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Articles 301 - 330 of 1781

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Progress On Research Regarding Ecology And Biodiversity Of Coastal Fisheries And Nektonic Species And Their Habitats Within Coastal Landscapes, Mark S. Peterson, Michael J. Andres Jan 2021

Progress On Research Regarding Ecology And Biodiversity Of Coastal Fisheries And Nektonic Species And Their Habitats Within Coastal Landscapes, Mark S. Peterson, Michael J. Andres

Faculty Publications

This paper aims to highlight the new research and significant advances in our understanding of links between coastal habitat quality/quantity/diversity and the diversity of fisheries species and other mobile aquatic species (hereafter nekton) that use them within coastal landscapes. This topic is quite diverse owing to the myriad of habitat types found in coastal marine waters and the va-riety of life history strategies fisheries species and nekton use in these environments. Thus, we focus our mini-review on five selective but relevant topics, habitat templates, essential fish habitat, habitat mosaics/habitat connectivity, transitory/ephemeral habitat, and the emerging/maturing approaches to the study of …

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Oldest Indo-Pacific Lionfish (Pterois Volitans/P. Miles) Recorded From The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Raven D. Blakeway, Alexander Q. Fogg, Glenn A. Jones Jan 2021

Oldest Indo-Pacific Lionfish (Pterois Volitans/P. Miles) Recorded From The Northwestern Gulf Of Mexico, Raven D. Blakeway, Alexander Q. Fogg, Glenn A. Jones

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Indo-Pacific lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) were first detected off the coast of Florida in the 1980s, with aquaria release being the most likely mechanism for introduction. Since then, lionfish have proliferated through the Western Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico (GOM). Here, we report the oldest lionfish aged on record in the Western Atlantic, removed from Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the GOM. In August 2018, a research expedition removed 745 lionfish from FGBNMS, of which a subset were retained for age and growth estimation. The oldest lionfish was a 10 y old male, …

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Review: Formation And Metabolic Function Of Coral Rubble Biofilms In The Reef Ecosystem, Andres Sanchez-Quinto, Luisa I. Falcon Jan 2021

Review: Formation And Metabolic Function Of Coral Rubble Biofilms In The Reef Ecosystem, Andres Sanchez-Quinto, Luisa I. Falcon

Gulf and Caribbean Research

When coral dies, their calcareous skeletons constitute coral rubble in conjunction with the cementing activity of coralline algae and bacteria, creating a secondary reef structure which takes from years to decades to form. Healthy coral reefs differ from coral—rubble dominated reefs in microbial taxonomic composition and metabolic functional roles. The metabolisms of healthy reefs are dominated by autotrophic pathways, where carbon and nitrogen fixation dominate, while the metabolism of rubble—dominated reefs predominate in degradation of organic matter. Nitrogen fixation is 3 orders of magnitude lower in rubble—dominated reefs than in healthy reefs. Coral—rubble harbors a vast diversity of microbes that …

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Patterns Of Dispersion, Movement And Feeding Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, And The Potential Implications For Grazing Impact On Live Seagrass, Adrianna Parson, Joseph M. Dirnberger, Troy Mutchler Jan 2021

Patterns Of Dispersion, Movement And Feeding Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, And The Potential Implications For Grazing Impact On Live Seagrass, Adrianna Parson, Joseph M. Dirnberger, Troy Mutchler

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus is a known grazer of both living and dead tissue of turtlegrass, Thalassia testudinum, occasionally denuding large areas of seagrass. Field studies have attempted to assess effects of herbivory on seagrass by enclosing urchins at various densities. However, it is unclear how unrestricted urchins affect seagrass at lower densities more typically observed in the field. This study describes movement, feeding, and distribution of L. variegatus within beds of T. testudinum in St. Joseph Bay, Florida (USA) to quantify this urchin’s impact as a seagrass grazer. Urchins were absent from portions of seagrass beds closest to …

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How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna Jan 2021

How A Simple Question About Freshwater Inflow To Estuaries Shaped A Career, Paul A. Montagna

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Chance and good luck led to a career studying how freshwater inflow drives estuary processes. In 1986, someone asked me: How much fresh water has to flow to a bay for it to be healthy? The question shaped my career. There is probably no better place on Earth to compare effects caused by inflow differences than the Texas coast, because the major estuarine systems lie in a climatic gradient where runoff decreases 56—fold from the Louisiana border in the northeast to the Mexico border in the southwest. This estuary—comparison experiment was used to study inflow effects. The science evolved from …

