Biology Commons^™

Life Line March 2021, Otterbein Biology And Earth Science Department

Life Line - The Biology Department Newsletter

In this issue:

A Note from the Chair; The Department Welcomes Dr. Rich; Senior Research Symposium Goes Virtual; Three Department Faculty Members Win Teaching Awards; Svitana Helps NGWA Go Online; Carter '15 Earns Ph.D. in Nuclear Forensics; Revamping a Campus to Return to our Cardinal Community; Professor Uses Novel Teaching Practices During Pandemic; Otterbein Introduces Signature STEM Series to Increase Connection; Young Receives Career Award; Malacogy in a Time of COVID; COVID Conversations; Canine Rabies Vaccination in Ethiopia; The Cardinal Science Scholar Program; Bird Anatomy.

Isolation And Quantification Of Flavonoids From Kigelia Africana (Lam.) Benth Fruit And Bark And Their Antiradical And Antibacterial Activities, Pamhidzai Dzomba, George Mhini

Tanzania Journal of Science

Kigelia africana is an evergreen deciduous tree used in Zimbabwe folklore medicine for wound and diabetes ulcers healing. This paper reports the isolation and quantification of flavonoids from stem barks and fruits of K. africana as well as their antibacterial and antiradical activities. Flavonoids in ethanol and ethyl-acetate extracts were quantified using UV-Vis spectrophotometry and were found to be 213.490 ± 0.001 mg/L and 36.614 ± 0.001 mg/L, respectively per quercetin equivalent. The preparative and analytical thin layer chromatography was used to profile the flavonoids from fruits and barks using ethyl-acetate and petroleum ether (3:7 v/v) mobile solvent systems. Ethanol …

Antibacterial Activities Of Hyphaene Thebaica (Doum Palm) Fruit Extracts Against Intestinal Microflora And Potential Constipation Associated Pathogens In Yola Metropolis, Nigeria, Joel Ewansiha, Chidimma Ugo, Damaris Kolawole, Lilian Orji

Tanzania Journal of Science

This study aimed at determining the antibacterial activities of Hyphaene thebaica fruit extracts against some intestinal constipation associated bacteria. Qualitative analysis of some phytochemical constituents, agar well diffusion and broth dilution methods were used to determine the zones of inhibition and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the plant extracts. Phytochemical components viz flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, tannins, phenols, alkaloids, glycosides and steroids were detected in the plant extracts, and the test organisms were susceptible to the plant extracts. The diameter zone of inhibition (DZI) obtained with n-hexane extract ranged from 15.10 ± 0.51 mm to 2.0 ± 0.55 mm against K. …

Wastewater Clarification And Microbial Load Reduction Using Agro-Forestry And Agricultural Wastes, Joel Njewa, Ephraim Vunain, Timothy Biswick

Tanzania Journal of Science

Five agro-wastes, namely: cassava peels, Irish potato peels, Jatropha curcas seeds, Moringa oleifera seeds and rice husks were investigated as plant-based coagulants for turbidity and microbial load removal from sewage wastewater. Moringa oleifera and Jatropha curcas seeds before usage were defatted with 95% ethanol and the active coagulating component was extracted with 1.0 M NaCl. For the other three agro-wastes, their ashes were evaluated for turbidity and microbial load removal. The ash was prepared through pyrolysis of the raw biomass at a temperature of 800 °C for 3 h. The effect of pH, coagulant dose, settling time on turbidity reduction …

The Multifunctional Roles Of Polyphenols In Plant-Herbivore Interactions, Sukhman Singh, Ishveen Kaur, Rupesh R. Kariyat

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

There is no argument to the fact that insect herbivores cause significant losses to plant productivity in both natural and agricultural ecosystems. To counter this continuous onslaught, plants have evolved a suite of direct and indirect, constitutive and induced, chemical and physical defenses, and secondary metabolites are a key group that facilitates these defenses. Polyphenols—widely distributed in flowering plants—are the major group of such biologically active secondary metabolites. Recent advances in analytical chemistry and metabolomics have provided an opportunity to dig deep into extraction and quantification of plant-based natural products with insecticidal/insect deterrent activity, a potential sustainable pest management strategy. …

Inhibition Of Biofilm Formation By The Synergistic Action Of Egcg-S And Antibiotics, Shrameeta Shinde, Lee Lee, Tinchun Chu

