Biology Commons^™

Effect Of Stocking Density Using Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticuson Aquaponic System And Cultivation Of Cherry Tomato Solanum Lycopersicumunder Uae Condition, Adel Ibrahim Hussain Al Bloushi

Biology Theses

The present study was conducted to cultivate tomato plants in aquaponics system in the UAE climatic condition. The cherry tomato Solanum lycopersicum plants were cultivated with the Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus fish effluent water. The tomatoes were cultivated with three different densities of fish, 100 fish/m3, 120 fish/m3and 140 fish/m3. Each greenhouse was 120 m2 plant cultivation areas and 15.5 m3 of the fish culture area and the total water stocking volume was 58 m3. Tomato plants were planted with the ratio of 3 plants/m2. The introduced fish are fed with 35% protein based commercial floating feed at the ratio of …

Transcriptional Profiling Identifies Potential Genes Associated With Multiple Biotic Stresses In Arabidopsis, Hibatullah Mustafa Al Ashram

Biology Theses

Plants are exposed to many environmental stresses that affect their growth and development. These stresses include biotic stresses (organisms) and abiotic stresses (drought and salinity). Plants respond to these stresses by transcriptional reprogramming and different signaling pathways. Arabidopsis thaliana had shown great sensitivity to the biotic stress: Botrytis cinerea, Alternaria brassicicola, Pseudomonas syringae and the herbivore insect Pieris rapae. The overall goal is to identify common regulated genes that respond to all these biotic stresses to ultimately improve plant stress tolerance in Arabidopsis. The specific aims are to: (1) determine the regulated genes in response to an …

In Vivo Assessment Of Safranal’S Novel Therapeutic Effects On Chemically Induced Hepatic Neoplasia, Ameera Ali M. Almansoori

Biology Theses

Chronic liver insult leads to fibrosis, which often ends up causing cirrhosis and most of the time that progresses into hepatic neoplasms (early Hepatocellular carcinoma; HCC). HCC is the fifth most common cancer, and the third cause of cancerrelated deaths. Chemotherapy is the most common treatment of cancer patients. HCC is however, chemo-resistant, and the side-effects of chemotherapy are typically exhausting to the patient. Sorafenib is the only anti-HCC drug approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. It is a multikinase inhibitor that blocks tumor cells proliferation and angiogenesis. Although sorafenib is successful treating early and mid HCC lesions, …

Physiological Responses Of The State – Listed Texas Pigtoe To Environmental Stress, Sara M. Rumbelow

Biology Theses

Systematic habitat destruction over the last 100 years combined with major anthropogenic stressors such as aquatic contaminants, exotic species, and economic endeavors are driving the decline in freshwater unionid species diversity. Two hundred fifty-seven individual adult Texas pigtoe (Fusconaia askewi) mussels (mean length, mm ± 1 SD; 58.7 ± 13.8) were collected from the upper Sabine river near Hawkins, Texas and taken to the University of Texas at Tyler to evaluate three factors likely impacting mussels in East Texas: siltation (a surrogate for bank erosion), elevated temperature and nitrogen. The impact of siltation was evaluated by burying mussels …

Suitable Host Fish, Population Structure, And Life-History Characteristics For The State-Listed, Louisiana Pigtoe, Pleurobema Riddellii, Elizabeth Hinkle

Biology Theses

There are 53 extant Unionids in Texas, six of which are petitioned for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. The Louisiana Pigtoe, Pleurobema riddellii, has recorded distribution in Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. In Texas P. riddellii historically occurs as far west as the San Jacinto and Trinity rivers, eastward to the Neches, Sabine and Red rivers. Its abundance is low, and an understanding of their life-history and reproductive characteristics is imperative for establishing federal protection status. During the larval stage of Unionid mussels’ life cycle, juveniles are obligate parasites of fish. This study sought to determine …

Population Structure, Demographic History, And Environmental Niche Of The Sand Fly Disease Vector Lutzomyia Shannoni (Dyar) (Diptera: Psychodidae) In The U.S., Mexico, And Colombia, Matthew E. Wolkoff

Biology Theses

Lutzomyia shannoni (Dyar, 1929) (Diptera: Psychodidae) is the only known sand fly vector of vesicular stomatitis virus, a putative leishmaniasis vector, and also boasts the widest distribution of any sand fly in the New World. Research on Lu. shannoni in Central and South America has revealed genetically divergent subpopulations; however, tentative analysis of Lu. shannoni in the U.S. has failed to detect any significant population structure, even between specimens collected from highly disparate localities.

The present study used four molecular markers to more closely investigate the population structure of Lu. shannoni in the U.S., and assess the species’ relationships with …

Mating Frequencies And Ecological Modeling Of Harvester Ant: Pogonomyrmex Comanche, Rachel Romo

Biology Theses

There is little known about the life history of the imperiled harvester ant Pogonomyrmex comanche. Due to the conservation status, there is a need to learn and understand how these ants are dispersing their genetics within the region. This study focused on resolving uncertainties about genetic diversity, mating frequencies, and habitat associations influencing distribution of this species. It’s well known and studied that queens of different species within this genus take part in multiple mating; but to determine if P. comanchefollows the other species, microsatellite markers were used to conduct paternal analysis on the colonies collected from Camp Swift …

Habitat Associations And Detectability Of Three Unionid Species Along The Upper Sabine River In East Texas, Jared Dickson

