Life Sciences Commons^™

Spring 2014, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Editorial Overview: Environmental Change Issues: Coral Reefs Sustainability And Its Challenges, Bernhard Riegl, Georgios Tsounis

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Protein 14-3-3 (Ywha) Isoforms And Their Roles In Regulating Mouse Oocyte Maturation, Santanu De

Biology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

The 14-3-3 (YWHA) is a highly conserved, ubiquitously expressed protein family regulating important cellular processes including cell cycle. This work, for the first time, explored the differential expression and roles of 14-3-3 isoforms during mouse oocyte maturation.

All seven mammalian 14-3-3 isoforms were identified in mouse eggs and ovarian follicular cells including oocytes, by Western blotting. Immunocytochemical and immunohistochemical staining confirmed the presence of all 14-3-3 isoforms in oocytes, eggs and ovarian follicles with characteristic similarities and differences in their distributions.

Mammalian oocytes are arrested at meiosis prophase I by an inhibitory phosphorylation on Cyclin-Dependent Kinase I (CDK1), released by …

Reproduction And Population Of Porites Divaricata At Rodriguez Key: The Florida Keys, Usa, John Mcdermond

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Sexual reproduction in Porites divaricata (Le Sueur, 1820) was studied over a one year period (August, 2012 to August, 2013) in a shallow water (~2m depth) carbonate bank (also described as marginal) habitat at Rodriguez Key, a small island located 1.44 km off the east coast of Key Largo. Porites divaricata is a brooding, gonochoric species with peak reproductive output (planula release) occurring in March and at least a smaller event in May. This species showed an overall female to male sex ratio of 3.5:1. However, during peak reproduction, the sex ratio was 1.2:1. Spawning (sperm release) most likely occurred …

Principles Of Florida-Friendly Landscaping(Tm), John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Florida-Friendly Landscaping(Tm) Right Plant, Right Place; Integrated Pest Management; And Attracting Wildlife, John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Age And Growth Of Three Coastal-Pelagic Tunas (Actinopterygii: Perciformes: Scombridae) In The Florida Straits, Usa: Blackfin Tuna, Thunnus Atlanticus, Little Tunny, Euthynnus Alletteratus, And Skipjack Tuna, Katsuwonus Pelamis, Jessica L. Adams, David W. Kerstetter

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Background. Understanding the life history of a species is essential for fully understanding its role within an ecosystem. However, many of the fish species of high ecological value have not been studied due to their less prominent roles in local recreational and commercial fisheries in comparison to other targeted species. These valuable fishes are also important trophic linkages between small neritic fishes and large, economically valuable apex predators. This study describes for the first time the yearly age and growth patterns of three small tuna species inhabiting South Florida (USA) waters: blackfin tuna, Thunnus atlanticus (Lesson, 1831); little tunny, …

A Principal Component Analysis Of Vertical Temperature Profiles For Tracking Movements Of Swordfish Xiphias Gladius, Kathryn G. Carmody

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Electronic pop-up satellite archival tag (PSAT) technology has been successfully used to monitor the at-large behavior of a suite of pelagic animals, especially regarding habitat utilization. Additionally, algorithms using ambient light-level data have allowed the derivation of geolocation estimates along the duration of the deployment. However, the diel behavior of swordfish moving below the photic zone during daylight hours precludes this methodology because of the lack of ambient light-level data. To produce deployment tracks for swordfish, a mathematical model was created to analyze hydrographic temperature and pressure data recorded by PSATs. This hydrographic-based model applies Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to …

Diet Of The Antillean Manatee (Trichechus Manatus Manatus) In Belize, Central America, Aarin Conrad Allen

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Belize has been identified as an important location for Antillean manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus), harboring the highest known population density of this subspecies. Information about their dietary habit is important in determining habitat requirements and aiding in conservation efforts. The main objective of this study was to identify the key plant species consumed by manatees in Belize and to establish differences in diet based on location, sex, size classification, and season. Samples were collected from two different locations within Belize where manatees are known to aggregate: Southern Lagoon and the Drowned Cayes off of Belize City. The contents …

Evaluation And Integration Of Genetic Signature For Prediction Risk Of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma In Southern China, Xiuchan Guo, Cheryl Winkler, Ji Li, Li Guan, Minzhong Tang, Jian Liao, Hong Deng, Guy De The, Yi Zeng, Stephen J. O'Brien

