Biology Commons^™

An Experiential Report On The Thayer Method Of Teaching Across College-Level Chemistry, Biology, Math, And Physics Courses, Kevin P. O'Halloran, Sairam Tangirala, Fengjie Sun, Leonard E. Anagho, Gerald Agbegha, Clay Runck, David Roth, Amy H. Erickson

Georgia Journal of Science

The Thayer method of instruction is a little-known active learning technique that dates back to 1817 at the U.S. Military Academy. This study describes the implementation and statistical evaluation of an adaptation of the Thayer method in a variety of college science and math courses. All courses had five characteristics in common: (i) students were given a daily reading schedule and instructed to prepare before class, (ii) each class started with a question and answer session, (iii) class time minimized the use of lecture, (iv) class time maximized the use of active learning, and (v) students were frequently quizzed. A …

Evolutionary Ecology Of Host-Parasite Relationships: Role Of Host Ecology, Phylogeny, And Demographics In Shaping Parasite Evolution, Erika Taylor Gendron

Biology ETDs

Host-parasite systems exist across complex and ecologically heterogeneous landscapes, and may occur across taxonomically and ecologically disparate host species. Under these conditions, mechanisms underlying microevolutionary processes (i.e. gene flow, genetic drift) are not always clear, and may be mediated by numerous co-occurring factors specific to individual hosts. Host traits such as host immunology, demographics, phylogeny and ecology may act in concert to shape host-parasite relationships, and ultimately evolutionary processes. The research described herein used phylogeographic, phylogenomic, and population genetic methods to further understanding of how host traits impact the evolutionary ecology of trematode systems, using avian schistosomes (Digenea: Schistosomatidae) as …

Identification And Characterization Of The Lactating Mouse Mammary Gland Citrullinome, Guangyuan Li, Coleman H. Young, Bryce Snow, Amanda C. Christensen, M. Kristen Demoruelle, Venkatesh V. Nemmara, Paul R. Thompson, Heather M. Rothfuss, Brian D. Cherrington

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Citrullination is a post-translational modification (PTM) in which positively charged peptidyl-arginine is converted into neutral peptidyl-citrulline by peptidylarginine deiminase (PAD or PADI) enzymes. The full protein citrullinome in many tissues is unknown. Herein, we used mass spectrometry and identified 107 citrullinated proteins in the lactation day 9 (L9) mouse mammary gland including histone H2A, α-tubulin, and β-casein. Given the importance of prolactin to lactation, we next tested if it stimulates PAD-catalyzed citrullination using mouse mammary epithelial CID-9 cells. Stimulation of CID-9 cells with 5 µg/mL prolactin for 10 min induced a 2-fold increase in histone H2A citrullination and a 4.5-fold …

Several Vegetation Characteristics Affect Reproductive Success Of Grassland Birds At A Restored, Warm-Season Grassland In Central Georgia, Kayla B. Allen

Biology Theses

Grassland birds are experiencing major population declines due to habitat loss and fire suppression throughout North America. Large-scale grassland restoration efforts are ongoing, but there is little data on breeding bird productivity on restored habitats, nor on the impact of specific vegetation characteristics on reproductive output. Since 2005, agriculture fields at Panola Mountain State Park, GA have been undergoing restoration to warm-season grasslands; however, up until now there has been no monitoring of nest success or productivity. The goals of this project are to 1) quantify reproductive success and 2) determine which vegetation characteristics are associated with reproductive success. From …

Gomcl: A T Gomcl: A Toolkit T Oolkit To Cluster O Cluster, Evaluate, And Extr Aluate, And Extract Non-R Act Non-Redundant Edundant Associations Of Gene Ontology-Based Functions, Guannan Wang, Dong-Ha Oh, Maheshi Dassanayake

Faculty Publications

Background Functional enrichment of genes and pathways based on Gene Ontology (GO) has been widely used to describe the results of various -omics analyses. GO terms statistically overrepresented within a set of a large number of genes are typically used to describe the main functional attributes of the gene set. However, these lists of overrepresented GO terms are often too large and contains redundant overlapping GO terms hindering informative functional interpretations. Results We developed GOMCL to reduce redundancy and summarize lists of GO terms effectively and informatively. This lightweight python toolkit efficiently identifies clusters within a list of GO terms …

Genome-Wide Changes In Genetic Diversity In A Population Of Myotis Lucifugus Affected By White-Nose Syndrome, Thomas M. Lilley, Ian W. Wilson, Kenneth A. Field, Deeann Reeder, Megan E. Vodzak, Gregory G. Turner, Allen Kurta, Anna S. Blomberg, Samantha Hoff, Carl J. Herzog, Brent J. Sewall, Steve Paterson

