Biology Commons^™

Assessing A Reconciliation Ecology Approach To Suburban Landscaping: Biodiversity On A College Campus, Christopher Bouma, Emily Huizenga, David P. Warners

Student Papers and Reports

No abstract provided.

Blood Parasite Infection Differentially Relates To Carotenoid-Based Plumage And Bill Color In The American Goldfinch, D. C. Lumpkin, Troy G. Murphy, K. A. Tarvin

Biology Faculty Research

Male and female American goldfinches (Spinus tristis) express condition-dependent carotenoid-based plumage and bill coloration. Plumage color is relatively static, as pigments incorporated into feathers during the spring molt cannot be mobilized thereafter. In contrast, bill color is dynamic, reflecting changes in condition over short time periods. Previous studies have shown that male and female ornaments, though similar in expression, are differentially related to measures of immunocompetence, suggesting that the relationship between ornamentation and parasite infection may differ between the sexes. In this study, we evaluate the relationship between condition-dependent ornamentation (plumage and bill color) and blood parasite infection …

Efficacy Of An Electronic Scarecrow On 4 Mammalian Crop-Raiders In Limpopo Province, South Africa, Merrie Renee Richardson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In South Africa, 2 primate species, Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) and vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), and 2 nocturnal mammals, Cape porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) and bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), are among many species of crop raiders. Currently, cost-effective, non-lethal solutions are lacking. From June through December 2012, I installed novel electronic scarecrows on two commercial citrus orchards and a private reserve and used video-recording remote cameras to assess cropraiders’ reactions to them in Limpopo Province, South Africa. I used focal animal sampling data from treatment and control group animals to examine differences in activity …

Cholinergic Transmission During Nicotine Withdrawal Is Influenced By Age And Pre-Exposure To Nicotine: Implications For Teenage Smoking, Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

Adolescence is a unique period of development characterized by enhanced tobacco use and long-term vulnerability to neurochemical changes produced by adolescent nicotine exposure. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms that contribute to developmental differences in tobacco use, this study compared changes in cholinergic transmission produced by exposure to nicotine and withdrawal from nicotine in rats of different ages, some of which had exposure to nicotine as adolescents. The first study compared extracellular levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) during nicotine withdrawal in adolescent, adult and adult rats that were exposed to nicotine during adolescence. Adolescent (PND …

Insulin-Resistant Rats Display Enhanced Nicotine Reward Following A High-Fat Diet Regimen., Laura O'Dell

Selected Works Temporary Series

Tobacco use among persons displaying type II diabetes exponentially increases negative health consequences and mortality rates. Especially troubling, diabetic persons who smoke display reduced rates of tobacco cessation as compared to non-diabetic smokers. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome that consists of insulin resistance due to disruptions in insulin signaling. Insulin has been shown to modulate mesolimbic reward circuitry in response to drugs of abuse, such as nicotine. This study utilized the conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP) to examine nicotine reward in a rat model of insulin resistance induced by the consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD). Rats were placed on …

Melanin As An Oto-Protective Pigment In Two Fish Species: Poecilia Latipinna And Cyprinus Carpio , Bethany N. Coffey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Melanin is the dark pigment found in most organisms that gives color to the skin, hair, feathers, and eyes of vertebrates. While melanin is known to also be present in the stria vascularis of the mammalian cochlea, its function in the inner ear is still unknown. Some previous studies have indicated that melanin may serve to protect the mammalian ear from hearing loss. Minimal previous research on melanin within the inner ears of fishes has been conducted. In this study, the melanin levels in the inner ears of different color morphs of two fish species (Poecilia latipinna and Cyprinus …

Are Local Filters Blind To Provenance? Ant Seed Predation Suppresses Exotic Plants More Than Natives, Dean Pearson, Nadia S. Icasatti, Jose L. Hierro, Benjamin J. Bird

