Biology Commons^™

Autoantibodies To Select Brain Regions In Autism, Wyatt Harlan Rivas

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, may involve abnormal immune reaction such as autoimmunity to the brain. Autoimmunity is generally characterized by the presence of organ-specific autoantibodies, for example the brain-specific autoantibodies in autism. Thus, we conducted a study of autoantibodies against three brain regions, including the caudate-putamen nucleus (CP), cerebral cortex (CC), and cerebellum (CE). These brain regions were dissected out from the brain of a Sprague-Dawley rat and homogenized for protein separation by SDS-PAGE. Autoantibodies were detected by immunoblotting technique in the serum of autistic children (n=42) and normal children (n=11 ). We found that many autistic children had autoantibodies …

Using Immune Modulators To Ameliorate Aleutian Disease In Mink, Kie Hoon Jung

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aleutian disease of mink (AD) is an immunopathological disorder induced by persistent infection with AD virus. Many breeds of mink seem to have a high susceptibility to AD. Interestingly, the primary feature of AD in susceptible adult mink is a chronic, fatal immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis comparable to that seen in human diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus. Because of its comparative aspects to human diseases and the substantial economic loss to the fur industries in the world, classical AD and the nature of the virus has been studied extensively for three decades. Currently no therapies are available and vaccination has …

The Foraging Behavior Of A Solitary Bee, Diadasia Nigrifrons (Hymenoptera: Anthophoridae) On Sidalcea Oregana, Ssp. Oregana, Kimberly A. Kuta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Foraging studies have established that bees typically obey a set of movement rules when foraging on vertical inflorescences: they begin foraging at the bottom of an inflorescence, move upward, visit a fraction of the available flowers, and leave before reaching the top of the inflorescence. These behaviors are purported to maximize bee foraging efficiency by concentrating their efforts on the most rewarding flowers and minimizing flower revisits. Bees also increase their efficiency by selecting inflorescences with many flowers, visiting more flowers per inflorescence, and remaining in resource-rich areas. To test these hypotheses on plants with more complicated flower arrangements, I …

The Behavioral And Chemical Ecology Of A Predator That Consumes Toxic Prey, Becky L. Williams

Biology

The Common Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) preys upon the Rough-skinned Newt (Taricha granulosa), which contains tetrodotoxin (TTX). I investigated how snakes consume potentially deadly newts and the consequences thereof. Individual snakes assess their resistance relative to newt toxicity and reject prey too toxic to consume. Behavioral moderation of toxin exposure provides the association between individual resistance and fitness necessary for the coevolution of lethal toxins and resistance. After newt consumption, snakes experience tremendous toxin loads. Because TTX is extremely toxic, present in large quantities in newts, and highly resistant snakes ingest multiple newts, snakes can harbor …

The Mayfly Newsletter, Peter M. Grant

The Mayfly Newsletter

The Mayfly Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Permanent Committee of the International Conferences on Ephemeroptera.

Characterization Of The Histone-Like Hu Protein From Helicobacter Pylori, Christina Chen

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Protein Crystallography Retinol Dehydratase Y135f Mutant Project Expression, Purification, And Crystallization, Samuel Costa Araujo

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Peregrine Falcon Eggs: Egg Size, Hatchling Sex, And Clutch Sex Ratios, William Burnham, Calvin Sandfort, James R. Belthoff

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Eggs (n = 367) collected from wild Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum) nests between 1976 and 1990 in Colorado and New Mexico were artificially incubated and hatched. We retrospectively examined these data for variation in egg length, breadth, and initial mass of hatchlings to resolve questions about relationships among egg size, chick size, and sex; and egg size related to first and second clutches and years. Egg length and breadth were significantly related to chick mass at hatching. Neither egg size nor hatchling mass were related to sex. Egg breadth slightly increased and then decreased over the years eggs were …

Phenotypic Plasticity And Interactions Among Plants, Ragan M. Callaway, Steven C. Pennings, Christina L. Richards

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We know a great deal about the plastic responses of plant phenotypes to the abiotic and biotic environment, but very little about the consequences of phenotypic plasticity for plant communities. In other words, we know that plant traits can vary widely for a given genotype, but we know little about the importance of trait-mediated interactions (TMI) among plants. Here, we discuss three major factors that affect the expression of phenotypic plasticity: variation in the abiotic environment, variation in the presence or identity of neighbors, and variation in herbivory. We consider how plastic responses to these factors might affect interactions among …

