Digital Commons Network^™

An Ideal Combination For Marine Turtle Conservation: Exceptional Nesting Season, With Low Nest Predation Resulting From Effective Low-Cost Predator Management, Richard M. Engeman, R. Erik Martin, John Woolard, Margo Stahl, Charles Pelizza, Anthony Duffiney, Bernice Constantin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We examined impacts from effective predator management on nesting success of marine turtles in an exceptional nesting year at Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, USA, a beach with a high density of nesting marine turtles that has a history of severe nest predation. Historically up to 95% of nests were predated, primarily by raccoons Procyon lotor and, more recently, armadillos Dasypus novemcinctus. Predator control was identified as the most important conservation tool for marine turtle reproduction. Predator management by refuge staff as ancillary duties typically only held predation levels to c. 50%. However, when experts in predator control …

Effect Of Nitrogen Fertilizer Rate And Harvest Season On Forage Yield, Quality, And Macronutrient Concentrations In Midland Bermuda Grass, Maru K. Kering, John A. Guretzky, Eddie Funderburg, Jagadeesh Mosali

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Bermuda grass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.] is a major forage for grazing and hay production in the southern United States. The objectives of this study were to determine effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization rate (0, 112, 224, 336, and 448 kg ha⁻¹), split spring and summer applications of N at the 224 and 448 kg ha⁻¹ rates, and harvest periods (spring and summer) on forage yield, crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), total digestible nutrients (TDN), and concentrations of phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), and calcium (Ca) in Midland Bermuda …

Switchgrass For Forage And Bioenergy: Harvest And Nitrogen Rate Effects On Biomass Yields And Nutrient Composition, John A. Guretzky, Jon T. Biermacher, Billy Cook, Maru K. Kering, Jagadeesh Mosali

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) may have value as forage and a bioenergy feedstock. Our objective was to evaluate how harvest system and N fertilizer rates affected biomass yield and nutrient composition of young stands of switchgrass (cv. Alamo) in the southern Great Plains, USA. Nitrogen fertilization increased biomass yields from 10.4, 10.8, and 12.2 Mg ha⁻¹ at 0 kg N ha⁻¹ to 13.7, 14.6, and 21.0 Mg ha⁻¹ at 225 kg N ha⁻¹ when harvested after seed set (October), after frost (December), and twice per year after boot stage (July) and frost, respectively. Nutrient concentrations …

Learning Gains And Response To Digital Lessons On Soil Genesis And Development, Martha Mamo, James A. Ippolito, Timothy A. Kettler, Ronald Reuter, Dennis L. Mccallister, Patricia Morner, Dann E. Husmann, Erin E. Blankenship

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Evolving computer technology is offering opportunities for new online approaches in teaching methods and delivery. Well-designed web-based (online) lessons should reinforce the critical need of the soil science discipline in today's food, energy, and environmental issues, as well as meet the needs of the diverse clientele with interest in agricultural and/ or environmental disciplines. The objectives of the project were to: (1) develop web-based lessons in soil genesis and development and (2) evaluate context-based case studies or application lessons (agronomic, environmental, and ecological situations) to teach soil genesis and development. Six principles lessons, along with three applications lessons, were developed …

Registration Of ‘Nh03614 Cl’ Wheat, P. Stephen Baenziger, Robert A. Graybosch, Lenis Alton Nelson, Teshome H. Regassa, Robert N. Klein, D. D. Baltensperger, Dipak K. Santra, A. M. H. Ibrahim, W. Berzonsky, J. M. Krall, Lei Xu, Stephen N. Wegulo, M. L. Bernards, Y. Jin, J. Kolmer, J. H. Hatchett, M.-S. Chen, G. Bai

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

‘NH03614 CL’ (Reg. No. CV-1051, PI 653833) hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed cooperatively by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA-ARS and released in 2008 by the developing institutions and the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the Wyoming Agricultural Experiment Station. In addition to researchers at the releasing institutions, USDA-ARS researchers at Manhattan, KS and St. Paul, MN participated in the development of NH03614 CL. NH03614 CL was selected from the cross ‘Wesley’ sib//‘Millennium’ sib/‘Above’ sib that was made in the spring of 1997 to develop new herbicide-tolerant cultivars. NH03614 CL was selected …

