Digital Commons Network^™

The Soil And Plant Biogeochemistry Sampling Design For The National Ecological Observatory Network, Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley, Gordon B. Bonan, Gabriel J. Bowen, Benjamin P. Colman, Paul A. Duffy, Christine L. Goodale, Benjamin Z. Houlton, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Kiona Ogle, Scott V. Ollinger, Eldor A. Paul, Peter M. Vitousek, Kathleen C. Weathers, David G. Williams

Faculty Publications

Human impacts on biogeochemical cycles are evident around the world, from changes to forest structure and function due to atmospheric deposition, to eutrophication of surface waters from agricultural effluent, and increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will contribute to understanding human effects on biogeochemical cycles from local to continental scales. The broad NEON biogeochemistry measurement design focuses on measuring atmospheric deposition of reactive mineral compounds and CO2 fluxes, ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient stocks, and surface water chemistry across 20 eco‐climatic domains within the United States for 30 yr. Herein, we …

Integrative Analyses Reveal Signaling Pathways Underlying Familial Breast Cancer Susceptibility, Stephen R. Piccolo, Laura M. Hoffman, Thomas Conner, Gajendra Shrestha, Adam L. Cohen, Jeffrey R. Marks, Leigh A. Neumayer, Cori A. Agarwal, Mary C. Beckerle, Irene L. Andrulis, Avrum E. Spira, Philip J. Moos, Saundra S. Buys, William Evan Johnson, Andrea H. Bild

Faculty Publications

The signaling events that drive familial breast cancer (FBC) risk remain poorly understood. While the majority of genomic studies have focused on genetic risk variants, known risk variants account for at most 30% of FBC cases. Considering that multiple genes may influence FBC risk, we hypothesized that a pathway‐based strategy examining different data types from multiple tissues could elucidate the biological basis for FBC. In this study, we performed integrated analyses of gene expression and exome‐sequencing data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and showed that cell adhesion pathways are significantly and consistently dysregulated in women who develop FBC. The dysregulation …

Synthesis And In Vitro Studies Of A Series Of Carborane-Containing Boron Dipyrromethenes (Bodipys), Sunting Xuan, Ning Zhao, Zehua Zhou, Frank R. Fronczek, M. Graça H. Vicente

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Chemical Society. A series of seven BODIPYs functionalized with ortho-carborane groups at the 8(meso) or 3/5(α) position were synthesized and characterized by NMR, HRMS, HPLC, and in the cases of 2b and 5b, by X-ray analysis. The BODIPYs exhibited low dark toxicity and phototoxicity toward human glioma T98G cells, and their cellular uptake varied significantly, with 5b accumulating the most and 7 the least. All BODIPYs localized mainly within the cell ER. The BODIPYs showed higher permeabilities than lucifer yellow across human hCMEC/D3 brain endothelial cell monolayers as the BBB model. Among this series, 1b showed the …

Amidine-Mediated Zwitterionic Ring-Opening Polymerization Of N-Alkyl N-Carboxyanhydride: Mechanism, Kinetics, And Architecture Elucidation, Ang Li, Lu Lu, Xin Li, Li Lin He, Changwoo Do, Jayne C. Garno, Donghui Zhang

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Chemical Society. Zwitterionic ring-opening polymerization (ZROP) of N-butyl N-carboxyanhydrides (Bu-NCAs) has been investigated using 1,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene (DBU), a bicyclic amidine initiator. It was found that poly(N-butylglycine)s (PNBGs) with molecular weight (Mn) in the 3.5-32.4 kg mol-1 range and polydispersity index (PDI) in the 1.02-1.12 range can be readily obtained by systematically varying the initial monomer to initiator feed ratio. The polymerization exhibits characteristics of a controlled polymerization, as evidenced by the linear increase of polymer molecular weight with conversion and the successful enchainment experiments. Kinetic studies revealed that the reaction is first-order dependent on the monomer and the …

