Biology Commons^™

Comparison Of Anthracnose Resistance With The Presence Of Two Scar Markers Associated With The Rca2 Gene In Strawberry, Melinda A. Miller-Butler, Barbara J. Smith, Brian R. Kreiser, Eugene K. Blythe

Faculty Publications

Strawberry anthracnose diseases are caused primarily by three Colletotrichum species: C. acutatum J.H. Simmonds, C. fragariae A.N. Brooks, and C. gloeosporioides (Penz.) Penz. & Sacc. Molecular markers are being used in breeding programs to identify alleles linked to disease resistance and other positive agronomic traits. In our study, strawberry cultivars and breeding germplasm with known anthracnose susceptibility or resistance to the three anthracnose-causing Colletotrichum species were screened for two sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers linked to the Rca2 gene. The Rca2 resistant allele SCAR markers were associated with varying degrees of significance for a strawberry plant’s anthracnose resistance to …

The Endosymbiotic Gut Fungus Zancudomyces Culisetae Influences Transstadial Transmission Of Host-Associated Microbiota In The Yellow Fever Mosquito (Aedes Aegypti), Jonas Frankel-Bricker

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Mosquitoes are vectors for a variety of human pathogens and have a significant impact on human health worldwide. There is growing evidence that host-associated microbiota influence mosquito vector competence for certain viruses. Transstadial transmission of bacteria from larvae through pupae to adults could affect these interactions, though further studies are needed to fully unravel the mechanisms involved. Current microbiome research primarily focuses on bacterial communities, whereas the potential role endosymbiotic gut fungi have in transstadial transmission dynamics remains largely unknown. Trichomycetes is an ecological group of endosymbiotic microfungi that colonize the digestive tracts of arthropod hosts, including the Yellow Fever …

Investigating The Effects Of Intrahippocampal Glucose Administration On Spatial Working Memory In Rats, Jeremy Carter

Biological Sciences

Insulin is a peptide hormone released by beta pancreatic cells . Insulin’s best-known function is to regulate absorption of glucose into peripheral tissue: this occurs via activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling cascade and subsequent translocation of glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) to the cell surface. This canonical peripheral insulin signaling pathway appears to exist in essentially identical form within the central nervous system (CNS), so that insulin promotes entry of glucose into neural cells and subsequent increased metabolism. In order to maintain proper function, insulin-responsive hippocampal neurons and glia require glucose metabolism; a catabolic energy-yielding process that requires insulin …

The Efficacy Of Ventral Pallidum- Deep Brain Stimulation In Rat Models Of Epilepsy, Fu Yee Chua

Biological Sciences

Antiepileptic drugs have been a primary option for patients with epilepsy worldwide, however, about one-third of patients do not respond to pharmacotherapy. For these individuals, resective surgery can be performed but seizures are still reported in some cases. With that in mind, neuromodulation or deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a plausible alternative to provide seizure freedom for refractory individuals. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), anterior thalamus DBS and responsive neurostimulation (RNS) are FDA approved as neuromodulatory approaches for epilepsy. They reduce and delay seizures but do not prevent or abolish seizures. In the previous study, the Shin lab showed that DBS …

Comparative Thermal Ecology Of Coastal And Inland Pacific Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Oreganus), Hayley Layne Crowell

Master's Theses

Global biodiversity is declining as a direct result of anthropogenic climate change. Ectothermic species have become focal organisms for studying the ecological effects of altered climates due to the clear relationship between environmental temperatures and ectotherms’ basic physiological functions. Historically, examinations of these effects have focused heavily on heliothermic lizards, and most others have tended to focus on single populations or sympatric species within a single community. Addressing the longterm energetic implications of environmental temperature variation will provide valuable insight into the cascading physiological effects that certain populations or species may experience as a result of altered climates.

In this …

John's "Embryonic Stem Cell Research: Re-Explored Considering Scientific, Philosophical And Theological Understanding Of Human Life" (Book Review), Joseph Baumstarck Jr.

The Christian Librarian

No abstract provided.