Faculty Journal Articles

Novel pathogens can cause massive declines in populations, and even extirpation of hosts. But disease can also act as a selective pressure on survivors, driving the evolution of resistance or tolerance. Bat white-nose syndrome (WNS) is a rapidly spreading wildlife disease in North America. The fungus causing the disease invades skin tissues of hibernating bats, resulting in disruption of hibernation behavior, premature energy depletion, and subsequent death. We used whole-genome sequencing to investigate changes in allele frequencies within a population of Myotis lucifugus in eastern North America to search for genetic resistance to WNS. Our results show low FST values …

Driver Of Avian Haemosporidian Diversity And Host Specificity In The Solomon Islands, Xena Marie Mapel

Biology ETDs

Avian haemosporidians are protist parasites that are distributed worldwide. We investigated these parasites in a tropical South Pacific archipelago to answer two questions: 1) Which community characteristics influence haemosporidian diversity; 2) Does host specificity vary across islands? To answer these questions we sequenced a mitochondrial gene and created linear models to establish relationships between select variables and diversity. In addition, we calculated host breadth of each lineage and constructed models to infer predictors of diversity. The percent of infected individuals on each island was correlated with island area. Haemosporidian phylogenetic diversity on a given island was associated with the proportion …

Host Patch Traits Have Scale‐Dependent Effects On Diversity In A Stickleback Parasite Metacommunity, Daniel I. Bolnick, Emlyn J. Resetarits, Kimberly Ballare, Yoel E. Stuart, William E. Stutz

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Many metacommunities are distributed across habitat patches that are themselves aggregated into groups. Perhaps the clearest example of this nested metacommunity structure comes from multi‐species parasite assemblages, which occupy individual hosts that are aggregated into host populations. At both spatial scales, we expect parasite community diversity in a given patch (either individual host or population) to depend on patch characteristics that affect colonization rates and species sorting. But, are these patch effects consistent across spatial scales? Or, do different processes govern the distribution of parasite community diversity among individual hosts, versus among host patches? To answer these questions, we document …

Music And Exercise On Brain With Dementia, Claudio Otero Iii

Student Scholar Showcase

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Skeletal Muscle Specific Cpt1b Knock Out On Genetically Obese Ay Mice, Allison Stone

LSU Master's Theses

Fatty acid oxidation inhibition is one approach to reducing blood glucose levels in type II diabetes. Skeletal muscle specific Carnitine Palmitoyltransferase 1b knockout mice (Cpt1b^m-/-) cannot transport long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria to be oxidized in order to produce energy. Cpt1b^m-/- mice have debilitated fat oxidation, less fat mass and improved glucose utilization compared to control C57BL/6 mice fed a 25% fat diet.

We hypothesized that CPT1b inhibition could reduce fat mass and lower blood glucose levels in a genetic mouse model of obesity and diabetes. To test this, we bred Cpt1b^m-/- mice to A …

Impacts Of Smooth Pigweed (Amaranthus Hybridus) On Cover Crops In Southern Ontario, Heather Vanvolkenburg, Frédérique C. Guinel, Liette Vasseur

Biology Faculty Publications

Amaranthus hybridus is a noxious weed in Ontario, with demonstrated allelopathic properties that can lead to decreased agricultural production. We tested the germination and growth of five cover crop species exposed to A. hybridus extracts, and to dried or fresh materials in soil. A germination index was calculated, and the dry weight of plant organs were measured to quantify responses to treatments. All species had reduced germination (≤29%) in 100% extract. Trifolium pratense had significant root weight reductions in extract (52%) and dried (72%) treatments, whereas shoot weight only decreased (48%) in dried treatment. Medicago sativa shoot weight decreased (52%) …

Investigation Of Authophagy In Activated Monocytes, Blake T. Bizzell, Judith D. Ochrietor

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defense against foreign molecules. When white blood cells like monocytes encounter a foreign molecule, they initiate an immune response to eliminate that molecule and further infection. Metabolism is the biochemical reactions that happen inside a cell. Typically, cell metabolism increases in active cells. It would therefore be thought that metabolic processes would increase in monocytes that have become activated through the innate immune response. A study conducted by this laboratory, however, indicated that transporter proteins responsible for delivering metabolic substrates to cells were decreased in expression in response to an …

Florida Mangroves Show No Evidence Of Thermal Acclimation Of Leaf Respiration: Implications For Coastal Carbon Cycling And Future Climate, Kylie Harris, Jeff Chieppa, Matt Sturchio, Michael Aspinwall