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The question of whether species’ origins influence invasion outcomes has been a point of substantial debate in invasion ecology. Theoretically, colonization outcomes can be predicted based on how species’ traits interact with community filters, a process presumably blind to species’ origins. Yet, exotic plant introductions commonly result in monospecific plant densities not commonly seen in native assemblages, suggesting that exotic species may respond to community filters differently than natives. Here, we tested whether exotic and native species differed in their responses to a local community filter by examining how ant seed predation affected recruitment of eighteen native and exotic plant …

Limitations To Estimating Bacterial Cross-Species Transmission Using Genetic And Genomic Markers: Inferences From Simulation Modeling, Julio A. Benavides, Paul C. Cross, Gordon Luikart, Scott Creel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Cross-species transmission (CST) of bacterial pathogens has major implications for human health, livestock, and wildlife management because it determines whether control actions in one species may have subsequent effects on other potential host species. The study of bacterial transmission has benefitted from methods measuring two types of genetic variation: variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). However, it is unclear whether these data can distinguish between different epidemiological scenarios. We used a simulation model with two host species and known transmission rates (within and between species) to evaluate the utility of these markers for inferring CST. …

Exploring The Complexity Of Intellectual Disability In Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Aniruddho Chokroborty-Hoque, Bonnie Alberry, Shiva M. Singh

Biology Publications

Brain development in mammals is long lasting. It begins early during embryonic growth and is finalized in early adulthood. This progression represents a delicate choreography of molecular, cellular, and physiological processes initiated and directed by the fetal genotype in close interaction with environment. Not surprisingly, most aberrations in brain functioning including intellectual disability (ID) are attributed to either gene(s), or environment or the interaction of the two. The ensuing complexity has made the assessment of this choreography, ever challenging. A model to assess this complexity has used a mouse model (C57BL/6J or B6) that is subjected to prenatal alcohol exposure. …

The Overwintering Biology Of The Acorn Weevil, Curculio Glandium In Southwestern Ontario., Hiroko Udaka, Brent J Sinclair

Biology Publications

The acorn weevil, Curculio glandium, is a widespread predator of acorns in eastern North America that overwinters in the soil as a larva. It is possible that low temperatures limit its northern geographic range, so we determined the cold tolerance strategy, seasonal variation in cold tolerance, and explored the physiological plasticity of overwintering larvae. Weevil larvae were collected from acorns of red and bur oak from Pelee Island, southwestern Ontario in fall 2010 and 2011. C. glandium larvae are freeze avoidant and larvae collected from bur oak acorns had lower supercooling points (SCPs: -7.6±0.36°C, LT50: -7.2°C) than those collected from …

Global Population-Specific Variation In Mirna Associated With Cancer Risk And Clinical Biomarkers, Renata Rawlings-Goss, Michael Campbell, Sarah Tishkoff

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

Background: MiRNA expression profiling is being actively investigated as a clinical biomarker and diagnostic tool to detect multiple cancer types and stages as well as other complex diseases. Initial investigations, however, have not comprehensively taken into account genetic variability affecting miRNA expression and/or function in populations of different ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, more complete surveys of miRNA genetic variability are needed to assess global patterns of miRNA variation within and between diverse human populations and their effect on clinically relevant miRNA genes.

Gene-Environment Interactions In Human Health: Case Studies And Strategies For Developing New Paradigms And Research Methodologies, Fatimah Linda Collier Jackson

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECTS OF GENES AND THE ENVIRONMENT ON HEALTH ARE EXPLORED IN THREE CASE STUDIES: adult lactase persistence, autism spectrum disorders, and the metabolic syndrome, providing examples of the interactive complexities underlying these phenotypes. Since the phenotypes are the initial targets of evolutionary processes, understanding the specific environmental contexts of the genetic, epigenetic, and environmental changes associated with these phenotypes is essential in predicting their health implications. Robust databases must be developed on the local scale to deconstruct both the population substructure and the unique components of the environment that stimulate geographically specific changes in gene expression patterns. To …

