge in understanding animal ecology and conservation. In this paper, we provide a review of the major benefits, problems and potential misuses of GPS/Argos technology to animal ecology and conservation. Benefits are obvious, and include the ability to collect fine-scale spatio-temporal location data on many previously impossible to study animals, such as ocean-going fish, migratory songbirds and long-distance migratory mammals. These benefits come with significant …

Plant Neighbor Identity Influences Plant Biochemistry And Physiology Related To Defense, Amanda K. Broz, Corey D. Broeckling, Clelia De-La-Peña, Matthew R. Lewis, Erick Greene, Ragan M. Callaway, Lloyd W. Sumner, Jorge M. Vivanco

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Chemical and biological processes dictate an individual organism's ability to recognize and respond to other organisms. A small but growing body of evidence suggests that plants may be capable of recognizing and responding to neighboring plants in a species specific fashion. Here we tested whether or not individuals of the invasive exotic weed, Centaurea maculosa, would modulate their defensive strategy in response to different plant neighbors. Results: In the greenhouse, C. maculosa individuals were paired with either conspecific (C. maculosa) or heterospecific (Festuca idahoensis) plant neighbors and elicited with the plant defense signaling molecule methyl jasmonate to mimic insect …

Alpha-Synuclein Delays Endoplasmic Reticulum (Er)-To-Golgi Transport In Mammalian Cells By Antagonizing Er/Golgi Snares, Nandhakumar Thayanidhi, Jared R. Helm, Deborah C. Nycz, Marbin Bentley, Yingjian Liang, Jesse C. Hay

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Toxicity of human alpha-synuclein when expressed in simple organisms can be suppressed by overexpression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-to-Golgi transport machinery, suggesting that inhibition of constitutive secretion represents a fundamental cause of the toxicity. Whether similar inhibition in mammals represents a cause of familial Parkinson's disease has not been established. We tested elements of this hypothesis by expressing human alpha-synuclein in mammalian kidney and neuroendocrine cells and assessing ER-to-Golgi transport. Overexpression of wild type or the familial disease-associated A53T mutant alpha-synuclein delayed transport by up to 50%; however, A53T inhibited more potently. The secretory delay occurred at low expression levels and …

Testing Hypotheses For Exotic Plant Success: Parallel Experiments In The Native And Introduced Ranges, Jennifer L. Williams, Harald Auge, John L. Maron

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A central question in ecology concerns how some exotic plants that occur at low densities in their native range are able to attain much higher densities where they are introduced. This question has remained unresolved in part due to a lack of experiments that assess factors that affect the population growth or abundance of plants in both ranges. We tested two hypotheses for exotic plant success: escape from specialist insect herbivores and a greater response to disturbance in the introduced range. Within three introduced populations in Montana, USA, and three native populations in Germany, we experimentally manipulated insect herbivore pressure …

An Antibody Directed Against The Fusion Peptide Of Junin Virus Envelope Glycoprotein Gpc Inhibits Ph-Induced Membrane Fusion, Joanne York, Jody D. Berry, Ute Stroeher, Qunnu Li, Heinz Feldmann, Min Lu, Meg Trahey, Jack H. Nunberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The arenavirus envelope glycoprotein (GPC) initiates infection in the host cell through pH-induced fusion of the viral and endosomal membranes. As in other class I viral fusion proteins, this process proceeds through a structural reorganization in GPC in which the ectodomain of the transmembrane fusion subunit (G2) engages the host cell membrane and subsequently refolds to form a highly stable six-helix bundle structure that brings the two membranes into apposition for fusion. Here, we describe a G2-directed monoclonal antibody, F100G5, that prevents membrane fusion by binding to an intermediate form of the protein on the fusion pathway. Inhibition of syncytium …

A Dna-Binding Peroxiredoxin Of Coxiella Burnetii Is Involved In Countering Oxidative Stress During Exponential-Phase Growth, Linda D. Hicks, Rahul Raghavan, James M. Battisti, Michael F. Minnick

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coxiella burnetii is a Gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen that resides within the harsh, acidic confines of a lysosome-like compartment of the host cell that is termed a parasitophorous vacuole. In this study, we characterized a thiol-specific peroxidase of C. burnetii that belongs to the atypical 2-cysteine subfamily of peroxiredoxins, commonly referred to as bacterioferritin comigratory proteins (BCPs). Coxiella BCP was initially identified as a potential DNA-binding protein by two-dimensional Southwestern (SW) blots of the pathogen's proteome, probed with biotinylated C. burnetii genomic DNA. Confirmation of the identity of the DNA-binding protein as BCP (CBU_0963) was established by matrix-assisted laser …