Biology Commons^™

In-Situ Gold–Ceria Nanoparticles: Superior Optical Fluorescence Quenching Sensor For Dissolved Oxygen, Nader Shehata, Ishac Kandas, Effat Samir

Biology Faculty Publications

Cerium oxide (ceria) nanoparticles (NPs) have been proved to be an efficient optical fluorescent material through generating visible emission (~530 nm) under violet excitation. This feature allowed ceria NPs to be used as an optical sensor via the fluorescence quenching Technique. In this paper, the impact of in-situ embedded gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) inside ceria nanoparticles was studied. Then, gold–ceria NPs were used for sensing dissolved oxygen (DO) in aqueous media. It was observed that both fluorescence intensity and lifetime were changed due to increased concentration of DO. Added gold was found to enhance the sensitivity of ceria to DO …

Gold/Qds-Embedded-Ceria Nanoparticles: Optical Fluorescence Enhancement As A Quenching Sensor, Nader Shehata, Effat Samir, Ishac Kandas

Biology Student Research

This work focuses on improving the fluorescence intensity of cerium oxide (ceria) nanoparticles (NPs) through added plasmonic nanostructures. Ceria nanoparticles are fluorescent nanostructures which can emit visible fluorescence emissions under violet excitation. Here, we investigated different added plasmonic nanostructures, such as gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) and Cadmium sulfide/selenide quantum dots (CdS/CdSe QDs), to check the enhancement of fluorescence intensity emissions caused by ceria NPs. Different plasmonic resonances of both aforementioned nanostructures have been selected to develop optical coupling with both fluorescence excitation and emission wavelengths of ceria. In addition, different additions whether in-situ or post-synthesis have been investigated. We found …

Investigating The Relationship Between Corticosterone And Glucose In A Reptile, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee, Spencer B. Hudson, Alison C. Webb, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

The glucocorticoid hormone corticosterone (CORT) has classically been used in ecophysiological studies as a proxy for stress and energy mobilization, but rarely are CORT and the energy metabolites themselves concurrently measured. To examine CORT's role in mobilizing glucose in a wild reptile, we conducted two studies. The first study measured natural baseline and stress-induced blood-borne CORT and glucose levels in snakes during spring emergence and again when snakes return to the denning sites in autumn. The second study manipulated the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in male snakes in the autumn by taking a baseline blood sample, then subjecting individuals to one …

Cereus Fun: An Introduction To Microbiological Techniques, Holly Ahern, Jessica Habashi

Course Materials

Microbiology is a field of science devoted to the study of organisms that are too small to see; therefore, an engaging laboratory experience is often the key to capturing students' interest. It was with this in mind that this book was first conceived and developed. The goal was to provide undergraduate microbiology students with an engaging and meaningful laboratory experience that nurtured a sense of discovery and encouraged greater interest in microbiology as a topic, a field of study, or a career.

This lab manual – which has been field-tested by hundreds of microbiology students over several years – builds …

Seed‐To‐Seedling Transitions Exhibit Distance‐Dependent Mortality But No Strong Spacing Effects In A Neotropical Forest, Philippe Marchand, Liza S. Comita, S. Joseph Wright, Richard Condit, Stephen P. Hubbell, Noelle G. Beckman

Biology Faculty Publications

Patterns of seed dispersal and seed mortality influence the spatial structure of plant communities and the local coexistence of competing species. Most seeds are dispersed in proximity to the parent tree, where mortality is also expected to be the highest, because of competition with siblings or the attraction of natural enemies. Whereas distance‐dependent mortality in the seed‐to‐seedling transition was often observed in tropical forests, few studies have attempted to estimate the shape of the survival‐distance curves, which determines whether the peak of seedling establishment occurs away from the parent tree (Janzen–Connell pattern) or if the peak attenuates but remains at …

Variations In Tetrodotoxin Levels In Populations Of Taricha Granulosa Are Expressed In The Morphology Of Their Cutaneous Glands, Pedro Luiz Mailho-Fontana, Carlos Jared, Marta Maria Antoniazzi, Juliana Mozer Sciani, Daniel Carvalho Pimenta, James P. Strange, Taran Grant, Edmund D. Brodie Jr., Edmund D. Brodie Jr.