The Origin And Loss Of Periodic Patterning In The Turtle Shell, J. E. Moustakas-Verho, R. Zimm, J. A. Cebra-Thomas, N. K. Lempiainen, A. Kallonen, K. L. Mitchell, K. Hamalainen, I. Salazar-Ciudad, J. Jernvall, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

The origin of the turtle shell over 200 million years ago greatly modified the amniote body plan, and the morphological plasticity of the shell has promoted the adaptive radiation of turtles. The shell, comprising a dorsal carapace and a ventral plastron, is a layered structure formed by basal endochondral axial skeletal elements (ribs, vertebrae) and plates of bone, which are overlain by keratinous ectodermal scutes. Studies of turtle development have mostly focused on the bones of the shell; however, the genetic regulation of the epidermal scutes has not been investigated. Here, we show that scutes develop from an array of …

A Holobiont Birth Narrative: The Epigenetic Transmission Of The Human Microbiome, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

This essay plans to explore, expand, and re-tell the human birth narrative. Usually, human birth narratives focus on the origins of a new individual, focusing on the mother and fetus. This essay discusses birth as the origin of a new community. For not only is the eukaryotic body being reproduced, but so also are the bodies of its symbiotic microbes and so is the set of relationships between these organic components. Several parts of the new narrative are surprising: (1) bacterial symbionts might cause some of the characteristics of pregnancy and prepare a symbiotic community for transfer; (2) the first …

Insulin-Resistant Rats Display Enhanced Nicotine Reward Following A High-Fat Diet Regimen., Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

Tobacco use among persons displaying type II diabetes exponentially increases negative health consequences and mortality rates. Especially troubling, diabetic persons who smoke display reduced rates of tobacco cessation as compared to non-diabetic smokers. Diabetes is a metabolic syndrome that consists of insulin resistance due to disruptions in insulin signaling. Insulin has been shown to modulate mesolimbic reward circuitry in response to drugs of abuse, such as nicotine. This study utilized the conditioned place preference paradigm (CPP) to examine nicotine reward in a rat model of insulin resistance induced by the consumption of a high-fat diet (HFD). Rats were placed on …

Biological Sciences Newsletter - August 2014, Department Of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University

Biological Sciences Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Temperature Alters Food Web Body-Size Structure, Jean P. Gibert, John P. Delong

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The increased temperature associated with climate change may have important effects on body size and predator– prey interactions. The consequences of these effects for food web structure are unclear because the relationships between temperature and aspects of food web structure such as predator–prey body-size relationships are unknown. Here, we use the largest reported dataset for marine predator–prey interactions to assess how temperature affects predator–prey body-size relationships among different habitats ranging from the tropics to the poles. We found that prey size selection depends on predator body size, temperature and the interaction between the two. Our results indicate that (i) predator–prey …

Multiplex Ssr-Pcr Analysis Of Genetic Diversity And Redundancy In The Philippine Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Germplasm Collection, Jamaica L. Delos Reyes, Vivian A. Panes, Dindo A. Tabanao, Gabriel O. Romero

Biology Faculty Publications

Rice germplasm conservation is vital to ensuring the availability of a rich gene pool for future varietal improvement programs. However, with limited resources for gene banking, there is a need to identify and prioritize unique accessions in the PhilRice gene bank for maximum resource utilization. A robust and unequivocal way to identify duplicates is through multiplex SSR-PCR DNA fingerprinting. The present study established the optimal concentrations and reaction conditions for the successful amplification of PCR products using a multiplex panel composed of rice simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, namely RM312, RM316, RM514 and RM171. The panel was then used to …

Habitat Characteristics Of Wildlife Crossing Hotspots In Northern New Jersey, Kelly M. Triece

