Digital Commons Network^™

Habitat Use And Feeding Ecology Of Delphinids Inferred From Stable Isotopes And Fatty Acid Signatures, Nicole Browning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prey availability, directly or indirectly, affects all aspects of a predator’s life history and is a primary factor influencing habitat selection and movements. This is especially true for delphinid species where it has been documented that the behaviors and movements of dolphins are strongly influenced by food availability. Unfortunately, the feeding ecology and habitat use patterns of many of these species are poorly understood. Many methodologies that have been employed to explore these facets of dolphin ecology have limitations and constraints or are logistically infeasible. Stable isotope and fatty acid signature analyses have been used extensively on a wide variety …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Living Shoreline Restoration And Quantifying Wave Attenuation In Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, Jennifer Manis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal counties make up only 17% of the land area in the continental United States, yet 53% of the nation’s population resides in these locations. With sea level rise, erosion, and human disturbances all effecting coastal areas, researchers are working to find strategies to protect and stabilize current and future shorelines. In order to maintain shoreline stability while maintaining intertidal habitat, multipurpose living shorelines have been developed to mimic natural shoreline assemblages while preventing erosion. This project determined the effectiveness of a living shoreline stabilization containing Crassostrea virginica (eastern oyster) and Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) in the field and through …

In Vivo Analysis Of Highly Conserved Nef Activities In Hiv-1 Replication And Pathogenesis, Richard L. Watkins, Wei Zou, Paul W. Denton, John F. Krisko, John L. Foster, J. Victor Garcia

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: The HIV-1 accessory protein, Nef, is decisive for progression to AIDS. In vitro characterization of the protein has described many Nef activities of unknown in vivo significance including CD4 downregulation and a number of activities that depend on Nef interacting with host SH3 domain proteins. Here, we use the BLT humanized mouse model of HIV-1 infection to assess their impact on viral replication and pathogenesis and the selection pressure to restore these activities using enforced in vivo evolution.

Results: We followed the evolution of HIV-1LAI (LAI) with a frame-shifted nef (LAINeffs) during infection of BLT mice. LAINeffs …

A Study Of The Sensitivity Of Plethodon Cinereus (Caudata: Plethodontidae) To Damage-Released Cues From Conspecifics, Aaron M. Sullivan, Gregory Jensen

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Some prey species vary the intensity of antipredator responses according to the perceived level of threat associated with different concentrations of chemical cues related to predation. Here, we examine whether Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) respond to different concentrations of damage-released cues from the tails of conspecifics in a threat-sensitive manner. We exposed salamanders either to a control or to damage-released cues from conspecifîcs at one of three different concentrations. We found that salamanders exposed to damage released cues significantly decreased their activity compared to salamanders exposed to a control. However, the intensity of the responses was not related to the …

Investigation Of Media Ingredients And Water Sources For Algae Co2 Capture At Different Scales To Demonstrate The Correlations Between Lab-Scale And Large-Scale Growth, Tabitha Graham

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

As energy use increases globally the environmental burdens increase alike. Many accusations have been made that carbon dioxide is a culprit of climate change. The University of Kentucky and Duke Energy Power have partnered to test carbon capture technology in a large scale project. To this end, the objective of this thesis is to investigate potential water media sources and nutrient sources at different volume scales for algae cultivation to help create a more environmentally viable and economically feasible solution. This work will conduct a life cycle assessment of water media sources and the effects of the inputs and outputs …

Effects Of Streamside Management Zone Timber Harvest On Salamander Communities In Robinson Forest, Thomas Maigret

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Salamanders are critical components of forest ecosystems, in terms of total biomass, as well as for their value as indicators of ecosystem stress. Considering the worldwide decline in amphibian populations, the known effects of timber harvest on salamander populations, and the importance of the forest products industry in Kentucky and elsewhere, the impacts of silvicultural operations on salamander communities cannot be overlooked. The objective was to investigate the effects of three different silvicultural treatments, each involving different streamside management zone (SMZ) characteristics, on salamander communities in ephemeral streams. Data were collected by regular checks of pitfall traps, coverboards, and transect …

Equine Serum Antibody Responses To Streptococcus Equi And Streptococcus Zooepidemicus, Rafaela De Negri

