Biology Commons^™

Sexual Dimorphism, Plasticity And Genomic Diversity Of The Paraventricular Nucleus, Gina L.C. Yosten, Willis K. Samson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Antimicrobial Activity Of Bee Venom And Melittin Against Borrelia Burgdorferi, Kayla Socarras, Priyanka A. Theophilus, Jason Torres, Khusali Gupta, Eva Sapi

Biology and Environmental Science Faculty Publications

Lyme disease is a tick-borne, multi-systemic disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Though antibiotics are used as a primary treatment, relapse often occurs after the discontinuation of antimicrobial agents. The reason for relapse remains unknown, however previous studies suggest the possible presence of antibiotic resistant Borrelia round bodies, persisters and attached biofilm forms. Thus, there is an urgent need to find antimicrobial agents suitable to eliminate all known forms of B. burgdorferi. In this study, natural antimicrobial agents such as Apis mellifera venom and a known component, melittin, were tested using SYBR Green I/PI, direct cell counting, biofilm …

North Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource Harvest Strategy : 2017 – 2021 : Version 1.0, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

No abstract provided.

North Coast Demersal Scalefish Resource Harvest Strategy : 2017 – 2021 : Version 1.0, Department Of Fisheries

Fisheries Management Papers

No abstract provided.

Creation Of Forest Edges Has A Global Impact On Forest Vertebrates, M. Pfeifer, V. Lefebvre, C. A. Peres, C. Banks-Leite, O. R. Wearn, C. J. Marsh, S. Butchart, V. Arroyo-Rodriguez, J. Barlow, A. Cerezo, L. Cisneros, N. D'Cruze, D. Faria, A. Hadley, S. M. Harris, B. T. Klingbeil, U. Kormann, L. Lens, G. F. Medina-Rangel, J. C. Morante-Filho, P. Olivier, S. L. Peters, A. Pidgeon, D. B. Ribeiro, C. Scherber, L. Schneider-Maunoury, M. Struebig, N. Urbina-Cardona, J. I. Watling, M. R. Willig, E. M. Wood, R. M. Ewers

2017 Faculty Bibliography

Forest edges influence more than half of the world's forests and contribute to worldwide declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, predicting these declines is challenging in heterogeneous fragmented landscapes. Here we assembled a global dataset on species responses to fragmentation and developed a statistical approach for quantifying edge impacts in heterogeneous landscapes to quantify edge-determined changes in abundance of 1,673 vertebrate species. We show that the abundances of 85% of species are affected, either positively or negatively, by forest edges. Species that live in the centre of the forest (forest core), that were more likely to be listed as …

Recurrent Sublethal Warming Reduces Embryonic Survival, Inhibits Juvenile Growth, And Alters Species Distribution Projections Under Climate Change, Michael A. Carlo, Eric A. Riddell, Ofir Levy, Michael W. Sears

Publications

The capacity to tolerate climate change often varies across ontogeny in organisms with complex life cycles. Recently developed species distribution models incorporate traits across life stages; however, these life-cycle models primarily evaluate effects of lethal change. Here, we examine impacts of recurrent sublethal warming on development and survival in ecological projections of climate change. We reared lizard embryos in the laboratory under temperature cycles that simulated contemporary conditions and warming scenarios. We also artificially warmed natural nests to mimic laboratory treatments. In both cases, recurrent sublethal warming decreased embryonic survival and hatchling sizes. Incorporating survivorship results into a mechanistic species …

Dental Internship, Mokhinur Khamidova

Biology Posters

A dental internship provides an opportunity to confirm and demonstrate your desire to pursue dentistry as well as picture yourself as a practicing dental professional.

Effect Of Bm-Hpme® Free Protein On Hbm-Mscs In Benchtop Bioreactor With Microcarriers, Adam Talbot

Biology Posters

Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies have great potential for treating many age-related diseases. When harvested from human bone marrow (hBM), these cells are relatively scarce and thus is is necessary for the cells to be expanded to achieve the necessary numbers needed for any therapeutic application and for many research applications. In order for the potential of MSCs to be unlocked, a strategy must be developed to expand these cells in the most efficient and effective way possible. Here we present a method to expand MSCs in a benchtop bioreactor with microcarriers and quantify the effect of the addition of …

Importance Of Seed As An Inoculum Source For High Plains Virus In Sweet Corn, Brooke Olson, Claudia Nischwitz

