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Applied Studies Of Raptor Sensory Ecology Are Rare, Christopher J.W. Mcclure, Simon Potier, Jesse R. Barber

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Light and noise often act as pollutants, but can also be used as tools for managing wildlife (e.g., sensory deterrents). Given that raptors are among the most threatened groups of birds, we expected there to be a moderate amount of applied research on their sensory ecology. We searched Web of Science and Google Scholar to quantify and classify the research that has been conducted on the applied sensory ecology of raptors. Of 32 studies assessing the effects of sensory pollution on raptors, we found that 10 studies examined effects of light pollution and 24 studies examined effects of noise pollution. …

Avian Species Distribution Models: Using Location Data To Inform Management Decisions, Marilyn E. Wright

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Both state and federal wildlife agencies strive to conserve and protect wildlife and their habitats as an important public resource. Applied management decisions often rely on being able to obtain data that can efficiently and effectively enhance the understanding of these systems for informing management actions. Wildlife managers often focus efforts on a small subset of species from an ecosystem, typically called focal species, who can serve as surrogates for understanding the health and function of the system. Models that consider how these focal species interact with the ecosystem are often used to better understand important aspects of their life …

Sensitivites Of Dryland Mammals To Mean And Variance In Aridity, Jessica C. Johnson

Biology ETDs

An important component of evaluating the consequences of climate change is to understand not only how climate trends, such as warming, affect species abundance but also how increasing climate variability will change population abundances. Studies on species' sensitivities to interannual variability are rare because they require long-term data collected either over naturally variable climate conditions or within direct manipulations of year-to-year variability. Physiology, functional traits, and diet composition related to resource acquisition or reproduction may be valuable predictors of species sensitivities to changes in both climate mean and variability. We predicted that species with certain physiologies, such as large body …

Examining The Symbioses Between Bioluminescent Vibrio Species And Ponyfishes In The Indian Ocean And Between Vibrio Species And Crassostrea Virginica In The Gulf Of Mexico, Alexandra Chauvin

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Understanding SjöGren's Syndrome As A Systemic Autoimmune Disorder, Gaietchyne Chery

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Sjögren’s syndrome is an autoimmune condition characterized by a dysfunction in the lachrymal and salivary glands which results in dry eyes and dry mouth. Since its first description in 1892, the disease is one of the most common autoimmune diseases after lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis in the United States. Despite its high prevalence in the general population, Sjögren’s syndrome remains hard to diagnose due to the wide range of symptoms associated with the disease that is also shared by other conditions. Furthermore, the mechanisms behind the pathogenesis are not properly understood even though multiple factors have been proposed to …

Characterizing And Epitope Mapping Single-Domain Antibodies On Borrelia Burgdorferi Protein Ospa, Saiful Basir

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Epitope mapping a protein that enables pathogenesis is crucial for the development of therapies and prophylactics that can inhibit the pathogen’s function and its transmission of disease. The lipoprotein OspA enables Lyme Disease etiologic pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi, to inhabit the tick midgut until transmission occurs. Anti-OspA mAbs and their smaller VHH counterparts are highly specific and tailored to bind proteins such as OspA, reproducibly, at established binding sites or epitopes. Previous studies found an array of mAbs that successfully bound OspA and have already been used in epitope mapping. To our knowledge, this is the first use of VHHs in …

Bayesian Models For Spatially Explicit Interactions Between Neighbouring Plants, Cristina Barber, Andrii Zaiats, Cara Applestein, Lisa Rosenthal, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

1. Interactions between neighbouring plants drive population and community dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Understanding these interactions is critical for both fundamental and applied ecology. Spatial approaches to model neighbour interactions are necessary, as interaction strength depends on the distance between neighbouring plants. Recent Bayesian advancements, including the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo algorithm, offer the flexibility and speed to fit models of spatially explicit neighbour interactions. We present a guide for parameterizing these models in the Stan programming language and demonstrate how Bayesian computation can assist ecological inference on plant–plant interactions.

