Biology Commons^™

Recurrent Modification Of A Conserved Cis-Regulatory Element Underlies Fruit Fly Pigmentation Diversity, William A. Rogers, Joseph R. Salomone, David J. Tacy, Eric M. Camino, Kristen A. Davis, Mark Rebeiz, Thomas M. Williams

Biology Faculty Publications

The development of morphological traits occurs through the collective action of networks of genes connected at the level of gene expression. As any node in a network may be a target of evolutionary change, the recurrent targeting of the same node would indicate that the path of evolution is biased for the relevant trait and network. Although examples of parallel evolution have implicated recurrent modification of the same gene and cis-regulatory element (CRE), little is known about the mutational and molecular paths of parallel CRE evolution. InDrosophila melanogaster fruit flies, the Bric-à-brac (Bab) transcription factors control the development …

The River Otter In Idaho: Reproductive And Population Parameters And Liver Concentrations Of Environmental Contaminants, Gina Diggs

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

To obtain current data on the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) population in Idaho, licensed trappers were mandated to surrender river otter carcasses through provisions of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s mandatory harvest report. Throughout the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 trapping seasons, 237 river otter carcasses were collected. Necropsies were performed to assess age and sex, general body condition, reproductive rates, and concentrations of environmental contaminants in the livers. Reproductive rates were determined by counting corpora lutea and blastocysts in female river otters. Livers were dissected and concentrations of environmental contaminants were determined for the following …

Identification Of A New Class Of Lipid Droplet-Associated Proteins In Plants, Patrick J. Horn, Christopher N. James, Satinder K. Gidda, Aruna Kilaru, John M. Dyer, Robert T. Mullen, John B. Ohlrogge, Kent D. Chapman

ETSU Faculty Works

Lipid droplets in plants (also known as oil bodies, lipid bodies, or oleosomes) are well characterized in seeds, and oleosins, the major proteins associated with their surface, were shown to be important for stabilizing lipid droplets during seed desiccation and rehydration. However, lipid droplets occur in essentially all plant cell types, many of which may not require oleosin-mediated stabilization. The proteins associated with the surface of nonseed lipid droplets, which are likely to influence the formation, stability, and turnover of this compartment, remain to be elucidated. Here, we have combined lipidomic, proteomic, and transcriptomic studies of avocado (Persea americana) mesocarp …

Ecological Literacy: The Educational Foundation Necessary For Informed Public Decision Making, Catherine Cardelús, George Middendorf

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

In this introduction to the new Frontiers series on Ecoliteracy, Guest Editors Catherine Cardelús and GeorgeMiddendorf discuss the impetus behind the series for which innovative ecological educators were invited to discuss ways to teach ecological concepts to diverse groups in a variety of settings, with the aim of facilitating better informed decision making for environmental policy.

An Examination Of The Effects Of Land Use And Land Cover On Macroinvertebrate Communities At Two Landscape Scales, Tanya Sulikowski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Macroinvertebrate community composition and differing patterns of land use/ land cover (LULC) were assessed in three watersheds of northern New Jersey. A total of six 40-m reaches were sampled in the agriculturally dominated Wallkill, the urbanized Rockaway and the forested Flat Brook. Qualitative observations and scorings of ten habitat factors commonly associated with stream health and water quality were made at each site. These Habitat Assessments resulted in the two Flat Brook sites being rated as “optimal” and the remaining four sites being rated as “suboptimal”. The 2007 NJDEP Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) dataset was used to determine percent urban, …

Population Demographics And Genetics Of Spix's Disk-Winged Bat: Insights Regarding Survival, Mate Choice, Gene Flow And Effective Population Size, Michael Buchalski

Dissertations

Simultaneous study of the demographics and genetics of populations are relatively rare within the literature, despite insights their combined use offers regarding the life history, ecology, and evolution of species. Here I take a comprehensive approach, using capture-recapture data, polymorphic microsatellite markers, and various modeling techniques to examine the demographics and genetics of multiple local populations of Spix’s disk-winged bat (Thyroptera tricolor) in southwestern Costa Rica. T. tricolor is a highly gregarious, neotropical bat species known to form kin-based social groups with high retention of offspring of both sexes. The implications of this highly unusual social structure for …

The Importance Of Epigenetic Phenomena In Regulating Activity Of The Genetic Material, Sin Chan

