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Full-Text Articles in Biology

Transcriptional Regulation Of The Synthesis And Secretion Of Farnesol In The Fungus Candida Albicans: Examination Of The Homann Transcription Regulator Knockout Collection, Daniel Gutzmann, Jaxon J. Kramer, Brigid M. Toomey, Cory Honsinger Thomas Boone, Audrey L. Atkin, Kenneth Nickerson Jul 2023

Transcriptional Regulation Of The Synthesis And Secretion Of Farnesol In The Fungus Candida Albicans: Examination Of The Homann Transcription Regulator Knockout Collection, Daniel Gutzmann, Jaxon J. Kramer, Brigid M. Toomey, Cory Honsinger Thomas Boone, Audrey L. Atkin, Kenneth Nickerson

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Candida albicans is an efficient colonizer of human gastrointestinal tracts and skin and is an opportunistic pathogen. C. albicans exhibits morphological plasticity, and the ability to switch between yeast and filamentous morphologies is associated with virulence. One regulator of this switch is the quorum sensing molecule farnesol that is produced by C. albicans throughout growth. However, the synthesis, secretion, regulation, and turnover of farnesol are not fully understood. To address this, we used our improved farnesol assay to screen a transcription regulator knockout library for differences in farnesol accumulation in whole cultures, pellets, and supernatants. All screened mutants …


Preclinical Characterization Of The Efficacy And Safety Of Biologic N‑001 As A Novel Pain Analgesic For Post‑Operative Acute Pain Treatment, Derek Allen, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao, Rylie Mcdonell, Karen‑Amanda Irvine, Peyman Sahbaie, David Clark, Paul H. Blum Jul 2023

Preclinical Characterization Of The Efficacy And Safety Of Biologic N‑001 As A Novel Pain Analgesic For Post‑Operative Acute Pain Treatment, Derek Allen, Samerender Nagam Hanumantharao, Rylie Mcdonell, Karen‑Amanda Irvine, Peyman Sahbaie, David Clark, Paul H. Blum

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Inhibition of actin remodeling in nerves modulates action potential propagation and therefore could be used to treat acute pain. N-001 is a novel protein analgesic engineered from several C. Botulinum toxins. N-001 targets sensory neurons through ganglioside GT1b binding and ADP-ribosylates G-actin reducing actin remodeling. The activity and efficacy of N-001 was evaluated previously in vitro and in a mouse inflammatory pain model. To assess the relevance of N-001 for treatment of acute post-surgical pain, the current study evaluated the efficacy of N-001 in a mouse hind-paw incision model by periincisional and popliteal nerve block administration combined with mechanical …


Rewiring Of Aminoacyl-Trna Synthetase Localization And Interactions In Plants With Extensive Mitochondrial Trna Gene Loss, Jessica M. Warren, Amanda K. Broz, Ana Martinez-Hottovy, Christian Elowsky, Alan C. Christensen, Daniel B. Sloan Jul 2023

Rewiring Of Aminoacyl-Trna Synthetase Localization And Interactions In Plants With Extensive Mitochondrial Trna Gene Loss, Jessica M. Warren, Amanda K. Broz, Ana Martinez-Hottovy, Christian Elowsky, Alan C. Christensen, Daniel B. Sloan

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The number of tRNAs encoded in plant mitochondrial genomes varies considerably. Ongoing loss of bacterial-like mitochondrial tRNA genes in many lineages necessitates the import of nuclear-encoded counterparts that share little sequence similarity. Because tRNAs are involved in highly specific molecular interactions, this replacement process raises questions about the identity and trafficking of enzymes necessary for the maturation and function of newly imported tRNAs. In particular, the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) that charge tRNAs are usually divided into distinct classes that specialize on either organellar (mitochondrial and plastid) or nuclear-encoded (cytosolic) tRNAs. Here, we investigate the evolution of aaRS subcellular localization in …


Westward Expansion Of The Evening Bat (Nycticeius Humeralis) Into Dawson And Lincoln Counties Of Central Nebraska, Jamila Bajelan, Keith Geluso Jun 2023

