Life Sciences Commons^™

The Biophysical Link Between Climate, Water, And Vegetation In Bioenergy Agro-Ecosystems, Andy Vanloocke, Justin E. Bagley, Sarah C. Davis, Mir Zaman Hussain, Jesse Miller, Stephen W. Nesbitt, Carl J. Bernacchi

Andy VanLoocke

Why Gluten Changed The World, Laura K. Thompson Dr

Laura K Thompson Dr

This laboratory is one in a series that I use in Biology 401: Applied Plant Science. This course is designed for students who have had at least one introductory Biology course, either for a major or a non-major. The goal in the course is to give the student an appreciation for the importance of plants to human society. Each laboratory session is designed to give the student an appreciation for how plants contribute to society and an experience in original processing of plants for their use. In this laboratory session we look at the importance of gluten in bread making. …

Working With Plant Fibers, Laura K. Thompson Dr

Laura K Thompson Dr

This laboratory is one in a series that I use in Biology 401: Applied Plant Science. This course is designed for students who have had at least one introductory Biology course, either for a major or a non-major. The goal in the course is to give the student an appreciation for the importance of plants to human society. Each laboratory session is designed to give the student an appreciation for how plants contribute to society and an experience in original processing of plants for their use. In this laboratory session the students get a feel for the processes that are …

Herbal Medicines, Laura K. Thompson Dr

Laura K Thompson Dr

This laboratory is one in a series that I use in Biology 401: Applied Plant Science. This course is designed for students who have had at least one introductory Biology course, either for a major or a non-major. The goal in the course is to give the student an appreciation for the importance of plants to human society. Each laboratory session is designed to give the student an appreciation for how plants contribute to society and an experience in original processing of plants for their use. A number of lectures in the course deal with the use of plants in …

Mulberry Paper Making, Laura K. Thompson Dr

Laura K Thompson Dr

This laboratory is one in a series that I use in Biology 401: Applied Plant Science. This course is designed for students who have had at least one introductory Biology course, either for a major or a non-major. The goal in the course is to give the student an appreciation for the importance of plants to human society. Each laboratory session is designed to give the student an appreciation for how plants contribute to society and an experience in original processing of plants for their use. This laboratory session allows students to learn about how paper was originally produced. I …

Phytoconstituents Analysis, Antioxidant Capacity And Antimicrobial Properties Of Extracts From Laggera Aurita L. (Asteraceae), Crépin I Dibala, Kiessoun Konaté, Mamounata Diao, Maurice Ouédraogo, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof.

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

Objective: This research was designed to evaluate the polyphenolic content, antibacterial potency and antioxidant activity of extract and fractions from Laggera aurita L. (Asteraceae), a medicinal herbaceous from Burkina Faso. Methods: Folin ciocalteu and AlCl3 methods respectively were used for polyphenol contents. The antioxidant activities of the samples were evaluated by various in vitro assays like ferrous reducing antioxidant assay (FRAP), Total reducing power, 2, 2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging and ABTS radical cation decolorization assays. In vitro antibacterial capacity of bioactive fractions were investigated by agar disc diffusion, micro-well dilution (MIC), Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assay and at least the effect …

Next-Generation Field Guides, Elizabeth J. Farnsworth, Miyoko Chu, W. John Kress, Amanda K. Neill, Jason H. Best, John Pickering, Robert D. Stevenson, Gregory W. Courtney, John K. Vandyk, Aaron M. Ellison

John K. VanDyk

To conserve species, we must first identify them. Field researchers, land managers, educators, and citizen scientists need up-to-date and accessible tools to identify organisms, organize data, and share observations. Emerging technologies complement traditional, book-form field guides by providing users with a wealth of multimedia data. We review technical innovations of next-generation field guides, including Web-based and stand-alone applications, interactive multiple-access keys, visual-recognition software adapted to identify organisms, species checklists that can be customized to particular sites, online communities in which people share species observations, and the use of crowdsourced data to refine machine-based identification algorithms. Next-generation field guides are user …

Tal Effector-Nucleotide Targeter (Tale-Nt) 2.0: Tools For Tal Effector Design And Target Prediction, Erin L. Doyle, Nicholas J. Booher, Daniel S. Standage, Daniel F. Voytas, Volker P. Brendel, John K. Vandyk, Adam J. Bogdanove