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Streptococcus zooepidemicus (Sz) and Streptococcus equi (Se) share 98% DNA sequence homology, but display different pathogenic properties. Infection by one organism does not cross-protect against the other. To better understand pathogenic differences between these organisms and gain information about which proteins are expressed in horses infected experimentally with Se, intrauterine Sz or naturally with respiratory Sz we compared antibody specificities of convalescent sera using ELISA. These comparisons were based on sets of 8 and 14 immunoreactive recombinant proteins of Se strain CF32 and Sz strain NC78, respectively. Sera from donkeys that were previously naturally affected with strangles and later developed …

Population Genetics Of Thomomydoecus Minor: Ectoparasitic Chewing Lice On Thomomys Bottae Pocket Gophers Of The Rio Grande Valley In New Mexico, Sheree Elizabeth Harper

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Thomomydoecus minor is an ectoparasitic chewing louse that lives in intimate association with the pocket gopher Thomomys bottae. Chewing lice are wingless, obligate, host specific parasites that spend their entire life cycle on the fur of their host. Pocket gophers are fossorial and asocial, cut off for most of their lives even from members of their own species. Thus, the life histories of both chewing lice and pocket gophers have been predicted to limit transmission of lice from host to host, thus limiting gene flow among louse infrapopulations found on different hosts and increasing the effect of louse population …

Evolutionary Biology For The 21st Century, Jonathan B. Losos, Stevan J. Arnold, Gill Bejerano, E. D. Brodie, David Hibbett, Hopi E. Hoekstra, David P. Mindell, Antónia Monteiro, Craig Moritz, H. Allen Orr, Dmitri A. Petrov, Susanne S. Renner, Robert E. Ricklefs, Pamela S. Soltis, Thomas L. Turner

Biology

Theodosius Dobzhansky famously proclaimed that “nothing makes sense in biology except in the light of evolution." Though Dobzhansky's statement is sometimes dismissed by biologists in other fields as self-promotion, recent advances in many areas of biology have shown it to be prophetic. For example, genomics, which emerged mostly from molecular biology, is now steeped in evolutionary biology. Evolutionary theory helps to explain our origins, our history, and how we function as organisms and interact with other life forms, all of which are crucial to understanding our future (e.g., [1]–[5]). Evolutionary approaches have helped reconstruct the history of …

Effects Of Short-Term Dewatering On Grazer Abundance And Algal Biomass In A Wastewater Treatment Algal Turf Scrubber, Emily Husted

Theses and Dissertations

Finding a new, clean, and sustainable energy source to replace fossil fuels is one of society’s most daunting challenges. Algae biomass is a promising renewable resource for biofuel production due to its efficient conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. Algal turf scrubbers (ATS™) systems mimic natural streams, flowing wastewater over hard substrates designed to encourage attached algae growth. This study focuses on the use of replicated ATS™ systems, because they are low maintenance, are effective for removing nutrient pollutants, model natural stream ecosystems, and can produce large volumes of harvestable algal feedstock for biofuel production. A challenge that occurs …

Biology News, Winter 2013, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Biology.

Biology News

Contents:

-- Greetings from the Department of Biology
-- Focus on UNI Biology Alumni
-- Focus on UNI Biology Students
-- Microscopes purchased with Carver Trust Grant
-- Two-headed planarian!
-- UNI Day in the Capitol on February 11, 2013
-- Letter of appreciation......
-- Dr. Kimberly Cline-Brown Receives Excellence in Teaching Award
-- Joan Smothers attends national advising meeting
-- Public speaking engagements for Biology faculty
-- Pre-Vet Club project gives aid to shelter animals
-- Faculty on Professional Development Assignment
-- Tri-Beta
-- Reconnect with the Department of Biology
-- Retiring Faculty
-- New Faculty
-- Floyds receive …

Dehydration In Southern Toads (Anaxyrus Terrestris): Metabolic Costs And Effects Of Temperature Selection, Claire E. Forster

Scripps Senior Theses

Southern toads (Anaxyrus terrestris) are ectothermic terrestrial amphibians. As such they are sensitive to thermal and hydric variability. The interactive effect of hydration state and body temperature is not well understood. The aim of this study is to determine if the costs of dehydration vary at different temperatures and if so, whether toads will select different temperatures to minimize these costs. Costs of dehydration were evaluated by measuring metabolic rate at 100% and 85% hydration state, at 30 and 20 ^oC. Temperature selection of toads at 100% and 85% hydration state was measured using a thermal gradient. …

