Digital Commons Network^™

Visualizing And Analyzing The Growth Of Dark Septate Fungi Within Plant Roots, Sophia Mcdade, Mac Johnson, Ilana Fay Zeitzer, Anthony Yannarell

MICRO-CCS student projects

• Plants rely heavily on relationships between plant roots and root associated symbionts like bacteria and fungi
• Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can help plants take up nutrients and limit the uptake of heavy metals
• Previous AMF experimentation in lab led to observation of high quantities of dark septate fungi (DSF) in cold stored roots
• DSF are far less researched than AMF; have melanized and septate hyphae, found to colonize roots worldwide, but growth patterns and potential functions are not yet understood

“Science Belongs Everywhere”: Outlooks On Post-Secondary Stem Education For Correctional Centers In Virginia, Shelita R. Augustus

Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success Publications

Virginia has an incarceration rate of 679 per 100,000 residents, the highest among independent democratic nations. This scoping review examines perspectives on post-secondary STEM education to promote STEM education within Virginia's correctional facilities, assesses programs to improve rehabilitation, reduce recidivism, and address systemic inequalities by developing the scientific potential of incarcerated individuals. The review finds that while STEM education in correctional facilities faces limitations, its potential benefits are being realized nationwide. Virginia has made strides through initiatives like House Bill 2158, which aims to expand higher education access for incarcerated individuals. Examples such as the programs at J. Sargeant Reynolds …

Assessing Nitrous Oxide Flux In Denitrification-Inhibiting Maize, Emma Mccullough, Sakshi Paudel, Holly Anderson, Angela D. Kent

MICRO-CCS student projects

• Conventional agriculture relies heavily on nitrogen (N) fertilizers to increase short-term crop yields.
• Microbial nitrification and denitrification drive N losses from soil systems.
• Denitrification produces N O, a potent green house gas (GHG).
• Biological denitrification inhibition (BDI) traits are present in the ancestor of modern maize, teosinte.
• Reintroduction of BDI traits into modern maize can reduce GHG production and increase nutrient use efficiency (NUE) as it minimizes soil N losses from denitrification.
• Monitoring N O emissions from BDI-introgressed maize lines can asses GHG reduction and potential NUE gains.

"Dental Health For Mental Wealth": A Comprehensive Analysis Of The Underexplored Impact Of Oral Health And Behaviors On Neurobiology And Psychological Well-Being, Brooke C. Beck

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This thesis explores the link between oral health and psychological state, specifically, the effect of oral health on psychological state and how appropriate oral health impacts this relationship. A review of the literature was conducted and studies interpreted within the scope of oral health’s impact on psychological health and detailing some of the pathways proposed for such a link. The literature search was limited to the English language from well-known databases mainly from 2015 to 2025. A few outliers are present to include foundational information.

The effects of oral disease and oral self-care behaviors were dissected through a biochemical perspective, …

Learning In Nonleafcutting Fungus-Gardening Ants, Elizabeth D. Boshers

Biology Theses

Social complexity influences learning and other cognitive behaviors, but for insects, this influence is not well understood. Delayed rejection is an aversive learning behavior previously studied exclusively in leafcutting ant species, the most socially complex of the fungus-gardening ants. Fungus-gardening ants are unique in that they do not directly consume the material they forage, using it instead as substrate to cultivate a symbiotic fungus on which the ants are obligately dependent. Here, I attempt to induce delayed rejection in several fungus-gardening ant species that exhibit a range of social complexity, then compare the characteristics of delayed rejection behavior among species. …

Germinating Lactuca Sativa Seeds In Treated Hydrothermal Liquefaction Aqueos-Phase (Htl-Ap), Jaden F. Chandler, Camila Bogarin, Liam Reynolds, Brandon Hollenback, Paul C. Davidson

MICRO-CCS student projects

No abstract provided.

Timber Talk, Vol. 63, No. 3, July 2025 (Special)

Timber Talk: Nebraska Forest Industry Newsletter

Timber Talk, Vol. 63, No. 3, July 2025 (Special)

Acoustic Monitoring Of Oak Toads (Anaxyrus Quercicus), A Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris) Ecosystem Endemic Amphibian, Alex Ward Foote

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The Longleaf pine ecosystem is one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world with only 3% remaining. Many endemic species to the longleaf pine ecosystem are also in decline and suffer from habitat loss resulting from fire exclusion, urbanization, agriculture, and industrial silviculture. Oak Toads (Anaxyrus quercicus) are a longleaf pine ecosystem obligate; the species is experiencing declines across its range and only has protections in Virginia and North Carolina. We used data from an array of Automated Recoding Units across four years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019) at three state-owned wildlife management areas to capture audio files …