Senior Honors Projects

Genetics has taught us that genes are represented as discrete sequences within a larger DNA molecule found embedded within the chromosomes of a living cell. Collectively these chromosomes and their associated genes carry all of the instructions for life. Until recently, the prevailing thought has been that genes are destiny in the life of an individual since the genes carry the information that determines the general traits and characteristics associated with that individual. The relatively recent understanding of mechanisms that underlie epigenetic phenomena has led to a rethinking of this concept. Epigenetics describes cellular mechanisms that explain how two individuals …

An Insight Into The Microbial Diversity And Expression Of Cysteine Protease Inhibitors (Cystatin) In Rickettsia Parkeri Infected Amblyomma Maculatum, Khemraj Budachetri

Master's Theses

Amblyomma maculatum (Gulf Coast tick) is an emerging tick species of public health significance in United States. It is a competent vector of Rickettsia parkeri, an etiological agent of a human rickettsiosis. In this study, we investigated the spotted fever group of rickettsial diversity in A. maculatum based on rickettsial ompA gene PCR. Our results showed A. maculatum harbors R. parkeri, R. amblyommii, and R. endosymbiont of A. maculatum. While only R. parkeri was detected in female salivary glands which suggest its ability to traffic from midgut to salivary glands via hemocoel. The presence of R. parkeri was further …

A Force Of Nature: Molecular Mechanisms Of Mechanoperception In Plants, Gabriele B. Monshausen, Elizabeth S. Haswell

Biology Faculty Research

The ability to sense and respond to a wide variety of mechanical stimuli-gravity, touch, osmotic pressure, or the resistance of the cell wall-is a critical feature of every plant cell, whether or not it is specialized for mechanotransduction. Mechanoperceptive events are an essential part of plant life, required for normal growth and development at the cell, tissue, and whole-plant level and for the proper response to an array of biotic and abiotic stresses. One current challenge for plant mechanobiologists is to link these physiological responses to specific mechanoreceptors and signal transduction pathways. Here, we describe recent progress in the identification …

Characteristics Of White-Tailed Deer Visits To Cattle Farms: Implications For Disease Transmission At The Wildlife-Livestock Interface, Are R. Berentsen, Ryan S. Miller, Regina Misiewicz, Jennifer L. Malmberg, Mike R. Dunbar

Zoonotics and Wildlife Disease: Publications

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is endemic in free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in MI, USA. Currently, the rates of farm visitation by deer and co-use of forage resources by cattle and deer are poorly understood. To evaluate the extent deer and livestock may share forage resources, we investigated farm, yard, and cattle-use area visitation by white-tailed deer and compared visitation with common livestock management practices. We fitted 25 female white-tailed deer near the bTB-infected zone in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula with global positioning system collars. Livestock management practices associated with farm visitation included presence of confined feeding pastures, number of …

Impacts Of Wind Energy Development On Breeding Buteo Hawks In The Columbia Plateau Ecoregion, Patrick Shea Kolar

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Post-construction raptor fatality and nest monitoring is typically conducted at wind energy projects nationwide. However, pre- and post-construction surveys may fail to locate all breeding pairs and most studies at individual wind projects lack the necessary sample size or survey design to assess the effects of turbines on nesting raptors after construction. To address these potential issues, I used an information-theoretic approach to examine the influence of multiple spatial and temporal variables on reproductive success, post-fledging survival, and the distribution of breeding pairs from three sympatric Buteo species in the Columbia Plateau Ecoregion (CPE). Although the probability of detecting breeding …

Disturbance Frequency And Vertical Distribution Of Seeds Affect Long-Term Population Dynamics: A Mechanistic Seed Bank Model, Eric A. Eager, Chirakkal V. Haridas, Diana Pilson, Richard Rebarber, Brigitte Tenhumberg

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Seed banks are critically important for disturbance specialist plants because seeds of these species germinate only in disturbed soil. Disturbance and seed depth affect the survival and germination probability of seeds in the seed bank, which in turn affect population dynamics. We develop a density-dependent stochastic integral projection model to evaluate the effect of stochastic soil disturbances on plant population dynamics with an emphasis on mimicking how disturbances vertically redistribute seeds within the seed bank. We perform a simulation analysis of the effect of the frequency and mean depth of disturbances on the population’s quasi-extinction probability, as well as the …

Comparative Analysis Of Antiviral Responses In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells And In Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Jundi Wang

