Digital Commons Network^™

Corpse Management In Social Insects, Qian Sun, Xuguo Zhou

Faculty Publications

Undertaking behavior is an essential adaptation to social life that is critical for colony hygiene in enclosed nests. Social insects dispose of dead individuals in various fashions to prevent further contact between corpses and living members in a colony. Focusing on three groups of eusocial insects (bees, ants, and termites) in two phylogenetically distant orders (Hymenoptera and Isoptera), we review mechanisms of death recognition, convergent and divergent behavioral re-sponses toward dead individuals, and undertaking task allocation from the perspective of division of labor. Distinctly different solutions (e.g., corpse removal, burial and cannibalism) have evolved, independently, in the holometabolous hymenopterans and …

Snp Discovery And Chromosome Anchoring Provide The First Physically-Anchored Hexaploid Oat Map And Reveal Synteny With Model Species, Rebekah E. Oliver, Nicholas A. Tinker, Gerard R. Lazo, Shiaoman Chao, Eric N. Jellen, Martin L. Carson, Howard W. Rines, Donald E. Obert, Joseph D. Lutz, Irene Shackelford, Abraham B. Korol, Charlene P. Wight, Kyle M. Gardner, Jiro Hattori, Aaron D. Beattie, Åsmund Bjørnstad, J. Michael Bonman, Jean Luc Jannink, Mark E. Sorrells, Gina L. Brown-Guedira, Jennifer W. Mitchell Fetch, Stephen A. Harrison, Catherine J. Howarth, Amir Ibrahim, Frederic L. Kolb, Michael S. Mcmullen, J. Paul Murphy, Herbert W. Ohm, Brian G. Rossnagel, Weikai Yan, Kelci J. Miclaus, Jordan Hiller, Peter J. Maughan

Faculty Publications

A physically anchored consensus map is foundational to modern genomics research; however, construction of such a map in oat (Avena sativa L., 2n = 6x = 42) has been hindered by the size and complexity of the genome, the scarcity of robust molecular markers, and the lack of aneuploid stocks. Resources developed in this study include a modified SNP discovery method for complex genomes, a diverse set of oat SNP markers, and a novel chromosome-deficient SNP anchoring strategy. These resources were applied to build the first complete, physically-anchored consensus map of hexaploid oat. Approximately 11,000 high-confidence in silico SNPs were …

Long Prereproductive Selection And Divergence By Depth In A Caribbean Candelabrum Coral, Carlos Prada, Michael E. Hellberg

Faculty Publications

Long-lived corals, the foundation of modern reefs, often follow ecological gradients, so that populations or sister species segregate by habitat. Adaptive divergence maintains sympatric congeners after secondary contact or may even generate species by natural selection in the face of gene flow. Such ecological divergence, initially between alternative phenotypes within populations, may be aided by immigrant inviability, especially when a long period separates larval dispersal and the onset of reproduction, during which selection can sort lineages to match different habitats. Here, we evaluate the strength of one ecological factor (depth) to isolate populations by comparing the genes and morphologies of …

Optical Dissection Of Odor Information Processing In Vivo Using Gcamps Expressed In Specified Cell Types Of The Olfactory Bulb., Wachowiak M, Economo Mn, Díaz-Quesada M, Brunert D, Wesson Dw, White Ja, Rothermel M

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Vitronectin Inhibits Efferocytosis Through Interactions With Apoptotic Cells As Well As With Macrophages, Hong Beom Bae, Jean Marc Tadie, Shaoning Jiang, Dae Won Park, Celeste P. Bell, Lawrence C. Thompson, Cynthia B. Peterson, Victor J. Thannickal, Edward Abraham, Jaroslaw W. Zmijewski

Faculty Publications

Effective removal of apoptotic cells, particularly apoptotic neutrophils, is essential for the successful resolution of acute inflammatory conditions. In these experiments, we found that whereas interaction between vitronectin and integrins diminished the ability of macrophages to ingest apoptotic cells, interaction between vitronectin with urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) on the surface of apoptotic cells also had equally important inhibitory effects on efferocytosis. Preincubation of vitronectin with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 eliminated its ability to inhibit phagocytosis of apoptotic cells. Similarly, incubation of apoptotic cells with soluble uPAR or Abs to uPAR significantly diminished efferocytosis. In the setting of LPSinduced ALI, enhanced …