Risk Appraisal: An Investigation Of Personality Traits And Prior Injury On Thrill And Adventure Seeking Behavior In A High-Risk Modern Circus Performance Art Task, Rachael German

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction. Individuals make decisions every day that involve some assessment of risk.. Relevant psychological factors that require a deeper investigation include sensation seeking (SS), personality traits, anxiety, and self-efficacy (SE). The theoretical framework for the study is the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat (BPSCT). Much of risk appraisal research has been done in a lab or on a computer, while this study presented a relevant, novel, and innovative physical task that incorporated risk in an ecologically valid setting. Purpose. The purpose of this research study was to examine participants' willingness to participate in a high-risk modern circus performance art …

A Metadata Analysis Of Unionid Mussels Of The Greenup Pool Of The Ohio River Using Occupancy Modeling And Species Area Curves, Tyler Mitchell Annarino

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Although North America contains the largest diversity of freshwater mussels in the world, only ~24% of species in the United States and Canada have stable populations. This group provides unique hurdles for surveying, and current unionid survey protocols include neither longitudinal studies nor randomization of sites. This project conducts a metadata analysis of freshwater mussels in the Greenup Pool of the Ohio River (GPOR) to answer three questions: 1. Does a combination of longitudinal scope, randomization of sites, and historic methodology of surveying result in useful occupancy/detection models (ODMs) of unionids in large streams at the family level? 2. Does …

Biological And Chemical Evaluation Of Amide-Based Cjoc42 Derivatives As Potential Gankyrin-Inhibitors For The Treatment Of Breast, Lung, And Liver Cancer, Benita Britton-George

Theses and Dissertations

Gankyrin is an ankyrin-repeat protein overexpressed in certain cancers and is responsible for cell growth and proliferation. Gankyrin is important to the development of many types of cancer, including breast, lung, and liver cancer. Consequently, gankyrin and its various protein-protein interactions, are prospective therapeutic targets for inhibiting the progression of certain cancers. In 2016, the first small molecule inhibitor of gankyrin, cjoc42, was discovered and subsequently demonstrated modest antiproliferative activity against liver cancer cells. Previous work from our lab demonstrated that replacing the sulfonate ester of cjoc42 with an amide group significantly improved gankyrin binding while enhancing antiproliferative activity against …

Expression And Function Of Floral Symmetry Genes In The Regulation Of Flower Shape In Fedia Graciliflora, Theresa A. Mustacchio

Theses and Dissertations

Shifts between radial symmetry (actinomorphy) and bilateral symmetry (zygomorphy) in flowers have occurred multiple times independently within angiosperms (flowering plants). Evidence across angiosperms indicate the transcription factors RADIALIS (RAD), DIVARICATA (DIV), and CYCLOIDEA (CYC) play a major role in regulating floral symmetry and morphology. The CYC-like genes have been shown to shift their expression dorsally independently in nearly all shifts to bilaterally symmetrical flowers examined. Three core eudicot clades of CYC-like genes have been identified: CYC1, CYC2 and CYC3, with only CYC2 genes being shown to have a role in floral symmetry. We use the non-model plant, Fedia graciliflora (Caprifoliaceae) …

Propelling Whole-Cell Biosensor Creation By Leveraging Gene Fusion To Assemble Synthetic Functional Transcription Factors For The Detection Of Biomarkers, Samuel J. Verzino

Theses and Dissertations

Biosensors are analytical devices that leverage biological modules for the detection of molecules of interest. As customizable tools designed to aid in a wide array of diagnostics, these instruments are rapidly advancing the field of synthetic biology. While varied in their construction and purpose, biosensors are ultimately concerned with converting a physicochemical stimulus into a detectable signal. Among the many existing variants, whole-cell biosensors (WCBs) stand out due to their versatility and engineering potential. WCBs are a type of biosensor in which a physiologically active cell sustains an array of biomolecular elements - receptors, transporters, regulators, etc. - capable of …

Analysis Of The Influence Of Telomere Length Variation On Flowering Time And Plant Fitness In Arabidopsis, Brianna Spadavecchia

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Telomeres are conserved structures at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes that promote genome stability. In most eukaryotes, the DNA found within these protective end caps consists of short, G-rich nucleotide repeats. Cells with critically short telomeres face a variety of potential adverse outcomes such as end-to-end chromosome fusion, apoptosis, etc. The length of telomeric DNA varies substantially between different plant species and even between genotypes of the same species. A previous study using T-DNA mutants of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana with long or short telomeres suggested that telomere length may be an adaptive trait. Specifically, for reproductive fitness, the …

Full Issue, Catalina Cuellar-Gempeler

Humboldt Journal of Microbiology

No abstract provided.