Master's Theses

Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are cells that have unlimited capacity for selfrenewal and differentiation. These properties make ESCs a great cell source for application in regenerative medicine. When used for cell therapy, ESC-derived cells could be placed in a wounded area that is likely to be exposed to various pathogens. However, it is not well-understood whether ESCs and ESC-derived cells have active antiviral responses against infectious agents from the environment. To answer this important question, I comparatively analyzed the antiviral responses of ESCs and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs, C3H10Tl/2 cell line) to infectious agents. Using the expression of type I …

A Requirement For Fatty Acid Oxidation In The Hormone-Induced Meiotic Maturation Of Mouse Oocytes, Deepa Valsangkar, Stephen M. Downs

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

We have previously shown that fatty acid oxidation (FAO) is required for AMP-activated protein kinase (PRKA)-induced maturation in vitro. In the present study, we have further investigated the role of this metabolic pathway in hormone-induced meiotic maturation. Incorporating an assay with ³H-palmitic acid as the substrate, we first examined the effect of PRKA activators on FAO levels. There was a significant stimulation of FAO in cumulus cell-enclosed oocytes (CEO) treated with 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide ribonucleotide (AICAR) and RSVA405. In denuded oocytes (DO), AICAR stimulated FAO only in the presence of carnitine, the molecule that facilitates fatty acyl CoA entry into the …

Prkca: Identification Of A Novel Downstream Target Of Wt1, Devin Jones

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Wilms tumor is a childhood tumor of the kidney arising from the undifferentiated metanephric mesenchyme. Tumorigenesis is attributed to a number of genetic and epigenetic alterations. In 20% of Wilms tumors, Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) undergoes inactivating homozygous mutations causing loss of function of the zinc finger transcription factor it encodes. It is hypothesized that mutations in WT1 result in dysregulation of downstream target genes, leading to aberrant kidney development and/or Wilms tumor. These downstream target genes are largely unknown, and identification is important for further understanding Wilms tumor development. Heatmap data of human Wilms tumor protein …

Characterization Of Jak, Stat, And Src Interactions In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Reshma Jaseja, Reshma Jaseja

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Recurrence of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is common; thus, it is essential to improve the effectiveness and reduce toxicity of current treatments. Proteins in the Src/Jak/STAT pathway represent potential therapeutic targets, as this pathway is hyperactive in HNSCC and it has roles in cell migration, metastasis, proliferation, survival, and angiogenesis. During short-term Src inhibition, Janus kinase (Jak) 2, and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 and STAT5 are dephosphorylated and inactivated. Following sustained Src inhibition, STAT5 remains inactive, but Jak2 and STAT3 are reactivated following their early inhibition. To further characterize the mechanism of this …

Gap Junctions: Regulators Of Cellular Immunity And Parasite Manipulation In The Remarkable Tripartite Relationship Involving Insects And Genome-Integrated Polydnaviruses, Daniel Hasegawa

All Dissertations

Communication means everything. From vocalization to the firing of a neuron, coordination through the exchange of signals is essential to the survival of all living things. At the cellular level, communication is accomplished through the use of gap junction channels. Gap junctions are found in virtually all multicellular animals, where they play critical roles in developmental, physiological, metabolic, and even structural processes. From the maintenance of heart rhythms in humans, to the coordination of tissue regeneration in flatworms, and to the processing of visual stimuli in flies, the roles for gap junctions are diverse. However, how this diversity is accomplished …

Failed Species, Innominate Forms, And The Vain Search For Species Limits: Cryptic Diversity In Dusky Salamanders (Desmognathus) Of Eastern Tennessee, Stephen G. Tilley, Joseph Bernardo, Laura A. Katz, Lizmarie López, J. Devon Roll, Renáe L. Eriksen, Justin Kratovil, Noëlle K.J. Bittner, Keith A. Crandall

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Cytochrome B sequences and allozymes reveal complex patterns of molecular variation in dusky salamander (Desmognathus) populations in eastern Tennessee. One group of allozymically distinctive populations, which we refer to as the Sinking Creek form (SCF), combines morphological attributes of Desmognathus fuscus with cytB sequences characteristic of Desmognathus carolinensis. This form is abruptly replaced by D. fuscus just north of Johnson City, TN with no evidence of either sympatry or gene exchange. To the south, allozymic markers indicate a broad zone of admixture with populations characterized by distinct cytB sequences and that may or may not be ultimately referable to Desmognathus …