The Capacity To Form H-Dna Cannot Substitute For Gaga Factor Binding To A (Ct)N*(Ga)N Regulatory Site, Quinn Lu, John Teare, Howard Granok, Marci Swede, Jenny Xu, Sarah C.R. Elgin

Biology Faculty Research

Previous studies of the Drosophila melanogaster hsp26 gene promoter have demonstrated the importance of a homopurine*homopyrimidine segment [primarily (CT)n*(GA)n] for chromatin structure formation and gene activation. (CT)n regions are known to bind GAGA factor, a dominant enhancer of PEV thought to play a role in generating an accessible chromatin structure. The (CT)n region can also form an H-DNA structure in vitro under acidic pH and negative supercoiling; a detailed map of that structure is reported here. To test whether the (CT)n sequence can function through H-DNA in vivo, we have analyzed a series of hsp26-lacZ transgenes with altered sequences in …

Thermoregulation In Swimming Mallard Ducklings (Anas Platyrhynchos), Aaron James Lynott

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Temperature regulation in birds has been studied for several decades. However, most studies have been limited to the thermal effects of air. This is surprising considering the abundance of waterfowl and the significant amount of time that many birds spend immersed in water. While we do know that water has a thermal conductivity that is 23 times that of air, the effect of water temperature on temperature regulation remains unknown. Though the thermal effect of water seemingly has a strong influence on the thermoregulation of birds, neonatal aquatic birds seem particularly susceptible. Many aquatic neonates, such as mallard ducklings, enter …

Fire, Soil, Native Species And Control Of Phalaris Arundinacea In A Wetland Recovery Project., Richard Douglas Foster

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southern Appalachian Phalaris arundinacea control was investigated by: 1) correlating cover and species richness with soil characteristics across transects; 2) burning and herbicide use to determine conditions facilitating native plant establishment; and 3) hemi-parasitic Pedicularis lanceolata tested as a biological control.

Phalaris cover was correlated with subsoil consolidation; areas without Phalaris had consolidated subsoil while Phalaris at >50% cover established on loose soil. Phalaris cover inhibited species richness (r²=0.78). No soil characteristic predicted species richness.

Herbicide reduced Phalaris cover and aerial biomass by 23% and 63% respectively, compared to controls. Burning was ineffective. Two summers after herbicide Phalaris …

Optimization Of Single-Base-Pair Mismatch Discrimination In Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Said El Fantroussi, H Smidt, James C. Smoot, Erik H. Tribou, John J. Kelly, Peter A. Noble, David A. Stahl

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The discrimination between perfect-match and single-base-pair-mismatched nucleic acid duplexes was investigated by using oligonucleotide DNA microarrays and nonequilibrium dissociation rates (melting profiles). DNA and RNA versions of two synthetic targets corresponding to the 16S rRNA sequences of Staphylococcus epidermidis (38 nucleotides) and Nitrosomonas eutropha (39 nucleotides) were hybridized to perfect-match probes (18-mer and 19-mer) and to a set of probes having all possible single-base-pair mismatches. The melting profiles of all probe-target duplexes were determined in parallel by using an imposed temperature step gradient. We derived an optimum wash temperature for each probe and target by using a simple formula to …

Movement Patterns In The Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus Fuscus), W. Adam Phelps

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Temperate insectivorous bats have historically used such structures as hollow trees, slabs of loose bark, foliage, and caves as roosts. With the advent of modern man in North America, human-built structures have become available to bats. Eptesicus fuscus is one of only two species of bats in the eastern United States that regularly utilize human structures as roosts, and the only one that regularly hibernates there. Individual ~- fuscus utilizing the attic of a church on the campus of St. Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) were implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. The electronic tag reader was placed near the only …

Studies On The Regulation Of Mu Opioid Receptor Mrna Expression In Shsy-5y Human Neuroblastoma Cells, Xin Yu

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Prolonged exposure to morphine down-regulates mu opioid receptors (MOR) on both undifferentiated and differentiated (retinoic acid or phorbol ester treated) SHSY-5Y cells. However, morphine pretreatment does not alter MOR receptor affinity for morphine. To investigate the molecular basis for MOR regulation after exposure to its selective agonists, we have developed a quantitative competitive reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (QC-RT PCR) to quantify the expression of MOR in SHSY-SY cells. Differentiation of SHSY-5Y cells with retinoic acid or phorbol ester up regulated MOR mRNA expression by 30 % and 78%, respectively. A 24 hours treatment with morphine (10 µM) down regulated MOR …