Biology Theses

East Texas contains the highest diversity of mussels in the state. Of the 37 species in East Texas, six are listed by the state as threatened and three have been proposed for listing as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Although diverse, mussel populations are declining and few studies exist that establish habitat relationships identifying determinants of mussel distributions in the upper Sabine River. I explored potential habitat preferences of three state listed species using an occupancy modeling approach, including the: Texas Pigtoe, Fusconaia askewi, Sandbank Pocketbook, Lampsilis satura, and Texas Heelsplitter, Potamilus amphicaenus. …

Ph Sensitivity Of Connexin 50 Hemichannels: H95 And Beyond, Leah Volk

Biology Theses

Gap junction channels formed by connexin proteins are critical for the health and function of the vertebrate lens. It is important to understand how these channels are affected by pH because a pH gradient exists in lens tissue. Intracellular pH (pH_i) is a regulator of gap junction coupling, and different connexins show different sensitivities to pH_i. A “Particle-Receptor” model for pH-dependent channel closure involves the intramolecular interaction between the cytoplasmic tail of the connexin and a region near the mouth of the channel dependent on a highly conserved histidine residue at position 95. While this model …

Reproductive Effort And Lipid Dynamics Of The Emerald Shiner (Notropis Atherinoides) In The Upper Niagara River, New York, Christopher A. Osborne

Biology Theses

Life history theory predicts that reproductive characteristics of organisms will be shaped by biotic and abiotic factors to maximize their overall fitness. In this study, I investigated how growth, reproductive effort, and lipid dynamics vary ontogenetically and seasonally for emerald shiners (Notropis atherinoides) in the upper Niagara River. Growth rates were highest in age 2 shiners and lower in age 1 and age 3 individuals. Evidence of reproduction was found beginning at age 1, and reproductive investment as measured by ovarian lipid content was lowest in age 1 and age 2 individuals and greatest in age 3 fish. …

The Role Of Vitamin D Receptors In Gastric Epithelial Homeostasis, Ifrah Ismail Ali

Biology Theses

The gastric epithelium consists of different types of cells, which are involved in gastric homeostasis by balancing cell proliferation and differentiation. This process involves several signaling molecules such as growth factors, hormones and vitamins. Vitamin D3 (VD3) is engaged in several biological activities. It plays a role in cell differentiation, cell proliferation, immune response and also regulates calcium homeostasis. The biological activities of VD3 are mediated by vitamin D receptor (VDR). Target tissues of VD3 in the gastrointestinal tract were identified earlier in intestine, colon and gastric cancer tissues; however, the normal expression of VDR in stomach is poorly studied. …

Modelling The Micro Environment Of Liver Cancer Using 3d Culture System, Ala’A Abdel Rahim H Al Hrout

Biology Theses

Tumor micro environment has been the focus of many studies that highlighted its essential contribution to tumorigenesis. A two-way communication between the tumor and the surrounding microenvironment sustains and contributes to the growth and metastasis of the tumor by several means, such as extracellular matrix remodeling, fibroblasts activation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Hepatocellular carcinoma progression and metastasis have been reported to be highly influenced by diverse microenvironmental elements. The main objective of this study is to create an in vitro model of liver cancer microenvironment that better recapitulate in vivo settings. The proposed model is based on three-dimensional co-culture system of liver …

Effect Of Feeding Frequency And Stocking Density On Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticus And Lettuce Lactuca Sativa Production In Aquaponics System Under The Uae Condition And Business Enterprise Analysis, Ahmed Abdelrahman Mohamed Abdelrahman

Biology Theses

This thesis was carried out to investigate the impact of various Tilapia (Oreochromisniloticus) feeding frequency and stocking density on quality and quantity of organic lettuce that is produced in an aquaponic system, knowing that they affect the nutrient content in water. Business analysis through enterprise budget was developed considering different feeding frequency and stocking density of the fish to predict the business efficiency of the system, and the net incomes were as high as AED 34,394 and AED 46,637, respectively. On the other hand, lettuce was seeded in a culture raceway. The duration of the experiments was decided to be …

An Assessment Of Dna Extraction Protocols For Herbarium Specimen: The Case Of Uaeu Herbarium, Mouza Ali Hasan Mohammad Alshehhi

Biology Theses

The herbarium collections have become vastly used due to the recent developments in molecular techniques. Molecular techniques such as DNA extraction and DNA sequencing are playing an important role in studying genetic makeup of plant and identifying the evolutionary relationship using DNA bar coding. Herbarium collection is considered as one of the potential source to access the genetic material of the extinct plant species. Study focused on the DNA isolation process using five isolation techniques: Maxwell, Synergy, Qiagen, I-Genomic , and CTAB on herbarium desert/medicine plant: Inula Helenium, Chenopodium album, Salsola Kali, Haloxylon Persicum, Atriplex Halimus and compared them with …

Anti-Colon Cancer Effect Of Origanum Majorana Essential Oil, Asma Nasser Rashed Alrashedi

Biology Theses

Plants have been shown to be an excellent source of new drugs, including anticancer agents. Origanum majorana commonly known as marjoram is a plant that is known to possess different therapeutic values including antioxidant andantimicrobial activities.

Our research team has previously tested the ethanolic extract of O. majorana on triple negative breast cancer and published the findings. The ethanolic extract promoted mitotic arrest at G2/M phase, induced apoptosis as well as inhibition of migration and metastasis. The promising potential of the ethanolic extract encouraged us to test the effects of O. majorana essential oil on human colon cancer cell lines. …