Biology Commons^™

Liver Ubd Is Upregulated In The Lew.1wr1 Rat, Helen Gibson, Amelia Clopp, Genoah Collins

Research Horizons Day Posters

No abstract provided.

Context-Dependent Dynamics Lead To The Assembly Of Functionally Distinct Microbial Communities, Leonora S. Bittleston, Matti Gralka, Gabriel E. Levanthal, Itzhak Mizrahi, Otto X. Cordero

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Niche construction through interspecific interactions can condition future community states on past ones. However, the extent to which such history dependency can steer communities towards functionally different states remains a subject of active debate. Using bacterial communities collected from wild pitchers of the carnivorous pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea, we test the effects of history on composition and function across communities assembled in synthetic pitcher plant microcosms. We find that the diversity of assembled communities is determined by the diversity of the system at early, pre-assembly stages. Species composition is also contingent on early community states, not only because of …

Deep Multilayer Brain Proteomics Identifies Molecular Networks In Alzheimer's Disease Progression, Bing Bai, Xusheng Wang, Yuxin Li, Ping-Chung Chen, Kaiwen Yu, Kaushik Kumar Dey, Jay M. Yarbro, Xian Han, Brianna M. Lutz, Shuquan Rao, Yun Jiao, Jeffrey M. Sifford, Jonghee Han, Minghui Wang, Haiyan Tan, Timothy I. Shaw, Ji-Hoon Cho, Suiping Zhou, Hong Wang, Mingming Niu, Ariana Mancieri, Kaitlynn A. Messler, Xiaojun Sun, Zhiping Wu, Vishwajeeth Pagala, Anthony A. High, Wenjian Bi, Hui Zhang, Hongbo Chi, Vahram Haroutunian, Bin Zhang, Thomas G. Beach, Gang Yu, Junmin Peng

Biology Faculty Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) displays a long asymptomatic stage before dementia. We characterize AD stage-associated molecular networks by profiling 14,513 proteins and 34,173 phosphosites in the human brain with mass spectrometry, highlighting 173 protein changes in 17 pathways. The altered proteins are validated in two independent cohorts, showing partial RNA dependency. Comparisons of brain tissue and cerebrospinal fluid proteomes reveal biomarker candidates. Combining with 5xFAD mouse analysis, we determine 15 Aβ-correlated proteins (e.g., MDK, NTN1, SMOC1, SLIT2, and HTRA1). 5xFAD shows a proteomic signature similar to symptomatic AD but exhibits activation of autophagy and interferon response and lacks human-specific deleterious events, …

Predictors Of Puma Occupancy Indicate Prey Vulnerability Is More Important Than Prey Availability In A Highly Fragmented Landscape, Courtney A. C. Coon, Peter J. Mahoney, Emilie Edelblutte, Zara Mcdonald, David C. Stoner

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Habitat fragmentation represents the single greatest conservation challenge of the 21st century. This problem is particularly acute for large, obligate carnivores like pumas Puma concolor which have persisted in North and South America in the face of habitat fragmentation and other anthropogenic disturbances. Shrinking habitat and reduced connectivity mean that mapping habitat is increasingly important for species conservation in multiple-use landscapes. Previous work suggests that pumas occupy habitats where sufficient stalking cover and preferred prey are present, yet the intersection of these factors has rarely been assessed. Here we used data from 68 299 camera trap nights collected from 181 …

Metatranscriptomic And Metagenomic Analysis Of Biological Diversity In Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica), Colby Gura, Scott O. Rogers

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A combined metatranscriptomic and metagenomic study of Vostok (Antarctica) ice core sections from glacial, basal, and lake water accretion ice yielded sequences that indicated a wide variety of species and possible conditions at the base of the glacier and in subglacial Lake Vostok. Few organisms were in common among the basal ice and accretion ice samples, suggesting little transmission of viable organisms from the basal ice meltwater into the lake water. Additionally, samples of accretion ice, each of which originated from water in several locations of the shallow embayment, exhibit only small amounts of mixing of species. The western-most portion …