Westward Expansion Of The Evening Bat (Nycticeius Humeralis) Into Dawson And Lincoln Counties Of Central Nebraska, Jamila Bajelan, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis) is a small, migratory species of temperate woodlands in the eastern United States. Along its western distributional edge in the Great Plains, this species resides in wooded riverine corridors. In recent decades, the distribution of Evening Bats has expanded westward throughout the Great Plains. Herein, we report on two county records that further document the distributional expansion of Evening Bats into central Nebraska. In 2019 and 2022, Evening Bats were collected in Lincoln and Dawson counties, respectively, in woodlands adjacent to the Platte River. Increases in wooded habitats along prairie waterways likely has …


Essential And Recurrent Roles For Hairpin Rnas In Silencing De Novo Sex Chromosome Conflict In Drosophila Simulans, Jeffrey Vedanayagam, Marion Herbette, Holly Mudgett, Ching-Jung Lin, Chun- Ming Lai, Caitlin Mcdonough-Goldstein, Stephen Dorus, Benjamin Loppin, Colin D. Meiklejohn, Raphaëlle Dubruille, Eric C. Lai Jun 2023

Essential And Recurrent Roles For Hairpin Rnas In Silencing De Novo Sex Chromosome Conflict In Drosophila Simulans, Jeffrey Vedanayagam, Marion Herbette, Holly Mudgett, Ching-Jung Lin, Chun- Ming Lai, Caitlin Mcdonough-Goldstein, Stephen Dorus, Benjamin Loppin, Colin D. Meiklejohn, Raphaëlle Dubruille, Eric C. Lai

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Meiotic drive loci distort the normally equal segregation of alleles, which benefits their own transmission even in the face of severe fitness costs to their host organism. However, relatively little is known about the molecular identity of meiotic drivers, their strategies of action, and mechanisms that can suppress their activity. Here, we present data from the fruitfly Drosophila simulans that address these questions. We show that a family of de novo, protamine- derived X-linked selfish genes (the Dox gene family) is silenced by a pair of newly emerged hairpin RNA (hpRNA) small interfering RNA (siRNA)-class loci, Nmy and Tmy. …


Evaluating Assessment Score Validity And Characterizing Undergraduate Biology Exam Content, Crystal Uminski Jun 2023

Evaluating Assessment Score Validity And Characterizing Undergraduate Biology Exam Content, Crystal Uminski

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The landscape of undergraduate biology education has been shaped by decades of reform efforts calling for instruction to integrate core concepts and scientific skills as a means of helping students become proficient in the discipline. Assessments can be used to make inferences about how these reform efforts have translated into changes in department curriculum and course practices. Such changes can be measured using student scores on researcher-developed programmatic and concept assessments. Scores on these assessments are often assumed to be accurate representations of student biology content knowledge, but my work indicates that the validity of these interpretations may be threatened …


Characterization Of A Novel Polyextremotolerant Fungus, Exophiala Viscosa, With Insights Into Its Melanin Regulation And Ecological Niche, Erin C. Carr, Quin Barton, Sarah Grambo, Mitchell Sullivan, Cecile M. Renfro, Alan Kuo, Jasmyn Pangilinan, Anna Lipzen, Keykhosrow Keymanesh, Emily Savage, Kerrie Barry, Igor V. Grigoriev, Wayne R. Riekhof, Steven D. Harris May 2023

Characterization Of A Novel Polyextremotolerant Fungus, Exophiala Viscosa, With Insights Into Its Melanin Regulation And Ecological Niche, Erin C. Carr, Quin Barton, Sarah Grambo, Mitchell Sullivan, Cecile M. Renfro, Alan Kuo, Jasmyn Pangilinan, Anna Lipzen, Keykhosrow Keymanesh, Emily Savage, Kerrie Barry, Igor V. Grigoriev, Wayne R. Riekhof, Steven D. Harris