Biology Faculty Publications

Tetrodotoxin (TTX), one of the most toxic substances in nature, is present in bacteria, invertebrates, fishes, and amphibians. Marine organisms seem to bioaccumulate TTX from their food or acquire it from symbiotic bacteria, but its origin in amphibians is unclear. Taricha granulosa can exhibit high TTX levels, presumably concentrated in skin poison glands, acting as an agent of selection upon predatory garter snakes (Thamnophis). This co-evolutionary arms race induces variation in T. granulosa TTX levels, from very high to undetectable. Using morphology and biochemistry, we investigated differences in toxin localization and quality between two populations at the extremes …

Investigating The Roles Of Bacterial Endosymbionts In The Evolution Of Adelgidae (Hemiptera: Sternorrhyncha), Kathryn M. Weglarz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Insects form close partnerships, or symbioses, with bacteria. These partnerships allow the insects to use resources that would be unavailable to them otherwise. Certain insects, hemipterans, are able to feed on nutrient-poor plant-sap because these bacteria supplement their diets. While this association is beneficial for both the insect and bacteria, it also comes with consequences: the genomes of bacterial symbionts typically undergo extreme degradation, becoming small and lacking many genes necessary for typical bacterial functioning. In the Hemiptera, aphids, mealybugs, cicadas, true bugs, and their relatives, these bacterial partnerships tend to be stable over millions of years. However, adelgids (Aphidoidea: …

Exploring The Physiology And Evolution Of Hornworts, Tanner A. Robison

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plants contain organelles called chloroplasts, which is where photosynthesis takes place. Chloroplasts also contain their own DNA, which is separate from the DNA in the nucleus. This DNA does not change much over evolutionary time, so it can be used to investigate relationships between organisms. Here we created a tool that makes it easier to analyze this chloroplast DNA as well making it easier to share complete chloroplast genomes on public databases. In addition, we also found a mobile element in the chloroplast DNA of a group of ferns, which appears to be driving structural changes in their genomes.

Collaborative Proposal: Msa: Predicting The Effects Of Nitrogen Deposition On The Soil Carbon Sink With A Continental-Scale Experiment, Bonnie G. Waring, John M. Stark

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Global Imprint Of Mycorrhizal Fungi On Whole-Plant Nutrient Economics, Colin Averill, Jennifer M. Bhatnagar, Michael C. Dietze, William D. Pearse, Stephanie N. Kivlin

Biology Faculty Publications

Mycorrhizal fungi are critical members of the plant microbiome, forming a symbiosis with the roots of most plants on Earth. Most plant species partner with either arbuscular or ectomycorrhizal fungi, and these symbioses are thought to represent plant adaptations to fast and slow soil nutrient cycling rates. This generates a second hypothesis, that arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal plant species traits complement and reinforce these fungal strategies, resulting in nutrient acquisitive vs. conservative plant trait profiles. Here we analyzed 17,764 species level trait observations from 2,940 woody plant species to show that mycorrhizal plants differ systematically in nitrogen and phosphorus economic traits. …

Larger Genomes Linked To Slower Development And Loss Of Late-Developing Traits, Molly C. Womack, Marissa J. Metz, Kim L. Hoke

Biology Faculty Publications

Genome size varies widely among organisms and is known to affect vertebrate development, morphology, and physiology. In amphibians, genome size is hypothesized to contribute to loss of late-forming structures, although this hypothesis has mainly been discussed in salamanders. Here we estimated genome size for 22 anuran species and combined this novel dataset with existing genome size data for an additional 234 anuran species to determine whether larger genome size is associated with loss of a late-forming anuran sensory structure, the tympanic middle ear. We established that genome size is negatively correlated with development rate across 90 anuran species and found …

Piezoelastic Pvdf/Tpu Nanofibrous Composite Membrane: Fabrication And Characterization, Eman Elnabawy, Ahmed H. Hassanin, Nader Shehata, Anton Popelka, Remya Nair, Saifallah Yousef, Ishac Kandas