Salamander Hox Clusters Contain Repetitive Dna And Expanded Non-Coding Regions: A Typical Hox Structure For Non-Mammalian Tetrapod Vertebrates?, Stephen Randal Voss, Srikrishna Putta, John A. Walker, Jeremiah J. Smith, Nobuyasu Maki, Panagiotis A. Tsonis

Biology Faculty Publications

Hox genes encode transcription factors that regulate embryonic and post-embryonic developmental processes. The expression of Hox genes is regulated in part by the tight, spatial arrangement of conserved coding and non-coding sequences. The potential for evolutionary changes in Hox cluster structure is thought to be low among vertebrates; however, recent studies of a few non-mammalian taxa suggest greater variation than originally thought. Using next generation sequencing of large genomic fragments (>100 kb) from the red spotted newt (Notophthalamus viridescens), we found that the arrangement of Hox cluster genes was conserved relative to orthologous regions from other vertebrates, but the …

A New Social Gene In Dictyostelium Discoideum, Chtb, Lorenzo A. Santorelli, Adam Kuspa, Gad Shaulsky, David C. Queller, Joan E. Strassmann

Biology Faculty Research

BACKGROUND:

Competitive social interactions are ubiquitous in nature, but their genetic basis is difficult to determine. Much can be learned from single gene knockouts in a eukaryote microbe. The mutants can be competed with the parent to discern the social impact of that specific gene. Dictyostelium discoideum is a social amoeba that exhibits cooperative behavior in the construction of a multicellular fruiting body. It is a good model organism to study the genetic basis of cooperation since it has a sequenced genome and it is amenable to genetic manipulation. When two strains of D. discoideum are mixed, a cheater strain …

“Culling The Herd”: Eugenics And The Conservation Movement In The United States, 1900–1940, Garland E. Allen

Biology Faculty Research

While from a late twentieth- and early twenty-first century perspective, the ideologies of eugenics (controlled reproduction to eliminate the genetically unfit and promote the reproduction of the genetically fit) and environmental conservation and preservation, may seem incompatible, they were promoted simultaneously by a number of figures in the progressive era in the decades between 1900 and 1950. Common to the two movements were the desire to preserve the ‘‘best’’ in both the germ plasm of the human population and natural environments (including not only natural resources, but also undisturbed nature preserves such as state and national parks and forests). In …

Maternal Depletion Of Piwi, A Component Of The Rnai System, Impacts Heterochromatin Formation In Drosophila, Tingting Gu, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Biology Faculty Research

A persistent question in epigenetics is how heterochromatin is targeted for assembly at specific domains, and how that chromatin state is faithfully transmitted. Stable heterochromatin is necessary to silence transposable elements (TEs) and maintain genome integrity. Both the RNAi system and heterochromatin components HP1 (Swi6) and H3K9me2/3 are required for initial establishment of heterochromatin structures in S. pombe. Here we utilize both loss of function alleles and the newly developed Drosophila melanogaster transgenic shRNA lines to deplete proteins of interest at specific development stages to dissect their roles in heterochromatin assembly in early zygotes and in maintenance of the silencing …

Sturgis And Kay Mckeever Papers, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

This collection consists of the papers of Georgia Southern University biology professor Sturgis McKeever and other materials related to the McKeever family, particularly his wife, Kay McKeever, and his brothers Ivan and Kermit McKeever. The materials span 1935–2005 and are predominantly professional in nature, including numerous research reprints and publications on animal species across North America, correspondence between McKeever and other researchers, and handwritten graphs, charts, and research notes. The collection also contains photographic materials, including photographic slides and negatives documenting his research. The recent accrual expands the collection to include personal correspondence between Sturgis and Kay McKeever, as well …

A Bacterial Symbiont Is Converted From An Inedible Producer Of Beneficial Molecules Into Food By A Single Mutation In The Gaca Gene, Pierre Stallforth, Debra A. Brock, Alexandra M. Cantley, Xiangjun Tian, David C. Queller, Joan E. Strassmann, Jon Clardy