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Black yeasts are polyextremotolerant fungi that contain high amounts of melanin in their cell wall and maintain a primar yeast form. These fungi grow in xeric, nutrient depletes environments which implies that they require highly flexible metabolisms and have been suggested to contain the ability to form lichen-like mutualisms with nearby algae and bacteria. However, the exact ecological niche and interactions between these fungi and their surrounding community are not well understood. We have isolated 2 novel black yeasts from the genus Exophiala that were recovered from dryland biological soil crusts. Despite notable differences in colony and cellular morphology, both …


A Standard Protocol To Report Discrete Stage-Structured Demographic Information, Samuel J. L. Gascoigne, Simon Rolph, Daisy Sankey, Nagalakshmi Nidadavolu, Adrian S. Stell Pičman, Christina M. Hernández, Matthew E. R. Philpott, Aiyla Salam, Connor Bernard, Erola Fenollosa, Young Jun Lee, Jessica Mclean, Shathuki Hetti Achchige Perera, Oliver G. Spacey, Maja Kajin, Anna C. Vinton, C. Ruth Archer, Jean H. Burns, Danielle L. Buss, Hal Caswell, Judy P. Che-Castaldo, Dylan Z. Childs, Pol Capdevila, Aldo Compagnoni, Elizabeth Crone, Thomas H. G. Ezard, Dave Hodgson, Tiffany M. Knight, Owen R. Jones, Eelke Jongejans, Jenni Mcdonald, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Chelsea C. Thomas, Andrew J. Tyre, Satu Ramula, Iain Stott, Raymond L. Tremblay, Phil Wilson, James James Vaupel, Roberto Salguero-Gómez May 2023

A Standard Protocol To Report Discrete Stage-Structured Demographic Information, Samuel J. L. Gascoigne, Simon Rolph, Daisy Sankey, Nagalakshmi Nidadavolu, Adrian S. Stell Pičman, Christina M. Hernández, Matthew E. R. Philpott, Aiyla Salam, Connor Bernard, Erola Fenollosa, Young Jun Lee, Jessica Mclean, Shathuki Hetti Achchige Perera, Oliver G. Spacey, Maja Kajin, Anna C. Vinton, C. Ruth Archer, Jean H. Burns, Danielle L. Buss, Hal Caswell, Judy P. Che-Castaldo, Dylan Z. Childs, Pol Capdevila, Aldo Compagnoni, Elizabeth Crone, Thomas H. G. Ezard, Dave Hodgson, Tiffany M. Knight, Owen R. Jones, Eelke Jongejans, Jenni Mcdonald, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Chelsea C. Thomas, Andrew J. Tyre, Satu Ramula, Iain Stott, Raymond L. Tremblay, Phil Wilson, James James Vaupel, Roberto Salguero-Gómez

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

  1. Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported.

  2. Here, we summarise current issues related to …


The Synergistic Response Of Primary Production In Grasslands To Combined Nitrogen And Phosphorus Addition Is Caused By Increased Nutrient Uptake And Retention, Eduardo Vázquez, Elizabeth T. Borer, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria C. Caldeira, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Anita C. Risch, Eric W. Seabloom, George R. Wheeler, Marie Spohn May 2023

The Synergistic Response Of Primary Production In Grasslands To Combined Nitrogen And Phosphorus Addition Is Caused By Increased Nutrient Uptake And Retention, Eduardo Vázquez, Elizabeth T. Borer, Miguel N. Bugalho, Maria C. Caldeira, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Anita C. Risch, Eric W. Seabloom, George R. Wheeler, Marie Spohn

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background and aims A synergistic response of aboveground plant biomass production to combined nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) addition has been observed in many ecosystems, but the underlying mechanisms and their relative importance are not well known. We aimed at evaluating several mechanisms that could potentially cause the synergistic growth response, such as changes in plant biomass allocation, increased N and P uptake by plants, and enhanced ecosystem nutrient retention.