Biology Faculty Publications

Poly (vinylidene fluoride) nanofibers (PVDF NFs) have been extensively used in energy harvesting applications due to their promising piezoresponse characteristics. However, the mechanical properties of the generated fibers are still lacking. Therefore, we are presenting in this work a promising improvement in the elasticity properties of PVDF nanofibrous membrane through thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) additives. Morphological, physical, and mechanical analyses were performed for membranes developed from different blend ratios. Then, the impact of added weight ratio of TPU on the piezoelectric response of the formed nanofibrous composite membranes was studied. The piezoelectric characteristics were studied through impulse loading testing where the …

Developmental And Molecular Changes Underlying The Vernalization-Induced Transition To Flowering In Aquilegia Coerulea (James), Bharti Sharma, Timothy A. Batz, Rakesh Kaundal, Elena M. Kramer, Uriah R. Sanders, Valerie J. Mellano, Naveen Duhan, Rousselene B. Larson

Center for Integrated Biosystems Publications

Reproductive success in plants is dependent on many factors but the precise timing of flowering is certainly among the most crucial. Perennial plants often have a vernalization or over-wintering requirement in order to successfully flower in the spring. The shoot apical meristem undergoes drastic developmental and molecular changes as it transitions into inflorescence meristem (IM) identity, which then gives rise to floral meristems (FMs). In this study, we have examined the developmental and gene expression changes underlying the transition from the vegetative to reproductive phases in the basal eudicot Aquilegia coerulea, which has evolved a vernalization response independently relative …

Demographic Assessment Of The Triploid Parthenogenetic Lizard Aspidoscelis Neotesselatus At The Northern Edge Of Its Range, Lise M. Aubry, Douglas Eifler, Kaera Utsumi, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

Aspidoscelis neotesselatus (Colorado Checkered Whiptail) is a hybrid-derived triploid parthenogenetic lizard with a natural range overlapping with six counties in southeastern Colorado, USA. It has also become established by anthropogenic causation in Grant County, Washington State, approximately 1,600 km northwest of its range in Colorado. Large parts of its natural range are within military reservations. Reduced genetic variation in all-female species makes them especially susceptible to environmental disturbances, such as military activities. At Fort Carson (FC), we estimated an abundance index via a catch-per-unit estimator, weekly survival using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, and body condition and clutch size as indicators of population …

Phylogeny Of The Subfamilies Of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera), Andrew M.R. Bennett, Sophie Cardinal, Ian D. Gauld, David B. Wahl

Biology Faculty Publications

A combined morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis was performed to evaluate the subfamily relationships of the parasitoid wasp family Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera). Data were obtained by coding 135 morphological and 6 biological characters for 131 exemplar species of ichneumonids and 3 species of Braconidae (the latter as outgroups). The species of ichneumonids represent all of the 42 currently recognized subfamilies. In addition, molecular sequence data (cytochrome oxidase I “DNA barcoding” region, the D2 region of 28S rDNA and part of the F2 copy of elongation factor 1-alpha) were obtained from specimens of the same species that were coded for morphology (1309 …

Extracellular Vesicles At The Fetal-Maternal Interface In Cattle, Heloisa M. Rutigliano

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Loss Of Developmental Diapause As Prerequisite For Social Evolution In Bees, Priscila Karla Ferreira Santos, Maria Cristina Arias, Karen M. Kapheim

Biology Faculty Publications

Diapause is a physiological arrest of development ahead of adverse environmental conditions and is a critical phase of the life cycle of many insects. In bees, diapause has been reported in species from all seven taxonomic families. However, they exhibit a variety of diapause strategies. These different strategies are of particular interest since shifts in the phase of the insect life cycle in which diapause occurs have been hypothesized to promote the evolution of sociality. Here we provide a comprehensive evaluation of this hypothesis with phylogenetic analysis and ancestral state reconstruction (ASR) of the ecological and evolutionary factors associated with …

Leveraging Synthetic Root-Soil Systems To Quantify Relationships Between Plant Traits And The Formation Of Soil Organic Carbon, Bonnie G. Waring

