Digital Commons Network^™

Physiological Strategies During Animal Diapause: Lessons From Brine Shrimp And Annual Killifish, Jason E. Podrabsky, Steven C. Hand

Faculty Publications

© 2015. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd. Diapause is a programmed state of developmental arrest that typically occurs as part of the natural developmental progression of organisms that inhabit seasonal environments. The brine shrimp Artemia franciscana and annual killifish Austrofundulus limnaeus share strikingly similar life histories that include embryonic diapause as a means to synchronize the growth and reproduction phases of their life history to favorable environmental conditions. In both species, respiration rate is severely depressed during diapause and thus alterations in mitochondrial physiology are a key component of the suite of characters associated with cessation of development. …

Divergent Evolution Of Two Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone (Crh) Genes In Teleost Fishes, Brian P. Grone, Karen P. Maruska

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Grone and Maruska. Genome duplication, thought to have happened twice early in vertebrate evolution and a third time in teleost fishes, gives rise to gene paralogs that can evolve subfunctions or neofunctions via sequence and regulatory changes. To explore the evolution and functions of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), we searched sequenced teleost genomes for CRH paralogs. Our phylogenetic and synteny analyses indicate that two CRH genes, crha and crhb, evolved via duplication of crh1 early in the teleost lineage. We examined the expression of crha and crhb in two teleost species from different orders: an African cichlid, Burton's mouthbrooder, …

The Effect Of Habitat And Body Size On The Evolution Of Vocal Displays In Thraupidae (Tanagers), The Largest Family Of Songbirds, Nicholas A. Mason, Kevin J. Burns

Faculty Publications

© 2015 The Linnean Society of London. Animals rely on auditory cues to relay important information between individuals regarding territoriality, mating status, and individual condition. The efficacy of acoustic signals can depend on many factors, including the transmitter, the receiver, and the signalling environment. In the present study, we evaluate the effect of body size and habitat on the evolution of learned vocal displays across the tanagers (Aves: Thraupidae), a group that comprises nearly 10% of all songbird species. We find that body size affects tanager vocalizations, such that nine out of ten song characters and scores from two principal …

How Global Biodiversity Hotspots May Go Unrecognized: Lessons From The North American Coastal Plain, Reed F. Noss, William J. Platt, Bruce A. Sorrie, Alan S. Weakley, D. Bruce Means, Jennifer Costanza, Robert K. Peet

Faculty Publications

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Biodiversity hotspots are conservation priorities. We identify the North American Coastal Plain (NACP) as a global hotspot based on the classic definition, a region with > 1500 endemic plant species and > 70% habitat loss. This region has been bypassed in prior designations due to misconceptions and myths about its ecology and history. These fallacies include: (1) young age of the NACP, climatic instability over time and submergence during high sea-level stands; (2) climatic and environmental homogeneity; (3) closed forest as the climax vegetation; and (4) fire regimes that are mostly anthropogenic. We show that …

Cwbr Author Interview: The Rebel Yell: A Cultural History, Craig A. Warren

Civil War Book Review

Interview with Craig A. Warren, Associate Professor of English and Prodessional Writing at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College

Interviewed by Zach Isenhower

Civil War Book Review (CWBR): Today the Civil War Book Review is happy to speak with Craig A. Warren, Associate Professor of English and Professional Writing at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College. Professor Warren previously authored Scars to Prove It: The Civil War Soldier and American Fiction, and today we get to discuss his most recent book, The Rebel Yell: A Cultural History. Professor Warren, thank you for joining us today. Craig A. …

Research Matters Spring 2015, Louisiana State University And Agricultural & Mechanical College

Research Matters & RNR Newsletters

Research Matters is a publication which highlights ongoing research, international travel experiences, classroom happenings and degree program developments of and for the School of Renewable Natural Resources' students and faculty.

