Digital Commons Network^™

Reforming Indigent Defense For Capital Defendants In Louisiana, Jessica L. Swiney

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Steroid Receptor Expression In The Fish Inner Earvaries With Sex, Social Status, And Reproductive State, Karen P. Maruska, Russell D. Fernald

Faculty Publications

Background: Gonadal and stress-related steroid hormones are known to influence auditory function across vertebrates but the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for steroid-mediated auditory plasticity at the level of the inner ear remain unknown. The presence of steroid receptors in the ear suggests a direct pathway for hormones to act on the peripheral auditory system, but little is known about which receptors are expressed in the ear or whether their expression levels change with internal physiological state or external social cues. We used qRT-PCR to measure mRNA expression levels of multiple steroid receptor subtypes (estrogen receptors: ERα, ERβa, ERβb; androgen …

Transcriptional Factors That Promote Formation Of White Adipose Tissue, Ursula A. White, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

Adipocytes are highly specialized cells that play a major role in energy homeostasis in vertebrate organisms. Excess adipocyte size or number is a hallmark of obesity, which is currently a global epidemic. Obesity is a major risk factor for the development of type II diabetes (T2DM), cardiovascular disease, and hypertension. Obesity and its related disorders result in dysregulation of the mechanisms that control the expression of metabolic and endocrine related genes in adipocytes. Therefore, understanding adipocyte differentiation is relevant not only for gaining insight into the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases, but also for identifying proteins or pathways which might be …

Biogeographic Breaks In Vanuatu, A Nascent Oceanic Archipelago, Alison M. Hamilton, Elaine R. Klein, Christopher C. Austin

Faculty Publications

The study of distinct biogeographic demarcations has played a pivotal role in our understanding processes responsible for patterns of species distributions and, importantly, the role of geologic processes in promoting biotic diversification. Biogeographic barriers such as Wallace's line have been shown to be the result of old geologic processes shaping ancient faunal or floral diversification events. Based on distributions of birds, bats, reptiles, plants, and invertebrates we identify a distinct biogeographic disjunction in Vanuatu, a geologically nascent oceanic archipelago. We discuss mechanisms contributing to this concordant pattern across these disparate taxonomic groups in light of geologic history, ocean currents, vegetation, …

The Genome Of A Songbird, Wesley C. Warren, David F. Clayton, Hans Ellegren, Arthur P. Arnold, Ladeana W. Hillier, Axel Künstner, Steve Searle, Simon White, Albert J. Vilella, Susan Fairley, Andreas Heger, Lesheng Kong, Chris P. Ponting, Erich D. Jarvis, Claudio V. Mello, Pat Minx, Peter Lovell, Tarciso A.F. Velho, Margaret Ferris, Christopher N. Balakrishnan, Saurabh Sinha, Charles Blatti, Sarah E. London, Yun Li, Ya Chi Lin, Julia George, Jonathan Sweedler, Bruce Southey, Preethi Gunaratne, Michael Watson, Kiwoong Nam, Niclas Backström, Linnea Smeds, Benoit Nabholz

Faculty Publications

The zebra finch is an important model organism in several fields with unique relevance to human neuroscience. Like other songbirds, the zebra finch communicates through learned vocalizations, an ability otherwise documented only in humans and a few other animals and lacking in the chickenthe only bird with a sequenced genome until now. Here we present a structural, functional and comparative analysis of the genome sequence of the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), which is a songbird belonging to the large avian order Passeriformes. We find that the overall structures of the genomes are similar in zebra finch and chicken, but they …

Unfurling, Alyssa Matthews

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Pasture Vs. House Farrowing Systems In Louisiana On Production Traits And Mothering Abilities Of Sows, Elizabeth Roeling

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Lessons Learned From Nature: The Sweet Way To Preserve Cells, Shhyam Moorthy

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Increasing Lipoxygenase Solubility Through Fusion Of Highly Acidic Peptides, Rachel Fabacher

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Louisiana Agriculture Spring, 2010, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Discovery And Characterization Of Proteins Associated With Aflatoxin-Resistance: Evaluating Their Potential As Breeding Markers, Robert L. Brown, Zhi Yuan Chen, Marilyn Warburton, Meng Luo, Abebe Menkir, Ahmad Fakhoury, Deepak Bhatnagar