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Biofilm, a stress-induced physiological state, is an established means of antimicrobial tolerance. A perpetual increase in multidrug resistant (MDR) infections associated with high mortality and morbidity have been observed in healthcare settings. Multiple studies have indicated that the use of natural products can prevent bacterial growth. Recent studies in the field have identified that epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a green tea polyphenol, could disrupt bacterial biofilms. A modified lipid-soluble EGCG, epigallocatechin-3-gallate-stearate (EGCG-S), has enhanced the beneficial properties of green tea. This study focuses on utilizing EGCG-S as a novel synergistic agent with antibiotics to prevent or control biofilm. Different formulations of …

The Effects Of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals On Plants, Christian Mathew Pridemore

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are a diverse group of chemicals which can have a detrimental effect on human health, affecting any physiological body system sensitive to hormonal changes. Human exposure to EDCs is inevitable due to their prevalence in modern living; EDCs are integral compounds found in everyday items with which humans interact and ingest. These, along with other indirect avenues leading to EDC exposure, pose a threat to both human health and to the health of wildlife and agricultural environments. Studies on the effects of EDCs on plants can be substantially informative and necessary for progress towards solving the …

Plastid Phylogenomics Of The Gynoxoid Group (Senecioneae, Asteraceae) Highlights The Importance Of Motif-Based Sequence Alignment Amid Low Genetic Distances, Belen Escobari, Thomas Borsch, Taylor Quedensley, Michael Gruenstaeudl

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Premise The genus Gynoxys and relatives form a species-rich lineage of Andean shrubs and trees with low genetic distances within the sunflower subtribe Tussilaginineae. Previous molecular phylogenetic investigations of the Tussilaginineae have included few, if any, representatives of this Gynoxoid group or reconstructed ambiguous patterns of relationships for it. Methods We sequenced complete plastid genomes of 21 species of the Gynoxoid group and related Tussilaginineae and conducted detailed comparisons of the phylogenetic relationships supported by the gene, intron, and intergenic spacer partitions of these genomes. We also evaluated the impact of manual, motif-based adjustments of automatic DNA sequence alignments on …

Airpg: Automatically Accessing The Inverted Repeats Of Archived Plastid Genomes, Tilman Mehl, Michael Gruenstaeudl

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

In most flowering plants, the plastid genome exhibits a quadripartite genome structure, comprising a large and a small single copy as well as two inverted repeat regions. Thousands of plastid genomes have been sequenced and submitted to public sequence repositories in recent years. The quality of sequence annotations in many of these submissions is known to be problematic, especially regarding annotations that specify the length and location of the inverted repeats: such annotations are either missing or portray the length or location of the repeats incorrectly. However, many biological investigations employ publicly available plastid genomes at face value and implicitly …

Consequences Of Stress-Induced Trait Plasticity In Cultivated Helianthus, Gillian Gomer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Leaf Economics Spectrum (LES) describes the continuous range of leaf ecophysiological strategies that plants across the globe utilize to achieve a net-positive return on their resource investment. This spectrum is measured by traits such as leaf mass per area, leaf nitrogen, and leaf lifespan. Unsuitable leaf trait combinations are selected against in nature due to a net-loss on the return of initial resource investment, while some potentially extremely effective trait combinations may not be possible due to genetic constraints. Existing genetic variation in LES traits, however, suggests the spectrum may be less rigid than previously expected. To test this, …

Understanding Patterns And Functional Impacts Of An Invasive Tree And Its Biological Control In A Riparian System, Annie L. Henry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Invasive species have become an inextricable part of the landscape, particularly in riparian plant communities, and removal is often a key component of restoration programs. Biological control (biocontrol) is a method of removal that is often both efficient and effective. However, the impact of biocontrol on target species and indirect effects from invasive species removal can be hard to predict. While monitoring the impact of invasive species removal usually involves some species-based assessment such as changes in diversity, historically dominant species or native species, these strategies do not typically provide insight into the mechanisms underlying plant community response to removal. …

Gypsum-Exclusive Plants Accumulate More Leaf S Than Non-Exclusive Species Both In And Off Gypsum, Andreu Cera, Gabriel Montserrat-Martí, Juan Pedro Ferrio, Rebecca E. Drenovsky, Sara Palacio

2021 Faculty Bibliography

Gypsum-exclusive species (gypsophiles), are restricted to gypseous soils in natural environments. However, it is unclear why gypsophiles display greater affinity to gyspeous soils than other soils. These plants are edaphic endemics, growing in alkaline soils with high Ca and S. Gypsophiles tend to show higher foliar Ca and S, lower K and, sometimes, higher Mg than non-exclusive gypsum species, named gypsovags. Our aim was to test if the unique leaf elemental signature of gypsophiles could be the result of special nutritional requirements linked to their specificity to gypseous soils. These nutritional requirements could hamper the completion of their life cycle …

