Biology Commons^™

Giant Salvinia, Salvinia Molesta (Salviniaceae): Evaluation Of Sub-Optimum Temperatures On Survival Of The Giant Salvinia Weevil, Cyrtobagous Salviniae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) And Integration Of Management Practices With Aquatic Herbicides, Lauren W. Cozad

LSU Master's Theses

Salvinia molesta is one of the world’s worst aquatic weeds and has cost Louisiana nearly $7 million worth of damage and economic impact each year. While aquatic herbicides and the biological control agent, Cyrtobagous salviniae, are the most efficacious control methods, there are limitations with each technology. Therefore, studies were conducted to evaluate insect mortality at upper and lower lethal temperatures and investigate integrated pest management (IPM) with insects and herbicides. Three Louisiana populations of C. salviniae were tested to evaluate cold tolerance and found that at 0°C, the Bayou Nicholas population was 1.3- and 1.4-times more cold tolerant …

Response To Nitrogen And Salinity Conditions In Rhizophora Mangle Seedlings Varies By Site Of Origin, Kristen L. Langanke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many coastal plant species thrive across a range of environmental conditions, often displaying dramatic phenotypic variation in response to environmental variation. We characterized the response of the critical foundation species Rhizophora mangle L. to full factorial combinations of salt and nitrogen (N). We used seedlings collected from five populations and measured traits related to salt tolerance and N amendment. The response to increasing salt included significant plasticity in succulence, leaf mass area (LMA), and root to shoot ratio (R:S). Seedlings also showed overall reduced maximum photosynthetic rate in response to N amendment, but this response depended on the level of …

Gene Coexpression Network Analysis Of Fruit Transcriptomes Uncovers A Possible Mechanistically Distinct Class Of Sugar/Acid Ratio-Associated Genes In Sweet Orange, Liang Qiao, Minghao Cao, Jian Zheng, Yihong Zhao, Zhi-Liang Zheng

Publications and Research

Background: The ratio of sugars to organic acids, two of the major metabolites in fleshy fruits, has been considered the most important contributor to fruit sweetness. Although accumulation of sugars and acids have been extensively studied, whether plants evolve a mechanism to maintain, sense or respond to the fruit sugar/acid ratio remains a mystery. In a prior study, we used an integrated systems biology tool to identify a group of 39 acid-associated genes from the fruit transcriptomes in four sweet orange varieties (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) with varying fruit acidity, Succari (acidless), Bingtang (low acid), and Newhall and Xinhui (normal …

Composition And Quantification Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In Deep-Pelagic Fauna. Cruises Dp02, Dp03, And Dp04 From August 2015 - August 2016, Isabel C. Romero

DEEPEND Datasets

Samples were collected in the northern Gulf of Mexico on cruises DP02, DP03 and DP04 from August 2015 - August 2016. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) data were integrated with those from population dynamics and stable isotope analysis to provide evidence for effects of oil exposure to deep pelagic communities. The target fish species include Argyropelecus spp., Ceratoscopelus warmingii, Chauliodus sloani, Diaphus spp., Lampanyctus alatus, Lepidophanes guentheri, and Sigmops elongatus. Analysis of PAHs was conducted on different fish tissues (muscle, guts, gills, and eggs) following modified EPA method 8270D and QA/QC strict protocols. Detection and quantification of PAH homologues was performed …

Spatial-Temporal Dynamics Of Neotropical Velvet Ant (Hymenoptera: Mutillidae) Communities Along A Forest-Savanna Gradient, Júlio Miguel Alvarenga, Cecília Rodrigues Vieira, Leandro Braga Godinho, Pedro Henrique Campelo, James P. Pitts, Guarino Rinaldi Colli

Biology Faculty Publications

Understanding how and why biological communities are organized over space and time is a major challenge and can aid biodiversity conservation in times of global changes. Herein, spatial-temporal variation in the structure of velvet ant communities was examined along a forest-savanna gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado to assess the roles of environmental filters and interspecific interactions upon community assembly. Velvet ants were sampled using 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for one year along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed on each trap recorded …

Density, Growth, And Reproduction Of The Cockle Laevicardium Mortoni In The Peconic Bays, Long Island, New York, Hailey Brosnan

Discovery Day (formerly Post & Beyond)

Morton’s egg cockle, Laevicardium mortoni, is common in shallow subtidal

habitats from Nova Scotia to Brazil, but little is known of its biology and ecology.

