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Exploring Protein Function And Stability: Case Studies On Cryoprotection And Thermal Stability Of Antifreeze Proteins, Enzyme Inhibition Of Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease, And B. Subtilis Protein Stability, Katarina Jovic

Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, I have explored basic questions related to protein structure, function, and stability, which are critical for understanding the fundamental mechanisms of biology. The dissertation is divided into four chapters, which are different topics I have worked on. In Chapters 1 and 2, I will discuss my work on two different antifreeze proteins, in Chapter 3 my work on the main protease from SARS-CoV-2 is presented, while Chapter 4 details the characterization of protein stability of four B. subtilis proteins. While the projects are distinct from one another, they all contribute to deciphering the molecular basis of life …

Towards Improved Genomic Surveillance Of Organisms, Joseph L. Sevigny

Doctoral Dissertations

DNA and RNA sequencing is an indispensable tool for the surveillance and monitoring of organisms. Technological advances and research opportunities over the past several years have transformed and driven my research questions; from understanding the impacts of environmental perturbations on complex benthic communities, to tracking and understanding emerging pathogens like SARS-CoV-2. All of them revolve around the use of DNA sequencing to ask fundamental questions about our understanding genomes and their relationship to phenotype and the environment. The advent of sequencing-based characterization has revolutionized our approach to studying organismal communities on a large scale, offering the ability to analyze vast …

Understanding The Role Of Impounded Water Bodies In River Network Nutrient Exports In A Dynamic Landscape, Christopher Thomas Whitney

Doctoral Dissertations

Impounded water bodies are a significant component of aquatic networks and various forms have been studied extensively. However, knowledge gaps exist in the research on human-made dams and their reservoirs as well as beaver ponds as both uniquely affect water quality and nutrient exports in different ways. This study fills those knowledge gaps by investigating fluxes of all forms of dissolved nitrogen from small, human-made reservoirs at seasonal timescales. This study found that small reservoirs have a significant effect on nitrogen concentrations but this effect is seasonal and fluxes transported downstream are highly dependent on discharge. Removal of small dams …

Investigating Posttranslational Modifications Of Hsp90 And The Epichaperome In Embryonic Stem Cells, Seth William Mcnutt

Doctoral Dissertations

Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is a highly conserved and essential molecular chaperone in eukaryotes. Through interactions with various co-chaperones, Hsp90 is able to adapt to meet the specific needs of a structurally and functionally diverse, but specific set of clienteles. The diversity of its clients makes it a key regulator of nearly all cellular processes, and it serves as a central hub for many different signaling networks. One of the major functions of the Hsp90 chaperone machinery is in the modulation of protein homeostasis, a protective function often exploited in cancer cells in order to buffer oncogenic mutations and …

A Global Gene Expression Approach To Exploring Rock Colonization By Blastococcus Saxobsidens, Ryan Patrick Wilmot

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Blastococcus saxobsidens is an endolithic bacterium associated with biodegradation of stone monuments across the Mediterranean basin. Recently, strains of the bacterium have been isolated from high altitude deserts in Chile, volcanic glass in Iceland, and from masonry of several cultural heritage sites across Europe and the Americas. Blastococcus saxobsidens global dispersion has been linked to patterns of wind distributed dust particles. The physiology that this bacterium uses to colonize a wide range of rock types in such distinct locations has not been previously explored however. This project has established that B. saxobsidens colonizes and respires a variety of chemically …

Displaying Phenylalanine Ammonia Lyases On Bacillus Subtilis Spore Surface For The Treatment Of Phenylketonuria Through Oral Administration, Guo Wu

Doctoral Dissertations

Bacillus subtilis spores are formed in response to adverse conditions as a survival mechanism. These spores are in a dormant state and do not require any nutrients. Their DNA is wrapped with self-assembled multilayers of protective proteins. These spores are highly resistant to various harsh conditions. B. subtilis spores serve as a well-characterized model for studying endospore formation and have been developed as a platform system for displaying heterologous proteins of various functions. It has been demonstrated that proteins displayed on the spore surface can enhance their robustness and extend their shelf-life, including enzymes as robust biocatalysts and antigens as …

Understanding Riverine Plastic Accumulation Along An Urbanization And Spatial Gradient: A Plastics Study In The Ipswich River Watershed, Emily Kathryn Lever

