Life Sciences Commons^™

Physiochemical Characteristics Contributing To The Cytotoxicity Of Transition Metal Oxides, Chi-Heng Wu

Masters Theses

"In the past ten years nanotechnology has not only evolved to play a prominent role in our economy but also increased the concern over potential adverse effects caused by nanomaterials to human health and the environment. Nanotoxicity is to understand the nature and origin of the toxicity imposed by nanomaterials. Studies from our laboratory have shown that nanoparticle induces oxidative stress, perturbs calcium homeostasis, alter gene expression, and produces pro-inflammatory responses. We also identified a trend of toxicity: TiO₂ < Cr₂O₃ < Fe₂O₃ < Mn₂O₃ < NiO < ZnO < CuO. We then asked a question: what are physiochemical factors of transition metal nanoparticles that contributed to this increasing cytotoxicity. In this thesis I investigated the correlation between physicochemical properties and toxicity of the transition metal oxides in the 4th Period of the Periodic Table of Elements. Particle size, BET surface area, point of zero charge, metal dissolution, and degree of surface adsorption of transition metal oxide nanoparticles were measured. There were no increasing trends in both particle size and specific surface area. The point of zero charge showed an increasing trend as TiO₂ < Cr₂O₃ < Fe₂O₃ < NiO < CuO = ZnO < Mn₂O₃. The number of available binding sites of nanoparticle showed an increasing trend as Cr₂O₃ > ZnO > CuO > NiO > Fe₂O₃ > Mn₂O₃ > TiO₂. The degree of adsorption on the surface of nanoparticles showed an increasing trend with atomic …

Development Of Capillary Electrophoresis For The Analysis Of Phenolics And Glucoraphanin In Brassica Oleracea, Iris Lee

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) has been used increasingly more over the last decade in the area of food analysis. Numerous food products and food components have been analysed using this technique because of its high efficiency and short separation times. However, the inherent lack of detection sensitivity in CE combined with the complex matrices present in many food samples, especially those of plant origins, is one of the contributing factors to the limited development on CE in this particular area of food analysis. In this project, the potential of CE as a tool in the analysis of vegetables belonging to the …

The Impact Of Black Swan (Cygnus Atratus) Grazing On The Seagrass Halophila Ovalis In The Lower Swan River Estuary, Gary Choney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Grazing is an important ecosystem process, influencing community structure and rates of ecosystem processes. Although grazing on seagrasses is generally considered to be minor in many temperate regions of the world, waterfowl are often considered significant grazers in temperate lagoons and estuaries. This study examined spatial and temporal variation in swan abundance, grazing pressure and the impact grazing has on seagrass. Little is known on how grazing rates vary on larger water bodies in the southern hemisphere at different times of year and whether temporal changes in grazing rates affect the ability of seagrasses to tolerate grazing. The plant response …

Lno Data Access Cedar Creek Site, Long Term Ecological Research Network

Long Term Ecological Research Network

This memorandum asks for feedback on a data availability policy to be used by PI of grants for LTER.

Coping Behaviour As An Adaptation To Stress: Post-Disturbance Preening In Colonial Seabirds, Shandelle M. Henson, Lynelle M. Weldon, James L. Hayward, Daniel Greene, Libby C. Megna, Maureen C. Serem

Faculty Publications

In humans, coping behaviour is an action taken to soothe oneself during or after a stressful or threatening situation. Some human behaviours with physiological functions also serve as coping behaviours, for example, comfort sucking in infants and comfort eating in adults. In birds, the behaviour of preening, which has important physiological functions, has been postulated to soothe individuals after stressful situations. We combine two existing modelling approaches – logistic regression and Darwinian dynamics – to explore theoretically how a behaviour with crucial physiological function might evolve into a coping behaviour. We apply the method to preening in colonial seabirds to …

Crosstalk Between Lysophospatidic Acid (Lpa) And Transforming Growth Factor Beta (Tgfβ) In Breast And Ovarian Cancer Cells, Jinhua Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) are platelet-derived intercellular mediators of cell proliferation and motility. LPA is a general growth, survival and motility-stimulating factor in mammalian cells. TGFβ prevents proliferation of normal epithelial cells. However, the growth-inhibitory effect of TGFβ is lost or reduced in most malignant cells. Instead, TGFβ promotes migration and invasion of advanced cancer cells. Since LPA and TGFβ are both present in the blood and tumor microenvironments, we were interested in signal integration and functional outcomes in malignant epithelial cells in an LPA and TGFβ co-stimulatory context. In a subset of breast and …

