Biology Commons^™

Comparison Of Cell Cycle Gene Expression Between Ovarian Cancer Cell Line Skov3 And Non-Cancerous Cell Lines, Akayla Weatherby

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Roughly 1% of women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer during their lifetime. There are many different factors that impact how likely someone is to develop ovarian cancer including age, lifestyle, and family history. Ovarian cancer, like all cancers, occurs due to the accumulation of cancer cells that result from errors in the cell cycle or its regulation. Here, we studied how cell cycle gene expression was altered in the epithelial-like ovarian cancer cell line SKOV3, as compared to the pre-cancerous ovarian cell line FT282, and the non-cancerous foreskin fibroblast cell line BJ5Ta. The three cell lines were synchronized into …

Stamp Sand Along The Keweenaw Shoreline: Solid And Dissolved Copper & Effects On Biota, Gary Swain

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Stamps sand refers to the regional colloquialism for the mine-tailing byproducts generated from copper (Cu) ore processing mills located in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. In the Keweenaw region, copper extracted from basalt ores resulted in a legacy of 100’s of millions of metric tonnes of stamp sand wastes, including 22.7 million metric tonnes at Gay, MI. Trace amounts of Cu persist in stamp sands and when leached have toxic enough concentrations to influence aquatic biota. To better understand stamp sands’ properties, we ran experiments and compiled data about the solid and dissolved phases of Cu. Solid phase concentration of Cu was …

Utilizing Amr Surveillance Data To Analyze Trends In Escherichia Coli Antibiotic Resistance Levels In The South African Provinces Of Gauteng And The Eastern Cape, Celia Maris

Scripps Senior Theses

Antimicrobial resistant bacterial pathogens pose an ongoing threat to universal public health by causing more severe manifestations of infectious diseases, leading to an increase in healthcare expenditures and higher global mortality rates. Therefore, developing strategies to combat bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is vital for the future of human health. One promising strategy is through the utilization of AMR surveillance programs. This study focused on using AMR surveillance data from South Africa to analyze changes in Escherichia coli resistance levels to numerous antibiotics between January 2012 and December 2022 in Gauteng Province and the Eastern Cape Province. The study aimed to …

The Effect Of Lps On Phosphorylation Of Akt Signaling In Schwann Cells, Nicholas Wilde, Angela Asirvatham

SURF Posters 2023

Schwann cells (SCs) are cells in the peripheral nervous system that may play a significant role in neuronal repair after an injury, however, little is known about their mechanisms on how they do so. In the lab, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial endotoxin, is used to stimulate an injury while forskolin, a growth hormone, is used to activate the cAMP pathway. In this experiment, the cAMP pathway, which is involved in many cellular processes, and protein kinase b (AKT), a cell survival signal, where analyzed in different LPS doses (0.1, 1, and 10 µg/mL) and over different time periods (3-,6-,12-, and …

The Effects Of Sex On Zebrafish Bone Metabolism, Simon Bagatto

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

I investigated the effects of diet and sex on zebrafish bone metabolism. Zebrafish were subjected to either a high-calorie or low-calorie diet over a five-week period. After this diet, zebrafish scales were used to measure alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) enzyme activity with a fluorescent substrate. The enzyme activities were markers of the osteoblasts (ALP) and the osteoclasts (TRAP). These data were compared among sex and diet of the zebrafish using a repeated measures ANOVA statistical test. I also measured the number of resorption lacunae per scale (another indicator of osteoclast activity). The results showed higher TRAP …

How Akron Affects The Water Quality Of The Cuyahoga River, Allyson Darst

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the city of Akron had negative effects on the Cuyahoga river, and determine if the Cuyahoga River was naturally able to remediate these effects downstream. The pollutants measured in this study include hardness, bromine, residual chlorine, iron, copper, lead, nitrate, nitrite, ammonium chloride, total chlorine, fluoride, carbonate, pH, total alkalinity and cyanuric acid. This study was done using water testing strips (JNW Direct) to test the water at four different locations along the Cuyahoga River downstream (North) of Akron. This study found that the city of Akron does have a negative …

Amphisbaenian Head Movement And Burrowing Forces In Damp Granular Media, Jacob Newell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Damp granular media is a difficult environment to study because it is both practically complex and it lacks equations which fully describe its behavior. In this study, an oscillatory lateral head movement and its effects while penetrating damp granular media were tested using a robophysical model. This experimental research was inspired by the burrowing behavior of the clade Amphisbaenia, a group of usually limbless squamates that employ a variety of different burrowing behaviors, but it can apply to a wide range of burrowers. This research could help with both human burrowing technologies and the further investigation of animal behaviors.

