Patterns Of Carbon Metabolism, Storage, And Remineralization In Seagrass Ecosystems,
2018
Florida International University
Patterns Of Carbon Metabolism, Storage, And Remineralization In Seagrass Ecosystems, Jason Lee Howard
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coastal marine sediments have recently been identified as globally important stocks of organic carbon (Corg) that, if compromised, could significantly exacerbate global greenhouse gas emissions. While resource managers and policy makers are eager to incorporate this ecosystem service into seagrass ecosystem valuation frameworks, similar to those already in existence for terrestrial forests, there has been insufficient information regarding how environmental conditions and seagrass ecology control carbon storage. These include the influence of the seagrass to the production and preservation of soil organic matter, the fate of stored carbon following conversion of coastal wetlands, and the interactions between organic …
Standing Genetic Diversity And Selection At Functional Gene Loci Are Associated With Differential Invasion Success In Two Non‐Native Fish Species,
2018
University of Windsor
Standing Genetic Diversity And Selection At Functional Gene Loci Are Associated With Differential Invasion Success In Two Non‐Native Fish Species, Kyle Wellband, Harri Pettitt-Wade, Aaron T. Fisk, Daniel D. Heath
Biological Sciences Publications
Invasive species are expected to experience a unique combination of high genetic drift due to demographic factors while also experiencing strong selective pressures. The paradigm that reduced genetic diversity should limit the evolutionary potential of invasive species and thus their potential for range expansion has received little empirical support, possibly due to the choice of genetic markers. Our goal was to test for effects of genetic drift and selection at functional genetic markers as they relate to the invasion success of two paired invasive goby species, one widespread (successful) and one with limited range expansion (less successful). We genotyped fish …
Phenotypic Integration Of Behavioural And Physiological Traits Is Related To Variation In Growth Among Stocks Of Chinook Salmon,
2018
University of Windsor
Phenotypic Integration Of Behavioural And Physiological Traits Is Related To Variation In Growth Among Stocks Of Chinook Salmon, Mitchel G.E. Dender, Pauline M. Capelle, Oliver P. Love, Daniel D. Heath, Christina A. Semeniuk
Biological Sciences Publications
The selection for a single organismal trait like growth in breeding programs of farmed aquaculture species can counter-intuitively lead to lowered harvestable biomass. We outbred a domesticated aquaculture stock of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) with 7 wild stocks from British Columbia, Canada. We then examined how functionally related traits underlying energy management - diel variation in cortisol; foraging, social, and movement behaviours - predicted stock-level variation in growth during the freshwater life history stage, a performance metric under aquaculture selection. Outbreeding generated significant variation in diel cortisol secretion and behaviours across stocks, and these traits covaried, suggesting tight integration despite …
Phenotypic Integration Of Behavioural And Physiological Traits Is Related To Variation In Growth Among Stocks Of Chinook Salmon,
2018
University of Windsor
Phenotypic Integration Of Behavioural And Physiological Traits Is Related To Variation In Growth Among Stocks Of Chinook Salmon, Mitchel G.E. Dender, Pauline M. Capelle, Oliver P. Love, Daniel D. Heath
Biological Sciences Publications
The selection for a single organismal trait like growth in breeding programs of farmed aquaculture species can counter-intuitively lead to lowered harvestable biomass. We outbred a domesticated aquaculture stock of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) with 7 wild stocks from British Columbia, Canada. We then examined how functionally related traits underlying energy management - diel variation in cortisol; foraging, social, and movement behaviours - predicted stock-level variation in growth during the freshwater life history stage, a performance metric under aquaculture selection. Outbreeding generated significant variation in diel cortisol secretion and behaviours across stocks, and these traits covaried, suggesting tight integration despite …
Investigation Of Antimicrobial Properties Of Rhus Ovata Extracts,
2018
Pepperdine University
Investigation Of Antimicrobial Properties Of Rhus Ovata Extracts, Sydney T. Adams
Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium
