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Ua66/6/3/1 Biennial Report, Kentucky Gamma, Alpha Epsilon Delta

Student Organizations

Biennial report created by and about the Kentucky Gamma Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta premedical honor society sponsored by WKU Biology.

Introduction And Enhancement Of Vegetative Cover At Lake Mead, Jennifer S. Haley, Lisa K. Croft, Suzanne E. Leavitt, Larry J. Paulson

Publications (WR)

Studies done by the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) and the Arizona Fish and Game between 1978 and 1981 indicate that inadequate cover may be limiting the production and survival of largemouth bass at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA). As a result of these studies, NDOW initiated a contract in 1986 with the Lake Mead Research Center (LMRC) to investigate means of improving habitat for game fish by introducing natural and/or artificial cover.

During Phase I (1986-1987) of this contract, the shoreline of Lake Mead was surveyed for aquatic and terrestrial plant growth. Also during this time, submerged …

Complex Motor Dynamics And Control In Multi-Looped Negative Feedback Systems, Anne Beuter, John Milton, Christiane Labrie, Leon Glass

WM Keck Science Faculty Papers

Experiments were performed in normal and Parkinsonian subjects who were asked to maintain a constant finger position using time-delayed visual feedback. The finger position showed complex dynamics, with characteristic differences between normal and Parkinosonian subjects. Here we discuss some of the theoretical issues that must be resolved in order to understand the mechanisms that underlie the generation of these complex signals.

Muscle Activities That Stretch The Mind, James L. Hanegan, Heather Mckean

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Detection In Soil Of A Deletion In An Engineered Dna Sequence By Using Dna Probes, Janet K. Jansson, William E. Holben, James M. Tiedje

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Two Pseudomonas strains were engineered to contain the nptII gene and plasmid vector sequences in their chromosomes. After incubation of these strains in nonsterile soil, total bacterial DNA was isolated and analyzed by Southern blot hybridization with the nptII gene and the plasmid vector as probes. In addition to the expected bands of hybridization, a new band corresponding to the loss of vector sequences from the chromosome while retaining the nptII gene was observed for one of the strains. The more stressful conditions encountered in soil appeared to increase the frequency of loss of the vector sequences …

Identification And Characterization Of Peptidoglycan-Associated Proteins In Neisseria-Gonorrhoeae, Stuart A. Hill, Ralph C. Judd

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The principal proteins associated with Neisseria gonorrhoeae peptidoglycan (PG), as identified by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, are the following: two proteins at approximately 90 kilodaltons (kDa), single major species at both 60 and 44 kDa, a 34- to 36-kDa protein, and three proteins between 28 and 32 kDa. A protein analogous to Escherichia coli Braun lipoprotein was not detected with gonococcal cell wall preparations. The identity of the PG-associated proteins was confirmed immunologically with antibody generated against purified cell walls. Two types of protein species, dithiothreitol extractable (the majority) and alkylation dependent (primarily the 34- to 36-kDa protein), appeared …

Foraging Decisions In A Patchy Environment, Eric Charnov

Biology Faculty & Staff Publications

This is a Science Citation Classic commentary on the Marginal Value Theorem [Charnov, 1976]

Vegetation And Environment In An Adjacent Post Oak Flatwoods And Barrens In Indiana, Rebecca W. Dolan, Eric S. Menges

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

To compare adjacent post oak flatwoods and barrens communities in south-western Indiana, we used vegetational, environmental and fire history data in multivariate analyses. Barrens had greater dominance by post oak and lower tree species richness, but variation in tree species composition was not strongly related to soil moisture, litter depth or other environmental gradients measured. Tree growth has been slow and variable, with little difference between the barrens and flatwoods. Barrens and flatwoods differ in herb species composition, but with considerable overlap. In the barrens, herbaceous vegetation composition was correlated with tree basal area, litter depth and soil moisture; in …

Porophyllum Pygmaeum (Asteraceae), A Distinctive New Species From Southern Nevada, David J. Keil, James D. Morefield

Biological Sciences

Porophyllum pygmaeum is a new species from coarse calcareous soils of the Desert National Wildlife Range in Clark Co., Nevada. It has subterete leaves that contain a continuous double layer of palisade mesophyll surrounding a central area of larger, achlorophyllous, polyhedral parenchyma cells and veins. The hollow foliar oil glands lie just below the abaxial epidermis and are deeply invaginated within the parenchyma layers. Porophyllum pygmaeum is a tetraploid (n = 24) perennial herb that apparently is most closely related to P. greggii a hexaploid herbaceous species of western Texas with much longer and narrower leaves. In its fleshy subterete …

Distribution Patterns Of Hp1, A Heterochromatin-Associated Nonhistone Chromosomal Protein Of Drosophila, T James, J Eissenberg, C Craig, V Dietrich, A Hobson, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