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Diatoms Of The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico: Light And Electron Microscope Observations Of Sulcatonitzschia, A New Genus Of Nitzschioid Diatoms (Bacillariales: Bacillariaceae) With A Transverse Sulcus, James A. Nienow, Akshinthala K. S. K. Prasad Jan 2021

Diatoms Of The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico: Light And Electron Microscope Observations Of Sulcatonitzschia, A New Genus Of Nitzschioid Diatoms (Bacillariales: Bacillariaceae) With A Transverse Sulcus, James A. Nienow, Akshinthala K. S. K. Prasad

Gulf and Caribbean Research

During a systematic investigation of phytoplankton assemblages in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon blowout we encountered a population of diatoms morphologically similar to Nitzschia ossiformis (Taylor) Simonsen located about 75 km offshore and concentrated at a depth of 60—120 meters. The density of individuals in the population was sufficient to make detailed observations using light and electron microscopy. Our specimens were frequently united into short ribbon—like colonies. This, plus features of the fine structure of valve (biseriate striae, raphe canal without pores and flush with the valve surface) suggest the GOM population …

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A Sea Turtle Population Assessment For Florida's Big Bend, Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Ryan M. Chabot, Ryan C. Welsh, Cody R. Mott, Jeffrey R. Guertin, Brian M. Shamblin, Blair E. Witherington Jan 2021

A Sea Turtle Population Assessment For Florida's Big Bend, Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Ryan M. Chabot, Ryan C. Welsh, Cody R. Mott, Jeffrey R. Guertin, Brian M. Shamblin, Blair E. Witherington

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Coastal waters of Florida’s Big Bend, Gulf of Mexico (GOM) once supported one of the largest sea turtle fisheries in the United States. To fill an information gap in this region on abundance and distribution of sea turtles, we used vessel—based distance sampling and active capture methods to characterize current foraging aggregations near the St. Martins Marsh Aquatic Preserve. Over 10 sampling periods between 2012—2018, we completed 513 km of transects and recorded 819 turtles among 4 species—green turtle (Chelonia mydas, n = 624), Kemp’s ridley (Lepidochelys kempii, n = 147), loggerhead (Caretta caretta, …

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Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais Jan 2021

Elevating Dissolved Oxygen—Reflections On Developing And Using Long-Term Data, Nancy N. Rabalais

Gulf and Caribbean Research

This prospectus took me about as long to generate as my 36—year record of working on the issue of northern Gulf of Mexico (nGOM) oxygen deficiency, or so I felt. There was so much to cover, but I focused on the issue of hypoxia on the Louisiana continental shelf from the early 1980s to present and my participation in the research and outreach. Not that I was ignoring other aspects of my academic research career (e.g., stone crab populations and their differences in physiology and larval development along the nGOM coast; settlement of crab megalopae, especially blue crabs, on artificial …

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Swimming Against The Flow: Environmental Dna Can Detect Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) Across A Dynamic Deltaic Interface, James Marcus Drymon, Katherine E. Schweiss, Emily A. Seubert, Ryan N. Lehman, Toby S. Daly-Engel, Mariah Pfleger, Nicole M. Phillips Jan 2021

Swimming Against The Flow: Environmental Dna Can Detect Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus Leucas) Across A Dynamic Deltaic Interface, James Marcus Drymon, Katherine E. Schweiss, Emily A. Seubert, Ryan N. Lehman, Toby S. Daly-Engel, Mariah Pfleger, Nicole M. Phillips

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Human activities in coastal areas are accelerating ecosystem changes at an unprecedented pace, resulting in habitat loss, hydrological modifications, and predatory species declines. Understanding how these changes potentially cascade across marine and freshwater ecosystems requires knowing how mobile euryhaline species link these seemingly disparate systems. As upper trophic level predators, bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) play a crucial role in marine and freshwater ecosystem health. Telemetry studies in Mobile Bay, Alabama, suggest that bull sharks extensively use the northern portions of the bay, an estuarine–freshwater interface known …

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Lower Socioeconomic Status Neighborhoods In Puerto Rico Have More Diverse Mosquito Communities And Higher Aedes Aegypti Abundance, Nicole A. Scavo, Roberto Barrera, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Donald A. Yee Jan 2021