Sustainability And Biomimicry, Tabitha Cooper

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Standardization of business management systems is a vital part of the economic climate, as it allows for fair play between all competitors and encourages growth. The International Organization of Standardization (ISO) independently provides hundreds of standards ranging through dozens of different fields, providing standards applying to topics from quality management to material composition. Not much is readily available on the topics of ISO 9001, which outlines quality management systems (QMS) ISO 14001, which details environmental management systems (EMS), and their relation to ISO 18457, which explains what composes a biomimetic material or product. A literature review was conducted to gather …

Buoyancy And Emergence In Elymus Species, Sandor Jakab

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

It is important that native plants are able to successfully emerge in wetlands because they play an important role in maintaining diversity. The relationship between seed buoyancy and seedling emergence was analyzed for three wetland species of the same genus: Elymus canadensis (FACU), Elymus macgregorii (FACW), and Elymus virginicus (FACW). E. macgregorii seemed to be the most buoyant, and E. virginicus and E. canadensis demonstrated very similar, less buoyant levels. Based on the idea that more buoyant seeds will be deposited at a shallow depth, and less buoyant seeds will be deposited at a deeper soil level, a relationship between …

Developmental Consequences Of Hatching Asynchrony In Boat-Tailed Grackles (Quiscalus Major), Emily Radner

Scripps Senior Theses

Boat-tailed grackles (Quiscalus major) typically lay clutches of three eggs and begin incubation before the clutch is complete, resulting in hatching asynchrony. To study the developmental consequences of hatching asynchrony on boat-tailed grackles, data loggers measured nest temperatures and were compared to ambient temperatures to see when incubation began, and it appeared to begin after the second egg is laid. The third laid egg had a significantly shorter lay to pip time and lay to hatch time than the first laid egg, highlighting the need to investigate the consequences of a shortened incubation time on development. To do …

Seasonal Habitat Preference And Foraging Behaviour Of Post-Moult Weddell Seals In The Western Ross Sea, Kimberly T. Goetz, Michael S. Dinniman, Luis A. Hückstädt, Patrick W. Robinson, Michelle R. Shero, Jennifer M. Burns, Eileen E. Hofmann, Sharon E. Stammerjohn, Elliott L. Hazen, David G. Ainley, Daniel P. Costa

CCPO Publications

Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are important predators in the Southern Ocean and are among the best-studied pinnipeds on Earth, yet much still needs to be learned about their year-round movements and foraging behaviour. Using biologgers, we tagged 62 post-moult Weddell seals in McMurdo Sound and vicinity between 2010 and 2012. Generalized additive mixed models were used to (i) explain and predict the probability of seal presence and foraging behaviour from eight environmental variables, and (ii) examine foraging behaviour in relation to dive metrics. Foraging probability was highest in winter and lowest in summer, and foraging occurred mostly in …

Climate Refugia For Neotropical Snakes: Implications Of Microhabitat Use And Diet Specialization, Consuelo Alarcon

Masters Theses

Aim: The aims of this study were to compare the locations of climate refugia and diversity patterns of the Neotropical tribe Pseudoboini and to provide critical analysis of the potential role of climatic stability and ecological specialization in the contemporary and historical distribution of this group of snakes. We expected species with narrow ecological requirements to occupy climatically stable areas, whereas generalists and arboreal species would occupy areas with more variable climate.

Location: South America

Methods: We compiled observations from the scientific literature and herpetological notes (1844-2019) with additional data from museum collections throughout South America to …

A Biodiversity Survey Of The Soil Crusts Of The Geographically Isolated San Nicholas Island, California, Usa And Description Of Species In Three Genera (Atlanticothix, Pycnacronema, Konicacronema) Previously Restricted To Brazil Using A Polyphasic Approach To Cyanobacterial Taxonomy, Brian Jusko

Masters Theses

San Nicholas Island, California, USA is a geographically-isolated island that experiences a semiarid climate and exhibits significant topographic and geologic diversity. Access to the island is restricted to the public and, as a result, only one previous study has been done on the algal biodiversity of its biological soil crusts. The previous study used morphology as the sole basis of species identification, and it was the aim of this study to corroborate and expand upon the results by including molecular data. Using 16S rRNA and 16S–23S ITS sequences and phylogenetic analyses, a diverse set of taxa were identified and are …

Biology News 2023, University Of Northern Iowa. Department Of Biology.

