Digital Commons Network^™

In Vivo Effect Of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (Lif) And An Anti-Lif Polyclonal Antibody On Murine Embryo And Fetal Development Following Exposure At The Time Of Transcervical Blastocyst Transfer, Michael H. Mitchell, R. James Swanson, Sergio Oehninger

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) enhances in vitro murine preimplantation development in a time- and dose-dependent fashion. Knockout experiments have demonstrated that endometrial LIF is essential for in vivo murine implantation. We assessed the impact of LIF and an anti-LIF polyclonal antibody (pab) on in vivo development and developed a novel and successful nonsurgical method of embryo transfer for this species, a transcervical blastocyst transfer technique. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of LIF and the anti-LIF pab on 1) implantation, resorption, pregnancy, and viability rates and 2) the overall structural and skeletal development. Two-cell embryos were …

Leptodactylus Silvanimbus, W. R. Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá, Sarah Muller

Biology Faculty Publications

Adult Leptodactylus silvanimhus are of moderate sized, the head is about as wide as long, and the hind limbs are moderate in length (see Table; also see Heyer and Thompson 2000 for definitions of adult size and leg length categories for Leptodacrylus). The male vocal sac is single and internal. Male forearms are hypertrophied in larger individuals. Adult males have two black thumb spines on each hand and lack chest spines. Individuals lack dorsolateral folds. The toe tips are narrow, not expanded. Females have weakly developed lateral toe fringes and males either have lateral toe ridges or weakly developed fringes. …

Parallelism In Digging Behaviour In Two Distantly Related Decapod Crustaceans, Zen Faulkes

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Walking and swimming are the most common forms of locomotion used routinely by decapod crustaceans, but some have evolved ways of locomoting throughsubstrates, notably sand. Two such digging species, of different infraorders, are spanner crabs (Ranina ranina; Brachyura) and spiny sand crabs (Blepharipoda occidentalis; Anomura). Videotape and electromyogram analysis showed that digging by these species is similar, but Raninahas a wider locomotor repertoire than Blepharipoda: for instance, Raninacan walk forward on the benthos, whereas Blepharipoda(and other sand crabs) cannot walk. Similarly, although both Raninaand Blepharipodadig into the sand using their legs and abdomen, leg movements of Raninaare less stereotyped than …

Type-Specific Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptor Localization In The Vomeronasal Organ And Its Interaction With A Transient Receptor Potential Channel, Trpc2, Jessica H. Brann, John C. Dennis, Edward E. Morrison, Debra A. Fadool

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The vomeronasal organ (VNO) is the receptor portion of the accessory olfactory system and transduces chemical cues that identify social hierarchy, reproductive status, conspecifics and prey. Signal transduction in VNO neurons is apparently accomplished via an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3)-activated calcium conductance that includes a different set of G proteins than those identified in vertebrate olfactory sensory neurons. We used immunohistochemical (IHC) and SDS-PAGE/western analysis to localize three IP3 receptors (IP3R) in the rat VNO epithelium. Type-I IP3R expression was weak or absent. Antisera for type-II and -III IP3R recognized appropriate molecular weight proteins by SDS-PAGE, and labeled protein could be …

Behavioral And Reproductive Aspects Of Captive Maxwell's Duiker (Cephalophus Mawellii) Husbandry, Janet Mcneill Mackinnon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

Female Maxwell's duikers (Cephalophus maxwellii) were studied at the Wildlife Survival Center on St. Catherine's Island, Georgia. The objectives were to quantify the effects of housing on activity budgets and progesterone cycling. Four animals were studied across two housing situations: housed individually versus housed in a grouped setting. Behavioral observations revealed no significant change in access to resources, rumination, or repetitive behaviors, once animals were housed together. Fecal samples were collected in order to determine levels of progesterone through radioimmunoassay (RIA). Fluctuations in progesterone levels revealed no clear estrous cycles. Animals showed less variability in progesterone levels and …

Genetic Diversity Of Balbiani Ring L Gene In Two Species Of Chironomus, Lola-Mae Palmer

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Differences in genetic composition have been predicted among aquatic midge fly larva called chironomids. Although several genes including microsatellites and ribosomal protein genes have been explored in our lab, the gene that has so far been studied the most is the Balbiani Ring (BR) 1 gene. There are several genes in this family, including Balbiani Ring 2.1, 2.2 and 6. These BR genes are known to contain long arrays of tandemly repeated units with a ranked repeat organization (Paulsson et al.1992). This secretory protein gene forms a large puff located on polytene chromosome IV (Bentivegna et al., 1993). The gene …

Energetics Of Free-Ranging Seabirds, Hugh I. Ellis, Geir Wing Gabrielsen

Biology: Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Length-At-Age In Juvenile Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus Eleginoides), J. Ashford, C. Jones, S. Bobko, I. Everson