African Fire Cultures, Cattle Ranching, And Colonial Landscape Transformations In The Neotropics, Andrew Sluyter, Chris Duvall

Faculty Publications

Fire regimes emerge partly from human activities that reflect cultural-ecological knowledge of the relationships among fire, vegetation, grazing, climate, and other variables, as well as social relations. More knowledge of such “fire cultures,” past and present, therefore remains necessary to better understand the causes and persistent consequences of landscape burning. In the neotropics, people have used fire for centuries to manage livestock pastures. Conventional wisdom has long posited that such practices derived solely from antecedent European and indigenous, Native American fire cultures. Analysis of accounts of rangeland burning from throughout the neotropics during colonial times, however, demonstrates that ranchers incorporated …

The Chickamauga Campaign: A Mad Irregular Battle: From The Crossing Of The Tennessee River Through The Second Day, August 22-September 19, 1863, Robert Welch

Civil War Book Review

A Promising Start to a Refreshing Trilogy on Chickamauga

A growing number of historians have lamented over the years that Gettysburg and the war in Virginia have long been the obsession of the printing industry, while the Western Theater has often been ignored. As the sesquicentennial cyc....

Taming Manhattan: Environmental Battles In The Antebellum City, Sarah Schuetze

Civil War Book Review

Taming the Unruly Results of Antebellum Urban Growth in America’s Largest City

An opening scene in a chapter of Catherine McNeur’s Taming Manhattan depicts a Manhattan resident venturing out for a walk. His efforts were spoiled by “cavorting hogs," unbearable smells, filthy streets....

Leptin Deficient Ob/Ob Mice And Diet-Induced Obese Mice Responded Differently To Roux-En-Y Bypass Surgery, Z. Hao, H. Münzberg, K. Rezai-Zadeh, M. Keenan, D. Coulon, H. Lu, H. R. Berthoud, J. Ye

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Weight regain contributes to the therapeutic failure in 15-20% of type 2 diabetic patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB), and the mechanism remains largely unknown. This study was conducted to explore the mechanism of weight regain.Research design:Wild-type (WT) diet-induced obese (DIO) mice were used to mimic human obesity, and ob/ob mice were used for leptin deficiency-induced obesity. Two groups of mice were compared in weight regain for 10 months after RYGB. Weight loss, food intake, fecal energy loss and energy expenditure were monitored in the study of weight regain. Fasting insulin, insulin tolerance and …

Role Of Resistant Starch In Improving Gut Health, Adiposity, And Insulin Resistance, Michael J. Keenan, June Zhou, Maren Hegsted, Christine Pelkman, Holiday A. Durham, Diana B. Coulon, Roy J. Martin

Faculty Publications

© 2015 American Society for Nutrition. The realization that low-glycemic index diets were formulated using resistant starch led to more than a decade of research on the health effects of resistant starch. Determination of the metabolizable energy of the resistant starch product allowed for the performance of isocaloric studies. Fermentation of resistant starch in rodent studies results in what appears to be a healthier gut, demonstrated by increased amounts of short-chain fatty acids, an apparent positive change in the microbiota, and increased gene expression for gene products involved in normal healthy proliferation and apoptosis of potential cancer cells. Additionally, consumption …

Photoactivated Mir-148b-Nanoparticle Conjugates Improve Closure Of Critical Size Mouse Calvarial Defects, Ammar T. Qureshi, Andrew Doyle, Cong Chen, Diana Coulon, Vinod Dasa, Fabio Delpiero, Benjamin Levi, W. Todd Monroe, Jeffrey M. Gimble, Daniel J. Hayes

Faculty Publications

© 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Inducible systems providing temporal control of differentiation have the potential to improve outcomes in surgical reconstruction and regenerative medicine by precise modulation of wound healing and tissue repair processes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that nanoformulated microRNA (miRNA) conjugates activated via photo exposure can lead to the induced osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (hASCs) in vivo. The conjugate PC-miR-148b-SNP, a mimic of miRNA-148b tethered to silver nanoparticles (SNPs) via a photolabile linker, was used to modulate gene expression for improved closure of a …

Leptin Deficient Ob/Ob Mice And Diet-Induced Obese Mice Responded Differently To Roux-En-Y Bypass Surgery, Z. Hao, H. Münzberg, K. Rezai-Zadeh, M. Keenan, D. Coulon, H. Lu, H. R. Berthoud, J. Ye

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Weight regain contributes to the therapeutic failure in 15-20% of type 2 diabetic patients after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB), and the mechanism remains largely unknown. This study was conducted to explore the mechanism of weight regain.Research design:Wild-type (WT) diet-induced obese (DIO) mice were used to mimic human obesity, and ob/ob mice were used for leptin deficiency-induced obesity. Two groups of mice were compared in weight regain for 10 months after RYGB. Weight loss, food intake, fecal energy loss and energy expenditure were monitored in the study of weight regain. Fasting insulin, insulin tolerance and …