Faculty Publications

Host resistance has become a viable approach to eliminating aflatoxin contamination of maize since the discovery of several maize lines with natural resistance. However, to derive commercial benefit from this resistance and develop lines that can aid growers, markers need to be identified to facilitate the transfer of resistance into commercially useful genetic backgrounds without transfer of unwanted traits. To accomplish this, research efforts have focused on the identification of kernel resistanceassociated proteins (RAPs) including the employment of comparative proteomics to investigate closely-related maize lines that vary in aflatoxin accumulation. RAPs have been identified and several further characterized through physiological …

Symbiosis In Subterranean Termites: A Review Of Insights From Molecular Studies, Claudia Husseneder

Faculty Publications

The symbiotic relationship of termites and their eukaryotic and prokaryotic gut microbiota is a focal point of research because of the important roles symbionts play in termite nutrition. The use of molecular methods has recently provided valuable insights into the species diversity and the roles of microorganisms in the guts of termites. This paper provides a review of the current knowledge of symbiont species inventories, genome analysis, and gene expression in the guts of subterranean termites. Particular emphasis is given to the termite genera Reticulitermes and Coptotermes (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), because they contain pest species of global impact in their native …

Development And Application Of A Pexophagy Sensor In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jamie Dolezal

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Hatchability Of End-Of-Lay Broiler Breeder Eggs As Influenced By Cooling During Incubation, James Rabalais

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

In Vitro And In Vivo Assessment Of Pulmonary Risk Associated With Exposure To Combustion Generated Fine Particles, Baher Fahmy, Liren Ding, Dahui You, Slawo Lomnicki, Barry Dellinger, Stephania A. Cormier

Faculty Publications

Strong correlations exist between exposure to PM2.5 and adverse pulmonary effects. PM2.5 consists of fine (≤2.5μm) and ultrafine (≤0.1μm) particles with ultrafine particles accounting for >70% of the total particles. Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have recently been identified in airborne PM2.5. To determine the adverse pulmonary effects of EPFRs associated with exposure to elevated levels of PM2.5, we engineered 2.5μm surrogate EPFR-particle systems. We demonstrated that EPFRs generated greater oxidative stress in vitro, which was partly responsible for the enhanced cytotoxicity following exposure. In vivo studies using rats exposed to EPFRs containing particles demonstrated minimal adverse pulmonary effects. Additional …

Mechanisms Of Apoptosis In Crustacea: What Conditions Induce Versus Suppress Cell Death?, Michael A. Menze, Grady Fortner, Suman Nag, Steven C. Hand

Faculty Publications

Arthropoda is the largest of all animal phyla and includes about 90% of extant species. Our knowledge about regulation of apoptosis in this phylum is largely based on findings for the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Recent work with crustaceans shows that apoptotic proteins, and presumably mechanisms of cell death regulation, are more diverse in arthropods than appreciated based solely on the excellent work with fruit flies. Crustacean homologs exist for many major proteins in the apoptotic networks of mammals and D. melanogaster, but integration of these proteins into the physiology and pathophysiology of crustaceans is far from complete. Whether apoptosis …

Faculty Senate Newsletter, March 2010, Louisiana State University And Agricultural & Mechanical College

LSU Faculty Senate Publications

This third issue of the Faculty Senate Newsletter once again testifies to the vivacity of faculty engagement not only with teaching, research, and service but with the preservation and indeed upgrading of academic traditions both at LSU and worldwide. Colleagues have responded to the call for participation and for increased communication among the diverse subcultures within LSU and within academe. This diverse issue delivers a rich selection of news items: a story on Jane Chandler, of International programs; previews of coming faculty governance events; a guest opinion column by Faculty Senate Vice-President Pratul Ajmera; news stories on events up and …

Isham G. Harris Of Tennessee: Confederate Governor And United States Senator, George C. Rable

Civil War Book Review

A New Look at a Wartime Governor

Biological Control Of Tropical Soda Apple (Solanaceae) In Florida: Post-Release Evaluation, J. Medal, N. Bustamante, W. Overholt, R. Diaz, P. Stansly, A. Roda, D. Amalin, K. Hibbard, R. Gaskalla, B. Sellers, S. Hight, J. Cuda

Faculty Publications

The leaf feeding beetle Gratiana boliviana was released on tropical soda apple plants in Sumter County, FL., in 2006. The beetles significantly defoliated the plants over the period of the summers of 2006 and 2007, and became well established in the area.