Native peoples of Southern California historically used a variety of local plants as remedies for illnesses. Chaparral species such as Rhus ovata (sugar bush) were widely available and were used to ease headaches, coughs and chest pains, and colds. In light of the historical importance of this plant and other chaparral species, recent fungal pathogen-induced diebacks of Malosma laurina, a species closely related to R. ovata, have raised questions regarding the innate defenses of these plants against fungal pathogens. We attempted to scientifically evaluate the traditional medicinal use of R. ovata and its antifungal resistance by testing two …
Potential Spread Of The Fungal Pathogen Botryospharea Dothidea From Chaparral Shrubs To Grape Vineyards In The Santa Monica Mountains,
2018
Pepperdine University
Potential Spread Of The Fungal Pathogen Botryospharea Dothidea From Chaparral Shrubs To Grape Vineyards In The Santa Monica Mountains, Alexandra N. Case, Natalie M. Aguirre, Rodney L. Honeycutt, Stephen D. Davis
Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium
We tested the hypothesis that an opportunistic endophytic fungus, Botryosphaeria dothidea, that frequently infects and causes dieback in species of chaparral shrubs in the Santa Monica Mountains during drought events, may spread to grape vineyards in the Santa Monica Mountains. Recently a dominant chaparral species in coastal exposures of the Santa Monica Mountains, Malosma laurina, has undergone extensive dieback in low elevation, dry sites, in response to historic drought in California, but less dieback in high elevation moist sites. M. laurina frequently grows adjacent grape vineyards. Thus we hypothesized that fungal isolates from a low elevation, dry vineyard …
Effects Of Floral Phytochemicals On Growth And Evolution Of A Parasite Of Bumble Bees,
2018
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Effects Of Floral Phytochemicals On Growth And Evolution Of A Parasite Of Bumble Bees, Evan Palmer-Young
Doctoral Dissertations
Background: Nectar and pollen are rich in phytochemicals, some of which can reduce disease in pollinators, including agriculturally important honey and bumble bees. Floral phytochemicals could influence the ecological and evolutionary relationships between plants, their pollinators, and parasites that cause pollinator disease. Antiparasitic effects of phytochemicals could be exploited to ameliorate pollinator disease and decline, and thereby sustain pollinator-dependent agricultural production. However, prior studies showed variable effects of phytochemicals on infection in live bees, where differences in bee genotype, abiotic conditions, and parasite strain could influence results. Approach: I used cell cultures of the intestinal trypanosome parasite of bumble bees, …
Molecular Phylogenetics Of Floridian Boletes,
2018
University of South Florida
Molecular Phylogenetics Of Floridian Boletes, Arian Farid
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The boletes are macrofungi which have undergone extensive taxonomic revisions since the advent of molecular tools. To further our understanding of the boletes in peninsular Florida, we sequenced two common Floridian boletes, and analyzed them with molecular phylogenetic tools. Boletus rubricitrinus, a common Florida bolete often found in lawns under Quercus, and likely has a distribution that extends to Texas. Based on ITS and LSU sequences and morphological studies, this species belongs in the genus Pulchroboletus. As the holotype is in poor condition, an epitype is established here. A thorough description of macroscopic and microscopic features is also provided for …
Drivers And Mechanisms Of Peat Collapse In Coastal Wetlands,
2018
Florida International University
Drivers And Mechanisms Of Peat Collapse In Coastal Wetlands, Benjamin J. Wilson
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Coastal wetlands store immense amounts of carbon (C) in vegetation and sediments, but this store of C is under threat from climate change. Accelerated sea level rise (SLR), which leads to saltwater intrusion, and more frequent periods of droughts will both impact biogeochemical cycling in wetlands. Coastal peat marshes are especially susceptible to saltwater intrusion and changes in water depth, but little is known about how exposure to salinity affects organic matter accumulation and peat stability. I investigated freshwater and brackish marsh responses to elevated salinity, greater inundation, drought, and increased nutrient loading. Elevated salinity pulses in a brackish marsh …
Effect Of Microbes On The Growth And Physiology Of The Dioecious Moss, Ceratodon Purpureus,
2018
Portland State University
Effect Of Microbes On The Growth And Physiology Of The Dioecious Moss, Ceratodon Purpureus, Caitlin Ann Maraist
Dissertations and Theses
