Biology Commons^™

The Geological Record And Phylogeny Of Spider Wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae): A Revision Of Fossil Species And Their Phylogenetic Placement, Juanita Rodriguez, Caleb T. Walker, Carol D. Von Dohlen, James P. Pitts

Biology Faculty Publications

Accurate fossil identification has become increasingly relevant with the widespread use of phylogenetic divergence time estimation methods, which rely on fossil data to determine clade hard-minimum ages. Here we revise, diagnose and illustrate known spider wasp (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) fossil species and place them within the latest Pompilidae phylogenetic hypothesis. Ceropalites infelix Cockerell, from the Florissant Fossil Beds (Priabonian), is no longer recognized as Pompilidae, but as Aulacidae. Agenioideus saxigenus (Cockerell) comb. nov., Deuteragenia wettweri (Statz) comb. nov., Caputelus scudderi (Cockerell, 1906) comb. nov., Pepsinites avitula (Cockerell, 1941) comb. nov., Pepsinites contentus (Theobald, 1937) comb. nov., …

The North American Quails, Partridges, And Pheasants, Paul A. Johnsgard

Zea E-Books Collection

This book documents the biology of six species of New World quails that are native to North America north of Mexico (mountain, scaled, Gambel’s, California, and Montezuma quails, and the northern bobwhite), three introduced Old World partridges (chukar, Himalayan snowcock, and gray partridge), and the introduced common (ring-necked) pheasant. Collectively, quails, partridges, and pheasants range throughout all of the continental United States and the Canadian provinces. Two of the species, the northern bobwhite and ring-necked pheasant, are the most economically important of all North American upland game birds. All of the species are hunted extensively for sport and are highly …

Qubes: A Collaboration And Professional Development Platform For Quantitative Biology Education, Gabriela Hamerlinck

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Course-Based Research In Computational Analysis Of Genomes To Enhance Student Learning, Christopher Shaffer

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Yeast Cell Cycle And Metabolism Can Be Coupled In Nontrivial Ways., Todd Young

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

The Behavior Response Of Antlion Larvae To Alternating Magnetic Fields, Lindsey Wagner, Caleb L. Adams

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

One Tick, Two Tick, Two Pathogens, Oh No! Am I Sick?, Caleb L. Adams

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Cnemidophorus Sexlineatus And The Impacts The Environment Has On Its Population At The Braidwood Dunes, Jeremiah Soto

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

Vaccines Against Infectious Agents, Ebenezer Tumban

TechTalks

Peptide or subunit vaccines (antigens) are safer than attenuated vaccines. However, peptide vaccines are less immunogenic and require large multiple doses of peptides plus exogenous adjuvants to elicit an immune response. The immunogenicity of peptide antigens can be enhanced if the peptides are immunized in the context of an antigen complex that mimics a virus in terms of size, morphology, and adjuvanticity. Virus-like particles (VLPs) derived from bacteriophages (PP7, MS2, and Qβ) possess these features and as such, they are excellent platforms for peptide vaccine designs. In this seminar, I will discuss how we have exploited these platforms to enhance …

Biodiversity Crisis: Species, Ecosystems And Human Welfare Nrs 330g, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

The Beginning Of Archetypes: The End Of Chaos, Adam Stanley

Agora

No abstract provided.

Klf9 And Jnk3 Interact To Suppress Axon Regeneration In The Adult Cns, Akintomide Apara, Joana Galvao, Yan Wang, Murray G. Blackmore, Allison Trillo, Keiichiro Iwao, Dale P. Brown Jr., Kimberly A. Fernandes, Abigail Huang, Tu Nguyen, Masoumeh Ashouri, Ziong Zhang, Peter S. Shaw, Noelia J. Kunzevitzky, Darcie L. Moore, Richard T. Libby, Jeffrey L. Goldberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Neurons in the adult mammalian CNS decrease in intrinsic axon growth capacity during development in concert with changes in Krüppel-like transcription factors (KLFs). KLFs regulate axon growth in CNS neurons including retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). Here, we found that knock-down of KLF9, an axon growth suppressor that is normally upregulated 250-fold in RGC development, promotes long-distance optic nerve regeneration in adult rats of both sexes. We identified a novel binding partner, MAPK10/JNK3 kinase, and found that JNK3 (c-Jun N-terminal kinase 3) is critical for KLF9's axon-growth-suppressive activity. Interfering with a JNK3-binding domain or mutating two newly discovered serine phosphorylation acceptor …