Biology Posters

High Plains Virus (HPV) is found in small grains and corn and is commonly transmitted by the wheat curl mite. In 2016, a local farmer had a high incidence of HPV in all of his sweet corn in three different locations. However no mites were found. Drone imagery was taken of the field and showed a pattern of infected corn plants that indicated that the virus was seed borne. Yield loss was an estimated 50% for the field. Seed transmission of HPV in corn has been considered unimportant in the past due to low percentage of infection (Forster et al. …

Setting The Mood: Background Color And Guppy Mate Choice, Haley Schmid, Michael Thompson, Easton Smith, Kim Sullivan

Biology Posters

▪ There are two prevalent forms of sexual selection in the animals:Male-Male Competition and Female Choice

▪ Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) have been shown to demonstrate Female Choice

▪ Environmental factors, such as background color, have been shown to affect female interest in specific males

▪ Guppies tend to show interest in the color orange and we predicted that females would show a preference for males on an orange background

Alectryon Vitiensis: A New Species Of Sapindaceae Endemic To Fiji, Sven Buerki, Porter P. Lowry Ii, Jérôme Munzinger, Marika Tuiwawa, Alivereti Naikatini, Martin W. Callmander

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A new species of Alectryon Gaertn. (Sapindaceae) endemic to the Fijian archipelago is described as A. vitiensis Buerki, Lowry, Munzinger & Callm. based on morphological and molecular evidence. It can easily be distinguished from the two congeners currently known from Fiji by its smaller leaves, subsessile leaflets, apetalous flowers, and crested fruits. A phylogenetic analysis using ITS sequence data shows that the new species is closely related to two Australian endemics, A. diversifolius (F. Muell.) S. T. Reynolds and A. oleifolius (Desf.) S. T. Reynolds, but differs in having compound leaves covered with a golden indument. Moreover, the Australian taxa …

The Effect Of Co2, Intracellular Ph And Extracellular Ph On Mechanosensory Proprioceptor Responses In Crayfish And Crab, Viresh Dayaram, Cole A. Malloy, Sarah Martha, Brenda Alvarez, Ikenna Chukwudolue, Nadera Dabbain, Dlovan D.Mahmood, Slavina Goleva, Tori Hickey, Angel Ho, Molly King, Paige Kington, Matthew Mattingly, Samuel Potter, Landon Simpson, Amanda Spence, Henry Uradu, Jacob Van Doorn, Dlovan Faiq, Robin L. Cooper

Biology Faculty Publications

Proprioceptive neurons monitor the movements of limbs and joints to transduce the movements into electrical signals. These neurons function similarly in species from arthropods to humans. These neurons can be compromised in disease states and in adverse environmental conditions such as with changes in external and internal pH. We used two model preparations (the crayfish muscle receptor organ and a chordotonal organ in the limb of a crab) to characterize the responses of these proprioceptors to external and internal pH changes as well as raised CO₂. The results demonstrate the proprioceptive organs are not highly sensitive to changes …

Case Report: Coincidental Inclusion In A 17-Locus Y-Str Mixture, Wrongful Conviction And Exoneration, Greg Hampikian, Gianluca Peri, Shih-Shiang Lo, Mon-Hwa Chin, Kuo-Lan Liu

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report the case of a suspect (Suspect-3) who was convicted (and later exonerated) of participating in the multiple-attacker rape of two women. The forensic evidence against him was his inclusion in a 17-marker Y-STR mixture isolated from semen on one victim’s clothing. The DNA inclusion produced a match statistic with a combined probability of inclusion of 1 in 741, and a Likelihood Ratio of 3296. While the defense team was told that Suspect-3 was included in the semen DNA mixture, they were not told that all of the Y-STR alleles could also be explained by just the other two …

Fatal Attraction?: Intraguild Facilitation And Suppression Among Predators, Kelly J. Sivy, Casey B. Pozzanghera, James B. Grace, Laura R. Prugh

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Competition and suppression are recognized as dominant forces that structure predator communities. Facilitation via carrion provisioning, however, is a ubiquitous interaction among predators that could offset the strength of suppression. Understanding the relative importance of these positive and negative interactions is necessary to anticipate community-wide responses to apex predator declines and recoveries worldwide. Using state-sponsored wolf (Canis lupus) control in Alaska as a quasi experiment, we conducted snow track surveys of apex, meso-, and small predators to test for evidence of carnivore cascades (e.g., mesopredator release). We analyzed survey data using an integrative occupancy and structural equation modeling …

