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University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

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Articles 1 - 30 of 337

Full-Text Articles in Biology

Characterization Of River Cane Morphology, Density And Biomass In Sun And Shade In Stream Riparian Zones In Northwest Arkansas, Emily Shy-Anne Carter Jul 2026

Characterization Of River Cane Morphology, Density And Biomass In Sun And Shade In Stream Riparian Zones In Northwest Arkansas, Emily Shy-Anne Carter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

River cane, or Arundinaria gigantea Walter (Muhl.), ecosystems serve as ecological and cultural keystones, offering wildlife habitat, streambank stabilization, and construction/craft material for Native groups who utilize river cane. However, these ecosystems have declined substantially because of overgrazing, land conversion, and fire suppression, resulting in reduced patch size and culm morphology. Historically widespread across floodplains and riparian zones, canebrakes, or monotypic forests of river cane, have been restricted to small fragments. This study evaluated how canopy cover influences light availability, culm morphology, density, and biomass of river cane across eight riparian sites in Northwest Arkansas to inform restoration efforts. Light …

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History And Distribution Of The Dark Ibises (Glossy Ibis Plegadis Falcinellus And White-Faced Ibis P. Chihi) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, P. D. Rodriguez Jun 2026

History And Distribution Of The Dark Ibises (Glossy Ibis Plegadis Falcinellus And White-Faced Ibis P. Chihi) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, P. D. Rodriguez

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) and White-faced Ibis (P. chihi) sometimes are reported simply as Dark Ibises due to difficulty in identifying them when mature characters are not clearly visible. We evaluated reports verified on citizen science websites to examine the origins and distributions of these migratory species in Arkansas. The Glossy Ibis was first documented in Arkansas in 1956, has been reported in 21 of our 75 counties, and is found more commonly in eastern Arkansas. The White-faced Ibis was first reported in Arkansas in 1971, has been reported in 41 of our 75 counties, …

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History And Distribution Of Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus Mexicanus) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, V. Andersen Jun 2026

History And Distribution Of Great-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus Mexicanus) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, V. Andersen

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Great-tailed Grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) were reported first in southwestern Arkansas in 1969, were nesting there in 1977, and established a resident population by 1980. Nesting was reported in far northwestern Arkansas in 1986. Presently, the species is known from 44 of Arkansas’s 75 counties, those mostly in the western and central counties. Most individuals appear to be migratory, with most reports occurring in April and May. However, breeding and now resident populations have been reported in the southwestern, northwestern, and central counties, particularly in urban areas. Birds are very commonly reported to forage at fast-food establishments and truck …

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The Impacts Of High Protein Diet On Sleep And Mood In Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Pcos), Lily G. Hiegel May 2026

The Impacts Of High Protein Diet On Sleep And Mood In Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Pcos), Lily G. Hiegel

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The objective of this study is to determine whether adherence to a high protein diet over a sixteen-week period leads to improvements in sleep quality and mood in women with PCOS. It is hypothesized that individuals following the high protein diet will demonstrate significantly better sleep quality and more favorable mood profiles compared to individuals not following the high protein diet. By targeting insulin resistance and dietary carbohydrate intake, this intervention may influence multiple pathways involved in PCOS symptomatology, including hormonal regulation, metabolic function, sleep physiology, and psychological wellbeing.

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Structure Of The Spoiie Protein In Clostridioides Difficile, Robert B. Bauer May 2026

Structure Of The Spoiie Protein In Clostridioides Difficile, Robert B. Bauer

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Clostridioides difficile is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for severe gastrointestinal infection. C. difficile-related infection is extremely prevalent in healthcare facilities, causing roughly 30,000 deaths annually in the United States alone. Its main mechanism of virulence is sporulation, which is directed by the SpoIIE protein. This makes SpoIIE an attractive target for the remedy and prevention of infections. The objective of this study was to analyze its structure using both lab techniques and artificial intelligence modeling. A truncated version of this protein, SpoII∆TM, was expressed and analyzed using optimal conditions previously determined in the lab. SDS-PAGE results and analyses confirmed …

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From Chaos To Clockwork: Investigating The Role Of Circadian Genes In Metabolic Development Of 2nd And 3rd Instar Drosophila Larvae, Elliott R. Ruegsegger, Stephanie Hood, Amy Poe May 2026