Diet And Reproductive Biology Of The Blacknose Shark (Carcharhinus Acronotus) From The Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, Ryan Michael Ford

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) is a common small coastal shark species found in nearshore waters along the southeast coast of the United States, from North Carolina into the Gulf of Mexico and extending further south into the Bahamas. There has been some debate in recent years over the reproductive periodicity of C. acronotus in waters off the U.S. coast. Earlier studies have suggested that Gulf C. acronotus reproduce on an annual basis whereas the Atlantic populations of this species may reproduce biennially. Additionally, there have been no known studies on the diet of C. acronotus. The goal of the …

The Influence Of Seawater And Sulfate Reduction On Phosphate Release From Tidal Wetland Soils In The St. John’S River, Florida, Asher Williams

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change and increasing sea level elevation are predicted to increase salinity in estuarine tidal wetlands in the Southeastern United States. Since much of the ecosystem function in these areas is predicated upon salinity regimes, many fundamental changes are likely to occur as a result. The influence of salinity and SO4 2- reduction on PO4 3- release from tidal wetland soils was evaluated along a salinity gradient at three sites in The St. John’s River, Florida using both field and laboratorybased methods. Porewater was sampled over the course of 10 months to determine ambient levels of SO4 2- and PO4 …

Population Structure And Nest Success Of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus), And Vegetative Response To Prescribed Burning In Northeast Florida, Kristine Constance Amatuli

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A gopher tortoise population on the campus of University of North Florida is part of an ongoing study initiated during the early 1990s, and this project presents data on this population collected during the 2009-2011 field seasons. The project has three major objectives: 1) measure population demographics including density and structure to assess long-term viability and recruitment, 2) evaluate decadal growth rates of individuals by comparing measurements of tortoises captured and marked in the 1990-1994 study done at the same site with those tortoises recaptured during the current study, and 3) assess the effect of prescribed burning on vegetation. In …

Nutrient Transport By Shrimp Hepatopancreas, Tamla A. Simmons

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purified brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were isolated to characterize primary cellular transport mechanisms for white shrimp. The ultimate goal is to determine the effective components of a shrimp’s diet, thereby enhancing growth, as well as nutrient content. Juvenile shrimp are dependent on plant material as a food source. Potassium is a key component of plants, thus it may play a role in nutrient transport. In addition, divalent metals have been shown to act as co-transporters in several other organisms, thus they may serve as a transport mechanism for shrimp.

Fresh, live, white or brown shrimp were obtained, and from …

Biomass Yield And Nutrient Removal Rates Of Perennial Grasses Under Nitrogen Fertilization, M. K. Kering, T. J. Butler, J. T. Biermacher, John A. Guretzky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Perennial grasses may provide a renewable source of biomass for energy production. Biomass yield, nutrient concentrations, and nutrient removal rates of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), giant miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), giant reed (Arundo donax L.), weeping lovegrass [Eragrostis curvula (Shrad.) Nees], kleingrass (Panicum coloratum L.), and Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense (L.) Pers.) were evaluated at four N fertilizer rates (0, 56, 112, or 168 kg Nha⁻¹) on a Minco fine sandy loam soil in southern Oklahoma. Species were established in 2008 and harvested for biomass in winter of 2009 and 2010. Biomass …

Crop Management Of Switchgrass, Matt A. Sanderson, Marty R. Schmer, Vance Owens, Pat Keyser, Wolter Elbersen

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Management of switchgrass for bioenergy and forage share some commonalities, of particular interest in bioenergy crop production is: (1) rapid establishment of switchgrass to generate harvestable biomass in the seeding year, (2) highly efficient management of soil and fertilizer N to minimize external energy inputs, and (3) harvest management to maximize yields of lignocellulose. Bioenergy cropping may entail management for multiple services in addition to biomass yield including soil C sequestration, wildlife habitat, landscape management, and water quality protection. Management is a critical factor especially as land classified as marginal or idle land will be emphasized for bioenergy production to …

Managing Nitrogen And Phosphorus Nutrients For Switchgrass Produced For Bioenergy Feedstock In Phosphorus-Deficient Soil, Mohua Haque, Jon T. Biermacher, Maru Kering, John A. Guretzky