General And Specific Promotion Of Flagellar Assembly By A Flagellar Nucleoside Diphosphate Kinase, Xiaoyan Zhu, Emiliya Poghosyan, Radhika Gopal, Yi Liu, Kristine S. Ciruelas, Yousif Maizy, Dennis R. Diener, Stephen M. King, Takashi Ishikawa, Pinfen Yang

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDKs) play a central role in diverse cellular processes using the canonical NDK activity or alternative mechanisms that remain poorly defined. Our study of dimeric NDK5 in a flagellar motility control complex, the radial spoke (RS), has revealed new modalities. The flagella in Chlamydomonas ndk5 mutant were paralyzed, albeit only deficient in three RS subunits. RS morphology appeared severely changed in averaged cryo-electron tomograms, suggesting that NDK5 is crucial for the intact spokehead formation as well as RS structural stability. Intriguingly, ndk5’s flagella were also short, resembling those of an allelic spoke-less mutant. All ndk5’s phenotypes were …

Filamentation Involves Two Overlapping, But Distinct, Programs Of Filamentation In The Pathogenic Fungus Candida Albicans, Jahaun Azadmanesh, Austin M. Gowen, Paul E. Creger, Nicole D. Shafer, Jill R. Blankenship

Biology Faculty Publications

The ability of the human pathogenic fungus Candida albicans to switch between yeast-like and filamentous forms of growth has long been linked to pathogenesis. Numerous environmental conditions, including growth at high temperatures, nutrient limitation, and exposure to serum, can trigger this morphological switch and are frequently used in in vitro models to identify genes with roles in filamentation. Previous work has suggested that differences exist between the various in vitro models both in the genetic requirements for filamentation and transcriptional responses to distinct filamentation-inducing media, but these differences had not been analyzed in detail. We compared 10 in vitro models …

Dual Roles Of Fer Kinase Are Required For Proper Hematopoiesis And Vascular Endothelium Organization During Zebrafish Development, Aaron P. Putzke, Emily M. Dunn, Elizabeth J. Billquist, Amy L. Vanderstoep, Phillip G. Bax, Laura M. Westrate, Lisa K. Mclellan, Shelby C. Peterson, Jeffrey P. Mackeigan

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Fer kinase, a protein involved in the regulation of cell-cell adhesion and proliferation, has been shown to be required during invertebrate development and has been implicated in leukemia, gastric cancer, and liver cancer. However, in vivo roles for Fer during vertebrate development have remained elusive. In this study, we bridge the gap between the invertebrate and vertebrate realms by showing that Fer kinase is required during zebrafish embryogenesis for normal hematopoiesis and vascular organization with distinct kinase dependent and independent functions. In situ hybridization, quantitative PCR and fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) analyses revealed an increase in both erythrocyte numbers …

Better Health Through Horticulture: Using Horticulture To Influence Behavior And Reduce Stress, Rachel Ochylski

All NMU Master's Theses

Horticultural intervention in the form of gardening workshops connect participants to nature while they nurture another living organism. Horticultural intervention provides opportunities to socialize and engage in a meaningful activity, which have been recognized as helpful in the treatment of common mental health difficulties such as depression and anxiety. There is a lack of experimental studies based on quantitative data that focus on the effects of horticulture on holistic human health. The author evaluated the effects of a horticultural intervention on two separate groups, older adults and college students. The behavioral effects of engaging in gardening activities were evaluated using …

Age And Growth Of Bonefish, Albula Species Among Cuban Habitats, Jacob Joseph Rennert

Theses and Dissertations

Bonefish (Albula spp.) are a prized sportfish among avid anglers worldwide. Two morphologically indistinguishable species of bonefish (Albula vulpes and Albula goreensis) exist in the circumtropical waters of the western Atlantic. A. vulpes grows faster and reaches larger sizes in the Florida Keys than in the Bahamas and other insular regions, but the mechanisms driving this variation have not been identified. Cuba supports large populations of bonefish, but their age, growth rate, and reproductive biology has not previously been examined. I obtained specimens from fish markets and local research staff in 3 regions around the periphery of Cuba from November …