We have previously reported the identification of a nonhistone chromosomal protein (nhcp-19; now called HP1) preferentially associated with the heterochromatin of Drosophila melanogaster. A detailed study of the HP1 distribution pattern on polytene chromosomes by immunofluorescent staining, using monoclonal antibody C1A9, has been carried out. The results indicate that this protein is found within the centric beta-heterochromatin, in cytological regions 31, 41 and 80, and throughout polytene chromosome 4. Staining of telomeres is frequently observed, those of chromosome arms 2R and 3R and the X chromosome being the most conspicuous. Analysis of a fourth chromosome insertional translocation T(3;4)f/In(3L)P confirms an …

Review: 'Deepening Christian Life: Integrating Faith And Maturity', William P. Roberts

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Structure Of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Α At 2.6 Å Resolution. Implications For Receptor Binding, M. J. Eck, S. R. Sprang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The three-dimensional structure of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), a protein hormone secreted by macrophages, has been determined at 2.6 Å resolution by x-ray crystallography. Phases were determined by multiple isomorphous replacement using data collected from five heavy atom derivatives. The multiple isomorphous replacement phases were further improved by real space symmetry averaging, exploiting the non-crystallographic 3-fold symmetry of the TNF-α trimer. An atomic model corresponding to the known amino acid sequence of TNF-α was readily built into the electron density map calculated with these improved phases. The 17,350-dalton monomer forms an elongated, antiparallel β-pleated sheet sandwich with a 'jelly-roll' topology. …

The Effects Of Site Quality On Breeding-Site Fidelity In Bobolinks, Eric Bollinger, Thomas Gavin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

We compared breeding-site fidelity of Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) at two low-quality sites (Bald Hill and Shackelton Point, BH +SP) with that at one high-quality site (Moore Road, MR) in central New York. Yearly density of fledglings at Moore Road was more than six times the density at Bald Hill and Shackelton Point. Furthermore, individual residents fledged 50-70% more young at the high-quality site. At Moore Road, 70% of the males and 49% of the females returned one or more times, compared with 44% of the males and 25% of the females at the low-quality sites. Successful residents (i.e. those fledging …

The Effects Of Site Quality On Breeding-Site Fidelity In Bobolinks, Eric K. Bollinger, Thomas A. Gavin

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

We compared breeding-site fidelity of Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) at two low-quality sites (Bald Hill and Shackelton Point, BH +SP) with that at one high-quality site (Moore Road, MR) in central New York. Yearly density of fledglings at Moore Road was more than six times the density at Bald Hill and Shackelton Point. Furthermore, individual residents fledged 50-70% more young at the high-quality site. At Moore Road, 70% of the males and 49% of the females returned one or more times, compared with 44% of the males and 25% of the females at the low-quality sites. Successful residents (i.e. those fledging …

The Water Vapor Conductance Of Squamate Reptilian Eggs: The Influence Of Scaling On Nesting Ecology., Louis A. Somma

Papers in Herpetology

Flexible-shelled eggs of squamate reptiles are strongly influenced by their surrounding microclimate, particularly the hydric conditions of the nest. The eggshell water vapor conductance of an egg can be an indication of its requirement for water from the nest. Ackerman et al. (1985. Physiol. Zool. 58:129-137) have described the scaling relationship for eggshell water vapor conductance (G_H2O) of flexible-shelled reptilian eggs (G_H2O = 981.8M^0.52). This scaling relationship was investigated with water vapor conductance data obtained from 8 species of lizards representing the families Iguanidae (Anolis carolinensis, A. sagrai, Sceloporus woodi, S. virgatus) …

Natural And Disturbance-Induced Demographic Variation In An Infaunal Polychaete, Nephtys Incisa, Roman Zajac, Robert B. Whitlatch

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Demography of the infaunal polychaete Nephtys incisa was investigated for periods of 1 yr prior to and following disturbance (dredge material disposal) at a site in central Long Island Sound, USA. Infaunal grab samples were taken at 5 stations 200 m to 3 km apart. The demography of populations at each station was based on age-classes spanning juveniles to adults 4 + yr of age. Age-specific survivorship and fecundity were based on changes in mean density of each cohort and a positive correlation between female size and egg production, respectively. Analyses of population matrix models indicated pre-disposal populations had positive …

Dietary Protein Deficiency And Mycobacterium Bovis Bcg Affect Interleukin-2 Activity In Experimental Pulmonary Tuberculosis, David N. Mcmurray, C. L. Mintzer, R. A. Bartow, Rebecca D. Parr