Genetic Diversity Of Potassium Ion Channel Proteins Encoded By Chloroviruses That Infect Chlorella Heliozoae, Carter Murry

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Chloroviruses are large, plaque-forming, double-stranded DNA viruses that infect chlorella-like green algae that live in a symbiotic relationship with protists. Chloroviruses have a genome from 290 to 370 kb, and they encode as many as 400 proteins. One interesting feature of chloroviruses is that they encode a potassium ion (K⁺) channel protein named Kcv. K⁺ channels are essential proteins for life. They cross the membrane of the cell to quickly and selectively allow K⁺ in or out of the cell. This helps regulate the electrical charge of a cell which in turn helps control electrical signaling …

How Is Sarracenia Alata Affected By Fire And Prey Capture?, Jalen Holloway

Graduate Student Council Research Grants

Overview: My name is Jalen Holloway, and I am working toward the completion of my Master’s degree in Biological Science. Since my time as an undergraduate, I have been interested in plant life, and I seek to further that curiosity in an academic setting. I am a first-year graduate student, and my project is focused on understanding how nutrient limitation of growth, survival, or reproduction in a carnivorous plant is affected by prey capture and fire.

Intellectual Merit: The findings of this project will be crucial in understanding if nitrogen and/or phosphorus reduces nutrient limitations for Sarracenia alata. Also, the …

Is Romania Ready To Face The Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) Outbreak? The Role Of Incoming Travelers And That Of Romanian Diaspora, Iulian Gherghel

Student Scholarship

Letter to editor of Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease

The Role Of Apkcs And Apkc Inhibitors In Cell Proliferation And Invasion In Breast And Ovarian Cancer, Tracess B. Smalley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that the atypical protein kinase C-zeta (PKC-ζ) is a component of many dysregulated pathways in breast and ovarian cancer, including cellular proliferation, survival, and cell cycle upregulation. Breast and ovarian cancers affect women every day and are second and fifth leading cause of cancer death. Women who seek treatments are commonly met with invasive surgeries or chemotherapy. Protein kinase C (PKC) is a family of serine and threonine phosphorylating kinases that have been shown to modulate and transduce signaling cascades that play roles in the development and survival of cancers. Atypical PKC (aPKC), have been heavily suggested …

Introduction To The Special Issue: The Role Of Seed Dispersal In Plant Populations: Perspectives And Advances In A Changing World, Noelle G. Beckman, Clare E. Aslan, Haldre S. Rogers

Biology Faculty Publications

Despite the importance of seed dispersal as a driving process behind plant community assembly, our understanding of the role of seed dispersal in plant population persistence and spread remains incomplete. As a result, our ability to predict the effects of global change on plant populations is hampered. We need to better understand the fundamental link between seed dispersal and population dynamics in order to make predictive generalizations across species and systems, to better understand plant community structure and function, and to make appropriate conservation and management responses related to seed dispersal. To tackle these important knowledge gaps, we established the …

Seed Size And Germination, Meredith Cobb, Michaela J. Woods, Ryan W. Mcewan

Five Rivers MetroParks Collaboration Data Archive

This dataset encompasses information related to predictors of seed germination from the species Carya laciniosa, Juglans cinerea, and Quercus rubra. Seed sizes were recorded prior to incubation in sand, vermiculite, or without media. Seeds were then germinated with time to germination recorded in this dataset.

Reconsidering Undergraduate Anatomy And Physiology Curriculum, Eric Michael Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

In the past 50 years several convergent factors have spurred unprecedented change in anatomy and physiology (A&P) instruction. An explosion of biomedical knowledge, an increased demand for students well-versed in A&P, and decreased resources for the course has provoked a vast array of research. However, most studies employ one of three strategies to enact change: testing the effectiveness of new pedagogies, exploring the utility of new technologies, or documenting learning in new contexts. By comparison, a much smaller body of research focuses on changing the A&P curriculum to improve student learning. To address this gap, the musculoskeletal curriculum for an …

Semester-Long Course-Based Research Project In Second-Semester Organic Chemistry: Synthesizing Potential Lead Compounds For The Treatment Of A Neglected Tropical Disease, Kerry L. Barnett, Kevin M. Shea, Catherine Mcgeough, Kristine Trotta, Steven A. Williams, Minh Ly, Kathryn Aloisio

