Biology Commons^™

Lack Of Proopiomelanocortin Peptides Results In Obesity And Defective Adrenal Function But Normal Melanocyte Pigmentation In The Murine C57bl/6 Genetic Background, James L. Smart, Malcolm J. Low

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

No abstract provided.

Hypothalamic Proopiomelanocortin Neurons Are Glucose Responsive And Express Katp Channels, Nurhadi Ibrahim, Martha A. Bosch, James L. Smart, Jian Qiu, Marcelo Rubinstein, Oline K. Rønnekleiv, Malcolm J. Low, Martin J. Kelly

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Hypothalamic proopiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons are critical for controlling homeostatic functions in the mammal. We used a transgenic mouse model in which the POMC neurons were labeled with enhanced green fluorescent protein to perform visualized, whole-cell patch recordings from prepubertal female hypothalamic slices. The mouse POMC-enhanced green fluorescent protein neurons expressed the same endogenous conductances (a transient outward K current and a hyperpolarization-activated, cation current) that have been described for guinea pig POMC neurons. In addition, the selective -opioid receptor agonist DAMGO induced an outward current (maximum of 12.8 1.2 pA), which reversed at K equilibrium potential (EK), in the majority …

The Anorexigenic Fatty Acid Synthase Inhibitor, C75, Is A Nonspecific Neuronal Activator, Kanji A. Takahashi, James L. Smart, Hongyan Liu, Roger D. Cone

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

C75, a recently derived compound that potently suppresses feeding and induces weight loss, has been proposed to act mainly by inhibiting fatty acid synthase (FAS) in central neurons that control feeding. For example, normal, fasting- associated, hypothalamic increases in neuropeptide Y (NPY)/Agouti-related protein (AGRP) expression and decreases in proopiomelanocortin (POMC)/cocaine and amphetamine regulated transcript (CART) expression were reported to be blocked by C75. Using loose-patch extracellular recording in acute slices, we tested the effect of C75 on anorexigenic POMC neurons and orexigenic NPY neurons of the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus, which were identified by promoter-driven GFP expression, as well as on …

Multistate Estimates Of Survival And Movement In Relation To Colony Size In The Sociable Weaver, Charles R. Brown, Rita Covas, Mark D. Anderson, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

We estimated survival and movement probabilities in relation to breeding-colony size in the sociable weaver (Philetairus socius) by using multistate statistical methods, in which survival and movement to time t + 1 is conditional on an individual’s colony size at time t. The sociable weaver is a colonial, cooperatively breeding species that builds a massive communal nest, with colony size ranging from fewer than 20 to more than 500 individuals in some areas. We conducted an 8-year capture/mark/re-capture study of sociable weavers near Kimberley, South Africa. By comparing the fit of different multistate models to our data, we found evidence …

Targeted Disruption Of The Α-Amylase Gene In The Hyperthermophilic Archaeon Sulfolobus Solfataricus, Penny Worthington, Viet Hoang, Francisco Perez-Pomares, Paul H. Blum

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Sulfolobus solfataricus secretes an acid-resistant _-amylase (amyA) during growth on starch as the sole

carbon and energy source. Synthesis of this activity is subject to catabolite repression. To better understand

_-amylase function and regulation, the structural gene was identified and disrupted and the resulting mutant

was characterized. Internal _-amylase peptide sequences obtained by tandem mass spectroscopy were used to

identify the amyA coding sequence. Anti-_-amylase antibodies raised against the purified protein immunoprecipitated

secreted _-amylase activity and verified the enzymatic identity of the sequenced protein. A new

gene replacement method was used to disrupt the amyA coding sequence by …

Single-Cell Protein Profiling Of Wastewater Enterobacterial Communities Predicts Disinfection Efficiency, Gomathinayagam Ponniah, Han Chen, Ronda Michielutti, Nancy Salonen, Paul H. Blum

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The efficiency of enterobacterial disinfection is dependent largely on enterobacterial community physiology. However, the relationship between enterobacterial community physiology and wastewater processing is unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate this relationship. The influence of wastewater treatment processes on enterobacterial community physiology was examined at the single-cell level by using cultureindependent methods. Intracellular concentrations of two conserved proteins, the growth-related protein Fis and the stationary-phase protein Dps, were analyzed by epifluoresence microscopy of uncultivated cells by using enterobacterial group-specific polyclonal fluorochrome-coupled antibodies. Enterobacterial single-cell community protein profiles were distinct for different types of biological treatment. The differences were …

Putative Subunits Of The Maize Origin Of Replication Recognition Complex Zmorc1±Zmorc5, Xiaohong Witmer, Raul Alvarez-Venegas, Phillip San-Miguel, Olga Danilevskaya, Zoya Avramova

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The finding in animal species of complexes homologous

to the products of six Saccharomyces cerevisiae

genes, origin of replication recognition

complex (ORC), has suggested that ORC-related

mechanisms have been conserved in all eukaryotes.