Master's Theses and Capstones

Plastic pollution in marine and freshwater ecosystems is a pervasive issue on regional, national, and global scales. A portion of land-based plastics ends up in the world’s oceans through river transport; some land-based plastics are retained within the surface freshwater network. Little is known about how much plastic pollution entering the surface water network is stored vs. exported to oceans. We studied macro- and microplastic in a suburban coastal watershed, the Ipswich River Watershed of Massachusetts, USA in 2022 to gain a better understanding of plastic accumulation in sediments versus downstream flux during baseflow versus storms in streams of different …

Cultural Control Tactics For Managing Spotted Wing Drosophila, Drosophila Suzukii, In New Hampshire Highbush Blueberry, Catherine Doheny Coverdale

Master's Theses and Capstones

Spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an economically important pest that damages small, soft-skinned fruits. Female spotted wing drosophila (SWD) have a heavily sclerotized, serrated ovipositor which allows them to lay their eggs in ripe and ripening fruits. Woven polyethylene weed mat has been reported to influence ambient temperature and relative humidity within blueberry canopies. There is a lack of context-specific evidence regarding the mechanisms impacting its efficacy and how it may interact with other control methods, like crop sanitizer sprays containing peroxyacetic acid (PAA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP).This study was a two-year, split-plot field experiment in …

Population Viability Analysis Of A Remnant New England Cottontail Population In Southern New Hampshire, Brett Ferry

Master's Theses and Capstones

ABSTRACT

Population Viability Analysis of a Remnant New England Cottontail Population in Southern New Hampshire

ByBrett Ferry University of New Hampshire, December 2023

Early successional forest in the northeastern United States provides habitat for a rich diversity of wildlife. Historically, weather events, beaver activity, and fires were continually creating a mosaic of early successional habitat. However, with modern land use very little early successional habitat is created, leading to the decline of the species’ that rely on it. New England cottontail (sylvilagus transitionalis) is an early successional obligate species whose population has been in decline since the mid-twentieth century. In …

Avian Functional Diversity Response To Changes In Forest Structure And Degradation In Northern New England, Michael Christopher Thompson

Master's Theses and Capstones

Exploitative forest harvesting has led to widespread economic degradation of forests across the northeastern United States. Tree species composition and structure vary across degradation categories, which may lead to differences in wildlife communities and the ecosystem functions wildlife provide. Avian communities in particular respond quickly to changes in habitat, are easy to survey, and contribute to a variety of important ecosystem functions. Here, we investigated the relationship between economic degradation and avian functional diversity focusing on the ecosystem functions of seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and pest control. We found that avian functional diversity responded to degradation in a unimodal manner …

The Blueberry Gall Midge Complex And Its Specialist Parasitoids, Monique Michele Raymond

Master's Theses and Capstones

The cosmopolitan blueberry gall midge complex causes serious damage to the terminal vegetation of blueberry plants. The nature of their infestation, paired with prolonged periods of abundance, requires an integrated pest management approach. Of all known parasitoids present in the system, members of the subfamily Platygastrinae are the only oligophagous clade specialized against true gall midges. In this study, we present the results of blueberry gall midge and platygastrid surveys in high- and low-bush blueberry crops in the northeastern and southeastern United States, along with an identification key, with emphasis on blueberry parasitoid Synopeas species to facilitate their identification.

The Potential Of Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Epiphytes To Acclimate To A Drier Microclimate., Emily Anders

Master's Theses and Capstones

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) are characterized by frequent cloud immersion and host a rich community of canopy epiphytes. Epiphytes rely on atmospheric inputs of water, making them susceptible to reductions in cloud immersion. We used an experimental cloud reduction experiment in a Peruvian TMCF to examine the potential of five functional groups of vascular epiphytes (orchids, ferns, shrubs, bromeliads, and succulents) to acclimate to reduced cloud immersion via plasticity in morphological and physiological traits related to water use, water storage, and productivity. Complementary data for vascular and nonvascular epiphyte growth and dieback collected over a 3-year period provided additional …

Shoals Marine Lab Names New Executive Director, Rebecca Irelan

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Conservation Planning Through Genetic Monitoring, Nicholas Gosling

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Multidimensional Comparison Of Underwater Soundscapes Using The Soundscape Code, Dylan C. Wilford, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, S. Bruce Martin

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The soundscape of a given habitat is a product of its physical environment, human activity, and presence of soniferous marine life, which can be used to understand ecosystem processes, habitat quality, and biodiversity. Shallow coral habitats are hotspots of biodiversity and marine life. Deep-sea coral environments, in comparison, are generally poorly understood. Four soundscapes along the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and one soundscape from the Great Barrier Reef were quantified to explore how differences in habitat, depth, and substrate manifest acoustically. Comparisons were made between (1) deep, cold-water and shallow, warm-water coral reefs and (2) deep-sea coral and sandy …

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, November 21, 2023, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Finalists Announced: 2023 Social Venture Innovation Challenge, Sustainability Institute

Sustainability Institute Blog

No abstract provided.