Biology Faculty Research

Stable multipartite mutualistic associations require that all partners benefit. We show that a single mutational step is sufficient to turn a symbiotic bacterium from an inedible but host-beneficial secondary metabolite producer into a host food source. The bacteria's host is a "farmer" clone of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum that carries and disperses bacteria during its spore stage. Associated with the farmer are two strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, only one of which serves as a food source. The other strain produces diffusible small molecules: pyrrolnitrin, a known antifungal agent, and a chromene that potently enhances the farmer's spore production and …

Sensory Exploitation And Condition Indication May Explain Red Pelvic Spines In The Brook Stickleback Culaea Inconstans, Andrew Hodgson

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"Background: Sensory bias models of the evolution of sexually selected traits predict that trait preferences evolve in a nonsexual context such as prey selection. Indicator models predict that sexually selected traits indicate mate condition. I investigated the potential for sensory exploitation and condition indication models to explain the evolution of what appears to be a recently evolved sexually selected trait. Question: Did red pelvic spine coloration in male Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge (TNWR) brook stickleback (Cu!aea inconstans) evolve to exploit a preexisting sensory bias for red prey, thus helping males draw females to the nest? Or, did it evolve as …

Net Effects Of Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis (Bd) And Fungicides On Anurans Across Life Stages, Jenise Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are declining at alarming rates globally. Multiple factors contribute to these declines, including chemical contaminants and emergent diseases. In recent years, agrochemical use, especially fungicide applications, has increased considerably. Previous studies have demonstrated that these agrochemicals leave application sites and enter wetlands via runoff and have detrimental effects on non-target organisms. For example, exposure to contaminants can have multifarious effects on amphibians, such as reducing their ability to deal with a secondary stressor, such as disease.

A pathogen that is found concomitant with chemical contaminants in aquatic systems is Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Bd has decimated amphibian populations worldwide. Susceptibility …

Understanding Amphibian Decline: The Role Of Pesticides And The Pathogenic Chytrid Fungus On Amphibians And Aquatic Communities, Taegan A. Mcmahon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amphibians are the most threatened taxon on the planet. Declines have been associated with over-exploitation, habitat loss, pollution, and pathogenic diseases, but of these factors, pollution and disease have been relatively under-studied. Here, I investigated: 1) the impacts of commonly used pesticides on aquatic communities, 2) the effect of these pesticides on amphibian susceptibility to the pathogenic chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and 3) whether there are non-amphibian hosts of Bd and 4) how to best quantify the survival of Bd through ontogeny of the host.

In my first research chapter, I quantified the effects of environmentally relevant concentrations of …

Phenotypic Characterization Of The Pancreatic-Derived Factor (Pander) Knockout Mouse On Pure C57bl/6 Background, Shari Moak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

PANcreatic-DERived Factor (PANDER), or FAM3B, is a 235-amino acid protein strongly expressed within and secreted from the endocrine pancreas. Research surrounding PANDER has revealed a large role for the protein in maintaining glucose homeostasis, as evidenced by several Ad-PANDER overexpressing murine models, our lab's pancreas-specific PANDER transgenic overexpressor, and most recently our mixed genetic C57/129J PANDER knockout (PANKO) mouse. However, PANDER's overall role in glycemic regulation and glucose homeostasis has yet to be studied in a purebred C57BL/6J PANDER knockout model. Here we present the first phenotypic characterization of our global PANDER knockout mouse on a C57BL/6J background (PANKO-C57) where …

Resistance And Tolerance To Trematode Parasites In Larval Anurans, Brittany Sears

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly every species on the planet has at least one parasite, which, by definition, incurs a

cost in the host. Therefore, organisms must resist parasites - preventing or reducing infections -

or tolerate parasites - reducing the costs of infection - in order to maintain their fitness despite

the presence of parasites. Here, I investigated: 1) whether parasitic, larval trematodes (cercariae)

can detect the least resistant tadpole host species, 2) a hypothetical framework for how host life

history impacts the utilization of inflammation and thus, resistance and tolerance, 3) whether a

common anesthesia technique used in experimental infections immunocompromises tadpoles, …