In plants, however, the only cloned putative homologs

of ORC subunits are the Arabidopsis ORC2 and

the rice ORC1. Homologs of other subunits of plant

origin have not been cloned and characterized. A

striking observation was the absence from the

Arabidopsis genome of an obvious candidate genehomolog

of ORC4. This fact raised compelling

questions of whether plants, in general, and

Arabidopsis, in particular, may have lost the …

Hyperthermophilic Alpha-Glucosidase Gene And Its Use, Paul Blum

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Recombinant, thermostable alpha-glucosidases from archaeal micro-organisms and isolated DNA encoding for such alpha-glucosidases are provided. The isolated DNA is obtained by use of DNA or antibody probes prepared from the DNA encoding S. sulfataricus alpha-glucosidase. Also provided are methods for producing recombinant archaeal thermostable alpha-glucosidase and transformants incorporating thermostable alpha-glucosidase. Autoprocessing of plant tissue through the use of transgenic thermostable glycosyl hydrolases is described.

Dynamic Versus Instantaneous Models Of Diet Choice, Brian O. Ma, Peter A. Abrams, Chad Brassil

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

We investigate the dynamics of a series of two-prey-one predator models in which the predator exhibits adaptive diet choice based on the different energy contents and/or handling times of the two prey species. The predator is efficient at exploiting its prey and has a saturating functional response; these two features combine to produce sustained population cycles over a wide range of parameter values. Two types of models of behavioral change are compared. In one class of models (“instantaneous choice”), the probability of acceptance of the poorer prey by the predator instantaneously approximates the optimal choice, given current prey densities. In …

Regulation Of Proto-Oncogenes Expression In Developmental Epilepsy, Mahnoush Shafiei

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Seizures cause selective neuronal cell loss in vulnerable regions such as the hippocampus, cortex, thalamus or substantia nigra (SN) in human or experimental animals. While the HF can propagate seizures, the SN pars reticulata (SNR) regulates the spread ol seizures in an age-dependent fashion, and the pars compacta (SNC) affects extrapyramidal motor control. In mature animals, both structures are wlnerable to seizure-induced damage. In prepubescent rats, seizure susceptibility is reduced and CA 1 region rs primarily affected. The proto-oncogenes, Bcl-2 and Bax, encode specific proteins that inhibit and promote programmed cell death, respectively. In order to determine whether proto-oncogenes are …

Notes On The Life History Of Asterope Markii Hewitson, 1857 (Nymphalidae), Ryan I. Hill

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

The Evolution Of Social And Reproductive Monogamy In Peromyscus, Evidence From Peromyscus Californicus (The California Mouse), David O. Ribble

Biology Faculty Research

The genus Peromyscus (deer mice) is an attractive group in which to study the evolution of social and mating behaviours. This genus includes over 50 species (Carleton, 1989) that are widely distributed across North and Central America from coast to coast and from the northern subarctic to Panama (Kirkland & Layne, 1989). The diversity in body sizes among Peromyscus ranges from 13 to 77 g (Millar, 1989) and exceeds that of most other genera. Phylogenetic relationships among species of Peromyscus are relatively well understood (Stangl & Baker, 1984), although the systematics of Peromyscus is an active area of study (e.g., …

Growth And The Expression Of Alternative Life Cycles In The Salamander Ambystoma Talpoideum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), Travis J. Ryan, Raymond D. Semlitsch

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Complex life cycles (CLCs) contain larval and adult phases that are morphologically and ecologically distinct. Simple life cycles (SLCs) have evolved from CLCs repeatedly in a wide variety of lineages but the processes that may underlie the transition have rarely been identified or investigated experimentally. We examined the influence of larval growth rate on the facultative expression of alternative life cycles (metamorphosis or maturation as gill-bearing adults [= paedomorphosis]) in the salamander Ambystoma talpoideum. We manipulated growth rates by altering the amount of food individuals received throughout larval development. The expression of alternative life cycles in A. talpoideum is influenced …