From Chaos To Clockwork: Investigating The Role Of Circadian Genes In Metabolic Development Of 2nd And 3rd Instar Drosophila Larvae, Elliott R. Ruegsegger, Stephanie Hood, Amy Poe

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Circadian clocks regulate daily physiological and metabolic rhythms across many organisms. In Drosophila melanogaster, the molecular clock involving period (per) and timeless regulates gene expression across 24-hour cycles. Circadian rhythms are well characterized in adult, mature organisms, but their emergence during early developmental stages remain poorly understood. In D. melanogaster, the circadian regulation of sleep and feeding rhythms emerges during the 3rd instar larval stage. This suggests that the circadian regulation of metabolism may also arise during this stage. Further, the metabolic consequences of circadian clock disruptions during this developmentally rich period remain unclear. This research aimed to …

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Geospatial Science And The Changing Environment: Applied Methods For Sustainable Agriculture And Landscape Management, Harrison Wakefield Smith May 2026

Geospatial Science And The Changing Environment: Applied Methods For Sustainable Agriculture And Landscape Management, Harrison Wakefield Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid environmental change is disrupting agricultural productivity, ecological function, and the long-term resilience of managed landscapes. At the same time, the rapid growth of geospatial data science has improved our understanding of environmental change and increasingly is being used to improve sustainability in agricultural and environmental management. However, critical gaps remain that limit the applicability of data-driven insights in landscape management. This dissertation investigates the potential of geospatial analytics for sustainable agriculture and landscape management, with a focus on applied methods that operate across spatial and temporal scales. Using field, landscape, regional, and national datasets, it explores the capabilities and …

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Developing Warning Signage For Harmful Algal Blooms At Lake Fayetteville, Abigail R. Evans May 2026

Developing Warning Signage For Harmful Algal Blooms At Lake Fayetteville, Abigail R. Evans

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The presence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) poses many risk factors for human health, and once microcystin concentration has reached a certain level, that water source will be closed for the duration of the bloom. Agencies tend to use static signage with limited information to inform the public about the current status of the water, but a sign similar to the one used by the National Fire Danger Rating System can allow for constant updates detailing specific risk levels for the public. Using previously reported data on Lake Fayetteville, thresholds for risk factors that are easily measurable were determined. The …

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The Genetic Basis Of High Transformation Efficiency In The Model Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Mary Kathryn E. Cheek May 2026

The Genetic Basis Of High Transformation Efficiency In The Model Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Mary Kathryn E. Cheek

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Transformation, a type of horizontal gene transfer, describes the uptake, maintenance, and integration of environmental DNA by cells. Despite the known effects of transformation on evolutionary processes, little is known about the genetic basis of this phenomenon. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a eukaryote able to transform at quantifiable rates when made chemically competent and treated with a heat shock. S. cerevisiae also has variation in transformation efficiencies between various strains, and high recombination rates allow for sufficient allele “shuffling” in intercross populations. This project utilizes a bulk segregant analysis approach to compare sequencing data between transformant pools and non-transformant pools of …

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Long-Term Stimulant Use Is Associated With Normalized White Matter Integrity In The Vta-Nacc Pathway In Adolescents, Isaac T. Arsenault May 2026

Long-Term Stimulant Use Is Associated With Normalized White Matter Integrity In The Vta-Nacc Pathway In Adolescents, Isaac T. Arsenault

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Medical practitioners are diagnosing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) at a high and ever-increasing rate. The use of stimulant medication to treat ADHD is also increasing and is associated with changes in the brain. Past research found that children with ADHD have lower volume in reward neurocircuitry, such as the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAcc). Research has also found that stimulant usage in those with ADHD might “normalize” the reward circuits. However, few longitudinal studies have directly tested the long-term effects of stimulant medication on brain development. Here we tested whether long-term stimulant use is associated with changes …

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Nadh Flim Reveals Cellular Bioenergetics And Mitochondrial Morphology During Drosophila Convergent Extension, Maria Espana Pena May 2026

Nadh Flim Reveals Cellular Bioenergetics And Mitochondrial Morphology During Drosophila Convergent Extension, Maria Espana Pena

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria are dynamic organelles that can fragment or fuse to support different bioenergetic demands and cellular processes, although the role of mitochondrial fission and fusion during embryonic development is not well understood. Fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) of the mitochondrial cofactor NADH can be used to visualize mitochondrial networks and infer aspects of cellular bioenergetics in a label-free manner. We used NADH FLIM to test whether germband cells undergo changes in cellular metabolism during Drosophila convergent extension (CE)––a process in which hundreds of epithelial cells undergo coordinated intercalation to elongate the embryo. Contrary to our expectations, we did not observe significant …