Methods We studied five grasslands located in Europe and the USA that are subjected to an element addition experiment composed of four treatments: control (no element addition), N addition, …


Ecological Boundaries And Constraints On Viable Eco-Evolutionary Pathways, Kyle E. Coblentz, John P. Delong May 2023

Ecological Boundaries And Constraints On Viable Eco-Evolutionary Pathways, Kyle E. Coblentz, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary dynamics are subject to constraints ranging from limitations on what is physically possible to limitations on the pathways that evolution can take. One set of evolutionary constraints, known as ‘demographic constraints’, constrain what can occur evolutionarily due to the demographic or dynamical consequences of evolution leading to conditions that make populations susceptible to extinction. These demographic constraints can limit the strength of selection or the rates of environmental change populations can experience while remaining extant and the trait values a population can express. Here we further hypothesize that the population demographic and dynamic consequences of evolution also can constrain …


Lessons From Chloroviruses: The Complex And Diverse Roles Of Viruses In Food Webs, John Delong, James L. Van Etten, David Dunigan May 2023

Lessons From Chloroviruses: The Complex And Diverse Roles Of Viruses In Food Webs, John Delong, James L. Van Etten, David Dunigan

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Viruses can have large effects on the ecological communities in which they occur. Much of this impact comes from the mortality of host cells, which simultaneously alters microbial community composition and causes the release of matter that can be used by other organisms. However, recent studies indicate that viruses may be even more deeply integrated into the functioning of ecological communities than their effect on nutrient cycling suggests. In particular, chloroviruses, which infect chlorella-like green algae that typically occur as endosymbionts, participate in three types of interactions with other species. Chlororviruses (i) can lure ciliates from a distance, using them …


Importance Of Pelvic Floor Education And Rehabilitation Techniques For Adolescents And Young Adults: A Review, Katherine Laura Schmidt May 2023

Importance Of Pelvic Floor Education And Rehabilitation Techniques For Adolescents And Young Adults: A Review, Katherine Laura Schmidt

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The pelvic floor is the collection of many muscles forming what is often called the pelvic girdle. Understanding the different muscles and their roles is an important part of pelvic floor education. Although both males and females have pelvic floors, there is a lack of knowledge of basic anatomy seen in adolescents and young adults. This review analyzes the importance of providing more education for students about the pelvic floor, gives examples of common pelvic disorders for young adults, and provides details on the physical therapy rehabilitation techniques offered today to treat these conditions.


Extranodal Tumors And Chromosomal Abnormalities Associated With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma In T(14;18)-Positive Patients, Alexis Finch May 2023

Extranodal Tumors And Chromosomal Abnormalities Associated With Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma In T(14;18)-Positive Patients, Alexis Finch

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Nebraska is mostly an agricultural state with a non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) incidence rate of 20.1 per 100,000 individuals, which is greater than the US incidence rate of 19 per 100,000 individuals. It is possible that the higher incidence rate in Nebraska is due to an increase in pesticide usage. Pesticide exposure is linked to t(14;18), a genetic translocation involving the BCL2 gene that regulates apoptosis. The dysregulation of apoptosis could contribute to the proliferation of NHL. This exploratory study utilized the Nebraska Lymphoma Study Group, which consists of patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Hodgkin disease, or some other neoplastic hematologic disorder …


Education, Beliefs, And Health Literacy Of Care Providers On Mouth Care Of Older Adults, Molly Lakin May 2023

Education, Beliefs, And Health Literacy Of Care Providers On Mouth Care Of Older Adults, Molly Lakin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Oral health is important to one’s overall health and quality of life as it can lead to chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, and neurodegenerative disorders (Haumschild et al. 2021). In long-term care facilities, it is important that dependent older adults are provided mouth care to maintain their oral health and decrease their chances of developing a chronic illness; however, there are barriers affecting the level, quality, and quantity of mouth care being provided in these facilities. A survey was developed to look at the education, beliefs, and health literacy of care providers on providing mouth care in hopes …


Urbanization Affects Web Abundance And Aggregation Of A Funnel‑Weaving Spider, Agelenopsis Pennsylvanica (Agelenidae), Brandi J. Pessman, Madison Hays, Earl Agpawa, Eileen Hebets May 2023

Urbanization Affects Web Abundance And Aggregation Of A Funnel‑Weaving Spider, Agelenopsis Pennsylvanica (Agelenidae), Brandi J. Pessman, Madison Hays, Earl Agpawa, Eileen Hebets

