Biology Commons^™

Characterization Of A Mutant Strain Of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae With A Deletion Of The Rad27 Gene, A Structural Homolog Of The Rad2 Nucleotide Excision Repair Gene, Michael S. Reagan, Christopher Pittenger, Wolfram Siede, Errol C. Friedberg

Biology Faculty Publications

We have constructed a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a deletion of the YKL510 open reading frame, which was initially identified in chromosome XI as a homolog of the RAD2 nucleotide excision repair gene (A. Jacquier, P. Legrain, and B. Dujon, Yeast 8:121–132, 1992). The mutant strain exhibits increased sensitivity to UV light and to the alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate but not to ionizing radiation. We have renamed the YKL510 open reading frame the RAD27 gene, in keeping with the accepted nomenclature for radiationsensitive yeast mutants. Epistasis analysis indicates that the gene is in the RAD6 group of genes, which …

Reproductive Energetics Of Adult Male Yellow- Bellied Marmots (Marmota Flaviventris), Carmen M. Salsbury, K. B. Armitage

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

We examined the energy expenditure of adult male yellow-bellied marmots and its relationship to various female-defense characteristics critical to male reproductive success. Resting metabolic rates of males were estimated in the laboratory via oxygen-consumption analysis, and field metabolic rates were estimated using a doubly Labeled water technique. Male home-range size, number of females defended by males, dispersion of females in the habitat, and date into the active season were considered to be predictors of male energy expenditure in excess of maintenance costs (field metabolic rate minus resting metabolic rate). Energy expenditure was best explained by a defensibility index based on …

The Rare, Serpentine Endemic Streptanthus Morrisonii (Brassicaceae) Species Complex, Revisited Using Isozyme Analysis, Rebecca W. Dolan

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

The Streptanthus morrisonii (Brassicaceae) complex is a group of six narrowly-distributed obligate serpentine endemic taxa whose habitat is threatened by geothermal development. Isozyme analysis of this little-studied complex supports the delineation of two species, S. morrisonii and S. brachiatus, but is at odds with the treatment of two subspecies based on morphology. These results may be influenced by small sample sizes but genetic studies of other Streptanthus taxa have shown patterns of relatedness that often transgress subspecies boundaries based on morphology. The present study further shows that members of the S. morrisonii complex share high genetic identity values (mean …

Ca2+ And Zn2+ Are Transported By The Electrogenic 2na+/1h+ Antiporter In Echinoderm Gastrointestinal Epithelium, Zhenpeng Zhuang, Jeff Duerr, Gregory A. Ahearn

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

45Ca2+ uptake by purified brush-border membrane vesicles of starfish (Pycnopodia helianthoides) pyloric ceca was stimulated by an outwardly directed H+ gradient and this stimulation was enhanced by the simultaneous presence of an induced membrane potential (inside negative; K+/valinomycin). External amiloride (competitive inhibitor; Ki=660mmol l21) and a monoclonal antibody raised against proteins associated with the lobster (Homarus americanus) electrogenic 2Na+/1H+ antiporter both inhibited approximately half of the proton-gradient stimulated 45Ca2+ uptake. These results suggested that Ca2+ might be transported by the electrogenic antiporter and that the crustacean antibody was inhibitory to the exchange function in echinoderms, as was recently shown in …

Luminescence From Porous Silicon, Yasunori Mochizuki

Scanning Microscopy

Structural and optical properties of porous Si are reviewed with the main emphasis on the radiative recombination mechanisms. Behaviors of the visible photoluminescence and another intense luminescence process (the infrared luminescence) are discussed based on the available data provided by photoluminescence and related techniques. It is demonstrated that a further insight into the interrelation of these luminescence processes can be obtained by the optically-detected magnetic resonance method, in which non-radiative point defects (surface dangling bonds) are used as a local structural probe for the radiative states.

As for the model for the visible light emission, the implication of the quantum …

Scanning Tunneling Microscope-Induced Luminescence Spectroscopy On Semiconductor Heterostructures, M. Pfister, M. B. Johnson, U. Marti, S. F. Alvarado, H. W. M. Salemink, D. Martin, F. Morier-Genoud, F. K. Reinhart

Scanning Microscopy

Scanning tunneling microscope (STM)-induced luminescence is explored as a technique for the characterization of semiconductor quantum wells and quantum wire heterostructures. By injecting minority carriers into the cleaved cross section of these structures, luminescence excitation on a nanometer scale is demonstrated. Using spectrally resolved STM-induced luminescence for the tip placed at various positions across the cleaved heterostructure, it is possible to obtain local spectroscopic information on closely spaced quantum structures.