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Temperature controls of physiological processes that regulate C cycling in mangrove ecosystems remain understudied. New studies that investigate mangrove sensitivity to temperature could improve representation of coastal C cycling in global scale models. Respiration represents the second largest C flux between vegetation and the atmosphere, and roughly 50% of plant respiration comes from leaves. Leaf respiration increases with temperature, but thermal acclimation can dampen this response, and mitigate the positive feedback between temperature, respiration, and atmospheric CO2. We tested whether thermal acclimation of leaf respiration (R) to seasonal temperature changes and experimental warming is similar among three common mangrove species …

Determining Benthic Macroinvertebrate Abundance And Diversity In Two Arctic Lakes As Part Of An Experimental Lake Warming, Allie Huish

Biology Posters

Global climate change threatens the integrity of freshwater ecosystems across the globe. At higher latitudes these ecosystems are experiencing the highest rates of temperature increase related to climate change. Freshwater invertebrate communities are important sources of food for fishes and bioindicators helping us understand the health of entire ecosystems. Our research is part of a larger experiment which aims to artificially warm an arctic lake by 2-4 ⁰C, to try and determine the impact of rising temperatures on lake food webs and ecosystem function. Our objectives were to calculate benthic macroinvertebrate densities in two arctic lakes, Fog1 and Fog3 (one …

Dugesia Japonica Is The Best Suited Of Three Planarian Species For High-Throughput Toxicology Screening, Danielle Ireland, Veronica Bochenek , '22, Daniel Chaiken , '20, Christina Rabeler, Sumi Onoe , '21, Ameet Soni, Eva-Maria S. Collins

Biology Faculty Works

High-throughput screening (HTS) using new approach methods is revolutionizing toxicology. Asexual freshwater planarians are a promising invertebrate model for neurotoxicity HTS because their diverse behaviors can be used as quantitative readouts of neuronal function. Currently, three planarian species are commonly used in toxicology research: Dugesia japonica, Schmidtea mediterranea, and Girardia tigrina. However, only D. japonica has been demonstrated to be suitable for HTS. Here, we assess the two other species for HTS suitability by direct comparison with D. japonica. Through quantitative assessments of morphology and multiple behaviors, we assayed the effects of 4 common solvents (DMSO, …

Combining Experimental Evolution And Genomics To Understand How Seed Beetles Adapt To A Marginal Host Plant, Alexandre Rêgo, Samridhi Chaturvedi, Amy Springer, Alexandra M. Lish, Caroline L. Barton, Karen M. Kapheim, Frank J. Messina, Zachariah Gompert

Biology Faculty Publications

Genes that affect adaptive traits have been identified, but our knowledge of the genetic basis of adaptation in a more general sense (across multiple traits) remains limited. We combined population-genomic analyses of evolve-and-resequence experiments, genome-wide association mapping of performance traits, and analyses of gene expression to fill this knowledge gap and shed light on the genomics of adaptation to a marginal host (lentil) by the seed beetle Callosobruchus maculatus. Using population-genomic approaches, we detected modest parallelism in allele frequency change across replicate lines during adaptation to lentil. Mapping populations derived from each lentil-adapted line revealed a polygenic basis for …

Adipose-Induced Regeneration Of Scalp (Air-Scalp) To Treat Radiation Injury, Whisper Grayson, Rachel Sarabia-Estrada, D.V.M., Phd

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Whole brain radiation therapy is a common treatment for cancer patients. After radiation, approximately 95% of the patients can experience acute and/or chronic side-effects: Radiation dermatitis, fibrosis, and chronic ulcers. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of adipose-derived products (ADPs) in an animal model of radiation dermatitis. We hypothesized that ADPs would enhance wound healing and regenerate the skin; improving cellularity, vascularity, and decreasing scar tissue formation. Immunocompromised mice received a 0.5 cm skin incision on their scalp, which was closed with surgical glue. After 2 weeks, the mice received focal radiation using a 5 mm …

Generation Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells From Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells For Regenerative Medicine, Astrid Quintero, Tammee M. Parsons, Ralph B. Perkerson Iii, Marie-Louise Holm, Takahisa Kanekiyo

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Adult stem cells represent self-renewing, multipotent cells that are capable of producing mature cells of another tissue through differentiation. Stem cells can be sourced from a variety of tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissue, and cord blood. Bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) have the ability to differentiate, lack of ethical concerns, no teratoma potential, easily cultured and expanded ex vivo, and are immunomodulatory via paracrine effects. Thus, BM-MSCs have been actively used as a therapeutic agent in a variety of clinical trials to treat diverse diseases including neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, hepatic diseases, lung injury, renal failure, cancers, …