Biological Suppression Of Velvetleaf (Abutilon Theophrasti ) In An Eastern Nebraska Soil, Jane Okalebo, Gary Y. Yuen, Rhae A. Drijber, Erin E. Blankenship, Cafer Eken, John L. Lindquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Weed-suppressive soils contain naturally occurring microorganisms that suppress a weed by inhibiting its growth, development, and reproductive potential. Increased knowledge of microbe–weed interactions in such soils could lead to the identification of management practices that create or enhance soil suppressiveness to weeds. Velvetleaf death and growth suppression was observed in a research field (fieldA) that was planted with high populations of velvetleaf, which may have developed via microbial mediated plant–soil feedback. Greenhouse studies were conducted with soil collected from fieldA (soilA) to determine if it was biologically suppressive to velvetleaf. In one study, mortality of velvetleaf …

Switchgrass Contains Two Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenases Involved In Lignin Formation, Aaron J. Saathoff, Christian M. Tobias, Scott E. Sattler, Eric J. Haas, Paul Twigg, Gautam Sarath

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Lignin content of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), a bioenergy species, is a critical determinant of biomass quality since it can negatively impact conversion of biomass into liquid fuels via biochemical platforms. Cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) is a key enzyme in lignin biosynthesis. Here, we have shown that cv. Kanlow switchgrass contains at least two closely related CAD genes (PviCAD1 and PviCAD2) that code for proteins containing highly conserved domains and residues that identify them as bona fide CADs. Both recombinant proteins displayed substrate kinetics consistent with their presumed role in cell wall lignification. Proteomic and immunoblotting detected …

Could Metabolic Syndrome, Lipodystrophy, And Aging Be Mesenchymal Stem Cell Exhaustion Syndromes?, Eduardo Mansilla, Vanina Díaz Aquino, Daniel Zambón, Gustavo Horacio Marin, Karina Mártire, Gustavo Roque, Thomas Ichim, Neil H. Riordan, Amit Patel, Flavio Sturla, Gustavo F. Larsen, Rubén Spretz, Luis Núñez, Carlos Soratti, Ricardo Ibar, Michiel Van Leeuwen, José María Tau, Hugo Drago, Alberto Maceira

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

One of the most important and complex diseases ofmodern society is metabolic syndrome. This syndrome has not been completely understood, and therefore an effective treatment is not available yet. We propose a possible stem cell mechanism involved in the development ofmetabolic syndrome. This way of thinking lets us consider also other significant pathologies that could have similar etiopathogenic pathways, like lipodystrophic syndromes, progeria, and aging. All these clinical situations could be the consequence of a progressive and persistent stemcell exhaustion syndrome (SCES). Themain outcome of this SCES would be an irreversible loss of the effective regenerative mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) …

Functional Factor Viii Made With Von Willebrand Factor At High Levels In Transgenic Milk, Steven W. Pipe, Hongzhi Miao, Stephen P. Butler, Jennifer Calcaterra, William H. Velander

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background—Current manufacturing methods for recombinant human Factor VIII (rFVIII) within mammalian cell cultures are inefficient which limit the abundance needed for affordable, worldwide treatment of hemophilia A. However, rFVIII has been expressed at very high levels by the transgenic mammary gland of mice, rabbits, sheep and pigs. Unfortunately, it is secreted into milk with low specific activity due in part to the labile, heterodimeric structure that results from furin processing of its B domain.

Objectives—To express biologically active rFVIII in the milk of transgenic mice through targeted bioengineering.

Methods—Transgenic mice were made with a mammary specific FVIII gene (226/N6) bioengineered …

Induction Of Tolerance By Oral Administration Of Factor Viii And Treatment Of Hemophila, Oral Alpan, Tirumalai Kamala, Polly Matzinger, William Hugold Velander

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Disclosed herein is a simple method for the treatment of antigen-deficiency diseases, by orally administering to a Subject a therapeutically effective amount of the deficient anti gen, wherein the antigen is not present in a liposome. In one embodiment, the method increases hemostasis in a subject having hemophilia A or B, by orally administering to the hemophiliac atherapeutically effective amount of the appropriate clotting factor other than in a liposome, Sufficient to induce oral tolerance and Supply exogenous clotting factor to the subject.