Eileen Hebets Publications

Animals distribute themselves within habitats based on a variety of environmental conditions, including those impacted by urbanization. Suspected global declines in urban arthropod biodiversity have required that we examine how urban conditions affect the distribution of this ecologically important group. Throughout North America, funnel-weaving spiders (Agelenidae) are prevalent across urban habitats and actively choose sites to build webs. We compared Agelenopsis pennsylvanica abundance and distribution between two distinct urban habitats: an urban center (university campus) and an urban forest (city park). These urban habitats differed significantly in features like plant diversity and proximity to roads and highways. We searched along …


Influence Of Ambient Water Coloration On Habitat And Conspecific Choice In The Female Lake Malawi Cichlid, Metriaclima Zebra, Noori Choi, Nicolas Mathevon, Eileen A. Hebets, Marilyn Beauchaud Apr 2023

Influence Of Ambient Water Coloration On Habitat And Conspecific Choice In The Female Lake Malawi Cichlid, Metriaclima Zebra, Noori Choi, Nicolas Mathevon, Eileen A. Hebets, Marilyn Beauchaud

Eileen Hebets Publications

Female cichlid fish living in African great lakes are known to have sensory systems that are adapted to ambient light environments. These sensory system adaptations are hypothesized to have influenced the evolution of the diverse male nuptial coloration. In rock-dwelling Lake Malawi mbuna cichlids, however, the extent to which ambient light environments influence female sensory systems and potentially associated male nuptial coloration remains unknown. Yet, the ubiquitous blue flank coloration and UV reflection of male mbuna cichlids suggest the potential impacts of the blue-shifted ambient light environment on these cichlid’s visual perception and male nuptial coloration in the shallow water …


Examining Whether And How Instructional Coordination Occurs Within Introductory Undergraduate Stem Courses, Brian A. Couch, Luanna B. Prevost, Marilyne Stains, Blake Whitt, Ariel E. Marcy, Naneh Apkarian, Melissa H. Dancy, Charles Henderson, Estrella Johnson, Jeffrey R. Raker, Brandon J. Yik, Brittnee Earl, Susan E. Shadle, John Skvoretz, John P. Ziker Apr 2023

Examining Whether And How Instructional Coordination Occurs Within Introductory Undergraduate Stem Courses, Brian A. Couch, Luanna B. Prevost, Marilyne Stains, Blake Whitt, Ariel E. Marcy, Naneh Apkarian, Melissa H. Dancy, Charles Henderson, Estrella Johnson, Jeffrey R. Raker, Brandon J. Yik, Brittnee Earl, Susan E. Shadle, John Skvoretz, John P. Ziker

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Instructors’ interactions can foster knowledge sharing around teaching and the use of research-based instructional strategies (RBIS). Coordinated teaching presents an impetus for instructors’ interactions and creates opportunities for instructional improvement but also potentially limits an instructor’s autonomy. In this study, we sought to characterize the extent of coordination present in introductory undergraduate courses and to understand how departments and instructors implement and experience course coordination. We examined survey data from 3,641 chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors at three institution types and conducted follow-up interviews with a subset of 24 survey respondents to determine what types of coordination existed, what factors …


Upregulation Of Cell Surface Glycoproteins In Correlation With Kshv Lana In The Kaposi Sarcoma Tumor Microenvironment, Sara R. Privatt, Owen Ngalamika, Jianshui Zhang, Qinsheng Li, Charles Wood, John T. West Apr 2023

Upregulation Of Cell Surface Glycoproteins In Correlation With Kshv Lana In The Kaposi Sarcoma Tumor Microenvironment, Sara R. Privatt, Owen Ngalamika, Jianshui Zhang, Qinsheng Li, Charles Wood, John T. West