Purification, Characterization, And Submitochondrial Localization Of A 58-Kilodalton Nad(P)H Dehydrogenase, Michael H. Luethy, Jay J. Thelen, Andrew F. Knudten, Thomas Elthon

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

An NADH dehydrogenase activity from red beet (Beta vulgaris 1.) root mitochondria was purified to a 58-kD protein doublet. An immunologically related dehydrogenase was partially purified from maize (Zea mays L. 873) mitochondria to a 58-kD protein doublet, a 45-kD protein, and a few other less prevalent proteins. Polyclonal antibodies prepared against the 58-kD protein of red beet roots were found to immunoprecipitate the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase activity. The antibodies cross-reacted to similar proteins in mitochondria from a number of plant species but not to rat liver mitochondrial proteins. The polyclonal antibodies were used in conjunction with maize mitochondrial fractionation to …

Isolation, Sequencing, And Analysis Of A 14-3-3 Brain Protein Homolog From Pea (Pisum Sativum L.), Bratislav Stankovic, Ana Garit-Stankovic, Christopher M. Smith, Eric Davies

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Initially identified as acidic, homodimeric proteins abundantly and preferentially present in mammalian brain neurotransmitter complexes, the eukaryotic 14-3-3 homologs appear to be ubiquitous and highly conserved among highly diverse organisms, including Xenopus, Drosophila, and Saccharomyces (Aitken et al., 1992). They have also been isolated, cloned, and sequenced from various plants, such as Arabidopsis (Lu et al., 1992), Oenotkera, Spinacea (Hirsch et al., 1992), Zea (De Vetten et al., 1992), Lycopersicon (Laughner et al., 19941, Hordeum (Brandt et al., 19921, and Oyza (Kidou et al., 1993). Although there are no available sequence data in the GenBank (version 94-5), immunoprecipitation experiments suggest …

Rna Determinants Of Junction Site Selection In Rna Virus Recombinants And Defective Interfering Rnas, K. Andrew White, Thomas Jack Morris

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

RNA recombination plays an important role in the diversification and evolution of RNA viruses. Most of these events are believed to be mediated by an actively copying viral replicase switching from a donor template to an acceptor template, where it resumes synthesis. In addition, Intramolecular replicase-mediated events (I.e., rearrangements) can lead to the generation of replicable deleted forms of a viral genome, termed defective interfering (DI) RNAs. To gain further insight into the recombination process, the effect of various primary and secondary structures on recombination site selection in vivo was examined using plant RNA tombusviruses. The effect of sequence Identity …

The Vascular Flora, Rare Species And Plant Migrations Of New River Gorge National River, West Virginia, Dale William Suiter

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

In 1978, the United States Congress designated 83.5 km/53 mi. of the New River in southern West Virginia as New River Gorge National River. The vascular flora of selected sites in NRGNR was surveyed from September 1992 through October 1994. A total of 904 taxa of vascular plants was recorded, 79.2% of which are native to West Virginia. Currently, 1337 vascular plant taxa have been documented from the New River Gorge as a result of this work as well as the work of Grafton and McGraw and Phillips. A comparison of species with the West Virginia Natural Heritage Program's rare …

Dimensionless Invariants From Foraging Theory's Marginal Value Theorem, Eric Charnov, Geoff Parker

Biology Faculty & Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Among Isokinetic Knee Parameters And Three Functional Tests, Kristen Brinks, Ronda Delong, Tanya Stout

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between knee strength and endurance, as tested by the Biodex{dollar}\sp\circler{dollar} isokinetic system, and the lateral step-up, cross-over hop for distance, and triple hop for distance. Subjects included 20 males and 30 females aged 21-40 years with no history of low back, hip, knee, or ankle injury that was treated by a physician. Bilateral knee flexion and extension strength, power, and endurance was measured at 60, 180 and 300 degrees/second with the hip extended and flexed 115{dollar}\sp\circ{dollar}. Isokinetic data were normalized to body weight and correlated to hop distance which was …

In Vitro Activity Of Four Fluoroquinolones On Selected Bacteria, Sheryl L. Pullen

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In 1990-1991, in a national surveillance study, and in 1991-1992, in a followup study, both by Thornsberry et al. (1993), ciprofloxacin data from various geographical and demographical institutions were collected. Several species of bacteria have shown resistance to ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin, but the degree of resistance to these drugs has not been reported for the Stockton area. To determine the extent of this resistance, Dameron Hospital antibiograms generated from 1990 to 1994 were reviewed and compared. Results of the comparison show that susceptibility among the Gram-negative isolates, with the exception of Providencia stuartii, Acinetobacter lwoffi, and to a lesser extent …

Germination Ecophysiology Of Leymus Cinerus (Poaceae), S. E. Meyer, Julie Beckstead, P. S. Allen, H. Pullman