Seasonal Variation In The Utility Of A Status Signaling System: Plumage Ornament Predicts Foraging Success Only During Periods Of High Competition, Philip Queller, Troy G. Murphy

Biology Faculty Research

Status signals allow competitors to assess each other’s resource holding potential and reduce the occurrence of physical fights. Because status signals function to mediate competition over resources, a change in the strength of competition may affect the utility of a status signaling system. Status signals alter competitor behavior during periods of high competition, and thus determine access to resources; however, when competition is reduced, we expect these signals to become disassociated from access to resources. We investigated seasonal changes in status signaling of the male black-crested titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus), a species that experiences substantial changes in population density …

Potential Functions Of Lea Proteins From The Brine Shrimp Artemia Franciscana - Anhydrobiosis Meets Bioinformatics., Brett Janis, Vladimir N. Uversky, Michael Menze

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are a large group of anhydrobiosis-associated intrinsically disordered proteins (IDP), which are commonly found in plants and some animals. The brine shrimp Artemiafranciscana is the only known animal that expresses LEA proteins from three, and not only one, different groups in its anhydrobiotic life stage. The reason for the higher complexity in the A. franciscana LEA proteome (LEAome), compared with other anhydrobiotic animals, remains mostly unknown. To address this issue, we have employed a suite of bioinformatics tools to evaluate the disorder status of the ArtemiaLEAome and to analyze the roles of intrinsic disorder in …

Identification Of Genes That Maintain Behavioral And Structural Plasticity During Sleep Loss, Laurent Seugnet, Stephane Dissel, Matthew S. Thimgan, Lijuan Cao, Paul J. Shaw

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Although patients with primary insomnia experience sleep disruption, they are able to maintain normal performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. This observation suggests that insomnia may be a condition where predisposing factors simultaneously increase the risk for insomnia and also mitigate against the deleterious consequences of waking. To gain insight into processes that might regulate sleep and buffer neuronal circuits during sleep loss, we manipulated three genes, fat facet (faf), highwire (hiw) and the GABA receptor Resistance to dieldrin (Rdl), that were differentially modulated in a Drosophila model of insomnia. Our results indicate …

Biophysical Mechanisms Of Frequency-Dependence And Its Neuromodulation In Neurons In Oscillatory Networks, David Michael Fox

Dissertations

In response to oscillatory input, many isolated neurons exhibit a preferred frequency response in their voltage amplitude and phase shift. Membrane potential resonance (MPR), a maximum amplitude in a neuron’s input impedance at a non-zero frequency, captures the essential subthreshold properties of a neuron, which may provide a coordinating mechanism for organizing the activity of oscillatory neuronal networks around a given frequency. In the pyloric central pattern generator network of the crab Cancer borealis, for example, the pacemaker group pyloric dilator neurons show MPR at a frequency that is correlated with the network frequency. This dissertation uses the crab …

Lifelines Fall 2017, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2017 issue of Lifelines contains articles on dinosaur research, student missions in Bolivia, an alumni spotlight, and Southern's preparations to become an official Tennessee Arboretum.

Prey Availability Affects Territory Size, But Not Territorial Display Behavior, In Green Anole Lizards, Chelsea M. Stehle, Andrew C. Battles, Michelle N. Sparks, Michele A. Johnson

Biology Faculty Research

The availability of food resources can affect the size and shape of territories, as well as the behaviors used to defend territories, in a variety of animal taxa. However, individuals within a population may respond differently to variation in food availability if the benefits of territoriality vary among those individuals. For example, benefits to territoriality may differ for animals of differing sizes, because larger individuals may require greater territory size to acquire required resources, or territorial behavior may differ between the sexes if males and females defend different resources in their territories. In this study, we tested whether arthropod abundance …

Landscape Genetics Of The California Tiger Salamander: Inferences From Multiple Methods, Samantha Gabrielle Thomas

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Landscape genetics is a rapidly growing field of study that compares patterns of gene flow among populations with habitat heterogeneity across a landscape to infer the interaction between dispersal of individuals and their physical environment. Empirical data generated from a landscape genetics study can inform conservation and management strategies, making the field increasing popular. However, concerns have arisen in the literature that the field is expanding faster than the analytic framework that supports it. Multiple methods for generating estimates of the association among habitat types and dispersal (i.e., least-cost paths and resistance surfaces) have been proposed, and there is a …