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Structural Evidence For Innervation Of A Single Epitheliomuscular Cell By Multiple Sensory Neurons In The Sea Anemone Nematostella Vectensis, Aparajita Das May 2026

Structural Evidence For Innervation Of A Single Epitheliomuscular Cell By Multiple Sensory Neurons In The Sea Anemone Nematostella Vectensis, Aparajita Das

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract Here, I report new ultrastructural evidence for multineuronal innervation (many-one) of a single epithelia-muscular cell in sea-anemone cnidarian Nematostella vectensis. Using Serial Block-Face Scanning Electron Microscopy (SBF-SEM) and ImageJ, I found that EMCs are located at the base of ectoderm, with an elongated cell body that includes basal processes, a bilobed nucleus, and myofibrils aligned parallel to the basal surface along with their structural quantification. Notably, I found multiple mechanosensory neurons form synapses with a single EMC. These findings enhance our understanding of cnidarian neuromuscular organization and reveal that coordination between sensory and contractile systems in N. vectensis is …

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Searching Harder For The Darter: Evaluating Endangered Yellowcheek Darter (Nothonotus Moorei) Status And Drought Responses, Kearstin Findley May 2026

Searching Harder For The Darter: Evaluating Endangered Yellowcheek Darter (Nothonotus Moorei) Status And Drought Responses, Kearstin Findley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Freshwater ecosystems are one of the most imperiled habitats across the world with biodiversity declining rapidly. There are many stressors contributing to freshwater species declines including habitat loss and degradation, land-use changes, anthropogenic water demands, changes in precipitation and weather extremes, and pollution. Current environmental projections predict that these stressors will continue to impact freshwater ecosystems to greater extents moving forward. Stream drying from drought conditions increasing in intensity and frequency is especially concerning in northern Arkansas where seasonal drought is typical in the summer and fall months. With increased drying conditions, the elimination of shallow-water riffle habitats in streams …

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Bats And Bacteria: Infection Dynamics At The Human-Wildlife Interface, Isabella Katherine Deanglis May 2026

Bats And Bacteria: Infection Dynamics At The Human-Wildlife Interface, Isabella Katherine Deanglis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the second most diverse mammalian order, bats host an array of pathogens, some of which are known to infect humans. Synanthropic bats share spaces with humans, resulting in bat-borne pathogen exposure. While most bat-borne disease research has focused on viral pathogens, bats host numerous bacterial pathogens with zoonotic potential. By integrating a global meta-analysis with field studies in Sub-Saharan Africa, I characterize the structural attributes that facilitate shared interfaces, the bacterial pathogens present in synanthropic bats of rural Kenya, and the physiological and environmental dynamics influencing odds of infection in these synanthropic bats. Finally, I evaluate the clinical relevance …

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Evolutionary Conservation Of Midline Axon Guidance Activity Between Drosophila And Tribolium Frazzled, Piyasi Ghosh, Benjamin C. Wadsworth, Logan Terry, Timothy A. Evans Mar 2026

Evolutionary Conservation Of Midline Axon Guidance Activity Between Drosophila And Tribolium Frazzled, Piyasi Ghosh, Benjamin C. Wadsworth, Logan Terry, Timothy A. Evans

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The regulation of midline crossing of axons is of fundamental importance for the proper development of nervous system connectivity in bilaterian animals. A number of conserved axon guidance signaling pathways coordinate to attract or repel axons at the nervous system midline to ensure the proper regulation of midline crossing. The attractive Netrin-Frazzled/DCC (Net-Fra) signaling pathway is widely conserved among bilaterians, but it is not clear whether the mechanisms by which Net and Fra promote midline crossing are also conserved. In Drosophila, Fra can promote midline crossing via Netrin-dependent and Netrin-independent mechanisms, by acting as a canonical midline attractive receptor and …

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New Host And Distributional Records For Helminth Parasites (Monogenoidea, Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda) Of Arkansas Reptiles (Testudines, Ophidia), C. T. Mcallister, C. R. Bursey, T. J. Fayton, S. E. Trauth, H. W. Robison Feb 2026

