Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Connectivity Between Marine Protected Areas Using Codar High-Frequency Radar, Brian Zelenke, Mark A. Moline, Burt H. Jones, Steven R. Ramp, Greg B. Crawford, John L. Largier, Eric J. Terrill, Newell Garfield Iii, Jeffrey D. Paduan, Libe Washburn

Biological Sciences

To investigate the connectivity between central California marine protected areas (MPAs), back-projections were calculated using the network of high-frequency (HF) radar ocean surface current mapping stations operated along the California coast by the member institutions of the Coastal Ocean Currents Monitoring Program with funding provided by California voters through Propositions 40 & 50 and administered by the State Coastal Conservancy. Trajectories of 1 km resolution grids of water particles were back-projected from ten MPAs each hour, out through 40 days in the past, from each day in 2008, producing a map of where surface waters travel over a 40-day period …

Endogenous N-3 Fatty Acids Protect Ovariectomy Induced Bone Loss By Attenuating Osteoclastogenesis, Md Mizanur Rahman, Arunabh Bhattacharya, Jameela Banu, Jing X. Kang, Gabriel Fernandes

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

Beneficial effects of n-3 fatty acids (FA) on bone mineral density (BMD) have been reported in mice, rats and human beings, but the precise mechanisms involved have not been described. This study used the Fat-1 mouse, a transgenic model that synthesizes n-3 FA from n-6 FA to directly determine if outcome of bone health were correlated with n-3 FA. Ovariectomized (Ovx) and sham operated wild-type (WT) and Fat-1 mice were fed an AIN-93M diet containing 10% corn oil for 24 weeks. BMD was analysed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Fat-1 Ovx mice exhibited significantly lower level of osteotropic factors like …

Investigating Biological Activity Spectrum For Novel Styrylquinazoline Analogues, James Carroll, Jim O'Mahony, Aidan Coffey

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

In this study, series of ring-substituted 2-styrylquinazolin-4(3H)-one and 4-chloro-2-styrylquinazoline derivatives were prepared. The syntheses of the discussed compounds are presented. The compounds were analyzed by RP-HPLC to determine lipophilicity. They were tested for their inhibitory activity on photosynthetic electron transport (PET) in spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) chloroplasts. Primary in vitro screening of the synthesized compounds was also performed against four mycobacterial strains and against eight fungal strains. Several compounds showed biological activity comparable with or higher than that of the standard isoniazid. It was found that the electronic properties of the R substituent, and not the total lipophilicity of the …

Systematics And Biogeography Of The Didymopanax Group Of Schefflera (Araliaceae), Pedro Fiaschi

Theses and Dissertations

Schefflera is the largest genus in the angiosperm family Araliaceae, with about 900 species, of which c. 300 belong to five subgeneric groups in the Neotropical region. Previous phylogenetic studies of Schefflera have been limited to a small number of species from this region, and very little is know about phylogenetic relationships in the Brazilian-centered Didymopanax group of this genus. Therefore, to gain a better understanding of the diversity and evolution of the Didymopanax group of Schefflera, I investigated the systematics of these plants in the broader context of the entire Neotropical clade. The main goals were (1) to investigate …

A Phylogenetic Study Of The Old World Asclepiadinae (Apocynaceae) Based On Chloroplast And Nuclear Dna Sequence Data, David Chuba

Dissertations and Theses

Relationships within the African Asclepias generic complex (Asclepiadinae, Apocynaceae) have for a long time been only a matter of intuitive speculation and generic delimitations have been diverse and rather contentious. Generic delimitation in this group has been based on morphological characters that are usually not exclusive to any particular clade or genus. The difficulty of identifying taxonomically useful morphological characters for inferring generic delimitations has led to differences in the emphasized characters by different taxonomists. This study is aimed at understanding phylogenetic relationships of species within the African Asclepias complex based upon the nuclear PgiC and three chloroplast DNA regions, …