Book Review Of Nouragues: Deep Rainforest Ecology, Edited By Frans Bongers, Pierre Charles-Dominique, Pierre-Michel Forget And Marc Thery, Walter P. Carson, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Native Brushland, Replanted, And Unaided Secondary Succession Plant Communities In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Mitchell Allen Sternberg

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Agriculture and urban development have destroyed 95% of native brushland habitat in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of south Texas. Therefore, habitat restoration is an important issue in the LRGV. Since 1982, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been replanting areas in the LRGV to native brushland species to establish a wildlife corridor along the lower reach of the Rio Grande. Vegetation composition of a mature brushland, a replanted habitat and an unaided secondary succession site (fallow field) were examined at one locale in the LRGV in 1999. The mature brushland edge plot had the highest species richness …

Evidence For Survival Of Pleistocene Climatic Changes In Northern Refugia By The Land Snail Trochoidea Geyeri, David Posada, Markus Pfenninger, Frederic Magnin

Faculty Publications

The study of organisms with restricted dispersal abilities and presence in the fossil record is particularly adequate to understand the impact of climate changes on the distribution and genetic structure of species. Trochoidea geyeri (Soos 1926) is a land snail restricted to a patchy, insular distribution in Germany and France. Fossil evidence suggests that current populations of T. geyeri are relicts of a much more widespread distribution during more favourable climatic periods in the Pleistocene. Results: Phylogeographic analysis of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear ITS-1 sequence variation was used to infer the history of the remnant populations of T. …

The Distribution Of Macroinvertebrates In The Schoolcraft/Mississippi River-Lake System, Sarah Roley

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Evolution Of The Eye, Rena Curtis

Whittier Scholars Program

This project centers on every matter that concerns vision including its origin, and evolution. This report further discusses types of eyes, the eyespot and includes figures of eye shapes and diagrams dispersed within the text. Further details are provided about the Pinhole eye, the Simple eyes, the Compound eye, further insight of evolution and theory of eyesight and structure.

Structure-Property Relationships Of Silicone Biofouling-Release Coatings: Effect Of Silicone Network Architecture On Pseudobarnacle Attachment Strengths, Judith Stein, Kathryn Truby, Christina Darkangelo Wood, Michael Takemori, Michael Vallance, Geoffrey Swain, Christopher Kavanagh, Brett Kovach, Michael Schultz, Deborah Wiebe, Eric Holm, Jean Montemarano, Dean Wendt, Celia Smith, Anne Meyer

Biological Sciences

Model silicone foul-release coatings with controlled molecular architecture were evaluated to determine the effect of compositional variables such as filler loading and crosslink density on pseudobarnacle attachment strength. Pseudobarnacle adhesion values correlated with filler loadings in both condensation and hydrosilylation-cured silicones. Variation of crosslink density of hydrosilylation-cured silicones had an insignificant effect on attachment strength. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that the mode of failure upon detachment of the pseudobarnacle was dependent upon the crosslink density; samples with high crosslink density failed cohesively within the silicone.

Differential Expression Of The Invasion-Associated Locus B (Ialb) Gene Of Bartonella Bacilliformis In Response To Environmental Cues, Sherry A. Coleman, Michael F. Minnick

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Bartonella bacilliformis is the causative agent of the biphasic human disease, Oroya fever. During the primary disease phase, up to 100% of the circulating erythrocytes can be parasitized and 80% lysed. During the secondary phase of this disease, bacterial invasion shifts to endothelial cells lining the vasculature. B. bacilliformis is transferred between human hosts by the sandfly, Lutzomyia verrucarum. To investigate the regulation of ialB by environmental cues signaling vector-to-host transmission; nuclease protection assays were performed to compare the amount of ialB mRNA in bacteria subjected to temperature shift, pH change, oxidative stress, or hemin limitation. The amount of ialB …

Direct Profiling Of Environmental Microbial Populations By Thermal Dissociation Analysis Of Native Rrnas Hybridized To Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Said El Fantroussi, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Anne E. Bernhard, John J. Kelly, Peter A. Noble, H Smidt, G M. Yershov, David A. Stahl

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Oligonucleotide microarrays were used to profile directly extracted rRNA from environmental microbial populations without PCR amplification. In our initial inspection of two distinct estuarine study sites, the hybridization patterns were reproducible and varied between estuarine sediments of differing salinities. The determination of a thermal dissociation curve (i.e., melting profile) for each probe-target duplex provided information on hybridization specificity, which is essential for confirming adequate discrimination between target and nontarget sequences.

