Life Sciences Commons^™

The Susceptibility For Recreational Boating To Serve As A Vector For Harmful Algal Blooms, John Michael Thraen

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

To combat the spread of invasive and nuisance aquatic species, recreational boating has many recommendations and regulations in place for boaters to properly treat their boats in between uses in separate locations. While protection procedures are in place for preventing the spread of invasive mussel and plant species, there is no sufficient procedure in regard to the spread of cyanobacterial species. The objective of this study was to investigate whether common drying procedures employed in these treatment practices were capable of additionally preventing the spread of cyanobacterial species so as they may help prevent the spread of algal blooms throughout …

Parasite Variability In The Invasive Crayfish, Faxonius Rusticus, In Northern New Jersey, Nathan Martin Klunk

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Northeast United States has been thoroughly invaded by the well-known invasive crayfish species Faxonius rusticus (rusty crayfish). Similar to the exploration of man to new regions, the spread of invasive species can cause the introduction of new diseases and parasites while conversely the invader has to deal with the already existing diseases and parasites. For crayfish, the most notable of these is a fungal plague, which has a poorly understood distribution in the United States. In this study, I collected rusty crayfish in Northern New Jersey to better understand the locations where they exist in the state. I also …

Amyloid Fibril Formation And Polymorphism : A Critical Role Of Sulfur-Containing Amino Acid Residues, Tatiana Quiñones-Ruiz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Protein aggregation that results in the formation of amyloid fibrils has been linked to many neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. The sulfur atoms in methionine (Met) and cysteine (Cys) residues of proteins can be readily oxidized, significantly affecting their properties. Oxidation of sulfur-containing amino acids has recently been shown to affect protein fibrillation. This work presents novel findings on Cys and Met redox reactions that are related to the formation of amyloid fibrils and on the polymorphism of a model fibrillogenic protein, hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL). Biophysical techniques including Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, electron paramagnetic …

An Ims-Ms/Md Workflow For Determining Higher Order Structure And Dynamics Of Nucleic Acids, Rebecca D'Esposito

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ion mobility spectrometry - mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) has potential for the investigation of structure and dynamics in large biopolymers, which will come to full fruition only with a firmer understanding of how to interpret the experimental data. Numerous studies have employed elements of nucleic acid (NA) secondary structure, such as duplexes and hairpins, to explore the relationships between structure, experimental conditions, and actual observations. When combined with molecular dynamics simulations (MDS), IMS-MS can be effectively employed to perform structural elucidation of biomolecules that are not readily amenable to established techniques employed for structural analysis.

N6-Methyladenosine Rna Modifications In Myogenesis / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Marina Danielle Infantado

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Myogenesis involves skeletal muscle stem cells (MuSCs) that produce and regenerate skeletal muscle during regular growth and repair. However, when this system fails to function normally, it can lead to musculoskeletal diseases like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Therefore, it is important to study the molecular mechanisms behind this developmental process in order to seek therapies and solutions for these types of diseases. Our interest lies in the field of epitranscriptomics, which focuses on post-transcriptional ribonucleic acid (RNA) modifications, particularly N6-methyladenosine (m6A), which involves the addition of a methyl group to the adenosine nucleotide, a process that is mediated by the …

Parallel Networks That Govern The Transcriptional Response To Stress, Serene Anne Durham

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The transcription factor, p53, plays a pivotal role in the oversight of many stimulus-dependent pathways. Its ability to respond to a wide variety of cellular stress stimuli by activating a broad range of target genes has led it to be characterized as a stress-dependent transcription factor. Our research focuses on deconvoluting the varied transcriptional response to distinct stress signals in an attempt to define the regulatory strategies leading to gene activation after cell stress. We have found that distinct stress response networks, some of which are p53-independent, are converging at activation of a common set of target genes. Our data …

Quantification Of Hydrologic Response To Forest Disturbance In Western U.S. Watersheds, Sara A. Goeking '92

Doctoral Dissertations

Forested watersheds produce more than half of the water supply in the United States. Forests affect how precipitation is partitioned into available water versus evapotranspiration. This dissertation investigated how water yield and snowpack responded to forest disturbance following recent disturbances in western U.S. forests during the period 2000-2019.

