Biology Commons^™

Domain And Propositions Of Succession Theory, Steward Pickett, Scott Meiners, Mary Cadenasso

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Succession is perhaps the oldest of ecological concepts, having arisen when ecology was emerging as a self-conscious discipline (Mcintosh 1985). Yet it continues to address many fundamental issues in ecology, to support important applications, and to synthesize the insights and perspectives of other theories. Thus, it fulfills two functions key in assessing the utility of a contemporary ecological theory. First, it exhibits the attributes of a mature, welldeveloped, and intensively tested theory (Glenn-Lewin et al. 1992; Pickett and Cadenasso 2005). Second, it provides a linkage among theories and applications that have usually been considered separately (Walker et al. 2007). For …

Lea Proteins During Water Stress: Not Just For Plants Anymore, Steven C. Hand, Michael A. Menze, Mehmet Toner, Leaf Boswell, Daniel Moore

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are extremely hydrophilic proteins that were first identified in land plants. Intracellular accumulation is tightly correlated with acquisition of desiccation tolerance, and data support their capacity to stabilize other proteins and membranes during drying, especially in the presence of sugars like trehalose. Exciting reports now show LEA proteins are not restricted to plants; multiple forms are expressed in desiccation-tolerant animals from at least four phyla. We evaluate here the expression, subcellular localization, biochemical properties and potential functions of LEA proteins in animal species during water stress. LEA proteins are intrinsically unstructured in aqueous solution, but …

Quantitative Analysis Of Lignocellulosic Components Of Non-Treated And Steam Exploded Barley, Canola, Oat And Wheat Straw Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, P. K. Adapa, L. G. Schonenau, Thomas Canam, T. Dumonceaux

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Rapid and cost effective quantification of lignocellulosic components (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) of agricultural biomass (barley, canola, oat and wheat) is essential to determine the effect of various pre-treatments (such as steam explosion) on biomass used as feedstock for the biofuel industry. Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was considered as an option to achieve this objective. Regression equations having R2 values of 0.89, 0.99 and 0.98 were developed to predict the cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin compounds of biomass, respectively. The average absolute difference in predicted and measured cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in agricultural biomass was 7.5%, 2.5%, and 3.8%, respectively.

Quantitative Analysis Of Lignocellulosic Components Of Non-Treated And Steam Exploded Barley, Canola, Oat And Wheat Straw Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, P. Adapa, L. Schonenau, Thomas Canam, T. Dumonceaux

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Rapid and cost effective quantification of lignocellulosic components (cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin) of agricultural biomass (barley, canola, oat and wheat) is essential to determine the effect of various pre-treatments (such as steam explosion) on biomass used as feedstock for the biofuel industry. Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was considered as an option to achieve this objective. Regression equations having R2 values of 0.89, 0.99 and 0.98 were developed to predict the cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin compounds of biomass, respectively. The average absolute difference in predicted and measured cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin in agricultural biomass was 7.5%, 2.5%, and 3.8%, respectively.

Lifelines Winter 2011, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Winter 2011 issue of Lifelines includes articles on research done by the Ecology class, an alumni feature, the TriBeta National Biological Honor Society, and a pictorial directory of the 2011 biology and allied health graduates.

Fagus Grandifolia, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

American beech has a broad native range across eastern North America from northern Florida, north to Maine and Nova Scotia, west to Michigan and eastern Wisconsin, south along the southeastern border of Illinois and Missouri and into southern Arkansas, southeastern Texas, and Louisiana across the Gulf of Mexico states all forming a perimeter wherein it is distributed (Burns 1990).

Davidia Involucrata, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

The dove tree has a native distribution in the West Szechuan and West Hupeh regions of China (Dirr 1998).

Quercus Alba, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Quercus alba has a natural range from Texas, north through Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and Ontario, east throughout the rest of the United States, including Ontario and Quebec in Canada (USDA 2011).

Aceraceae - Acer Triflorum Komar, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Family

The three flowered maple is an attractive plant particularly for its exfoliating bark and vibrant fall foliage offering shades of orange, red, yellow, and purple that doesn’t get the horticultural attention that may be deserving of its ornamental character (Hill 2010).

Musa Basjoo, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

While often listed to be native to Japan, Musa basjoo, was actually introduced into Japan from China where the only wild populations remain in the Sichuan Province. The original Japanese account was of a cultivated specimen (Liu 2002).

Nyssa Sylvatica, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Nyssa sylvatica has a native range from Texas, north into Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and east throughout the rest of the United States, including Ontario in Canada (USDA 2011).

Magnolia Tripetala, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

In the wild, the umbrella magnolia is found in forests from Pennsylvania south to Georgia and west to Arkansas and Mississippi. It prefers moist soil along mountain streams and edges of swamps (Callaway 1994). As broad as its range, it is never common.

