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Full-Text Articles in Biology
Invasion Of The Northeastern United States By The Southern Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus Frontalis, And The Impacts On Signatures Of Isolation By Distance Assessed Using Mitochondrial Dna, Lora Grace Holman
Honors Theses
The southern pine beetle (SPB) is a small, black beetle that parasitizes pine trees across the United States and Central America. Recently it has been recognized that the range of SPB is not limited to the southern United States, but rather extends northward across the eastern United States, which raises concerns for pine trees that have never encountered the pest before. Using mitochondrial DNA sequences from a section of the cytochrome oxidase I gene and four different measures of genetic distance compared to geographic distance, we tested for evidence of isolation by distance (IBD) among sampled SPB to see whether …
The Design And Validation Of A Qpcr-Based Approach To Cell Quantification Of Fungal-Algal Symbioses, Isabelle Katherine Garlotte
The Design And Validation Of A Qpcr-Based Approach To Cell Quantification Of Fungal-Algal Symbioses, Isabelle Katherine Garlotte
Honors Theses
Symbiotic relationships are extremely common in virtually all species. These relationships between organisms, particularly mutualistic symbioses, can have an incredibly large impact and can greatly affect the evolution of the species involved. Of particular interest is the suspected mutualistic relationship between green algae and fungi that may hold key evidence of how terrestrial plants evolved. In this experiment we established a method of quantifying the cells of each species involved in these symbioses through qPCR analysis to determine if the relationships are truly mutualistic. We developed a system for using DNA copies as a proxy for cell count in co-cultures …
Population Genetics Of A Recent Range Expansion By The Southern Pine Beetle, Dendroctonus Frontalis, Into The Northeastern United States, Megan Stubbs
Honors Theses
Population genetics as a field of study aims to determine the genetic variation among individuals in a population, and differences among populations. Certain population genetic analyses can provide such information and be used to better understand the biological aspects to a species’ expansion beyond its native range. The southern pine beetle (SPB), Dendroctonus frontalis, has become an invasive pest to pine forests in northeastern United States with its recent range expansion. Nine microsatellite loci were first developed and then used in analyses. To determine what the genetic variation is among individuals in SPB populations across its entire range, including …