Life Sciences Commons^™

Commercial Mycorrhizal Inoculation Of Non-Sterile Field Soil Does Not Enhance Colonization Or Reduce Nitrate Leaching, Madelyn Schoenberger

Student Research, Papers, and Creative Works

A short-term microcosm experiment was conducted to investigate whether inoculation of corn plants with commercial mycorrhizal fungus can reduce nitrate leaching from soil. Nitrate leaching presents issues for agricultural yields and crop nutrition as well as for nutrient cycling and ecological stability. Mycorrhizal fungi form a mutually beneficial symbiosis with most terrestrial plants wherein the fungus provides nutrients for the plant and receives organic compounds in return. This symbiosis can increase plant nutrient uptake from soil and may be useful for ecological remediation of nitrogen pollution.

Emerging Patterns In Population Structure And Trap Efficacy After Three Years Of A Survey Of Western Painted Turtles (Chrysemys Picta Bellii, Gray, 1830) In Marshall County, South Dakota, Heather L. Waye, Amy C. Dolan, Peter C. Dolan

Biology Publications

Turtles are long-lived and globally declining, but relatively little is known about the natural history of many turtle species. Even amongst relatively well-studied species, there is a paucity of information for some habitats and long-term population trends are lacking. Here we report the results from the first three years of an intended long-term population survey of Western Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta bellii) in the prairie highlands of the Coteau des Prairies, South Dakota. Turtles were sampled using basking traps, hoop traps, and dip nets. Catch per unit effort varied between years, but not significantly so, and hoop traps …

Current And Past Prairie Reconstruction Approaches, Sophie Wieland

Honors Capstone Projects

This project was concerned with prairie reconstruction - that is, lands that have been seeded and are being managed to emulate a prairie ecosystem. The first section is a literature review on how prairie reconstruction arose. In the second component, data on plant species in local reconstructed prairies collected for the Prairie Reconstruction Initiative by the Morris Wetland Management District were summarized. The new monitoring framework is evaluated, as is the condition of the selected reconstructions, including the success of planted species and encroachment of non-native species.

High-Resolution Imaging As A Tool For Identifying Quantitative Trait Loci That Regulate Photomorphogenesis In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Stephen D. Deslauriers

Biology Publications

A primary component of seedling establishment is the photomorphogenic response as seedlings emerge from the soil. This process is characterized by a reduced growth rate in the hypocotyl, increased root growth, opening of the apical hook and expansion of the cotyledons as photosynthetic organs. While fundamental to plant success, the photomorphogenic response can be highly variable. Additionally, studies of Arabidopsis thaliana are made difficult by subtle differences in growth rate between individuals. High-resolution imaging and computational processing have emerged as useful tools for quantification of such phenotypes. This study sought to: (i) develop an imaging methodology which could capture changes …

Grizzly Bears Mortalities And The Survival Of The Species, Courtney Swanson

Senior Seminars and Capstones

In this paper we aim to understand what is happening in the grizzly bear population mortalities from the year 2010 to 2020. We are performing Classical and Regression Tree (CART) methods and Correspondence Analysis on data provided by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). We found certain variables in the data set to be important through CART methods. Correspondence Analysis then allowed us to compare these variables to determine their relationships and association to one another. Most of the grizzly bear deaths are human caused and mainly over land and resources such as food and habitat. This aligns with some of …

Understanding Metrics Of Stress In The Context Of Invasion History: The Case Of The Brown Treesnake (Boiga Irregularis), Natalie Claunch, Ignacio Moore, Heather L. Waye, Laura Schoenle, Samantha J. Oakey, Robert N. Reed, Christina Romagosa

Biology Publications

Invasive species can exert rapid depletion of resources after introduction and, in turn, affect their own population density. Additionally, management actions can have direct and indirect effects on demography. Physiological variables can predict demographic change but are often restricted to snapshots-in-time and delayed confirmation of changes in population density reduces their utility. To evaluate the relationships between physiology and demography, we assessed metrics of individual and demographic stress (baseline and 1-h corticosterone (CORT), body condition and bacterial killing ability) in the invasive snake Boiga irregularis on Guam collected in intervals of 10–15 years. We also assessed potential discrepancies between different …

Modifying An Ergosterol Extraction Protocol To Quantify Fungal Biomass At The University Of Minnesota-Morris, Alex Carroll

Student Research, Papers, and Creative Works

In aquatic ecosystems, fungi play an essential role in decomposing leaves and making nutrients available to other organisms such as invertebrates and detritivores. Therefore, it is useful to quantify the amount of fungal biomass growing on submerged leaves, and this quantity can be estimated by measuring the chemical ergosterol, which is found only in fungi. Gessner (2005) developed an ergosterol extraction protocol using lipid extraction, purification with solid-phase extraction (SPE), and analysis with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). However, not all of the equipment mentioned in the protocol was available at the University of Minnesota-Morris. Therefore, the goal of this project …

Understanding Changes In Marine Communities Through A Discretized, Size-Structured Matrix Model, Courtney Swanson

Senior Seminars and Capstones

We study a discretized, size-structured matrix model which calculates population in a marine community over time. A portion of this model is a discretized version of the McKendrick-von Foerster equation, so we spend some time studying the process of discretizing that equation. We implement a mini model containing 10 size categories instead of the original 50, and we looked at how the marine community behaves over 40 years. We discuss some of the challenges when implementing this model.