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Quantifying The Predictability Of Evolution At The Genomic Level In Lycaeides Butterflies, Samridhi Chaturvedi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stephen Jay Gould, a great scientist and evolutionary biologists, suggested that if we could replay the tape of life, we would not have observed similar course of events because evolution is stochastic and if affected by several events. Since then, the possibility that evolution is repeatable or predictable has been debated. Studies using large-scale evolution experiments, long-term data for individual populations, and controlled experiments in nature, have demonstrated phenotypic and genetic convergence in several taxa. These studies suggest that despite some randomness, predictable evolutionary patterns can emerge on a large temporal and spatial scale. However, a few cases also exist …

Eared Grebe Nesting Ecology And Chronology Along The Great Salt Lake, Utah, Leah M. Delahoussaye

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) are migratory birds that build their nests over water and in large groups called colonies. Their typical breeding range is in central southern Canada and northern United States; however, a previously uncertain number of Eared Grebes (grebes) also nest around the Great Salt Lake (GSL), Utah, at the southern edge of their breeding range. Little is known about the habitat requirements for grebe nesting colonies at such low latitudes and if they are different from colonies found elsewhere. My objectives for this research were to determine the status of the grebe nesting population as …

Do Genetic Differences Explain The Ability Of An Alkaline Shrub To Grow In Both Uplands And Wetlands?, Carol A. Rowe, Paul G. Wolf, Robert W. Lichvar

Biology Faculty Publications

The hydrophyte Allenrolfea occidentalis (S. Watson) Kuntze (iodinebush) is a halophytic shrub of the arid southwest that is listed as a facultative wetland species on the National Wetland Plant List. This rating means that the species is usually a hydrophyte but occasionally is found in uplands. We tested for genetic (ecotypic) differences between plants sampled from wetlands versus uplands. We used the technique of genotyping by sequencing to generate data from 132 plants from 30 locations representing both wetland and upland occurrences for over 1300 loci. Analyses indicated that the strongest genetic signal is from differences in geographic distribution: samples …

Contributions Of Fire Refugia To Resilient Ponderosa Pine And Dry Mixed‐Conifer Forest Landscapes, Jonathan D. Coop, Timothy J. Delory, William M. Downing, Sandra L. Haire, Meg A. Krawchuk, Carol Miller, Marc-André Parisien, Ryan B. Walker

Biology Faculty Publications

Altered fire regimes can drive major and enduring compositional shifts or losses of forest ecosystems. In western North America, ponderosa pine and dry mixed‐conifer forest types appear increasingly vulnerable to uncharacteristically extensive, high‐severity wildfire. However, unburned or only lightly impacted forest stands that persist within burn mosaics—termed fire refugia—may serve as tree seed sources and promote landscape recovery. We sampled tree regeneration along gradients of fire refugia proximity and density at 686 sites within the perimeters of 12 large wildfires that occurred between 2000 and 2005 in the interior western United States. We used generalized linear mixed‐effects models to elucidate …

Integrating Arthropod And Weed Management In A Water-Stressed Agro-Ecosystem, Ricardo Ramirez

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Antifungal Activities Of 4”,6”-Disubstituted Amphiphilic Kanamycins, Madher N. Alfindee, Yagya Prasad Subedi, Michelle M. Grilley, Jon Y. Takemoto, Cheng-Wei Tom Chang

Biology Faculty Publications

Amphiphilic kanamycins derived from the classic antibiotic kanamycin have attracted interest due to their novel bioactivities beyond inhibition of bacteria. In this study, the recently described 4″,6″-diaryl amphiphilic kanamycins reported as inhibitors of connexin were examined for their antifungal activities. Nearly all 4″,6″-diaryl amphiphilic kanamycins tested had antifungal activities comparable to those of 4″,6″-dialkyl amphiphilic kanamycins, reported previously against several fungal strains. The minimal growth inhibitory concentrations (MICs) correlated with the degree of amphiphilicity (cLogD) of the di-substituted amphiphilic kanamycins. Using the fluorogenic dyes, SYTOX^TM Green and propidium iodide, the most active compounds at the corresponding MICs or at …

Notes On Rhopalosomatid Wasps Of Dominican And Mexican Amber (Hymenoptera: Rhopalosomatidae) With A Description Of The First Fossil Species Of Rhopalosoma Cresson, 1865, Volker Lohrmann, Michael Ohl, Peter Michalik, James P. Pitts, Laurent Jeanneau, Vincent Perrichot