Chemistry: Faculty Publications

A semester-long research project for second-semester organic chemistry lab sections was developed. Student projects were based on preliminary data from faculty research that suggested the natural product neurolenin B to be a treatment for lymphatic filariasis. Students isolated neurolenins from the Central American plant Neurolaena lobata and proposed syntheses of previously unknown analogues using reactions learned in first- and second-semester organic chemistry. Using literature-based procedures, students ran reactions on neurolenins and analyzed their results by TLC and NMR spectroscopy. The semester culminated with a public poster session and final report using the Organic Letters template. Students in a total of …

Local Species Diversity, Β-Diversity And Climate Influence The Regional Stability Of Bird Biomass Across North America, Christopher P. Catano, Trevor S. Fristoe, Joseph A. Lamanna, Jonathan A. Myers

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Biodiversity often stabilizes aggregate ecosystem properties (e.g. biomass) at small spatial scales. However, the importance of species diversity within communities and variation in species composition among communities (β-diversity) for stability at larger scales remains unclear. Using a continental-scale analysis of 1657 North American breeding-bird communities spanning 20-years and 35 ecoregions, we show local species diversity and β-diversity influence two components of regional stability: local stability (stability of bird biomass within sites) and spatial asynchrony (asynchronous fluctuations in biomass among sites). We found spatial asynchrony explained three times more variation in regional stability of bird biomass than did local stability. This …

Diatom Voucher Flora And Comparison Of Collection Methods For Biodiversity Hotspot Upper Three Runs Creek, Katie M. Johnson

Biology Theses

Surface freshwater is a scarce resource. Due to the scarcity and necessity of this resource, it is imperative that its quality is routinely monitored. One way of monitoring water quality is through biological assessments, which include examining algal assemblages. Regionally, little remains known of algal taxa in the southeastern United States. In the past, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP) conducted biological assessments along the Savannah River finding Gomphonema parvulum (Kützing) Kützing 1849 to be a dominant taxon rendering assessments inconclusive. Recent studies have provided evidence that species complexes and semi-cryptic taxa have been identified within the Gomphonema …

Does Negative Frequency-Dependent Selection Maintain Gonopodial Asymmetry In A Livebearing Fish?, Mary-Elise Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

How genetic variation is maintained in the face of strong natural selection is an important problem in evolutionary biology. Selection should erode genetic diversity, leading to more and more homogeneous populations. Yet in nature, we commonly see high degrees of genetic variation, even for traits that are important to fitness. Negative frequency-dependent selection, a balancing selective force that favors traits when they are rare but not when they are common, is a mechanism proposed to maintain polymorphisms in a population. However, there is little empirical data to demonstrate how negative frequency-dependent selection sustains variation. Xenophallus umbratilis is a bilaterally symmetrical …

Tropical Pitcher Plants (Nepenthes) Act As Ecological Filters By Altering Properties Of Their Fluid Microenvironments, Kadeem J. Gilbert, Leonora S. Bittleston, Wenfei Tong, Naomi E. Pierce

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Characteristics of host species can alter how other, interacting species assemble into communities by acting as ecological filters. Pitchers of tropical pitcher plants (Nepenthes) host diverse communities of aquatic arthropods and microbes in nature. This plant genus exhibits considerable interspecific diversity in morphology and physiology; for example, different species can actively control the pH of their pitcher fluids and some species produce viscoelastic fluids. Our study investigated the extent to which Nepenthes species differentially regulate pitcher fluid traits under common garden conditions, and the effects that these trait differences had on their associated communities. Sixteen species of Nepenthes …

Teaching Natural And Artificial Selection In Production Agriculture, Madhav P. Nepal, Clayton W. Scott

iLEARN Teaching Resources

In this lesson, students will learn how natural selection and artificial selection impact both production agriculture and biological sciences. A natural selection is a mechanism that favors heritable traits that increase species survival and reproduction. Artificial selection is a selective breeding, where humans select for desirable traits in agricultural products.

