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Determinants Of Chloroplast Gene Expression And Applications Of Chloroplast Transformation In Lactuca Sativa And Nicotiana Tabacum, Tracey Ruhlman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Genetic modification of plastids in the model plant tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) has demonstrated that numerous foreign gene products can accumulate to high levels in this setting. Plastid biotechnology is maturing to encompass the improvement of food and feed species and the production of biopharmaceutical proteins for oral delivery necessitating development of stable transplastomic edible plants. In the interest of establishing an edible platform we have investigated the use of native and foreign regulatory elements in relation to foreign gene expression in plastids. Multiple sequence alignments of intergenic regions for 20 species of angiosperm showed that despite 95% identity in the …

Proximate Composition, Chlorophyll A, And Carotenoid Content In Dunaliella Salina (Dunal) Teod (Chlorophycea: Dunaliellaceae) Cultured With Cost-Effective Seaweed Liquid Fertilizer Medium, Raghavan Gireesh

Turkish Journal of Botany

Growth, proximate composition, chlorophyll a, and carotenoid content were estimated in static cultures of micro alga Dunaliella salina (Dunal) Teod (Chlorophycea: Dunaliellaceae) to compare the quality and quantity of biomass produced with seaweed liquid fertilizer (SLF) against Walne´s medium. Culture of micro algae was performed with controlled temperature of 27 ± 1 °C, salinity of 33, and an irradiance of 120 ± 3 µ mol m^{-2} s^{-1}, and daily samples were taken to estimate the above-mentioned parameters. Mean cellular density from samples of both medium were similar and growth rates were 0.44 and 0.42 doubling per day, respectively. Maximum values …

Brood Parasitism In A North American Population Of White-Faced Ibis, Mark E. Clark

The Prairie Naturalist

In 2007 while monitoring reproductive success among various overwater nesting birds at J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota, I observed parasitism of a white-faced ibis nest by a cattle egret. I located a nest on 23 May 2007 that contained four white-faced ibis eggs and one cattle egret egg. The nest was located in the middle of a small colony of nesting white-faced ibis (approximately 35 pairs) and black-crowned night herons (approximately 30 pairs). On 3 June 2007 all of the eggs were still present in the nest, but two of the white-faced ibis eggs began hatching …

Symbiotic Effects Of The Fungus Glomus Sp. On Chromium(Iii), Chromium(Vi), And Lead(Ii) Uptake By Mesquite (Prosopis Sp.): A Novel Method To Remediate Heavy Metals, Jack A. Arias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The indiscriminate disposal of lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) containing wastes has resulted in a detrimental impact on environmental health. Lead and Cr are in the EPA priority list due to their degree of toxicity on humans, animals, plants, and other living organisms. The removal of toxic wastes involves technologies that are expensive, sometimes incomplete, and could represent health hazards. In addition, site restoration after contaminant removal encompasses time and technological resources. Phytoremediation, the use of plants alone or associated with microorganisms, represents a potentially cost-effective option in the long term management of contaminated sites. Various plants known as "hyperaccumulators" …

Biology Of Ultramafic Rocks And Soils: Research Goals For The Future, R S. Boyd, A R. Kruckeberg, N Rajakaruna

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

At this, the 6th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology, it seems timely to review briefly the present status of the field and to project the needs for future research. Although a great deal of serpentine research was done prior to 1960, as summarized by Krause (1958) and discussed briefly by Brooks (1987), much of our progress in learning how serpentine geology affects plant and animal life occurred in the mid- to late 20th century. In that era, it was the landmark studies of several scientists worldwide that initiated a meteoric increase in published serpentine research. Key players in setting the …

Evaluation Of Glyphosate-Tolerant And Conventional Alfalfa Weed Control Systems During The First Year Of Establishment, Robert Wilson Jr., Paul Burgener