Colsa Grad Student Leads 'Day As A Scientist' Event For Manchester High Schoolers, Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, November 8, 2023, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable Implementation Plan, Peter Tyack, Akamatsu Tomonari, Olaf Boebel, Lucille Chapuis, Elisabeth Debusschere, Christ De Jong, Christine Erbe, Karen Evans, Jason Gedamke, Tess Gridley, Georgios Haralabus, Reyna Jenkins, Jennifer Miksis-Olds, Hanne Sagen, Frank Thomsen, Karolin Thomisch, Edward Urban

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

This document provides guidance for the addition of acoustic observations to the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) through implementation of the Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable (EOV). The goal of this Ocean Sound EOV Implementation Plan is to define a baseline of how ocean sound observations are collected, analyzed, managed and reported. The Implementation Plan has been produced by a Committee of the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE), a project co-sponsored by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO).

Unh Scientist Named 2023 Kavli Fellow, Sarah Schaier

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Design Guidance For Wetland-Road Crossings To Reduce Blanding’S Turtle Mortality Risk, Thomas P. Ballestero, Lauren E. White, Sandra Houghton, David Burdick, Josh Megyesy

Faculty Publications

Road mortality is a leading threat to freshwater turtles, particularly the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), an endangered species in New Hampshire. Wildlife wetland-crossing structures, such as culverts and/or fences, have proven effective in reducing wildlife road mortality while retaining habitat connectivity. Funding for adequate wetland-crossing creation or restoration is limited, so prioritizing areas of high mortality risk is essential to ensuring that the resources spent are impactful. A research team of professionals from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire Fish and Game, University of New Hampshire, and other organizations formed to create a model capable …

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, October 25, 2023, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Reply To: Beyond Microbial Carbon Use Efficiency, Feng Tao, Johannes Lehmann, Ying-Ping Wang, Lifen Jiang, Bernhard Ahrens, Kostiantyn Viatkin, Stefano Manzoni, Benjamin Z. Houlton, Yuanyuan Huang, Bruce A. Hungate, Serita D. Frey, Michael W. I. Schmidt, Markus Reichstein, Nuno Carvalhais, Philippe Ciais, Umakant Mishra, Gustaf Hugelius, Toby D. Hocking, Xingjie Lu, Zheng Shi, Ronald Vargas, Yusuf Yigini, Christian Omuto, Ashish A. Malik, Guillermo Peralta, Rosa Cuevas-Corona, Luciano E. Di Paolo, Isabel Luotto, Cuijuan Liao, Yi-Shuang Liang, Vinisa S. Saynes, Xiaomeng Huang

Faculty Publications

In their commentary, Xiao et al. cautioned that the conclusions on the critical role of microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) in global soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in a paper by Tao et al. (2023) might be too simplistic. They claimed that Tao et al.’s study lacked mechanistic consideration of SOC formation and excluded important datasets. Xiao et al. brought up important points, which can be largely reconciled with our findings by understanding the differences in expressing processes in empirical studies and in models.

Faculty Excellence 2023 Honors Outstanding Unh Educators, Keith Testa

UNH Today Archive

No abstract provided.

Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach Update, October 11, 2023, Office Of Research, Economic Engagement And Outreach

Office of Research, Economic Engagement and Outreach

No abstract provided.

Predictors Of Summer Chloride Exposure In Urban Aquatic Ecosystems, Georgianna Fischer

Inquiry Journal Fall 2023

No abstract provided.

A Song Of Ice And Feathers: The Bioacoustics Of Adélie Penguin Colonies, William Brandenburg

Inquiry Journal Fall 2023

Using data collected in Antarctica, William examined the bioacoustics of a valuable indicator species of climate change.

Citizen Science Projects For The Classroom, Malin Clyde, Haley Andreozzi

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Schoolyard Sites Curriculum Workbook, Lara Gengarelly, Erik Froburg, Malin Clyde, Haley Andreozzi

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.