Strategies For Survival: Recollections Of Bondage In Antebellum Virginia, Anthony Kaye

Civil War Book Review

Listening to Slaves in their Own Words

Dynamic Clamp: Alteration Of Response Properties And Creation Of Virtual Realities In Neurophysiology., Economo Mn, Fernandez Fr, White Ja

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Six Rna Viruses And Forty-One Hosts: Viral Small Rnas And Modulation Of Small Rna Repertoires In Vertebrate And Invertebrate Systems, Poornima Parameswaran, Ella Sklan, Courtney Wilkins, Trever Burgon, Melanie A. Samuel, Rui Lu, K. Mark Ansel, Vigo Heissmeyer, Shirit Einav, William Jackson, Tammy Doukas, Suman Paranjape, Charlotta Polacek, Flavia Barreto Dos Santos, Roxana Jalili, Farbod Babrzadeh, Baback Gharizadeh, Dirk Grimm, Mark Kay, Satoshi Koike, Peter Sarnow, Mostafa Ronaghi, Shou Wei Ding, Eva Harris, Marie Chow, Michael S. Diamond, Karla Kirkegaard, Jeffrey S. Glenn, Andrew Z. Fire

Faculty Publications

We have used multiplexed high-throughput sequencing to characterize changes in small RNA populations that occur during viral infection in animal cells. Small RNA-based mechanisms such as RNA interference (RNAi) have been shown in plant and invertebrate systems to play a key role in host responses to viral infection. Although homologs of the key RNAi effector pathways are present in mammalian cells, and can launch an RNAi-mediated degradation of experimentally targeted mRNAs, any role for such responses in mammalian host-virus interactions remains to be characterized. Six different viruses were examined in 41 experimentally susceptible and resistant host systems. We identified virus-derived …

Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Glycoproteins B And K8.1 Regulate Virion Egress And Synthesis Of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor And Viral Interleukin-6 In Bcbl-1 Cells, R. Subramanian, I. Sehgal, O. D'Auvergne, K. G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) viral glycoproteins play important roles in the infectious life cycle and have been implicated in KSHV-associated endothelial cell transformation, angiogenesis, and KS-induced malignancies. KSHV-associated primary effusion lymphomas (PELs) secrete high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and viral interleukin-6 (vIL-6) in vitro and VEGF, vIL-6, and basic-fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) in mouse xenografts. KSHV-encoded glycoproteins B (gB) and K8.1 stimulate VEGF secretion, most likely mediated by direct or indirect binding to cell surface receptors, including the gB-specific αVβ3 and α3β1 integrins. In this study, the short interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated inhibition of either gB or K8.1 …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Novaluron As A Rodent Feed-Through Insecticide Against Sand Fly Larvae (Diptera: Psychodidae), T. M. Mascari, L. D. Foil

Faculty Publications

Experiments were conducted to evaluate novaluron as a feed-through larvicide to control immature phlebotomine sand flies (Phlebotomus papatasi Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae). The minimum effective concentration of novaluron against sand fly larvae fed hamster feces treated with novaluron, or feces of hamsters fed a diet containing novaluron, was 9.88 and 9.88 × 10-1 mg/kg, respectively. Feces of novaluron-treated hamsters were held under conditions simulating the inside of a rodent burrow for up to 30 d, and all larvae that consumed these feces died before pupation; a significant reduction in treated larval survival relative to control was observed when the feces were …

Intracellular Consequences Of Sos1 Deficiency During Salt Stress, Dong Ha Oh, Sang Yeol Lee, Ray A. Bressan, Dae Jin Yun, Hans J. Bohnert

Faculty Publications

A mutation of AtSOS1 (Salt Overly Sensitive 1), a plasma membrane Na +/H+-antiporter in Arabidopsis thaliana, leads to a salt-sensitive phenotype accompanied by the death of root cells under salt stress. Intracellular events and changes in gene expression were compared during a non-lethal salt stress between the wild type and a representative SOS1 mutant, atsos1-1, by confocal microscopy using ion-specific fluorophores and by quantitative RT-PCR. In addition to the higher accumulation of sodium ions, atsos1-1 showed inhibition of endocytosis, abnormalities in vacuolar shape and function, and changes in intracellular pH compared to the wild type in root tip cells under …