Biology Faculty Publications

Rhopalosomatidae are a family of aculeate wasps that are ectoparasitoids of crickets as larvae and are predominantly distributed pantropically. The published fossil record of the family is scarce. Here, we report three new fossil rhopalosomatid wasp specimens from Dominican and Mexican amber. Rhopalosoma hispaniola Lohrmann sp. nov. is described and documented from Dominican amber by two separate inclusions – one of each sex. An additional fossil female Rhopalosoma is described and documented from Mexican amber but is not named due to the insufficient preservation of the fossil. The new fossils, which are morphologically intermediate between Townes' isopus and poeyi species …

Effects Of Reproductive Maturity On Neuroplasticity In Male Bumble Bees (Bombus Impatiens), Karlee Eck

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Within the span of an insect's lifetime, new synaptic connections between neurons are made in response to age and experience. This neuroplasticity leads to anatomical changes within individual brain regions that represent investment in different brain functions. The neuroplasticity of female bumble bees has been well studied, but almost nothing is known about how the male bee brain responds to life experiences. Due to the complex sensory requirements of mate finding and copulation for males, neuroplasticity is likely to be an important component of reproduction. These sensory requirements include olfactory and optic inputs, which are processed in the calyces of …

Evaluating The Potential Of Repurposing Commercially Available Drugs For The Treatment Of Viral Infections, Brennan Connor Mcewan

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Viral infections that are often overlooked as common seasonal illnesses such as influenza can rapidly become a public threat. They threaten society as new, more dangerous strains of these common viruses emerge and as strains develop resistance to current vaccines and antiviral treatments (Kochanek, Murphy, Xu, & Tejada-Vera, 2014). To combat this, the development of antiviral treatments with novel mechanisms of action is essential. Repurposing drugs instead of developing new drugs can save years of development time and hundreds of millions of dollars (DiMasi, Hansen, & Grabowski, 2003). To support the effort to discover drugs with unique mechanisms of action, …

Transcriptomic Analysis Of Honey Bees Exposed To Organosilicone, Matthew Brent Thompson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Honey bees play an important role in agriculture and the decline of honey bee populations worldwide has generated concern. While the application of pesticides in agricultural settings is often implicated in the deterioration of honey bee population health, pesticide applications contain more than just pesticides; they also contain adjuvants that may have detrimental effects to bee health. One known effect of one type of adjuvant is the suppression of immunity-related genes and consequent increase of viral load in larvae. We investigate the effects of one class of adjuvant, organosilicone surfactants (OSS), on adult honey bee health. In a laboratory based …

Landscape Of Stress: Does Drought Prevail Over Anthropogenic Activity In Influencing Cortisol Levels And Fitness In The Pacific Fisher?, Jennifer R. Kordosky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a species of concern in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone released to mobilize energy in response to stress and has been used as an indication of an individual’s physiological response to its environment. By collecting samples of fisher hair and measuring an individual’s cortisol, we examined the physiological stress response of the animals to human disturbances (housing density, road density, habitat type, and silvicultural treatements) and drought (tree mortality) in their home ranges. Using AICc model selection, we found that levels of tree mortality within a fisher’s home …

What Does The Snake Eat? Breadth, Overlap, And Non-Native Prey In The Diet Of Three Sympatric Natricine Snakes, Emily E. Virgin, Richard B. King

Biology Faculty Publications

We investigated diet breadth and diet overlap in three sympatric snakes of similar body size: Dekay’s Brownsnakes (Storeria dekayi), Red-bellied Snakes (S. occipitomaculata), and sub-adult Common Gartersnakes (Thamnophis sirtalis), by examining recently consumed prey (n = 388) collected from wild-caught snakes (n = 263) in northern Illinois. Storeria occipitomaculata were dietary specialists, feeding nearly exclusively on slugs. Storeria dekayi fed predominately on slugs but also consumed snails and earthworms. Sub-adult T. sirtalis fed predominately on earthworms but also consumed frogs and small mammals. Diet overlap was extensive between Storeria species but relatively low between …