Role Of Resistant Starch In Improving Gut Health, Adiposity, And Insulin Resistance, Michael J. Keenan, June Zhou, Maren Hegsted, Christine Pelkman, Holiday A. Durham, Diana B. Coulon, Roy J. Martin

Faculty Publications

© 2015 American Society for Nutrition. The realization that low-glycemic index diets were formulated using resistant starch led to more than a decade of research on the health effects of resistant starch. Determination of the metabolizable energy of the resistant starch product allowed for the performance of isocaloric studies. Fermentation of resistant starch in rodent studies results in what appears to be a healthier gut, demonstrated by increased amounts of short-chain fatty acids, an apparent positive change in the microbiota, and increased gene expression for gene products involved in normal healthy proliferation and apoptosis of potential cancer cells. Additionally, consumption …

Photoactivated Mir-148b-Nanoparticle Conjugates Improve Closure Of Critical Size Mouse Calvarial Defects, Ammar T. Qureshi, Andrew Doyle, Cong Chen, Diana Coulon, Vinod Dasa, Fabio Delpiero, Benjamin Levi, W. Todd Monroe, Jeffrey M. Gimble, Daniel J. Hayes

Faculty Publications

© 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Inducible systems providing temporal control of differentiation have the potential to improve outcomes in surgical reconstruction and regenerative medicine by precise modulation of wound healing and tissue repair processes. The aim of this study was to demonstrate that nanoformulated microRNA (miRNA) conjugates activated via photo exposure can lead to the induced osteogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (hASCs) in vivo. The conjugate PC-miR-148b-SNP, a mimic of miRNA-148b tethered to silver nanoparticles (SNPs) via a photolabile linker, was used to modulate gene expression for improved closure of a …

Prowashonupana Barley Dietary Fibre Reduces Body Fat And Increases Insulin Sensitivity In Caenorhabditis Elegans Model, Chenfei Gao, Michael L. King, Zachary L. Fitzpatrick, Wenqian Wei, Jason F. King, Mingming Wang, Frank L. Greenway, John W. Finley, Jeffrey H. Burton, William D. Johnson, Michael J. Keenan, Frederick M. Enright, Roy J. Martin, Jolene Zheng

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. Prowashonupana barley (PWB) is high in β-glucan with moderate content of resistant starch. PWB reduced intestinal fat deposition (IFD) in wild type Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans, N2), and in sir-2.1 or daf-16 null mutants, and sustained a surrogate marker of lifespan, pharyngeal pumping rate (PPR), in N2, sir-2.1, daf-16, or daf-16/daf-2 mutants. Hyperglycaemia (2% glucose) reversed or reduced the PWB effect on IFD in N2 or daf-16/daf-2 mutants with a sustained PPR. mRNA expression of cpt-1, cpt-2, ckr-1, and gcy-8 were dose-dependently reduced in N2 or daf-16 mutants, elevated in daf-16/daf-2 mutants with reduction in cpt-1, …

Effect Of Condensed Corn Distillers Solubles Concentration On Lactation Performance Of Holstein Cows, M. E. Mccormick, S. Forbes, V. R. Moreira, D. C. Blouin, K. J. Han

Faculty Publications

© 2015 American Dairy Science Association. Forty-eight Holstein cows (32 multiparous and 16 primiparous) in mid to late lactation averaging 219 ± 71 days in milk and 30.5 ± 6.6. kg/d of 3.5% fat-corrected milk were used in a 56-d completely randomized design experiment to evaluate condensed corn distillers solubles (CCDS) inclusion in high-fiber total mixed rations (TMR). Inclusion rates evaluated were 0, 6.6, 13.2, and 19.8% CCDS as a percentage of dry matter (DM). Distiller solubles substituted for soybean meal, corn grain, and whole cottonseed such that diets were similar in protein (16.6%) and fat (4.50%). Water was added …

Complete Genome Sequence Of An Edwardsiella Piscicida-Like Species Isolated From Diseased Grouper In Israel, Stephen R. Reichley, Geoffrey C. Waldbieser, Michal Ucko, Angelo Colorni, Lidiya Dubytska, Ronald L. Thune, Mark L. Lawrence, Matt J. Griffin

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Reichley et al. The Edwardsiella piscicida-like sp. is a Gram-negative facultative anaerobe that causes disease in some fish species. We report here the complete genome sequence of a virulent isolate from a diseased white grouper (Epinephelus aeneus) raised on the Red Sea in Israel, which contains a chromosome of 3,934,167 bp and no plasmids.