Field studies were conducted in the Peconic Bays of Long Island, New

York to examine population and life history parameters such as density,

growth, and age at first reproduction. Suction dredging was conducted at

three sites to examine whether density varied with depth and sediment

type. Condition Indexes for a range of cockle sizes were quantified weekly

at two sites to estimate age and size at first reproduction. Growth rates and

temporal patterns of …

Science Alive, Allan Barraza, Ahjay Bhatia, Gwen Bui, Sophia Nguyen

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

The Austria Summer Biology Internship, Max Cedeno-Hahn, Laura Enzinna

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Beginning Experiment: Nanoparticle Uptake In Arpe-19 Cells, Nitya Nunna

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Practicum In Biology, Sarah Amaris

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Cano Health Clinical Studies Internship Program, Stephanie Hernandez

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Rumbaugh Goodwin Institute Of Cancer Research, Christopher Garcia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

The International Human Cadaver Prosection Program, Wilford Miranda, Christopher Garcia

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Cleveland Clinic Summer Scholars Program, Chethani Chitraacharige

Trick to the Treat of Internships and Research

No abstract provided.

Multiple Hypotheses Explain Variation In Extra-Pair Paternity At Different Levels In A Single Bird Family, Lyanne Brouwer, Martijn Van De Pol, Nataly Hidalgo Aranzamendi, Glen Bain, Daniel T. Baldassarre, Lesley C. Brooker, Michael G. Brooker, Diane Diane Colombelli-Négrel, Erik Enbody, Kurt Gielow, Michelle L. Hall, Allison E. Johnson, Jordan Karubian, Sjouke A. Kingma, Sonia Kleindorfer, Marina Louter, Raoul A. Mulder, Anne Peters, Stephen Pruett-Jones, Keith A. Tarvin, Derrick J. Thrasher, Claire W. Varian-Ramos, Michael S. Webster, Andrew Cockburn

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Extra-pair paternity (EPP), where offspring are sired by a male other than the social male, varies enormously both within and among species. Trying to explain this variation has proved difficult because the majority of the interspecific variation is phylogenetically based. Ideally, variation in EPP should be investigated in closely related species, but clades with sufficient variation are rare. We present a comprehensive multifactorial test to explain variation in EPP among individuals in 20 populations of nine species over 89 years from a single bird family (Maluridae). Females had higher EPP in the presence of more helpers, more neighbors or …

Effect Of Population, Collection Year, After-Ripening And Incubation Condition On Seed Germination Of Stipa Bungeana, Rui Zhang, Jerry M. Baskin, Carol C. Baskin, Qing Mo, Lijun Chen, Xiaowen Hu, Yanrong Wang

Biology Faculty Publications

Knowledge of the germination behavior of different populations of a species can be useful in the selection of appropriate seed sources for restoration. The aim of this study was to test the effect of seed population, collection year, after-ripening and incubation conditions on seed dormancy and germination of Stipa bungeana, a perennial grass used for revegetation of degraded grasslands on the Loess Plateau, China. Fresh S. bungeana seeds were collected from eight locally-adapted populations in 2015 and 2016. Dormancy and germination characteristics of fresh and 6-month-old dry-stored seeds were determined by incubating them over a range of alternating temperature …

Collaboration: Professor And Former Protégé Are Finding Answers To Nature's Questions, Gerry Boyle

Colby Magazine

Biologist Dave Angelini and collaborator Will Simmons '17J have published findings of their three-year study of the effect of pesticides on bumblebees and hope the results will have the scientific community looking for new solutions to the problem.