Highly Divergent 16s Rrna Sequences In Ribosomal Operons Of Scytonema Hyalinum (Cyanobacteria), Jeffrey R. Johansen, Jan Mares, Nicole Pietrasiak, Marketa Bohunicka, Jan Zima Jr., Lenka Stenclova, Tomas Hauer

2017 Faculty Bibliography

A highly divergent 16S rRNA gene was found in one of the five ribosomal operons present in a species complex currently circumscribed as Scytonema hyalinum (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria) using clone libraries. If 16S rRNA sequence macroheterogeneity among ribosomal operons due to insertions, deletions or truncation is excluded, the sequence heterogeneity observed in S. hyalinum was the highest observed in any prokaryotic species thus far (7.3± 9.0%). The secondary structure of the 16S rRNA molecules encoded by the two divergent operons was nearly identical, indicating possible functionality. The 23S rRNA gene was examined for a few strains in this complex, and it …

Phylogenetic Patterns Of Foliar Mineral Nutrient Accumulation Among Gypsophiles And Their Relatives In The Chihuahuan Desert, Clare Muller, Michael J. Moore, Zoe Feder, Helene Tiley, Rebecca E. Drenovsky

2017 Faculty Bibliography

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Gypsum endemism in plants (gypsophily) is common on gypsum outcrops worldwide, but little is known about the functional ecology of Chihuahuan Desert gypsophiles. We investigated whether leaf chemistry of gypsophile lineages from the northern Chihuahuan Desert are similar to leaves of related nonendemic (gypsovag) species relative to their soil chemistry. We expected widely distributed gypsophiles (hypothesized to be older lineages on gypsum) would have distinct leaf chemistry from narrowly distributed, relatively younger lineages endemic to gypsum and gypsovags, reflecting adaptation to gypsum.

METHODS: We collected leaves from 23 gypsophiles and related nonendemic taxa growing on nongypsum …

Adaptive Variation In Tiger Salamander Populations, Meghan Parsley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Amphibians face an unknown future in a time of rapid environmental change due to global climate perturbations. Since amphibians are perceived to be indicators of ecosystem health, understanding the causes of their declines can improve our perception of threats to other species. Molecular techniques have allowed us to explore how environmental change affects genetic variation and to predict evolutionary adaptive potential of amphibian populations. The identification of populations with the greatest potential to respond to changing environmental variables may be an important conservation strategy to aid in future management efforts. I utilized targeted exon capture sequencing to identify adaptive variation …

Reproductive Performance Of The Marine Green Porcelain Crab Petrolisthes Armatus Gibbes, 1850 In Its Introduced Range Favors Further Range Expansion, Ann Wassick, J. Antonio Baeza, Amy Fowler, Dara Wilber

Publications

Invasive marine crustaceans can exhibit population-level variation in reproductive traits that are consistent with a response to stressful conditions near the range edge, or alternatively, that may favor establishing new exotic populations. Reproductive characteristics of the green porcelain crab Petrolisthes armatus Gibbes, 1850 were not previously known in its invasive range in the Atlantic waters of the southeastern USA. We compared fecundity estimates, size at sexual maturity, and various other morphological aspects among crabs collected from two sites at each of four locations spanning approximately 230 km from North Inlet, South Carolina (SC), to Savannah, Georgia (GA), USA. Reproductive output …

Phosphate Starvation Induces Replacement Of Phospholipids With The Betaine Lipid Diacylglycerol-N,N,N-Trimethylhomoserine In The Human Fungal Pathogen Candida Albicans, Surabhi Naik, Rebecca E. Cahoon, Bridget Tripp, Christian Elowsky, Sophie Alvarez, Kan Liu, Chi Zhang, Wayne R. Riekhof

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

We have previously demonstrated that phosphate starvation induces replacement of phosphatidylcholine with the betaine lipid diacylglyceryl-N,N,N-trimethylhomoserine (DGTS) in fungi. In Neurospora crassa, the BTA1 gene encodes the betaine lipid synthase, which is necessary and sufficient for DGTS synthesis. BTA1 expression and DGTS accumulation are part of the fungal phosphorus (P_i) deprivation (PHO) regulon, mediated by the NUC-1/Pho4p transcription factor. We now demonstrate that the human pathogen Candida albicans encodes a BTA1 ortholog (CaBTA1), which is activated during P_i scarcity. The CaBTA1 gene is also induced under certain biofilm-promoting conditions independent of P …