Prediction Of The Export And Fate Of Global Ocean Net Primary Production: The Exports Science Plan, David A. Siegel, Ken O. Buesseler, Michael J. Behrenfeld, Claudia R. Benitez-Nelson, Emmanuel Boss, Mark A. Brzezinski, Adrian Burd, Craig A. Carlson, Eric A. D'Asaro, Scott C. Doney, Mary J. Perry, Rachel H. R. Stanley, Deborah K. Steinberg

Faculty Publications

Ocean ecosystems play a critical role in the Earth's carbon cycle and the quantification of their impacts for both present conditions and for predictions into the future remains one of the greatest challenges in oceanography. The goal of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) Science Plan is to develop a predictive understanding of the export and fate of global ocean net primary production (NPP) and its implications for present and future climates. The achievement of this goal requires a quantification of the mechanisms that control the export of carbon from the euphotic zone as well as …

Anthropogenic Habitats Facilitate Dispersal Of An Early Successional Obligate: Implications For Restoration Of An Endangered Ecosystem, Katrina E. Amaral, Michael W. Palace, Kathleen M. O'Brien, Lindsey E. Fenderson, Adrienne I. Kovach

Faculty Publications

Landscape modification and habitat fragmentation disrupt the connectivity of natural landscapes, with major consequences for biodiversity. Species that require patchily distributed habitats, such as those that specialize on early successional ecosystems, must disperse through a landscape matrix with unsuitable habitat types. We evaluated landscape effects on dispersal of an early successional obligate, the New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis). Using a landscape genetics approach, we identified barriers and facilitators of gene flow and connectivity corridors for a population of cottontails in the northeastern United States. We modeled dispersal in relation to landscape structure and composition and tested hypotheses about the influence …

Dietary Plant Lectins Appear To Be Transported From The Gut To Gain Access To And Alter Dopaminergic Neurons Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, A Potential Etiology Of Parkinson’S Disease, Jolene Zheng, Mingming Wang, Wenqian Wei, Jeffrey N. Keller, Binita Adhikari, Jason F. King, Michael L. King, Nan Peng, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

© Copyright © 2016 Zheng, Wang, Wei, Keller, Adhikari, King, King, Peng and Laine. Lectins from dietary plants have been shown to enhance drug absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of rats, be transported trans-synaptically as shown by tracing of axonal and dendritic paths, and enhance gene delivery. Other carbohydrate-binding protein toxins are known to traverse the gut intact in dogs. Post-feeding rhodamine- or TRITC-tagged dietary lectins, the lectins were tracked from gut to dopaminergic neurons (DAergic-N) in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) [egIs1(Pdat-1:GFP)] where the mutant has the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused to a dopamine transport protein gene …

Attosecond Transient Absorption In Dense Gases: Exploring The Interplay Between Resonant Pulse Propagation And Laser-Induced Line-Shape Control, Chen Ting Liao, Arvinder Sandhu, Seth Camp, Kenneth J. Schafer, Mette B. Gaarde

Faculty Publications

We investigate the evolution of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectral line shapes in an optically thick helium gas under near-infrared (IR) perturbation. In our experimental and theoretical work, we systematically vary the IR intensity, time-delay, gas density, and IR polarization parameters to study line-shape modifications induced by collective interactions in a regime beyond the single-atom response of a thin, dilute gas. In both experiment and theory, we find that specific features in the frequency-domain absorption profile, and their evolution with propagation distance, can be attributed to the interplay between resonant attosecond pulse propagation and IR-induced phase shifts. Our calculations show that …

Objective Research? Information Literacy Instruction Perspectives, Terry Dwain Robertson

Faculty Publications

Common understandings of “objective” research include values such as “factual” and “interpretive neutrality”. There is a growing consensus that the person, the “subject”, doing the research counts as much as if not more in the interpretive outcomes than the “facts” alone, and that “interpretive neutrality” is not possible.

The presentation offers an alternative framing of “objective research” as the grounded, intentional and savvy analysis of an “object” in conversation with a community of peers/experts for the purpose of creating knowledge.