Biology Faculty Articles

Genetic factors, as well as environmental factors, play a role in development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). A number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been reported to be associated with NPC. To confirm these genetic associations with NPC, two independent case-control studies from Southern China comprising 1166 NPC cases and 2340 controls were conducted. Seven SNPs in ITGA9 at 3p21.3 and 9 SNPs within the 6p21.3 HLA region were genotyped. To explore the potential clinical application of these genetic markers in NPC, we further evaluate the predictive/diagnostic role of significant SNPs by calculating the area under the curve (AUC). Results …

Winner And Loser Effects In Major League Baseball Double Headers, Andrew C. Gallup, Omar T. Eldakar

Biology Faculty Articles

Across the animal kingdom it has been observed that outcomes of conflicts are influenced by past experiences, whereby previous winners are likely to keep winning and losers are likely to lose again. These so-called “winner and loser effects” are hypothesized to result from factors such as information acquisition and endocrine responses following the initial bouts. This paper applies the understanding of this phenomenon to a novel domain: patterns of winning and losing in Major League Baseball (MLB) double headers. By accessing archival data available from www.espn.com, we report on the incidence of a single team winning both games (sweeps) versus …

Incorporating A Fitness Goal Into The Fabric Of Your Life, Emily F. Schmitt Lavin

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Correction: Evidence For The Requirement Of 14-3-3eta (Ywhah) In Meiotic Spindle Assembly During Mouse Oocyte Maturation, Santanu De, Douglas Kline

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Illuminating Capacity-Building Strategies For Landscape-Scale Collaborative Forest Management Through Constructivist Grounded Theory, Marcelle Elise Dupraw

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses the constructivist grounded theory methods of Charmaz (2011) to explore: 1) the unique characteristics of landscape-scale collaboration; 2) implications for collaborative capacity-building strategies; and 3) the relationship between conflict, landscape-scale collaboration, and conflict resolution. The study was conducted through the US Forest Service's Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP). In the 1980s and 1990s, national forest management conflicts brought the forest industry to a standstill, with many jobs lost. In addition, historic fire suppression practices have made our national forests highly vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire. Many have strong opinions about what should be done and how. The …

Robinson Point, Belize: An Important Foraging Ground For Endangered Sea Turtles In The Western Caribbean Sea, Linda Searle

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Anecdotal reports, flipper tag returns, satellite migration paths, and above-water and net surveys have identified an important foraging area for sea turtles in the Robinson Point area, 12 kilometers southwest of Belize City. Visual observations confirmed that sea turtles were actively foraging at Robinson Point. Sixteen 30 minute visual observations from stationary and drifting boats made 132 sea turtle sightings from October 2007 through January 2008, with a maximum of 40 sightings made in one survey. In-water capture methodology tested the traditional turtle net, which captured 14 turtles in 63 sets for a success rate of only 22%. There were …

Species Composition And Reproductive Strategies Of Commensal Synalpheus Shrimp (Decapoda:Alpheidae) Occupying The Sponges Spheciospongia Vesparium And Spongia Sp. Of The Florida Reef Tract, Brittnee Nicole Barris

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Synalpheus shrimp species of the gambarelloides group are the only marine organisms displaying the highest level of social functioning, eusociality. Their social hierarchies are equally complex compared to the reproductive abnormalities that have been recently discovered. For instance, snapping shrimp of the genus Synalpheus were thought to be gonochoric, i.e. developing as independent sexes, until scanning electron microscopy studies revealed intersexed gonopores in several species. This project analyzed both the species composition, and accompanying reproductive structures, of Synalpheus spp. (Caridea: Alpheidae) comprised of densely aggregating communal and pair-living colonies in the Florida Keys, Florida.

Colonies of pair-living and communal Synalpheus …

Educating The Masses: Human Attitudes Affecting Reef Health, Ashley Wiehl

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

About two thirds of the world’s population lives within 60 km of a coastline, however many members of the public do not recognize the importance of the nearby coral reef ecosystems. Although reef degradation is currently occurring at alarming rates, there is hope for the future of coral reef health. It is proven that humans have a large effect on the current health of coral reefs. This thesis aims to determine how marine scientists and educators can best influence the general public to affect behaviors to improve reef health. To do this involves taking analyzing the many effects of human …

Genome-Wide And Differential Proteomic Analysis Of Hepatitis B Virus And Aflatoxin B1 Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Guangxi, China, Lu-Nan Qi, Le-Qun Qi, Yuan-Yuan Chen, Zhao-Hong Chen, Tao Bai, Bang-De Xiang, Xiao Qin, Kai-Yin Xiao, Min-Hao Peng, Zhi-Ming Liu, Tang-Wei Liu, Xue Qin, Shan Li, Ze-Guang Han, Zeng-Nan Mo, Regina M. Santella, Cheryl Winkler, Stephen J. O'Brien, Tao Peng