Surveying Apicomplexan Diversity And Dynamics In Narragansett Bay, Evelyn Spencer

Senior Honors Projects

Parasites play an important role in marine ecosystems and their diversity is generally understudied. Apicomplexans, a group of parasitic protists in the phylum Alveolata, infect a wide variety of animal hosts and are abundant in ecosystems spanning from Polar Regions to Neotropical rainforests. Previous data generated from marine sediments in Antarctica, Naples Bay, and off the coast of Oslo, exhibit high diversity and numbers of apicomplexans. Abundance and diversity of these protists are unknown for Narragansett Bay, despite the fact that they infect many commercially important species. The aim of my study was to obtain abundance data and understand genetic …

Circadian Rhythms Of The Spider Pholcus Phalangeoides In Activity Monitors And Web Boxes, Steven Dirmeyer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Circadian rhythms are endogenous molecular clocks that correspond to the 24-hour day and are regulated by light stimulus, allowing organisms to entrain to the dawn-dusk cycle. These clocks may allow organisms to anticipate daily events, influencing their behavior. In arthropods, including spiders, circadian rhythmicity is tested using activity monitors, which house individuals in tubes. However, this does not reflect the natural habitat of many spiders. We compared the locomotor activity of the cellar spider Pholcus phalangiodes in activity monitors with the locomotor activity in web boxes. After being entrained to a 12:12 light:dark cycle, the spiders were recorded in constant …

Methylation-Specific Differentiation Of Vaginal Epithelial Cells For Forensic Tissue Typing By Bisulfite Conversion And Pyrosequencing, Elise Pood

Master's Theses

The identification of bodily fluids and tissues is often applied to criminal investigations to clarify events that may or may not have taken place. Current forensic techniques can identify blood, saliva, seminal fluid, and spermatozoa, but there is a clear absence of reliable testing to identify vaginal epithelial tissue. Though there are serological tests available for this purpose, tissue-specific methylation markers have recently been investigated as a candidate for the identification of blood, saliva, and spermatozoa.

In this study, tissue-specific methylation markers were analyzed to identify a set of markers for the differentiation of vaginal fluid from blood, saliva, and …

Interactions Of Fentanyl With Gp120 In The Central Nervous System, Meagan Buchanan

Honors Theses

The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) has affected more than 75 million individuals worldwide. HIV not only affects the peripheral system through the targeting of T cells, but also causes adverse effects in the central nervous system. Individuals suffering from HIV often experience neuropathic pain and are prescribed opioids to combat the chronic pain. Along with the increase of opioids prescribed to HIV patients, the number of deaths related to the synthetic opioid, fentanyl, has increased drastically. Drug abuse and HIV are interlinked epidemics; individuals who are HIV positive and referred to as “NeuroAIDS.” The HIV envelope protein, gp120, has been …

Seasonal Changes In Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile Atricapillus) Social Structure And Gargle Vocalizations, James Vanorman

All NMU Master's Theses

Many organisms form social groups for many different reasons. Individuals within a group gain benefits from having a way of effectively communicating with their group, especially in organisms that maintain their social affiliations for long periods of time. In birds, vocalizations are the main means of communicating among individuals. When there are multiple groups of birds in an area, each group could share vocalizations. This sharing can then create local dialects. Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) are small songbirds of temperate habitats of North America that group together in larger flocks every winter. Dialects of the gargle vocalization have …

Correlation Between Pluripotent Stem Cell Markers And Microrna Expression In Dental Pulp Stem Cells, Mark Whiting

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In human development there are many factors that cause our cells to form certain organs and systems with specific functions. These cells original start as stem cells before biological processes take over and cause differentiation into different cell lines. Since these undifferentiated stem cells have been discovered, many studies have been done to try and find the exact mechanism that causes a cell to change into another specific cell. Due to the multiple sources that stem cells can be harvest from the human body, this knowledge of how differentiation works could lead to breakthroughs in regenerative medicine.