A Systems Model Of Vesicle Trafficking In Arabidopsis Pollen Tubes, Naohiro Kato, Hongyu He, Alexander P. Steger

Faculty Publications

A systems model that describes vesicle trafficking during pollen tube growth in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) was constructed. The model is composed of ordinary differential equations that connect the molecular functions of genes expressed in pollen. The current model requires soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) and small GTPases, Arf or Rab, to reasonably predict tube growth as a function of time. Tube growth depends on vesicle trafficking that transports phospholipid and pectin to the tube tip. The vesicle trafficking genes identified by analyzing publicly available transcriptome data comprised 328 genes. Fourteen of them are up-regulated by the gibberellin …

Effects Of Transgenic Rice Expressing Bacillus Thuringiensis Cry1ab Protein On Ground-Dwelling Collembolan Community In Postharvest Seasons, Y. Y. Bai, R. H. Yan, G. Y. Ye, F. N. Huang, J. A. Cheng

Faculty Publications

During 20052008, field studies were conducted at two locations in Chongqing, China, to assess the potential effects of transgenic rice expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) Cry1Ab protein on the nontarget ground-dwelling collembolan community in three postharvest seasons. Collembolans in non-Bt and Bt rice fields were sampled with pitfall traps during each of two postharvest seasons of 2005/2006 and 2006/2007 and litterbag traps during each of three postharvest seasons of 2005/2006, 2006/2007, and 2007/2008. Ground-dwelling collembolans in rice fields during the postharvest seasons were abundant, whereas community densities varied considerably between the two locations and among the three seasons. A total of …

Two-Relaxation-Time Lattice Boltzmann Method For The Anisotropic Dispersive Henry Problem, Borja Servan-Camas, Frank T.C. Tsai

Faculty Publications

This study develops a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with a two-relaxation-time collision operator (TRT) to cope with anisotropic heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity and anisotropic velocity-dependent hydrodynamic dispersion in the saltwater intrusion problem. The directional-speed-of-sound technique is further developed to address anisotropic hydraulic conductivity and dispersion tensors. Forcing terms are introduced in the LBM to correct numerical errors that arise during the recovery procedure and to describe the sink/source terms in the flow and transport equations. In order to facilitate the LBM implementation, the forcing terms are combined with the equilibrium distribution functions (EDFs) to create pseudo-EDFs. This study performs linear stability …

Virus Discovery By Deep Sequencing And Assembly Of Virus-Derived Small Silencing Rnas, Qingfa Wu, Yingjun Luo, Rui Lu, Nelson Lau, Eric C. Lai, Wan Xiang Li, Shou Wei Ding

Faculty Publications

In response to infection, invertebrates process replicating viral RNA genomes into siRNAs of discrete sizes to guide virus clearance by RNA interference. Here, we show that viral siRNAs sequenced from fruit fly, mosquito, and nematode cells were all overlapping in sequence, suggesting a possibility of using siRNAs for viral genome assembly and virus discovery. To test this idea, we examined contigs assembled from published small RNA libraries and discovered five previously undescribed viruses from cultured Drosophila cells and adult mosquitoes, including three with a positive-strand RNA genome and two with a dsRNA genome. Notably, four of the identified viruses exhibited …

Functional Characterization Of The Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Erg3 Ortholog, A Gene Involved In The Biosynthesis Of Ergosterol, Kristy M. Brumfield, James V. Moroney, Thomas S. Moore, Tiffany A. Simms, David Donze

Faculty Publications

Background: The predominant sterol in the membranes of the alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is ergosterol, which is commonly found in the membranes of fungi, but is rarely found in higher plants. Higher plants and fungi synthesize sterols by different pathways, with plants producing cycloartenol as a precursor to end-product sterols, while nonphotosynthesizing organisms like yeast and humans produce lanosterol as a precursor. Analysis of the C. reinhardtii genome sequence reveals that this algae is also likely to synthesize sterols using a pathway resembling the higher plant pathway, indicating that its sterols are synthesized somewhat differently than in fungi. The work presented …