Biology Faculty Scholarship

We studied seed germination responses of 41 collections of Leymus cinereus (basin wildrye), a native perennial bunchgrass widely distributed in western North America. Collections made in 1987 and 1988 were largely nondormant in midautumn but relatively slow to germinate at optimal temperatures (mean germination time 6-16 d). Seeds germinated more quickly after a 2-wk chilling pretreatment (mean germination time 2-11 d). Mean germination time under conditions simulating prolonged snowpack (1⚬C) varied among collections from 6 to 12 wk and was negatively correlated with mean January temperature at the collection site. In dry-afterripening experiments with four 1992 collections, seeds showed only …

Effects Of Afterripening On Cheatgrass (Bromus Tectorum) And Squirreltail (Elymus Elymoides) Germination, Julie Beckstead, Susan E. Meyer, Phil Stewart Allen

Biology Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Defining The Recognition Of K^(Bm3) And L^D By The Alloreactive 2c T Cell, Kevin Ratliff '95

Honors Projects

The immune system consists (in part) of cells and their products that protect the body from attack by infectious agents. Without this vital system, the body would soon succumb to one or more of these death-causing agents. Fortunately, the immune system eliminates many of these infectious agents before there is any sign of infection. One of the most important groups of cells in this system are the T lymphocytes, or T cells. A specific subset of T cells called cytotoxic T lymphocytes, or CTLs, are responsible for surveying the cell surfaces for foreign substances. Upon recognition of one of these …

Comparison Of The Effects Of Saporin-Igg Injections Into The Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis And Medial Septal Area Of Male Rat As Assessed By The Morris Water Maze Task, Alexander R. V. Mccampbell '95

Honors Projects

Alzheimer's disease currently afflicts approximately 4 million people in the United States, with 100,000 new cases being reported each year. As post mortem examination of AD patientsI brains has revealed a significant decrease in the number of cholinergic neurons, one approach we have taken is to look at the correlation between the depletion of certain cholinergic markers in animals and the resulting behavioral deficits. Two regions of specific interest are the medial septal area (MSA) and the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM). These regions are important because they are the major source of cholinergic neurons in the brain, they are selectively …

Translational Coupling Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Phna And Phnb Genes In Escherichia Coli, Patrick L. Splinter, David W. Essar

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

Pseudomonas aeruginosa has two anthranilate synthase (AS) gene pairs. One AS enzyme participates in tryptophan synthesis; its genes are designated trpE and trpG The other AS enzyme, encoded by phnA and phnB, participates in the synthesis of pyocyanin, the characteristic phenazine pigment of the organism. The phenazine pathway genes phnA and phnB overlap by 23 base pairs, excluding the phnB Shine-Dalgarno region, with pbnA upstream from phnB. Our objective was to examine the cloned P. aeruginosa phnA and pbnB gene pair for translational coupling in Escherichia coli. The first 113 base pairs of phnB were fused with either LacZ or …

Effect Of Feathers As Nest Insulation On Incubation Behavior And Reproductive Performance Of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta Bicolor), Michael P. Lombardo, Ruth M. Bosman, Christine A. Faro, Stephen G. Houtteman, Timothy S. Kluisza

Peer Reviewed Publications

Many species of birds line their nests with feathers, presumably because of the insulative qualities of feathers and because feathers may act as a barrier between nest parasites and nestlings. In 1993, we experimentally examined the role of feathers as nest insulation on the incubation behavior, nestling growth, and reproductive performance of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) nesting in boxes in western Michigan. There were no significant differences between the incubation rhythms of females with experimental nests (i.e. no feathers) and females with control nests (i.e. with feathers). Nestlings that were reared in control nests had significantly longer right …

Within-Pair Copulations: Are Female Tree Swallows Feathering Their Own Nests?, Michael P. Lombardo

Peer Reviewed Publications

A variety of hypotheses has been proposed to explain why socially monogamous birds copulate repeatedly with their mates when only a single copulation is necessary to fertilize an entire clutch (Birkhead and Møller 1992, Petrie 1992, Hunter et al. 1993). Petrie (1992) hypothesized that a female should copulate frequently with her mate so as to reduce her mate’s involvement in extrapair copulations. By reducing her mate’s involvement in extrapair copulations, a female may: (1) avoid the transmission of parasites and sexually transmitted diseases (Hamilton 1990); (2) may avoid sperm depletion by her mate; and (3) may monopolize her mate’s paternal …

Unstable And Stable Classifications Of Scombroid Fishes, Kent E. Carpenter, Bruce B. Collette, Joseph L. Russo