OES Faculty Publications

We used the otoliths from a sample of Dissostichus eleginoides pre-recruits, whose length density was distinctly polymodal, to see whether ages estimated by reading otoliths were congruent with the length modes observed. Length densities by age were compared graphically with the overall length density observed. Additionally, ages were predicted for each fish based on length, and compared with ages estimated from reading otoliths in a goodness-of-fit test. The majority of the otoliths (83.6%) were estimated to be from fish 1+ or 2+ years old, with mean total lengths of 32.5 cm and 41.3 cm respectively. No difference was found between …

Morphology, Swimming Performance And Propulsive Mode Of Six Co-Occurring Hydromedusae, Sean Colin, John H. Costello

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Jet propulsion, based on examples from the Hydrozoa, has served as a valuable model for swimming by medusae. However, cnidarian medusae span several taxonomic classes (collectively known as the Medusazoa) and represent a diverse array of morphologies and swimming styles. Does one mode of propulsion appropriately describe swimming by all medusae? This study examined a group of co-occurring hydromedusae collected from the waters of Friday Harbor, WA, USA, to investigate relationships between swimming performance and underlying mechanisms of thrust production. The six species examined encompassed a wide range of bell morphologies and swimming habits. Swimming performance (measured as swimming acceleration …

Testing For Toxic Effects Of Prey On Zooplankton Using Sole Versus Mixed Diets, Sean Colin, Hans G. Dam

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Suitability Of Hsp70 As A Biomarker For Pesticide Contamination Of Aquatic Systems: A Laboratory Investigation Using Chironomus Tentans As A Model, Lori Rae Covington

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Though the use of pesticides has resulted in increased crop production and other benefits, concerns have been raised about potential adverse effects on the environment, especially the hydrologic system which supports aquatic life. To chemically analyze for all possible contaminants at all at-risk sites would not only be costly, but practically infeasible and would yield no information about biological effects. Therefore, a significant portion of the scientific community has turned their investigative focus to biomarkers as a measurement of sublethal contaminant exposure and effect. A biomarker that has been the recent focus of much research is the family of heat …

The Response Of Mice To Infection By The Parasitic Nematode Trichinella: A Comparison Of Trichinella Spiralis And Trichinella Pseudospiralis, Barry Clayton Anderson

Dissertations and Theses

The intracellular parasite Trichinella is a genus in phylum Nematoda that contains six named species including Trichinella spiralis and Trichinella pseudospiralis. These parasites infect a large variety of wild and domestic animals, human beings and a few species of birds. The parasitic strategies and the pathological effects on the host between trichinella spiralis and Trichinella pseudospiralis are quite different.

The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of the physiological, immunological and pathological differences between these two species of Trichinella using infections in the mouse as a model. In the course of this research I have attempted to …

Longitudinal Variation In Muscle Protein Expression And Contraction Kinetics Of Largemouth Bass Axial Muscle, Tierney M. Thys, Jason M. Blank, David J. Coughlin, Fred Schachat

Biological Sciences

The present study investigates muscle protein expression in largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides through intra- and intermyomeric comparisons of white muscle. Using denaturing SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, muscle protein expression in the arm and cone regions of sequential myomeres was compared for three bass. Low percentage (4.75 %) polyacrylamide-SDS gels and cyanogen bromide (CNBr) peptide mapping revealed no obvious intramyomeric differences between the myosin heavy chains of the arm and cone regions. Electrophoresis of myofibrils and muscle homogenates on higher percentage gels also failed to demonstrate any significant differences between arm and cone regions in either the myosin light chains or any …

Percent G+C Profiling Accurately Reveals Diet-Related Differences In The Gastrointestinal Microbial Community Of Broiler Chickens, Juha H. A. Apajalahti, Anu Kettunen, Michael R. Bedford, William E. Holben

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Broiler chickens from eight commercial farms in Southern Finland were analyzed for the structure of their gastrointestinal microbial community by a nonselective DNA-based method, percent G+C-based profiling. The bacteriological impact of the feed source and in-farm whole-wheat amendment of the diet was assessed by percent G+C profiling. Also, a phylogenetic 16S rRNA gene (rDNA)-based study was carried out to aid in interpretation of the percent G+C profiles. This survey showed that most of the 16S rDNA sequences found could not be assigned to any previously known bacterial genus or they represented an unknown species of one of the taxonomically heterogeneous …