Traditional biomarkers have …

Rna Secondary Structure Of 3’Utr Regulates Translation Control, M. Grace Hren

Biological Sciences

According to the central dogma of biology, DNA is transcribed into mRNA. This mRNA is then translated into a protein. Translation of mRNA into protein is extremely precise, and as such is controlled by many different factors, both spatially and temporally. This phenomenon is known as translation control. Many times, this regulation is influenced by secondary structures, often in the form of stem loops on the mRNA. These secondary structures found on mRNA, specifically in the 3’Untranslated Region (3’UTR) of mRNA, can influence cellular gene expression. These genes can be upregulated or down regulated, depending on stem loop function. When …

An Assessment Of Combinatorial Transcription Factor Activity At P53 Enhancer Elements, Sylvia Kuang

Biological Sciences

Certain non-coding DNA sequences in the eukaryotic genome regulate gene expression. These non-coding regulatory regions, including promoters and enhancers, are controlled by the binding of multiple transcription factors which act together to regulate gene transcription. The number of potential transcription factor combinations regulating any gene presents a massive experimental challenge. One well-known transcription factor, p53, activates multiple transcription pathways involved in tumor suppression, primarily through engagement with enhancers. p53 is one member of a paralogous transcription factor family, which includes the factor p63. Whereas p53 is involved in tumor suppression, p63 is a transcription factor responsible for maintaining epithelial cell …

Embryonic Lethality Of Cranial Neural Crest Deletion Of Cdc73, Lilia Shen

Honors Scholar Theses

Hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor (HPT-JT) syndrome is a disease characterized by parathyroid tumors, renal cysts or tumors, uterine tumors, and ossifying jaw fibromas. The cause of this syndrome is linked to a tumor suppressor gene called Cdc73, which encodes the protein product parafibromin. The loss of proper expression of Cdc73/parafibromin is implicated in the development of the tumors typical of HPT-JT, although the exact mechanisms of tumorigenesis are unclear. In particular, not much is understood about the development of ossifying fibromas (OF) of the jaw in this syndrome. OF is a benign bone neoplasm that can affect the mandible and …

Social Influences On Vocal Development In A Wild Parrot, Caleb Michael Mand Arellano

Theses and Dissertations

The Social Intelligence Hypothesis (SIH) proposes that navigating complex societies requires increased neural processing to monitor shifting relationships. SIH evolutionary focus of brain size variation in adults originally ignored the developmental frameworks leading to increased sociality. I studied the ontogeny of early sibling interactions in wild Green‐rumped Parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) in a Venezuelan population that exhibited large variation in brood size and engaged in elaborate social interactions and complex social learning during nestling development. To test if nests of varying brood sizes exhibit differences in social complexity, I quantified the number and strength of sibling play partnerships, as a proxy …

Identification Of Inhibitors Of The Glutaminyl And Prolyl Trna Synthetases From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Yaritza Escamilla

Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic resistance is a growing global threat and bacterial infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria have become increasingly difficult and expensive to treat with most current antibiotics. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and a leading cause of nosocomial infections and is the leading cause of mortality in cystic fibrosis patients. Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are a class of enzymes that catalyze the covalent attachment of amino acids to their cognate tRNAs during protein biosynthesis. The glutaminyl- tRNA synthetase from P. aeruginosa was over-expressed, enzymatically characterized and developed into a screening platform for the discovery of chemical compounds that inhibit …

Investigating The Efficacy Of Jak2/Stat3 And Pi3k/Mtor Inhibitory Therapy On Glioblastoma And Basal Breast Cancer Cell Lines, Neftali Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations

The JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/mTOR pathways are upregulated in cancer cells. STAT3 promotes a positive feedback loop for the stem program whereas PI3K inhibits FOXOs tumor suppressor role and mTOR promotes tumorigenic advancement. Particularly GBM and BBC are aggressive cancers that have a stem cell population that makes them difficult to treat and metastatic. We investigate the effects of a combination therapy that inhibits JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/mTOR output aiming to lower stem cell expression and promote apoptosis. Our collected data indicates that the dual inhibition induced apoptosis, but it also increased the stem cell signature. The findings pave way for the …