Group I Introns And Inteins: Disparate Origins But Convergent Parasitic Strategies, Rahul Raghavan, Michael F. Minnick

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Measures Of Heart And Ventilatory Rates In Freely Moving Crayfish, Sonya M. Bierbower, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

The fear, flight or fight response serves as the fundamental physiological basis for examining an organism's awareness of its environment under an impending predator attack. Although it is not known whether invertebrates posses an autonomic nervous system identical to that of vertebrates, evidence shows invertebrates have a sympathetic-like response to regulate the internal environment and ready the organism to act behaviorally to a given stimuli. Furthermore, this physiological response can be feasibly measured and it acts as a biological index for the animal's internal state. Measurements of the physiological response can be directly related to internal and external stressors through …

Heritable Factors Play A Major Role In Determining Host Responses To Wuchereria Bancrofti Infection In An Isolated South Pacific Island Population, Karen T. Cuenco, Eric A. Ottesen, Steven A. Williams, Thomas B. Nutman, Cathy Steel

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background. It is increasingly recognized that host genetic factors may play an important role in determining the outcome of filarial infections. To test this hypothesis in bancroftian lymphatic filariasis, pedigree data were collected twice during an 18-year period from an isolated Polynesian population living on a Pacific island where lymphatic filariasis is endemic. Methods. Using variance-component analysis, we examined the contribution of shared genetic and environmental effects on host clinical and immune responses to filarial infection, along with potential confounding determinants. Results. Sex was found to have a negligible influence on heritability estimates, but shared-household effects accounted for up to …

An Intertidal Sea Star Adjusts Thermal Inertia To Avoid Extreme Body Temperatures, Sylvain Pincebourde, Eric Sanford, Brian Helmuth

Faculty Publications

The body temperature of ectotherms is influenced by the interaction of abiotic conditions, morphology, and behavior. Although organisms living in different thermal habitats may exhibit morphological plasticity or move from unfavorable locations, there are few examples of animals adjusting their thermal properties in response to short-term changes in local conditions. Here, we show that the intertidal sea star Pisaster ochraceus modulates its thermal inertia in response to prior thermal exposure. After exposure to high body temperature at low tide, sea stars increase the amount of colder than-air fluid in their coelomic cavity when submerged during high tide, resulting in a …

Edgar Lehr, Jim Browne

Interviews for WGLT

Jim Browne interviews Assistant Professor of Biology Edgar Lehr about his discovery of three new frog species during a research expedition to Peru.

Poly-Paraphyly Of Hirudinidae: Many Lineages Of Medicinal Leeches, Anna J. Phillips, Mark E. Siddall

Publications and Research

Background: Medicinal leeches became infamous for their utility in bloodletting popularized in the 19th century, and have seen a recent resurgence in post-operative treatments for flap and replantation surgeries, and in terms of characterization of salivary anticoagulants. Notorious throughout the world, the quintessential leech family Hirudinidae has been taken for granted to be monophyletic, as has the non-bloodfeeding family Haemopidae.

Results: This study is the first to evaluate molecular evidence from hirudinid and haemopid leeches in a manner that encompasses the global scope of their taxonomic distributions. We evaluated the presumed monophyly of the Hirudinidae and assessed previous well-accepted classification …

Fall 2009; Bio @ Su, Syracuse University Biology Department

Biology @ SU

No abstract provided.

Lifelines Fall 2009, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2009 issue of Lifelines includes articles on Southern's Ancient DNA Project, an alumni feature, student research, and news from the Pre-Dent Club.

Venn, A Tool For Titrating Sequence Conservation Onto Protein Structures, Jay Vyas, Michael R. Gryk, Martin R. Schiller

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Residue conservation is an important, established method for inferring protein function, modularity and specificity. It is important to recognize that it is the 3D spatial orientation of residues that drives sequence conservation. Considering this, we have built a new computational tool, VENN that allows researchers to interactively and graphically titrate sequence homology onto surface representations of protein structures. Our proposed titration strategies reveal critical details that are not readily identified using other existing tools. Analyses of a bZIP transcription factor and receptor recognition of Fibroblast Growth Factor using VENN revealed key specificity determinants. Weblink: http://sbtools.uchc.edu/venn/.