The microorganisms colonizing plants can have a significant effect on host phenotype, mediating such processes as pathogen resistance, stress tolerance, nutrient acquisition, growth, and reproduction. Research regarding plant-microbe interactions has focused almost exclusively on vascular plants, and we know comparatively little about how bryophytes -- including mosses, liverworts, and hornworts -- are influenced by their microbiomes. Ceratodon purpureus is a dioecious, cosmopolitan moss species that exhibits sex-specific fungal communities, yet we do not know whether these microbes have a differential effect on the growth and physiology of male and female genotypes. Using a common-garden design, we reared ten axenic genotypes …
Recovery Of Amphibian And Reptile Communities During Tropical Secondary Forest Succession,
2018
Florida International University
Recovery Of Amphibian And Reptile Communities During Tropical Secondary Forest Succession, Michelle E. Thompson
FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
The extensive clearing and modification of natural systems from anthropogenic activities is a pressing global concern. Forest habitats and animal communities within forests are among the most highly impacted, globally. Forest destruction has been repeatedly documented as a driver of biodiversity loss. However, little is known about how animal communities respond when altered landscapes are abandoned and left to regenerate into secondary forests. It is thought that the regrowth of secondary forests may help reverse biodiversity loss by restoring habitats to similar conditions as prior to land conversion. Of the forest cover that remains, over half is secondary forest, and …
Developmental Ethanol Exposure Causes Reduced Feeding And Reveals A Critical Role For Neuropeptide F In Survival,
2018
San Jose State University
Developmental Ethanol Exposure Causes Reduced Feeding And Reveals A Critical Role For Neuropeptide F In Survival, Amanda Guevara, Hillary Gates, Brianna Urbina, Rachael French
Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences
Food intake is necessary for survival, and natural reward circuitry has evolved to help ensure that animals ingest sufficient food to maintain development, growth, and survival. Drugs of abuse, including alcohol, co-opt the natural reward circuitry in the brain, and this is a major factor in the reinforcement of drug behaviors leading to addiction. At the junction of these two aspects of reward are alterations in feeding behavior due to alcohol consumption. In particular, developmental alcohol exposure (DAE) results in a collection of physical and neurobehavioral disorders collectively referred to as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The deleterious effects of …
The Life Of A Microtubule,
2018
Washington University in St Louis
The Life Of A Microtubule, Ram Dixit, Sabine Petry
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
The Minisymposium “The Life of a Microtubule: Birth, Dynamics and Function” highlighted new findings on how microtubules (MTs) are made, how their length and spatial organization is regulated, and finally how they contribute to cellular functions.
Robust Microplate-Based Methods For Culturing And In Vivo Phenotypic Screening Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii,
2018
Florida Institute of Technology
Robust Microplate-Based Methods For Culturing And In Vivo Phenotypic Screening Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Timothy C. Haire, Cody Bell, Kirstin Cutshaw, Brendan Swiger, Kurt Winkelmann, Andrew G. Palmer
Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications
Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Cr), a unicellular alga, is routinely utilized to study photosynthetic biochemistry, ciliary motility, and cellular reproduction. Its minimal culture requirements, unicellular morphology, and ease of transformation have made it a popular model system. Despite its relatively slow doubling time, compared with many bacteria, it is an ideal eukaryotic system for microplate-based studies utilizing either, or both, absorbance as well as fluorescence assays. Such microplate assays are powerful tools for researchers in the areas of toxicology, pharmacology, chemical genetics, biotechnology, and more. However, while microplate-based assays are valuable tools for screening biological systems, these methodologies can significantly alter the …
Cell Death As A Trigger For Morphogenesis,
2018
Institute for Systems Biology
Cell Death As A Trigger For Morphogenesis, Boris Aguilar, Ahmadreza Ghaffarizadeh, Christopher D. Johnson, Gregory J. Podgorski, Ilya Shmulevich, Nicholas S. Flann
Center for Integrated Biosystems Publications
