Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Phylogenetic Studies In Rosaceae, Christopher S. Campbell

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This project will investigate the evolutionary relationships within the large and important rose family. This group of plants contains numerous commercially valuable fruits (apples, pears, strawberries, cherries, peaches, plums, blackberries, and raspberries) and many horticulturally significant plants (roses, cotoneaster, lady's mantle, bridle-wreath, flowering quince, fire-thorn, cinqfoil, and others). Despite the large and important role that these plants play in our daily lives and scientific interest, we do not have a clear view of the evolutionary relationships of members of the family. A primary reason for this situation is that insufficient evidence has been accumulated to adequately address the problem. A …

Thermal Adaptation Of Polar Macroalgae, Ian R. Davison

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Davison 9418033 The genetic adaptations that enable certain plant species to survive and grow in polar environments where temperatures are near or below 0oC year-round are poorly understood. Low- temperature adaptation is complicated in terrestrial plants by freezing, desiccation and stomatal conductance, and in marine phytoplankton by a variable and unpredictable physical environment. Polar macroalgae provide an experimental system that is not subject to these complications and that is well- suited to the study of cold-adaptation in plants. Cold- adaptation is particularly well developed in Antarctic macroalgae, in which rates of photosynthesis and growth at OoC are comparable to rates …

Emersion Stress In Intertidal Seaweeds: Role Of Active Oxygen, Ian R. Davison

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

The study will examine stress-tolerance in two major groups of perennial intertidal macroalgae, the red and brown seaweeds. The research will test the hypothesis that active oxygen is involved in emersion stress of intertidal seaweeds. Damage due to active oxygen will be determined in stress-tolerant and stress- susceptible species exposed to emersion stress by measuring the peroxidation of membrane lipids. Plants will be grown in laboratory culture under conditions that increase their ability to withstand emersion stress. If the research hypothesis is correct, increases in stress tolerance should be associated with increased levels of antioxidants and/or protective enzymes. The proposed …

Identification Of Functional Amino Acids In The G Protein Alpha-Subunit, Robert E. Gundersen

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Guanine nucleotide-binding proteins (G proteins) are vital to a wide variety of physiological processes such as vision, hormone response, olfaction, and development. G protein-mediated signal transduction involves a complex network of receptors and second messenger pathways, and proper regulation of the network is essential for proper response of the system. A detailed analysis of the functional domains of the G protein alpha-subunit has been initiated by screening a library of random mutations in the subunit, G alpha2, of the slime mold, Dictyostelium. The function of G alpha2 function is essential for the developmental life cycle of this organism. It regulates …

School Of Marine Sciences / Darling Marine Center, Kevin J. Eckelbarger

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Over the last six years, the University of Maine has made an unprecedented investment in its marine laboratory, the Darling Marine Center to benefit both University faculty and visiting researchers and their students. Facility improvements include many new laboratory and offices spaces, more research instrumentation, and basic support facilities such as a dining hall and new classrooms. The inauguration of a Visiting Investigation Program in 1991, the expansion of educational offerings, and the growth of a large undergraduate internship program, have resulted in a population explosion that shows no sign of abating. To set priorities for improvements, the University has …

Confounding The Goals Of Management: Response Of The Maine Lobster Industry To A Trap Limit, James Acheson

Marine Sciences Faculty Scholarship

The behavior of fishermen is often far more complicated than assumed by fisheries managers. Those concerned with the Maine lobster (i.e., American lobster Homarus americanus, hereafter "lobster") fishery have long favored a cap on the number of traps each license holder can use. Fishermen favor trap limits primarily to cut costs and limit congestion, and managers believe such limits will help reduce fishing effort. Yet when trap limits were imposed by the legislature and the lobster zone councils between 1995 and 1998, the number of traps fished in Maine waters increased greatly. A survey of half the lobster license holders …

Evolution Of An Oxygen-Binding Hemoprotein In A Unique Environment: Myoglobin In The Hemoglobinless Antarctic Icefishes, Bruce D. Sidell

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

For approximately the last 40 million years, a unique fish fauna has been evolving in the frigid seas surrounding Antarctica. Physiological function of these water-breathing animals has demanded many adaptations to ensure proper metabolism and regulation of biochemical processes at cell temperatures of about OoC. Among the polar fishes, one family is particularly unusual, the Channichthyid icefishes. Species in this family lack hemoglobin in their circulating blood and, at least the majority, do not possess the intracellular respiratory protein, myoglobin, that is normally responsible for enhancing movement of oxygen through aerobic muscle tissues. The PI's have recently found two species …

Application Of Spatial Concepts To Genome Data, Mary-Kate Beard-Tisdale, Carol Bult, Max J. Egenhofer Editor

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

This project will investigate the application of geographic information science concepts and methods to the modeling and analysis of genome data. The primary objective of the research is to develop a data model for genomes that supports the graphical exploration of the higher order spatial arrangement of genome features through spatial queries and spatial data analysis tools. The spatial genome model formalizes topological and order relationships among genome features (before, after, overlap), uses metric properties to refine spatial topologies, and includes representations of features that have uncertain metric properties. The genome spatial model enhances the integrative and comparative potential of …

Mechanisms By Which Marine Algae Respond To Environmental Variables Affecting Reproductive Success, Susan H. Brawley

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Many marine species reproduce by external fertilization. This mode of reproduction might be expected to result in low levels of fertilization and recruitment because of the dilution of eggs and sperm by the turbulent sea. Recent work, however, demonstrates that fucoid algae (i.e., brown seaweed's that are important components of rocky, intertidal zones and estuaries) sense water motion and release eggs and sperm only when the sea is calm. Nearly 100% of their eggs are fertilized. The proposed experiments will determine how these algae sense water motion and whether similar responses are found in several other species that are harvested …

2000 Wild Blueberry Project Reports, Rodney J. Bushway, Alfred A. Bushway, Brian Perkins, Russell Hazen, Mary Ellen Camire, Katherine Davis-Dentici, Michael Dougherty, Kathleen Buzzard, Darrell W. Donahue, Angela Ferran, Ben Lagasse, Frank A. Drummond, Judith A. Collins, Rose Mary Seymour, John M. Smagula, Walter Litten, Adam Nielsen, Stephenson Nganga, Tarsha Rideout, David E. Yarborough, Timothy M. Hess, David Lambert, John Jemison

Wild Blueberry Research Reports

The 2000 edition of the Wild Blueberry Project Reports was prepared for the Maine Wild Blueberry Commission and the University of Maine Wild Blueberry Advisory Committee by researchers at the University of Maine, Orono. Projects in this report include:

1. Determination of Pesticide Residue Levels in Fresh and Processed Wild Blueberries

2. Factors Affecting the Microbiological Quality of IQF Blueberries

3. Effect of Processed Blueberry Products on Oxidation in Meat Based Food Systems

4. Separation of Maggot Infested Wild Blueberries in the IQF Processing Line

5. Water Use of Wild Blueberries

6. Control Tactics for Blueberry Pest Insects, 2000

7. …