Diversity In Leaf Anatomy, And Stomatal Distribution And Conductance, Between Salt Marsh And Freshwater Species In The C4 Genus Spartina (Poaceae), Brian R. Maricle Ph.D., Nuria K. Koteyeva, Elena V. Voznesenskaya, Joseph R. Thomasson, Gerald E. Edwards

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Leaf anatomy, stomatal density, and leaf conductance were studied in 10 species of Spartina (Poaceae) from low versus high salt marsh, and freshwater habitats. • Internal structure, external morphology, cuticle structure, and stomatal densities were studied with light and electron microscopy. Functional significance of leaf structure was examined by measures of CO2 uptake and stomatal distributions. • All species have Kranz anatomy and C 4 δ13C values. Freshwater species have thin leaves with small ridges on adaxial sides and stomata on both adaxial and abaxial sides. By contrast, salt marsh species have thick leaves with very pronounced ridges on the …

Ornithocoprophilous Plants Of Mount Desert Rock, A Remote Bird-Nesting Island In The Gulf Of Maine, U.S.A, Nishanta Rajakaruna, Nathaniel S. Pope, Jose Perez-Orozco, Tanner B. Harris

Biological Sciences

Plants growing on seabird-nesting islands are uniquely adapted to deal with guano-derived soils high in N and P. Such ornithocoprophilous plants found in isolated, oceanic settings provide useful models for ecological and evolutionary investigations. The current study explored the plants found on Mount Desert Rock (MDR), a small seabird-nesting, oceanic island 44 km south of Mount Desert Island (MDI), Hancock County, Maine, U.S.A. Twenty-seven species of vascular plants from ten families were recorded. Analyses of guano-derived soils from the rhizosphere of the three most abundant species from bird-nesting sites of MDR showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) NO₃⁻, available …

Seven New Species Of Cephennium Muller & Kunze (Coleptera, Staphylinidae, Scymaeninae, Cephenniini) From California With A Key To Native North American Species, Michael S. Caterino, Katie J. Hopp

Publications

Seven new species of Cephennium from California are described and illustrated - C. celsifrons, sp. n., C. mariposae, sp. n., C. grandarboreum, sp. n., C. canestroi, sp. n., C. gilberti, sp. n., C. urbanum, sp. n. and C. aridum, sp. n. Th e single known native Nearctic species, C. anophthalmicum Brendel, was known only from moist coastal forests around the San Francisco Bay area. Th e new species greatly expand the distribution of the genus, through central and southern California, occurring in the central Sierra Nevada, south through the coast ranges and Sierra Nevada to the Santa Monica Mountains and …

Spatial Dynamics Of Nesting Behavior: Lizards Shift Microhabitats To Construct Nests With Beneficial Thermal Properties, Michael W. Sears, Michael J. Angilletta, Robert M. Pringle

Publications

Because temperature affects the growth, development, and survival of embryos,
oviparous mothers should discriminate carefully among available nesting sites. We combined a radiotelemetric study of animal movements with a spatial mapping of environmental temperatures to test predictions about the nesting behavior of the eastern fence lizard (Sceloporus undulatus). Females made large excursions from their typical home ranges to construct nests in exposed substrates. These excursions appeared to be related solely to nesting because all females returned to forested habitat immediately afterward. On average, 1% (range ¼ 0–8%, n ¼ 19) of the area used by a female during nesting was …

Robustness Of The Bacterial Community In The Cabbage White Butterfly Larval Midgut, Courtney Robinson, Patrick Schloss, Yolied Ramos, Kenneth Raffa, Jo Handelsman

