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Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of A Candidate Turkey Dermatitis/Cellulitis Oil Emulsion Vaccine On Immune Response, Morbidity, And Mortality Under Laboratory And Commercial Conditions, Brittany Danielle Graham

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alpha-toxigenic Clostridium septicum (CS), the cause of turkey cellulitis, results in devastating mortality with high costs for the industry. Various vaccinations have been evaluated to prevent this disease with moderate success. Ability of a CS bacterin-toxoid, in conjunction with adjuvants such as aluminum hydroxide, mannoslyated chitosan, or a water-in-oil Seppic Montanide 71 R VG adjuvant (OE) to induce immunity was evaluated in a 7-week study (Experiment 1). Poults (20/group) were vaccinated day-of-hatch, boosted at 5 weeks-of-age and compared to unvaccinated controls. Antibody titers were determined by ELISA for all experiments. In experiment 1, initial vaccination with OE resulted in significantly …

The Relationship Between Measures Of Annual Livestock Disturbance In Western Riparian Areas And Stream Conditions Important To Trout, Salmon, And Char, Lindsey M. Goss, Brett B. Roper

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Managing livestock disturbance in riparian zones in a manner that provides economic returns to ranchers while protecting streams is an important aspect of rangeland management on public lands in the western United States. Attempts to balance economic and ecologic outcomes have been made more difficult due to the presence of several salmonid species that are protected under the Endangered Species Act. One approach to proper management of livestock use near streams has been to define the allowable limits of disturbance using 2 metrics, streambank alteration and stubble height. We evaluated 153 stream reaches within the Interior Columbia Basin to determine …

Ecological Studies Of Wolves On Isle Royale, 2017-2018, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich, Sarah R. Hoy

Ecological Studies of Wolves on Isle Royale

Annual Report 2017-2018

Restoration Of Legacy Trees As Roosting Habitat For Myotis Bats In Eastern North American Forests, Michael J. Lacki

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Most eastern North American Myotis roost in forests during summer, with species forming maternity populations, or colonies, in cavities or crevices or beneath the bark of trees. In winter, these bats hibernate in caves and are experiencing overwinter mortalities due to infection from the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans, which causes white-nose syndrome (WNS). Population recovery of WNS-affected species is constrained by the ability of survivors to locate habitats suitable for rearing pups in summer. Forests in eastern North America have been severely altered by deforestation, land-use change, fragmentation and inadvertent introduction of exotic insect pests, resulting in shifts in tree …

How Wolves Turned Into Dogs And How Dogs Are Valuable In Meeting Human Social Needs, Kurt Kotrschal

People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

A wealth of recent behavioral, neurobiological, and genetic results allows us to draw a new, comprehensive picture of the human-wolf- dog relationship. Dogs originated from wolves 35,000 years ago, mainly via selection for tameness. Wolves were probably spiritual partners and hunting buddies of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers over wide areas of Eurasia. Coming together and staying together was probably facilitated by the close ecological and social match between wolves and humans. Both are cursorial hunters and scavengers living in cooperative but relatively closed family groups, which selected for very similar mentalities.

Parallel selection for tameness (i.e., being “nice”) in dogs and humans …

How Frogs Are Hiding In Plain Sight: Phylogenetic Systematics Of Myanmar’S Occidozya Species Complex, Allison Bogisich, Jocelyn Esquivias

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In the frog genus Occidozyga, there is one described species which inhabits Myanmar. However, population estimates for Occidozyga within the country may be inaccurate given unidentified cryptic species. We predict that in Occidozyga, there are more morphologically identical phenotypes- ‘cryptics’- which are actually genetically distinct. Using DNA sequences isolated in the lab at USF from preserved specimens housed at the California Academy of Science, we’ve been able to conduct phylogenetic tree analysis. Preliminary results suggest the presence of two new species within the genus. Phylogeographic analysis of our tree also supports the genetic clustering, such that their evolutionary distribution is …

Time Of Year Influences Social Play In Juvenile Ground Squirrels, Martha Monroy, Madelene Shehan