Chapter 2 systematically reviewed 78 recent studies that examined how water yield or snowpack changed after forest disturbances. Water yield and snowpack often increased after disturbance, but decreased in some circumstances. Decreased water yield was most likely to occur following disturbances that did not remove the entire forest canopy. It was also …

Community Structure Analysis Of Turtles With Application To The Early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site, Julian Conley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Turtles are important components of ecosystems around the world, with diverse ecological niches and adaptations. However, there are few detailed studies of how turtle community structure reflects local environments. This project applied techniques of community structure analysis to sites across the United States to infer past ecosystem and environmental conditions of the early Pliocene Gray Fossil Site (GFS) in northeastern Tennessee based on the ancient turtle community. Results indicate extant turtle community structure closely reflects environmental conditions, and that ancient turtle communities can be used to infer climate and habitat conditions of past ecosystems. Application to the GFS turtle community …

Flora Of Doe Mountain Recreation Area, Johnson County, Tennessee, Benjamin Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A botanical inventory of Doe Mountain Recreation Area (DMRA) in northeastern Tennessee was conducted to help guide conservation-based management. A total of 484 species were found in DMRA, comprising 94 families, and 285 genera, 10 species listed in the state rare plant list, and 76 exotic species. Two species, Liatris virgata and Lycopodiella inundata, were new state records. Water in the Lycopodiella seep was an order of magnitude more acid than at other sites. An analysis of the wildland-urban interface showed that only 13% of the area was classified as uninhabited. The inventory-invasion index, introduced to quantify the relative …

Dahlia Mosaic Virus On Dahlia, Savannah Gleeson, Melanie Stock, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

Dahlias are economically important crops in the cut flower industry, which is growing rapidly in US Mountain West. Dahlia stems can be sold at $4 to $5 each on wholesale markets, as locally produced dahlias are particularly sought after by florists due to their higher quality and longer vase life than imports. There are many different varieties of dahlias, and they can all be impacted by Dahlia Mosaic Virus (DMV), a widespread viral disease. DMV is causing significant losses in quality and yield of dahlias. This fact sheet details the symptoms, disease cycle, and management.

Effect Of Irrigation Regime And Fertilization On Recovery Of Dicamba Injured Soybean, Wesley France, Jason K. Norsworthy, Trenton Roberts, Jeremy Ross, L. Tom Barber, Edward E. Gbur

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

With the release of the dicamba-resistant crop technology and subsequent increase in dicamba off-target movement to non-dicamba-resistant crops, discovering means of mitigating yield loss through studying dicamba injury to soybean and interactions with factors such as irrigation regime and fertilization would prove beneficial. Field experiments were conducted in 2019 in Fayetteville and Colt, Arkansas, to evaluate the effect of irrigation regime to non-dicamba-resistant soybean that was injured by dicamba at a low dose at multiple timings. Another experiment was conducted in Fayetteville in 2019 and 2020 evaluating the impact of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) fertilization on soybean recovery following …

Effect Of Cultivar And Planting Date On Soybean Response To Dicamba, Wesley France, Jason K. Norsworthy, Trenton Roberts, Jeremy Ross, L. Tom Barber, Edward E. Gbur

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Off-target movement of dicamba has been blamed for damaging millions of hectares of soybean in the United States since registration of the herbicide for use in dicamba-resistant cotton and soybean. Understanding the effect of a low dose of dicamba on non-dicamba-resistant soybean across multiple cultivars, growth stages, and planting dates could help producers better understand the implication of current management practices on yield loss from dicamba in fields where non-dicamba-resistant soybean are grown. A field experiment was conducted in 2019 in Fayetteville and Stuttgart, Arkansas, to evaluate the impact of planting date on response of soybean to a low dose …

A Genetic Labeling System To Study Dendritic Spine Development In Zebrafish Models Of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Elisabeth C. Demarco, George R. Stoner, Estuardo Robles