Lower Socioeconomic Status Neighborhoods In Puerto Rico Have More Diverse Mosquito Communities And Higher Aedes Aegypti Abundance, Nicole A. Scavo, Roberto Barrera, Limarie J. Reyes-Torres, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

Mosquito community dynamics in urban areas are influenced by an array of both social and ecological factors. Human socioeconomic factors (SEF) can be related to mosquito abundance and diversity as urban mosquito development sites are modified by varying human activity, e.g., level of abandoned structures or amount of accumulated trash. The goal of this study was to investigate the relationships among mosquito diversity, populations of Aedes aegypti, and SEF in a tropical urban setting. Mosquitoes were collected using BG Sentinel 2 traps and CDC light traps during three periods between late 2018 and early 2019 in San Juan, Puerto …

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Timing Of Predation Risk During Early Development Influences Oyster Shell Morphology, Armorel Eason, Andrew B. Powell, Sarah H. Roney, Carter Lin, Christa M. Russell, Benjamin A. Belgrad, Delbert Lee Smee Jan 2021

Timing Of Predation Risk During Early Development Influences Oyster Shell Morphology, Armorel Eason, Andrew B. Powell, Sarah H. Roney, Carter Lin, Christa M. Russell, Benjamin A. Belgrad, Delbert Lee Smee

Gulf and Caribbean Research

No abstract provided.

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Feeding Habits Of The Non-Native Mayan Cichlid, Mayaheros Urophthalmus, In Estuarine Tributaries Of Southwest Florida, Copley H. Smoak, Jeffrey R. Schmid Jan 2021

Feeding Habits Of The Non-Native Mayan Cichlid, Mayaheros Urophthalmus, In Estuarine Tributaries Of Southwest Florida, Copley H. Smoak, Jeffrey R. Schmid

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Foraging habits of the non—native Mayan Cichlid (Mayaheros urophthalmus) were investigated in the tidal tributaries to the Estero Bay and Wiggins Pass estuaries in southwest Florida (USA) during 2011—2013. Dietary analysis was conducted by identifying contents in the digestive tracts of 747 fish and volumetrically measuring the food items. Detritus was the predominant food item by frequency (97–100%), volume (34–48%), and alimentary importance index (47–64%). Bivalves, gastropods, decapod and cirriped crustaceans, coleopterans, serpulid polychaetes, and fish scales frequently (>50%) occurred in samples but volume and importance differed among tributaries. Results indicate that the Mayan Cichlid in southwest Florida tidal …

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High-Resolution Sampling Of A Broad Marine Life Size Spectrum Reveals Differing Size- And Composition-Based Associations With Physical Oceanographic Structure, Adam T. Greer, John C. Lehrter, Benjamin M. Binder, Aditya R. Nayak, Ranjoy Barua, Ana E. Rice, Jonathan H. Cohen, Malcolm N. Mcfarland, Alexis Hagemeyer, Nicole D. Stockley, Kevin M. Boswell, Igor Shulman, Sergio Derada, Bradley Penta Dec 2020

High-Resolution Sampling Of A Broad Marine Life Size Spectrum Reveals Differing Size- And Composition-Based Associations With Physical Oceanographic Structure, Adam T. Greer, John C. Lehrter, Benjamin M. Binder, Aditya R. Nayak, Ranjoy Barua, Ana E. Rice, Jonathan H. Cohen, Malcolm N. Mcfarland, Alexis Hagemeyer, Nicole D. Stockley, Kevin M. Boswell, Igor Shulman, Sergio Derada, Bradley Penta

Faculty Publications

Observing multiple size classes of organisms, along with oceanographic properties and water mass origins, can improve our understanding of the drivers of aggregations, yet acquiring these measurements remains a fundamental challenge in biological oceanography. By deploying multiple biological sampling systems, from conventional bottle and net sampling to in situ imaging and acoustics, we describe the spatial patterns of different size classes of marine organisms (several microns to ∼10 cm) in relation to local and regional (m to km) physical oceanographic conditions on the Delaware continental shelf. The imaging and acoustic systems deployed included (in ascending order of target organism size) …

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An Examination Of The Influence Of Multi-Scale Processes And Connectivity On The Population And Assemblage Dynamics Of Headwater Fishes, Josh P. Hubbell Dec 2020