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Animals must allocate available energy according to priorities that ensure survival and maximize long-term reproductive success. Social play behavior is ubiquitous among juvenile mammals and can have important influences on their social, motor, and cognitive development. We evaluated how the amounts of energy young animals devote to play behavior changes over the course of their annual cycle, as other energetic considerations and constraints change. Young animals may change priorities from play to preparation for hibernation when the annual cycle occurs closer to the usual onset of winter. We used Belding’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus beldingi) as a model system; U. beldingi …

Asas-Ssr Triennnial Reproduction Symposium: Looking Back And Moving Forward—How Reproductive Physiology Has Evolved: Fetal Origins Of Impaired Muscle Growth And Metabolic Dysfunction: Lessons From The Heat-Stressed Pregnant Ewe, Dustin T. Yates, Jessica Lynn Petersen, Ty B. Schmidt, Caitlin N. Cadaret, Taylor L. Barnes, Robert J. Posont, Kristin A. Beede

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is the second leading cause of perinatal mortality and predisposes offspring to metabolic disorders at all stages of life. Muscle-centric fetal adaptations reduce growth and yield metabolic parsimony, beneficial for IUGR fetal survival but detrimental to metabolic health after birth. Epidemiological studies have reported that IUGRborn children experience greater prevalence of insulin resistance and obesity, which progresses to diabetes, hypertension, and other metabolic disorders in adulthood that reduce quality of life. Similar adaptive programming in livestock results in decreased birth weights, reduced and inefficient growth, decreased carcass merit, and substantially greater mortality rates prior to maturation. …

Identification Of Genes Directly Responding To Dlk1 Signaling In Callipyge Sheep, Hui Yu, Jolena N. Waddell, Shihuan Kuang, Ross L. Tellam, Noelle E. Cockett, Christopher A. Bidwell

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Background

In food animal agriculture, there is a need to identify the mechanisms that can improve the efficiency of muscle growth and protein accretion. Callipyge sheep provide excellent machinery since the up-regulation of DLK1 and RTL1 results in extreme postnatal muscle hypertrophy in distinct muscles. The aim of this study is to distinguish the genes that directly respond to DLK1 and RTL1 signaling from the genes that change as the result of muscle specific effects.

Results

The quantitative PCR results indicated that DLK1 expression was significantly increased in hypertrophied muscles but not in non-hypertrophied muscles. However, RTL1 was up-regulated in …

Gene Isoforms Involved In Zebrafish Traumatic Stress Response, Joseph Fischer

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Body Size Downgrading Of Mammals Over The Late Quaternary, Felisa A. Smith, Rosemary E. Elliott Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, Jonathan L. Payne

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Since the late Pleistocene, large-bodied mammals have been extirpated from much of Earth. Although all habitable continents once harbored giant mammals, the few remaining species are largely confined to Africa. This decline is coincident with the global expansion of hominins over the late Quaternary. Here, we quantify mammalian extinction selectivity, continental body size distributions, and taxonomic diversity over five time periods spanning the past 125,000 years and stretching approximately 200 years into the future. We demonstrate that size-selective extinction was already under way in the oldest interval and occurred on all continents, within all trophic modes, and across all time …

Elucidation Of Zebrafish Gene Networks And Pathways Associated With Ptsd, Noor Faisal

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part Xvi. Compsobuthus Maidensis Sp. N. (Buthidae) From Somaliland, František Kovařík

Euscorpius

Compsobuthus maidensis sp. n. from Somaliland is described and fully complemented with color photos of specimens, as well as its habitat. Data on the occurrence of the genus Compsobuthus Vachon, 1949 in the Horn of Africa is summarized.

Changes In Myoblast Responsiveness To Tnfα And Il-6 Contribute To Decreased Skeletal Muscle Mass In Intrauterine Growth Restricted Fetal Sheep, Robert J. Posont, Kristin A. Beede, Sean W. Limesand, Dustin T. Yates

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a leading cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality (Alisi et al., 2011). Skeletal muscle growth is disproportionately reduced in IUGR fetuses and offspring (Padoan et al. 2004; Yates et al. 2014). These individuals present with reduced muscle mass and increased risk for metabolic disorders at all stages of life (Godfrey and Barker, 2000; Yates et al. 2016.). Muscle growth requires proliferation, differentiation, and fusion of myoblasts (muscle stem cells) to form muscle fibers early in gestation and to increase myonuclear content of existing fibers during late gestation and after birth (Yates et al., 2014). These …