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

There is limited information available explaining the agronomic and economic relationships between yield and nitrogen and phosphorus applications to growing switchgrass produced in phosphorus-deficient soils. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers on feedstock yield and measures of expected total cost, gross revenue, net return, and breakeven price of feedstock produced in phosphorus-deficient soils in the southern Great Plains. Data were collected from a three-year, two-location agronomic field study conducted in south-central Oklahoma. Two discrete nitrogen treatments (0 and 134 kg ha^-1) and four discrete phosphorus treatments (0, 30, 60 …

Auxin Controls Arabidopsis Adventitious Root Initiation By Regulating Jasmonic Acid Homeostasis, Laurent Gutierrez, Gaëlle Mongelard, Kristýna Floková, Daniel I. Păcurar, Ondrej Novák, Paul E. Staswick, Mariusz Kowalczyk, Monica Păcurar, Gaia Geiss, Catherine Bellini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Vegetative shoot-based propagation of plants, including mass propagation of elite genotypes, is dependent on the development of shoot-borne roots, which are also called adventitious roots. Multiple endogenous and environmental factors control the complex process of adventitious rooting. In the past few years, we have shown that the auxin response factors ARF6 and ARF8, targets of the microRNA miR167, are positive regulators of adventitious rooting, whereas ARF17, a target of miR160, is a negative regulator. We showed that these genes have overlapping expression profiles during adventitious rooting and that they regulate each other’s expression at the transcriptional …

Modulation Of Kernel Storage Proteins In Grain Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench), Tejinder Kumar, Ismail M. Dweikat, Shirley Sato, Zhengxiang Ge, Natalya Nersesian, Han Chen, Thomas Elthon, Scott Bean, Brian P. Ioerger, Mike Tilley, Thomas E. Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Sorghum prolamins, termed kafirins, are categorized into subgroups α, β, and γ. The kafirins are co-translationally translocated to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) where they are assembled into discrete protein bodies that tend to be poorly digestible with low functionality in food and feed applications. As a means to address the issues surrounding functionality and digestibility in sorghum, we employed a biotechnology approach that is designed to alter protein body structure, with the concomitant synthesis of a co-protein in the endosperm fraction of the grain. Wherein perturbation of protein body architecture may provide a route to impact digestibility by reducing disulphide …

Local Conditions, Not Regional Gradients, Drive Demographic Variation Of Giant Ragweed (Ambrosia Trifida) And Common Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus) Across Northern U.S. Maize Belt, Samuel E. Wortman, Adam Davis, Brian J. Schutte, John L. Lindquist, John Cardina, Joel Felix, Christy L. Sprague, J. Anita Dille, Analiza H. M. Ramirez, Graig Reicks, Sharon A. Clay

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Knowledge of environmental factors influencing demography of weed species will improve understanding of current and future weed invasions. The objective of this study was to quantify regional-scale variation in vital rates of giant ragweed and common sunflower . To accomplish this objective, a common field experiment was conducted across seven sites between 2006 and 2008 throughout the north central U.S. maize belt. Demographic parameters of both weed species were measured in intra- and interspecific competitive environments, and environmental data were collected within site-years. Site was the strongest predictor of below ground vital rates (summer and winter seed survival and seedling …

Registration Of ‘Ne01481’ Hard Red Winter Wheat, P. Stephen Baenziger, Robert A. Graybosch, Teshome H. Regassa, Lenis Alton Nelson, Robert N. Klein, Dipak K. Santra, D. D. Baltensperger, Lei Xu, Stephen N. Wegulo, Y. Jin, J. Kolmer, Ming-Shun Chen, Guihua Bai

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

‘NE01481’ (Reg. No. CV-1061, PI 659689) hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed cooperatively by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and the USDA-ARS and released in April 2010. NE01481 will be marketed as Husker Genetics brand McGill. In addition to superior agronomic performance, Nebraska wheat growers would like to have increased resistance to Wheat soilborne mosaic virus. NE01481 was selected from the cross NE92458/‘Ike’ that was made in 1995. The pedigree of NE92458 is OK83201/‘Redland’ and the pedigree of OK83201, an experimental line developed by Oklahoma State University is ‘Vona’//‘Chisholm’/‘Plainsman V’. NE01481 was selected with the bulk …

Optimizing Cover Crop Benefits With Diverse Mixtures And An Alternative Termination Method, Samuel E. Wortman, Charles A. Francis, Mark L. Bernards, Rhae A. Drijber, John L. Lindquist