New Species Diversity Revealed From Molecular And Morphological Characterization Of Gall-Inducing Calophya Spp. (Hemiptera: Calophyidae) From Brazilian Peppertree, Rodrigo Diaz, Aaron M. Dickey, Robert G. Shatters, Veronica Manrique, Marcelo D. Vitorino, William A. Overholt

Faculty Publications

Four populations of Calophya spp. (Hemiptera: Calophyidae) collected in Brazil were characterized using molecular and morphological methods. Examination of adults revealed the presence of 2 morphotypes, which were identified as C. latiforceps and C. terebinthifolii. However, morphological examination of 5th instar nymphs detected differences within C. latiforceps, with a population from Ubu, Espírito Santo, being distinct from the other 2 populations. Molecular characterization of the mitochondrial CO1 gene supported the presence of a new species of Calophya. .

Diversity Of Arthropods Associated With Mikania Spp And Chromolaena Odorata (Asterales: Asteraceae: Eupatorieae) In Florida, R. Diaz, S. Romero, A. Roda, C. Mannion, W. A. Overholt

Faculty Publications

Summary Field surveys revealed that in south Florida the recently established Mikania micrantha Kunth (Asterales: Asteraceae: Eupatorieae) had a lower diversity of monophagous insect herbivores compared to the native Mikania spp or Chromolaena odorata (L.) R. M. King & H. Rob. (Asterales: Asteraceae: Eupatorieae). In addition, Mikania micrantha served as a host for pests of agricultural and ornamental crops in Florida.

Draft Genome Sequences Of Edwardsiella Ictaluri Strains Ladl11-100 And Ladl11-194 Isolated From Zebrafish Danio Rerio, Rui Wang, Hasan C. Tekedar, Mark L. Lawrence, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Joohyun Kim, Nayong Kim, Konstantin G. Kousoulas, John P. Hawke

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Wang et al. Here, we report the draft genome sequences of Edwardsiella ictaluri strains LADL11-100 and LADL11-194, two isolates from natural outbreaks of edwardsiellosis in the zebrafish Danio rerio, as well as the sequences of the plasmids carried by the zebrafish strain of E. ictaluri.

Cofeeding Intra- And Interspecific Transmission Of An Emerging Insect-Borne Rickettsial Pathogen, Lisa D. Brown, Rebecca C. Christofferson, Kaikhushroo H. Banajee, Fabio Del Piero, Lane D. Foil, Kevin R. Macaluso

Faculty Publications

© 2015 The Authors. Molecular Ecology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis) are known as the primary vector and reservoir of Rickettsia felis, the causative agent of flea-borne spotted fever; however, field surveys regularly report molecular detection of this infectious agent from other blood-feeding arthropods. The presence of R. felis in additional arthropods may be the result of chance consumption of an infectious bloodmeal, but isolation of viable rickettsiae circulating in the blood of suspected vertebrate reservoirs has not been demonstrated. Successful transmission of pathogens between actively blood-feeding arthropods in the absence of a disseminated …

Comparative Gut Microbiota Of 59 Neotropical Bird Species, Sarah M. Hird, César Sánchez, Bryan C. Carstens, Robb T. Brumfield

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Hird, Sánchez, Carstens and Brumfield. The gut microbiota of vertebrates are essential to host health. Most non-model vertebrates, however, lack even a basic description of natural gut microbiota biodiversity. Here, we sampled 116 intestines from 59 Neotropical bird species and used the V6 region of the 16S rRNA molecule as a microbial fingerprint (average coverage per bird ~80,000 reads). A core microbiota of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria was identified, as well as several gut-associated genera. We tested 18 categorical variables associated with each bird for significant correlation to the gut microbiota; host taxonomic categories were most frequently …

Similarity Thresholds Used In Dna Sequence Assembly Fromshort Reads Can Reduce The Comparability Of Population Histories Across Species, Michael G. Harvey, Caroline Duffie Judy, Glenn F. Seeholzer, James M. Maley, Gary R. Graves, Robb T. Brumfield