An Examination Of The Influence Of Multi-Scale Processes And Connectivity On The Population And Assemblage Dynamics Of Headwater Fishes, Josh P. Hubbell

Dissertations

Typified by their branching pattern, headwaters are numerically abundant as the density of these habitats increases with increasing distance from the base of a dendritic river system. Connectivity among headwaters is complex, resulting in the spatial isolation of populations. Headwater specialists have evolved a suite of traits that permit these species to permanently reside within these habitats. The spatial configuration and connectivity of headwaters has repercussions for metapopulations and meta-assemblages. I investigated how multi-scale processes and connectivity influenced the patch occupancy, coexistence, movement ecology, population structure, and gene flow of headwater specialists. In chapter two, I used occupancy modeling to …

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Two Hundred And Fifty-Four Metagenome-Assembled Bacterial Genomes From The Bank Vole Gut Microbiota, Anton Lavrinienko, Eugene Tukalenko, Timothy A. Mousseau, Luke R. Thompson, Rob Knight, Tapio Mappes, Phillip C. Watts Dec 2020

Two Hundred And Fifty-Four Metagenome-Assembled Bacterial Genomes From The Bank Vole Gut Microbiota, Anton Lavrinienko, Eugene Tukalenko, Timothy A. Mousseau, Luke R. Thompson, Rob Knight, Tapio Mappes, Phillip C. Watts

Faculty Publications

Vertebrate gut microbiota provide many essential services to their host. To better understand the diversity of such services provided by gut microbiota in wild rodents, we assembled metagenome shotgun sequence data from a small mammal, the bank vole Myodes glareolus (Rodentia, Cricetidae). We were able to identify 254 metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) that were at least 50% (n = 133 MAGs), 80% (n = 77 MAGs) or 95% (n = 44 MAGs) complete. As typical for a rodent gut microbiota, these MAGs are dominated by taxa assigned to the phyla Bacteroidetes (n = 132 MAGs) and …

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Associative Nitrogen Fixation Linked With Three Perennial Bioenergy Grasses In Field And Greenhouse Experiments, Jayani J. Wewalwela, Yuan Tian, Janet R. Donaldson, Brian S. Baldwin, Jac J. Varco, Brett Rushing, Haoliang Lu, Mark A. Williams Dec 2020

Associative Nitrogen Fixation Linked With Three Perennial Bioenergy Grasses In Field And Greenhouse Experiments, Jayani J. Wewalwela, Yuan Tian, Janet R. Donaldson, Brian S. Baldwin, Jac J. Varco, Brett Rushing, Haoliang Lu, Mark A. Williams

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Authors. Associative nitrogen (N2)‐fixation (ANF) by bacteria in the root‐zone of perennial bioenergy grasses has the potential to replace or supplement N fertilizer and support sustainable production of biomass, but its application in marginal ecosystems requires further evaluation. In this study, we first combined both greenhouse and field experiments, to explore the N2 fixation effects of three temperate feedstocks Miscanthus × giganteus (giant miscanthus, Freedom), Panicum virgatum (switchgrass, Alamo), and Saccharum sp. (energycane, Ho 02‐147). In field studies across three growing seasons, plant and soil pools of candidate feedstocks were partially composed of N …

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The Role Of The Msaabcr Operon In Implant-Associated Chronic Osteomyelitis In Staphylococcus Aureus Usa300 Lac, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Michelle Tucci, Hamed Benghuzzi, Gerri Wilson, Mohamed O. Elasri Dec 2020

The Role Of The Msaabcr Operon In Implant-Associated Chronic Osteomyelitis In Staphylococcus Aureus Usa300 Lac, Gyan S. Sahukhal, Michelle Tucci, Hamed Benghuzzi, Gerri Wilson, Mohamed O. Elasri

Faculty Publications

The msaABCR operon regulates several staphylococcal phenotypes such as biofilm formation, capsule production, protease production, pigmentation, antibiotic resistance, and persister cells formation. The msaABCR operon is required for maintaining the cell wall integrity via affecting peptidoglycan cross-linking. The msaABCR operon also plays a role in oxidative stress defense mechanism, which is required to facilitate persistent and recurrent staphylococcal infections. Staphylococcus aureus is the most frequent cause of chronic implant-associated osteomyelitis (OM). The CA-MRSA USA300 strains are predominant in the United States and cause severe infections, including bone and joint infections.