Use Of Stable Isotope And Trace Metal Signatures To Track The Emigration Of Female Blue Crabs, Callinectes Sapidus, From Tampa Bay, Sky Barrington Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The blue crab, Callinectes sapidus, supports a successful fishery in the Atlantic Ocean and throughout the Gulf of Mexico, with a total landing of 8,158,788 lb. and a total value of $10,562,128 for the state of Florida during 2012 (FWC 2012 Annual Landings Summary). An accurate and comprehensive understanding of the blue crab's life history and seasonal migration behavior is essential in defining effective management strategies for the fishery. Tag recapture studies and ultrasonic tracking methods for studying blue crab migrations are costly in terms of time and resources. In this study an alternative approach, microchemical natural tagging, was …

Innate Immune Responses To Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Age-Associated Changes, Terianne Maiko Wong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection causes ~64 million cases of respiratory disease and 200,000 deaths annually worldwide, yet there is no broadly effective prophylactic or treatment regimen. RSV can produce acute respiratory illness in patients of all ages but strikes the age extremes, infants and the elderly, with highest frequency presumably due to innate immune deficiencies. A higher morbidity and mortality has been reported for the elderly above 65 years of age, which has been attributed to immune senescence. Efforts to generate an effective vaccine have thus far been unsuccessful.

The innate immune system provides the first line of defense …

Predation, Competition, And Nutrient Levels Affect The Survival Of Escherichia Coli, Enterococci And Enteric Pathogens In Aquatic Habitats, Pauline Wanjugi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) such as Escherichia coli and enterococci are used to assess microbiological water quality in recreational waters worldwide. FIB are used with the assumption that their presence correlates with that of fecal-associated pathogens in recreational waters. In aquatic habitats, several factors can interfere with the predictive relationship between FIB and pathogens including extended survival of FIB in secondary habitats such as sediment, vegetation and sand. Furthermore, many biotic (e.g. predation from bacterivorous protozoa and competition from indigenous bacteria) and abiotic factors (e.g. temperature, salinity, ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, and nutrient availability) can influence the fate of FIB …

Full Issue: Volume 6, Number 2

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Article Navigation Wild-Type Measles Virus Infection Upregulates Poliovirus Receptor-Related 4 And Causes Apoptosis In Brain Endothelial Cells By Induction Of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Related Apoptosis-Lnducing Ligand, Haniah Abdullah, Brenda B. Brankin, Clare Brady, Sara Louise Cosby

Articles

Small numbers of brain endothelial cells (BECs) are infected in children with neurologic complications of measles virus (MV) infection. This may provide a mechanism for virus entry into the central nervous system, but the mechanisms are unclear. Both in vitro culture systems and animal models are required to elucidate events in the endothelium. We compared the ability of wild-type (WT), vaccine, and rodent-adapted MV strains to infect, replicate, and induce apoptosis in human and murine brain endothelial cells (HBECs and MBECs, respectively). Mice also were infected intracerebrally. All MV stains productively infected HBECs and induced the MV receptor PVRL4. Efficient …

Ecological Interactions Influencing Avicennia Germinans Propagule Dispersal And Seedling Establishment At Mangrove-Saltmarsh Boundaries, Jennifer Mcclain Peterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangroves and saltmarshes are ecologically important coastal ecosystems; unfortunately, these low-lying coastal ecosystems are vulnerable to global climate change. As sea-levels rise, mangroves are expected to shift their distribution landward towards higher elevation sites that are occupied by other plants, including saltmarsh taxa. Therefore, mangrove recruits at the leading edge of expansion may interact with diverse assemblages of saltmarsh plants, and these interactions could influence the success of mangrove encroachment into higher tidal-elevation areas. The purpose of the research presented here was to investigate empirically the ecological interactions that may influence the recruitment of the black mangrove, Avicennia germinans, …

Cytogenetic Analysis Of Depleted Uranium Exposure And Age-Dependent Susceptibility To Ionizing Radiation, Marina Victoria Bakhmutsky

Wayne State University Dissertations

Chapters 2 and 3:

Depleted Uranium (DU) is a high-density heavy metal that has been used in munitions since the 1991 Gulf War. DU is weakly radioactive and chemically toxic and long term exposure may cause adverse health effects. This study evaluates genotoxic effects of DU exposure in Gulf War I Veterans as a function of uranium (U) body burden by measuring chromosome damage in peripheral blood lymphocytes with the cytokinesis blocked micronucleus assay (CBMN) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) whole chromosome painting. Study subjects are Gulf War I Veterans exposed to DU during friendly fire incidents in 1991 …