John K. VanDyk

Transcription activator-like (TAL) effectors are repeat-containing proteins used by plant pathogenic bacteria to manipulate host gene expression. Repeats are polymorphic and individually specify single nucleotides in the DNA target, with some degeneracy. A TAL effector-nucleotide binding code that links repeat type to specified nucleotide enables prediction of genomic binding sites for TAL effectors and customization of TAL effectors for use in DNA targeting, in particular as custom transcription factors for engineered gene regulation and as site-specific nucleases for genome editing. We have developed a suite of web-based tools called TAL Effector-Nucleotide Targeter 2.0 (TALE-NT 2.0;https://boglab.plp.iastate.edu/) that enables design of custom …

Purification And Characterization Of Sweet Potato (Ipomoea Batatas) Peroxidase, Mamouna Diao, Brice N’Cho Ayékoué, Crépin I. Dibala, Soumaïla Dabonné, Mamoudou H. Dicko Prof.

Pr. Mamoudou H. DICKO, PhD

Peroxidase (POX), a biotechnologically important enzyme was purified from bulb of Ipomoea batatas and characterized for use in the bioconversion of phenolic compounds from industrial wastewater. Purified peroxidase (POXp) was obtained using the gel-filtration chromatography and anion exchange chromatography. A final yield of 18 % was obtained with 20.5 as purification fold. Electrophoresis on SDS-PAGE and native-PAGE showed that POXp is monomeric with a molecular weight of 44 kDa. The optimum pH and optimum temperature were respectively 6.0 and 45 ° C. All enzyme activity was retained for 2 hours at pH values between 4.0 to 9.0. While the enzyme …

Systematics Of The Lobulomycetales, A New Order Within The Chytridiomycota, David Rabern Simmons

David Simmons

Based on molecular phylogenetic analyses, the polyphyletic order Chytridiales, one of the four orders in the Chytridiomycota, contains several well-supported clades. One species, Chytriomyces angularis, however, does not group within the robust clades of the Chytridiales or any other chytrid order. The light-level morphology and zoospore ultrastructure of this aquatic species also differ from those of the type species of the genus Chytriomyces. I amassed nine additional pure culture isolates of soil-inhabiting chytrids with morphologies or rDNA sequences similar to C. angularis, including two isolates of C. poculatus, and studied the molecular phylogeny of these ten chytrids. Results of the …

Determination Of Starch Lysophospholipids In Rice Using Liquid Chromatography Mass-Spectrometry (Lc-Ms), Lei Liu, Chuan Tong, Jinsong Bao, Daniel Le Waters, Terry J. Rose, Graham J. King

Adjunct Associate Professor Daniel LE Waters

Acquisition of a complete understanding of rice starch lysophospholipids (LPLs), their biosynthetic pathways, genetic diversity, and the influence of genotype by environment interactions has been hampered by the lack of efficient high throughput extraction and analysis methods. We hypothesized a single-step aqueous n-propanol extraction combined with liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) could be employed to analyze starch LPLs in white rice. Our investigation found different grinding methods showed little effect on the final LPL detected and a simple single-step extraction with 75% n-propanol (8mL/0.15g) heated at 100 oC for two hours was as effective as an onerous multi-step extraction method. …

Effects Of Cytokinin On Multiplication And Rooting Of Aloe Barbadensis During Micropropagation On Agar And Liquid Medium, Jeffrey Adelberg, Jacqueline Naylor-Adelberg

Jeffrey W Adelberg

Aloe barbadensis (syn. Aloe vera) was micropropagated on agar and liquid medium at varied benzyladenine (BA) and meta-topolin (MT) concentrations (0, 1, 3.2, and 10 µM) for three successive culture cycles and then transferred to a greenhouse for growth. MT induced multiplication at the highest concentration (10 µM) and BA produced the greatest number of plantlets (at 3.2 µM) with optimal multiplication at approximately 6 µM. Liquid medium did not affect multiplication rate when compared with agar, but plants were twice as large from liquid as compared with those from agar at the time of transfer to the greenhouse. After …

Documenting Effects Of Urbanization On Flora Using Herbarium Records, Rebecca W. Dolan, Marcia E. Moore, Jessica Stephens

Rebecca W. Dolan

As human populations increasingly live in cities, urban floras and the ecosystem services they provide are under increasing threat. Understanding the effects of urbanization on plants can help to predict future changes and identify ways to preserve biological diversity. Relatively few studies document changes through time in the flora of a focal region and those that do primarily address European floras. They often rely on contemporary spatial gradient studies as surrogates for changes with time. We compare historical species records (prior to 1940) with the current flora for Marion County, Indiana, USA, home to Indianapolis, the 13th largest city in …