Science Phobic?: Professor Frank Fekete Can Fix That - And, Perhaps, Some Global Problems, Abukar Adan

Colby Magazine

"It shouldn't be a surprise. Of any subdiscipline in biology, microbiology is the most relevant to my students' lives because everyone is concerned about his or her health." - Frank Fekete, professor of biology

Anaerobic Oxidation Of Ethane, Propane, And Butane By Marine Microbes: A Mini Review, Rajesh Singh, Michael S. Guzman, Arpita Bose

Biology Faculty Research

The deep ocean and its sediments are a continuous source of non-methane short-chain alkanes (SCAs) including ethane, propane, and butane. Their high global warming potential, and contribution to local carbon and sulfur budgets has drawn significant scientific attention. Importantly, microbes can use gaseous alkanes and oxidize them to CO₂, thus acting as effective biofilters. A relative decrease of these gases with a concomitant ¹³C enrichment of propane and n-butane in interstitial waters vs. the source suggests microbial anaerobic oxidation. The reported uncoupling of sulfate-reduction (SR) from anaerobic methane oxidation supports their microbial consumption. To date, strain …

Is Tb Testing Associated With Increased Blood Interferon-Gamma Levels?, Aideen E. Kennedy, Jim O'Mahony, Noel Byrne, John Macsharry, Riona G. Sayers

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The Republic of Ireland reports a relatively low prevalence of Johne’s disease (JD) compared to international counterparts. Postulated reasons for this include a lower average herd size and a grass-based production system. Ireland also engages in high levels of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) testing. As interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) is believed to play a key role in protecting against JD, it is our hypothesis that administration of purified protein derivative (PPD), as part of the bTB test, is associated with a systemic increase in IFN-γ production, which may potentially limit clinical progression of the disease. We studied 265 cows (202 Friesian and 63 …

Assessment Of Intra And Interregional Genetic Variation In The Eastern Red-Backed Salamander, Plethodon Cinereus, Via Analysis Of Novel Microsatellite Markers, Alexander C. Cameron

Biology

The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) has long-served as a model system in ecology, evolution, and behavior, and studies surveying molecular variation in this species have become increasingly common over the past decade. However, difficulties are commonly encountered when extending microsatellite markers to populations that are unstudied from a genetic perspective due to high levels of genetic differentiation across this species’ range. To ameliorate this issue, we used 454 pyrosequencing to identify hundreds of microsatellite loci. We then screened 40 of our top candidate loci in populations in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio—including an isolated island population ~ 4.5 km off the …

Water Supply In Developing Countries: Student Experiences In The Dominican Republic, Albert Alwang, Margaret Busse, Audrey Caprio, Marieke Fenton, Jason Hawes, Andrew Kanach, Autumn Mcelfresh-Sutton

Purdue Journal of Service-Learning and International Engagement

In 2010, the United Nations established access to safe drinking water as a basic human right; however, many areas around the globe still lack access. The interdisciplinary service-learning course “Water Supply in Developing Countries” was established at Purdue in 2012 to address the complex issue of water insecurity around the world. Over the past five years, the course has produced teams involving students from nursing, engineering, agricultural economics, biology, and food science working together to develop sustainable, community-scale drinking water treatment systems. In partnership with Aqua Clara International, the student team in 2017 established a drinking water treatment system at …

Advanced Evolutionary Biology Bio/Geo 472, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Substitutions In Conserved Regions Preceding And Within The Linker Affect Activity And Flexibility Of Trnase Zl, The Long Form Of Trnase Z, Makensie Saoura, Kyla Pinnock, Maria Pujantell-Graell, Louis Levinger

Publications and Research

The enzyme tRNase Z, a member of the metallo-β-lactamase family, endonucleolytically removes 3' trailers from precursor tRNAs, preparing them for CCA addition and aminoacylation. The short form of tRNase Z, tRNase ZS, functions as a homodimer and is found in all prokaryotes and some eukaryotes. The long form, tRNase ZL, related to tRNase ZS through tandem duplication and found only in eukaryotes, possesses ~2,000-fold greater catalytic efficiency than tRNase ZS. tRNase ZL consists of related but diverged amino and carboxy domains connected by a flexible linker (also referred to as a flexible tether) and functions as a monomer. The amino …

Analysis Of Complex Vertebrate Genomes: Computational Challenges And Solutions, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

No abstract provided.