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

HIV-associated epidemic Kaposi sarcoma (EpKS) remains one of the most prevalent cancers in sub-Saharan Africa despite the widespread uptake of anti-retroviral therapy and HIV-1 suppression. In an effort to define potential therapeutic targets against KS tumors, we analyzed previously published KS bulk tumor transcriptomics to identify cell surface biomarkers. In addition to upregulated gene expression (>6-fold) in the EpKS tumor microenvironment, biomarkers were selected for correlation with KSHV latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) expression. The cell surface glycoprotein genes identified were KDR, FLT4, ADAM12, UNC5A, ZP2, and OX40, as well as the endothelial lineage determinants Prox-1 and CD34. Each protein …


A Look Into The Physiological Impacts Of Childhood Cancers And Modeling Of Tumor Growth Rate, Erica Steiner, Kimberly Hansen, Marissa Stanton Apr 2023

A Look Into The Physiological Impacts Of Childhood Cancers And Modeling Of Tumor Growth Rate, Erica Steiner, Kimberly Hansen, Marissa Stanton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases present in the world. Children have different reactions to diseases and treatments; thus, it is important to study those reactions specifically in children. Knowing how children are impacted by these factors can be helpful in diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I performed this study by researching the different types of cancer I was interested in and using MATLAB to code for and simulate a growth curve of a brain tumor. I found that there are many different physiological impacts of different cancers in children. As for the modeling, I was able to get …


College Students' Relationship With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Accommodations At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brianna Danehey, Kim Hansen Dr., Chelsea Witt Dr. Mar 2023

College Students' Relationship With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Accommodations At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Brianna Danehey, Kim Hansen Dr., Chelsea Witt Dr.

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can provide many challenges for college students due to difficulties focusing, multi-tasking, and staying organized. Colleges are required to offer academic accommodations to students with disabilities in an attempt to provide students with an equitable learning environment. However, accommodations may be ineffective if they are highly unattainable, unused by the student once granted, or hindered by university faculty.

The objective of this study was to identify barriers to receiving effective and beneficial academic accommodations for individuals with ADHD at the University level and to provide insight into college students' knowledge and relationships relating to the …


Small Rnas >26 Nt In Length Associate With Ago1 And Are Upregulated By Nutrient Deprivation In The Alga Chlamydomonas, Yingshan Li, Eun-Jeong Kim, Adam Voshall, Etsuko Moriyama, Heriberto D. Cerutti Mar 2023

Small Rnas >26 Nt In Length Associate With Ago1 And Are Upregulated By Nutrient Deprivation In The Alga Chlamydomonas, Yingshan Li, Eun-Jeong Kim, Adam Voshall, Etsuko Moriyama, Heriberto D. Cerutti

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Small RNAs (sRNAs) associate with ARGONAUTE (AGO) proteins forming effector complexes with key roles in gene regulation and defense responses against molecular parasites. In multicellular eukaryotes, extensive duplication and diversification of RNA interference (RNAi) components have resulted in intricate pathways for epigenetic control of gene expression. The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii also has a complex RNAi machinery, including 3 AGOs and 3 DICER-like proteins. However, little is known about the biogenesis and function of most endogenous sRNAs. We demonstrate here that Chlamydomonas contains uncommonly long (>26 nt) sRNAs that associate preferentially with AGO1. Somewhat reminiscent of animal PIWI-interacting RNAs, …


Dwarfism And Gigantism Drive Human-Mediated Extinctions On Islands, Roberto Rozzi, Mark V. Lomolino, Alexandra A.E. Van Der Geer, Daniele Silvestro, S. Kathleen Lyons, Pere Bover, Josep A. Alcover, Ana Benítez-López, Cheng-Hsiu Tsai, Masaki Fujita, Mugino O. Kubo, Janinie Ochoa, Matthew E, Scarborough, Samuel T. Turvey, Alexander Zizka, Jonathan M. Chase Mar 2023

Dwarfism And Gigantism Drive Human-Mediated Extinctions On Islands, Roberto Rozzi, Mark V. Lomolino, Alexandra A.E. Van Der Geer, Daniele Silvestro, S. Kathleen Lyons, Pere Bover, Josep A. Alcover, Ana Benítez-López, Cheng-Hsiu Tsai, Masaki Fujita, Mugino O. Kubo, Janinie Ochoa, Matthew E, Scarborough, Samuel T. Turvey, Alexander Zizka, Jonathan M. Chase