Predictors Of Testosterone In Male African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Kaitlyn Campbell

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Male African elephant (Loxodonta africana) populations in zoos suffer from a range of reproductive complications. In particular, insufficient testosterone production can have a detrimental effect on spermatogenesis and fertility. Few studies have explored the potential social, environmental, physiological and physical factors that influence bull testosterone levels in a zoo environment. The present study will collect endocrine and metabolic information from weekly fecal and blood serum samples taken over the course of the six-month study period. Social and environmental data will be collected in a survey provided to the institutions. Results will highlight the key factors contributing to fluctuations in testosterone …

The Effects Of Trichloroethylene On The Germination And Early Development Of Radish, Butternut Squash, Corn, And Soybean, Sarah Jaksich

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Trichloroethylene (TCE) is a small molecule used as a metal degreaser and as an extraction solvent for lipids. Historically, TCE has been used to clean missiles and rockets after testing at military sites. However, TCE has decreased in use due to its potential health hazards. TCE is particularly dangerous because it is soluble in water and easily seeps into ground water. As a result, TCE has contaminated groundwater in Mead, Nebraska. The town is near the formal Nebraska Ordnance Plant, a military factory specializing in bomb assembly, ammonium nitrate production, and explosives burning. Soil sampling in Mead indicated TCE levels …

Influence Of Cattle Grazing On Milkweed And Other Native Forbs, Karen Klug

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

One of the most identifiable plants of the Great Plains are milkweed species (Asclepias spp.), which are also the only food source for monarch butterfly caterpillars (Danaus plexippus). Conservation of the milkweed population has taken renewed importance as the population of eastern migratory monarchs has dropped by over 80% from 1996 to 2017, largely because of a loss of over 1.3 billion stems of milkweed. As a result of this monarch population decline, it has been petitioned to protect the monarch butterfly population under the US Endangered Species Act. To increase the population size of the …

Juvenile Hormone Mediation In An Insect With Parental Care Behavior, Jessica M. Rodino

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Juvenile hormone (JH) is a well-known catalyst for hormonal processes in insects. However, the role of JH in insects that exhibit parental behavior is unknown. We investigated the influence of JH on parental behavior in the burying beetle (Nicrophorus orbicollis). In the first experiment, we manipulated the JH production of females via the administration of varying doses of fluvastatin sodium immediately following oviposition. We found that with increasing fluvastatin dosage, the total mass of offspring and number of offspring decreased while at the same time less of the food source was consumed. These results suggest a link between …

Multiplexed Capture Of Spatial Configuration And Temporal Dynamics Of Locus-Specific 3d Chromatin By Biotinylated Dcas9., Xin Liu, Yong Chen, Yuannyu Zhang, Yuxuan Liu, Nan Liu, Giovanni A Botten, Hui Cao, Stuart H Orkin, Michael Q Zhang, Jian Xu

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

The spatiotemporal control of 3D genome is fundamental for gene regulation, yet it remains challenging to profile high-resolution chromatin structure at cis-regulatory elements (CREs). Using C-terminally biotinylated dCas9, endogenous biotin ligases, and pooled sgRNAs, we describe the dCas9-based CAPTURE method for multiplexed analysis of locus-specific chromatin interactions. The redesigned system allows for quantitative analysis of the spatial configuration of a few to hundreds of enhancers or promoters in a single experiment, enabling comparisons across CREs within and between gene clusters. Multiplexed analyses of the spatiotemporal configuration of erythroid super-enhancers and promoter-centric interactions reveal organizational principles of genome structure and function.