Biology Faculty Articles

Both hepatitis B virus (HBV) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure can cause liver damage as well as increase the probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To investigate the underlying genetic changes that may influence development of HCC associated with HBV infection and AFB1 exposure, HCC patients were subdivided into 4 groups depending upon HBV and AFB1 exposure status: (HBV(+)/AFB1(+), HBV(+)/AFB1(-), HBV(-)/AFB1(+), HBV(-)/AFB1(-)). Genetic abnormalities and protein expression profiles were analyzed by array-based comparative genomic hybridization and isobaric tagging for quantitation. A total of 573 chromosomal aberrations (CNAs) including 184 increased and 389 decreased were detected in our study population. Twenty-five recurrently …

Determining The Extent And Characterizing Coral Reef Habitats Of The Northern Latitudes Of The Florida Reef Tract (Martin County), Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Climate change has recently been implicated in poleward shifts of many tropical species including corals; thus attention focused on higher-latitude coral communities is warranted to investigate possible range expansions and ecosystem shifts due to global warming. As the northern extension of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the third-largest barrier reef ecosystem in the world, southeast Florida (25–27° N latitude) is a prime region to study such effects. Most of the shallow-water FRT benthic habitats have been mapped, however minimal data and limited knowledge exist about the coral reef communities of its northernmost reaches off Martin County. First benthic habitat mapping …

Personal Genomics: Good, Evil, Or Both?, Emily Schmitt

CAHSS Intellectual Conversations

With the increasing availability of personal genomic testing, there have been warnings that the results may lead to discrimination by insurance companies, employers, or the community. In addition, some individuals fear potential identity theft and loss of personal autonomy, despite the benefits of discovering potential genetic risks and possibilities of more-focused treatments. This lecture will examine whether personal genomics is good, evil, or both.

Increased Cell Surface Free Thiols Identify Effector Cd8+ T Cells Undergoing T Cell Receptor Stimulation, Samuel Troy Pellom, Ryan D. Michalek, Katie E. Crump, P. Kent Langston, Daniel G. Juneau, Jason M. Grayson

Biology Faculty Articles

Recognition of peptide Major Histocompatibility Complexes (MHC) by the T cell receptor causes rapid production of reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) in naïve CD8+ T cells. Because ROI such as H2O2 are membrane permeable, mechanisms must exist to prevent overoxidation of surface proteins. In this study we used fluorescently labeled conjugates of maleimide to measure the level of cell surface free thiols (CSFT) during the development, activation and differentiation of CD8+ T cells. We found that during development CSFT were higher on CD8 SP compared to CD4 SP or CD4CD8 DP T cells. After activation CSFT became elevated prior to division …

Characterization Of Shark Movements On A Mesophotic Caribbean Coral Reef And Temporal Association With Fish Spawning Aggregations, Alexandra E. Pickard

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Habitat use of mesophotic coral reefs by sharks is largely unknown. However, it is well established that mesophotic reefs are the site of spawning aggregations for many species of teleost fish. These aggregations represent seasonal concentrations of potential prey biomass that may influence the habitat use of predatory species such as large sharks. I employed acoustic monitoring to examine the movements of three shark species [lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris), tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), and Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi)] to determine 1) the comparative spatiotemporal patterns of mesophotic reef habitat use by the three …

Tracking Transmission Of Apicomplexan Symbionts In Diverse Caribbean Corals, Nathan L. Kirk, Raphael Ritson-Williams, Mary Alice Coffroth, Margaret W. Miller, Nicole D. Fogarty, Scott R. Santos

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Symbionts in each generation are transmitted to new host individuals either vertically (parent to offspring), horizontally (from exogenous sources), or a combination of both. Scleractinian corals make an excellent study system for understanding patterns of symbiont transmission since they harbor diverse symbionts and possess distinct reproductive modes of either internal brooding or external broadcast spawning that generally correlate with vertical or horizontal transmission, respectively. Here, we focused on the under-recognized, but apparently widespread, coral-associated apicomplexans (Protista: Alveolata) to determine if symbiont transmission depends on host reproductive mode. Specifically, a PCR-based assay was utilized towards identifying whether planula larvae and reproductive …