Impaired Muscle Stem Cell Function In Cows With High Concentrations Of Androstenedione In Their Follicular Fluid, Taylor L. Barnes, Kiristen A. Beede, Elena M. Merrick, Caitlin N. Cadaret, Andrea S. Cupp, Dustin T. Yates

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

It is unclear whether androstenedione (A4) increases muscle mass and strength similar to testosterone or whether it produces primarily catabolic effects on muscle-like estrogen (Rasmussen et al., 2000). Summers et al. (2014) observed two populations of cows that exhibit either high (>40 ng/mL; High A4) or low (<20 ng/mL; Low A4) concentrations of A4 within the fluid of the dominant follicle just prior to ovulation. High A4 cows had decreased reproductive rates and shorter times before falling out of the herd, but those that did produce calves weaned them ~10-kg heavier than their low A4 counterparts (Summers et al., 2014). It appears that the difference in weights is due to faster growing and more efficient skeletal muscle. High A4 cows share many characteristics with women suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), whose high levels of circulating androgens are associated with changes in body composition (Kirchengast and Huber, 2001).

Can Diet Affect Coloration In Tiger Salamanders?, Katherine Novak

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018

Amphibians are the fastest known declining taxonomic group in the world with 48% of populations in decline (Stuart et. al. 2004). These declines in amphibian populations are partially due to the lack of basic life history data (Semlitsch 2003). For example, amphibians are known for their bright coloration and ability to rapidly change color. Coloration is key to amphibian survival in terms of defense (as camouflage or a warning sign to predators), thermoregulation (darker skin warms faster), and communication (primarily mating displays) (Rudh and Qvanstrom 2013). One aspect of amphibian coloration that is poorly understood is how much the environment …

The Activity Of Saccharolytic Enzymes In Collembola Is Associated With Species Affinity For Caves, Andrea Parimuchová, Vladimír Šustr, Miloslav Devetter, Ondřej Vošta, Ionuţ Popa, Ľubomír Kováč

International Journal of Speleology

The activity of enzymes associated with digestion can reflect food availability and feeding preferences of invertebrates in a particular habitat. Caves are mostly nutrient-poor habitats lacking primary production. In the present study the enzymatic activity of cellulases, trehalases and chitinases was measured in eight collembolan species differently associated with the cave environment: the troglobionts (obligate cave species) Pseudacherontides spelaeus and Protaphorura janosik; the eutroglophiles Ceratophysella denticulata, Folsomia candida and Heteromurus nitidus; the subtroglophiles Hypogastrura aequepilosa and Orthonychiurus rectopapillatus; and the trogloxene (not associated with caves) Megaphorura arctica. Qualitative enzymatic patterns and quantitative differences in species activity were …

Persistent Annual Migration Patterns Of A Specialist Seabird, Rachael Orben, Nobuo Kokubun, Abram Fleishman, Alexis Will, Takashi Yamamoto, Scott Shaffer, Rosana Paredes, Akinori Takahashi, Alexander Kitaysky

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Specialization can make animals vulnerable to rapid environmental changes. For long-lived seabirds, foraging specialization may make individuals especially sensitive, as climatic changes are currently occurring over the course of one lifetime. The Bering Sea is a dynamic subarctic and arctic ecosystem where windblown sea ice mediates annual productivity and subsequent pathways to upper trophic levels. Red-legged kittiwakes Rissa brevirostris are endemic surface foraging seabirds specializing on myctophid fishes during reproduction. Their degree of specialization outside the breeding season is less understood. We examined their non-breeding ecology (migration, distribution, isotopic niche) during 4 winters with varying sea ice extent. Although we …

Effect Of Vitrification On Epigenetic Modifications And The Meiotic Spindle Of Bovine Oocytes, Emilio Jose Gutierrez-Castillo

LSU Master's Theses

While oocyte vitrification has become a common practice, it still faces some challenges such as the low survival rates after warming, probably related to cryoinjuries and cryoprotectant (CPA) toxicity. Evidence suggests that vitrification might have an effect on the patterns of some epigenetic marks including DNA methylation and histone acetylation. During fertilization and embryogenesis, key events for healthy and adequate embryo development take place, not only governed by the information contained within the DNA sequence, but also by epigenetic mechanisms.