Impact Of The Urban Heat Mosaic On The Leaf Senescence In Two Acer Species, Jeffrey D. Smith

University Honors Theses

Due to the heterogeneity of the urban heat island, we can think of the variable influence of urbanization on air temperature as more of an urban heat mosaic. Climate change has caused a resurgence of interest in the way temperature affects how organisms, such as street trees, undergo cyclic changes in their life cycle. Such changes include budburst or, less commonly, timing of senescence. Little is known about how the urban heat mosaic could be affecting the phenology of different urban trees. Because street trees are one of the more prominent ecosystem engineers of the urban landscape, variable influences of …

Seasonal And Interannual Variability Of Phytoplankton Abundance And Community Composition On The Central Coast Of California, Alex Barth, Ryan K. Walter, Ian C. Robbins, Alexis Pasulka

Physics

Variations in the abundance and composition of phytoplankton greatly impact ecosystem structure and function. Within the California Current System (CCS), phytoplankton community structure is tightly coupled to seasonal variability in wind-driven coastal upwelling, a process that drives changes in coastal water temperatures and nutrient concentrations. Based on approximately a decade (2008-2018) of weekly phytoplankton measurements, this study provides the first characterization of the seasonal and interannual variability of phytoplankton abundance and composition in San Luis Obispo (SLO) Bay, an understudied region within the CCS. Overall, the seasonality of phytoplankton in SLO Bay mirrored that of the larger CCS; diatoms dominated …

The Current State Of Reptiles South Aral Sea Region And Their Protection, M. Jumanov, G. A. Asenov, Ya. I. Ametov, I. M. Arepbaev

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The article presents the materials of herpetological studies conducted in 2007-2018 in the South Aral region. The main work on the study of the species composition, distribution and counting of all reptile species and ecological features was carried out in three large ecosystems (North-Western Kyzyl Kum, Ustyurt and the lower reaches of the Amu Darya). The studies were carried out according to standard methods using point and route counts. In the works, generally accepted methods of zoological and environmental studies are used. As a result of the inventory, the authors identified the modern species composition and number of reptiles in …

Modeling The Dynamics Of Transformation Of The Ecosystem Of The Southern Aral And Its Influence On The Environment, S. M. Mambetullaeva, B. S. Tleumuratova

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

In this article results of research of impact of transformations of an ecosystem occurring in Aral Region on salinization of soils and change of local climatic characteristics are stated. Noticeable influences on local climatic descriptions in Southern Aral Region render also sharp reduction sea aquariums and degradation of vegetable cover. The structure of the model complex developed by authors – macro model is given. Analysis and comparison of results of numeral realization of macro model on the whole and sub models with pictures, allow drawing conclusion data of supervisions and model calculations of other authors about adequacy of the worked …

Anthropometric Characteristics Of The Population Of The Aral Region Of Uzbekistan, V. O. Yerkudov, A. P. Pugovkin, A. T. Matchanov, B. Yu. Akhmedova

Karakalpak Scientific Journal

The diversity of the national composition and the unfavorable ecological state of the Aral Sea region is the rationale for the relevance of the study of morphophysiological characteristics of the population living in this territory. The aim of the study was a comparative investigation of ethnic diversity of anthropometric distinctions in youngsters of both sexes – habitants of the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Uzbekistan).

Predictor Species: Improving Assessments Of Rare Species Occurrence By Modeling Environmental Co-Responses, Peter R. Thompson, William F. Fagan, Phillip P. A. Staniczenko

Publications and Research

Designing an effective conservation strategy requires understanding where rare species are located. Because rare species can be difficult to find, ecologists often identify other species called conservation surrogates that can help inform the distribution of rare species. Species distribution models typically rely on environmental data when predicting the occurrence of species, neglecting the effect of species' co-occurrences and biotic interactions. Here, we present a new approach that uses Bayesian networks to improve predictions by modeling environmental co-responses among species. For species from a European peat bog community, our approach consistently performs better than single-species models and better than conventional multi-species …

Operational Large-Area Land-Cover Mapping: An Ethiopia Case Study, Trevor Caughlin

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Knowledge of land cover and land use nationally is a prerequisite of many studies on drivers of land change, impacts on climate, carbon storage and other ecosystem services, and allows for sufficient planning and management. Despite this, many regions globally do not have accurate and consistent coverage at the national scale. This is certainly true for Ethiopia. Large-area land-cover characterization (LALCC), at a national scale is thus an essential first step in many studies of land-cover change, and yet is itself problematic. Such LALCC based on remote-sensing image classification is associated with a spectrum of technical challenges such as data …