The complex morphologies observed in many biofilms play a critical role in the survival of these microbial communities. Recently, the formation of wrinkles has been the focus of many studies aimed at finding fundamental information on morphogenesis during development. While the underlying genetic mechanisms of wrinkling are not well-understood, recent discoveries have led to the counterintuitive idea that wrinkle formation is triggered by localized cell death. This work examines the hypothesis that the material properties of a biofilm both power and control wrinkle formation within biofilms in response to localized cell death. Using an agent-based model and a high-performance platform …
Evolution Of Alu Elements In The Saimiri And Papio Lineages Of Primates,
2018
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College
Evolution Of Alu Elements In The Saimiri And Papio Lineages Of Primates, Jasmine Nicole Brown Baker
LSU Doctoral Dissertations
Alu elements are approximately 300 base pair (bp) primate specific non- autonomous retrotransposons. Alu elements, a short interspersed element (SINE), account for high copy numbers in all primate genomes. Numerous Alu element subfamilies have undergone varying degrees of activity and amplification within primates. Identification of these subfamilies has proved to be very informative in elucidating phylogenies and as phylogenomic markers. Squirrel monkeys, genus Saimiri, are one of the most well-known neotropical primates and the second most commonly used laboratory monkey. Squirrel monkey species diverged approximately 1.5 million years ago and are native to South America. Despite being well-known, there …
Grooming Behaviors Of,
2018
University of South Florida
Grooming Behaviors Of, Lauren N. Williams
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
The giant freshwater shrimp, Macrobrachium rosenbergii is a large species of prawn grown extensively in aquaculture settings. A social hierarchy exists within the males of this species, representing three distinct male morphotypes. These male morphotypes differ in their behavior, physiology, and morphology and include the largest blue-clawed males (BC males), moderately- sized orange-clawed males (OC males), and the undifferentiated small-clawed males (SM males). All individuals of this species perform grooming behaviors to rid themselves of body fouling which can impede important functions such as movement, respiration, chemoreception, and reproduction. Grooming behaviors in crustaceans often utilize specialized structures called setae, which …
Salvinia Radseq,
2018
Utah State University
Salvinia Radseq, Carol A. Rowe, Donald Hauber, Paul G. Wolf
Browse all Datasets
No abstract provided.
A Biogeographic Perspective On The Evolution Of Fire Syndromes In Pine Trees (Pinus: Pinaceae),
2018
The Nature Conservancy
A Biogeographic Perspective On The Evolution Of Fire Syndromes In Pine Trees (Pinus: Pinaceae), Kevin J. Badik, Joshua P. Jahner, Joseph S. Wilson
Biology Faculty Publications
Our goals were to explore the relationship between biogeography and the evolution of fire-adaptive syndromes in the genus Pinus. We used a previously published time-calibrated phylogeny and conducted ancestral trait reconstruction to estimate the likely timing of diversification in Pinus, and to determine when fire-adaptive syndromes evolved in the lineage. To explore trait conservation among fire syndromes and to investigate historical biogeography, we constructed ancestral state reconstructions using the program RASP and estimated the degree of conservatism for fire-adapted traits in the program BaTS. Our reconstructions suggest that the Bering land bridge, which connected North America and Asia, probably played …
Long-Term Irrigation Affects The Dynamics And Activity Of The Wheat Rhizosphere Microbiome,
2018
University of Southern Mississippi
Long-Term Irrigation Affects The Dynamics And Activity Of The Wheat Rhizosphere Microbiome, Dmitri V. Mavrodi, Olga Mavrodi, Liam D.H. Elbourne, Sasha Tetu, Robert F. Bonsall, James Parejko, Mingming Yang, Ian T. Paulsen, David M. Weller, Linda S. Thomashow
Faculty Publications
The Inland Pacific Northwest (IPNW) encompasses 1. 6 million cropland hectares and is a major wheat-producing area in the western United States. The climate throughout the region is semi-arid, making the availability of water a significant challenge for IPNW agriculture. Much attention has been given to uncovering the effects of water stress on the physiology of wheat and the dynamics of its soilborne diseases. In contrast, the impact of soil moisture on the establishment and activity of microbial communities in the rhizosphere of dryland wheat remains poorly understood. We addressed this gap by conducting a three-year field study involving wheat …