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Habitat fragmentation results when a landscape is broken apart due to urbanization. Fragmentation can result in a decrease in habitat size, and an increase in habitat patches which can then become increasingly isolated. Fragmentation may also be caused by human roadway and vehicle traffic, which degrades surrounding habitats, barricades wildlife movement, reduces the viability of wildlife populations and changes animal population networks. Fragmentation caused by roads often results in wildlife road mortality as animals traverse the roadway to obtain food, to mate or seek other resources. In order for conservation of wildlife populations to take place, it is essential to …

Crispr/Cas9 As A Gene Editing Tool To Delete The Transcriptional Repressor Inducible Camp Early Repressor From The Zebrafish Genome, Madhumalini Gnanasekar

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Genome editing has become an important tool in identifying the specific function and role of a gene in an organism. With the advent of genome editing using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems, editing a gene has become much easier and less expensive. This CRISPR/Cas9 system uses a small 20 nucleotide long guided RNA (gRNA), which along with Cas9 will bind to the target site and cleave it. In this research, CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to knock out the inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) promoter sequence in zebra fish. ICER has anti-proliferative activity and acts as …

Are New Jersey Birds Involved In The Enzootic Cycle Of Lyme Disease?, Heather Kopsco

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Birds are well-established in cycles of zoonotic diseases, generally as hosts of an infected arthropod vector such as a mosquito or tick. Since the 1980s, research in both the United States and Europe has focused on their role in the ecology of Lyme disease and its causative agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, since they are fed upon by larval and nymphal ticks and can transport them and their associated diseases geographically during migrations. Further, research has shown that a number of avian species exhibit reservoir competency for B. burgdorferi which demonstrates that birds are involved in the enzootic cycles of the disease …

Neuroprotective Effects Of (-)-Epigallocatechin 3-O-Gallate (Egcg) On L-Methyl-4- Phenyl-L,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine (Mptp) And Hydrogen Peroxide (H2o2) Stressed Pc 12 Cells, Elizabeth M. Appert

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Despite the fact that Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, much of its etiology and pathogenesis remains to be discovered. The main pathological feature of PD is the progressive death of specific dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the brain. Oxidative stress induced cell death has been hypothesized as one mechanism responsible for PD pathogenesis.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a reactive oxygen species (ROS) that has been implicated in PD as a by-product of dopamine (DA) degradation. 1 -methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) has been shown to produce a Parkinsonian syndrome via an oxidative stress induced …

Do Arthropod Prey Alter Behavior When Exposed To Different Combinations Of Sensory Cues From Predators?, Kelly I. Pniewski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

How animals respond to predatory threats is influenced by the kinds of sensory cues from predators they are able to detect. Because sensory information is transduced through the environment, both that and the animal’s physiology may determine how animals are capable of reacting and are important variables when considering their behavioral responses. In this study I tested the effects of visual, chemical and seismic predator cues on how prey react to predatory threat. Four species of arthropod prey animals were tested; German cockroaches, Blatella germanica (Blattodea: Blattellidae), House crickets, Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllinae), Pill bugs, Armadillidium vulgare (Oniscidea: Armadillidiidae), and …

Cholinergic Transmission During Nicotine Withdrawal Is Influenced By Age And Pre-Exposure To Nicotine: Implications For Teenage Smoking, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

Adolescence is a unique period of development characterized by enhanced tobacco use and long-term vulnerability to neurochemical changes produced by adolescent nicotine exposure. In order to understand the underlying mechanisms that contribute to developmental differences in tobacco use, this study compared changes in cholinergic transmission produced by exposure to nicotine and withdrawal from nicotine in rats of different ages, some of which had exposure to nicotine as adolescents. The first study compared extracellular levels of acetylcholine (ACh) in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) during nicotine withdrawal in adolescent, adult and adult rats that were exposed to nicotine during adolescence. Adolescent (PND …

Wetland Sediment Nutrient Flux In Response To Proposed Hydrologic Reconnection And Climate Warming, James T. Smit