A 5-Day Method For Determination Of Soluble Silicon Concentrations In Nonliquid Fertilizer Materials Using A Sodium Carbonate-Ammonium Nitrate Extractant Followed By Visible Spectroscopy With Heteropoly Blue Analysis: Single-Laboratory Validation, Dennis Sebastian, Hugh Rodrigues, Charles Kinsey, Gaspar Korndörfer, Hamilton Pereira, Guilherme Buck, Lawrence Datnoff, Stephen Miranda, Mary Provance-Bowley

Faculty Publications

A 5-day method for determining the soluble silicon (Si) concentrations in nonliquid fertilizer products was developed using a sodium carbonate (Na 2CO3)-ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) extractant followed by visible spectroscopy with heteropoly blue analysis at 660 nm. The 5-Day Na2CO3-NH4NO3 Soluble Si Extraction Method can be applied to quantify the plant-available Si in solid fertilizer products at levels ranging from 0.2 to 8.4% Si with an LOD of 0.06%, and LOQ of 0.20%. This Si extraction method for fertilizers correlates well with plant uptake of Si (r2 = 0.96 for a range of solid fertilizers) and is applicable to solid Si …

An Extract Of Artemisia Dracunculus L. Inhibits Ubiquitin-Proteasome Activity And Preserves Skeletal Muscle Mass In A Murine Model Of Diabetes, Heather Kirk-Ballard, Zhong Q. Wang, Priyanka Acharya, Xian H. Zhang, Yongmei Yu, Gail Kilroy, David Ribnicky, William T. Cefalu, Z. Elizabeth Floyd

Faculty Publications

Impaired insulin signaling is a key feature of type 2 diabetes and is associated with increased ubiquitin-proteasome-dependent protein degradation in skeletal muscle. An extract of Artemisia dracunculus L. (termed PMI5011) improves insulin action by increasing insulin signaling in skeletal muscle. We sought to determine if the effect of PMI5011 on insulin signaling extends to regulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. C2C12 myotubes and the KK-Ay murine model of type 2 diabetes were used to evaluate the effect of PMI5011 on steady-state levels of ubiquitylation, proteasome activity and expression of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1, muscle-specific ubiquitin ligases that are upregulated with impaired insulin …

Variation In Sodium Current Amplitude Between Vasopressin And Oxytocin Hypothalamic Supraoptic Neurons, Reese Scroggs, Lie Wang, Ryoichi Teruyama, William E. Armstrong

Faculty Publications

Biophysical characteristics of tetrodotoxin-sensitive sodium (Na+) currents were studied in vasopressin (VP) and oxytocin (OT) supraoptic neurons acutely isolated from rat hypothalamus. Na+ current density (pA/pF) was significantly greater in VP neurons than in OT neurons. No significant difference between VP and OT neurons was detected regarding the voltage dependence of activation and steady-state inactivation, or rate of recovery from inactivation of Na+ currents. In both VP and OT neurons, the macroscopic inactivation of the Na+ currents was best fitted with a double-exponential expression suggesting two rates of inactivation. Also in both types, the time course of recovery from inactivation …

Radical-Containing Ultrafine Particulate Matter Initiates Epithelial-To-Mesenchymal Transitions In Airway Epithelial Cells, Paul T. Thevenot, Jordy Saravia, Nili Jin, Joseph D. Giaimo, Regina E. Chustz, Sarah Mahne, Matthew A. Kelley, Valeria Y. Hebert, Barry Dellinger, Tammy R. Dugas, Francesco J. Demayo, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) in combustion generated particulate matter (PM) are capable of inducing pulmonary pathologies and contributing to the development of environmental asthma. In vivo exposure of infant rats to EPFRs demonstrates their ability to induce airway hyperresponsiveness to methacholine, a hallmark of asthma. However, the mechanisms by which combustion-derived EPFRs elicit in vivo responses remain elusive. In this study, we used a chemically defined EPFR consisting of approximately 0.2 μm amorphrous silica containing 3% cupric oxide with the organic pollutant 1,2-dichlorobenzene (DCB-230). DCB-230 possesses similar radical content to urban-collected EPFRs but offers several advantages, including lack of …

Social Opportunity Causes Rapid Transcriptional Changes In The Social Behaviour Network Of The Brain In An African Cichlid Fish, K. P. Maruska, A. Zhang, A. Neboori, R. D. Fernald

Faculty Publications

Animals constantly integrate external stimuli with their own internal physiological state to make appropriate behavioural decisions. Little is known, however, about where in the brain the salience of these signals is evaluated, or which neural and transcriptional mechanisms link this integration to adaptive behaviours. We used an African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni to test the hypothesis that a new social opportunity activates the conserved 'social behaviour network' (SBN), a collection of brain nuclei known to regulate social behaviours across vertebrates. We measured mRNA levels of immediate early genes (IEGs) in microdissected brain regions as a proxy for neuronal activation, and …