The Effects Of Environmental Stress On Arabidopsis Thaliana Establishment And Development, Paige Petty

Student Research, Papers, and Creative Works

Arabidopsis thaliana is a model organism for plant research because it grows quickly, is easy to maintain, and findings from Arabidopsis can be easily extrapolated to crop species such as tomato, soybean, corn, and sorghum. Of particular interest is the process of photomorphogenesis, which promotes seedling establishment in soil. A rise in temperature causes stress for the seedling, which can inhibit photomorphogenesis and cause elongated hypocotyls that grow regardless of light intensity. Drought can also affect the rate of photosynthesis and limit seedling growth. In this project, we explored how the adult Arabidopsis plant is affected by delayed seedling establishment …

Organic Chemistry With A Biological Emphasis Volume Ii, Timothy Soderberg

Chemistry Publications

The traditional approach to teaching Organic Chemistry, taken by most of the textbooks that are currently available, is to focus primarily on the reactions of laboratory synthesis, with much less discussion - in the central chapters, at least - of biological molecules and reactions. This is despite the fact that, in many classrooms, a majority of students are majoring in Biology or Health Sciences rather than in Chemistry, and are presumably taking the course in order to learn about the chemistry that takes place in living things.

In an effort to address this disconnect, I have developed a textbook for …

Organic Chemistry With A Biological Emphasis Volume I, Timothy Soderberg

Chemistry Publications

The traditional approach to teaching Organic Chemistry, taken by most of the textbooks that are currently available, is to focus primarily on the reactions of laboratory synthesis, with much less discussion - in the central chapters, at least - of biological molecules and reactions. This is despite the fact that, in many classrooms, a majority of students are majoring in Biology or Health Sciences rather than in Chemistry, and are presumably taking the course in order to learn about the chemistry that takes place in living things.

In an effort to address this disconnect, I have developed a textbook for …

Crispr/Cas9 Driven Eradication Of Hiv-1 In Infected Human Genome, Sydney Loechler

Senior Seminars and Capstones

Once infected with HIV-1, the host immune system is incapable of ridding itself of the virus. HIV-1 uses latent viral reservoirs (LR) within CD4+ T cells to replicate. Within these reservoirs, HIV-1 is able to go into a latent state where it cannot be detected by the host's immune system or current HIV-1 treatments. By utilizing viewing assays and CRISPR-Cas9, there may be a possibility to identify, isolate, and then cut out HIV-1 from an infected cell. Two possible viewing assays have been proposed and studied in recent research. PCR assays are quicker and easier to administer while viral outgrowth …

Activation Of The Bile Acid Pathway And No Observed Antimicrobial Peptide Sequences In The Skin Of A Poison Frog, Megan L. Civitello, Robert Denton, Michael A. Zasloff, John H. Malone

Biology Publications

The skin secretions of many frogs have genetically-encoded, endogenous antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). Other species, especially aposematic poison frogs, secrete exogenously derived alkaloids that serve as potent defense molecules. The origins of these defense systems are not clear, but a novel bileacid derived metabolite, tauromantellic acid, was recently discovered and shown to be endogenous in poison frogs (Mantella, Dendrobates, and Epipedobates). These observations raise questions about the evolutionary history of AMP genetic elements, the mechanism and function of tauromatellic acid production, and links between these systems. To understand the diversity and expression of AMPs among frogs, we assembled skin transcriptomes of …

Cd80 Expressed By Cd8+ T Cells Contributes To Pd-L1-Induced Apoptosis Of Activated Cd8+ T Cells, Meagan R. Rollins, Rachel M. Gibbons Johnson

Biology Publications

Tumor cells are capable of limiting antitumor CD8+ T cell responses through their cell surface expression of PD-L1. In addition to PD-1 expressed by CD8+ T cells, PD-L1 also binds to CD80 expressed by CD8+ T cells. The influence of the PD-L1/CD80 interaction on CD8+ T cell function has not been fully characterized, so we sought to investigate the impact of the PD-L1/CD80 interaction on PD-L1-induced apoptosis of activated CD8+ T cells. We found that CD8+ T cells that lacked CD80 expression got activated to the same extent as wild-type CD8+ T cells, but when cultured with anti-CD3 and PD-L1/Fc …

Functional Expression Of Programmed Death-Ligand 1 (B7-H1) By Immune Cells And Tumor Cells, Rachel M. Gibbons Johnson