Following Ferraris’ ontology, three classes of “objects” exist (1) Natural objects: exist whether or not a person notices them. Example: …

Cucumis Melo Endornavirus: Genome Organization, Host Range And Co-Divergence With The Host, Sead Sabanadzovic, William M. Wintermantel, Rodrigo A. Valverde, James D. Mccreight, Nina Aboughanem-Sabanadzovic

Faculty Publications

A high molecular weight dsRNA was isolated from a Cucumis melo L. plant (referred to as 'CL01') of an unknown cultivar and completely sequenced. Sequence analyses showed that dsRNA is associated with an endornavirus for which a name Cucumis melo endornavirus (CmEV) is proposed. The genome of CmEV-CL01 consists of 15,078 nt, contains a single, 4939 codons-long ORF and terminates with a stretch of 10 cytosine residues. Comparisons of the putative CmEV-encoded polyprotein with available references in protein databases revealed a unique genome organization characterized by the presence of the following domains: viral helicase Superfamily 1 (Hel-1), three glucosyltransferases (doublet …

Influence Of The Mississippi River On Pseudo-Nitzschia Spp. Abundance And Toxicity In Louisiana Coastal Waters, Sibel Bargu, Melissa M. Baustian, Nancy N. Rabalais, Ross Del Rio, Benjamin Von Korff, R. Eugene Turner

Faculty Publications

The presence of domoic acid (DA) toxin from multiple species of Pseudo-nitzschia is a concern in the highly productive food webs of the northern 1,* 2,3 2 1 1,4 1 1 2 3 4 Gulf of Mexico. We documented the Pseudo-­nitzschia presence, abundance, blooms, and toxicity over 3 years along a transect ∼100 km west of the Mississippi River Delta on the continental shelf. Pseudo-nitzschia were present throughout the year and occurred in high abundances (>10 cells l ) in the early spring months during high Mississippi River (MSR) flow (∼20,000 m s ) but were most abundant ( …

Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica L.) Attenuates Ffa Induced Ceramide Accumulation In 3t3- L1 Adipocytes In An Adiponectin Dependent Manner, Diana N. Obanda, Peng Zhao, Allison J. Richard, David Ribnicky, William T. Cefalu, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

©2016 Obanda et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Objective Excess dietary lipids result in the accumulation of lipid metabolites including ceramides that can attenuate insulin signaling. There is evidence that a botanical extract of Urtica dioica L. (stinging nettle) improves insulin action, yet the precise mechanism(s) are not known. Hence, we examined the effects of Urtica dioica L. (UT) on adipocytes. Research Design We investigated the effects of an ethanolic extract …

Genetically Engineered Yeast Expressing A Lytic Peptide From Bee Venom (Melittin) Kills Symbiotic Protozoa In The Gut Of Formosan Subterranean Termites, Claudia Husseneder, Jennifer R. Donaldson, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Husseneder et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, is a costly invasive urban pest in warm and humid regions around the world. Feeding workers of the Formosan subterranean termite genetically engineered yeast strains that express synthetic protozoacidal lytic peptides has been shown to kill the cellulose digesting termite gut protozoa, which results in death of the termite colony. In this study, we …

Efficient Dnp Nmr Of Membrane Proteins: Sample Preparation Protocols, Sensitivity, And Radical Location, Shu Y. Liao, Myungwoon Lee, Tuo Wang, Ivan V. Sergeyev, Mei Hong

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Although dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP) has dramatically enhanced solid-state NMR spectral sensitivities of many synthetic materials and some biological macromolecules, recent studies of membrane-protein DNP using exogenously doped paramagnetic radicals as polarizing agents have reported varied and sometimes surprisingly limited enhancement factors. This motivated us to carry out a systematic evaluation of sample preparation protocols for optimizing the sensitivity of DNP NMR spectra of membrane-bound peptides and proteins at cryogenic temperatures of Ã110 K. We show that mixing the radical with the membrane by direct titration instead of centrifugation gives a significant boost to …

S3 State Of The O2-Evolving Complex Of Photosystem Ii: Insights From Qm/Mm, Exafs, And Femtosecond X-Ray Diffraction, Mikhail Askerka, Jimin Wang, David J. Vinyard, Gary W. Brudvig, Victor S. Batista

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Chemical Society. The oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) of photosystem II has been studied in the S3 state by electron paramagnetic resonance, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and femtosecond X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, the actual structure of the OEC in the S3 state has yet to be established. Here, we apply hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics methods and propose a structural model that is consistent with EXAFS and XRD. The model supports binding of water ligands to the cluster in the S2 → S3 transition through a carousel rearrangement around Mn4, inspired by studies of ammonia binding.