Preparation Of A Flavonol Specific Glucosyltransferase Found In Grapefruit And Site-Directed Mutants For Protein Crystallization, Aaron Birchfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research was designed to determine the conditions necessary to remove c-myc and 6x-His tags from a flavonol specific glucosyltransferase found in grapefruit (CP3GT) using thrombin in preparation for crystallization. X-ray crystallography of CP3GT crystals may elucidate structural features that account for flavonol specificity in some glucosyltransferase enzymes. A thrombin cleavage site was inserted into WT CP3GT and one mutant. Recombinant CP3GT was expressed in yeast and purified. Optimal conditions for thrombin digestion were explored. Digestion with 100U of thrombin for 2 hours at 4^o C was optimal for removing tags from CP3GT. Storage at 4^o C for …

Differentiating Black Bears (Ursus Americanus) And Brown Bears (U. Arctos) Using Linear Tooth Measurements And Identification Of Ursids From Oregon Caves National Monument, Emily Bogner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

North American black bears and brown bears can be difficult to distinguish in the fossil record due to similar dental and skeletal morphologies. Challenges identifying ursid material from Oregon Caves National Monument (ORCA) called for an accurate tool to distinguish the species. This study utilized a large database of lower tooth lengths and ratios in an attempt to differentiate black and brown bears in North America. Further, this project examined how these linear measurements differ geographically. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) found significant differences between black and brown bears from across North America for every variable studied. Stepwise discriminant analyses (DA) …

Thiol-Based Misfolding: Linking Redox Balance To Cytosolic Proteostasis, Ford Amy

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The eukaryotic cytosolic proteome is vulnerable to changes in proteostatic and redox balance caused by temperature, pH, oxidants and xenobiotics. Cysteine-containing proteins are especially at risk as the thiol side chain is subject to oxidation, adduction and chelation by thiol-reactive compounds. All of these thiol-modifiers have been demonstrated to induce the heat shock response and recruit protein chaperones to sites of presumed protein aggregation in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. However, endogenous targets of thiol stress toxicity responsible for these outcomes are largely unknown. Furthermore, I hypothesize proteins identified as redox-active are prone to misfolding and aggregation by thiol-specific …

Higher Order Chromosome Organization And Recombination Dynamics Of Meiotic Prophase I In Mouse Spermatocytes, Rhea Kang

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Meiotic recombination is required for parental chromosomes to find each other (pairing/synapsis) and to exchange genetic information thus allowing faithful segregation of chromosomes and the production of haploid gametes. At the start of meiotic prophase I, meiotic chromosomes organize into loop arrays that extrude out of the chromosome axis. Then, a large number of programmed double-strand breaks (DSBs) are formed at specific chromosomal locations or “hotspots” on parental chromosomes, which are repaired by homologous recombination (HR). HR produces either crossovers, which result in the exchange of flanking markers between homologs, or noncrossovers, which are short regions ofgene conversion to the …

Cross-Presentation Is A Source Of Tumor Antigens For Multiple Myeloma Immunotherapy, Alexander A. Perakis

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Cross-presentation is an essential bridge between the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system where antigen presenting cells (APCs) prime cytotoxic T cell responses. We have recently identified cross-presentation as a mechanism by which solid tumors present exogenous antigens. We therefore hypothesized that multiple myeloma would be capable of cross-presentation as these cells are derived from B cells, known APCs. We explored the capacity of multiple myeloma to cross-present PR1, a human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2 nonameric peptide that is derived from neutrophil elastase (NE) and proteinase 3 (P3), and the ability to treat multiple myeloma using PR1-targeting immunotherapies. Here …

Biogeochemical Effects Of Sea Level Rise-Induced Transitions Within Coastal Wetlands, Havalend Steinmuller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As sea level rise (SLR) affects coastal wetlands, ecosystem responses can include vertical accretion, landward transgression, or submergence. Sea level rise-induced transitions can alter key biogeochemical transformations within wetland soils, impacting the ability of these systems to provide ecosystem services, specifically carbon (C) storage and water quality regulation. Through a series of complementary laboratory and field-based studies, biogeochemical responses to salinity, vegetation shifts, and submergence were investigated. Changes in nutrient dynamics associated with saltwater intrusion were evaluated by artificially adding saline water to different freshwater wetland soil types, indicating that potential exports of critical nutrients (forms of nitrogen, phosphorus, and …