Metasequoia Glyptostroboides, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Dawn redwood has a limited native range consisting of a number of populations in the mixed forests of the western Hubei, eastern Sichuan, and southern Hunan Provinces of China. There are also single trees that exist outside its range that are evidence of a wider range that is suspected to have existed before settlement of these areas and subsequent harvesting of the trees for anthropogenic use (Williams 2005).

Acer Triflorum, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Acer triflorum has a native range in forests of Manchuria and south-central Korea (Dirr 1998, Jones 1999).

Magnolia Macrophylla, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

While never becoming a dominant tree, the bigleaf magnolia has a wide natural range in forests as far south as Georgia, west to Louisiana and Arkansas, north up to Ohio and Kentucky with it being most common in south central Mississippi. It prefers shady and moist areas along gorges (Callaway 1994).

Ostrya Virginiana, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Ostrya virginiana occurs on dry woodland slopes in its natural range from Crook County of northeastern most Wyoming, and east throughout nearly the rest of North America, with exception of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada (Dirr 1998, USDA 2011).

Magnolia Virginiana, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Magnolia virginiana has a native range from Florida, north to Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, and south to Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas in swamps (Callaway 1994).

Franklinia Alatamaha, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Noted botanists John and William Bartram were the first to come across Franklinia on October 1, 1765 along the Altamaha (formerly Alatamaha) River near Fort Barrington, Georgia (Fry 2000, Tredici 2005). It was last observed growing in nature in 1803, and has long been extinct in the wild.

Ginkgo Biloba, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Natural stands of Ginkgo biloba are all but eliminated from the wild with the exception of those occurring in mountains along the Yangtze River in China (Royer 2003).

Parrotia Persica, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Persian ironwood has a native range in moist forests of lowlands and low mountains in northern Iran (Binka 2003).

Succession, Scott J. Meiners, Steward Pickett

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Succession in a strict sense refers to the recovery and revegetation of an area following a disturbance such as the cessation of agriculture, the retreat of a glacier, or an intense forest fi re. Succession is a special case of vegetation dynamics, although many early ecologists referred to all vegetation change as succession. Succession includes a series of compositional and structural changes, often in a directional manner. The common occurrence of natural disturbances coupled with the extent of human activity on the planet makes succession one of the most ubiquitous ecological processes. Because invasion is a crucial feature of succession, …

Chemical Characterization And In Vitro Fermentation Of Brassica Straw Treated With The Aerobic Fungus, Trametes Versicolor, J. E. Ramirez-Bribiesca, Y. Wang, L. Jin, Thomas Canam, J. R. Town, A. Tsang, T. J. Dumonceaux, T. A. Mcallister

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Brassica napus straw (BNS) was either not treated or was treated with two strains of Trametes versicolor; 52J (wild type) or m4D (a cellobiose dehydrogenase-deficient mutant) with four treatments. Glucose was provided to encourage growth of the mutant strain. All treatments with T. versicolor decreased (P<0.05) neutral-detergent fibre and increased (P<0.05) protein and the concentration of lignin degradation products in straw. Ergosterol was highest (P<0.05) in straw treated with B-52J, suggesting it generated the most fungal biomass. Insoluble lignin was reduced (P<0.05) in straw treated with B-52J and B-m4D, but not with B-m4Dg. Mannose and xylose concentration were generally higher (P<0.05) in straw treated with fungi, whereas glucose and galactose were lower as compared with C-BNS. The four treatments above were subsequently assessed in rumen in vitro fermentations, along with BNS treated with 5 N NaOH. Concentrations of total volatile fatty acids after 24 and 48h were lower (P<0.05) in incubations that contained BNS treated with T. versicolor as compared with C-BNSor NaOH-treated BNS. Compared with C-BNS, in vitrodry matter disappearance and gas production were increased (P<0.05) by NaOH, but not by treatment with either strain of T. versicolor. Although treatment with T. versicolor did release more lignin degradation products, it did not appear to provide more degradable carbohydrate to in vitro rumen microbial populations, even when a mutant strain with compromised carbohydrate metabolism was utilized. Production of secondary compounds by the aerobic fungi may inhibit rumen microbial fermentation.

Diospyros Virginiana, Janice Coons, Nancy Coutant, Wesley Whiteside

Plants by Genus Species

Diospyros virginiana has a native range from Nebraska, east through the Midwest to the East Coast into New York and Maryland, throughout the Southeast and down to Texas, including Utah and California (USDA 2011).