Development Of Optogenetic Inhibition Of The Erk Pathway In Mammalian Cells, Pascalinegrace Phongo, Yuan Zhou, Alex Wang, Amna Mehfooz, Kai Zhang

Parkland Science Scholars

The Ras/ERK pathway controls key processes like cell growth, differentiation, and survival. Since its overactivation is linked to cancer and neurological disorders, optogenetic inhibition could complement existing tools for bidirectional control of this pathway.

Climate And Gypsum Parent Material Shape Biocrust Communities And Moss Ecology In The Chihuahuan And Mojave Deserts, Katelyn Gobbie, Nicole Pietrasiak, Brian M. Jusko, Rebecca E. Drenovsky

2025 Faculty Bibliography

Biological soil crust communities (biocrusts) establishing on gypsum soils have been well-documented for their prolific appearance and rich diversity of lichens and bryophytes. However, studies characterizing gypsum biocrusts have occurred primarily outside of the U.S., most of which lack comparisons to other soil types. We conducted intensive field surveys to evaluate the ground cover and frequency of biocrust functional groups and moss species on gypsum and non-gypsum soils in the U.S. regions with the most extensive gypsum outcrops, the northern Chihuahuan and eastern Mojave Deserts. Study sites were stratified by geomorphology and paired, so that every gypsum site was matched …

Determining Localization Of Surf-4 In Drosophila Melanogaster In The Secretory Pathway, Jada Scott

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The purpose of this research is to determine the role of the Surfeit-4 gene, or Surf-4 locus protein, during Drosophila melanogaster development. Surf-4 was identified in the Srivastava lab in a biochemical screen for proteins that associate with the basement membrane (BM): a structure needed and required for normal development and its degradation is a hallmark of tumor metastasis. Surf-4 has been predicted to function within intracellular compartments and is known to be expressed in many parts of the developing fly. We are currently determining why Surf-4 is important in development and what role, if any, it could play during …

Diversity And Risk Assessment Of Phytophthora Spp. Found On Plant Roots Innative Plant Nurseries And Interstate Shipping Nurseries In California, Rebecca Harkness, Karen Suslow, Supriya Sharma, Monique Sakalidis, Timothy Miles, Wolfgang Schweigkofler

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

For many nurseries, it is difficult to diagnose Phytophthora-infected plants in time to prevent disease incursion and spread, especially if the infection occurs on roots and causes no or limited symptoms on aerial plant parts. Rapid, accurate, and specific diagnostic methods can facilitate the identification and removal of infected plants. This study was conducted to investigate whether specific nursery types within California are more likely to have different Phytophthora species and which hosts are more likely to test positive for a Phytophthora species using immunological and molecular diagnostic tools. From fall 2016 to spring 2019, we collected 1,180 root samples …

Friend And Foe: Tgf-Beta, Its Role In Tumor Development, And An Analysis Of Chung Et Al. (2018), Yosef Sonbolian

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

This paper will analyze an important study performed by Chung et al. (2018) regarding transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta), which plays an important role in various cellular processes. Paradoxically, TGF-beta plays a different role in the development of cancer at various points. In early-stage tumors, TGF-beta has been known to inhibit cancer growth, but in later stages, it acts as a cancer promoter. Chung et al. (2018) attempted to ascertain the efficaciousness of the drug Sorafenib in suppressing TGF-beta responses, as well as the ways that this drug achieves its goal and the implications that their findings may have for future …

Entomology Insect Pollinators And Predators-Flower Flies, Manju Yogi, Kaushalya Amarasekare

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing The Foraging Habits Of Two Species Of Long-Horned Bees (Melissodes, Apidae) Using Dna Barcodes Its2 And Trnl, Rebecca Jane Foy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Sunflowers (Helianthus, Asteraceae) are an important crop used for oil, dye, fodder, and edible seeds. Long-horned bees (Melissodes, Apidae) are solitary species native to the Americas that specialize in sunflower pollination; they are among the most frequent visitors to sunflowers, and have been shown to enhance yield, offering considerable economic benefits to sunflower production. This study used metabarcoding to investigate the foraging habits of two understudied Melissodes species, M. trinodis and M. agilis. Using the ITS2 and trnL barcodes, our study aimed to (1) investigate the plants visited by M. agilis and M. trinodis and (2) assess the distances Melissodes …

Powdery Mildew On Crapemyrtle, Kripa Dhakal, Kaitlin Barrios, Karla M. Addesso, Fulya Baysal-Gurel Baysal-Gurel

Extension Publications

No abstract provided.