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

Dendritic spines are the principal site of excitatory synapse formation in the human brain. Several neurodevelopmental disorders cause spines to develop abnormally, resulting in altered spine number and morphology. Although spine development has been thoroughly characterized in the mammalian brain, spines are not unique to mammals. We have developed a genetic system in zebrafish to enable high-resolution in vivo imaging of spine dynamics during larval development. Although spiny neurons are rare in the larval zebrafish, pyramidal neurons (PyrNs) of the zebrafish tectum form an apical dendrite containing a dense array of dendritic spines. To characterize dendritic spine development, we performed …

Assessing The Degree Of Ecological Validity Of Your Study: Introducing The Multidimensional Assessment Of Research In Context (Marc) Tool, Sandra Naumann, Michelle L. Byrne, Alethia De La Fuente, Anita Harrewijn, Tehila Nugiel, Maya Rosen, Nienke Van Atteveldt, Pawel J. Matusz

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

In cognitive neurosciences, fundamental principles of mental processes and functional brain organization have been established with highly controlled tasks and testing environments. Recent technical advances allowed the investigation of these functions and their brain mechanisms in naturalistic settings. The diversity in those approaches have been recently (Matusz, P. J., Dikker, S., Huth, A. G., & Perrodin, C. (2019). Are we ready for real-world neuroscience? Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 31(3), 327–338. doi:10.1162/jocn_e_01276) classified via a three-category cycle, including controlled laboratory, partially naturalistic laboratory, and naturalistic real-world research. Based on this model, we developed the Multidimensional Assessment of Research in Context (MARC) …

Evaluating Bat Roost Abundance: A Comparison Of Drone-Acquired Thermal Imagery And Acoustic Estimates With Visual Observations, Karah Jaffe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Roosts provide an opportunity to census philopatric populations of bats. Comparing the efficacy of traditional methods with novel methods can provide guidance on the use of new technologies in the field. This project aims to compare the count efficacy of external emergence methodologies, i.e., drone-acquired thermal imagery, acoustic estimates, and visual counts. Surveys were conducted ten nights at two emergence sites and synchronized to compare counts. Acoustic estimates could not be established as there was a weak prediction of the linear relationship between root-mean-square pressure and emergence count; therefore, this method was removed from the comparative analysis. A linear mixed-effects …

Characterization And Selection Of Hop Cultivars Adapted To Nebraska, Kristina Alas

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is an ingredient in the beer brewing industry that provides beer its flavor and aroma. High demand from the brewing industry has encouraged production outside of the traditional Pacific Northwest, the primary production region. Producers in the Midwest are attempting to grow cultivars adapted to the Pacific Northwest, but environmental differences have caused low yields and changes in secondary metabolite content. To aid producers, a regional breeding program was initiated to develop cultivars adapted to the Midwest. Success of any breeding program relies on the selection of genetically superior parents to generate progeny with the …

Application Of A 14c-Assay To Assess Methanotrophic Biodegradation Of Tce In Low Ph Groundwater, Evan Groome

All Theses

Current biological strategies for remediating trichloroethylene (TCE) in low pH aquifers (i.e., pH14C-TCE assay was developed to determine pseudo first-order rate constants for the degradation of TCE in microcosms containing soil and groundwater from the Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Center (BOMARC) superfund site, where the pH ranges from 4.1 to 4.9. The ¹⁴C-TCE assay was also adapted to calculate soil-normalized rate constants for data from this site, as well as data that Szwast²¹ collected from the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC). In addition to natural attenuation, biostimulation through amendments of methane and nutrients were also assessed. This treatment …

The Effects Of Short Chain Fatty Acids On Clostridioides Difficile Growth, Sporulation, And Toxin Production, Michelle Baldassare

All Theses

Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are products of bacterial fermentation that help maintain important gut functions such as the intestinal barrier, signaling, and immune homeostasis. The main SCFAs acetate, propionate, and butyrate have demonstrated beneficial effects for the host, including importance in combatting infections caused by pathogens such as Clostridioides difficile. C. difficile infection (CDI) is a public health concern and causes 30,000 deaths each year mainly due to the overuse of antibiotics. Despite the potential role of SCFAs in mitigating C. difficile infection, their direct effect on C. difficile remains unclear. Through a set of in-vitro experiments, we …

Potassium Level Prediction Of Peach Tree Leaves Using A Hyperspectral Camera And Multivariate Analysis, Megan Io Ariadne Salimbangon Abenina