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

A field trial was conducted for 3 yr (2005 through 2007) near Scottsbluff, NE, to examine weed control, crop safety, forage production, and economics of glyphosate-tolerant and conventional alfalfa establishment systems. Glyphosate applied to alfalfa at the unifoliate growth stage provided 67% weed control and was similar to imazamox applied at the two-trifoliate leaf stage. Delaying glyphosate application until alfalfa had reached the two-trifoliate growth stage improved weed control to 83%, and weed control was similar to imazamox plus 2,4-DB and imazethapyr plus 2,4-DB. Imazamox and imazethapyr caused minor crop injury, and the addition of bromoxynil or 2,4-DB to both …

Phenotypic And Genotypic Selection For Head Scab Resistance In Wheat, Andres Mateo Agostinelli

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) is a destructive disease caused by Fusarium graminearum that affects wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) worldwide. Breeding for resistance to FHB is arguably the best way to combat this disease. However, FHB resistance is highly complex and phenotypic screening is difficult. Molecular markers are a promising tool but breeding programs face the challenge of allocating resources in such a way that the optimum balance between phenotypic and genotypic selection is reached.

An F_2:3 population derived from a resistant x susceptible cross was subjected to phenotypic and genotypic selection. For phenotyping, a novel air separation method …

Role Of P33 In Tombusvirus Replication, Jozsef Stork

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Replication of the nonsegmented, plus-stranded RNA genome of Cucumber necrosis tombusvirus (CNV) requires two essential overlapping viral-coded replication proteins, the p33 replication co-factor and the p92 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In my thesis I describe (i) the effect of phosphorylation of p33, (ii) the RNA chaperone-like activity of p33, and (iii) the role of HSP70s a host proteins in the viral replication. To test the effect of phosphorylation on p33 function, I used in vitro phosphorylated p33. I found that phosphorylation inhibited the ability of p33 to bind to the viral RNA. Phosphorylation-mimicking mutations rendered p33 nonfunctional in plant protoplasts and …

Identification And Characterization Of Host Factors Involved In Tombusvirus Replication, Yi Jiang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Positive strand RNA viruses are intracellular parasites, and their genome replication and infection involves complex virus-host interactions. Therefore, identification of host factors and dissection of their functions during virus replication could facilitate our understanding of the mechanism of virus infection. Those host factors may also provide new targets for viral disease control. Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV) has recently become one of the model viruses to study positive strand RNA virus replication and hostvirus interactions. To identify host factors involved in TBSV replication we used yeast as a model host. Co-expression of the replication proteins and a replicon RNA (DI …

Towards Elimination And Genetic Manipulation Of Ergot Alkaloid Production In Fungal Endophytes, Simona Florea

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Clavicipitaceous fungal endophytes provide several ecological benefits to their hosts. Besides improving host’s growth characteristics, Neotyphodium coenophialum, the endophyte of tall fescue (Lolium arundinaceum), produces ergot alkaloids that have been proposed to be involved in fescue toxicosis. One approach to address the toxicosis problem is to genetically manipulate and modify N. coenophialum by knocking out a pair of homologous genes, (dmaW1 and dmaW2), encoding dimethylallyltryptophan synthase, the enzyme for the first and determinant step in ergot-alkaloid biosynthesis. In this study, disruption of dmaW2 was attempted using several disruption methods. Out of 1522 transformants screened, three …

Ecology And Molecular Phylogenetics Of Hydnora (Hydnoraceae) In Southern Africa, Jay Francis Bolin

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

The Hydnoraceae are a clade of root holoparasitic angiosperms that contain two small genera, Hydnora and Prosopanche. This study, focused on Hydnora, presents novel data regarding the pollination biology, germination ecology, parasite-host nutritional relationships, and the molecular systematics of this group. Experimental addition of the primary pollinator, Dermestes maculatus to Hydnora africana chamber flowers demonstrated beetle imprisonment during the carpellate stage. Changes in the inner surfaces of the androecial chamber allowed beetle escape after pollen release. Most beetles escaped, dusted with viable pollen, three days after pollen release. To investigate germination ecology, aqueous root extracts of host and …

Honors Convocation Speech (Text And Audio), Jonathan Dey

Honorees for Teaching Excellence

No abstract provided.