Potential Impacts Of Construction On Bat Populations In Warner Parks, Nashville, Tennessee, Jackson Whiteside, Wyatt Fooks, Jeremy Little

Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Human development continues to alter natural landscapes, often with significant consequences for wildlife populations. Among the most sensitive taxa to such disturbances are bats, which serve vital ecological roles as insect predators, pollinators, and seed dispersers. Because bats depend on specific roosting and foraging habitats, even minor environmental changes can strongly influence their activity and diversity. A new road is proposed through an area of Warner Parks, Nashville, Tennessee which is otherwise untouched. This may affect the biodiversity and the populations of bats as a result. Wildlife Acoustic MiniBat 2 acoustic monitoring equipment was used to gather echolocation calls of …

Effects Of In-Stream Large Woody Debris Management On Riparian Salamander Population Dynamics, Sydney Hermann

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The addition of large woody debris (LWD) into streams is an increasingly common habitat restoration method used to support brook trout populations and other sensitive freshwater species. Wood jams create localized reductions of water velocity, increase organic matter retention, intensify overbank flows, and promote habitat heterogeneity. These changes enhance interaction between the floodplain and the stream which can influence forest habitat variables such as leaf litter, soil pH, moisture, and invertebrate abundance. Salamander demographics reflect the stability of these forest habitat variables, and population declines can be indicative of environmental disturbance, stress, or change. Evaluating how this trout-targeted management effects …

Structural Impacts Of Canonical And Non-Canonical Oligonucleotide Modifications, Deepak Shrestha

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nucleic acids, including DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acids), are the fundamental building blocks of living organisms. The events that cause modification of DNA/RNA are of interest because they impact the nucleic acid function. Targeting DNA is important for treating diseases such as cancer. Cisplatin (cisPt) is a well-studied drug that targets DNA and blocks replication, but its use is limited by adverse side effects and cellular resistance. Prevoius research addressed some of these challenges through development of platinum analogues such as carboplatin and oxaliplatin. Amino acid-linked platinum analogues (AAPt) are the focus of this thesis work. AAPt complexes …

Mass Spectrometry Combined With Chemical Biology To Study Human Ailments, Eric Thomas Jacquerio Davis

Wayne State University Dissertations

Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are essential as chemical changes that regulate protein function, activity, stability, interactions, and localization after protein synthesis. PTMs, such as phosphorylation, acetylation, and ubiquitination, can activate or deactivate proteins, influence their interactions with other molecules, and determine their cellular location. This regulation is vital for numerous biological processes, such as cell cycle control, signal transduction, and gene expression. Abnormal PTMs are linked to various diseases in humans, including parasitic infection, blood disorders, cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases, making their study crucial for understanding disease mechanisms and developing targeted therapies. In the Pflum lab, we are interested in the …

Validation Of Non-Invasive Methods For The Measurement Of Gonadal And Inter-Renal Steroid Hormones In A Desert-Adapted Amphibian (Scaphiopus Couchii), Alexander T. Baugh, Callie Cho , '23, Alice Onyango-Opiyo , '23, Sophie A. Rodner , '25, Senna Mieth , '25, Daniel Oakes , '24, Liam Halstead , '25

Biology Faculty Works

For aquatic and semi-aquatic vertebrates like amphibians, it is possible to estimate excreted hormone levels using non-invasive methods such as waterborne and salivary sampling. These techniques allow monitoring of endocrine activity over varying, repeated and simultaneous integration periods while minimizing handling-related stress that can ‘contaminate’ hormone estimates, including estimates of baseline glucocorticoids. Here we have validated the extraction and quantification of three steroid hormones (corticosterone, CORT; 17-b estradiol, E₂; testosterone, TST) in Couch’s spadefoots (Scaphiopus couchii)—a desert-adapted anuran of special interest for physiology, evolution and conservation—using non-invasive waterborne and minimally invasive salivary hormone methods. We combined extraction and …

Noncoding Rnas In Nuclear Organization, Thembalami Dube , '24, Dawn M. Carone

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Leveraging Crispr Technology To Model Beta-Propeller Protein Associated Neurodegeneration And Explore Mechanisms Of Neurological Dysfunction, Brandon Lee Meyerink

Dissertations and Theses

Neurons are highly compartmentalized, specialized cells that are foundational to brain function. Moreover, the neurons we have early in life are the same cells that we carry through our entire life. For these cells to stay healthy and functional over this long period, a process called autophagy is used to clear unwanted, toxic, or unneeded materials from the cell. Alterations in autophagy caused by genetic mutations can lead to the death of neurons and neurodegenerative disease. Here, we use CRISPR technology to genetically modify mouse models to generate a model of autophagy associated neurological disease and study the molecular function …