Protein Prenylation In The Moss Physcomitrium Patens, Zayna H. Qaissi, Anam F. Ahmed, Katherine V. Brown, Mark P. Running

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Protein prenylation is the addition of a 15 or 20 carbon lipid to a cysteine near carboxyl terminus of target proteins. Prenylation increases hydrophobicity, which facilitates membrane associations and protein-protein interaction. Protein prenylation is generally conserved among eukaryotes, and mutations in genes that carry out prenylation are lethal in animals and yeast. In plants prenylation mutations are not always lethal, but they do affect development, disease resistance, biofuel production, and drought response, among other processes of agricultural interest. To understand the evolutionary and developmental implications of plant protein prenylation, we used the sequenced, annotated, and translated genome of the moss …

Investigation Into The Genetic Provenance Of Three Rare Plants With East-West Disjunction Patterns In Pennsylvania., Scott Schuette, Christopher T. Martine

Other Faculty Research and Publications

Rare plant conservation relies on an understanding of the natural history, biology and ecology, and real and potential threats to their populations to inform state regulations that serve to protect the species from extirpation. This work often involves extensive field surveys over several years to determine population sizes and whether those populations are seeing reductions in number of individuals necessary to maintain the genetic diversity within and between those populations. Species and populations with high genetic diversity are better equipped to withstand sudden changes to their habitats that derive from land use changes and changing climate. There are a variety …

Examining Climate Change Effects On Flowering In Moss Campion, Mykaela Tanino-Springsteen, Olivia Dewitt, Anna Sher

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

Examining the variation in the collection date of herbarium specimens is a common method for studying the phenological effects of climate change on a flowering plant species. We used herbarium data to examine how warming temperatures have affected flowering time in Silene acaulis in the state of Colorado. Silene acaulis, commonly known as moss campion and cushion pink, is an alpine tundra plant. Using ordinal date of collection as a proxy for flowering date and year collected as a proxy for increasing average temperature, a linear regression test found that there was no significant relationship between increasing temperatures and …

First Report Of Yellow-Flowered Teasel, Dipsacus Strigosus Willd. Ex Roem. & Schult. (Dipsacaceae) In Indiana, A North American Record, Rebecca W. Dolan

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This paper reports the presence of Dipsacus strigosus Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. in Indiana. The species, native to western Asia, is naturalized in several locations in Europe. This is the first documented occurrence in North America. The new record was collected along a recently constructed bike path in a moist wooded area of the Butler University campus in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Like the two other species of the genus known in the Indiana, D. strigosus is likely to be invasive, so efforts will be made to eradicate this population. The plant should be monitored and looked for in other …

Impacts Of Rock Climbing On Lichen And Bryophyte Communities At Mclellan Rocks And Sharon Climbing Areas, Spokane County, Wa, Giovanna M. Bishop

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Saxicolous lichens and bryophytes dominate cliff communities of Eastern Washington State. A recent rise in the outdoor recreation of rock climbing has caused major concerns over its potential negative impacts on cliff-dwelling biodiversity. To better understand how rock climbing is impacting lichen, bryophyte and vascular plant communities in Spokane, WA, I surveyed two sites: McLellan Rocks and Rocks of Sharon, for the abundance, richness and diversity of lichens, bryophytes and vascular plants. Sixteen paired transects consisting of a climbed route and the unclimbed adjacent cliff face, with eight plots per transect for a total of 256, 0.5m2 plots were surveyed …

Identification Of Loci Influencing Teosinte Crossing Barrier 1 (Tcb1) Efficacy In Maize By Quantitative Trait Loci (Qtl) Mapping And Genome-Wide Association Study (Gwas), Namrata Maharjan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pollen cross-contamination has been a major problem for maize breeders. Various mechanical methods applied to avoid the contaminations are ineffective. The genetic factors related to maize fertilization can be used to develop an effective method to prevent pollen contamination. Pollen rejection ability controlled by Teosinte crossing barrier 1 (Tcb1) is such a genetic system. Silks possessing dominant Tcb1-s reject pollen possessing the recessive allele (tcb1). Successful fertilization occurs when Tcb1-s pollen falls upon tcb1 silks. The efficacy of dominant Tcb1-s was, however, reduced when repeatedly backcross with maize inbred lines, which suggests that there are modifiers to Tcb1-s. To find …