Complete Nucleotide Sequence Of The Chloroplast Genome From A Leptosporangiate Fer, Adiantum Capillus-Veneris L., Paul G. Wolf, C. A. Rowe, R. B. Sinclair, M. Hasebe

Biology Faculty Publications

We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome of the leptosporangiate fern, Adiantum capillus-veneris L. (Pteridaceae). The circular genome is 150,568 bp, with a large single-copy region (LSC) of 82,282 bp, a small-single copy region (SSC) of 21,392 bp and inverted repeats (IR) of 23,447 bp each. We compared the sequence to other published chloroplast genomes to infer the location of putative genes. When the IR is considered only once, we assigned 118 genes, of which 85 encode proteins, 29 encode tRNAs and 4 encode rRNAs. Four protein-coding genes, all four rRNA genes and six tRNA genes occur …

An Ecological Study Of The Spotted Salamander, Ambystoma Maculatum, And Jefferson Salamander, A. Jeffersonianum, In West Virginia, Seth J. Myers

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The movements of Spotted Salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, and Jefferson Salamanders, A. jeffersonianum, in and out of an ephemeral wetland in West Virginia were monitored for one breeding season using a drift fence lined with funnel traps. Significant movements of A. jeffersonianum coincided with rainfall and maximum daily air temperatures reaching a minimum of 5° C. Significant movements of A. maculatum coincided with rainfall and maximum daily air temperatures of at least 10° C. A. jeffersonianum preceded A. maculatum to the breeding site. Males of both species preceded females. The mark-recapture estimate of A. maculatum is 67 males and 25 females. …

Genome Size Of Biomphalaria Glabrata, Coen Adema

Biomphalaria Genome Initiative

No abstract provided.

Life History Characteristics Of Placental Nonvolant Mammals, S.K. Morgan Ernest

Biology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this data set was to compile general life history characteristics for a variety of mammalian species in order to perform comparative life history analyses among different taxa and different body size groups. Data were collected from the literature, and data sources are documented for each species within the data file. Since life history characteristics will show minor variation with environmental conditions (resource availability, climate, competitive environment, and predation pressure) a general life history for each species was sought to average over minor differences in local populations. To create a general life history for each species, life history …

Body Mass Of Late Quaternary Mammals, F. A. Smith, S. K. Lyons, S.K. Morgan Ernest, K. E. Jones, D. M. Kaufman, T. Dayan, P. A. Marquet, J. P. Haskell

Biology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this data set was to compile body mass information for all mammals on Earth so that we could investigate the patterns of body mass seen across geographic and taxonomic space and evolutionary time. We were interested in the heritability of body size across taxonomic groups (How conserved is body mass within a genus, family, and order?), in the overall pattern of body mass across continents (Do the moments and other descriptive statistics remain the same across geographic space?), and over evolutionary time (How quickly did body mass patterns iterate on the patterns seen today? Were the Pleistocene …

Polystomatidae (Monogenea) Of Southern African Anura: Eupolystoma Vanasi N. Sp. Parasitic In Schismaderma Carens (Smith), Louis H. Du Preez, Richard C. Tinsley, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Eupolystoma vanasi is described as a new species of the Polystomatidae parasitic in the urinary bladder of Schismaderma carens in Northern Province and KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. This is the third Eupolystoma species described from Africa and the first polystomatid from Schismaderma, an anuran genus that is primitive with respect to the other African bufonids in which Eupolystoma has been recorded. The species is distinguished by body size (this is the largest Eupolystoma known; mean length of adults 6 mm), by genital spine number (4 in comparison with 6-9 in other species), marginal hooklet length (greater than in other …

Anorexia, Bulimia, And Crayfish (Or, Why I Study The Pharmacology Of Serotonin Receptors In Glutamatergic Invertebrate Systems), Garrett Sparks

Kaleidoscope

No abstract provided.

Effects Of A Yec Apologetics Class On Student Worldview, David A. Dewitt, Steve Deckard, Sharon E. Cargo

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Creationism is a significant component of an overall Christian worldview. A Creation Worldview Test (CWT) was administered to students both before and after completion of a required Apologetics course dealing with the creation/evolution controversy. Pre-test analysis revealed that incoming students tend to have a creationist worldview, however their CWT scores reflected a degree of uncertainty or neutrality on scientific creation and the age of the earth. Post-test analysis showed a significant shift toward a young earth creationist (YEC) view. Implications for teaching apologetics and development of a Creationist worldview based on a Six-day Young Earth perspective were explored and identified.