Plasma Cell Survival In The Absence Of B Cell Memory, Erika Hammarlund, Archana Thomas, Ian J. Amanna, Lindsay Holden, Ov D. Slayden, Byung S. Park, Lina Gao, Mark K. Slifka

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Pre-existing serum antibodies play an important role in vaccine-mediated protection against infection but the underlying mechanisms of immune memory are unclear. Clinical studies indicate that antigen-specific antibody responses can be maintained for many years, leading to theories that reactivation/differentiation of memory B cells into plasma cells is required to sustain long-term antibody production. Here, we present a decade-long study in which we demonstrate site-specific survival of bone marrow-derived plasma cells and durable antibody responses to multiple virus and vaccine antigens in rhesus macaques for years after sustained memory B cell depletion. Moreover, BrdU+ cells with plasma cell morphology can be …

Scaling Dissolved Nutrient Removal In River Networks: A Comparative Modeling Investigation, Sheng Ye, Alexander J. Reisinger, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Robert O. Hall, Emma J. Rosi, Murugesu Sivapalan

Biology Faculty Publications

Along the river network, water, sediment, and nutrients are transported, cycled, and altered by coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes. Our current understanding of the rates and processes controlling the cycling and removal of dissolved inorganic nutrients in river networks is limited due to a lack of empirical measurements in large, (nonwadeable), rivers. The goal of this paper was to develop a coupled hydrological and biogeochemical process model to simulate nutrient uptake at the network scale during summer base flow conditions. The model was parameterized with literature values from headwater streams, and empirical measurements made in 15 rivers with varying hydrological, …

Co-Independent Modification Of K+ Channels By Tricarbonyldichlororuthenium(Ii) Dimer (Corm-2), Guido Gessner, Nirakar Sahoo, Sandip M. Swain, Gianna Hirth, Roland Schönherr, Ralf Mede, Matthias Westerhausen, Hans Henning Brewitz, Pascal Heimer, Diana Imhof

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

Although toxic when inhaled in high concentrations, the gas carbon monoxide (CO) is endogenously produced in mammals, and various beneficial effects are reported. For potential medicinal applications and studying the molecular processes underlying the pharmacological action of CO, so-called CO-releasing molecules (CORMs), such as tricabonyldichlororuthenium(II) dimer (CORM-2), have been developed and widely used. Yet, it is not readily discriminated whether an observed effect of a CORM is caused by the released CO gas, the CORM itself, or any of its intermediate or final breakdown products. Focusing on Ca2+- and voltage-dependent K+ channels (KCa1.1) and voltage-gated K+ channels (Kv1.5, Kv11.1) relevant …

A Metadata Reporting Framework (Frames) For Synthesis Of Ecohydrological Observations, Danielle S. Christianson, Charuleka Varadharajan, Bradley O. Christoffersen, Matteo Detto, Boris Faybishenko, Bruno O. Gimenez, Val Hendrix, Kolby J. Jardine, Robinson Negron-Juarez, Gilberto Z. Pastorello

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

Metadata describe the ancillary information needed for data preservation and independent interpretation, comparison across heterogeneous datasets, and quality assessment and quality control (QA/QC). Environmental observations are vastly diverse in type and structure, can be taken across a wide range of spatiotemporal scales in a variety of measurement settings and approaches, and saved in multiple formats. Thus, well-organized, consistent metadata are required to produce usable data products from diverse environmental observations collected across field sites. However, existing metadata reporting protocols do not support the complex data synthesis and model-data integration needs of interdisciplinary earth system research. We developed a metadata reporting …

Classification Of Rest And Active Periods In Actigraphy Data Using Pca, Isaac W. Muns, Yogesh Lad, Ivan G. Guardiola, Matthew S. Thimgan

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper we highlight a clustering algorithm for the purpose of identifying sleep and wake periods directly from actigraphy signals. The paper makes use of statistical Principal Component Analysis to identify periods of rest and activity. The aim of the proposed methodology is to develop a quick and efficient method to determine the sleep duration of an individual. In addition, a robust method that can identify sleep periods in the accelerometer data when duration, time of day varies by individual. A selected group of 10 individual's sensor data consisting of actigraphy from an accelerometer (3-axis), near body temperature, and …