Behavioural Responses By Red-Backed Salamanders To Conspecific And Heterospecific Cues, Aaron M. Sullivan, Dale M. Madison, Jason R. Rohr

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

Chemical cues released from injured prey are thought to indicate the proximity of a predator or predation event, and therefore, an area of elevated predation risk. Prey often avoid chemical cues released from injured heterospecifics, but there is little evidence to determine whether this is due to homologous cues among phylogenetically related species, or avoidance of injured syntopic species that experience predation from the same predators. The purpose of this study was to examine the response of terrestrial red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to chemical cues from non-injured and injured members of their prey guild that vary in their relatedness to …

An Unusually Colored Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon Cinerus) From Northern Virginia, Joseph C. Mitchell, Thomas K. Pauley, C. Todd Georgel

Virginia Journal of Science

We describe an orange-pink, patternless, translucent morph of the Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus) found in northern Virginia on 27 September 2001. This is the first description of this unusual phenotype in this terrestrial salamander.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Chondrocranial, Hyobranchial And Internal Oral Morphology In Larvae Of The Basal Bufonid Genus Melanophryniscus (Amphibia: Anura), Peter M. Larson, Rafael O. De Sá, Diego Arrieta

Biology Faculty Publications

Melanophryniscus is a genus of small toads inhabiting the southern portion of South America. This genus is considered basal within the family Bufonidae. Data on larval chondrocranial morphology do not exist for the genus and larval internal oral anatomy has only been described for a single species. Here, we describe chondrocranial and internal oral morphology in Melanophryniscus montevidensis, M. orejasmirandai and M. sanmartini. Chondrocranial morphology is similar among the species examined. Comparisons with other bufonids and with outgroup taxa suggest that the following chondrocranial characters may represent synapomorphies for the Bufonidae: free (or absent) ceratobranchial IV, a reduced …

Aintegumenta Utilizes A Mode Of Dna Recognition Distinct From That Used By Proteins Containing A Single Ap2 Domain, Beth A. Krizek

Faculty Publications

The Arabidopsis protein AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) is an important regulator of organ growth during flower development. ANT is a member of the AP2 subclass of the AP2/ERF family of plant-specific transcription factors. These proteins contain either one or two copies of a DNA-binding domain called the AP2 domain. Here, it is shown that ANT can act as a transcriptional activator in yeast through binding to a consensus ANT-binding site. This activity was used as the basis for a genetic screen to identify amino acids that are critical for the DNA binding ability of ANT. Mutants that showed reduced or no activation …

Lack Of Widespread Organochlorine Pesticide Contamination In South American Resident Passerines, Given Harper, A. Capparella, J. Klemens, J. Frick

Scholarship

Recent studies have documented the existence of organochlorine (OC) pesticides and metabolites— notably p,p'-DDE, dieldrin and heptachlor epoxide—in the nglg range in many species of Neotropical migrant passerines that breed in the Nearctic region and winter in the Neotropics (e.g., Kannan 1991; Harper et al. 1996; Klemens et al. 2000; Bartuszevige et al. 2002). This is despite the banning and/or restricted use of OC pesticides in the United States and Canada in the 1970s and the observed decline in DDT residues in migratory songbirds seen in the 1970s (Johnston 1974). Apparently, these relatively short-lived birds are still being exposed to …

Development Of A Maize Molecular Evolutionary Genomic Database, Chunguang Du, Edward Buckler, Spencer Muse

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

PANZEA is the first public database for studying maize genomic diversity. It was initiated as a repository of genomic diversity for an NSF Plant Genome project on 'Maize Evolutionary Genomics'. PANZEA is hosted at the Bioinformatics Research Center, North Carolina State University, and is open to the public (http://statgen.ncsu.edu/panzea). PANZEA is designed to capture the interrelationships between germplasm, molecular diversity, phenotypic diversity and genome structure. It has the ability to store, integrate and visualize DNA sequence, enzymatic, SSR (simple sequence repeat) marker, germplasm and phenotypic data. The relational data model is selected and implemented in Oracle. An automated DNA sequence …

Keys To The Mammals And Mammal Skulls Of The Northern Coastal Plain Of Virginia, John F. Pagels, A. Scott Bellows, Joseph C. Mitchell

Virginia Journal of Science

This publication is designed to function as a tool for the identification of mammal species that occur on the Coastal Plain of northern Virginia. We provide whole-body and skull keys to the 40 species that occur in this region. Baseline data for this work were collected during several studies conducted on Fort A.P. Hill, Caroline County. The intended audience includes interested naturalists, teachers, students, field biologists, and natural resource managers.