Faculty Publications

© 2015 Harvey et al. Comparing inferences among datasets generated using short read sequencing may provide insight into the concerted impacts of divergence, gene flow and selection across organisms, but comparisons are complicated by biases introduced during dataset assembly. Sequence similarity thresholds allow the de novo assembly of short reads into clusters of alleles representing different loci, but the resulting datasets are sensitive to both the similarity threshold used and to the variation naturally present in the organism under study. Thresholds that require high sequence similarity among reads for assembly (stringent thresholds) as well as highly variable species may result …

Louisiana Agriculture Winter, 2015

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

2015 Louisiana Summary: Agriculture And Natural Resources, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Summary: Agriculture and Natural Resources

This publication tabulates the value of Louisiana agriculture in 2015. Agents and specialists of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, as well as other agencies – both private and public – compiled the data. Their analyses focus on the animal, forestry, fisheries, plant and wildlife commodities that comprise our vital agricultural industry. Agricultural and natural resource industries contribute significantly to our state’s economy with the potential for increased economic benefits and job creation through value-added processing in urban and rural communities throughout Louisiana.

After three consecutive years of nearly ideal growing conditions and record production, the 2015 production year was one …

Blueberries Improve Glucose Tolerance Without Altering Body Composition In Obese Postmenopausal Mice, Carrie M. Elks, Jennifer D. Terrebonne, Donald K. Ingram, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

© 2015 The Obesity Society. Objective Metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk increases significantly during menopause and remains elevated postmenopause. Several botanicals, including blueberries (BB), have been shown to delay MetS progression, but few studies have been conducted in postmenopausal animal models. Here, the effects of BB supplementation on obese postmenopausal mice using a chemically induced menopause model were examined. Methods After induction of menopause, mice were fed a high-fat diet or the same diet supplemented with 4% BB powder for 12 weeks. Body weight and body composition were measured, and mice were subjected to glucose and insulin tolerance tests. Serum triglycerides …

Isothiocyanate-Rich Moringa Oleifera Extract Reduces Weight Gain, Insulin Resistance, And Hepatic Gluconeogenesis In Mice, Patricio Rojas-Silva, Tugba Boyunegmez Tumer, Peter Kuhn, Allison J. Richard, Shawna Wicks, Jacqueline M. Stephens, Zhong Wang, Randy Mynatt, William Cefalu, Ilya Raskin

Faculty Publications

© 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Scope: Moringa oleifera (moringa) is tropical plant traditionally used as an antidiabetic food. It produces structurally unique and chemically stable moringa isothiocyanates (MICs) that were evaluated for their therapeutic use in vivo. Methods and results: C57BL/6L mice fed very high fat diet (VHFD) supplemented with 5% moringa concentrate (MC, delivering 66 mg/kg/d of MICs) accumulated fat mass, had improved glucose tolerance and insulin signaling, and did not develop fatty liver disease compared to VHFD-fed mice. MC-fed group also had reduced plasma insulin, leptin, resistin, cholesterol, IL-1β, TNFα, and lower hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase …

Tetrakis(P-Carboranylthio-Tetrafluorophenyl)Chlorin (Tpfc): Application For Photodynamic Therapy And Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Ryo Hiramatsu, Shinji Kawabata, Hiroki Tanaka, Yoshinori Sakurai, Minoru Suzuki, Koji Ono, Shin Ichi Miyatake, Toshihiko Kuroiwa, Erhong Hao, M. Graça H. Vicente

Faculty Publications

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Carboranyl-containing chlorins have emerged as promising dual sensitizers for use in both photodynamic therapy (PDT) and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT), by virtue of their known tumor affinity, low cytotoxicity in dark conditions, and their strong absorptions in the red region of the optical spectrum. Tetrakis(p-carboranylthio-tetrafluorophenyl)chlorin (TPFC) is a new synthetic carboranyl-containing chlorin of high boron content (24% by weight). To evaluate TPFC's applicability as sensitizer for both PDT and BNCT, we performed an in vitro and in vivo study using F98 rat glioma cells and F98 rat glioma-bearing brain tumor models. For the in …

Social Transitions Cause Rapid Behavioral And Neuroendocrine Changes, Karen P. Maruska

Faculty Publications

© 2015 The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. In species that form dominance hierarchies, there are often opportunities for low-ranking individuals to challenge high-ranking ones, resulting in a rise or fall in social rank. How does an animal rapidly detect, process, and then respond to these social transitions? This article explores and summarizes how these social transitions can rapidly (within 24 h) impact an individual's behavior, physiology, and brain, using the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, as a model. Male A. burtoni form hierarchies in …