Faculty Senate Newsletter, February 2013, Louisiana State University And Agricultural & Mechanical College

LSU Faculty Senate Publications

Message from President: Years ago, American Airlines backgrounded its television advertisements with a hauntingly optimistic jingle featuring one phrase, “something special in the air.” Tone, whether musical or inflectional or atmospheric, is indeed something airy— something halfway between the inferred and the empirical. One of the wonders if not miracles of recent educational policy is the sudden change in tone among the campuses of the University of Louisiana System since the arrival of new, imaginative, and energetic leadership in the “UoL” System office. Nothing has changed in the budget picture and therefore not too much has happened empirically. Nevertheless, and …

The Intestinal Microbiota In Aged Mice Is Modulated By Dietary Resistant Starch And Correlated With Improvements In Host Responses, Sybille Tachon, June Zhou, Michael Keenan, Roy Martin, Maria L. Marco

Faculty Publications

Dietary interventions might prevent or reverse age-related declines in health through modification of the activity and composition of the intestinal microbiota. As a first step toward more comprehensive evaluations of single dietary components on healthy aging, 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was applied to determine the structure of the bacterial communities in the ceca of 20-month-old healthy mice fed energy-controlled diets containing 0, 18, or 36% type 2 resistant starch (RS) from high-amylose maize (HAM-RS2). The cecal microbiota of mice fed a diet depleted in RS and containing the readily digestible carbohydrate amylopectin were dominated by bacteria in the Firmicutes …

Dna-Binding Motif And Target Genes Of The Imprinted Transcription Factor Peg3, Michelle M. Thiaville, Jennifer M. Huang, Hana Kim, Muhammad B. Ekram, Tae Young Roh, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

The Peg3 gene is expressed only from the paternally inherited allele located on proximal mouse chromosome 7. The PEG3 protein encoded by this imprinted gene is predicted to bind DNA based on its multiple zinc finger motifs and nuclear localization. In the current study, we demonstrated PEG3's DNA-binding ability by characterizing its binding motif and target genes. We successfully identified target regions bound by PEG3 from mouse brain extracts using chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. PEG3 was demonstrated to bind these candidate regions through the consensus DNA-binding motif AGTnnCnnnTGGCT. In vitro promoter assays established that PEG3 controls the expression of a given …

Transcription Factor Yy1 Is Essential For Regulation Of The Th2 Cytokine Locus And For Th2 Cell Differentiation, Soo Seok Hwang, Young Uk Kim, Sumin Lee, Sung Woong Jang, Min Kyung Kim, Byung Hee Koh, Wonyong Lee, Joomyeong Kim, Abdallah Souabni, Meinrad Busslinger, Gap Ryol Lee

Faculty Publications

The Th2 locus control region (LCR) has been shown to be important in efficient and coordinated cytokine gene regulation during Th2 cell differentiation. However, the molecular mechanism for this is poorly understood. To study the molecular mechanism of the Th2 LCR, we searched for proteins binding to it. We discovered that transcription factor YY1 bound to the LCR and the entire Th2 cytokine locus in a Th2-specific manner. Retroviral overexpression of YY1 induced Th2 cytokine expression. CD4-specific knockdown of YY1 in mice caused marked reduction in Th2 cytokine expression, repressed chromatin remodeling, decreased intrachromosomal interactions, and resistance in an animal …

Unique Pattern Of Molt Leads To Low Intraindividual Variation In Feather Mercury Concentrations In Penguins, R.L. Brasso, B.E. Drummond, S.R. Borrett, A. Chiaradia, M.J. Polito, A.R. Rey

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Economic Impact Of Gulf Of Mexico Ecosystem Goods And Services And Integration Into Restoration Decision-Making, Andrew N. Shepard, John F. Valentine, Christopher F. D'Elia, David W. Yoskowitz, David E. Dismukes

Faculty Publications

Sustainability of natural resources requires balancing exploitation and conservation, enabled by management based on the best available scientific and economic information. Valuation of ecosystemgoods and services is an important tool for prioritizing restoration efforts, recognizing the economic importance of conserving natural capital, and raising public awareness about the contribution of healthy ecosystems to social welfare, now and for future generations. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DHOS) in 2010 was a Gulf of Mexico ecological and economic disaster adding to decades-long degradation of the region's coastal and marine environment. In 2010, revenues from provisioning ecosystem goods and services generated by the …