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Structure–Activity Relationship-Based Chemical Classification Of Highly Imbalanced Tox21 Datasets, Gabriel Idakwo, Sundar Thangapandian, Joseph Luttrell, Yan Li, Nan Wang, Zhaoxian Zhou, Huixiao Hong, Bei Yang, Chaoyang Zhang, Ping Gong Dec 2020

Structure–Activity Relationship-Based Chemical Classification Of Highly Imbalanced Tox21 Datasets, Gabriel Idakwo, Sundar Thangapandian, Joseph Luttrell, Yan Li, Nan Wang, Zhaoxian Zhou, Huixiao Hong, Bei Yang, Chaoyang Zhang, Ping Gong

Faculty Publications

The specificity of toxicant-target biomolecule interactions lends to the very imbalanced nature of many toxicity datasets, causing poor performance in Structure–Activity Relationship (SAR)-based chemical classification. Undersampling and oversampling are representative techniques for handling such an imbalance challenge. However, removing inactive chemical compound instances from the majority class using an undersampling technique can result in information loss, whereas increasing active toxicant instances in the minority class by interpolation tends to introduce artificial minority instances that often cross into the majority class space, giving rise to class overlapping and a higher false prediction rate. In this study, in order to improve the …

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A Management Strategy Evaluation Of The Impacts Of Interspecific Competition And Recreational Fishery Dynamics On Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Megumi C. Oshima Dec 2020

A Management Strategy Evaluation Of The Impacts Of Interspecific Competition And Recreational Fishery Dynamics On Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites Aurorubens) In The Gulf Of Mexico, Megumi C. Oshima

Dissertations

In the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Vermilion Snapper (Rhomboplites auroruben), are believed to compete with Red Snapper directly for prey and habitat. The two species share similar diets and have significant spatial overlap in the Gulf. Red Snapper are thought to be the dominate competitor, forcing Vermilion Snapper to feed on less nutritious prey when local resources are depleted. In addition to ecological pressures, GOM Vermilion Snapper support substantial commercial and recreational fisheries. Over the past decade, recreational landings have steadily increased, reaching a historical high in 2018. One cause may be stricter regulations for similar target species such as …

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Assessment Of Genetic Diversity In Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis Pristis, Populations Over The 20th Century, Ann Fearing Dec 2020

Assessment Of Genetic Diversity In Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis Pristis, Populations Over The 20th Century, Ann Fearing

Master's Theses

The Critically Endangered Largetooth Sawfish, Pristis pristis, experienced global declines in range and abundance over the past century and Australia is now their last stronghold. This research aimed to understand whether these declines have been accompanied by a reduction in levels of genetic diversity. Using P. pristis tissue samples sourced from natural history specimens, three fragments (616-bp, 386-bp, 141-bp) in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were PCR-amplified. At each fragment, significant genetic structure was found in P. pristis overall (ΦST=0.946, N=9; 0.813, N=54; 0.771, N=99). The Indo-West Pacific and Atlantic/Eastern Pacific each harbor genetically distinct lineages of …

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Determining The Trophic Role Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In Mississippi State Waters Using Stomach Content And Stable Isotope Analysis, Branden Kohler Dec 2020

Determining The Trophic Role Of Red Snapper (Lutjanus Campechanus) In Mississippi State Waters Using Stomach Content And Stable Isotope Analysis, Branden Kohler

Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to determine the diet composition, trophic position and ecological role of red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) in Mississippi state waters utilizing stable isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) and stomach content analysis. Stable isotope analysis of fish and their prey can provide information on species-specific basal resource utilization, diet composition and trophic position which can improve food web models and inform fisheries management decisions. Particulate organic matter (POM), the presumed base of the food web, red snapper muscle tissue, and red snapper stomach contents were collected from 25 sites in 2016 and …

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Microplastic Abundance, Distribution And Impacts On Sargassum-Associated Juvenile Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia Lestrade Dec 2020

Microplastic Abundance, Distribution And Impacts On Sargassum-Associated Juvenile Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia Lestrade