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Islands have long been recognized as distinctive evolutionary arenas leading to morphologically divergent species, such as dwarfs and giants. We assessed how body size evolution in island mammals may have exacerbated their vulnerability, as well as how human arrival has contributed to their past and ongoing extinctions, by integrating data on 1231 extant and 350 extinct species from islands and paleo islands worldwide spanning the past 23 million years. We found that the likelihood of extinction and of endangerment are highest in the most extreme island dwarfs and giants. Extinction risk of insular mammals was compounded by the arrival of …


Social Transmission Of Predator Information Through Referential Alarm Calls Within And Across Species, Carly Trebac Mar 2023

Social Transmission Of Predator Information Through Referential Alarm Calls Within And Across Species, Carly Trebac

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Animals can encode information about a predator’s size, identity, or threat through alarm calls. This can provide referential information that can be used by individuals within and across species receiving the information. Referential alarm calls can encode information through changes in structure or rate of the call, and these variances in their call can elicit different responses, such as fleeing or mobbing, in conspecifics and heterospecifics. We aimed to investigate whether white-breasted nuthatch alarm calls can encode referential information and elicit different responses from conspecifics. Previous studies showed that a related species of nuthatch varies their call rate in the …


Ecological Boundaries And Constraints On Viable Eco-Evolutionary Pathways, Kyle E. Coblentz, John P. Delong Mar 2023

Ecological Boundaries And Constraints On Viable Eco-Evolutionary Pathways, Kyle E. Coblentz, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Evolutionary dynamics are subject to constraints ranging from limitations on what is physically possible to limitations on the pathways that evolution can take. One set of evolutionary constraints, known as ‘demographic constraints’, constrain what can occur evolutionarily due to the demographic or dynamical consequences of evolution leading to conditions that make populations susceptible to extinction. These demographic constraints can limit the strength of selection or the rates of environmental change populations can experience while remaining extant and the trait values a population can express. Here we further hypothesize that the population demographic and dynamic consequences of evolution also can constrain …


Remembering Paul Johnsgard, Linda R, Brown, Josef Kren Mar 2023

Remembering Paul Johnsgard, Linda R, Brown, Josef Kren

Zea E-Books Collection

Paul A. Johnsgard (1931–2021) was a friend of many, an artist, prolific author, teacher, and humble admirer of all living creatures. It was impossible to find someone at Nebraska Audubon Society or Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union meetings who did not know Paul Johnsgard. His more than 100 published books made him known not just in a community of ornithologists, birdwatchers, and bird lovers in the United States but also abroad. He was a world-renowned ornithologist and naturalist who remained deeply embedded in his local culture and its prairie environment.

We invited about 75 people to write a short memory of Paul. …


How Administration Stakes And Settings Affect Student Behavior And Performance On A Biology Concept Assessment, Crystal Uminski, Joanna K. Hubbard, Brian A. Couch Feb 2023

How Administration Stakes And Settings Affect Student Behavior And Performance On A Biology Concept Assessment, Crystal Uminski, Joanna K. Hubbard, Brian A. Couch

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Biology instructors use concept assessments in their courses to gauge student understanding of important disciplinary ideas. Instructors can choose to administer concept assessments based on participation (i.e., lower stakes) or the correctness of responses (i.e., higher stakes), and students can complete the assessment in an in-class or out-of-class setting. Different administration conditions may affect how students engage with and perform on concept assessments, thus influencing how instructors should interpret the resulting scores. Building on a validity framework, we collected data from 1578 undergraduate students over 5 years under five different administration conditions. We did not find significant differences in scores …


Plant Species’ Capacity For Range Shifts At The Habitat And Geographic Scales: A Trade-Off-Based Framework, Bailey H. Mcnichol, Sabrina E. Russo Feb 2023