All Theses

The use of hyperspectral imaging is a valuable piece of technology used in precision agriculture. Hyperspectral imaging system could help farmers and researchers alike in analyzing tissue samples quicker compared to the current way of running a plant tissue analysis on the different nutrient levels that often takes time in generating results. The objective of this research was to measure the potassium level of peach trees using its leaves with a hyperspectral camera. The Senop HSC-2 was used to capture images of peach tree leaves during the fall of 2020 and 2021. The collected data were used to create a …

Spring Gobbling Chronology And Turkey Habitat Use In Upstate South Carolina, Janelle Grehan

All Theses

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) is a highly popular game species harvested primarily during the reproductive season, which has driven substantial efforts to understand patterns of springtime habitat use and gobbling activity. Autonomous recording units (ARUs) have enabled researchers to collect unprecedented amounts of gobbling data, yet post hoc processing of audio data has been time-intensive due to false detection rates. Gobbling activity has been studied in the South Carolina Coastal Plain, but data for the Upstate are lacking. My objectives were to assess seasonal and weekly gobbling activity and turkey habitat use in Upstate South Carolina relative to …

Recruitment, Cost Indexes, And Management Of Box-Nesting Wood Ducks In South Carolina And North Carolina, Emily Miller

All Theses

The wood duck (Aix sponsa) has experienced one of the most significant declines and recoveries among species of North American waterfowl (Anatidae). With enactment of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (1918) and installation of hundreds of thousands of artificial nest structures for this cavity-nesting species in North America, wood duck populations have recovered and remain a sustainable harvested resource. However, long-term research on box-nesting wood ducks conducted at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Aiken, South Carolina, has revealed uncertainty as to whether recruitment rates of yearling females from natal box-nesting populations are self-sustaining without immigration of hens from …

Identifying Temporal Sensitivity Of Poinsettia Flowering To High Temperatures, Paul Millar

All Theses

High temperatures can cause delayed flowering in poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. ex Klotzsch), a phenomenon known in the industry as heat delay. The poinsettia wholesale market is concentrated to a relatively brief period from early-November through early-December putting growers at risk to heat delay. This problem is compounded by the unusual weather patterns created by climate change. The objective of this thesis was to identify periods in which poinsettia flowering is sensitive to high temperatures. First, the weeks within the growing season when the plants were sensitive to high temperatures were identified (Chpt. 2). Then within those sensitive weeks, …

Reproductive Ecology And Microbial Communities From Wood Duck Nest Boxes In Georgia And Florida, Jake Shurba

All Theses

Wood ducks (Aix sponsa) are an important game species throughout the Atlantic Flyway that was nearly extirpated by the early 20^th century due to overhunting and the loss of habitat. Wood ducks are secondary cavity-nesters that utilize artificial nest boxes and natural cavities. It is reported that the use of nest boxes is likely what led to re-establishment of the species in North America. Where boxes are numerous, overuse of boxes by multiple hens throughout a nesting season can occur and result in a buildup of bacteria, parasites and other potentially detrimental pathogens that can impact egg …

Improved Molecular Detection Tools For The Invasive Crop Pest Helicoverpa Armigera (Hübner), Mitchell D. Rich

All Theses

Helicoverpa armigera is a major crop pest native to Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. H. armigera has recently invaded South America and has caused billions of dollars in agricultural losses. It is difficult to differentiate H. armigera from H. zea, a closely-related species native to North and South America. A few genetic tests have been previously developed to detect H. armigera DNA in pooled samples of moth legs. In this study, an improved qPCR melt curve assay with higher detection sensitivity and a field-based recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay were developed for specific detection of H. armigera DNA …

Depot-Specific Patterns Of Mrna And Mirna Gene Expression In Adipose Tissue From Texel-Cross And Suffolk Lambs, Aliute-Nkoyo Udoka