2. Modelling plant neighbour interactions presents several challenges for ecological modelling. First, nonlinear …

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Venomic Characterization Of A Medically Relevant Rear-Fanged Snake, Conophis Lineatus (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae), From Middle America, Tristan Schramer

All Theses

Most traditional research on snake venoms has focused on front-fanged snake families (Viperidae, Elapidae, and Atractaspididae). However, venom is now generally accepted as being a much more broadly possessed trait within snakes, including species traditionally considered harmless. Unfortunately, due to historical inertia and methodological challenges, the toxin repertoires of non-front-fanged snake families (e.g., Colubridae, Dipsadidae, and Natricidae) have been heavily neglected despite the knowledge of numerous species capable of inflicting medically relevant envenomations. Integrating proteomic data for validation, we perform a de novo assembly and analysis of the Duvernoy’s venom gland transcriptome of the Central American Road Guarder (Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae: …

Spatial Models Can Improve The Experimental Design Of Field-Based Transplant Gardens By Preventing Bias Due To Neighborhood Crowding, Andrii Zaiats, Juan M. Raquena-Mullor, Matthew J. Germino, Jennifer S. Forbey, Bryce A. Richardson, T. Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Field-based transplant gardens, including common and reciprocal garden experiments, are a powerful tool for studying genetic variation and gene-by-environment interactions. These experiments assume that individuals within the garden represent independent replicates growing in a homogenous environment. Plant neighborhood interactions are pervasive across plant populations and could violate assumptions of transplant garden experiments. We demonstrate how spatially explicit models for plant–plant interactions can provide novel insights on genotypes' performance in field-transplant garden designs. We used individual-based models, based on data from a sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) common garden, to simulate the impact of spatial plant–plant interactions on between-group differences in plant …

Transcriptomic Signal Of Reproductive Modes And Early Speciation In Daphnia Pulex-Pulicaria System, Trung Viet Huynh

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Daphnia have been gaining recognition as a key model system for studies of evolution, ecology, toxicology, and more recently genomics. The defining characteristic of this particular model system is its phenotypic plasticity and its responsiveness to environmental cues. At the same time, the advent of RNA sequencing technology has helped researchers gain new insights on the plasticity of gene expression and its role linking environmental cues with the physiological response mounted by the organism. Although many RNA-seq studies have been conducted in Daphnia, surprisingly no one has recorded the gene expression profile of one of Daphnia’s most famous phenotypic plastic …

Egestion Rates Of Microplastic Fibres In Fish Scaled To In Situ Concentration And Fish Density, Loren Hou, Rachel Mcneish, Timothy Hoellein

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Microplastics (particles <5 >mm) are commonly found in aquatic organisms across taxonomic groups and ecosystems. However, the egestion rate of microplastics from aquatic organisms and how egestion rates compare to other rates of microplastic movement in the environment are sparsely documented.We fed microplastic fibres to round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus), an abundant, invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes. We conducted two trials where round gobies were fed microplastic-containing food either a single time (1 day) or every day over 7 days.There was no difference in microplastic egestion rates from the 1 day or 7 day feeding trials, suggesting no impact of …

Targeting A Highly Repetitive Genomic Sequence For Sensitive And Specific Molecular Detection Of The Filarial Parasite Mansonella Perstans From Human Blood And Mosquitoes, Nils Pilotte, Tamara Thomas, Michael F. Zulch, Allison R. Sirois, Corrado Minetti, Lisa J. Reimer, Steven A. Williams, Lori J. Saunders

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background Mansonella perstans is among the most neglected of the neglected tropical diseases and is believed to cause more human infections than any other filarial pathogen in Africa. Based largely upon assumptions of limited infection-associated morbidity, this pathogen remains understudied, and many basic questions pertaining to its pathogenicity, distribution, prevalence, and vector-host relationships remain unanswered. However, in recent years, mounting evidence of the potential for increased Mansonella infection-associated disease has sparked a renewal in research interest. This, in turn, has produced a need for improved diagnostics, capable of providing more accurate pictures of infection prevalence, pathogen distribution, and vector-host interactions. …

Identification Of A Cis-Sex Chromosome Transition In Banded Geckos (Coleonyx, Eublepharidae, Gekkota), Shannon E. Keating, Eli Greenbaum, Jerry D. Johnson, Tony Gamble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Sex-determination systems are highly variable amongst vertebrate groups, and the prevalence of genomic data has greatly expanded our knowledge of how diverse some groups truly are. Gecko lizards are known to possess a variety of sex-determination systems, and each new study increases our knowledge of this diversity. Here, we used RADseq to identify male-specific markers in the banded gecko Coleonyx brevis, indicating this species has a XX/XY sex-determination system. Furthermore, we show that these sex-linked regions are not homologous to the XX/XY sex chromosomes of two related Coleonyx species, C. elegans and C. mitratus, suggesting that a cis- …