Fatty Acids Differ Significantly In Castes Of The Formosan Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), Zhaorigetu Chen, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

© The Authors 2015. Identification and quantitation of fatty acids (FAs) in nymphs, alates, workers, presoldiers, and soldiers of the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, were determined by gas chromatography- mass spectrometry, showing quantitative and qualitative differences among groups. Total FAs content of nymphs and alate females was about 1.5-fold higher than alate males, about 2-fold higher than workers, 6-fold higher than presoldiers, and 12-fold higher than soldiers. Overall differences in total FAs content were due to oleic acid (C18:1), stearic acid (C18:0), linoleic acid (C18:2), and palmitic acid (C16:0). Soldiers contained two unique FAs among the castes - …

Plasma Biomarker Analysis In Pediatric Ards: Generating Future Framework From A Pilot Randomized Control Trial Of Methylprednisolone: A Framework For Identifying Plasma Biomarkers Related To Clinical Outcomes In Pediatric Ards, Dai Kimura, Jordy Saravia, Cynthia R. Rovnaghi, Gianfranco Umberto Meduri, Andreas Schwingshackl, Stephania A. Cormier, Kanwaljeet J. Anand

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Kimura, Saravia, Rovnaghi, Meduri, Schwingshackl, Cormier and Anand. Objective: Lung injury activates multiple pro-inflammatory pathways, including neutrophils, epithelial, and endothelial injury, and coagulation factors leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Low-dose methylprednisolone therapy (MPT) improved oxygenation and ventilation in early pediatric ARDS without altering duration of mechanical ventilation or mortality. We evaluated the effects of MPT on biomarkers of endothelial [Ang-2 and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1)] or epithelial [soluble receptor for activated glycation end products (sRAGE)] injury, neutrophil activation [matrix metalloproteinase-8 (MMP-8)], and coagulation (plasminogen activator inhibitor-1). Design: Double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial. Setting: Tertiary-care pediatric intensive …

Variable Prey Development Time Suppresses Predator-Prey Cycles And Enhances Stability, James T. Cronin, John D. Reeve, Dashun Xu, Mingqing Xiao, Heidi N. Stevens

Faculty Publications

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS. Although theoretical models have demonstrated that predator-prey population dynamics can depend critically on age (stage) structure and the duration and variability in development times of different life stages, experimental support for this theory is non-existent. We conducted an experiment with a host-parasitoid system to test the prediction that increased variability in the development time of the vulnerable host stage can promote interaction stability. Host-parasitoid microcosms were subjected to two treatments: Normal and High variance in the duration of the vulnerable host stage. In control and Normal-variance microcosms, hosts and parasitoids exhibited distinct population …

Competition-Mediated Feedbacks In Experimental Multispecies Epizootics, Tad Dallas, Richard J. Hall, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America. Competition structures ecological communities and alters host-pathogen interactions. In environmentally transmitted pathogens, an infection-resistant competitor may influence infection dynamics in a susceptible species through the negative impacts of competition (e.g., by reducing host density or causing nutritional stress that increases susceptibility to infection) and/or the positive impacts of reducing transmission efficiency (e.g., by removing environmental pathogen stages). Thus, a non-susceptible competitor may enhance, reduce, or have no net effect on susceptible host density and infection prevalence. Here, we couple an epidemiological model with experimental epidemics to test how resource competition with a …

Costs Of Resistance And Infection By A Generalist Pathogen, Tad Dallas, Mathieu Holtackers, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as "resistance costs", are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we examine resistance and infection costs of a generalist fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) capable of infecting a number of host species. Costs were quantified as reductions in host lifespan, total reproduction, …