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Previous studies have demonstrated benefits of individual cover crop species, but the value of diverse cover crop mixtures has received less attention. The objectives of this research were to determine the effects of spring-sown cover crop mixture diversity and mechanical cover crop termination method on cover crop and/or cash crop productivity, soil moisture and N, and profitability in an organic cropping system. An experiment was conducted between 2009 and 2011 near Mead, Nebraska, United States, where mixtures of two (2CC), four (4CC), six (6CC), and eight (8CC) cover crop species, or a summer annual weed mixture were included in a …

An Investigation Of Reflective Mulches For Use Over Capillary Mat Systems For Winter-Time Greenhouse Strawberry Production, George E. Meyer, Ellen T. Paparozzi, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, Erin E. Blankenship, Stacy A. Adams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Photosynthethically active radiation (PAR) is a principle environmental variable used by horticultural specialists, agronomists and ecosystem modelers to characterize the quantity and quality of light conducive to plant growth and development. Spatial distribution of PAR in a greenhouse can be quite variable and diffuse throughout the day time photoperiod, especially at low sun angles in northern regions of the United States. Four colors of reflective plastic mulches (white, red, olive, and black) were evaluated for winter-time strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa Duch.) production based on their reflectance and transmittance properties in a double-polyethylene, plastic-glazed Quonset greenhouse inNebraska. The spectral properties …

Effectiveness Of Grass Filters In Reducing Phosphorus And Sediment Runoff, Ahmed Al-Wadaey, Charles S. Wortmann, Thomas G. Franti, Charles A. Shapiro, Dean E. Eisenhauer

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Surface water contamination can often be reduced by passing runoff water through perennial grass filters. Research was conducted in 2006 to 2008 to evaluate the size of cool season grass filters consisting primarily of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) with some orchard grass (Dactylis glomerata L.) relative to drainage area size in reducing runoff sediment and phosphorus (P). The soil was Pohocco silt loam Typic Eutrochrepts with a median slope of 5.5%. The grass filters occupying 1.1 and 4.3% of the plot area were compared with no filter with four replications. The filters were planted in the V-shaped …

Quantitative Trait Locus Analysis Of Saturated Fatty Acids In A Population Of Recombinant Inbred Lines Of Soybean, Xianzhi Wang, Guo-Liang Jiang, Marci Green, Roy A. Scott, D. L. Hyten, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] is an important crop which contributes approximately 58% of the world’s oilseed production. Palmitic and stearic acids are the two main saturated fatty acids in soybean oil. Different levels of saturated fatty acids are desired depending on the uses of the soybean oil. Vegetable oil low in saturated fatty acids is preferred for human consumption, while for industrial applications, soybean oil with higher levels of saturated fatty acids is more suitable. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) for saturated fatty acids, analyze the genetic effects of single QTL …

Structural Variants In The Soybean Genome Localize To Clusters Of Biotic Stress-Response Genes, Leah K. Mchale, William J. Haun, Wayne W. Xu, Pudota B. Bhaskar, Justin E. Anderson, D. L. Hyten, Daniel J. Gerhardt, Jeffrey A. Jeddeloh, Robert M. Stupar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genome-wide structural and gene content variations are hypothesized to drive important phenotypic variation within a species. Structural and gene content variations were assessed among four soybean (Glycine max) genotypes using array hybridization and targeted resequencing. Many chromosomes exhibited relatively low rates of structural variation (SV) among genotypes. However, several regions exhibited both copy number and presence-absence variation, the most prominent found on chromosomes 3, 6, 7, 16, and 18. Interestingly, the regions most enriched for SV were specifically localized to gene-rich regions that harbor clustered multigene families. The most abundant classes of gene families associated with these regions …

High-Resolution Mapping Of Open Chromatin In The Rice Genome, Wenli Zhang, Yufeng Wu, James C. Schnable, Zixian Zeng, Michael Freeling, Gregory E. Crawford, Jiming Jiang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Gene expression is controlled by the complex interaction of transcription factors binding to promoters and other regulatory DNA elements. One common characteristic of the genomic regions associated with regulatory proteins is a pronounced sensitivity to DNase I digestion. We generated genome-wide high-resolution maps of DNase I hypersensitive (DH) sites from both seedling and callus tissues of rice (Oryza sativa). Approximately 25% of the DH sites from both tissues were found in putative promoters, indicating that the vast majority of the gene regulatory elements in rice are not located in promoter regions. We found 58% more DH sites in …