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

Microbial communities typically vary in composition and structure over space and time. Little is known about the inherent characteristics of communities that govern various drivers of these changes, such as random variation, changes in response to perturbation, or susceptibility to invasion. In this study, we use 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences to describe variation among bacterial communities in the midguts of cabbage white butterfly (Pieris rapae) larvae and examine the influence of community structure on susceptibility to invasion. We compared communities in larvae experiencing the same conditions at different times (temporal variation) or fed different diets (perturbation). The most highly …

Ectopic T-Bet Expression Licenses Dendritic Cells For Il-12-Independent Priming Of Type 1 T Cells In Vitro, Michael Lipscomb

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

T-bet (TBX21) is a transcription factor required for the optimal development of type 1 immune responses. Although initially characterized for its intrinsic role in T cell functional polarization, endogenous T-bet may also be critical to the licensing of type 1-biasing APCs. Here, we investigated whether human dendritic cells (DC) genetically engineered to express high levels of T-bet (i.e., DC.Tbet) promote superior type 1 T cell responses in vitro. We observed that DC.Tbet were selective activators of type 1 effector T cells developed from the naive pool of responder cells, whereas DC.Tbet and control DC promoted type 1 responses equitably from …

Scared Sick? Predator-Pathogen Facilitation Enhances The Exploitation Of A Shared Resource, Ricardo A. Ramirez, W E. Snyder

Biology Faculty Publications

Resource use generally increases with greater consumer diversity, an effect often attributed to resource partitioning. Pathogens and predators are two classes of consumer that exhibit differences in ecologically important traits (e.g., size, resource acquisition strategy, foraging location) that could lead to complementary effects on shared prey/hosts. To examine this possibility, we manipulated diversity among a community of predators and pathogens that together attack an herbivorous beetle, Leptinotarsa decemlineata, and measured resulting effects on herbivore suppression and resulting plant damage. We found that herbivore mortality increased, and plant damage decreased, when more natural enemy species were present. However, closer examination revealed …

Ageing And Cancer As Diseases Of Epigenesis, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

Cancer and ageing are often said to be diseases of development. During the past fifty years, the genetic components of cancer and ageing have been intensely investigated since development, itself, was seen to be an epiphenomenon of the genome. However, as we have learned more about the expression of the genome, we find that differences in expression can be as important as differences in alleles. It is easier to inactivate a gene by methylation than by mutation, and given that appropriate methylation is essential for normal development, one can immediately see that diseases would result as a consequence of inappropriate …

Prevalence And Intensity Of Trypanosome Infections In Stable And Declining Populations Of Brush-Tailed Bettongs (Bettongia Penicillata), Melissa Chiasson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The brush-tailed bettong (Bettongia penicillata), or woylie, is an endemic Australian marsupial that has recently suffered a large population crash in the Upper Warren region of Western Australia. Research has shown that both the declining Upper Warren population of brush-tailed bettongs and a stable population at Karakamia Wildlife Sanctuary are infected with a novel Trypanosoma sp., and the declining Upper Warren population was found to have a higher prevalence of trypanosome infection that that of the stable Karakamia population. In this study, further work was done to see if 1) the prevalence and intensity of trypanosome infection still differed significantly …

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes Fall 2009, Tom Monaco, Scott R. Abella, Amber Lee, James E. Deacon

Mojave Applied Ecology Notes

USDA working to manage invasive annual grasses, effects of heat and smoke on red brome soil seed bank, how burial depth and substrate affect germination of Sahara mustard and red brome, environmental effects of the southern Nevada groundwater project

Fisheries Occasional Publication No 75 - Research And Development Plan 2009-10, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

The Department of Fisheries R&D plan for 2009/10 outlines the research, monitoring and assessment activities that are specifically directed towards supporting the collection of information that will assist in achieving the objectives of the Fish Resources Management Act (1994) for the coming five year period. This series is updated on an annual basis and should be read in conjunction with the most recent State of Fisheries report where comprehensive analyses of the current status of each of the fisheries and fish habitat resources are described.