Weed Seed Germplasm Collection 1964-2014 Of The Weed Biology Laboratory, Jack Dekker

Jack Dekker

J. Dekker weed seed germplasm collection; including: Lots 1-3974: 1964-2014; main seed library listed by lot numbers. Lots 649-1457: 1989 all-Iowa Setaria transect study. Lots 1762-1812: 1981; Diane Manthey, North Dakota St. Univ., Setaria collection at Bob Anderson's (USDA, Univ. of Minn) 1960's wild oat study sites. Lots 2389-2595: 1992 north temperate world collection (Japan, Russia, Europe) by J. Dekker. Lots 3270-3685: 1993 Brent Reschly transect study of eastern Iowa conventional and Amish farmers. Lots 3786-3962: 2000 J. Dekker 2000 salt-tolerant Setaria of southern Japan collection. All seed in all these collections belong, and were collected and archived by Jack …

Demographic Viability Of Populations Of Silene Regis In Midwestern Prairies: Relationships With Fire Management, Genetic Variation, Geographic Location, Population Size And Isolation, Eric S. Menges, Rebecca W. Dolan

Rebecca W. Dolan

We studied the demographic viability of populations of a long-lived iteroparous prairie perennial, Silene regia, in relation to management regimes, population sizes, geographical region (Ohio and Indiana vs. Missouri and Arkansas), degree of isolation and amount of genetic variation. Demographic data were collected from 16 populations for up to 7 years. This species has high survivorship, slow growth, frequent flowering and episodic seedling recruitment. Matrix projection methods were used to summarize population performance with and without recruitment. Median finite rates of increase by population varied from 0.57 to 1.82 and from 0.44 to 0.99, respectively. Populations with the highest rates …

Population Dynamics Of Ludwigia Leptocarpa (Onagraceae) And Some Factors Affecting Size Hierarchies In A Natural Population, Rebecca W. Dolan, Rebecca R. Sharitz

Rebecca W. Dolan

Germination cohorts of Ludwigia leptocarpa, a semi-aquatic annual plant were marked in the field at time of establishment and followed through the 1981 and 1982 growing seasons at a site in southern South Carolina. Data from each cohort were pooled to determine demographic characteristics of the population as a whole, then analyzed separately to determine the effect of time on germination on survivorship, relative growth rate, and adult size. Changes in numbers of L. leptocarpa fit a Deevey Type II survivorship curve. This and other characteristics of the species classify it as ‘r-selected’. Aspects of the life history may reflect …

Intsormil, Mamourou Diourté, Elvis A. Heinrichs

Elvis A. Heinrichs

INTSORMIL est géré par l’Université de Nebraska-Lincoln qui joue le rôle de chef de file d’un accord de coopération liant l’USAID à des associés pour cinq ans. La vision globale d’INTSORMIL consiste à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire, accroître les revenus agricoles et améliorer l’activité économique dans les pays à grande production des sorgho/mil en Afrique et en Amérique centrale (carte ci-contre).

Crop Management Technologies Approved/Recommended To Farmers By Intsormil Supported Nars Programs 2006-2012, Elvis A. Heinrichs

Elvis A. Heinrichs

Table listing year, crop (sorghum or pearl millet), country, technology approved/ recommended for release to farmers (sowing rate, spacing, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, tied ridges etc.), and comments regarding crop management technologies approved/recommended to farmers by INTSORMIL-supported NARS programs, 2006-2012. Countries included are: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Uganda, Zambia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua.

Maine's Kelp Highway, Catherine Schmitt

Catherine Schmitt

No abstract provided.

Seaweed Beyond Sushi, Catherine V. Schmitt

Catherine Schmitt

No abstract provided.

A Global Analysis Of The Impacts Of Urbanization On Bird And Plant Diversity Reveals Key Anthropogenic Drivers, Myla F.J. Aronson, Frank A. La Sorte, Charles H. Nilon, Madhusudan Katti, Mark A. Goddard, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Paige S. Warren, Nicholas S.G. Williams, Sarel Cilliers, Bruce Clarkson, Cynnamon Dobbs, Rebecca W. Dolan, Marcus Hedblom, Stefan Klotz, Jip Louwe Kooijmans, Ingolf Kühn, Ian Macgregor-Fors, Mark Mcdonnell, Ulla Mörtberg, Petr Pyšek, Stefan Siebert, Jessica Sushinsky, Peter Werner, Marten Winter