Masters Theses

Wetland restoration and creation are common practices, but wetlands restored or created on former agricultural land may act as a source of nutrients, rather than as a sink. I studied P sediment-water exchange in two flooded celery fields (west and east), which are designated for wetland restoration, in order to assess the effects that hydrologic reconnection of the area to an adjacent creek would have on P dynamics. We also examined the influence of climate change, specifically warming temperatures, by conducting the sediment-water exchange experiments at ambient and plus 2°C temperature conditions. Lab-based sediment core incubations revealed that TP release …

Redescription Of Atopospira Galeata (Kahl, 1927) Nov. Comb. And A. Violacea (Kahl, 1926) Nov. Comb. With Redefinition Of Atopospira Jankowski, 1964 Nov. Stat. And Brachonella Jankowski, 1964 (Ciliophora, Armophorida), William A. Bourland, Laura Wendell

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The taxonomy of the Metopidae (Ciliophora, Armophorida) remains poorly understood since most of its members have not been studied by modern morphologic and molecular methods. Recent molecular investigations have indicated that the two most species-rich genera, Metopus and Brachonella, are likely nonmonophyletic with at least one well-supported 18S rDNA clade comprised of a species from each of these genera (Brachonella galeata and Metopus violaceus). We investigated these two species with silver impregnation and scanning electron microscopy. Both taxa share important morphologic characteristics not described in other species of Metopus or Brachonella. These synapomorphies include: (1) a …

An Observation Of Apparent Teaching Behavior In The Pallid Bat, Antrozous Pallidus, Jessie P. Bunkley, Jesse R. Barber

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

During a laboratory study of pallid bat (Antrozous pallidus) hunting behavior, we observed an interaction wherein an adult female appeared to aid a juvenile male in learning a novel foraging task. This single observation adheres to the 3 requirements of teaching outlined by Caro and Hauser (1992). A female bat experienced with a hunting task modified her behavior in the presence of a naïve observing male, resulting in a cost of reduced food availability to the female when she was hungry, while directing the male to food resources and accelerating his learning of a foraging task. …

Resting Site Characteristics Of American Marten In The Northern Lower Peninsula Of Michigan, Robert L. Sanders

Masters Theses

American marten are usually associated with forests that are characteristically late successional, closed canopy, and diverse in structure; attributes that meet habitat requirements and provide resting site structures. Resting site structures are required habitat components that are used daily and provide protection from predation and inclement weather. I identified resting site characteristics of American marten in the Manistee National Forest in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula from May 2011 to December 2013. Twenty five marten (15 male and 10 female) were monitored using radio telemetry to identify what types of resting sites structures were used. I identified 522 unique resting site structures; …

The Initial Effects Of Community Variables On Sand Prairie Restoration: Species Establishment And Community Responses, Robert Christopher Roos

Masters Theses

We established a sand prairie restoration experiment in northern Lower Michigan’s pine-oak barrens to analyze the effect of different community variables (vegetative cover, species richness, biomass, diversity, and floristic quality) when comparing: (1) how our restoration efforts (seeded treatments) compare to natural community succession (control plots), (2) how different seeding treatments affect these community variables, specifically when evaluating (2a) the effect of grass seeding densities; and (2b) the effect of different forb guilds (early flowering, late flowering, and legumes) during the initial two growing seasons of restoration establishment. In general, a comparison between seeded treatments and non-seeded control treatments indicates …

Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Macroinvertebrate Communities In The Muskegon River And Bigelow Creek, Michigan, Travis Hauri Foster

Masters Theses

The first objective of this study was to determine the relationship between zebra mussel densities/biomass and benthic macroinvertebrate composition and density in the Muskegon River at a site near Croton Dam, Thirteen benthic quadrat samples were taken along a range of zebra mussel and macroinvertebrate densities at a single sample location. Turbellaria was the only taxa to have a significant positive relationship with zebra mussel density and biomass, Simuliidae had a positive, non-significant relationship with both. No macroinvertebrate taxa decreased because of zebra mussel density/biomasss. The other objectives of this study were to compare current macroinvertebrate communities in the Muskegon …