Channel Catfish - Ictalurus Punctatus, Jason E. Rosales, David William Kerstetter

All Scans: Kerstetter Fisheries and Avian Ecology 3D Scan Series

Neurocranium total length is 110.81 mm, [CHANNEL CATFISH , Ictalurus punctatus} collected from Canal in Davie on November 18th, 2022 by Zachary

Environmental Sensitivity Of Maternal And Offspring Phenotype In The Green Anole (Anolis Carolinensis) Lizard, Jamie Marks

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Animals dynamically invest their acquired energetic resources into fitness-related traits, and life-history trade-offs occur when limited resources are invested in a given trait at the expense of another. The phenotypic effects of life history trade-offs are well documented, but the mechanisms facilitating these trade-offs are poorly understood. One such mechanism is the insulin/insulin-like signaling (IIS) network, and specifically its two primary hormones: insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2). IGF1 is well-characterized but IGF2 is severely understudied, though it is present in nearly all amniotes and sometimes expressed at higher levels than IGF1 in adulthood. I …

Quantifying The Effect Of Disturbance On Native Mojave Desert Shrubs, Tamara J. Wynne

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Disturbance can come in many different forms. In our studies, we looked at the impact of a solar photovoltaic facility on native plants growing inside and outside of the facility, alteration in precipitation (simulated) on four native shrubs and the impact of applying supplemental water as a function of volume and frequency to establish native shrubs such as might occur at restoration sites. Disturbance is becoming a more common phenomenon in many ecosystems throughout the world, increasing the need for studies that quantify the impact at the plant and ecosystem level. Each research project revealed different plant responses, such as …

A Drought-Tolerant Nitrogen-Fixing Symbiont For Sustainable Soybean Production, Christian James Peterson

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Bradyrhizobia are an ideal model organism to study plant-microbe interactions due to dual lifestyles as free-living soil organisms and as endosymbionts for valuable cropping systems in agriculture. Farmers have been utilizing the Soybean-Bradyrhizobium japonicum mutualism for decades to revitalize marginal soils, increase yields, and establish a regenerative approach to farming by mitigating the use of synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers. The largest impediment to bio-fertilizer success is desiccation (e.g., drought) stress before the symbiosis can be established. Due to climate change, fluctuating high temperatures and drought occur seasonally in many growing regions and are becoming a growing concern for modern agriculture. Thus, …

Sequence-Based Bioinformatics Approaches To Predict Virus–Host Relationships In Archaea And Eukaryotes, Yingshan Li

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Viral metagenomics is independent of lab culturing and capable of investigating viromes of virtually any given environmental niches. While numerous sequences of viral genomes have been assembled from metagenomic studies over the past years, the natural hosts for the majority of these viral contigs have not been determined. Different computational approaches have been developed to predict hosts of bacteria phages. Nevertheless, little progress has been made in the virus-host prediction, especially for viruses that infect eukaryotes and archaea. In this study, by analyzing all documented viruses with known eukaryotic and archaeal hosts, we assessed the predictive power of four computational …

Taxonomic Species Recognition Should Be Consistent, Stephen James O'Brien, Shu-Jin Luo

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Med12 Is A Critical Regulator Of Neural Crest Lineage And Nervous System Myelination, Fatma Betul Aksoy Yasar

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The Mediator complex (MED) is a multi-subunit protein complex integral to the eukaryotic transcription machinery. MED12 is a Cdk8- regulatory kinase module subunit directly implicated in human disease and is genetically altered in neurological disease and cancer. Numerous attempts at generating an in vivo system to study the role of Med12 failed due to embryonic lethality associated with germline or developmental disruption of Med12 gene. To understand the cellular and molecular processes associated with its role in disease, we generated multiple mouse models with targeted depletion of MED12 in distinct cellular lineages. Our genetically engineered models with induced and conditional …

Bobcat Identification, Abundance, And Behavior At Road Mitigation Structures In South Texas, Victoria Hanley

Theses and Dissertations

Highways in South Texas fragment the landscape and result in high road mortality rates for the endangered US ocelot (Leopardus pardalis). In response, the Texas Department of Transportation constructed nine wildlife crossing structures (WCS) on Farm-to-Market (FM) 106 which adjoins Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge in Cameron County, Texas. With ocelots being rare and elusive, bobcats (Lynx rufus) are often used as a surrogate species to study felid behavior at road mitigation structures in South Texas. Bobcats have unique markings which allow them to be individually identified. Three methods of individual identification of bobcats using camera …