Plant Species’ Capacity For Range Shifts At The Habitat And Geographic Scales: A Trade-Off-Based Framework, Bailey H. Mcnichol, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Climate change is causing rapid shifts in the abiotic and biotic environmental conditions experienced by plant populations, but we lack generalizable frameworks for predicting the consequences for species. These changes may cause individuals to become poorly matched to their environments, potentially inducing shifts in the distributions of populations and altering species’ habitat and geographic ranges. We present a trade-off-based framework for understanding and predicting whether plant species may undergo range shifts, based on ecological strategies defined by functional trait variation. We define a species’ capacity for undergoing range shifts as the product of its colonization ability and the ability to …


Natural Variation In Host Feeding Behaviors Impacts Host Disease And Pathogen Transmission Potential, Alaina C. Pfenning-Butterworth, Rachel E. Vetter, Jessica L. Hite Feb 2023

Natural Variation In Host Feeding Behaviors Impacts Host Disease And Pathogen Transmission Potential, Alaina C. Pfenning-Butterworth, Rachel E. Vetter, Jessica L. Hite

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Animals ranging from mosquitoes to humans often vary their feeding behavior when infected or merely exposed to pathogens. These so-called “sickness behaviors” are part of the innate immune response with many consequences, including avoiding orally transmitted pathogens. Fully understanding the role of this ubiquitous behavior in host defense and pathogen evolution requires a quantitative account of its impact on host and pathogen fitness across environmentally relevant contexts. Here, we use a zooplankton host and fungal pathogen as a case study to ask if infection-mediated feeding behaviors vary across pathogen exposure levels and natural genetic variation in susceptibility to infection. Then, …


Intraguild Predation Is Increased In Areas Of Low Prey Diversity In A Generalist Predator Community, Stella F. Uiterwaal, Amber J. Squires, Bennett A. Grappone, Brian Dillard, Ariadne Castaneda, Sora L. Kim, John P. Delong Feb 2023

Intraguild Predation Is Increased In Areas Of Low Prey Diversity In A Generalist Predator Community, Stella F. Uiterwaal, Amber J. Squires, Bennett A. Grappone, Brian Dillard, Ariadne Castaneda, Sora L. Kim, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

  1. Niche differentiation and intraguild predation (IGP) can allow ecologically similar species to coexist, although it is unclear which coexistence mechanism predominates in consumer communities. Until now, a limited ability to quantify diets from metabarcoding data has precluded the use of sequencing data to determine the relative importance of these mechanisms.

  2. Here, we pair a recent metabarcoding quantification approach with stable isotope analysis to examine diet composition in a wolf spider community.

  3. We compare the prevalence of resource partitioning and IGP in these spiders and test whether factors that influence foraging performance, including individual identity, morphology, prey community and environmental conditions, …


Depletion Of Hiv Reservoir By Activation Of Isr Signaling In Resting Cd4+T Cells, Dajiang Li, Lilly M. Wong, Yuyang Tang, Brigitte Allard, Katherine S. James, George R. Thompson, Satya Dandekar, Edward P. Browne, Qingsheng Li, Jeremy M. Simon, Nancie M. Archin, David M. Margolis, Guochun Jiang Jan 2023

Depletion Of Hiv Reservoir By Activation Of Isr Signaling In Resting Cd4+T Cells, Dajiang Li, Lilly M. Wong, Yuyang Tang, Brigitte Allard, Katherine S. James, George R. Thompson, Satya Dandekar, Edward P. Browne, Qingsheng Li, Jeremy M. Simon, Nancie M. Archin, David M. Margolis, Guochun Jiang

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

HIV reservoirs are extremely stable and pose a tremendous challenge to clear HIV infection. Here, we demonstrate that activation of ISR/ATF4 signaling reverses HIV latency, which also selectively eliminates HIV+ cells in primary CD4+T cell model of latency without effect on HIV-negative CD4+T cells. The reduction of HIV+ cells is associated with apoptosis enhancement, but surprisingly is largely seen in HIV-infected cells in which gag-pol RNA transcripts are detected in HIV RNA-induced ATF4/IFIT signaling. In resting CD4+ (rCD4+) T cells isolated from people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy, induction of ISR/ATF4 signaling …