Process Development And Cgmp Manufacturing Of A Recombinant Ricin Vaccine: An Effective And Stable Recombinant Ricin A-Chain Vaccine—RveCTm, Michael M. Meagher, Javier G. Seravalli, S. Todd Swanson, Roger G. Ladd, Yogender P. Khasa, Mehmet Inan, Jay C. Harner, Scott K. Johnson, Kevin E. Van Cott, Changhong Lindsey, Robert Wannemacher, Leonard A. Smith

Papers in Biomolecular Engineering

Ricin is a potent toxin and a potential bioterrorism weapon with no specific countermeasures or vaccines available. The holotoxin is composed of two polypeptide chains linked by a single disulfide bond: the A-chain (RTA), which is an N-glycosidase enzyme, and the B-chain (RTB), a lectin polypeptide that binds galactosyl moieties on the surface of the mammalian target cells. Previously (McHugh et al.), a recombinant truncated form of RTA (rRTA1-33/ 44-198 protein, herein denoted RVEa^TM) expressed in Escherichia coli using a codon-optimized gene was shown to be non-toxic, stable, and protective against a ricin challenge in mice. Here, we …

The Composition And Origins Of Genomic Variation Among Individuals Of The Soybean Reference Cultivar Williams 82, William J. Haun, D. L. Hyten, Wayne W. Xu, Daniel J. Gerhardt, Thomas J. Albert, Todd Richmond, Jeffrey A. Jeddeloh, Gaofeng Jia, Nathan M. Springer, Carroll P. Vance, Robert M. Stupar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean (Glycine max) is a self-pollinating species that has relatively low nucleotide polymorphism rates compared with other crop species. Despite the low rate of nucleotide polymorphisms, a wide range of heritable phenotypic variation exists. There is even evidence for heritable phenotypic variation among individuals within some cultivars. Williams 82, the soybean cultivar used to produce the reference genome sequence, was derived from backcrossing a Phytophthora root rot resistance locus from the donor parent Kingwa into the recurrent parent Williams. To explore the genetic basis of intracultivar variation, we investigated the nucleotide, structural, and gene content variation of different …

Comparison Of Subsurface And Surface Runoff Phosphorus Transport Rates In Alluvial Floodplains, Aaron R. Mittelstet, Derek M. Heeren, Garey A. Fox, Daniel E. Storm, Michael J. White, Ronald B. Miller

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Phosphorus (P) loading to streams can occur by both surface runoff and subsurface transport, with subsurface P transport often assumed negligible. Groundwater P concentrations in alluvial aquifers can be significant, especially in preferential flow paths (PFPs). The objectives of this research were to quantify subsurface P transport rates at two sites in northeastern Oklahoma and to compare them with surface runoff P transport rates derived from a hydrologic model, the Pasture Phosphorus Management Calculator (PPM Plus). Ozark ecoregion study sites were adjacent to the Barren Fork Creek and Honey Creek in northeastern OK, USA. Each site, instrumented with 24 observation …

In Vivo Magnetic Resonance Elastography Of Mesenchymally Derived Constructs, Shadi F. Othman, Evan T. Curtis, Huihui Xu

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The multidisciplinary field of tissue engineering (TE) aims to create biological substitutes to restore, maintain, or enhance the function of tissue or whole organs, in which the mechanical properties of replacements are critical to their structure and function. Several techniques have been investigated for measuring the mechanical properties of developing tissues and organs; however, current methods are destructive. The goal of this work is to apply high resolution Magnetic Resonance Elastography (μMRE) technique with 100 μm in-plane resolution to address a critical problem in TE: nondestructive monitoring and characterization of growing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)-based tissue engineered constructs. In this …

Biological Approaches For Addressing The Grand Challenge Of Providing Access To Clean Drinking Water, Mark R. Riley, Charles P. Gerba, Menachem Elimelech

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The U.S. National Academy of Engineering (NAE) recently published a document presenting “Grand Challenges for Engineering”. This list was proposed by leading engineers and scientists from around the world at the request of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Fourteen topics were selected for these grand challenges, and at least seven can be addressed using the tools and methods of biological engineering. Here we describe how biological engineers can address the challenge of providing access to clean drinking water. This issue must be addressed in part by removing or inactivating microbial and chemical contaminants in order to properly deliver water …

