Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Determining The Impacts Of Environmental Contaminants To Zebra Mussels Using Genetic Biomarkers, Nicklaus James Neureuther

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

DETERMINING THE IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS TO ZEBRA MUSSELS USING GENETIC BIOMARKERS

by

Nicklaus James Neureuther

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Professor Rebecca Klaper, PhD

Persistent legacy contaminants and emerging chemicals of concern continue to be a threat to the function and health in the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). While chemical monitoring programs traditionally sample water and sediment, these studies can only provide information of the type and level of contamination within an (AOC). This being said, information on the biological impacts to the biota are needed to measure impairments of chemical exposure, …

The Function Of Renalase, Brett Allen Beaupre

Theses and Dissertations

Renalase was originally reported to be an enzyme secreted into the blood by the kidney to lower blood pressure and slow heart rate. Despite multiple reports claiming to confirm this activity in vivo there has been considerable discord in regards to the reaction catalyzed by renalase. The structural topology of renalase resembles that of known flavoprotein oxidases, monooxygenases and demethylases, but the conserved active site residues are unique to renalase. It has been reported that the catalytic function of renalase is to oxidize circulating catecholamines, however in vitro studies have failed to demonstrate a catalytic activity in the presence of …

Are We Missing The Forest For The Trees? Quantifying The Maintenance Of Diversity In Temperate Deciduous Forests, Kathryn Barry

Theses and Dissertations

One of the most pressing questions of community ecology is: Why do we have so many species? Over 100 hypotheses have been proposed to answer this question for woody plants over the past 70 years, yet there remains no consensus among community ecologists. In this dissertation, I explore the evidence supporting several different hypotheses (Chapter 1). I provide evidence that negative density dependence, where individuals perform poorly near members of their own species, may only be relevant for canopy tree species (Chapter 2). Understory species do not demonstrate negative density dependence while canopy trees demonstrate negative density dependence that increases …