New Host And Distributional Records For Helminth Parasites (Monogenoidea, Trematoda, Cestoda, Nematoda) Of Arkansas Reptiles (Testudines, Ophidia), C. T. Mcallister, C. R. Bursey, T. J. Fayton, S. E. Trauth, H. W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Over the last decade or more, our collaborative research has provided noteworthy information on the helminth parasites of reptiles of Arkansas. Because several species still need to be surveyed from the state, some for the first time, there has been a general void of information on their parasites. We therefore examined 10 reptiles, including seven species/subspecies of turtles, as well as three species/subspecies of snakes for helminth parasites. Found were 24 taxa of parasites, including two monogeneans, 14 digeneans, one tapeworm, and seven nematodes. We document several new host and distributional records for these parasites from some reptiles of the …

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First Report Of The Chytrid Fungus, Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis (Chytridiomycota: Rhizophydiales) From Spring Peeper, Pseudacris Crucifer (Anura: Hylidae), In Western Arkansas, C. T. Mcallister, I. F. Standish, E. M. Leis, M. R. Rodriguez, G. Burrows, H. W. Robison Jan 2026

First Report Of The Chytrid Fungus, Batrachochytrium Dendrobatidis (Chytridiomycota: Rhizophydiales) From Spring Peeper, Pseudacris Crucifer (Anura: Hylidae), In Western Arkansas, C. T. Mcallister, I. F. Standish, E. M. Leis, M. R. Rodriguez, G. Burrows, H. W. Robison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

Seven adult spring peepers, Pseudacris crucifer, were collected by hand during April 2024 from Polk County, Arkansas, and examined for the pathogens, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), and frog virus 3-like Ranavirus (FV3). Swabs from three of seven (43%) individuals tested positive for Bd: all P. crucifer were negative for the other two pathogens. In addition, no hosts showed any obvious pathological signs of infection and, as such, may represent Bd vectors.  This is the first time P. crucifer from Arkansas has been reported with Bd and increases the number of amphibian species …

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First Arkansas Records Of The True Bugs Lasiochilus Hirtellus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lasiochilidae) And Physopleurella Mundula (Anthocoridae)., S. W. Chordas Iii, R. Tumlison Jan 2026

First Arkansas Records Of The True Bugs Lasiochilus Hirtellus (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Lasiochilidae) And Physopleurella Mundula (Anthocoridae)., S. W. Chordas Iii, R. Tumlison

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

We report 2 uncommon species of true bugs (Hemiptera: Heteroptera), Lasiochilus hirtellus (Lasiochilidae) and Physopleurella mundula (Anthocoridae), for the first time from Arkansas. This includes the first report of the family Lasiochilidae for Arkansas. Both species were captured in UV light traps set in Clark County. We discuss identification, provide digital images of the voucher specimens and include updated distribution maps (north of Mexico) for both species. With the addition of these 2 species, there are now a total of 7 anthocorid species, among the 3 bug families Lasiochilidae, Anthocoridae and Lytocoridae, known for Arkansas.

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Analysis Of The Pervasiveness Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) And Their Relationship With The Incidence Of Neurological Health Disorders, Emma Waters Jan 2026

Analysis Of The Pervasiveness Of Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) And Their Relationship With The Incidence Of Neurological Health Disorders, Emma Waters

2026 Research Poster Competition

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a contaminant of emerging concern due to their chemical structure that afford a plethora of issues with regards to degradation on environmental and metabolic fronts. PFAS are amphiphilic and contain a carbon-fluorine bond, which complicates their movement through the environment and ensures their longevity in biological systems. Their persistence in biological systems has led them to be marked as “forever chemicals” and have emphasized them as a priority area for research in recent years. Current work on PFAS relationships to human health have pointed to some causes for concern. Much of the research on …

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Satisfaction With Physician Communication, Joyce Ho Jan 2026

Satisfaction With Physician Communication, Joyce Ho

2026 Research Poster Competition

Problem. Provider-patient communication can be sorted into two approaches: patient-centered communication (PCC) and doctor-centered communication (DCC). PCC is characterized by a patient focus, in which patients are encouraged to participate in decisions regarding their care, while DCC is characterized by a doctor focus, in which the physician acts as an informational source for patients (Bientzle et al. 2017). Physician communication style is known to be influenced by gender. Female physicians are more likely to utilize PCC than their male counterparts (Roter 2004). Female patients are more likely to have higher measures of PCC in interactions with their physicians (Bertakis et …

