Biology Commons^™

Ectoparasites Of American Kestrel Nestlings In Northern New Jersey And Their Relationship To Nestling Growth And Breeding Success, Mark Joseph Lesko

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

American kestrel (Falco sparverius) populations throughout much of the United States have exhibited a substantial decline during recent years. Prompted by this decline, I designed this study to determine if removing arthropod parasites from nestlings was an effective strategy in increasing the breeding success of American kestrels, as well as to identify and quantify the ectoparasites found on nestlings. I conducted the study in Sussex and Warren counties in northwestern New Jersey in conjunction with a nest box program established and monitored by J. A. Smallwood and his students (hereafter referred to as we). I removed parasites periodically from all …

Comparison Of Wild Type And Mutant Forms Of Ret Down-Regulation, Shani Yevgeniya Maslovski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The ret proto-oncogene encodes a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a key role in neural differentiation as well as development of the enteric nervous system and kidneys. RET is activated through interaction with members of the ligand-binding co-receptors GFRa 1-4 and its corresponding neurotrophic factors consisting of Glial Cell Line Derived Neurotrophic Factor (GDNF), neurturin (NTN), artemm (ART), or persephin (PSP) forming a heterodimer structure. Upon activation, RET undergoes autophosphorylation at select tyrosine residues in the intercellular catalytic domain, creating docking sites for proteins involved in signal transduction. While several laboratories have studied the activation of RET, little is …

Effects Of Prescribed Burning On Grassland Nesting Birds On Conservation Reserve Program Areas In Gove County, Kansas, Justin Vern Hamilton

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Great Plains grasslands were once one of the largest ecosystems in North America. However, farming, ranching, urban development, widespread fire suppression, and numerous other factors have created a great loss of this habitat in central North America. Organisms that depend on that habitat, such as grassland nesting birds, also have declined. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which was established in 1985, paid landowners to remove land with highly erodible soils from production and plant it with perennial vegetation. Increases in CRP acreages brought about increases in numbers of several bird species that were in decline before the program existed. Prescribed …

Modeling Hemorrhagic Stroke And Vasospasm In The Rodent, Sarah Katherine Jane Wendel

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In January 2010, I started work as an undergraduate research assistant at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Dr. Mary Lou Vallano’s laboratory in the Department of Neuroscience and Physiology. My research project was part of a collaborative effort with the laboratory of Dr. Eric Deshaies, a vascular neurosurgeon at Upstate. The goal was to establish a rodent model of subarachnoid hemorrhage and delayed vasospasm, and to test possible protective strategies. We used an adult rat model, in which two injections of autologous blood were given in the cisterna magna region of the brain. Analysis was done using a combination of …

Growth Of Yeast, Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Under Hypergravity Conditions, Sapir Vangruber

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a eukaryote and model organism that can be used to study how eukaryotic cells respond to hypergravity. In this experiment, six standard wild-type strains were used to determine a maximum gravitational force the yeast can withstand and still grow. Artificial gravity was generated using a centrifuge. Yeasts were found to maintain growth even at the highest artificial gravity tested, 2,114 g. An ordered deletion set of S. cerevisiae was then screened to identify genes that could not grow and withstand simulated hypergravity compared to growth under 1g conditions. Many of the strains that failed …

The Basis And Implications Of Genetic Counseling In Patient Testing Choice, Yanina Tovpeko

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Perinatal genetic counseling is a health service provided to patients who carry risk factors for genetic abnormalities for their offspring. There are several non-invasive and invasive tests offered to patients in order to provide genetic information about possible disorders. The non-invasive screens calculate a percentage of risk relative to average population risk. If the non-invasive screens predict an elevated risk, a more invasive test can be offered to obtain definitive results about possible disorders in the pregnancy. The most commonly used invasive test is called amniocentesis and it carries a risk for pregnancy complications. After receiving abnormal results on the …

Pathophysiology And Treatment Of Septic And Traumatic Shock, Lyuba Polinkovsky

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Background. While various medical treatments have been proven effective in the treatment of sepsis in animal models, the only current clinically accepted treatment of human sepsis is limited to the use of activated protein C. The complex pathogenesis of human sepsis presents a challenge in precisely duplicating the process of disease development in the particular animal models which are currently employed for preclinical testing. Further research examining the pathogenesis of this deadly condition is essential for the implementation of novel therapies that target distinct disease mechanisms. The objective of this 48-hour study is to utilize a clinical model that accurately …