The plan specifically focuses on those activities that are currently planned or identified which directly …

First Records Of Hypleurochilus Geminatus And Centropristis Philadelphica From Chesapeake Bay, Aimee D. Halvorson

Virginia Journal of Science

During the fall of 2007, Centropris philadelphica (rock seabass) and Hypleurochilus geminatus (Crested blenny) were collected from Chesapeake Bay. These captures are significant as they represent the first substantiated record of C. philadelphica from Chesapeake Bay and only the second and third validated records of H. geminatus. Additionally, the first record of H. geminatus from Chesapeake Bay was only recently recognized since the specimen had been previously misidentified as Parablennius marmoreus (seaweed blenny). The collection of seven individuals of H. geminatus in 2007, from two locations, indicates that the species may be resident within the Chesapeake Bay estuary.

Phytoplankton Blooms: Their Occurrence And Composition Within Virginia's Tidal Tributaries, Harold G. Marshall, Todd A. Egerton

Virginia Journal of Science

Sporadic algal bloom development within a 10 year monitoring program in Virginia tidal tributaries of Chesapeake Bay is reviewed. These blooms were common events, characteristically producing a color signature to the surface water, typically short lived, occurring mainly from spring into autumn throughout different salinity regions of these rivers, and were produced primarily by dinoflagellates. The abundance threshold levels that would identify bloom status from a non-bloom presence were species specific, varied with the taxon's cell size, and ranged from ca. 10 to 10⁴ cells mL^-1. Among the most consistent sporadic bloom producers were the dinoflagellates Akashiwo …

Reducing The Impact Of Pcr-Mediated Recombination In Molecular Evolution And Environmental Studies Using A New-Generation High-Fidelity Dna Polymerase, Daniel J.G. Lahr, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

PCR-mediated recombination can greatly impact estimates of diversity, both in environmental studies and in analyses of gene family evolution. Here we measure chimera (PCR-mediated recombinant) formation by analyzing a mixture of eight partial actin sequences isolated from the amoeba Arcella hemisphaerica amplified under a variety of conditions that mimic standard laboratory situations. We further compare a new-generation proofreading processivity-enhanced polymerase to both a standard proofreading enzyme and previously published results. Proofreading polymerases are preferred over other polymerases in instances where evolutionary inferences must be made. Our analyses reveal that reducing the initial template concentration is as critical as reducing the …

Mangroves And Crabs As Ecosystem Engineers In Zanzibar, Charlie Nicholson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Primary productivity within mangroves results from detrital and coprophagous interactions on the forest floor. The feeding behaviors of Sesarmid crabs (Decapoda:Brachyura) alter the structural and chemical composition of benthic sediment through the consumption and incorporation of mangrove leaf-litter. In doing so they create habitats for organisms that in turn provide an additional food source for herbivorous crabs. Species specific herbivory was observed in order to understand the implications of Sesarmid activity on sediment composition. The study was conducted at two contrasting mangrove forest sites, one in a protected area at Jozani and the other in a disturbed area at Pete …

Selective Filtration In The Tropical Marine Sponge Rhopaloeides Odorabile: Impacts Of Elevated Seawater Temperature On Feeding Behavior, Andrew Massaro

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Climate change currently represents the most significant and increasing threat to coral reef ecosystems worldwide as sea surface temperatures are predicted to increase by up to 4oC by the year 2099. Sponges that rely on strong microbial symbioses are particularly sensitive to elevations in seawater temperature. In this study, the impacts of elevated seawater temperature on feeding behavior in the tropical marine sponge Rhopaloeides odorabile were assessed. Sponges were exposed to temperatures ranging between 27 and 32oC. At four time points, filtration rate and volume flow rate of each sponge were measured, and feeding efficiencies on both heterotrophic and phototrophic …