Developmental Expression Profile Of Bric Á Brac 2, Midline And H15 In The Developing Eye And Central Nervous System Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Petra Visic

Honors Theses

Aberrant activity of a single gene can lead towards development of cancerous cells. Drosophila melanogaster is a useful model system to study cancer because there is high degree of evolutionary conservation in signaling pathways between humans and flies that play major roles in regulating cell proliferation and growth (Miles et al., 2011). At The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), Dr. Leal’s lab has gathered evidence suggesting that bab1 and bab2 interact with the T-box gene midline (mid) and its paralog H15, while the early developmental function of bab1 and bab2 remains unknown. That is why elucidating the early …

Role Of Msa In Immune Evasion, Persistence, And Protease Regulation In The Human Pathogenic Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Maria Deepa Basco

Dissertations

Opportunistic pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus on entering the host can stay colonized at the foci of infection or evade the immune system to disseminate to other sites. In this study we investigated the regulatory influence of the modulator of sarA (msa) on immune evasion and host persistence, employing the hospital-acquired strain S. aureus UAMS-1 and community-acquired strain S. aureus USA300 LAC. In the murine sepsis model, mutation of the msa gene in LAC showed no change in dissemination of infection; however, in UAMS-1 a decrease in microbial load was observed in the lungs. Differential regulation by the msa gene was …

Thorns Of Native Lower Rio Grande Valley Plants Are Colonized By Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria, Felicia A. Charles

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Epiphytic pathogenic bacteria on the thorns of native LRGV plants may provide a defense mechanism for the plants. To test this, plant thorns were collected from LRGV plant species and aerobic and anaerobic bacteria were isolated in thioglycollate medium. Tests were performed to characterize the bacterial cultures. The 16S rRNA gene was sequenced to allow for species identification. Sixty-nine bacterial cultures were isolated, including gram-positive and gram-negative cell types. All utilized a variety of carbon sources for nutrients and 23% of isolates displayed hemolysis. Bacterial identification included members of the genus Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Serratia, and others. Most were opportunistic pathogens. …

Examination Of Dietary Habits And Fruit And Vegetable Intake In A Chronic Disease Program, Qian Kuang

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The AHB program is a chronic disease prevention program which provides resources for community health centers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Healthy dietary habits and fruit/ vegetable intake play important roles in maintaining human health. Eight factors were used to evaluate the success of the AHB program. Another twenty factors were considered to predict dietary habits and fruit/vegetable intake status. Chi-square and multinomial logistic regression were used to study their correlation. Results from analysis showed that factors like birth country, employment, diabetes, baseline HbA1c, limited by problems, overall program quality, group, and program duration were correlated to the dietary habits, and …

Alternations Of Nmda And Gabab Receptor Function In Development: A Potential Animal Model Of Schizophrenia, Monica Bolton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder that affects up to 3% of the world population. The behavioral symptoms are categorized into positive and negative symptoms, which appear during late adolescence/early adulthood. Unfortunately, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of the disease are poorly understood. Several hypotheses exist to explain mechanisms contributing to these behavioral alterations. One model proposes that a reduced function of the NMDA glutamate receptor on specific GABAergic interneurons may be responsible for deficits in schizophrenia. Post-mortem investigations provide evidence of reductions in both glutamate and GABA-related proteins in patients with schizophrenia. Further, GABAergic interneurons that are activated …

The Effect Of Temperature Extremes On Cardiorespiratory Function In The Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes Pugio: Oxygen Limited Thermal Tolerance, Teresa Mika

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Aquatic poikilothermic animals must either cope with or compensate for the mismatch in oxygen supply and demand present at high temperatures. Oxygen limited thermal tolerance explains how aerobic scope is limited by insufficient oxygen supply and sets the performance window in animals. This work explores the effects of temperature on the different components of the oxygen delivery system, in both normoxic and hyperoxic conditions to determine if supplying more oxygen to the system mitigates the effects of temperature effects on the cardiorespiratory system and extends oxygen limited thermal tolerance to higher temperatures. The effect of temperature and oxygen condition was …