Gaba Activates Liver Regeneration Pathways Through Regulation Of Cdk9 Activity After One Hour, Maya Basic, Justin Nguyen, Fatima Rehman

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Liver regeneration after partial hepatectomy requires a rapid production of growth factors in order to induce the hepatocyte cell cycle. During this process RNA Polymerase II plays a big role in transcription of mRNA for proteins needed for hepatocytes to go through the cell cycle appropriately. Cyclic-dependent kinase 9 (CDK9) aids in this process by phosphorylating and regulating RNA Polymerase II. Previously we have found that Gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) can help with liver regeneration and has been found to arrest hepatocytes at the G2 phase of the cell cycle. The purpose of this study is to examine if GABA exerts …

Potential Predictors Of Nodal Metastasis In Early Tongue Cancer Found Through Aperio Image Analysis, Robin Pupo, Neda Qosja, Mohammad Tehseen, Omer Farooq, Arif Jamshaid, Fatima Rehman

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Introduction: Excessive use of cigarettes cigars/ pipe as well as smokeless tobacco is one of the most common cause of oral cancer. In Shaukat Khanum Memorial Center Hospital and Research Center (SKMCH&RC) in Pakistan, Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Tongue (SCCOT) is the second most common head and neck malignancy. Approximately 20-30% of patients with early oral tongue carcinoma will have occult neck nodal modal metastasis. Presently, elective neck dissection remains the only reliable way to predict regional and or distant metastasis. There is a pressing need to find reliable biomarkers and non-invasive predictors of metastasis and patient response in early …

The Loss Of Several Wnt Genes Is Correlated With The Loss Of Posterior Growth In Tardigrada, Raul Chavarria, Frank W. Smith

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Recent analyses of Hox genes have revealed that tardigrades have lost mid-trunk segments. The segments that are missing in tardigrades develop by posterior growth in most panarthropods (Arthropoda, Onychophora, Tardigrada). Posterior growth is thought to be an ancestral mechanism of Nephrozoa. This process is regulated by the canonical Wnt signaling pathway (cWnt) in nephrozoans that have been investigated. Tardigrades lack posterior growth, suggesting that the loss of this process may explain the loss of mid-trunk segments in tardigrades. We analyzed the genomes of two representatives of Eutardigrada, Hypsibius exemplaris and Ramazzottius varieornatus, to identify genomic signatures of the loss of …

Kombucha Leather Durability: Sugar Concentration's Effect On Bacterial Cellulose, Jason A. Constantas, John D. Hatle

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Due to its rising popularity many people may now know of kombucha; A fermented tea beverage thought to have originated long ago in the region that is now known as China. Through the same process that this familiar beverage is made, there is also the less familiar production of a polymeric bacterial cellulose pellicle that floats on the surface of the culture. This and other forms of bacterial cellulose are the subject of research for several different applications. Bacterial cellulose has potential for use in medicine, textiles, and as a food additive. The tensile strength of kombucha’s leather-like material grown …

Exploring Patterns Of Thermal Acclimation Of Leaf Respiration In A Marsh-Mangrove Ecotone, Matthew Sturchio, Jeff Chieppa, Gabby Canas, Michael Aspinwall

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Vegetated coastal ecosystems (saltmarsh, mangroves) make a large contribution to global net primary productivity and C cycling despite covering a small proportion of the earth’s surface. Yet, our understanding of C cycling processes over space and time and in response to temperature remain limited for these ecosystems. At the global scale, respiration is the second largest flux of C (behind photosynthesis), and ~50% of respiration comes from leaves. Respiration is also a key parameter for global models that predict climate-carbon cycle interactions. But respiratory responses to temperature in marsh and mangrove species remain uncertain. Here, we repeatedly measured short-term temperature …

Common Gba Variants In Parkinson's Disease And Lewy Body Dementia Patients, Megan T. Mazak, Alexandra I. Soto Ms, Zbidniew K. Wszolek, Md, Dennis W. Dickson Md, Owen A. Ross Phd

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Lewy Body Dementias (LBD) are two distinct synucleinopathies with a great amount of symptomatic and genetic overlap. This overlap can often lead to misdiagnosis. Misdiagnosis can result in improper therapy and therefore a poorer prognosis. LBD is a neuropath diagnosis with subcategories, but for the purpose of this project we discuss LBD as a whole. GBA is a gene common to both diseases with different effect sizes in each, although increasing severity of disease for both. Common is defined as a presence greater than 1% in healthy controls. GBA is found in 2-37% of Parkinson cases …