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Many cladists believe that a classification should strictly reflect a cladistic hypothesis. Consequently, they propose classifications that often differ markedly from existing ones and are potentially unstable due to phylogenetic uncertainty. This is problematic for economically or ecologically important organisms since changing classifications can cause confusion in their management as resources. The classification of the 44 genera of scombroid fishes (the mackerels, tunas, billfishes, and their relatives) illustrates this problem of instability. Previous cladistic analyses and analyses presented in this paper, using different data sets, result in many different cladistic hypotheses. In addition, the inferred cladograms are unstable because of …

A Preliminary Catalog Of The Lichen-Forming Fungi Of Nebraska, Robert S. Egan, Richard C. Witt, Yolanda E. Peck, John P. Goeden, Teresa L. Cherney

Biology Faculty Publications

A total of 438 lichen-forming taxa have been reported in the literature from Nebraska. Based on current taxonomic concepts and synonymy we recognized 312 lichen species in this catalog for the state. Published reports oflichen species citing specific collection localities are listed from only 31 counties. These records are concentrated in eastern Nebraska with the largest numbers of species listed from localities in Cass, Lancaster, Saunders, Richardson, and Sarpy counties

Effects Of Avian Breeding Colonies On A Man-Made Freshwater Marsh In East Central Florida, James L. Burney Jr

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

The effects of nutrient loading from avian breeding colonies into aquatic/marine ecosystems have been well documented. Documented influences include increased productivity of aquatic/marine macrophytes, elevated sediment nutrient concentrations, and increased densities of zooplankton and planktivorus fishes. The primary pathway of nutrient export from the rookery is through excreta from adult birds and their offspring. This study examined the influences of a 400-nesting pair rookery of cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) in 1990 and a 75-nesting pair rookery of cattle egret in 1991 on a man-made freshwater treatment marsh in east central Florida. Because the fundamental intent of the created marsh (study …

Expression Patterns Of Developmental Genes In Drosophila Melanogaster Larval Genital Discs, Denise E. Freeland

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Secondary Production And Dietary Preference In Orconectes Propinquus (Girard), Patricia B. Krema

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Bcl-2 Oncogene Expression And Apoptosis In A Human Leukemia T Cell Line, Sascha Hedjbeli

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Activities Of Spinal Neurons During Brain Stem-Dependent Fictive Swimming In Lamprey, James T. Buchanan, Stefan Kasicki

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

1. We made intracellular microelectrode recordings of membrane potential from spinal neurons during fictive swimming elicited by brief electrical shocks to the spinal cord in a brain stem-spinal cord preparation of the adult silver lamprey (Ichthyomyzon unicuspis). 2. We characterized membrane potential activities recorded during brain stem-dependent fictive swimming in five spinal cell types: myotomal motoneurons, lateral interneurons (inhibitory neurons with ipsilateral descending axons), CC interneurons (neurons with contralateral and caudal projecting axons), edge cells (intraspinal stretch receptors), and dorsal cells (primary mechanosensory neurons with cell bodies in the spinal cord). The membrane potential activities were compared with data from …

On-Line Cursive Korean Character Recognition By Using Curvature Models, Chang-Soo Kim, Byung Hwan Jun, Moo Young Kim, Woo Seong Kim, Jaihie Kim

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A cursive Korean character consists of several Korean alphabets where connection is present within and among the alphabets. Recognition of Korean characters can be carried out by splitting each character into smaller primitives. Small line segments can be used as the primitives. But this approach requires too much processing time, for there can be many candidate references to be matched to one input character and each reference usually consists of too many primitives. In this paper, we propose an approach using structural curvature models to overcome the difficulties of using small line segments. These models are obtained by segmenting the …

Localization And Interaction Of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate And Non-N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptors Of Lamprey Spinal Neurons, L. E. Moore, James T. Buchanan, C. R. Murphey

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Small volumes of N-Methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptor agonists were applied to localized regions of the dendritic trees of lamprey spinal neurons along their medial-lateral axis to obtain a spatial map of glutamate receptor distribution. Voltage clamp and frequency domain methods were used to obtain quantitative kinetic data of the voltage dependent ionic channels located both on the soma and on highly branched dendritic membranes. Pressure pulses of NMDA applied to the most peripheral regions of the dendritic tree elicited large somatic impedance increases, indicating that the most peripheral dendrites are well supplied with NMDA receptors. Experiments …

Biology Of The Tao, Matthew D. Sellers

Whittier Scholars Program

Much of this project is merely based on perspective. My perspective, that of the philosophies that I am attempting to highlight, and that of the sources where I am lifting facts from as fast as I can grab them, all go into this work. I feel myself to be somewhat of an editor, quilting together pieces of intuition and data in ways that attempt to unify these perspectives. The essays that follow seek to look at ways in which nature follows the quiet, yielding tenets of the Tao; reciprocally, the Tao Te Ching will be shown to accurately reflect the …