A High-Oleic-Acid And Low-Palmitic-Acid Soybean: Agronomic Performance And Evaluation As A Feedstock For Biodiesel, George L. Graef, Bradley J. Lavallee, Patrick Tenopir, Mustafa Tat, Bruce Schweiger, Anthony J. Kinney, Jon H. Van Gerpen, Thomas E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Phenotypic characterization of soybean event 335-13, which possesses oil with an increased oleic acid content (> 85%) and reduced palmitic acid content (< 5%), was conducted across multiple environments during 2004 and 2005. Under these conditions, the stability of the novel fatty acid profile of the oil was not influenced by environment. Importantly, the novel soybean event 335-13 was not compromised in yield in both irrigated and non-irrigated production schemes. Moreover, seed characteristics, including total oil and protein, as well as amino acid profile, were not altered as a result of the large shift in the fatty acid profile. The novel oil trait was inherited in a simple Mendelian fashion. The event 335-13 was also evaluated as a feedstock for biodiesel. Extruded oil from event 335-13 produced a biodiesel with improved cold flow and enhanced oxidative stability, two critical fuel parameters that can limit the utility of this renewable transportation fuel.

Effects Of Olfactory And Visual Predators On Nest Success And Nest-Site Selection Of Waterfowl In North Dakota, Jennifer Borgo

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

No abstract provided.

Chlorovirus-Mediated Membrane Depolarization Of Chlorella Alters Secondary Active Transport Of Solutes, Irina V. Agarkova, David Dunigan, James R. Gurnon, Timo Greiner, Julia Barres, Gerhard Thiel, James L. Van Etten

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Paramecium bursaria chlorella virus 1 (PBCV-1) is the prototype of a family of large, double-stranded DNA, plaque-forming viruses that infect certain eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae from the genus Chlorovirus. PBCV-1 infection results in rapid host membrane depolarization and potassium ion release. One interesting feature of certain chloroviruses is that they code for functional potassium ion-selective channel proteins (Kcv) that are considered responsible for the host membrane depolarization and, as a consequence, the efflux of potassium ions. This report examines the relationship between cellular depolarization and solute uptake. Annotation of the virus host Chlorella strain NC64A genome revealed 482 putative …

Forage News [2008-12], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Improved Grass Varieties Benefit Farmers
• Alfalfa and the Environment
• Grass May Help Balance Hot Dairy Diets
• Ethanol Maker Files for Bankruptcy Relief
• Pricing Hay: Consider Plant Nutrient Value
• Performance and Physiology of Steers Grazing Toxic Tall Fescue as Influenced by Feeding Soybean Hulls and Steroidal Implants
• Upcoming Events

Efficient Utilization Of Water And Nitrogen Resources For Grain Sorghum Under Rainfed Conditions, Akwasi A. Abunyewa

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is the fifth world leading cereal after maize, wheat, rice and barley. The crop can yield reasonably well under adverse conditions of low soil water and high temperature. A three year field study was conducted in a transect across Nebraska where annual mean precipitation ranges from 300 to 900 mm yr^-1 to evaluate management practices to optimize yield potential under water limiting conditions. Loss in grain yield due to planting configurations ranged from 20 to 30% with skip-row configurations compared to conventional planting configuration (s0) at the site with greatest precipitation. At …

No Acute Effects Of Grape Juice On Appetite, Implicit Memory And Mood, Sara J. Hendrickson, Richard D. Mattes

Botanicals Research Center for Age-Related Diseases Publications

Background: Animal experiments document effects of grape juice on cognitive performance and motor skills, and observational studies in humans suggest an inverse association between flavonoid intake and cognitive decline. These effects may be related to the antioxidant properties of polyphenols. Juice consumption and flavonoid intake may also affect appetite. Objective: To study the acute effects of grape juice consumption on appetite, mood and implicit memory during a time of increased lethargy - the post-lunch dip. Design: Thirty-five participants with a mean age of 26 years who smoked a mean of 11 cigarettes/day for 8 years were included in the study. …

