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Mississippi State University

Theses and Dissertations

2020

Bioinformatics

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A Molecular And Bioinformatic Investigation Into The Phylogenetic Relationships And Life Cycles Of Amoeboid Protists, Alexander K. Tice Aug 2020

A Molecular And Bioinformatic Investigation Into The Phylogenetic Relationships And Life Cycles Of Amoeboid Protists, Alexander K. Tice

Theses and Dissertations

Eukaryotic organisms that cannot be classified as animals, land plants, or fungi are termed protists. Despite the fact that protists represent the majority of eukaryotic diversity, these organisms have received relatively little attention from biological researchers beyond morphological characterization. Reasons that likely contributed to their neglect include their mostly microscopic nature, that only a few lineages are the causative agents of human disease, that laboratory cultivation can be challenging, and that species concepts for the majority of protists was vague in many lineages. Initial attempts to resolve relationships among eukaryotes produced the five kingdoms model. This model suggested protists were …


Metagenomic Sequencing, Microbiome Reconstruction, And Analysis Of Ancient North And Central American Dental Calculus, Jonathan Belanich May 2020

Metagenomic Sequencing, Microbiome Reconstruction, And Analysis Of Ancient North And Central American Dental Calculus, Jonathan Belanich

Theses and Dissertations

Analyses of human oral microbiomes reveal substantial amounts of information about health, diet, and diseases of individuals and their communities within the archaeological record. In order to examine bacterial genomes from the past, specific archaeological samples that contain remnants of the microbial communities in question must be utilized. Recent developments in high-throughput, next-generation DNA sequencing have enabled the characterization of entire oral microbiomes and genomes from the remains of the bacteria trapped in calcified dental plaque. This project analyzed samples of ancient human dental calculus from North and Central America, which were examined for the changes within the oral microbiome …