Brown Midrib2 (Bmr2) Encodes The Major 4-Coumarate: Coenzyme A Ligase Involved In Lignin Biosynthesis In Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor (L.) Moench), Ana Saballos, Scott Sattler, Emiliano Sanchez, Timothy P. Foster, Zhanguo Xin, Chulhee Kang, Jeffrey F. Pedersen, Wilfred Vermerris

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Successful modification of plant cell-wall composition without compromising plant integrity is dependent on being able to modify the expression of specific genes, but this can be very challenging when the target genes are members of multigene families. 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL) catalyzes the formation of 4-coumaroyl CoA, a precursor of both flavonoids and monolignols, and is an attractive target for transgenic down-regulation aimed at improving agro-industrial properties. Inconsistent phenotypes of transgenic plants have been attributed to variable levels of down-regulation of multiple 4CL genes. Phylogenetic analysis of the sorghum genome revealed 24 4CL(-like) proteins, five of which cluster with bona fide …

Effective Non-Viral Delivery Of Sirna To Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cells With Lipid-Substituted Polyethylenimines, Breanne Landry

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Use of small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a promising approach for AML treatment as the siRNA molecule can be designed to specifically target proteins that contribute to aberrant cell proliferation in this disease. However, a clinical-relevant means of delivering siRNA molecules must be developed, as the cellular delivery of siRNA is problematic. Here, we report amphiphilic carriers combining a cationic polymer (2 kDa polyethyleneimine, PEI2) with lipophilic moieties to facilitate intracellular delivery of siRNA to AML cell lines. Complete binding of siRNA by the designed carriers was achieved at a polymer:siRNA ratio of ~0.5 and led to siRNA/polymer complexes of …

Choreographing The Adenylyl Cyclase Signalosome: Sorting Out The Partners And The Steps, Rennolds S. Ostrom, Amy S. Bogard, Robert Gros

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Adenylyl cyclases are a ubiquitous family of enzymes and are critical regulators of metabolic and cardiovascular function. Multiple isoforms of the enzyme are expressed in a range of tissues. However, for many processes, the adenylyl cyclase isoforms have been thought of as essentially interchangeable, with their impact more dependent on their common actions to increase intracellular cyclic adenosine monophosphate content regardless of the isoform involved. It has long been appreciated that each subfamily of isoforms demonstrate a specific pattern of “upstream” regulation, i.e., specific patterns of ion dependence (e.g., calcium-dependence) and specific patterns of regulation by kinases (protein kinase A …

Attenuation Of Corneal Myofibroblast Development Through Nanoparticle-Mediated Soluble Transforming Growth Factor-Β Type Ii Receptor (Stgfβrii) Gene Transfer, Ajay Sharma, Jason T. Rodier, Ashish Tandon, Alexander M. Klibanov, Rajiv R. Mohan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Purpose: To explore (i) the potential of polyethylenimine (PEI)-DNA nanoparticles as a vector for delivering genes into human corneal fibroblasts, and (ii) whether the nanoparticle-mediated soluble extracellular domain of the transforming growth factor–β type II receptor (sTGFβRII) gene therapy could be used to reduce myofibroblasts and fibrosis in the cornea using an in vitro model.

Methods: PEI-DNA nanoparticles were prepared at a nitrogen-to-phosphate ratio of 30 by mixing linear PEI and a plasmid encoding sTGFβRII conjugated to the fragment crystallizable (Fc) portion of human immunoglobulin. The PEI-DNA polyplex formation was confirmed through gel retardation assay. Human corneal fibroblasts (HCFs) were …

2012 Weed Science Research Report – Blue Section, Ndsu Weed Science, Dept. Of Plant Sciences

Plant Sciences Weed Science Reports

The Weed Science team at North Dakota State University conduct field research in the State of North Dakota. This specific document reports on field research conducted in 2012. It includes work on corn, soybean and the management of several weeds in North Dakota.

2012 Weed Science Research Report – Gold Section, Ndsu Weed Science, Dept. Of Plant Sciences

Plant Sciences Weed Science Reports

The Weed Science team at North Dakota State University conduct field research in the State of North Dakota. This specific document reports on field research conducted in 2012. It includes work on sugarbeet and the management of several weeds in North Dakota.

2012 Weed Science Research Report – Green Section, Ndsu Weed Science, Dept. Of Plant Sciences

Plant Sciences Weed Science Reports

The Weed Science team at North Dakota State University conduct field research in the State of North Dakota. This specific document reports on field research conducted in 2012. It includes work on small grain crops and the management of several weeds in North Dakota.