Shaping The Cross Timbers With Fire And Grazing, John A. Guretzky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Recently, our agricultural research team has been asked to provide talks during tours of our Oswalt Road Ranch. The Oswalt Road Ranch is a 4,992-acre property in Love County, Okla., willed to us by D. Joyce Coffey. The Noble Foundation took full control of the property in 2000. The ranch is a valuable piece of property because of its unique natural beauty and potential to support livestock production and wildlife habitat. On the tours, we have been showing off our new state-of-the art livestock handling facilities and providing information about results from recent research on by-product feeds, the Noble Foundation …

Soil Moisture Responses In Traditional And Drought Adapted Landscapes In The Intermountain West, James Gregory

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water conservation in the Intermountain West will be an important issue in the future as population and demand for limited water resources increases. In Utah, outdoor water use accounts for up to 60% of total per capita water use with 67% of that outdoor water being used to irrigate non native plant species to maintain a uniform green appearance. The objective of this study was to measure intra landscape changes in soil water potential during a 21.5 day dry down from DOY 215 to 236.5 in the summer of 2005 and 2006. Four, 2 x 2 replicated traditional and drought …

Growing Wild: Crested Wheatgrass And The Landscape Of Belonging, Lafe Gerald Conner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Crested wheatgrass arrived in North America at the turn of the twentieth century through the foreign plant exploration missions sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture. During the first two decades of the new century, scientists tested the grass at agricultural experiment stations. They determined it was useful for grazing and particularly valuable because it could grow in drought conditions with little or no care and would continue to produce high quality feed even after several years of heavy use. Beginning in the 1930s federally sponsored land utilization and agricultural adjustment programs sponsored the use of crested wheatgrass for …

Combining Environmental History And Soil Phytolith Analysis At The City Of Rocks National Reserve: Developing New Methods In Historical Ecology, Lesley Morris

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Historical ecology is an emerging and interdisciplinary field that seeks to explain the changes in ecosystems over time through a synthesis of information derived from human records and biological data. The methods in historical ecology cover a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. However, methods for the more recent past (about 200 years) are largely limited to the human archive and dendrochronological evidence which can be subject to human bias, limited in spatial extent or not appropriate for non-forested systems. There is a need to explore new methods by which biological data can be used to understand historic vegetation …

Aminoglycosides And Syringomycin E As Fungicides Against Fusarium Graminearum In Head Blight Disease, Yukie Kawasaki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fusarium graminearum is one of the most problematic phytopathogens in US agriculture. This fungus causes head blight, foot rot, and damping off on wheat and barley. The infection lowers the grain yield and causes contamination of the grain product with mycotoxins. Effective control measures are lacking, and new fungicides that kill F. graminearum but remain safe and economical to use are needed. Newly synthesized aminoglycosides (JL22, JL38, JL39, JL40, NEOF004, NEOF005), classic aminoglycosides (amikacin, gentamicin, kanamycin A, kanamycin B, neomycin, and ribostamycin), and a lipopeptide, syringomycin E (SRE), were studied to determine their antifungal potential to control F. graminearum. …

Abundance And Diversity Of Seagrass And Macrofauna In The Intertidal Areas With And Without Seaweed Farming Activities In The East Coast Of Zanzibar, Thomas J Lyimo, Esther F Mvungi, Yunus D Mgaya

Tanzania Journal of Science

The diversity and abundance of seagrass and associated macrofauna were studied in transects with and without seaweed farms at Chwaka Bay and Jambiani, in the East Coast of Zanzibar. Eight seagrass species, namely Cymodocea rotundata, Cymodocea serrulata, Thalassia hemprichii, Thalassodendron ciliatum, Syringodium isoetifolium, Halodule uninervis, Halophila ovalis and Enhalus acoroides were recorded in the transects. The mean total biomass of seagrass at Chwaka Bay ranged from 142.4 ± 70.71 to 1652 ± 772.7 g dw/m2 and 212.9 ± 146.2 to 1829 ± 1692 g dw/m2 in station with and without seaweed farms, respectively. At Jambiani, the mean total biomass ranged …

Seed Longevity Of Dominant Plant Species From Degraded Savanna In Semi-Arid Tanzania, Hvm Lyaruu