Probing The Allosteric Activation Of Pyruvate Carboxylase Using 2′,3′-O-(2,4,6-Trinitrophenyl) Adenosine 5′-Triphosphate As A Fluorescent Mimic Of The Allosteric Activator Acetyl Coa, Abdussalam Adina-Zada, Rasmani Hazra, Chutima Sereerukb, Sarawut Jitrapakdee, Tonya N. Zeczycki, Martin St. Maurice, W Wallace Cleland, John C. Wallace, Paul V. Attwood

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

2′,3′-O-(2,4,6-Trinitrophenyl) adenosine 5′-triphosphate (TNP-ATP) is a fluorescent analogue of ATP. MgTNP-ATP was found to be an allosteric activator of pyruvate carboxylase that exhibits competition with acetyl CoA in activating the enzyme. There is no evidence that MgTNP-ATP binds to the MgATP substrate binding site of the enzyme. At concentrations above saturating, MgATP activates bicarbonate-dependent ATP cleavage, but inhibits the overall reaction. The fluorescence of MgTNP-ATP increases by about 2.5-fold upon binding to the enzyme and decreases on addition of saturating acetyl CoA. However, not all the MgTNP-ATP is displaced by acetyl CoA, or with a combination of saturating concentrations of …

To Duckweeds (Landoltia Punctata), Nanoparticulate Copper Oxide Is More Inhibitory Than The Soluble Copper In The Bulk Solution, Jiyan Shi, Aamir D. Abid, Ian M. Kennedy, Krassimira R. Hristova, Wendy K. Silk

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

CuO nanoparticles (CuO-NP) were synthesized in a hydrogen diffusion flame. Particle size and morphology were characterized using scanning mobility particle sizing, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. The solubility of CuO-NP varied with both pH and presence of other ions. CuO-NP and comparable doses of soluble Cu were applied to duckweeds, Landoltia punctata. Growth was inhibited 50% by either 0.6 mg L⁻¹ soluble copper or by 1.0 mg L⁻¹ CuO-NP that released only 0.16 mg L⁻¹ soluble Cu into growth medium. A significant decrease of chlorophyll was observed in plants stressed by 1.0 …

Relative Abundance Of Mitochondria Rich Cell Types In Threespine Stickleback: Interpopulation Differences And Salinity Effects, Dante Paolino

Honors Scholar Theses

The objective of this study is to determine whether there are evolutionary trade-offs among populations isolated to different salinities in nature with regards to mitochondria rich (MR) cell production. We expected differences among populations in MR cell abundances due to the energy requirements needed to maintain and produce these cells. Eggs from three populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were hatched and reared for 10 weeks and then the fish were put into one of two salinity challenges: either 0.4 ppt freshwater or 35 ppt saltwater for 13 days. The populations consisted of one isolated to freshwater, one isolated …

An Investigation Of The Composition, Microbial Digestion And Potential Applications Of An Industrial By-Product Of Seaweed Extraction, Juncal Nogales Esteban

Theses

Commercial preparation of seaweed extract from Ascophyllum nodosum, for use as fertilizer and soil improver, produces a residue which requires remediation. This residue is rich in nutrients and offers potential for other added-value products. The residue’s composition and microbial flora were studied, a microbial digestion system was developed, and extracts were screened for anti-hyaluronidase and anti-elastase activities.

The residue had a pH of 8.61±0.39, 16% (w/w) TS which comprised 40.6% minerals, 29.5% fibre, 20.9% lipid, 4.9% protein and 0.48% polyphenols. The microbial digestion included an initial 3-day anaerobic phase during which pH decreased from 9.12 to 7.89. At day 3, …

Breeding Habitat Structure And Use By Kansas-Occurring Black Rail, Stephanie A. Kane

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Two subspecies of Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicenis) occur in the United States, and neither has been studied extensively. Of the two, the Eastern subspecies (L. j. jamaicenis) has a larger range, but has been studied to a lesser degree than the California subspecies (L. j. coturniculus) Eastern Black Rail are known to breed at several locations in Kansas, but as in other inland populations, precisely where these individuals overwinter is unknown. Additionally, little information is available on characteristics of breeding habitat for inland Eastern Black Rail populations, and few studies have investigated the effect of habitat management techniques on these …

Natural Selection And Age-Related Variation In Morphology Of A Colonial Bird, Mary Bomberger Brown

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In May 1996, inclement weather led to the deaths of thousands of Cliff Swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) in Nebraska. Survivors had larger skeletons, shorter wings and tails, and less wing asymmetry than non-survivors. This population was followed for 10 years to study 1) whether natural selection events result in permanent microevolutionary changes, 2) if variation in climate affects the development of morphological traits, and 3) if morphological traits vary systematically with age.