Comparison Of Thermal Performance Equations In Describing Temperature-Dependent Developmental Rates Of Insects: (I) Empirical Models, Pei Jian Shi, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Lei Chen, Feng Ge

Faculty Publications

Temperature greatly affects the developmental duration of insects at their different stages, and many mathematical models exist for describing their temperature-dependent developmental rates. It is important to choose a suitable model to predict outbreaks of pest insects under climate change. However, previous comparisons among these models were usually based on a single species. In the present study, we compared the six nonlinear models (the Briére-1, Briére-2, Lactin, Performance-2, beta, and Ratkowsky models) based on the goodness of fit and the trade-off between the model's goodness of fit and structural complexity, using 10 temperaturedependent developmental rate datasets on insects to make …

Effect Of Temperature On Two Bio-Insecticides For The Control Of Confused Flour Beetle (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), Brian M. Thompson, Gadi V.P. Reddy

Faculty Publications

Stored product pests account for as much as 10% of food loss worldwide. Insects such as the confused flour beetle, Tribolium confusum Jacquelin du Val (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), are major pests of small grain in storage bins and grain elevators in Montana. Cold winters and dry summers have traditionally helped reduce levels of T. confusum in storage bins. However, with change in winter temperatures, this pest has become harder to manage using physical measures such as desiccation. The alternative, the chemical insecticide aluminum phosphide, is effective at controlling T. confusum in grain stores but is highly toxic to mammals, and recently …

Gene Family Expansions In Aphids Maintained By Endosymbiotic And Nonsymbiotic Traits, Rebecca P. Duncan, Honglin Feng, Douglas M. Nguyen, Alex C.C. Wilson

Faculty Publications

Facilitating the evolution of new gene functions, gene duplication is a major mechanism driving evolutionary innovation. Gene family expansions relevant to host/symbiont interactions are increasingly being discovered in eukaryotes that host endosymbiotic microbes. Such discoveries entice speculation that gene duplication facilitates the evolution of novel, endosymbiotic relationships. Here, using a comparative transcriptomic approach combined with differential gene expression analysis, we investigate the importance of endosymbiosis in retention of amino acid transporter paralogs in aphid genomes. To pinpoint the timing of amino acid transporter duplications we inferred gene phylogenies for five aphid species and three outgroups. We found that while some …

Sialomes And Mialomes: A Systems-Biology View Of Tick Tissues And Tick-Host Interactions, Jindrich Chmelar, Jan Kotal, Shahid Karim, Petr Kopacek, Ivo M.B. Francischetti, Joao H.F. Pedra, Michail Kotsyfakis

Faculty Publications

Tick saliva facilitates tick feeding and infection of the host. Gene expression analysis of tick salivary glands and other tissues involved in host-pathogen interactions has revealed a wide range of bioactive tick proteins. Transcriptomic analysis has been a milestone in the field and has recently been enhanced by next-generation sequencing (NGS). Furthermore, the application of quantitative proteomics to ticks with unknown genomes has provided deeper insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying tick hematophagy, pathogen transmission, and tick-host-pathogen interactions. We review current knowledge on the transcriptomics and proteomics of tick tissues from a systems-biology perspective and discuss future challenges in the …

Long Non-Coding Rnas As Prognostic Markers In Human Breast Cancer, Hairong Liu, Juan Li, Pratirodh Koirala, Xianfeng Ding, Binghai Chen, Yiheng Wang, Zheng Wang, Chuanxin Wang, Xu Zhang, Yin-Yuan Mo

Faculty Publications

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been recently shown to play an important role in gene regulation and normal cellular functions, and disease processes. However, despite the overwhelming number of lncRNAs identified to date, little is known about their role in cancer for vast majority of them. The present study aims to determine whether lncRNAs can serve as prognostic markers in human breast cancer. We interrogated the breast invasive carcinoma dataset of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) at the cBioPortal consisting of ~ 1,000 cases. Among 2,730 lncRNAs analyzed, 577 lncRNAs had alterations ranging from 1% to 32% frequency, which include …

Sleep In The Context Of Healthy Aging And Psychiatric Syndromes, Daniel Kay, Joseph M. Dzierzewski