Development Of An Angular Scanning System For Sensing Vertical Profiles Of Soil Electrical Conductivity, Viacheslav Adamchuk, Ahmad S. Mat Su, Roger A. Eigenberg, Richard B. Ferguson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Apparent soil electrical conductivity (EC_a) is typically mapped to define soil spatial variability within an agricultural field. Knowledge of the vertical variability of EC_a is desired to define the site‐specific behavior of the soil profile. A pneumatic angular scanning system (PASS) was developed to sense horizontal and vertical changes of EC_a on‐the‐go with an electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument using an angular scanning method. This sensor system consists of a sled with a rotating mechanism, an EMI sensor, an inclinometer, and a pneumatic actuator. The system was evaluated at the University of Nebraska‐Lincoln Agricultural Research and Development …

Systems-Scale Analysis Reveals Pathways Involved In Cellular Response To Methamphetamine, Lijie Sun, Hong-Mei Li, Manfredo J. Seufferheld, Kent R. Walters Jr., Venu M. Margam, Amber Jannasch, Naomi Diaz, Catherine P. Riley, Weilin Sun, Yueh-Feng Li, William M. Muir, Jun Xie, Jing Wu, Fan Zhang, Jake Y. Chen, Eric L. Barker, Jiri Adamec, Barry R. Pittendrigh

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background: Methamphetamine (METH), an abused illicit drug, disrupts many cellular processes, including energy metabolism, spermatogenesis, and maintenance of oxidative status. However, many components of the molecular underpinnings of METH toxicity have yet to be established. Network analyses of integrated proteomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic data are particularly well suited for identifying cellular responses to toxins, such as METH, which might otherwise be obscured by the numerous and dynamic changes that are induced.

Methodology/Results: We used network analyses of proteomic and transcriptomic data to evaluate pathways in Drosophila melanogaster that are affected by acute METH toxicity. METH exposure caused changes in the …

Comparison Of Genomic And Proteomic Data In Recurrent Airway Obstruction Affected Horses Using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis®, Julien Racine, Vinzenz Gerber, Marybeth Miskovic Feutz, C. Paige Riley, Jiri Adamec, June E. Swinburne, Laurent L. Couetil

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background: Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) is a severe chronic respiratory disease affecting horses worldwide, though mostly in the Northern hemisphere. Environmental as well as genetic factors strongly influence the course and prognosis of the disease. Research has been focused on characterization of immunologic factors contributing to inflammatory responses, on genetic linkage analysis, and, more recently, on proteomic analysis of airway secretions from affected horses. The goal of this study was to investigate the interactions between eight candidate genes previously identified in a genetic linkage study and proteins expressed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) collected from healthy and RAO-affected horses. The …

Reduced Utilization Of Selenium By Naked Mole Rats Due To A Specific Defect In Gpx1 Expression, Marina V. Kasaikina, Alexei V. Lobanov, Mikalai I. Malinouski, Byung Cheon Lee, Javier Seravalli, Dmitri E. Fomenko, Anton A. Turanov, Lydia Finney, Stefan Vogt, Thomas J. Park, Richard A. Miller, Dolph L. Hatfield, Vadim N. Gladyshev

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Naked mole rat (MR) Heterocephalus glaber is a rodent model of delayed aging because of its unusually long life span (>28 years). It is also not known to develop cancer. In the current work, tissue imaging by x-ray fluorescence microscopy and direct analyses of trace elements revealed low levels of selenium in the MR liver and kidney, whereas MR and mouse brains had similar selenium levels. This effect was not explained by uniform selenium deficiency because methionine sulfoxide reductase activities were similar in mice and MR. However, glutathione peroxidase activity was an order of magnitude lower inMRliver and kidney …

Defining A Relationship Between Dietary Fatty Acids And The Cytochrome P450 System In A Mouse Model Of Fatty Liver Disease, Monika Gonzalez, Whitney Sealls, Elliot D. Jesch, M. Julia Brosnan, Istvan Ladunga, Xinxin Ding, Paul N. Black, Concetta C. Dirusso