The Effects Of Saline Soil On Microbiome And The Isolation Of Root-Associated Microbes To Relieve Salinity Stress, Duncan Jakubowski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing levels of salinity in once-viable lands for crop production is a serious and growing problem in the Northern Great Plains. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of saline soil on the microbial composition of plant roots and bulk soil, to measure metabolic changes in plant roots from saline soil, to determine the viability of root-associated microbes as inoculants to increase stress tolerance in plants, as well as determine the impact of saline soil on nitrogen cycling genes linked to greenhouse gas production. This study hypothesizes that high soil salinity levels have a significant impact on …

Seed Mix Design, Planting Time, And First-Year Mowing Management To Improve Multifunctionality And Cost-Effectiveness Of Tallgrass Prairie Reconstructions, Alec James Glidden

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The conversion of the Midwestern United States’ tallgrass prairies to agriculture has resulted in extensive habitat loss and degradation and a decline in the provisioning of ecosystem services. To restore these services the United States Department of Agriculture created the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) which provides incentives to agricultural landowners to implement conservation practices designed to meet goals pertaining to single ecosystem services. We studied the effects of seed mix design, planting time, and first-year management on the multifunctionality and cost-effectiveness of prairie reconstructions. We established research plots planted with one of three seed mixes either in the dormant (fall) …

Seed Priming With Phytohormones: An Effective Approach For The Mitigation Of Abiotic Stress, Mohammad Saidur Rhaman, Shahin Imran, Farjana Rauf, Mousumi Khatun, Carol C. Baskin, Yoshiyuki Murata, Mirza Hasanuzzaman

Biology Faculty Publications

Plants are often exposed to abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity, heat, cold, and heavy metals that induce complex responses, which result in reduced growth as well as crop yield. Phytohormones are well known for their regulatory role in plant growth and development, and they serve as important chemical messengers, allowing plants to function during exposure to various stresses. Seed priming is a physiological technique involving seed hydration and drying to improve metabolic processes prior to germination, thereby increasing the percentage and rate of germination and improving seedling growth and crop yield under normal and various biotic and abiotic stresses. …

Patterns Of Genetic Divergence Across Geographically Variable Populations Of Xanthisma Gracile (Asteraceae), Lavanya Challagundla, Lisa E. Wallace

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Premise of research. Numerous biotic and abiotic factors can contribute to local selection and lead to geographic structure and genetic divergence between populations. The southwestern United States contains many distinctive plant communities, ranging from woodlands to desert scrub, that are shaped by species adapting to local variation in elevation, precipitation, seasonality, and soils. Given this variation, species occurring across diverse habitats are expected to harbor high genetic diversity and exhibit significant genetic differences associated with environmental variation.

Methodology. Here, we studied the genetic divergence of populations of Xanthisma gracile (Asteraceae) across Arizona using amplified fragment length polymorphisms and evaluated associations …

Lepidopteran Granivory Reduces Seed Counts In A Rare Species Of Riparian Scour Prairies, Cheyenne Moore, Angela J. Mcdonnell, Scott Schuette, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

In Pennsylvania Baptisia australis var. australis is found along only four waterways: the Allegheny River, Youghiogheny River, Clarion River, and Red Bank Creek. Because of its limited distribution and small number of extant populations, the species is considered state-threatened in Pennsylvania. In addition, the riparian prairie habitat that Pennsylvania Baptisia australis var. australis is restricted to is also in decline and considered vulnerable. Because of these conservation concerns, insights into the natural history of the taxon in the state is valuable and will inform conservation efforts. Field surveys and fruit collections along the Allegheny River and herbarium collections were used …

Seedling Growth And Soil Chemistry In A Chronosequence Of Forest Restoration From Agriculture, Michaela J. Woods, Sarah J. Frankenberg, Joseph R. Juodvalkis, Mary C. Lloyd, Meredith Cobb, Ryan Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

Soils were collected from forest restorations that were 0, 7, 10, 50 and 100 years old and assessed for soil nutrients, chemistry, and enzymatic activity. Quercus macrocarpa seedlings were planted in each soil type, after 5 months of growth seedlings were destructively harvested. Seedling mass and the colonization rate of their roots by ectomycorrhizal fungi are reported.

The photo accompanying this data collection is of the researchers' germinating Quercus macrocarpa seeds.