Master's Theses

Microplastics are a concern in marine environments because they are highly durable, ubiquitous, and can be mistaken for food and ingested by small organisms. Pelagic Sargassum, an important habitat for larval and juvenile stages of many fish species, is found in large surface aggregations, and may provide complex structure in which microplastics become trapped. This could lead to greater risk of microplastic ingestion by fish early life stages associated with Sargassum habitats. To better understand the impacts of microplastics within Sargassum communities, this study examined 1) microplastic concentrations and ingestion by juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum; 2) the microbial …

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Assessing The Nursery-Role Function Of Pelagic Sargassum For Juvenile Fishes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Courtney Stachowiak Dec 2020

Assessing The Nursery-Role Function Of Pelagic Sargassum For Juvenile Fishes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Courtney Stachowiak

Master's Theses

Sargassum, a genus of holopelagic brown algae, floats at the ocean’s surface using air-filled bladders and forms a complex comprised of two species, S. natans and S. fluitans. Oceanic processes (e.g., Langmuir circulation, etc.) aggregate Sargassum into mats and weedlines, and primarily distribute the algal complex throughout the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These floating habitats provide shelter and feeding opportunities for a diverse community of invertebrates and fishes. Sargassum is a presumed nursery habitat for juvenile stages of commercially- and recreationally-targeted fishery species. In this study, I estimated the standardized abundances of juvenile …

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Development And Use Of An Environmental Dna Tool To Monitor Recovery Of The Critically Endangered Smalltooth Sawfish, Pristis Pectinata, In The Northwest Atlantic, Ryan N. Lehman Dec 2020

Development And Use Of An Environmental Dna Tool To Monitor Recovery Of The Critically Endangered Smalltooth Sawfish, Pristis Pectinata, In The Northwest Atlantic, Ryan N. Lehman

Master's Theses

The Critically Endangered Smalltooth Sawfish, Pristis pectinata, was once common in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean; however, following global declines in range and abundance over the past century, individuals were restricted to the waters of south and southwest Florida (SWFL) by about the 1980’s. Recently, public encounter reports have emerged in historically occupied habitats in United States waters, suggesting individuals are present in, or re-occupying, these areas, although the status of P. pectinata outside of SWFL is not currently well understood. Targeted environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys were chosen to assess the occurrence of P …

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Effects Of Infection Of The Protist Parasite, Dermomycoides Sp., In Dusky Gopher Frog Tadpoles, Jaime Smith Dec 2020

Effects Of Infection Of The Protist Parasite, Dermomycoides Sp., In Dusky Gopher Frog Tadpoles, Jaime Smith

Master's Theses

Infections of the protist parasite, Dermomycoides sp. are thought to have caused several years of low recruitment in the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa) populations. I evaluated the effects of density of the infective zoospores, host developmental stage, and tadpoles' ability to acquire resistance to Dermomycoides sp. on dusky gopher frog tadpoles. Tadpoles were exposed to zoospore densities of 0, 250, 500, and 750 zoospores/µL at Gosner stage 25, and we found no significant differences among treatments in tadpole mortality. In evaluating susceptibility by development stage, I exposed R. sevosa to 50 zoospores/µL as eggs, embryos, hatchlings, and …

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Interleukin-17a Facilitates Chikungunya Virus Infection By Inhibiting Ifn-Α2 Expression, Biswas Neupane, Dhiraj Acharya, Farzana Nazneen, Gabriel Gonzalez-Fernandez, Alex Sutton Flynt, Fengwei Bai Nov 2020

Interleukin-17a Facilitates Chikungunya Virus Infection By Inhibiting Ifn-Α2 Expression, Biswas Neupane, Dhiraj Acharya, Farzana Nazneen, Gabriel Gonzalez-Fernandez, Alex Sutton Flynt, Fengwei Bai

Faculty Publications

Interferons (IFNs) are the key components of innate immunity and are crucial for host defense against viral infections. Here, we report a novel role of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in inhibiting IFN-α2 expression thus promoting chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection. CHIKV infected IL-17A deficient (Il17a−/−) mice expressed a higher level of IFN-α2 and developed diminished viremia and milder footpad swelling in comparison to wild-type (WT) control mice, which was also recapitulated in IL-17A receptor-deficient (Il17ra−/−) mice. Interestingly, IL-17A selectively blocked IFN-α2 production during CHIKV, but not West Nile virus (WNV) or Zika virus (ZIKV), infections. Recombinant IL-17A …