Mammary Gland Cell Death Also Involves Lysosomal Autophagy, Reginald Halaby

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The mammary gland undergoes apoptosis when estrogen ablation occurs, either naturally or enforced. The gland is known to execute the apoptotic process post weaning. Although the involuting mammary gland displays the characteristic biochemical features of apoptosis, including DNA fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and the formation of apoptotic bodies, it also shows evidence of an autophagic death. In this report, apoptosis of the gland was induced by removing the pups from their nursing mothers. In particular, we show that lysosomes increased in size and number, and moved from basal to apical regions in dying rat mammary gland cells. Lysosomal enzyme activities were …

Mindful Virtue, Mindful Reverence, Ursula Goodenough, Paul Woodruff

Biology Faculty Research

How does one talk about moral thought and moral action as a religious naturalist? We explore this question by considering two human capacities: the capacity for mindfulness, and the capacity for virtue. We suggest that mindfulness is deeply enhanced by an understanding of the scientific worldview and that the four cardinal virtues—courage, fairmindedness, humaneness, and reverence—are rendered coherent by mindful reflection. We focus on the concept of mindful reverence and propose that the mindful reverence elicited by the evolutionary narrative is at the heart of religious naturalism. Religious education, we suggest, entails the cultivation of mindful virtue, in ourselves and …

Iron Acquisition In Rhodococcus Erythrolpolis: The Isolation Of Mutant(S) That Do Not Produce A Siderophore., Jaishree M. Vellore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rhodococcus, a soil bacterium, displays a diverse range of metabolic capabilities with a number of potential practical applications. To exploit the metabolic potential of Rhodococcus, their basic physiology, genetics, and especially the acquisition of essential nutrients like iron, must be understood.

R. erythropolis strain IGTS8 releases a small compound called a siderophore, that scavenges ferric iron from the environment. To learn more about the genetic control of iron acquisition, mutant(s) defective in siderophore production were isolated. Mutants were generated, by inserting a mutagenic plasmid, pJCS506, into the bacterial cell using electroporation. The plasmid, which cannot replicate in these …

Proprioception, Non-Law, And Biolegal History, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article explores several advantages of incorporating into law various insights from behavioral biology about how and why the brain works as it does. In particular, the Article explores the ways in which those insights can help illuminate the deep structure of human legal systems. That effort is termed "biolegal history."

The Effect Of Thermal Stress On The Mating Behavior Of Three Drosophila Species, Zachary J. Patton, Robert A. Krebs

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Selection may act on the weakest link in fitness to change how a species adapts to an environmental stress. For many species, this limitation may be reproduction. After adult Drosophila melanogaster, Drosophila simulans, and Drosophila mojavensis males were exposed to varying levels of thermal stress well below those that endanger life, courtship and mating frequency declined. The regression coefficients of both courtship and mating success did not differ significantly between D. melanogaster and D. simulans males. In contrast, significant differences were present between the two cosmopolitan species and D. mojavensis. Courtship frequency decreased at a much slower rate in D. …

Fisheries Research Report No. 136 - Assessment Of Gonad Staging Systems And Other Methods Used In The Study Of The Reproductive Biology Of Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel, Scomberomorus Commerson, In Western Australia, Michael C. Mackie, Paul Lewis

Fisheries Research Reports

Recent research by the Department of Fisheries in Western Australia into the reproductive biology of narrow-barred Spanish mackerel has required the use of various field and laboratory techniques. This report documents the procedures and adaptations of some of these techniques. Assessment and development of illustrated, relevant macroscopic and microscopic staging systems were of particular focus because both have been essential components of the research. The simplified and more reliable macroscopic staging system we developed allowed full use of all gonad samples and a more complete (albeit less distinct) overview of the seasonal pattern of gonad reproductive development. This macroscopic staging …

Differential Expression Of Cadherin-2 And Cadherin-4 In The Developing And Adult Zebrafish Visual System, Qin Liu, S. G. Babb, Z. M. Novince, A. L. Doedens, J. Marrs, P. A. Raymond

Biology Faculty Research

Cadherins are homophilic cell adhesion molecules that control development of a variety of tissues and maintenance of adult structures. Although cadherins have been implicated in the development of the brain, including the visual system, in several vertebrate species, little is known of their role in zebrafish. In this study, we examined distribution of cadherin-2 (Cdh2, N-cadherin) in the visual system of developing and adult zebrafish using both immunocytochemical and in situ hybridization methods, and we compared Cdh2 distribution to that of the previously reported and closely related cadherin-4 (Cdh4, R-cadherin). As in other vertebrates, in zebrafish embryos Cdh2 was widely …

High Frequency Of Extra-Pair Paternity In Eastern Kingbirds, Michael T. Murphy, Diane L. Rowe, Robert C. Fleischer, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications

Genetic parentage in the socially monogamous and territorial Eastern Kingbird( Tyrannust tyrannus) was examined in a central New York population by multilocus DNA fingerprinting. Extra-pair young were identified in 60% (12 of 20) of nests. Of the 64 nestlings profiled, 42% were sired by extra-pair males, but no cases of conspecific brood parasitism were detected. These results are markedly different from a previous electrophoretic study of the same species in a Michigan population, which reported 39% of nestlings were unrelated to one (typically the mother, quasiparasitismo)r both (conspecificb roodp arasitism) of the putative parents. In the New York population, extra-pairp …

High Frequency Of Extra-Pair Paternity In Eastern Kingbirds, Diane L. Rowe, Michael T. Murphy, Robert C. Fleischer, Paul G. Wolf

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Genetic parentage in the socially monogamous and territorial Eastern Kingbird( Tyrannust tyrannus) was examined in a central New York population by multilocus DNA fingerprinting. Extra-pair young were identified in 60% (12 of 20) of nests. Of the 64 nestlings profiled, 42% were sired by extra-pair males, but no cases of conspecific brood parasitism were detected. These results are markedly different from a previous electrophoretic study of the same species in a Michigan population, which reported 39% of nestlings were unrelated to one (typically the mother, quasiparasitismo)r both (conspecificb roodp arasitism) of the putative parents. In the New York population, extra-pairp …

Mammals Of Fort A. P. Hill, Caroline County, Virginia And Vicinity, A. Scott Bellows, Joseph C. Mitchell, John F. Pagels, Heather N. Mansfield

Virginia Journal of Science

Fort A.P. Hill (APH) is a 30,329 ha military training installation (U.S. Army) located in the upper Coastal Plain of Caroline County, Virginia. It was formed in 1941 and named in honor of Civil War Confederate Lt. General Ambrose Powell Hill. The current landscape includes a mosaic of habitats that range from old fields to hardwood forests. Forty species of mammals are known to exist on or near the installation. These include one marsupial, five insectivores, 9 chiropterans, one lagomorph, 12 rodents, 10 carnivores, and one cervid. We have studied many of the species on APH since 1997. In this …

Bounce And Double Trill Songs Of Male And Female Western Screech-Owls: Characterization And Usefulness For Classification Of Sex, Brian L. Herting, James R. Belthoff

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Both sexes of adult Western Screech-Owls (Otus kennicottii) sing in response to playback of conspecific song within their territories. Two primary songs are the bounce and double trill. Using sonographic analysis of tape-recorded vocalizations, our study quantified characterstics of bounce and double trill songs uttered by individuals within a population of Western Screech-Owls inhabiting riparian woodlands in southwestern Idaho. We asked if songs of males and females differed and, if so, how accurately could songs be classified by sex. On average, male bounce songs were ∼30% lower in frequency than bounce songs of females, but song duration, note duration, number …

Whence Meiosis?, Anne M. Villeneuve, Kenneth J. Hillers

Biological Sciences

Sexual reproduction predominates among eukaryotic organisms on our planet. While debate continues over why this should be so, burgeoning genomic and functional information now allows us to begin to think reasonably about some of the events that may have occurred to make sex possible in the first place.

Effects Of Size And Temperature On Metabolic Rate, James Gillooly, James Brown, Geoffrey West, Van Savage, Eric Charnov

Biology Faculty & Staff Publications

We derive a general model, based on principles of biochemical kinetics and allometry, that characterizes the effects of temperature and body mass on metabolic rate. The model fits metabolic rates of microbes, ectotherms, endotherms (including those in hibernation), and plants in temperatures ranging from 0 to 40C. Mass - and temperature - compensated resting metabolic rates of all organisms are similar: The lowest (for unicellular organisms and plants) is separated from the highest (for endothermic vertebrates) by a factor of about 20. Temperature and body size are primary determinants of biological time and ecological roles.

Distinct Mechanisms Regulate Slow-Muscle Development, Michael J.F. Barresi, Joel A. D'Angelo, L. Patricia Hernández, Stephen H. Devoto

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Vertebrate muscle development begins with the patterning of the paraxial mesoderm by inductive signals from midline tissues [1, 2]. Subsequent myotome growth occurs by the addition of new muscle fibers. We show that in zebrafish new slow-muscle fibers are first added at the end of the segmentation period in growth zones near the dorsal and ventral extremes of the myotome, and this muscle growth continues into larval life. In marine teleosts, this mechanism of growth has been termed stratified hyperplasia [3]. We have tested whether these added fibers require an embryonic architecture of muscle fibers to support their development and …

Biology Department Publications: 2001, Sam Lindgren

Biology Department Bibliographies

This document is a noncomprehensive list of publications made by graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and faculty members in the Biology Department in 2001. It indexes those publications available through major databases, and serves as an archival record of the Department’s robust scholarly contributions.

New Vistas For Developmental Biology, Scott F. Gilbert, R. Tuan

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.