Seasonal Variation In Corticosterone Receptor Binding In Brain, Hippocampus, And Gonads In House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus), Christine R. Lattin, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

Abstract.-Both baseline and stress-induced concentrations of corticosterone (CORT) vary seasonally in a predictable fashion in many wild birds. Hypotheses about why these patterns exist include the "behavior hypothesis," which predicts that animals will down-regulate stress-induced CORT when CORT-induced behaviors are too likely to cause reproductive failure; and the "preparative hypothesis," which posits that baseline and stress-induced CORT will both be high at times of year with a higher incidence of predictable stressors. We tested predictions made by the behavior and predictive hypotheses about the CORT sensitivity of tissues involved in breeding: whole brain, hippocampus, and gonads. We used radioligand binding …

Physiological Effects Of Tourism And Associated Food Provisioning In An Endangered Iguana, Charles R. Knapp, Kirsten N. Hines, Trevor T. Zachariah, Caro Perez-Heydrich, John B. Iverson, Sandra D. Buckner, Shelley C. Halach, Christine R. Lattin, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

© The Author 2013. Deliberately feeding wildlife is an increasingly popular tourism-related activity despite a limited understanding of long-term impacts on the species being fed. As a result, tourist behaviours that may have adverse impacts on imperiled species have often been encouraged without the necessary evaluation or oversight. Here, we report the responses of Northern Bahamian Rock Iguanas (Cyclura cychlura) to human-visitation pressure and associated food provisioning. We compared a variety of blood chemistry parameters of iguanas subjected to supplemental feeding at popular tourist destinations with iguanas occurring on islands where supplemental feeding does not take place. We demonstrate that …

Intracellular Glucocorticoid Receptors Inspleen, But Not Skin, Vary Seasonally Inwild House Sparrows (Passer Domesticus), Christine R. Lattin, K. Waldron-Francis, L. Michael Romero

Faculty Publications

Over the short-term and at physiological doses, acute increases in corticosterone (CORT) titres can enhance immune function. There are predictable seasonal patterns in both circulating CORT and immune function across many animal species, but whether CORT receptor density in immune tissues varies seasonally is currently unknown. Using radioligand binding assays, we examined changes in concentrations of glucocorticoid receptors (GR) and mineralocorticoid receptors (MR) in spleen and skin in wild-caught house sparrows in Massachusetts during six different life-history stages: moult, early winter, late winter, pre-egg-laying, breeding and late breeding. Splenic GR and MR binding were highest during the pre-laying period. This …

Particulate Matter Containing Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals And Adverse Infant Respiratory Health Effects: A Review, Jordy Saravia, Greg I. Lee, Slawo Lomnicki, Barry Dellinger, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

The health impacts of airborne particulate matter (PM) are of global concern, and the direct implications to the development/exacerbation of lung disease are immediately obvious. Most studies to date have sought to understand mechanisms associated with PM exposure in adults/adult animal models; however, infants are also at significant risk for exposure. Infants are affected differently than adults due to drastic immaturities, both physiologically and immunologically, and it is becoming apparent that they represent a critically understudied population. Highlighting our work funded by the ONES award, in this review we argue the understated importance of utilizing infant models to truly understand …

Temperature And Co2 Additively Regulate Physiology, Morphology And Genomic Responses Of Larval Sea Urchins, Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus, Jacqueline L. Padilla-Gamiño, Morgan W. Kelly, Tyler G. Evans, Gretchen E. Hofmann

Faculty Publications

Ocean warming and ocean acidification, both consequences of anthropogenic production of CO2, will combine to influence the physiological performance of many species in the marine environment. In this study, we used an integrative approach to forecast the impact of future ocean conditions on larval purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) from the northeast Pacific Ocean.In laboratory experiments that simulated ocean warming and ocean acidification, we examined larval development, skeletal growth, metabolism and patterns of gene expression using an orthogonal comparison of two temperature (138C and 188C) and pCO2 (400 and 1100 matm) conditions. Simultaneous exposure to increased temperature and pCO2 significantly …

Metabolic Preconditioning Of Mammalian Cells: Mimetic Agents For Hypoxia Lack Fidelity In Promoting Phosphorylation Of Pyruvate Dehydrogenase, Apurva Borcar, Michael A. Menze, Mehmet Toner, Steven C. Hand