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Liver-specific ablation of cytochrome P450 reductase in mice (LCN) results in hepatic steatosis that can progress to steatohepatitis characterized by inflammation and fibrosis. The specific cause of the fatty liver phenotype is poorly understood but is hypothesized to result from elevated expression of genes encoding fatty acid synthetic genes. Since expression of these genes is known to be suppressed by polyunsaturated fatty acids, we performed physiological and genomics studies to evaluate the effects of dietary linoleic and linolenic fatty acids (PUFA) or arachidonic and decosahexaenoic acids (HUFA) on the hepatic phenotypes of control and LCN mice by comparison with a …

Rpir Homologues May Link Staphylococcus Aureus Rnaiii Synthesis And Pentose Phosphate Pathway Regulation, Yefei Zhu, Nandakumar Madayiputhiya, Marat R. Sadykov, Nandakumar Madayiputhiya, Thanh T. Luong, Rosmarie Gaupp, Chia Y. Lee, Greg Somerville

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Staphylococcus aureus is a medically important pathogen that synthesizes a wide range of virulence determinants. The synthesis of many staphylococcal virulence determinants is regulated in part by stress-induced changes in the activity of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. One metabolic change associated with TCA cycle stress is an increased concentration of ribose, leading us to hypothesize that a pentose phosphate pathway (PPP)-responsive regulator mediates some of the TCA cycle-dependent regulatory effects. Using bioinformatics, we identified three potential ribose-responsive regulators that belong to the RpiR family of transcriptional regulators. To determine whether these RpiR homologues affect PPP activity and virulence determinant …

In Vivo Liver Endocytosis Followed By Purification Of Liver Cells By Liver Perfusion, Sandhya Gopalakrishnan, Edward N. Harris

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The liver is the metabolic center of the mammalian body and serves as a filter for the blood. The basic architecture of the liver is illustrated in figure ¹ in which more than 85% of the liver mass is composed of hepatocytes and the remaining 15% of the cellular mass is composed of Kupffer cells (KCs), stellate cells (HSCs), and sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs). SECs form the blood vessel walls within the liver and contain specialized morphology called fenestrae within in the cytoplasm. Fenestration of the cytoplasm is the appearance of holes (˜100 μm) within the cells so that the …

Comparative Genomics Of Proteins Involved In Rna Nucleocytoplasmic Export, Mariana Serpeloni, Newton M. Vidal, Samuel Goldenberg, Andréa R. Ávila, Federico G. Hoffmann

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: The establishment of the nuclear membrane resulted in the physical separation of transcription and translation, and presented early eukaryotes with a formidable challenge: how to shuttle RNA from the nucleus to the locus of protein synthesis. In prokaryotes, mRNA is translated as it is being synthesized, whereas in eukaryotes mRNA is synthesized and processed in the nucleus, and it is then exported to the cytoplasm. In metazoa and fungi, the different RNA species are exported from the nucleus by specialized pathways. For example, tRNA is exported by exportin-t in a RanGTP-dependent fashion. By contrast, mRNAs are associated to …

Molecular Evolution Of Urea Amidolyase And Urea Carboxylase In Fungi, Pooja K. Strope, Kenneth W. Nickerson, Steven D. Harris, Etsuko N. Moriyama

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background: Urea amidolyase breaks down urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide in a two-step process, while another enzyme, urease, does this in a one step-process. Urea amidolyase has been found only in some fungal species among eukaryotes. It contains two major domains: the amidase and urea carboxylase domains. A shorter form of urea amidolyase is known as urea carboxylase and has no amidase domain. Eukaryotic urea carboxylase has been found only in several fungal species and green algae. In order to elucidate the evolutionary origin of urea amidolyase and urea carboxylase, we studied the distribution of urea amidolyase, urea …

Increased Transsulfuration Mediates Longevity And Dietary Restriction In Drosophila, Hadise Kabil, Omer Kabil, Ruma Banerjee, Lawrence G. Harshman, Scott D. Pletcher

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The mechanisms through which dietary restriction enhances health and longevity in diverse species are unclear. The transsulfuration pathway (TSP) is a highly conserved mechanism for metabolizing the sulfur-containing amino acids, methionine and cysteine. Here we show that Drosophila cystathionine β-synthase (dCBS), which catalyzes the rate-determining step in the TSP, is a positive regulator of lifespan in Drosophila and that the pathway is required for the effects of diet restriction on animal physiology and lifespan. dCBS activity was up-regulated in flies exposed to reduced nutrient conditions, and ubiquitous or neuron-specific transgenic overexpression of dCBS enhanced longevity in fully fed animals. Inhibition …