Regulating Rsma Expression In Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sean D. Stacey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacillus, commonly infects immunocompromised individuals and uses a variety of virulence factors to persist in these hosts. The posttranscriptional regulator, RsmA, plays a role in the expression of many virulence factors in P. aeruginosa. RsmA up regulates virulence factors used in colonizing hosts. However, regulation of rsmA is not well elucidated. Transposon mutagenesis was performed on P. aeruginosa containing a transcriptional rsmA-lacZ fusion to answer this question. Mutants were screened via β-galactosidase assay and transposon insertions identified via arbitrary PCR. A probable MFS transporter, we named mtpX, was one significant transposon mutant identified. …

Science Fair: Is It Worth The Work? A Qualitative Study On Deaf Students' Perceptions And Experiences Regarding Science Fair In Primary And Secondary School, Vivian Lee Smith

Dissertations

Science fairs have a long history in American education. They play an important role for establishing inquiry-based experiences in a science classroom. Students may be more motivated to learn science content when they are allowed to choose their own science fair topics. The purpose of this study was to examine Deaf college students’ perceptions and experiences regarding science fair participation during primary and/or secondary school and determine the influence of science fair involvement on the development of language skills, writing skills, and higher order thinking skills as well as its impact on choice of a STEM major.

This study examined …

Srs2 Prevents Rad51 Filament Formation By Repetitive Motion On Dna, Yupeng Qiu, Edwin Antony, Sultan Doganay, Hye Ran Koh, Timothy M. Lohman, Sua Myong

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Srs2 dismantles presynaptic Rad51 filaments and prevents its re-formation as an anti-recombinase. However, the molecular mechanism by which Srs2 accomplishes these tasks remains unclear. Here we report a single-molecule fluorescence study of the dynamics of Rad51 filament formation and its disruption by Srs2. Rad51 forms filaments on single-stranded DNA by sequential binding of primarily monomers and dimers in a 5′–3′ direction. One Rad51 molecule binds to three nucleotides, and six monomers are required to achieve a stable nucleation cluster. Srs2 exhibits ATP-dependent repetitive motion on single-stranded DNA and this activity prevents re-formation of the Rad51 filament. The same activity of …

Are Lianas More Drought-Tolerant Than Trees? A Test For The Role Of Hydraulic Architecture And Other Stem And Leaf Traits, Masha T. Van Der Sande, Lourens Poorter, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Lars Markesteijn

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Lianas are an important component of Neotropical forests, where evidence suggests that they are increasing in abundance and biomass. Lianas are especially abundant in seasonally dry tropical forests, and as such it has been hypothesized that they are better adapted to drought, or that they are at an advantage under the higher light conditions in these forests. However, the physiological and morphological characteristics that allow lianas to capitalize more on seasonal forest conditions compared to trees are poorly understood. Here, we evaluate how saplings of 21 tree and liana species from a seasonal tropical forest in Panama differ in cavitation …

Cross-Species Array Comparative Genomic Hybridization Identifies Novel Oncogenic Events In Zebrafish And Human Embryonal Rhabdomyosarcoma, Eleanor Y. Chen, Kimberly P. Dobrinski, Kim H. Brown, Ryan Clagg, Elena Edelman, Myron S. Ignatius, Jin Yun Helen Chen, Jillian Brockmann, G. Petur Nielsen, Sridhar Ramaswamy, Charles Keller, Charles Lee, David M. Langenau

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Human cancer genomes are highly complex, making it challenging to identify specific drivers of cancer growth, progression, and tumor maintenance. To bypass this obstacle, we have applied array comparative genomic hybridization (array CGH) to zebrafish embryonal rhabdomyosaroma (ERMS) and utilized cross-species comparison to rapidly identify genomic copy number aberrations and novel candidate oncogenes in human disease. Zebrafish ERMS contain small, focal regions of low-copy amplification. These same regions were commonly amplified in human disease. For example, 16 of 19 chromosomal gains identified in zebrafish ERMS also exhibited focal, low-copy gains in human disease. Genes found in amplified genomic regions were …

Formation Of Cell Masses In The Myelencephalon Of The Clawed Frog, Xenopus Muelleri, Flora Stephano

Tanzania Journal of Science

An important process in the organization of developing nervous system is the clustering of neurons with similar properties to form nuclei. The development of myelencephalon of Xenopus muelleri, a pipid frog that retains a lateral line system throughout life, was studied in Nissl stained serial sections. The results showed that density of neurons increases as the animal develops. Cell masses were formed in the latter half of larval stages (stage 48 to 59). Large neurons migrate first before small neurons. Raphes and reticular formation nuclei and Mauthner cells were the earliest neurons that could be distinctly recognized on the ventral …