Evaluation Of Methods For The Restoration Of Native Grasslands On Abandoned Center Pivots In The Sandsage Prairies Of Southwestern Kansas, Alonso Barragan-Martinez

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Throughout southwestern Kansas thousands of acres of native grassland have been converted to cropland for agricultural use, reducing native prairie by over 60% in the sandsage prairie. Due to low precipitation and arid conditions, much of these croplands are irrigated by center pivot irrigation systems fed by the Ogallala Aquifer. These fields are abandoned when the aquifers dry up, resulting in erosion of the unused farmland. Conservation programs such as the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) were established to address this problem but have been unsuccessful in restoring native grasslands in abandoned croplands in southwestern Kansas. We hypothesized that insect …

Chloroplast Genome Evolution In The Klebsormidiophyceae And Streptofilum, Sarah Glass

Theses and Dissertations

The Klebsormidiophyceae are a class of green microalgae found globally in both freshwater and terrestrial habitats. Morphology-based classification schemes of this class have been shown to be insufficient, particularly due to the simple morphology of these algae, the tendency of morphology to vary in culture versus in field conditions, and rampant morphological homoplasy. Molecular studies revealing cryptic diversity have renewed interest in this group. We sequenced the complete chloroplast genomes of taxa in the Klebsormidiophyceae representing the known taxonomic breadth of this class, as well as the chloroplast genomes of three strains of Streptofilum, a recently discovered algal lineage …

Sterol Biosynthesis In Four Green Algae: A Bioinformatic Analysis Of The Ergosterol Versus Phytosterol Decision Point, Adam Voshall, Nakeirah T.M. Christie, Suzanne L. Rose, Maya Khasin, James L. Van Etten, Jennifer E. Markham, Wayne R. Riekhof, Kenneth Nickerson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Animals and fungi produce cholesterol and ergosterol, respectively, while plants produce the phytosterols stigmasterol, campesterol, and bsitosterol in various combinations. The recent sequencing of many algal genomes allows the detailed reconstruction of the sterol metabolic pathways. Here, we characterized sterol synthesis in two sequenced Chlorella spp., the free-living C. sorokiniana, and symbiotic C. variabilis NC64A. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was included as an internal control and Coccomyxa subellipsoidea as a plant-like outlier. We found that ergosterol was the major sterol produced by Chlorella spp. and C. reinhardtii, while C. subellipsoidea produced the three phytosterols found in plants. In silico analysis …

Plant Physiological Responses To Environmental Change In A Marsh-Mangrove Ecotone, Matthew Sturchio

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Globally, photosynthesis (A) and autotrophic respiration (R) are the two largest physiological processes responsible for CO₂ flux. Coastal wetland ecosystems are responsible for some of the highest rates of C sequestration. Marsh grass and mangrove habitats responsible for this service are important in supporting biodiversity and preventing shoreline erosion, yet little is known about how this vegetation will respond physiologically to effects of climate and global change. In the first chapter a warming experiment was used to determine whether a C₄ marsh grass (Spartina alterniflora) and a C₃ mangrove (Avicennia …

Assessing Short-Term Microalgal Community Responses Over Altering Hydrological Conditions In Experimental Wetlands Of Costal Georgia, Maggie M. Kuhn

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Wetlands provide valuable ecosystem services such as nutrient cycling and carbon storage. Microalgae (i.e., diatoms) provide the foundation of primary production and determine rates of energy transfer throughout the system. Climate change models predict an increase in frequency of intense storms and severe drought conditions that pose a threat to known hydrological regimes and wetland ecosystem stability. The purpose of my study was to assess the effects of water permanence (i.e., duration of flooding) on diatom community structure in experimental wetlands. I predicted that wetlands with prolonged periods of flooding (i.e., permanent) would harbor a consistent diatom community throughout flooding …

Incorporation Of Summer Annual Mixtures Into Grazing Systems In Kentucky, Kelly Marie Mercier

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Utilizing summer annual grass-legume forage mixtures has the potential to improve forage yield and nutritive characteristics, and/or animal performance during times when cool-season pasture growth is limited by high temperatures. Legumes can utilize atmospheric nitrogen, which can increase crude protein and forage digestibility in mixtures. As nitrogen application generally improves both the yield and nutritive characteristics of summer annual forages, but can have a negative effect on legume competitiveness, nitrogen fertilizer recommendations for legume-containing summer annual mixtures are not well established.

Two experiments were conducted to determine the feasibility of utilizing summer annual mixtures in Kentucky, USA. The first experiment …