Using Molecular Diet Analysis To Inform Invasive Species Management: A Case Study Of Introduced Rats Consuming Endemic New Zealand Frogs, Bastian Egeter, Cailín Roe, Sara Peixoto, Pamela Puppo, Luke J. Easton, Joana Pinto, Phillip J. Bishop, Bruce C. Robertson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

The decline of amphibians has been of international concern for more than two decades, and the global spread of introduced fauna is a major factor in this decline. Conservation management decisions to implement control of introduced fauna are often based on diet studies. One of the most common metrics to report in diet studies is Frequency of Occurrence (FO), but this can be difficult to interpret, as it does not include a temporal perspective. Here, we examine the potential for FO data derived from molecular diet analysis to inform invasive species management, using invasive ship rats (Rattus rattus) …

Cellular Localization Of Rad51d Mutant Proteins And The Application Of Art To Increase Scientific Literacy In America, Claire L. Chabot

Senior Theses

Ovarian cancers are the leading cause of death from cancer of the female reproductive system. Approximately 50% of ovarian cancers have defects in the homologous recombination (HR) DNA repair pathway that is required for the repair of DNA double-stranded breaks. The status of HR genes, such as BRCA1, BRCA2, and the RAD51 family, contributes to ovarian cancer development as well as treatment decisions regarding chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy. The overarching goal of this project is to identify new insights into HR that can integrate with Precision Medicine Initiatives and align with the goals of the Cancer Moonshot 2020 Program. I …

Condition-Dependent Begging Elicits Increased Parental Investment In A Wild Bird Population, E. Keith Bowers, Jonathan B. Jenkins, Alexander J. Mueller, Kelly D. Miller, Charles F. Thomspon, Scott K. Sakaluk

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

The coevolution of parental supply and offspring demand has long been thought to involve offspring need driving begging and parental care, leaving other hypotheses underexplored. In a population of wild birds, we experimentally tested whether begging serves as a negatively condition-dependent signal of need or a positively condition-dependent signal of quality. Across multiple years, we supplemented nestling house wrens with food shortly after hatching and simultaneously manipulated corticosterone levels to simulate the hunger-induced increase in glucocorticoids thought to mediate begging. This allowed us to also test whether begging is simply a proximate signal of hunger. Days after supplementation ended, food-supplemented …

Context Dependent Roles Of Mdmx (Mdm4) And Mdm2 In Breast Cancer Proliferation And Circulating Tumor Cells, Chong Gao

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Many human breast cancers overexpress the E3 ubiquitin ligase MDM2 and its homolog MDMX. Expression of MDM2 and MDMX occurs in both estrogen receptor α positive (ER+) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). We and others have reported that estrogen activated MDM2 strongly promotes proliferation in ER+ T47D breast cancer cells in a p53-independent manner. Whether MDM2 elicits in vivo p53-independent proliferative functions in T47D breast cancer cells has not been determined. Furthermore it has been shown that ectopic expression of MDM2 targets E-Cadherin for degradation thus leading to increased cell migration and invasion. Therefore we assessed the in vivo …

The 5-Ht1a-R Knockout Mouse As A Model Of Later Life Anxiety Disorders: Implications For Sex Differences, Tatyana Budylin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety affects nearly twice as many women as it affects men across all cultures and economic groups. Importantly, girls have a higher chance of inheriting anxiety disorders than boys, and many anxiety disorders appear at a very young age. However, little is known about sex differences in brain and behavioral development and how they relate to anxiety in adulthood. Serotonin 1A receptor (5-HT_1A-R) mediated signaling has been implicated in depression and anxiety, however most studies that focus on the involvement of the 5-HT_1A-R have been conducted in adults. Little is known about how the 5-HT_{1A …}

Landscape Of Stress: Does Drought Prevail Over Anthropogenic Activity In Influencing Cortisol Levels And Fitness In The Pacific Fisher?, Jennifer R. Kordosky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a species of concern in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone released to mobilize energy in response to stress and has been used as an indication of an individual’s physiological response to its environment. By collecting samples of fisher hair and measuring an individual’s cortisol, we examined the physiological stress response of the animals to human disturbances (housing density, road density, habitat type, and silvicultural treatements) and drought (tree mortality) in their home ranges. Using AICc model selection, we found that levels of tree mortality within a fisher’s home …