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Ovipositional Behavior Of The Twig Girdler (Cerambycidae: Oncideres Cingulata) On Stems Of Mockernut Hickory (Carya Tomentosa) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, L. Serviss Jan 2026

Ovipositional Behavior Of The Twig Girdler (Cerambycidae: Oncideres Cingulata) On Stems Of Mockernut Hickory (Carya Tomentosa) In Arkansas, R. Tumlison, L. Serviss

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

The Twig Girdler (Cerambycidae: Oncideres cingulata) is a long-horned beetle that girdles stems of certain species of trees to prepare a habitat for its offspring. The stems eventually die, break, and fall from the tree, but the beetle usually had already laid its eggs within the stems. Eggs are laid singly, almost always at growth rings or leaf bases. Because the space for the young to develop is finite, laying too many eggs could cause reproductive failure and too few eggs would be suboptimal. We hypothesized that the female laying eggs should be able to evaluate the stem and …

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Insight Into School-Based Tobacco Prevention Education In Arkansas School Districts, Faisal Khan Jan 2026

Insight Into School-Based Tobacco Prevention Education In Arkansas School Districts, Faisal Khan

2026 Research Poster Competition

Insight into School-Based Tobacco Prevention Education in Arkansas School Districts [PD1] Henry Obajaja, Ashley Clawson, Kara Lasater, Victor Kwaku Akakpo, Kolade Olatunde, Luke Larsen, Faisal Khan, Page D Dobbs Characters: 2,500/2,500Select Category: Public Health Study Type: Cross-sectionalPresentation Type – Paper or Poster Funding – select University (College of Education and Health Professions WE CARE Initiative) Significance. Despite national declines in youth tobacco use, Arkansas, a Tobacco Nation state, continues to report disproportionately high rates of tobacco use among adolescents. Prior research found Arkansas school professionals identified student tobacco use as a top health concern; however, it is unclear what tobacco …

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Adolescent Development Of Pubertal Hormones, Reward Neurocircuitry, And Externalizing Behaviors And Internalizing Behaviors, Amber Jared Jan 2026

Adolescent Development Of Pubertal Hormones, Reward Neurocircuitry, And Externalizing Behaviors And Internalizing Behaviors, Amber Jared

2026 Research Poster Competition

Title: Adolescent development of pubertal hormones, reward neurocircuitry, and externalizing behaviors and internalizing behaviors Authors: Amber Jared & Josiah K. Leong  Background: Adolescence is a period of rapid biological and brain development during which changes in pubertal hormones and neural reward systems may increase vulnerability to emotional and behavioral difficulties. Although prior research has documented widespread brain maturation during adolescence, less is known about how specific subcortical reward pathways develop and how these changes relate to hormones and behavior.  Methods:         Using longitudinal data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, this project examines developmental changes in two key brain …

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Social Isolation Predicts Altered Reward Circuit Connectivity And Future Behaviors In Adolescents, Mason Lucas Jan 2026

Social Isolation Predicts Altered Reward Circuit Connectivity And Future Behaviors In Adolescents, Mason Lucas

2026 Research Poster Competition

Adolescence is a period of transition from childhood to adulthood when people explore risky behaviors. Stressors during adolescence can change structural brain connectivity. Previous research has found weaker structural connectivity between reward circuits and future cognitive impairments among children raised in orphanages. Comparative research in mice suggests that social isolation after bullying can damage these connections and induce alcohol seeking. We tested whether social isolation was related to lower connectivity of targeted structural connections in adolescent humans. We analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study and found 130 subjects had experienced extreme social isolation. To evaluate the level …

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From Chaos To Clockwork: Investigating The Role Of Circadian Genes In Metabolic Development Of 2nd And 3rd Instar Drosophila Larvae, Elliott Ruegsegger Jan 2026

From Chaos To Clockwork: Investigating The Role Of Circadian Genes In Metabolic Development Of 2nd And 3rd Instar Drosophila Larvae, Elliott Ruegsegger

2026 Research Poster Competition

Connecting deficits in circadian rhythm machinery to the severity of other health conditions is a common task that chronobiology, the study of physiological rhythms, undertakes. Disruptions to circadian rhythms and sleep are linked to increased risk of developing multiple different diseases, including Alzheimer’s Disease and obesity. Circadian rhythms are expressed at the molecular level through rhythmic variations in the concentration of specific proteins. While the central clock genes that produce these proteins, such as period and timeless, are evolutionarily conserved across the animal kingdom, not much is known about the consequences of disruptions in circadian rhythm machinery during early development, …