Phylogenetic Diversity Of Fe(Iii)-Reducing Microorganisms In Rice Paddy Soil: Enrichment Cultures With Different Short-Chain Fatty Acids As Electron Donors, Huijuan Li, Jingjing Peng, Karrie A. Weber, Yongguan Zhu

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Purpose — Microbial ferric iron reduction is an important biogeochemical process in nonsulfidogenic anoxic environments, yet the structure of microbial communities involved is poorly understood because of the lack of a functional gene marker. Here, with ferrihydrite as the iron source, we characterized the potential Fe(III)-reducing bacteria from the paddy soil in the presence of different short-chain fatty acids, formate, acetate, propionate, pyruvate, succinate, and citrate.

Materials and methods — Enrichment culture was used to characterize the potential Fe(III)-reducing bacteria in the present study. Clone library and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analyses of bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequence …

Survival Rates Of Planidial Larvae Of The Parasitoid Fly Ormia Ochracea (Diptera: Tachinidae), Oliver M. Beckers, Cassandra M. Martin, William E. Wagner Jr.

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The tachinid fly, Ormia ochracea Bigot 1889, is a major parasitoid of field crickets in North America. The fly ranges from Florida to California, and it has also been introduced to Hawaii. Across this range, O. ochracea uses at least 6 different Gryllus species as hosts for its larvae (Cade, 1975; Walker, 1986; Walker and Wineriter, 1991; Zuk et al., 1993; Wagner, 1996; Hedrick and Kortet, 2006). O. ochracea finds it hosts by eavesdropping on male mating songs (Cade, 1975). The fly deposits up to 3 planidial larvae (Adamo et al., 1995a) directly on the male and these …

Male Field Crickets Infested By Parasitoid Flies Express Phenotypes That May Benefit The Parasitoids, Oliver M. Beckers, William E. Wagner

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Parasites can cause changes in the phenotypes of their hosts that may benefit the parasite, the host, or both. To understand the evolutionary dynamics of host–parasite interactions it is necessary to first examine the effect of parasitic infestation on the host phenotype and whether the host or parasite benefits from these changes. The fly Ormia ochracea parasitizes the variable field cricket, Gryllus lineaticeps, and it uses male song to locate hosts for its lethal larvae. Adult flies preferentially orient to male songs with faster and longer chirps. We tested the effect of larval infestation on two types of host traits. …

A Cytoplasm-Specific Activity Encoded By The Trithorax-Like Atx1 Gene, Ivan Ndamukong, Hanna Lapko, Ronald L. Cerny, Zoya Avramova

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Eukaryotes produce multiple products from a single gene locus by alternative splicing, translation or promoter usage as mechanisms expanding the complexity of their proteome. Trithorax proteins, including the Arabidopsis Trithorax-like protein ATX1, are histone modifiers regulating gene activity. Here, we report that a novel member of the Trithorax family has a role unrelated to chromatin. It is encoded from an internal promoter in the ATX1 locus as an isoform containing only the SET domain (soloSET). It is located exclusively in the cytoplasm and its substrate is the elongation factor 1A (EF1A). Loss of SET, but not of the histone modifying …

Dtorsin, The Drosophila Ortholog Of The Early-Onset Dystonia Tor1a (Dyt1), Plays A Novel Role In Dopamine Metabolism, Noriko Wakabayashi-Ito, Olugbenga M. Doherty, Hideaki Moriyama, Xandra O. Breakefield, James F. Gusella, Janis M. O’Donnell, Naoto Ito

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Dystonia represents the third most common movement disorder in humans. At least 15 genetic loci (DYT1-15) have been identified and some of these genes have been cloned. TOR1A (formally DYT1), the gene responsible for the most common primary hereditary dystonia, encodes torsinA, an AAA ATPase family protein. However, the function of torsinA has yet to be fully understood. Here, we have generated and characterized a complete loss-of-function mutant for dtorsin, the only Drosophila ortholog of TOR1A. Null mutation of the X-linked dtorsin was semi-lethal with most male flies dying by the prepupal stage and the few surviving …