Biology Publications

The programmed death-1 (PD-1) and its ligand PD-L1 (B7-H1) signaling pathway has been the focus of much enthusiasm in the fields of tumor immunology and oncology with recent FDA approval of the anti-PD-1 antibodies pembrolizumab and nivolumab and the anti-PD-L1 antibodies durvalumab, atezolimuab, and avelumab. These therapies, referred to here as PD-L1/ PD-1 checkpoint blockade therapies, are designed to block the interaction between PD-L1, expressed by tumor cells, and PD-1, expressed by tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells, leading to enhanced antitumor CD8+ T cell responses and tumor regression. The influence of PD-L1 expressed by tumor cells on antitumor CD8+ T cell …

Net Zero Energy Dairy Production: Powering Minnesota Dairy Farms With Renewable Energy, Mckenzie Dice

Honors Capstone Projects

The goal of this project was to determine if the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) dairy production could achieve a net zero energy status, meaning that the dairy operation uses as much as energy on-site as the amount of energy that is produced on-site for the dairy operation. There are several ways to accomplish this goal, principally through energy conservation, by means of installing more energy efficient technologies, as well as the installation of on-site renewable energy. At the WCROC dairy, a new utility room has been installed to introduce energy efficient technologies to the dairy operation, as …

Transcription Through The Eye Of A Needle: Daily And Annual Cyclic Gene Expression Variation In Douglas-Fir Needles, Peter Dolan

Computer Science Publications

Background: Perennial growth in plants is the product of interdependent cycles of daily and annual stimuli that induce cycles of growth and dormancy. In conifers, needles are the key perennial organ that integrates daily and seasonal signals from light, temperature, and water availability. To understand the relationship between seasonal cycles and seasonal gene expression responses in conifers, we examined diurnal and circannual needle mRNA accumulation in Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) needles at diurnal and circannual scales. Using mRNA sequencing, we sampled 6.1 × 109 reads from 19 trees and constructed a de novo pan-transcriptome reference that includes 173,882 tree-derived transcripts. Using …

Transcending Academic Borders: A Defense Of Collaboration Between Art And Science, Laura Borkenhagen

Honors Capstone Projects

The aim of this project in its entirety was to explore different ideas about what the intersection of art and science might look like. These ideas, including my own, are presented in the following essay. In addition to the essay portion of this project, I’ve explored creative writing through poetry in attempts to immerse myself in both sides of this debate, as my academic history leans more towards the scientific realm. In the poems I’ve also tried to include bits of science through metaphorical language. The four works I have chosen to include follow the essay.

Evaluating Animal Agriculture Impacts On Water Quality: Data Gaps In West Central Minnesota Case Study, Ed Brands

Environmental Studies Publications

Balancing the economic and food system contributions of animal agriculture with negative impacts such as water quality degradation has been a recurring question in Minnesota and other agricultural states (e.g., Iowa and North Carolina). Over the past 15 years significant federal- and state-level changes in the regulation of animal feeding operations (AFOs) and associated practices have attempted to improve water quality. The impacts of these changes are unclear; therefore, the main purpose of this project was to evaluate policies designed to protect water quality from manure runoff and spills within the context of a manageable geographic area. Project work was …

Can A Tiger Change Its Spots? A Test Of The Stability Of Spot Patterns For Identification Of Individual Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma Tigrinum), Heather L. Waye

Biology Publications

There is increasing interest in the use of unique spot patterns as a way to “mark” individual amphibians as an alternative to invasive techniques for studies of free-ranging populations. however, studies testing the efficacy of the pattern recognition technique have largely drawn their conclusions from the ability to recognize recaptured individuals that were identified solely by spot pattern. individuals whose color pattern changed significantly would therefore not be identified upon recapture. for this study, Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) were captured in west-central Minnesota and maintained in captivity for one year, and their dorsal and ventral surfaces photographed approximately …

Limit Cycle Displacement Model Of Circadian Rhythms, Van D. Gooch

Faculty Working Papers

A mathematical model has been examined that attempts to mimic the effects of changes in environmental conditions on circadian rhythms. The basis of the model claims that for a given set of environmental conditions (e.g., light, temperature and chemical concentrations) there exists a limit cycle that has a given position. When an environmental treatment is applied that is different from the control conditions, the position of the new limit cycle changes and the oscillating parameters of the circadian system are now attracted toward this newly positioned limit cycle. If conditions are subsequently returned back to control levels, the control limit …

Agroecological Transition In Cuba: Towards A Better Way Of Life, Donna Chollett, Bruce Ferguson, Koyu Furusawa, Mari Furusawa, Stephen Hollis, Audrey Hollis, Alley Kent, Sheehy Skeffington, Masuru Sugai

Anthropology Publications

The current financial and fuel crises threaten food security in poorer nations and among the poor in wealthier countries. Sustainable food production benefits communities and their food supply and can maintain farming systems in less developed agricultural regions. Many small farmers have long practiced organic agriculture, but face pressure to adopt green revolution farming, using chemicals and commercial seed. Some are resisting this, but lack the technology to apply organic methods on a larger scale. Cuba provides an instructive example of a nation that confronted a sudden food and fuel crisis by adopting organic agricultural technologies across production systems that …