A Genome-To-Genome Analysis Of Associations Between Human Genetic Variation, Hiv-1 Sequence Diversity, And Viral Control, Istvan Bartha, Jonathan M. Carlson, Chanson J. Brumme, Paul J. Mclaren, Zabrina L. Brumme, Mina John, David W. Haas, Javier Martinez-Picado, Judith Dalmau, Cecilio Lopez-Galindez, Concepcion Casado, Andri Rauch, Huldrych F. Gunthard, Enos Bernasconi, Pietro Vernazza, Thomas Klimkait, Sabine Yerly, Stephen J. O'Brien, Jennifer Listgarten, Nico Pfeifer, Christoph Lippert, Nicolo Fusi, Zoltan Kutalik, Todd M. Allen, Viktor Muller, P. Richard Harrigan, David Heckerman, Amalio Telenti, Jacques Fellay

Biology Faculty Articles

HIV-1 sequence diversity is affected by selection pressures arising from host genomic factors. Using paired human and viral data from 1071 individuals, we ran >3000 genome-wide scans, testing for associations between host DNA polymorphisms, HIV-1 sequence variation and plasma viral load (VL), while considering human and viral population structure. We observed significant human SNP associations to a total of 48 HIV-1 amino acid variants (p<2.4 × 10⁻¹²). All associated SNPs mapped to the HLA class I region. Clinical relevance of host and pathogen variation was assessed using VL results. We identified two critical advantages to the use of viral variation …

The Repetitive Component Of The Sunflower Genome As Shown By Different Procedures For Assembling Next Generation Sequencing Reads, Lucia Natali, Rosa Maria Cossu, Elena Barghini, Tommaso Giordani, Matteo Buti, Flavia Mascagni, Michele Morgante, Navdeep Gill, Nolan Kane, Loren Rieseberg, Andrea Cavallini

Biology Faculty Articles

Background

Next generation sequencing provides a powerful tool to study genome structure in species whose genomes are far from being completely sequenced. In this work we describe and compare different computational approaches to evaluate the repetitive component of the genome of sunflower, by using medium/low coverage Illumina or 454 libraries.

Results

By varying sequencing technology (Illumina or 454), coverage (0.55 x-1.25 x), assemblers and assembly procedures, six different genomic databases were produced. The annotation of these databases showed that they were composed of different proportions of repetitive DNA families. The final assembly of the sequences belonging to the six databases …

The Lli Chronicle Volume 4 Number 3, Nova Southeastern University - Shepard Broad College Of Law

Lifelong Learning Institute Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Accuracy Assessment Of Noaa's Florida Keys Benthic Habitat Map, Brian K. Walker, Ian Rodericks, Amanda Costaregni

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

This report describes the methodologies, analyses, and results for an independent accuracy assessment of a thematic benthic habitat map produced by NOAA for the Florida Keys. It is an analysis of four regional accuracy assessments. Over the course of the Florida Keys mapping project, NOAA amended part of the classification scheme. The original scheme for mapping benthic cover was a tiered approach where certain benthic cover categories were given priority over others (e.g. coral was most important). Recently, this was modified to a dominant benthic cover scheme where the habitat is characterized by the single most dominant cover type and …

Nomenclatural Transfers In The Pantropical Genus Myrsine (Myrsinaceae), Jon M. Ricketson, John J. Pipoly Iii

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The names of 14 taxa of Rapanea Aubl. are transferred to Myrsine L. (Myrsinaceae). The 14 new combinations include: M. acutiloba (Mez) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. acutiloba Mez]; M. amischocarpa (A. C. Sm.) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. amischocarpa A. C. Sm.]; M. boivinii (Mez) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. boivinii Mez]; M. comorensis (Mez) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. comorensis Mez]; M. courboniana (Mez) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. courboniana Mez]; M. crassiramea (A. C. Sm.) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. crassiramea A. C. Sm.]; M. daphnoides (Mez) Ricketson & Pipoly [≡ R. daphnoides Mez]; M. forbesii (Mez) …

Exploring Life And Death At The Cellular Level: An Examination Of How Our Cells Can Live Without Us, Emily F. Schmitt Lavin

Biology Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Migratory Patterns And Habitat Use Of The Sand Tiger Shark (Carcharias Taurus) In The Western North Atlantic Ocean, Shara Marie Teter

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Large population declines for sand tiger sharks (Carcharias taurus) in parts of its global range are well documented, resulting in a strong need for biologically informed conservation and management measures. Although sand tigers in the western North Atlantic have been listed as a Species of Concern by the US government since 1997, details of their seasonal migratory movements and especially vertical habitat use patterns along the US East Coast are limited. Understanding these movement patterns is vital to reducing fishery-related mortality of these sharks and informing other management efforts aimed at recovery of their stocks in the US Atlantic. …