Comparison Of Thaumarchaeotal Populations From Four Deep Sea Basins., Stephen Techtmann, Nagissa Mahmoudi, Kendall T Whitt, Maria Fernanda Campa, Julian L Fortney, Dominique C Joyner, Terry C Hazen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The nitrogen cycle in the marine environment is strongly affected by ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota. In some marine settings, Thaumarchaeotes can comprise a large percentage of the prokaryotic population. To better understand the biogeographic patterns of Thaumarchaeotes, we sought to investigate differences in their abundance and phylogenetic diversity between geographically distinct basins. Samples were collected from four marine basins (The Caspian Sea, the Great Australian Bight, and the Central and Eastern Mediterranean). The concentration of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes and archaeal amoA genes were assessed using qPCR. Minimum entropy decomposition was used to elucidate the fine-scale diversity of Thaumarchaeotes. We …

Adaptive Evolution Under Extreme Genetic Drift In Oxidatively Stressed Caenorhabditis Elegans, Stephen Fuller Christy, Riana I. Wernick, Michael James Lue, Griselda Velasco, Dana K. Howe, Dee R. Denver, Suzanne Estes

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

A mutation-accumulation (MA) experiment with Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes was conducted in which replicate, independently evolving lines were initiated from a low-fitness mitochondrial electron transport chain mutant, gas-1. The original intent of the study was to assess the effect of electron transport chain dysfunction involving elevated reactive oxygen species production on patterns of spontaneous germline mutation. In contrast to results of standard MA experiments, gas-1 MA lines evolved slightly higher mean fitness alongside reduced among-line genetic variance compared with their ancestor. Likewise, the gas-1 MA lines experienced partial recovery to wildtype reactive oxygen species levels. Whole-genome sequencing and analysis revealed that …

Encapsulation Of Inositol Hexakisphosphate To Facilitate Cellular Entry And Programmed Cell Death In Breast Cancer Cells, Ilham Hassoon Kadhim

Theses and Dissertations

There are more than 60 isoforms of InsPs generated by phosphorylation and de-phosphorylation of inositol 1, 4, 5-trisphosphate (InsP3), a key cell-signaling molecule produced during G-protein-coupled receptor activation. Among InsPs, inositol hexakisphosphate (InsP6), also known as phytic acid (IP6), is the most abundant InsPs present in most cells. It plays a critical role in cellular differentiation, cell proliferation and apoptosis involving the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. Several lines of studies have indicated the inhibitory activity of InsP6 in human and animal cancer cells via the inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway. Increasing cellular contents of InsP6 is likely to inhibit cell proliferation and …

Why Does It Take Two To Tango? Lifetime Fitness Consequences Of Parental Care In A Burying Beetle, Ashlee N. Smith, J. Curtis Creighton, Mark C. Belk

Faculty Publications

In species that require parental care, each parent can either care for their offspring or leave them in the care of the other parent. For each parent this creates three possible parental care strategies: biparental care, uniparental (male or female) care, and uniparental desertion by either the male or female. The burying beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis, typically exhibits biparental care of offspring, and thus provides a unique system that allows us to compare the fitness benefits of these parental care strategies in an unconfounded way. In this study, we assess the lifetime fitness of biparental care, uniparental care, and uniparental …

Big Data: Computational Biology Opens A New Window On The World's Challenges For Colby Scientists, Kate Carlisle

Colby Magazine

"What makes us 'us' and not a plant? Not a bacteria, or a virus," asks Andrea Tilden, the J. Warren Merrill Associate Professor of Biology and a genomics expert. "Any one genome has six thousand novels worth of information. Computational biology is the tool we use to read them."

Development And Validation Of The Microbiology For Health Sciences Concept Inventory, Heather M. Seitz, Rachel E. A. Horak, Megan W. Howard, Lucy W. Kluckhohn Jones, Theodore Muth, Christopher Parker, Andrea Pratt Rediske, Maureen M. Whitehurst

Publications and Research

Identifying misconceptions in student learning is a valuable practice for evaluating student learning gains and directing educational interventions. By accurately identifying students’ knowledge and misconceptions about microbiology concepts, instructors can design effective classroom practices centered on student understanding. Following the development of ASM’s Curriculum Guidelines in 2012, we developed a concept inventory, the Microbiology for Health Sciences Concept Inventory (MHSCI), that measures learning gains and identifies student misconceptions in health sciences microbiology classrooms. The 23-question MHSCI was delivered to a wide variety of students at multiple institution types. Psychometric analysis identified that the MHSCI instrument is both discriminatory and reliable …