Survey For Usage Of And Interest In Personalized Nutrition As A Possible Health Approach, Kimberly Garrett

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Dietary factors can lead to chronic diseases and impact certain health factors such as sleep and mood. Personalized nutrition is based on an individual’s phenotype and genotype to meet specific dietary needs. This approach could be an intervention to benefit an individual’s health. This study surveyed a population to analyze the population’s view on and usage of personalized nutrition. The use of personalized nutrition was minimal, but there was interest within the population. In addition, a relationship between health and mood was found. However, the sample size was a limiting factor for this study. Future directions could include studying why …

Landscape Genomics Of The Tussock Cottongrass (Eriophorum Vaginatum) And The Dwarf Birch (Betula Nana) In North Central Alaska, Elizabeth Stunz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Global climate change has resulted in geographic range shifts of flora and fauna at a global scale. Extreme environments, like the Arctic, are seeing some of the most pronounced changes. This region covers 14% of the Earthâ??s land area, and while many arctic species are widespread, understanding ecotypic variation at the genomic level will be important for elucidating how range shifts will affect ecological processes. Increase in shrub cover is a major effect of ongoing climate change in arctic tundra ecosystems. The relative increases in abundance and cover of shrub species such as birch, willow, and alder (Betula, Salix, and …

Wildlife Road Mortality Patterns In South Texas And Survey Methodology Improvement, Bradley E. Beer

Theses and Dissertations

Mortalities of wildlife caused by collisions with vehicles along roads are increasing in prevalence, threatening the existence of various species and populations. A better understanding of how mortalities change in response to natural and anthropogenic variables and efficient methods of obtaining mortality data are essential to mitigating such mortalities. This thesis investigates several key elements to improving road mortality surveys in south Texas. First, it was found that road mortality survey counts did not change under a pandemic-related lockdown and that 2 mortality survey observers detect more mortalities than 1. Analysis of brown pelican groundings on Texas State Highway 48 …

The Molecular Evolution Of Insect Opsin Genes, Maria Jose Cardenas Muedano

Theses and Dissertations

Opsins are part of the superfamily of G-coupled receptor proteins and together with chromophores, are responsible for initiating the signal transduction cascade responsible for animal vision. Since opsins have a critical role on visual perception these genes are crucial for a myriad of adaptive traits and behaviors and should show diverse signs of natural selection at the molecular level. Understanding the evolution of opsins across the wide diversity of insect groups will allow us to better understand the evolutionary pressure on insect opsins and serve as a model for both other gene systems and other taxonomic groups of animals that …

Importance Of The Microhabitat And Microclimate Conditions In The Northern Gray-Cheeked Salamander (Plethodon Montanus) Across An Elevation Gradient, Trevor Chapman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The southern Appalachian Mountains have among the highest salamander diversity in the world, largely due to local speciation in the family Plethodontidae. Plethodontid salamanders (i.e., lungless salamanders) are particularly sensitive to habitat climate conditions due to their reliance on cutaneous respiration, and their immediate environmental conditions (microhabitat) likely influence their dispersion and activity more than the large-scale atmospheric conditions. The Northern Gray-cheeked salamander (Plethodon montanus) is restricted to high elevations in the Appalachian Mountains. Our goal was to investigate the relationship between P. montanus and its microhabitat by examining behavioral preference for climatic conditions, characterizing the microclimate with …

Serologic Surveillance For Sars-Cov-2 Infection Among Wild Rodents, Europe, Vincent Bourret, Lara Dutra, Hussein Alburkat, Sanna Mäki, Ella Lintunen, Marine Wasniewski, Ravi Kant, Maciej Grzybek, Vinaya Venkat, Hayder Asad, Julien Pradel, Marie Bouilloud, Herwig Leirs, Valeria Carolina Colombo, Vincent Sluydts, Peter Stuart, Andrew Mcmanus, Jana A. Eccard, Jasmin Firozpoor, Christian Imholt, Joanna Nowicka, Aleksander Goll, Nathan Ranc, Guillaume Castel, Nathalie Charbonnel, Tarja Sironen

Publications

We report results from serologic surveillance for exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among 1,237 wild rodents and small mammals across Europe. All samples were negative, with the possible exception of 1. Despite suspected potential for human-to-rodent spillover, no evidence of widespread SARS-CoV-2 circulation in rodent populations has been reported to date.