The Lamprey Genome: Illuminating Genomic Change Across Eons And Embryogenesis, Jeramiah J. Smith, Courtney K. M. Waterbury, Melissa C. Keinath, Cody B. Saraceno, Vladimir A. Timoshevskiy, Nataliya Y. Timoshevskaya

Commonwealth Computational Summit

The lamprey genome provides unique insights into both the deep evolutionary history of vertebrate genomes and the maintenance of genome structure/integrity over development. The lamprey lineage diverged from all other vertebrates approximately 500 million years ago. As such, comparisons between lamprey and other vertebrates permit reconstruction of ancient duplication and rearrangement events that defined the fundamental architecture and gene content of all extant vertebrate genomes. Lamprey also undergoes programmatic changes genome structure that result in the physical elimination of ~20% of its genomic DNA (~0.5Gb from a ~2 Gb genome) from all somatic cell lineages during early embryonic development. Here, …

Use Of Hpc To Analyze Changes In Gene Expression During Fruit Fly Spermiogenesis, Sepideh Dadkhah, Douglas A. Harrison, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, JAK/STAT signaling during spermiogenesis is known to play a crucial role in the maintenance of stem cells of the testis. Recent studies in our lab have shown that activation of the JAK/STAT pathway in somatic cyst cells is also required for the later stages of spermiogenesis like individualization.

The main goal of this project is to characterize the events downstream of JAK/STAT signaling in spermiogenesis and more specifically to determine the mechanism by which JAK/STAT activation regulates individualization, a later stage in spermiogenesis where 64 individual spermatids are formed from a 64-interconnected spermatid …

Discovery Of Sex-Specific Regions In A Salamander Genome, Nataliya Y. Timoshevskaya, Melissa C. Keinath, Jeramiah J. Smith

Commonwealth Computational Summit

Biological Aspects:

Salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum) has a gigantic genome: ~32,000,000,000 bases (10X of size of human genome)

Sex is determined by a pair of morphologically identical chromosomes:

• ZZ in male
• ZW in female

Object:

• Find (if there are any) genomic differences between chromosomes W and Z

Workflow:

1. Sequencing and de novo assembly of the reference salamander genome
2. Alignment of short sequences from male and female genomes to the reference
3. Coverage analysis

Modern Day Teleology, Brianna Cunningham

Quaerens Deum: The Liberty Undergraduate Journal for Philosophy of Religion

This paper seeks to explain a modern day universe theory derived from Teleology, namely: Intelligent Design, under which Irreducible Complexity and Fine-Tuning fall. By virtue of being derivatives of Teleology, both of these maintain the idea that things are evolving toward a certain end for a certain purpose. Through detailed definitions and examples, it is clear that these theories support each other; the astounding specificity needed for life on earth virtually requires an Intelligent Designer. The paper then explores counter explanations for this seeming impossibility, such as the Anthropic Principle Objection, Unique Universe, and the Multiverse. Each of these theories, …

The Pulse Vision & Change Rubrics, Version 1.0: A Valid And Equitable Tool To Measure Transformation Of Life Sciences Departments At All Institution Types, Loretta Brancaccio-Taras, Pamela Pape-Lindstrom, Marcy Peteroy-Kelly, Karen Aguirre, Judy Awong-Taylor, Teri Balser, Michael J. Cahill, Regina F. Frey, Thomas Jack, Michael Kelrick, Kate Marley, Kathryn G. Miller, Marcy Osgood, Sandra Romano, J. Akif Uzman, Jiuqing Zhao

Publications and Research

The PULSE Vision & Change Rubrics, version 1.0, assess life sciences departments’ progress toward implementation of the principles of the Vision and Change report. This paper reports on the development of the rubrics, their validation, and their reliability in measuring departmental change aligned with the Vision and Change recommendations. The rubrics assess 66 different criteria across five areas: Curriculum Alignment, Assessment, Faculty Practice/Faculty Support, Infrastructure, and Climate for Change. The results from this work demonstrate the rubrics can be used to evaluate departmental transformation equitably across institution types and represent baseline data about the adoption of the Vision and Change …