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Moving Towards Defining The Evolutionarily Ancient Role Of Notch Signaling In Animals., Paige Norris Jan 2026

Moving Towards Defining The Evolutionarily Ancient Role Of Notch Signaling In Animals., Paige Norris

2026 Research Poster Competition

The notch signaling pathway is deeply conserved across animals from humans to sponges. It functions through direct cell-to-cell communication, where ligand binding triggers the cleavage of the Notch receptor’s intracellular domain (NICD), which then translocates to the nucleus to regulate transcription. In bilaterian lineages—animals with bilateral symmetry— Notch signaling is known to regulate binary cell fate decisions in diverse contexts ranging from neurogenesis to cancer. However, the functions of Notch signaling in early-branching animals, including cnidarians (e.g. jellyfish, corals and sea anemones), are still not fully understood; consequently, evolutionarily ancient roles of Notch remain ill-defined. To address this fundamental knowledge …

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Methanogens On Asteroids?, Isabella Reimer Jan 2026

Methanogens On Asteroids?, Isabella Reimer

2026 Research Poster Competition

Methanogens on Asteroids? Introduction: It is conceivable that if methanogens, microorganisms in the domain Archaea, exist on Mars, they were seeded there from a piece of Earth that was ejected by a meteor impact sometime in the past, or that material from Mars seeded our home planet by the same mechanism. The hypothesis of panspermia, the idea that life could be transported from one planet to another through space, was first developed by Arrhenius in 1908 (1). Since then, the idea of lithopanspermia, the transfer of organisms in rocks such as meteors and asteroids, has become amenable to testing. Previous …

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Investigating Pituitary Specific Transcription Factor-1 (Pit-1) In Neuronal Development In The Sea Anemone Cnidarian Nematostella Vectensis, Emily Ye Jan 2026

Investigating Pituitary Specific Transcription Factor-1 (Pit-1) In Neuronal Development In The Sea Anemone Cnidarian Nematostella Vectensis, Emily Ye

2026 Research Poster Competition

In bilaterians — animals with bilateral symmetry, like vertebrates and insects — the pituitary specific transcription factor-1 (pit-1) is essential for regulating growth hormone and prolactin expression in the pituitary gland. However, in non-bilaterians, the ancestral function of pit-1 remains unknown. Cnidarians, such as the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, form a sister group to bilaterians and lack a pituitary gland, making them a powerful model for investigating the early evolutionary role of conserved developmental genes, like pit-1.Using CRISPR-mediated gene editing, pit-1 knockout mutants — anemones without the pit-1 gene — were generated, and their transcriptomic, cellular, and behavioral phenotypes were …

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Investigating Changes In White Blood Cell Composition In Wild Hosts In Response To Viral Infection, Anna Bolding Jan 2026

Investigating Changes In White Blood Cell Composition In Wild Hosts In Response To Viral Infection, Anna Bolding

2026 Research Poster Competition

Reservoir hosts play a critical role in the persistence and spillover of zoonotic pathogens. Upon infection, reservoir hosts can shed viral loads sufficient for transmission and spillover often without displaying apparent pathogenic effects. Investigating how their immune systems control infection can provide insights into the factors that facilitate spillover events. Understanding the mechanisms that enable these infection characteristics is crucial for informing public health and conservation strategies. Though reservoir hosts’ immune responses are well-documented in controlled laboratory settings, these studies are not representative of natural populations. The bank vole - Puumala hantavirus (PUUV) system is well suited for investigating such …

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Examining Life Course Trends In Dental Tissues Measurements In Members Of The Cayo Santiago Macaque Colony, Tyler Moore Jan 2026

Examining Life Course Trends In Dental Tissues Measurements In Members Of The Cayo Santiago Macaque Colony, Tyler Moore

2026 Research Poster Competition

Dental tissue dynamics in primates are largely understood: as enamel wears with tooth use, tertiary dentin is laid down in response to cumulative (micro)traumas, compressing the internal pulp chamber and root canals. However, our knowledge of the rate and pattern of change in tissue quantities across the life course of primates remains incomplete, particularly in well-documented free-ranging populations. This study examined age- and sex-related variation in dental tissue surface area (SA) and volume (V) in a skeletal sample of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) from the Cayo Santiago colony (Puerto Rico), a population with known life history data. Forty-six individuals were …

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