Patterns in morphology exhibited by swallows following the selection event were studied by measuring yearling birds. Wing and middle tail lengths decreased, beak length and width increased, …

Characterization Of The Phytochelatin Synthase Of Schistosoma Mansoni, Debalina Ray, David L. Williams

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Treatment for schistosomiasis, which is responsible for more than 280,000 deaths annually, depends exclusively on the use of praziquantel. Millions of people are treated annually with praziquantel and drug resistant parasites are likely to evolve. In order to identify novel drug targets the Schistosoma mansoni sequence databases were queried for proteins involved in glutathione metabolism. One potential target identified was phytochelatin synthase (PCS). Phytochelatins are oligopeptides synthesized enzymatically from glutathione by PCS that sequester toxic heavy metals in many organisms. However, humans do not have a PCS gene and do not synthesize phytochelatins. In this study we have characterized the …

Homocysteine: A Potential Molecular Link Between Alzheimer's Disease And Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cyndel Carreau

Biological Sciences

In order to elucidate some of the mechanisms through which Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Type II Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) are linked, this study investigated the effects of elevated plasma homocysteine levels – a risk factor for AD – in a rat model of T2DM. Both elevated plasma homocysteine levels and T2DM are associated with cognitive deficits and are recognized as strong risk factors for the development of AD. The present experiment examined the effects of diet-induced hyperhomocysteinemia on the development of cognitive impairments and insulin-resistance, as well as on the insulin signaling cascade, in a diet-induced obese rat model of …

Behavioral Aversion Of Two Ranid Frogs To Road Deicers : Does Terrestriality Influence Sensitivity?, Erika Koelmel

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Amphibian decline has been a global phenomenon in recent decades due in part to negative human effects on the environment. Sensitivity of amphibians to environmental degradation makes them good indicators of environmental change, attesting to the importance of amphibian inventory and population monitorings De-icing salts, such as sodium chloride, are applied to roads during the winter months and may accumulate in aquatic and terrestrial habitats. The exposure of amphibians to high salt concentrations can impair their physiological functioning due to their highly permeable skin. The purpose of this investigation is to examine the behavioral tolerance threshold for road salt (NaCl) …

Prion Formation And Polyglutamine Aggregation Are Controlled By Two Classes Of Genes, Anita L. Manogaran, Joo Y. Hong, Joan Hufana, Jens Tyedmers, Susan Lindquist, Susan W. Liebman

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Prions are self-perpetuating aggregated proteins that are not limited to mammalian systems but also exist in lower eukaryotes including yeast. While much work has focused around chaperones involved in prion maintenance, including Hsp104, little is known about factors involved in the appearance of prions. De novo appearance of the [PSI+] prion, which is the aggregated form of the Sup35 protein, is dramatically enhanced by transient overexpression of SUP35 in the presence of the prion form of the Rnq1 protein, [PIN+]. When fused to GFP and overexpressed in [ps2] [PIN+] cells, Sup35 forms fluorescent rings, and cells with these rings bud …

Carbon And Nitrogen Stable Isotopes In Fruits And Arthropods That Are Eaten By Songbirds During Migration, Sarah E. Donlan

Senior Honors Projects

The use of stable isotope analysis is becoming more common in all areas of animal ecology. In particular, natural variation in the abundance of stable isotopes makes them useful in studies of foraging ecology. For example, nitrogen stable isotopes can offer insight into trophic relationships and carbon stable isotopes tend to trace the original source of carbon in a system (e.g. - photosynthetic pathway).  This natural variation is potentially useful for quantifying resource use because the isotopic composition of an animal’s diet is assimilated somewhat predictably into the animal’s tissues. In fact, the ratio of naturally-occurring isotopes in animal tissues …

Love: A Biological, Psychological And Philosophical Study, Heather M. Chapman

Senior Honors Projects

The concept of love has been an eternally elusive subject. It is a definition and meaning that philosophers, psychologists, and biologists have been seeking since the beginning of time. Wars have been waged and fought over it, while friendships have been initiated and have ended because of this idea. But what exactly is love, and why is it important to define this enigma?