Faculty Publications

Humans spend approximately 1/3 of their lives asleep. Whether due to evolutionary or ontogenetic factors, sleep and psychiatric disorders change with age. While much of sleep remains an enigma, the field of sleep research is experiencing an exponential increase in its understanding of the causes, correlates, and consequences of sleep disturbances. Although the relationship between age-related sleep and psychiatric conditions is a common clinical observation, empirical investigations into these associations remain scarce. Thus, treating patients with symptoms of sleep disorders in the context of psychiatric conditions remains a major challenge. This chapter reviews the state-of-the-science of sleep disorders in the …

An Extract Of Urtica Dioica L. Mitigates Obesity Induced Insulin Resistance In Mice Skeletal Muscle Via Protein Phosphatase 2a (Pp2a), Diana N. Obanda, David Ribnicky, Yongmei Yu, Jacqueline Stephens, William T. Cefalu

Faculty Publications

The leaf extract of Urtica dioica L. (UT) has been reported to improve glucose homeostasis in vivo, but definitive studies on efficacy and mechanism of action are lacking. We investigated the effects of UT on obesity-induced insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. Male C57BL/6J mice were divided into three groups: low-fat diet (LFD), high-fat diet (HFD) and HFD supplemented with UT. Body weight, body composition, plasma glucose and plasma insulin were monitored. Skeletal muscle (gastrocnemius) was analyzed for insulin sensitivity, ceramide accumulation and the post translational modification and activity of protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A). PP2A is activated by ceramides and dephosphorylates …

Predicting Dissolved Lignin Phenol Concentrations In The Coastal Ocean From Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter (Cdom) Absorption Coefficients, Cédric G. Fichot, Ronald Benner, Karl Kaiser, Yuan Shen, Rainer M. W. Amon, Hiroshi Ogawa, Chua-Jung Lu

Faculty Publications

Dissolved lignin is a well-established biomarker of terrigenous dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the ocean, and a chromophoric component of DOM. Although evidence suggests there is a strong linkage between lignin concentrations and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorption coefficients in coastal waters, the characteristics of this linkage and the existence of a relationship that is applicable across coastal oceans remain unclear. Here, 421 paired measurements of dissolved lignin concentrations (sum of nine lignin phenols) and CDOM absorption coefficients [ag(λ)] were used to examine their relationship along the river-ocean continuum (0–37 salinity) and across contrasting coastal oceans (sub-tropical, temperate, high-latitude). …

Effects Of High Hydrostatic Pressure On Expression Profiles Of In Vitro Produced Vitrified Bovine Blastocysts, Zongliang Jiang, Patrick Harrington, Ming Zhang, Sadie L. Marjani, Joonghoon Park, Lynn Kuo, Csaba Pribenszky, Xiuchun Tian

Faculty Publications

High hydrostatic pressure (HHP) has been used to pre-condition embryos before essential, yet potentially detrimental procedures such as cryopreservation. However, the mechanisms for HHP are poorly understood. We treated bovine blastocysts with three different HHP (40, 60 and 80 MPa) in combination with three recovery periods (0, 1 h, 2 h post HHP). Re-expansion rates were significantly higher at 40 and 60 but lower at 80 MPa after vitrification-warming in the treated groups than controls. Microarray analysis revealed 399 differentially expressed transcripts, representing 254 unique genes, among different groups. Gene ontology analysis indicated that HHP at 40 and 60 MPa …

Costs Of Resistance And Infection By A Generalist Pathogen, Tad Dallas, Mathieu Holtackers, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

Pathogen infection is typically costly to hosts, resulting in reduced fitness. However, pathogen exposure may also come at a cost even if the host does not become infected. These fitness reductions, referred to as “resistance costs”, are inducible physiological costs expressed as a result of a trade-off between resistance to a pathogen and aspects of host fitness (e.g., reproduction). Here, we examine resistance and infection costs of a generalist fungal pathogen (Metschnikowia bicuspidata) capable of infecting a number of host species. Costs were quantified as reductions in host lifespan, total reproduction, and mean clutch size as a function …