This study was aimed at determining the effect of vitrification and CPA exposure, using a combination of ethylene glycol (EG) …

Interactions And Pathogen Transmission Between Carnivores In Madagascar, Fidisoa Rasambainarivo

Dissertations

Introduced carnivores exert considerable pressure on native predators through predation, competition and disease transmission. Improved understanding of determinant factors of interactions and pathogen transmission between introduced and endemic wildlife may help to predict disease emergence, avoid pathogen spillover and help control outbreaks. Using non-invasive camera traps, I identified areas where transmission of pathogens might happen through records of shared space-use within a protected area in Eastern Madagascar. I showed that indirect interactions between animals were more likely to occur near the research station which may constitute a disease transmission hotspot for carnivores in the landscape. Secondly, I investigated the associations …

Performance And Carcass Characteristics Of Steers Fed With Two Levels Of Metabolizable Energy Intake During Summer And Winter Season, R A. Arias, J P. Keim, M Gandarillas, A Velasquez, C Alvarado-Gilis, T L. Mader

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Climate change is producing an increase on extreme weather events around the world such as flooding, drought and extreme ambient temperatures impacting animal production and animal welfare. At present, there is a lack of studies addressing the effects of climatic conditions associated with energy intake in finishing cattle in South American feed yards. Therefore, two experiments were conducted to assess the effects of environmental variables and level of metabolizable energy intake above maintenance requirements (MEI) on performance and carcass quality of steers. In each experiment (winter and summer), steers were fed with 1.85 or 2.72 times of their requirements of …

Emptying And Refilling Of Slime Glands In Atlantic (Myxine Glutinosa) And Pacific (Eptatretus Stoutii) Hagfishes, Sarah Schorno, Todd E. Gillis, Douglas S. Fudge

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Hagfishes are known for their unique defensive slime, which they use toward off gill-breathing predators. Although much is known about the slime cells (gland thread cells and gland mucous cells), little is known about how long slime gland refilling takes, or how slime composition changes with refilling or repeated stimulation of the same gland. Slime glands can be individually electrostimulated to release slime, and this technique was used to measure slime gland refilling times for Atlantic and Pacific hagfish. The amount of exudate produced, the composition of the exudate and the morphometrics of slime cells were analyzed during refilling, and …

Effects Of Eggshell Coloration On Egg Cannibalism Among Glaucous-Winged Gulls, Isabelle Hwang

Honors Theses

A common source of reproductive loss in gulls is egg cannibalism. At a large Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens) colony on Protection Island, Washington, cannibalism accounts for 55% of egg loss. Because cannibalism is a form of predation and birds have a highly developed sense of vision, I hypothesized that visible light coloration of Glaucous-winged Gull eggs plays a role in determining whether they are cannibalized. I used logistic regression to test whether egg fate was related to egg brightness, specific coloration, specific spot coverage, coloration relative to the most common coloration, and spot coverage relative to the most common spot …

A Note On The Onset Of Synchronous Egg Laying In A Seabird Behavior Model, Dorothea Gallos, Christiane Gallos

Honors Theses

Protection Island, Washington hosts a large colony of Glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens). These birds are known to exhibit every-other-day egg-laying synchrony in dense areas of the colony in response to egg cannibalism, which is the main source of egg loss. Here we present an equilibrium analysis of a discrete-time animal behavior model for egg laying. We use Jury Conditions to find the stability criteria for the equilibrium as a function of the colony density and show that a 2-cycle bifurcation occurs when the equilibrium loses stability. The 2-cycle pattern in egg laying becomes increasingly synchronous as the colony density increases. …