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Significance Of Viral Activity For Regulating Heterotrophic Prokaryote Community Dynamics Along A Meridional Gradient Of Stratification In The Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Kristina D.A. Mojica, Corina P.D. Brussaard Nov 2020

Significance Of Viral Activity For Regulating Heterotrophic Prokaryote Community Dynamics Along A Meridional Gradient Of Stratification In The Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Kristina D.A. Mojica, Corina P.D. Brussaard

Faculty Publications

How microbial populations interact influences the availability and flux of organic carbon in the ocean. Understanding how these interactions vary over broad spatial scales is therefore a fundamental aim of microbial oceanography. In this study, we assessed variations in the abundances, production, virus and grazing induced mortality of heterotrophic prokaryotes during summer along a meridional gradient in stratification in the North Atlantic Ocean. Heterotrophic prokaryote abundance and activity varied with phytoplankton biomass, while the relative distribution of prokaryotic subpopulations (ratio of high nucleic acid fluorescent (HNA) and low nucleic acid fluorescent (LNA) cells) was significantly correlated to phytoplankton mortality mode …

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A Review Of Integrative Imputation For Multi-Omics Datasets, Meng Song, Jonathan Greenbaum, Joseph Luttrell, Weihua Zhou, Chong Wu, Hui Shen, Ping Gong, Chaoyang Zhang, Hong Wen Deng Oct 2020

A Review Of Integrative Imputation For Multi-Omics Datasets, Meng Song, Jonathan Greenbaum, Joseph Luttrell, Weihua Zhou, Chong Wu, Hui Shen, Ping Gong, Chaoyang Zhang, Hong Wen Deng

Faculty Publications

Multi-omics studies, which explore the interactions between multiple types of biological factors, have significant advantages over single-omics analysis for their ability to provide a more holistic view of biological processes, uncover the causal and functional mechanisms for complex diseases, and facilitate new discoveries in precision medicine. However, omics datasets often contain missing values, and in multi-omics study designs it is common for individuals to be represented for some omics layers but not all. Since most statistical analyses cannot be applied directly to the incomplete datasets, imputation is typically performed to infer the missing values. Integrative imputation techniques which make use …

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Oil-Producing Metabolons Containing Dgat1 Use Separate Substrate Pools From Those Containing Dgat2 Or Pdat, Anushobha Regmi, Jay Shockey, Hari Kiran Kotapati, Philip D. Bates Oct 2020

Oil-Producing Metabolons Containing Dgat1 Use Separate Substrate Pools From Those Containing Dgat2 Or Pdat, Anushobha Regmi, Jay Shockey, Hari Kiran Kotapati, Philip D. Bates

Faculty Publications

© 2020 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. Seed triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis involves a metabolic network containing multiple different diacylglycerol (DAG) and acyl donor substrate pools. This network of pathways overlaps with those for essential membrane lipid synthesis and utilizes multiple different classes of TAG biosynthetic enzymes. Acyl flux through this network ultimately dictates the final oil fatty acid composition. Most strategies to alter seed oil composition involve the overexpression of lipid biosynthetic enzymes, but how these enzymes are assembled into metabolons and which substrate pools are used by each is still not well understood. To understand the …

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Consequences Of Plume Encounter On Larval Fish Growth And Condition In The Gulf Of Mexico, Kelia E. Axler, Su Sponaugle, Frank Hernandez, Carla Culpepper, Robert K. Cowen Sep 2020

Consequences Of Plume Encounter On Larval Fish Growth And Condition In The Gulf Of Mexico, Kelia E. Axler, Su Sponaugle, Frank Hernandez, Carla Culpepper, Robert K. Cowen

Faculty Publications

© Inter-Research 2020. Freshwater input into nearshore continental shelf waters from coastal river-estuarine plumes can greatly alter the physical and trophic environments experienced by fish larvae. However, the biological consequences of plume encounter on larval fish survival remain equivocal, largely due to the extreme variability of these systems but also because traditional sampling techniques alone are too coarse to effectively characterize the dynamic biophysical environment at spatiotemporal scales relevant to individual larvae. Using a multidimensional approach, we simultaneously collected in situ imagery and net samples of larval fishes and zooplankton from the Mobile Bay plume (Alabama, USA) and ambient continental …

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