All Theses

This work hypothesizes that miR-199a-3p influences SCD-1 expression and monounsaturated fat content of lamb fat depots. The objectives of this study were to: 1) measure miR-199a-3p, SCD1, and fatty acid composition in various tissues (longissimus muscle and liver) and fat depots (omental, mesenteric, subcutaneous, intermuscular, perirenal) in Suffolk and Texel-sired lambs, and 2) evaluate the role of miR-199a-3p in adipocyte hypertrophy in ovine stromal vascular (SV) cells in vitro. Suffolk lambs (n=4) and Texel-Suffolk cross lambs (n=5) were finished to day 203 of age. The liver, the longissimus muscle, kidney fat, mesenteric fat, omental fat, subcutaneous fat, and intermuscular fat …

Activation Of The Ppar Nuclear Receptors By Oxylipins And Their Potential Effects On Differentiation And Gene Expression In Myocytes, Jazmine Eccles

All Theses

Obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases are a growing issue worldwide. Decreased expression of CYP2B6 is associated with obesity in humans and Cyp2b-null mice are diet-induced obese; however fatty liver disease is worse in humanized CYP2B6 transgenic mice than WT or Cyp2b-null mice despite lower obesity. CYP2B6 produces several oxylipins with preference for metabolism at the 9- and 13-positions with 9-HODE and 13-HODE (from linoleic acid; n-6), and 9-HOTrE and 13-HOTrE (from a-linolenic acid; n-3) preferentially produced. Oxylipins serve as signaling molecules for many processes, such as inflammatory pathways, lipid distribution, and lipid metabolism. Due to their diversity, oxylipins can …

Shelf Life Of Aquaponically-Grown Finstar Lettuce In Different Oxygen Transmission Rate Films, Katherine White

All Theses

The effects of oxygen transmission rate of packaging material on the shelf life of aquaponically-grown Finstar lettuce was studied. Parameters of packaging headspace gas composition (oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations) and lettuce pH, percentage weight loss, total aerobic microorganisms, and color were analyzed every ten days for sixty days. Finstar lettuce was stored at 4^○C in four different types of packages (treatments), including a clamshell package and three film bags with oxygen transmission rates (OTR) of 3.0-6.0 cc/(m²/24 hr/1 atm), 80-90 cc/(m²/24 hr/1 atm), and >225 cc/(m²/24 hr/1 atm). Lettuce stored in …

Investigating The Biochemical Properties Of A Novel Mutation, A194v, In Human Rad51, Briana Vollbeer

All Theses

DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) are one of the most serious DNA lesions because improper repair of a DSB can lead to loss of heterozygosity, aneuploidy, and cancer. One of the primary pathways to repair DSBs is homologous recombination (HR). HR resects the DNA around the DSB and then uses homologous DNA as a template to restore the broken sequence. RAD51 has a vital function in this pathway by forming a nucleoprotein filament on a resected end of the DSB. The nucleoprotein filament searches for homology within the homologous DNA. Once homology is located, strand invasion followed by strand exchange occurs. …

The Influence Of Water Stress And Rootstocks On Nutrient Uptake And Gas Exchange Of Young Peach Trees, Naif Alshammari

All Theses

Young peach trees are often rainfed in the southeastern U.S. and periods of dry weather can cause tree water deficit that can be detrimental to orchard productivity. There is a lack of understanding of the influence of water regimes and rootstocks on the nutritional status and gas exchange of the peach tree. Most peach growers in Southeastern United States do not irrigate their young peach trees because they do not produce fruit until the third leaf. In this region, peach growers use Guardian as a rootstock, although MP-29 is also interesting for growers with orchards that have Armillaria root rot …

Conformational Selection Governs Carrier Domain Positioning In Staphylococcus Aureus Pyruvate Carboxylase, Joshua H. Hakala, Amanda J. Laseke, Anya Lei Koza, Martin St. Maurice

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Biotin-dependent enzymes employ a carrier domain to efficiently transport reaction intermediates between distant active sites. The translocation of this carrier domain is critical to the interpretation of kinetic and structural studies, but there have been few direct attempts to investigate the dynamic interplay between ligand binding and carrier domain positioning in biotin-dependent enzymes. Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) catalyzes the MgATP-dependent carboxylation of pyruvate where the biotinylated carrier domain must translocate ∼70 Å from the biotin carboxylase domain to the carboxyltransferase domain. Many prior studies have assumed that carrier domain movement is governed by ligand-induced conformational changes, but the mechanism underlying this …