Extending Spectrophotometric Pht Measurements In Coastal And Estuarine Environments, Nora Katherine Douglas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearshore and estuarine environments play a vital role in the cycling of carbon, but the effects of ocean acidification in estuarine waters have not been studied as extensively as in the open ocean. One reason for this is the limitation of pH measurement capabilities in low-salinity waters. Typically, pH in these environments has been measured using potentiometric methods that are subject to uncertainties on the order of 0.01. Spectrophotometric methods for measuring pHT offer precision and accuracy superior to those of potentiometric methods. However, previous characterizations for purified sulfonephthalein indicators, used for marine spectrophotometric measurements, are not applicable to estuarine …

Scorpions Of The Horn Of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part Xv. Review Of The Genus Gint Kovařík Et Al., 2013, With Description Of Three New Species From Somaliland (Scorpiones, Buthidae), František Kovařík, Graeme Lowe, Pavel Just, Ahmed Ibrahim Awale, Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi, František Šťáhlavský

Euscorpius

We describe herein three new species of Buthidae: Gint amoudensis sp. n., G. gubanensis sp. n., and G. maidensis sp. n. from Somaliland. Additional information is provided on the taxonomy and distribution of other species of the genus Gint, fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as of their habitat. The hemispermatophores of most Gint species are illustrated and described for the first time. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotype of four Gint species. The number of chromosomes is different for every one …

Fisheries Exploitation By Albatross Quantified With Lipid Analysis, Melinda Conners, Chandra Goetsch, Suzanne Budge, William Walker, Yoko Mitani, Daniel Costa, Scott Shaffer

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Mortality from incidental bycatch in longline fishery operations is a global threat to seabird populations, and especially so for the albatross family (Diomedeidae) in which 15 out of 22 species are threatened with extinction. Despite the risks, fisheries remain attractive to many species of seabird by providing access to high-energy foods in the form of discarded fish and offal, target fish, and baited hooks. Current policy regarding fisheries management is increasingly aimed at discard reform, exemplified by a discard ban initiated in the European Union Common Fisheries Policy in 2014. While there is global agreement on the importance of minimizing …

Functional Plain Yogurt Enhanced With Inulin And Aloe Vera, Janny Melissa Mendoza Mencia

LSU Master's Theses

Yogurt has been recognized as a healthy food. Nutritional value of yogurt can be increased with the addition of aloe vera juice (AVJ) and inulin. People are interested in consuming products without artificial ingredients and with high content of bioactive compounds. The aims of this study were to develop a functional plain yogurt enhanced with inulin and AVJ, to evaluate the physicochemical properties, the enumeration of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, inulin content, and consumer acceptability. Six treatments were evaluated at day 1, 7, 14 and 30 at 4°C. Treatments were prepared using 2% fat milk, ABY culture, 5 …

Extracellular Atp Effects On Intracellular Actin Fibrils' Location And Characteristics [Poster], Dianna Huisman, David Mcclenahan, Ali Tabei, Joseph Tibbs

Research in the Capitol

Epithelial cells lining secretory units and ducts of bovine mammary glands perform an important role in regulating movement of various macromolecules and whole cells during normal lactation and mastitis. During mastitis, host and bacterial produced substances can affect the “barrier” function of epithelial monolayers. One potential component is adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP likely interacts with P2X7, a purinergic receptor, in mediating some effects associated with mastitis. Bovine mammary gland epithelial cell line, Mac-T cells, were examined for cytoskeletal changes as result of P2X7 interactions. Actin cytoskeletons were stained with phalloidin and effects were examined by fluorescent microscopy. Observable increase in …

Effects Of Dimethyl Sulfoxide And Glycerol Based Vitrification Protocols On Zona Pellucida Hardening In Mature Bovine Oocytes, Kaci Denise Rogers

LSU Master's Theses

Zona pellucida hardening is a natural process that occurs after oocyte fertilization to prevent polyspermic fertilization and to protect embryonic development. Pre-fertilization hardening of the zona pellucida however, decreases fertilization rates. Cryoprotectants have also been shown to negatively affect fertilization rates, one possible mechanism of which being through zona hardening. This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of different cryoprotectants on hardening of the zona pellucida using fresh mature bovine oocytes and vitrified mature bovine oocytes. Oocytes were post-slaughter from mixed breed cows. After collection, oocytes were randomly assigned to three cryoprotectant treatment groups: dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), glycerol or …