Faculty Publications

Inbred strain 2 guinea pigs were vaccinated with Mycobacterium bovis BCG or were left unvaccinated. They were maintained for 6 weeks on defined, isocaloric diets containing either 30% (control animals) or 10% (animals receiving low protein) ovalbumin as the sole protein source. Animals were challenged by the respiratory route with a low dose of virulent M. tuberculosis H37Rv and killed 4 weeks later. Protein-malnourished animals were not protected by previous vaccination with BCG. Lymphocytes isolated from various tissues were tested in vitro for proliferative responses to mitogen (concanavalin A) and antigen (purified protein derivative [PPD]), production of interleukin-2 (IL-2), and …

Kinetic Properties Of Hexokinase Under Near-Physiological Conditions: Relation To Metabolic Arrest In Artemia Embryos During Anoxia, Bernard Rees

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous analyses of glycolytic metabolites in Artemia embryos indicate that an acute inhibition of glucose phosphorylation occurs during pHi-mediated metabolic arrest under anoxia. We describe here kinetic features of hexokinase purified from brine shrimp embryos in an attempt to explain the molecular basis for this inhibition. At saturating concentrations of cosubstrate, ADP is an uncompetitive inhibitor toward glucose and a partial noncompetitive inhibitor toward ATP (Kis = 0.86 mM, Kii = 1.0 mM, Kid = 1.9 mM). With cosubstrates at subsaturating concentrations, the uncompetitive inhibition versus glucose becomes noncompetitive, while inhibition versus ATP remains partial noncompetitive. The partial noncompetitive inhibition …

Micronuclear Genome Organization In Euplotes Crassus: A Transposonlike Element Is Removed During Macronuclear Development, Scott Everet Baird, Gina M. Fino, Susan L. Tausta, Lawrence A. Klobutcher

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

After mating, hypotrichous ciliated protozoa transform a set of their micronuclear chromosomes into thousands of short, linear DNA molecules that form the macronuclear genome. To examine micronuclear genome organization in the hypotrich Euplotes crassus, we have analyzed two cloned segments of micronuclear DNA as well as the macronuclear DNA molecules that are derived from them. E. crassus was found to display a number of features characteristic of other hypotrich genomes, including (i) clustering and close spacing of the precursors of macronuclear DNA molecules, (ii) the frequent occurrence of internal eliminated sequences within macronuclear precursors, (iii) overlapping macronuclear precursors, (iv) lack …

Direct Genomic Sequencing Of Bacterial Dna: The Pyruvate Kinase I Gene Of Escherichia Coli, Osamu Ohara, Robert L. Dorit, Walter Gilbert

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The genomic sequencing procedure is applied to the direct sequencing of uncharacterized regions of bacterial DNA by a "multiplex walking" approach. Samples of bulk Escherichia coli DNA are cut with various restriction enzymes, subjected to chemical sequencing degradations, run in a sequencing gel, and transferred to nylon membranes. When a labeled oligomer is hybridized to a membrane, a sequence ladder appears wherever the probe lies near a restriction cut. New probes, based on sequence that lies beyond other restriction sites, are then synthesized, and the membranes are reprobed to reveal new sequence. Repeated cycles of oligomer probe synthesis and subsequent …

Tidal Flat Ecology: An Experimental Approach To Species Interactions By K. Riess, John T. Tanacredi Ph.D.

Faculty Works: CERCOM

A periodic pause to intensely observe a singularly unique ecosystem sharpens one's awareness of this diverse world of ours, especially, as the author notes, if one observes a transitional ecosystem whose ecological treasures are hidden or maybe obscured by a tidal sediment's resemblance to a large, rotten cheese! "It smells, is slimy and sticky, is punched with holes and crowded with various worms." Sounds good to me! Reise's "pause" encompasses 10 years in which he investigated the Wadden Sea mudflats near the border between West Germany and Denmark. He uses this site to discuss the biotic and abiotic interactions within …

Drosophila Nuclear Proteins Bind To Regions Of Alternating C And T Residues In Gene Promoters, D Gilmour, G Thomas, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations

Proteins from Drosophila nuclei that bind to regions of alternating C and T residues present in the promoters of the heat shock genes hsp70 and hsp26 and the histone genes his3 and his4 have been purified. These proteins bind to isolated linear DNA, and genomic footprinting analyses indicate that they are bound to DNA in nuclei. In supercoiled plasmids at low pH, some of these DNA sequences adopt triple-helical structures which, if they form in vivo, could significantly affect chromatin structure. The nuclear proteins described here, and not necessarily the deformed conformation of the DNA, may be responsible for maintaining …

The Voltage Sensor Of Excitation-Contraction Coupling In Skeletal Muscle. Ion Dependence And Selectivity, Gonzalo Pizarro, Robert H. Fitts, Ismael Uribe, Eduardo Rios