Tanzania Journal of Science

Artificially buried seeds were followed by periodic exhumation and germination during 21 months in Kondoa Irangi Hills, central Tanzania. Viable seeds from thirteen selected species were buried in polythene envelopes at a depth of 15 cm below woodland vegetation. Lethal germination, fungal decay and insect infestation were singled out as the most important contributors to loss of viability among seeds. Hierarchical clustering based on a seed’s mean viability, seed shape and presence or absence of dispersal appendages, produced three distinct groups: (1) non-dormant seeds (2) seeds with enforced dormancy and (3) seeds with seed coat imposed dormancy. The low decay …

Apoyo Del Intsormil Incrementa La Produccion Y Productividad Del Cultivo De Sorgo En America Central, Intsormil

INTSORMIL Impacts and Bulletins

El INSORMIL ha apoyado, las actividades de investigación y transferencia de tecnología de sorgo desde 1981, con énfasis en Nicaragua y El Salvador pero en los ultimos años se viene expandiendo a otros países de America Central. Estadísticas del Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería de El Salvador, indican un signifi cativo incremento en la producción nacional de grano de sorgo en la misma superfi cie sembrada desde hace 9 años, debido principalmente al incremento en el rendimiento por unidad de superfi cie, tal como se presenta en el gráfi co. En este gráfi co puede verse que desde 1999 al …

Alternative Cereal Processing Technologies [Conference Program And Proceedings] (Lobatse, Botswana, November 4-6, 2008), Martin Kebakile, Kemelo Ookeditse

INTSORMIL Presentations

Objectives of the workshop:

To review the current status of local cereals production and processing explore opportunities for growing the cereal industry.

To promote diversification of cereal processing by sensitizing all players and stakeholders in the cereals industry about readily available alternative cereals processing technologies which have commercial potential.

To promote and strengthen collaboration between local and international researchers, as well as fostering strategic partnerships between researchers and users of technologies to develop customer tailored processing technologies.

Genetic Change Following Fire In Populations Of A Seed-Banking Perennial Plant, Rebecca W. Dolan, Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio, Eric S. Menges

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Disturbances such as fire have the potential to remove genetic variation, but seed banks may counter this loss by restoring alleles through a reservoir effect. We used allozyme analysis to characterize genetic change in two populations of the perennial Hypericum cumulicola, an endemic of the fire-prone Florida scrub. We assessed genetic variation before and 1, 2, and 3 years after fire that killed nearly all aboveground plants. Populations increased in size following fire, with most seedlings likely recruited from a persistent seed bank. Four of five loci were variable. Most alleles were present in low frequencies, but our large sample …

Epithelial And Mesenchymal Cells In The Bovine Colonic Mucosa Differ In Their Responsiveness To Escherichia Coli Shiga Toxin 1, Ivonne Stamm, Melanie Mohr, Philip S. Bridger, Elmar Schröpfer, Matthias König, William C. Stoffregen, Evelyn A. Dean-Nystrom, Georg Baljer, Christian Menge

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Bovine colonic crypt cells express CD77 molecules that potentially act as receptors for Shiga toxins (Stx). The implication of this finding for the intestinal colonization of cattle by human pathogenic Stx-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) remains undefined. We used flow cytometric and real-time PCR analyses of primary cultures of colonic crypt cells to evaluate cell viability, CD77 expression, and gene transcription in the presence and absence of purified Stx1. A subset of cultured epithelial cells had Stx receptors which were located mainly intracellularly, with a perinuclear distribution, and were resistant to Stx1-induced apoptosis and Stx1 effects on chemokine expression patterns. In …

Forage News [2008-11], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• KFGC Awards
• Clayton Geralds Wins KFGC Forage Spokesman Contest
• 29th Alfalfa Conference Program Set
• Forages at KCA
• 9th Grazing Conference Proceedings
• Decision Aid Added to Website
• Enough Hay…
• Animal Grazing Habits
• Time to Focus On Switchgrass Economics
• Limiting Access Time to Hay Can Stretch the Roll
• Horse Gastric Ulcer Syndrome Can Be Controlled With Diet
• Upcoming Events