In order to help define this idea of love, several books and numerous research articles were consulted, and interviews were conducted with faculty of The University of Rhode Island. Dr. Nasser Zawia was interviewed, in order to …

Calcium Provision In A Placentotrophic Lizard: Structural Differentiation Reflects Functional Specialization., Haley K. Stinnett

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Viviparity (live birth) and placentation have evolved in more than 100 lineages of squamate reptiles. However, highly placentotrophic species in which embryos receive the majority of nutrients for development via maternal transport across a placenta are rare. Pseudemoia pagenstecheri is a viviparous Australian scincid lizard with extensive placental transfer of nutrients. For example, 90% of neonate calcium is received via placental transfer. This species has a regionally differentiated chorioallantoic placenta distinguished by an elliptical-shaped region, the placentome. The placentome is characterized by hypertrophied uterine and embryonic epithelial cells supported by dense vascular networks. The remainder of the chorioallantoic placenta is …

Identification, Cloning And Fluorescent-Tagging Of Protamines Of The Flour Beetle, Tribolium Castaneum, Kristina Martimucci

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The genome of eukaryotes is associated with chromosomal proteins that fold the DNA into ordered arrangements. The most abundant of these are the histones. Four of these (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) form the nucleosomal core around which DNA is wrapped. Other proteins can associate with chromatin and fold it into higher order structures. During spermatogenesis in many organisms the standard chromatin configuration undergoes a transition to a highly condensed form in which small, highly basic proteins called protamines replace the histones. It is thought that protamine-based chromatin is more resistant to mutational damage.

Previous work by the Renkawitz-Pohl group …

Design Of A Factorial Experiment With Randomization Restrictions To Assess Medical Device Performance On Vascular Tissue, Wiebke Diestelkamp, Carissa M. Krane, Margaret Pinnell

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo.

Methods: The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the …

Endo-Porter–Mediated Delivery Of Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligos (Pmos) In Erythrocyte Suspension Cultures From Cope's Gray Treefrog Hyla Chrysoscelis, Venkateshwar Mutyam, Matthew V. Puccetti, James Frisbie, David L. Goldstein, Carissa M. Krane

Biology Faculty Publications

Cope's gray treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, is a freeze-tolerant anuran that accumulates cryoprotective glycerol during cold acclimation. H. chrysoscelis erythrocytes express the aquaglyceroporin HC-3, which facilitates transmembrane glycerol and water movement. Aquaglyceroporins have no pharmacological inhibitors, and no genetic knockout tools currently exist for H. chrysoscelis. A phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligo (PMO)–mediated expression knockdown approach was therefore pursued to provide a model for testing the role of HC-3. We describe a novel procedure optimized for specific, efficient knockdown of HC-3 expression in amphibian erythrocyte suspensions cultured at nonmammalian physiological temperatures using Endo-Porter. Our protocol includes three critical components: pre-incubation at 37°C, …

Characterization Of Rna Aptamers To Drosophila Splicing Protein B52”, Benjamin Stern

Biological Sciences

The protein B52 is an essential component of the spliceosome in Drosophila M. and is responsible for processing precursor-mRNA. B52 belongs to a family of proteins named SR proteins which are critical in initiation and commitment of RNA splicing. Analogous to human SRp55, B52 has been shown to be responsible for alternative and constitutive splicing during a multitude of cellular and developmental events. RNA aptamers selected during an in vitro selection and amplification process (SELEX) for B52 were found to have a co-variation in the stem of these aptamers. Using biochemical and structural techniques, I will explore the RNA-protein interaction …

The Role Of Rac1 Signaling In Tissue Polarity And Branching Morphogenesis During Salivary Gland Development, Janice Jin

Biological Sciences

Salivary gland development in embryonic mouse occurs through the process of branching morphogenesis and differentiation to ultimately give rise to a fully functional, saliva-secreting adult gland. During branching morphogenesis, epithelial cells establish an apical and basal pole which determines the ultimate direction in which salivary fluid and proteins are secreted. Exactly how salivary tissue polarity is determined on a cellular and glandular level is not fully understood. Rac1, a member of the Rho GTPase family, is an intracellular signal transducer that has been shown in other cell types to regulate cell polarization. Rac1 is also important for the organization of …