Characterization Of Metabolic Gene Expression In The Raw 264.7 Cell Line, Lauren Macaisa, Judith D. Ochrietor

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The current study is being conducted to examine transporter proteins on the surface of white blood cells (murine monocyte cell line RAW 246.7), specifically the transporter GLUT1 (an amino acid transporter) in the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The purpose of this is to analyze metabolism in monocytes because surprisingly little is known about this subject. Cellular metabolism is important because it consists of all the biochemical reactions occurring within cells and thus drives cellular processes and activity. We hypothesize that expression of the GLUT1 transporter will increase in the presence of LPS.

To test this hypothesis, we plated two cell …

Fggy Carbohydrate Kinase Domain Containing Is Induced During Skeletal Muscle Atrophy And Regulates Map Kinase Signaling, Anastasia Smith, Mahnoor Izhar, Erisa Gjoka, Karla Novo, David Waddell Phd

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Skeletal muscle atrophy can result from a range of physiological conditions, including denervation. To better characterize the molecular genetic events of atrophy, skeletal muscle was isolated from mice following 3 and 14 days of denervation. The gene expression profile of the denervated muscle tissue was analyzed by microarray and compared to control muscle to identify novel atrophy-induced genes. The microarray revealed that Fggy carbohydrate kinase domain containing (Fggy) is expressed in skeletal muscle and is induced in response to denervation. Bioinformatic analysis of the Fggy gene locus revealed two validated alternative isoforms, which we have termed Fggy-001 and Fggy-003. To …

The Role Of Basigin As An Immune Mediator In The Cns, Alicia Gonzalez, Judith D. Ochrietor

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Chronic inflammation is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative disorders. Although the central nervous system (CNS) can stave peripheral pathogens from crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) through a network of endothelia, astrocytes, and pericytes, prolonged exposure to a pathogen can comprise this barrier, leading to an infiltration of cytokines and T-cells. T-cells are lined with surface receptors that detect pathogens and elicit further immune responses, particularly toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). TLR4 has been demonstrated to detect lipopolysaccharide (LPS), found on the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. Recently, Basigin, a member of the immunoglobulin superfamily, has been shown to interact with TLR4 …

Managing A Chocolate Factory And Controlling Forest Fires: How To Learn To Make Smarter Decisions, Yoannis Hermida, C. Dominik Guss

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Within much of society, people have to make decisions under time pressure and in unpredictable, changing situations. The current study explores the effects that training has on improving DDM in two computer simulation tasks with different characteristics. A total of 100 undergraduate students participated in the current study. Participants either managed a computer-simulated chocolate factory—ChocoFine (Dörner, 2000) or were a fire rescue chief controlling a forest fire, WinFire (Schaub, 2017). ChocoFine lasted 1-hour involving high complexity and lower time pressure. WinFire lasted 15 minutes with lower complexity and higher time pressure. We employed a between-subjects design comprised of an experimental …

Diamondback Terrapin Population Distribution And Nesting Areas In Coastal Georgia, Grace Clements, Joseph Butler Phd

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

The terrapin population range is small and the research is scarce. Surveil of the entire Georgia coast is the overarching goal of the research and the past four years have already resulted in 60% percent of the state completed and 1500 records accomplished. Coverage of the coastline will be continued in 2019 in the southernmost county, Cambden, and in 2020 completing the research in the northernmost county, Chathman. Diamondback terrapins are the only turtle to prefer brackish water habitats and are the first to be affected by sea level rising. Crab pots are a main factor in terrapin mortality. When …

Genomic And Developmental Origins Of Tardigrade Legs, Mandy Game, Frank W. Smith

Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS)

Tardigrada consists of two lineages—Heterotardigrada and Eutardigrada. All tardigrades are microscopic animals with tiny legs. To understand the evolution of tardigrade legs, we have analyzed the leg gap genes, Distal-less, dachshund, and homothorax/extradenticle, which specify distal, intermediate, and proximal appendage domains in arthropods. In Hypsibius exemplaris, a representative of Eutardigrada, Distal-less is broadly expressed across the appendage bud during development. Homothorax/extradenticle do not specify proximodistal appendage domains in this species. Dachshund is not found in the genomes of H. exemplaris or a second representative of Eutardigrada, Ramazzottius varieornatus. These results indicate that tardigrade legs evolved by the loss of proximal …