Faculty Publications

Induction of HIF-1α by oxygen limitation promotes increased phosphorylation and catalytic depression of mitochondrial pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) and an enhanced glycolytic poise in cells. Cobalt chloride and desferrioxamine are widely used as mimics for hypoxia because they increase the levels of HIF-1α. We evaluated the ability of these agents to elicit selected physiological responses to hypoxia as a means to metabolically precondition mammalian cells, but without the detrimental effects of hypoxia. We show that, while CoCl2 does increase HIF-1α in a dose-dependent manner, it unexpectedly and strikingly decreases PDH phosphorylation at E1α sites 1, 2, and 3 (Ser293, Ser 300, …

Soil Resources And Topography Shape Local Tree Community Structure In Tropical Forests, Claire A. Baldeck, Kyle E. Harms, Joseph B. Yavitt, Robert John, Benjamin L. Turner, Renato Valencia, Hugo Navarrete, Stuart J. Davies, George B. Chuyong, David Kenfack, Duncan W. Thomas, Sumedha Madawala, Nimal Gunatilleke, Savitri Gunatilleke, Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin, Somboon Kiratiprayoon, Adzmi Yaacob, Mohd N. Nur Supardi, James W. Dalling

Faculty Publications

Both habitat filtering and dispersal limitation influence the compositional structure of forest communities, but previous studies examining the relative contributions of these processes with variation partitioning have primarily used topography to represent the influence of the environment. Here, we bring together data on both topography and soil resource variation within eight large (24-50 ha) tropical forest plots, and use variation partitioning to decompose community compositional variation into fractions explained by spatial, soil resource and topographic variables. Both soil resources and topography account for significant and approximately equal variation in tree community composition (9-34% and 5-29%, respectively), and all environmental variables …

Biotechnology For Mechanisms That Counteract Salt Stress In Extremophile Species: A Genome-Based View, Ray A. Bressan, Hyeong Cheol Park, Francesco Orsini, Dong Ha Oh, Maheshi Dassanayake, Gunsu Inan, Dae Jin Yun, Hans J. Bohnert, Albino Maggio

Faculty Publications

Molecular genetics has confirmed older research and generated new insights into the ways how plants deal with adverse conditions. This body of research is now being used to interpret stress behavior of plants in new ways, and to add results from most recent genomics-based studies. The new knowledge now includes genome sequences of species that show extreme abiotic stress tolerances, which enables new strategies for applications through either molecular breeding or transgenic engineering. We will highlight some physiological features of the extremophile lifestyle, outline emerging features about halophytism based on genomics, and discuss conclusions about underlying mechanisms. © 2012 Korean …

River Of Dark Dreams: Slavery And Empire In The Cotton Kingdom, Amy Greenburg

Civil War Book Review

A New Map of the Past

“At first glance," admits Walter Johnson, “the experience of slaves the Mississippi Valley seems far removed- indeed, conceptually antithetical- to the world of ‘capitalism’" (244). Johnson devotes his sprawling, ambitious, and much-awaited new study, River of Dar....

New Mexico's Spanish Livestock Heritage: Four Centuries Of Animals, Land, And People., Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Remembering The Battle Of The Crater: War As Murder, Francis Macdonnell

Civil War Book Review

Fighting the Battle of Memory

Remembering the Battle of the Crater: War as Murder by Kevin Levin offers a valuable addition to the growing body of scholarship on the American Civil War and popular memory. Levin shows how, for much of the post-war period, the story of the battle....

A Self-Evident Lie: Southern Slavery And The Threat To American Freedom, Bernard Von Bothmer

Civil War Book Review

Exploring the Importance of Slavery to American Democracy

No single word is as essential to the meaning of the American experience—or as contested—as “equality." Democrats today claim to favor providing as much equality of opportunity as possible; their Republican critics argue that wha....

Ecological And Control Techniques For Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) Associated With Rodent Reservoirs Of Leishmaniasis, Thomas M. Mascari, Hanafi A. Hanafi, Ryan E. Jackson, Souâd Ouahabi, Btissam Ameur, Chafika Faraj, Peter J. Obenauer, Joseph W. Diclaro, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

Background:Leishmaniasis remains a global health problem because of the substantial holes that remain in our understanding of sand fly ecology and the failure of traditional vector control methods. The specific larval food source is unknown for all but a few sand fly species, and this is particularly true for the vectors of Leishmania parasites. We provide methods and materials that could be used to understand, and ultimately break, the transmission cycle of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis.Methods and Findings:We demonstrated in laboratory studies that analysis of the stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes found naturally in plant and animal tissues was highly effective …

Louisiana Agriculture Winter, 2013

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.