Rebecca W. Dolan

Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common beingColumba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species …

Wheat Streak Mosaic Virus Infects Systemically Despite Extensive Coat Protein Deletions: Identification Of Virion Assembly And Cell-To-Cell Movement Determinants, Satyanarayana Tatineni, Frank A. Kovacs, Roy C. French

Satyanarayana Tatineni

Viral coat proteins function in virion assembly and virus biology in a tightly coordinated manner with a role for virtually every amino acid. In this study, we demonstrated that the coat protein (CP) of Wheat streak mosaic virus (WSMV) (genus Tritimovirus; family Potyviridae) is unusually tolerant of extensive deletions with continued virion assembly and/or systemic infection. A series of deletion and point mutations were created in the CP cistron of wild-type and/or GFP-tagged WSMV and examined the effects of these mutations on cell-to-cell and systemic transport and virion assembly of WSMV. Mutants with overlapping deletions comprising N-terminal amino acids 6 …

From Algae To Angiosperms – Inferring The Phylogeny Of Green Plants ( Viridiplantae ) From 360 Plastid Genomes, Brad Ruhfel, Matthew Gitzendanner, Paula Soltis, Douglas Soltis, J. Burleigh

Brad R. Ruhfel

Background

Next-generation sequencing has provided a wealth of plastid genome sequence data from an increasingly diverse set of green plants (Viridiplantae). Although these data have helped resolve the phylogeny of numerous clades (e.g., green algae, angiosperms, and gymnosperms), their utility for inferring relationships across all green plants is uncertain. Viridiplantae originated 700-1500 million years ago and may comprise as many as 500,000 species. This clade represents a major source of photosynthetic carbon and contains an immense diversity of life forms, including some of the smallest and largest eukaryotes. Here we explore the limits and challenges of inferring a comprehensive green …

Sweet Sorghum As A Bioenergy Crop: Literature Review, Teshome Regassa

Teshome H. Regassa

No abstract provided.

Registration Of ‘Mattern’ Waxy (Amylose-Free) Winter Wheat, P S. Baenziger, R A. Graybosch, D K. Santra, T Regassa, Y Jin, S Wegulo, G Bai, P S. Amand, X Chen, B Seabourn, F Dowell, R Bowden, D M. Marshall

Teshome H. Regassa

‘Mattern’ (Reg. No. CV-1092, PI 665947) hard winter waxy wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed cooperatively by the USDA–ARS and the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and released in 2012. Mattern has red grain color and waxy (amylose-free) endosperm starch. It was released primarily for its unique end-use quality attributes and for grain yield competitive with currently grown Nebraskaadapted cultivars. The waxy starch is conditioned by the presence of three naturally occurring mutations that eliminate production of the enzyme granule-bound starch synthase. Granule-bound starch synthase synthesizes amylose in typical wheats and other cereal crops. Mattern was tested experimentally as NX04Y2107 and …

Insights Into The Evolution And Diversification Of The At-Hook Motif Nuclear Localized Gene Family In Land Plants, Jianfei Zhao, David Favero, Jiwen Qiu, Eric Roalson, Michael Neff

Jianfei Zhao

Insect Visitation Of Peduncular And Petiolar Extrafloral Nectar Glands On Castor Bean (Ricinus Communis L.) Plants In Southern California, Victor D. Carmona

Victor D. Carmona-Galindo

Castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is a myrmecophytic plant species with specialized extrafloral nectar (EFN) glands that serve to attract predatory insects, which in return defend plant-tissues against herbivores. The EFN glands on castor bean plants are located along the leaf petioles as well as on the peduncles of its imperfect (unisexual) flowers. This field-project evaluates the richness, diversity, and species assemblage of insects visiting EFN glands located on (female and male) flower peduncles and leaf petioles on castor bean plants growing in a Southern California coastal landscape. We detected that EFN glands on female-flower peduncles were visited by an …

Different Meal, Same Flavor: Cospeciation And Host Switching Of Haemosporidian Parasites In Some Non-Passerine Birds, Diego Santiago-Alarcon, Adriana Rodríguez-Ferraro, Patricia G. Parker, Robert E. Ricklefs

Robert Ricklefs

Different Meal, Same Flavor: Cospeciation And Host Switching Of Haemosporidian Parasites In Some Non-Passerine Birds, Diego Santiago-Alarcon, Adriana Rodríguez-Ferraro, Patricia G. Parker, Robert E. Ricklefs

Patricia Parker