Genes And Justice: The Future Of Cloning In The United States - An Analysis Of Ethical, Scientific, & Legal Policy, Marlo Diane Curiel

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a report that surveys the “Biotech Age” expansion and the resulting ethical dilemmas in regards to human cloning while providing an analysis of ethical, scientific, and legal policy. This project is split into sections which discuss the Biotech Age including the Biotech trends, recent legal and scientific breakthroughs, and insight into controversy. This project revolves around the science of cloning human beings, ethical dilemma and legal background. In conclusion a cloning bill is proposed by the scholar.

Acalypha Deamii : Distribution East Of The Appalachians And Comparative Studies Of Reproductive Anatomy, Patricia A. Truman

Master's Theses

Acalypha deamii (Euphorbiaceae), once thought restricted to flood plains of the Ohio and mid-Mississippi River systems, is now documented from similar habitats in Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia along the James, Potomac, Rappahannock, Roanoke (Staunton), and Shenandoah rivers. This species is recognized by two-carpellate gynoecia, large seeds, and the routine occurrence of allomorphic flowers and fruits, features sporadically found within this large genus. In addition to documenting the newly recognized range extension of Acalypha deamii, this thesis also investigates the nature of its allomorphic reproductive structures. Staminate, pistillate, fruiting, and allomorphic reproductive structures of Acalypha deamii and a closely related …

Review Of The Nature Of Nebraska: Ecology And Biodiversity Paul A. Johnsgard, L. Lareesa Wolfenbarger

Biology Faculty Publications

As a newcomer to Nebraska and someone learning the natural history of this place, I thoroughly enjoyed The Nature of Nebraska. More consequentially, the book will serve as a valuable resource for longtime naturalists, teachers, and others who want to learn about Nebraska's natural history.

Opening with a discussion of geology and ecology, Johnsgard offers a broad overview of Nebraska's ecological diversity, intertwining material on the natural forces that have historically dominated the Plains with a discussion of the anthropogenic forces currently altering the region's unique ecological nature. Approximately half of the book is devoted to more specific descriptions …

The Effect Of Aposematic Coloration On The Food Preference Of Aphelocoma Coerulescens, The Florida Scrub Jay, Mary Elizabeth Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Aposematic coloration, commonly observed in noxious organisms, serves as a warning to predators to avoid attacking specific prey. This coloration is conspicuous in nature, with one of the most common examples being a red and black pattern. The plant Abrus precatorius exhibits this warning signal in its seeds, which resemble lady beetles and contain the concentrated toxin abrin. Aphelocoma coerulescens, an endemic and federally threatened bird in the state of Florida, shares a similar distribution with Abrus precatorius, making interaction between the two species possible. Using an edible model of the Abrus seed, this potential interaction was tested in Martin …

Soil Fungi And The Effects Of An Invasive Forb On Grasses: Neighbor Identity Matters, Ragan M. Callaway, Bruce E. Mahall, Chris Wicks, Joel Pankey, Catherine Zabinski

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We studied the effects of soil fungi on interactions between Centaurea melitensis, an exotic invasive weed in central California, and two co-occurring grasses, Nassella pulchra and Avena barbata. The fungicide benomyl reduced the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in plant roots but did not affect non-AM fungi. Centaurea plants grown alone were >50% smaller with the resident microbial community intact than when benomyl was applied. When grown with Nassella, the effect of benomyl was reversed. Centaurea grew almost five times larger with the resident microbial community intact. Fungicide had no effect on the biomass of Centaurea …

The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us, Michael Dietrich

Dartmouth Scholarship

A review of The Delphic Boat: What Genomes Tell Us by Antoine Danchin Alison Quayle, trans. Harvard University Press, 2003 380 pp. hardcover. ISBN 0-67400-930-4

Increase In Biomass And Soldier Production For Coptotermes Formosanus (Shiraki) Workers Maintained In The Laboratory For Up To Nine Months, Deborah Waller

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The factors that influence rates of soldier production in subterranean termites are poorly understood. In the present study, foraging groups of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki were collected from baldcypress trees in Lake Charles, Lousiana, in November 1985, and February, April/May and August 1986. Termites were maintained in the laboratory for nine months, seven months, four/five months and zero months, respectively, and then examined for survivorship, termite biomass and soldier production after incubation for an additional five weeks at 30° C. Within collection periods, there was no association between survivorship and soldier production or between mean dry biomass and soldier production. However, …

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

President's Message

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.