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Manifestations of excitation-contraction (EC) coupling of skeletal muscle were studied in the presence of metal ions of the alkaline and alkaline-earth groups in the extracellular medium. Single cut fibers of frog skeletal muscle were voltage clamped in a double Vaseline gap apparatus, and intramembrane charge movement and myoplasmic Ca2+ transients were simultaneously measured. In metal-free extracellular media both charge movement of the charge 1 type and Ca transients were suppressed. Under metal-free conditions the nonlinear charge distribution was the same in depolarized (holding potential of 0 mV) and normally polarized fibers (holding potentials between -80 and -90 mV). The manifestations …

Effects Of Inter-Specific Density And Food Supply On Survivorship And Growth Of Newly Settled Benthos, Roman Zajac, Robert B. Whitlatch, Richard W. Osman

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Using a laboratory model system comprised of newly settled oysters Crassostrea virginica and established fouling species (Botrylloides sp. initially, and others including Styela clava and Ciona intestinalis as the experiment progressed), we tested how differences in food supply and competitor density may affect post-settlement surivorship and growth of sessile marine invertebrates over a 44 d period. After 15 d, results were mixed but indicated that both food and density conditions affected growth and survivorship significantly, with some suggestion of high food levels ameliorating high density effects However, 44 d after settlement, oysters had reduced survivorship and growth when competitors …

Dynamics Of Mitochondrial Dna Evolution In Animals: Amplification And Sequencing With Conserved Primers, T. D. Kocher, W. K. Thomas, A. Meyer, S. V. Edwards, S. Pääbo, F. X. Villablanca, A. C. Wilson

Biological Sciences

With a standard set of primers directed toward conserved regions, we have used the polymerase chain reaction to amplify homologous segments of mtDNA from more than 100 animal species, including mammals, birds, amphibians, fishes, and some invertebrates. Amplification and direct sequencing were possible using unpurified mtDNA from nanogram samples of fresh specimens and microgram amounts of tissues preserved for months in alcohol or decades in the dry state. The bird and fish sequences evolve with the same strong bias toward transitions that holds for mammals. However, because the light strand of birds is deficient in thymine, thymine to cytosine transitions …

Distribution And Marketing Of Western Australia Rock Lobster., P. J. Monaghan

Fisheries management papers

This report describes the marketing and distribution of Western Australian rock lobster products in the major consuming countries namely, USA, Japan and Taiwan. It is based on a study which was commissioned by the Fisheries Department of Western Australia who sought, for the benefit of industry generally, an understanding of the world lobster markets.

One-Sided Polymerase Chain Reaction: The Amplification Of Cdna, Osamu Ohara, Robert L. Dorit, Walter Gilbert

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

We report a rapid technique, based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for the direct targeting, enhancement, and sequencing of previously uncharacterized cDNAs. This method is not limited to previously sequenced transcripts, since it requires only two adjacent or partially overlapping specific primers from only one side of the region to be amplified. These primers can be located anywhere within the message. The specific primers are used in conjunction with nonspecific primers targeted either to the poly(A)+ region of the message or to an enzymatically synthesized d( A) tail. Pairwise combinations of specific and general primers allow for the amplification …

Temporal Patterns Of Nectar And Pollen Production In Aralia Hispida: Implications For Reproductive Success, James D. Thomas, Mary A. Mckenna, Mitchell B. Cruzan

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Large plants of Aralia hispida present their pollen and nectar in hundreds of small flowers than open sequentially over 2—3 wk in a pattern of synchronized protandry that alternates male and female phases. The primary pollinators, bumble bees, are able to discover individual plants with elevated levels of either nectar or pollen, and to return to them more often than to less rewarding plants. Both pollen and nectar are presented gradually over time in such a way as to favor traplining behavior by the bees, with many, frequent visits. In controlled environments, lifetime sugar production per flower varies among plants, …

The Status And Ecology Of The American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis) In Par Pond, Savannah River Site, Laura A. Brandt

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Par Pond is a man-made 1120 ha cooling reservoir located on the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. From 1972-1978 a detailed study on the status of the alligator in Par Pond was conducted by Tom Murphy (unpub. MS thesis Univ. of GA, 1977). Murphy estimated that approximately 110 alligators inhabited Par Pond with an adult (> 1.8 m) to juvenile (< 1.8 m) ratio of (1.8:1), an overall sex ratio of 3.2:1, and an average of only 2.3 nests/yr. The purpose of this study (1986-1989) was to determine the current population size and structure, determine how the population has changed in the last 15 years and to examine growth and survival of juvenile alligators.

Data were collected by monthly night-time eyeshine counts aerial surveys, capturing animals, and locating and following the fate of nests. There was a strong positive correlation between water temperature and the number of alligators observed during eyeshine …

The Paradigm Of Huntington Disease, John B. Jenkins, P. M. Conneally

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.