Esitämme tulokset serologisesta tutkimuksesta, jossa seulottiin SARS-CoV-2 tartuntojen varalta 1,237 luonnonvaraista jyrsijää ja piennisäkästä eri puolilta Eurooppaa. Kaikki näytteet olivat negatiivisia, yhtä näytettä lukuun ottamatta. SARS-CoV-2:n läikkymisen ihmisistä jyrsijöihin on arveltu olevan mahdollista, mutta todisteet viruksen laajamittaisesta leviämisestä jyrsijäpopulaatioissa puuttuvat.

Recombinant Simian Varicella Virus-Simian Immunodeficiency Virus Vaccine Induces T And B Cell Functions And Provides Partial Protection Against Repeated Mucosal Siv Challenges In Rhesus Macaques, Bapi Pahar, Wayne Gray, Marissa Fahlberg, Brooke Grasperge, Meredith Hunter, Arpita Das, Christopher Mabee, Pyone Pyone Aye, Faith Schiro, Krystle Hensley, Aneeka Ratnayake, Kelly Goff, Celia Labranche, Xiaoying Shen, Georgia D. Tomaras, C. Todd Demarco, David Montefiori, Patricia Kissinger, Preston A. Marx

Faculty and Student Publications

HIV vaccine mediated efficacy, using an expanded live attenuated recombinant varicella virus-vectored SIV rSVV-SIVgag/env vaccine prime with adjuvanted SIV-Env and SIV-Gag protein boosts, was evaluated in a female rhesus macaques (RM) model against repeated intravaginal SIV challenges. Vaccination induced anti-SIV IgG responses and neutralizing antibodies were found in all vaccinated RMs. Three of the eight vaccinated RM remained uninfected (vaccinated and protected, VP) after 13 repeated challenges with the pathogenic SIVmac251-CX-1. The remaining five vaccinated and infected (VI) macaques had significantly reduced plasma viral loads compared with the infected controls (IC). A significant increase in systemic central memory CD4+ T …

Risk-Factor Induced Changes In The Breast Microenvironment Facilitate Inflammatory Breast Cancer Progression And Lymphovascular Invasion, Wintana Balema, Wintana Balema

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rapidly progressing, rare and highly lethal form of breast cancer. IBC is a clinical diagnosis, requiring >1/3 involvement on the affected breast and/or skin by erythema, and disease onset of < 6 months. The clinical symptoms of IBC vary in severity and presentation, these include redness, warmth, skin thickening and bruised or pink/purple discoloration appearance and skin changes such as peau d’orange. These skin symptoms are not attributed to inflammation, rather IBC is characterized by florid lymphovascular tumor emboli clogging dermal lymphatics. This leads to “classic” symptoms of breast swelling and skin edema or discoloration. To date, unique genomic drivers which differentiate IBC from non-IBC invasive breast cancers have not been identified highlighting a role for the microenvironment. Several epidemiological studies have unveiled subtype-specific risk factors associated with IBC that are known to alter the microenvironment. Obesity is an established risk factor for all subtypes of IBC. Never-breastfeeding increases risk for developing the most aggressive, triple-negative IBC. Further, never breastfeeding is associated with later clinical stage and worse outcomes. We worked to model these overlapping risk factors to understand microenvironment changes that may lead to the lymphatic change’s indicative of IBC.

First, we investigated the association of a “classic” triad of clinical IBC signs with overall survival among patients to demonstrate the most overt clinical findings of lymphatic involvement were impacting prognosis. We evaluated a triad of IBC signs, including swollen involved breast, nipple change, and diffuse skin change, using breast medical photographs from patients enrolled on a prospective IBC registry. We reported that the …

Ankyrin Dependent Mitochondrial Function And Bioenergetics In The Heart, Janani Subramaniam, Janani Subramaniam

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

ANK2 mutations in patients are associated with numerous arrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, and other heart defects. In the heart, AnkB, the protein encoded by ANK2, clusters relevant ion channels and cell adhesion molecules in several important domains; however, its role at Mitochondria Associated ER/SR Membranes (MAMs) has yet to be investigated. MAMs are crucial to mitochondrial function and metabolism and are signaling hubs implicated in various cardiac pathologies. Among several functions, these sites mediate the direct transfer of calcium from the ER/SR to the mitochondria to modulate ATP synthesis. Given that mitochondrial function and energy production are paramount to cardiovascular heath, …