Insights Into Transgenerational Epigenetics From Studies Of Ciliates, Olivia A. Pilling, Anna J. Rogers, Bethaney Gulla-Devaney, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Epigenetics, a term with many meanings, can be broadly defined as the study of dynamic states of the genome. Ciliates, a clade of unicellular eukaryotes, can teach us about the intersection of epigenetics and evolution due to the advantages of working with cultivable ciliate lineages, plus their tendency to express extreme phenotypes such as heritable doublet morphology. Moreover, ciliates provide a powerful model for studying epigenetics given the presence of dimorphic nuclei – a somatic macronucleus and germline micronucleus – within each cell. Here, we exemplify the power of studying ciliates to learn about epigenetic phenomena. We highlight “classical” examples …

Microbiology For Allied Health Students: Instructional Materials, Molly Smith, Sara Selby

Biological Sciences Ancillary Materials

This is a collection of instructional materials for the following open textbook and lab manual:

• Microbiology for Allied Health Students Textbook
• Microbiology for Allied Health Students Lab Manual

Authors' Description:

The materials in this collection were developed from various sources as a means of engaging students and assessing their understanding of the course content. Included in the Active Learning Strategies are several game-type activities, as well as a webquest that serves as a directed research project designed to supplement the information found in their lab manual.

The Case Studies build on information from the remixed version of the OpenStax Microbiology …

Carbon Sequestration In The Cloud Forest: A Comparative Evaluation Of Aboveground Biomass Carbon Stock Potential In The Río Guajalito Reserve, Elli Mapstone

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere continue to rise at a rapid rate, it is necessary to understand how forests can both contribute to CO₂ levels but also stop them from rising. Carbon sequestration levels in tropical montane cloud forests are a relatively understudied topic. Gathering carbon stock levels is the first step necessary to start a REDD+ project. Carbon stock levels can be studied on a global, regional or local level. This study used the University of Oxford/ Global Ecosystems Monitoring Network (GEM) methodology to examine carbon sequestration levels of aboveground biomass, specifically ground litter, large branches …

Modeling Virus Coinfection To Inform Management Of Maize Lethal Necrosis In Kenya, Frank H. Hilker, Linda S. J. Allen, Vrushali A. Bokil, Cheryl J. Briggs, Zhilan Feng, Karen A. Garrett, Louis J. Gross, Frédéric M. Hamelin, Michael J. Jeger, Carrie A. Manore, Alison G. Power, Margaret G. Redinbaugh, Megan A. Rúa, Nik J. Cunniffee

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Maize lethal necrosis (MLN) has emerged as a serious threat to food security in sub-Saharan Africa. MLN is caused by coinfection with two viruses, Maize chlorotic mottle virus and a potyvirus, often Sugarcane mosaic virus. To better understand the dynamics of MLN and to provide insight into disease management, we modeled the spread of the viruses causing MLN within and between growing seasons. The model allows for transmission via vectors, soil, and seed, as well as exogenous sources of infection. Following model parameterization, we predict how management affects disease prevalence and crop performance over multiple seasons. Resource-rich farmers with …

Associative Learning Contributes To The Increased Water Intake Observed After Daily Injections Of Angiotensin Ii, Maggie Postolache, Jessica Santollo, Derek Daniels

Biology Faculty Publications

Daily injections of angiotensin II (AngII) cause a progressive increase of water intake that resembles a classically ascribed non-associative sensitization. Consistent with the presumption that the observed increase in intake was sensitization, we hypothesized that it resulted from a pharmacological interaction between AngII and its receptor. To test this hypothesis, and remove the influence of drinking itself, we implemented a delay in water access after injection of AngII (icv) on four consecutive ‘induction days,’ and then measured intake on the next day (‘test day’) when rats were allowed to drink immediately after AngII. The delay in water access effectively reduced …

Unusual Features Of Non-Dividing Somatic Macronuclei In The Ciliate Class Karyorelictea, Ying Yan, Anna J. Rogers, Feng Gao, Laura A. Katz

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Genome structure and nuclear organization have been intensely studied in model ciliates such as Tetrahymena and Paramecium, yet few studies have focused on nuclear features of other ciliate clades including the class Karyorelictea. In most ciliates, both the somatic macronuclei and germline micronuclei divide during cell division and macronuclear development only occurs after conjugation. However, the macronuclei of Karyorelictea are non-dividing (i.e. division minus (Div−)) and develop anew from micronuclei during each asexual division. As macronuclei age within Karyorelictea, they undergo changes in morphology and DNA content until they are eventually degraded and replaced by newly developed macronuclei. No less …