Cop 9 Signalosome Subunit 6 Stabilizes Cop1, A Novel E3 Ubiquitin Ligase For 14-3-3Σ, Hyun Ho Choi

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

14-3-3σ, a gene upregulated by p53 in response to DNA damage, exists as part of a positive-feedback loop which activates p53 and is a human cancer epithelial marker downregulated in various cancer types. 14-3-3σ levels are critical for maintaining p53 activity in response to DNA damage and regulating signal mediator such as Akt. Here, we identify Mammalian Constitutive Photomorphogenic 1 (COP1) as a novel E3 ubiquitin ligase for targeting 14-3-3σ through proteasome degradation. We show for the first time that COP9 signalosome subunit 6 (CSN6) associates with COP1 and is involved in 14-3-3σ ubiquitin-mediated degradation. Mechanistic studies show that CSN6 …

Investigating The Effects Of Silencing Epha2 In Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells, Stephanie Erzinger

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

EphA2, also known as ECK (epithelial cell kinase), is a transmembrane receptor tyrosine kinase that is commonly over-expressed in cancers such as those of the prostate, colon, lung, and breast. For breast cancers, EphA2 overexpression is most prominent in the ER-negative subtype, and is associated with a higher rate of lung metastasis. Studies conducted to demonstrate the role of EphA2 in a non-cancerous environment have shown that it is very important in developmental processes, but not in normal adult tissues. These results make EphA2 a prospective therapeutic target since new therapies are needed for the more aggressive ER-negative breast cancers. …

The Role Of Cyclin E In Pkc Iota-Driven Early Ovarian Tumorigenesis, Angela Nanos-Webb

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Among the gynecologic malignancies, epithelial ovarian tumors are the leading cause of death. For the past few decades, the only treatment has involved surgical resection of the tumor and/or general chemotherapies. In an attempt to improve treatment options, we have shown that several oncogenes that are overexpressed in ovarian cancer, PI3K, PKCiota, and cyclin E, all of which have been shown to lead to a poor prognosis and decreased survival, converge into a single pathway that could potentially be targeted therapeutically.

Because of the ability of either PKCiota or cyclin E overexpression to independently induce anchorage-independent growth, a hallmark of …

Role Of Baca In Lipopolysaccharide Synthesis, Peptide Transport, And Nodulation By Rhizobium Sp. Strain Ngr234, Silvia Ardissone, Hajime Kobayashi, Kumiko Kambara, Coralie Rummel, K. Dale Noel, Graham C. Walker, William J. Broughton, William J. Deakin

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

BacA of Sinorhizobium meliloti plays an essential role in the establishment of nitrogen-fixing symbioses with Medicago plants, where it is involved in peptide import and in the addition of very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFA) to lipid A of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). We investigated the role of BacA in Rhizobium species strain NGR234 by mutating the bacA gene. In the NGR234 bacA mutant, peptide import was impaired, but no effect on VLCFA addition was observed. More importantly, the symbiotic ability of the mutant was comparable to that of the wild type for a variety of legume species. Concurrently, an acpXL mutant of NGR234 …

Effect Of Nitrate, Acetate And Hydrogen On Native Perchlorate-Reducing Microbial Communities And Their Activity In Vadose Soil, Mamie Nozawa-Inoue, Mercy Jien, Kun Yang, Dennis E. Rolston, Krassimira R. Hristova, Kate M. Scow

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The effect of nitrate, acetate, and hydrogen on native perchlorate-reducing bacteria (PRB) was examined by conducting microcosm tests using vadose soil collected from a perchlorate-contaminated site. The rate of perchlorate reduction was enhanced by hydrogen amendment and inhibited by acetate amendment, compared with unamendment. Nitrate was reduced before perchlorate in all amendments. In hydrogen-amended and unamended soils, nitrate delayed perchlorate reduction, suggesting that the PRB preferentially use nitrate as an electron acceptor. In contrast, nitrate eliminated the inhibitory effect of acetate amendment on perchlorate reduction and increased the rate and the extent, possibly because the preceding nitrate reduction/denitrification decreased the …