Amp-Activated Protein Kinase (Ampk) Activity Is Not Required For Neuronal Development But Regulates Axogenesis During Metabolic Stress, Tyisha Williams, J. Courchet, B. Viollet, J. E. Brenman, F. Polleux

Biology Faculty Research

Mammalian brain connectivity requires the coordinated production and migration of billions of neurons and the formation of axons and dendrites. The LKB1/Par4 kinase is required for axon formation during cortical development in vivo partially through its ability to activate SAD-A/B kinases. LKB1 is a master kinase phosphorylating and activating at least 11 other serine/threonine kinases including the metabolic sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which defines this branch of the kinome. A recent study using a gene-trap allele of the β1 regulatory subunit of AMPK suggested that AMPK catalytic activity is required for proper brain development including neurogenesis and neuronal survival. …

Plasma Membrane Dynamics In The Drosophila Embryo, Amelia E. Zommer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Convergent extension is a highly conserved process among mammals, in which the tissue narrows in one axis, and extends across another. Tissue elongation is directed by the regulation of cell interface behaviors, which guides cell intercalation and rosette formation. Rosette formation occurs through the contraction of vertically oriented cell interfaces, and the subsequent elongation of new horizontal interfaces. It has been shown that actomyosin-generated tension functions to direct rosette formation. In this thesis, I have tested the function of regulators of F-actin networks, as well as endocytic and exocytic mechanisms, to identify new components that control interface behaviors and cell …

Micrornas 9a, 9b, 9c And 315 Regulate Expression Of A Reporter For The Neuronal Microtubule-Associated Protein Futsch/Map1b, Leslie M. Rozeboom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited mental retardation in humans. FXS is caused by loss of the Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein (FMRP), an important regulator of neuronal mRNA translation. Patients with FXS display cognitive deficits including memory problems. Protein synthesis-dependent long-term changes in synaptic plasticity are involved in the establishment and maintenance of long-term memory. One prevalent theory of FXS pathology predicts that FMRP is required to negatively regulate the translation of important mRNAs at the synapse. We are investigating microRNAs (miRNAs) as a potential regulator of synaptic FMRP-regulated mRNAs that have previously been …

Hepatitis C Virus-Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Cancer Stem Cell And Gene Therapy, Heba Samir Esmaeil Allam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is an important human pathogen that causes chronic hepatitis cirrhosis, steatosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Although current FDA-approved drugs are partially effective in the treatment of HCV, methods for cure and vaccine against the virus are still awaited. My thesis work presented here is focused on finding mechanism (s) of HCV-induced hepatocarcinogenesis and devising novel means to combat the HCV infection.

Herein, we have shown that long-term HCV expression results in the acquisition of cancer stem-like cells (CSCs) traits in liver derived cell lines. These traits include enhanced expression of putative stem cell markers DCAMKL-1, …

A Conserved Juxtacrine Signal Regulates Synaptic Partner Recognition In C. Elegans, J R. Park, P L. Knezevich, W Wung, S N. O'Hanlon, A Goyal, K L. Benedetti, B J. Barsi-Rhyne, M Raman, N Mock, M Bremer, Miri Vanhoven

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Forming synaptic connections of the appropriate strength between specific neurons is crucial for constructing neural circuits to control behavior. A recent paper in Neural Development describes the use of a synapse-specific label in Caenorhabditis elegans to implicate local UNC-6/netrin signaling in this developmental process. Thus, as well as their well known roles in cell migration and axon guidance, UNC-6/netrin signals distinguish an appropriate synaptic partner from other potential targets.

Phylogeny Of The Clusioid Clade (Malpighiales): Evidence From The Plastid And Mitochonrial Genomes, Brad R. Ruhfel, Volker Bittrich, Claudia A. Bove, Mats H.G. Gustafsson, C. Thomas Philbrick, Rolf Rutsihauser, Zhenxiang Xi, Charles C. Davis

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

• Premise of the study : The clusioid clade includes five families (i.e., Bonnetiaceae, Calophyllaceae, Clusiaceae s.s., Hypericaceae, and Podostemaceae) represented by 94 genera and ~1900 species. Species in this clade form a conspicuous element of tropical forests worldwide and are important in horticulture, timber production, and pharmacology. We conducted a taxon-rich multigene phylogenetic analysis of the clusioids to clarify phylogenetic relationships in this clade. • Methods : We analyzed plastid ( matK , ndhF , and rbcL ) and mitochondrial ( matR ) nucleotide sequence data using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. Our combined data set included 194 …

Distribution And Conservation Status Of The Rusty Gravedigger, Cambarus Miltus, A Poorly Known Gulf Coastal Crayfish, Christopher A. Taylor, Guenter Schuster, Courtney L. Graydon, Paul E. Moler

Biological Sciences Faculty and Staff Research

Cambarus (Lacunicambarus) miltus (Rusty Gravedigger Crayfish) is a primary burrowing crayfish known from a limited portion of the Gulf Coastal region of the United States. The lack of form I males in collections has in the past prevented species level identifications and hampered conservation reviews. We conducted an intensive status survey for C. miltus during 2007 and 2008. Our results suggest that the species is much more widespread than previously known and that conservation attention is unwarranted. Preferred habitat for the species is ephemerally flooded and thinly wooded floodplains of small streams and swamps.