Biology News

Contents:

Letter from the Department Head --- 2
Passion for Teaching --- 3
Meet a Few of Our Recent Graduates: Joseph Correa; Hunter Mennenga; Abby Riley; Liz Wilgenbusch --- 4
Botanical Center Update --- 5
Welcome to Our Newest Staff Member: Jordan Wolff --- 5
Floral Macrophotography --- 6
Announcing the New Floyd Research Fellowship --- 7
UNI Nursing --- 7

Impacts Of Viral Infection By Ma-Lmm01 On Microcystin Production By Microcystis Aeruginosa, Amber Elizabeth Haley

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Increasing global temperatures and nutrient availability from anthropogenic sources have contributed to climate change and pollution in waterways. Environmental changes have promoted annual harmful algal blooms (HABs), which have the potential to lead to conditions that negatively affect aquatic ecosystems and organisms that depend on them. HABs can impact water quality through the release of soluble toxins (e.g., microcystin), produced by cyanobacteria that can bypass standard drinking water processing protocols. It has been suggested that viral infections of cyanobacteria may contribute to increased production and release of microcystins. In this project, two hypotheses were assessed: 1) virus-mediated lysis releases toxins …

Sexism And Racism In Stem: A Bleak History And A Bright Future, Abigail Hoskins

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Women and people of color have faced discrimination throughout history, and this inequity persists today. This results in low numbers of women and people of color in STEM and leads to stereotypes and bias as well as harassment, financial disparities, and erasure of their contributions. Current initiatives promote equality and equity in STEM, such as protests against discriminatory practices and after-school programs encouraging youth from marginalized groups to participate in STEM, but these are not enough. Institutional and structural changes and solutions that address the intersectional needs of women and people of color are necessary to ensure equity and equality …

Strong Dispersal Limitation Of Microbial Communities At Shackleton Glacier, Antarctica, Nathan P. Lemoine, Byron J. Adams, Melisa A. Diaz, Nicholas B. Dragone, Andre L.C. Franco, Noah Fierer, W. Berry Lyons, Ian Hogg, Diana H. Wall

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Microbial communities can be structured by both deterministic and stochastic processes, but the relative importance of these processes remains unknown. The ambiguity partly arises from an inability to disentangle soil microbial processes from confounding factors, such as aboveground plant communities or anthropogenic disturbance. In this study, we characterized the relative contributions of determinism and stochasticity to assembly processes of soil bacterial communities across a large environmental gradient of undisturbed Antarctic soils. We hypothesized that harsh soils would impose a strong environmental selection on microbial communities, whereas communities in benign soils would be structured largely by dispersal. Contrary to our expectations, …

Redescription Of Adults And First Description Of The Larva Of Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) Adleri Feldman-Muhsam, 1951 (Acari: Ixodidae), Parasite Of Carnivorans In Western Asia, Cole Anderson

Honors College Theses

The adult ticks of Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) adleri Feldman-Muhsam, 1951 (Acari: Ixodidae) are redescribed and the larva of this species is described for the first time here. The adults of H. adleri that we studied were collected from various canid, felid and hyaenid carnivorans (Carnivora: Canidae, Felidae, Hyaenidae) as well as a hedgehog (Erinaceomorpha: Erinaceidae) in Iraq, Israel and West Bank. The males, females and larvae of H. adleri can be differentiated from Haemaphysalis (Rhipistoma) species occurring in the Palearctic portion of West Asia and Egypt as well those in the H. asiatica subgroup by the length of idiosomal …

The Effect Of Environmental Factors On Movement Patterns And Habitat Use Of Young-Of-The-Year Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (Sphyrna Lewini) In The Tolomato River Nursery, Matthew Bernanke

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various shark populations on the southeastern coast of the United States experienced declines in the late 20^th century, including the scalloped hammerhead shark (Sphyrna lewini). Improved management strategies, implemented in the late 1990s, have helped these populations to recover, but they are still under threat from fishing pressure and habitat loss. In continuing to strive towards population recovery and conservation, it is important to identify Essential Fish Habitat, or habitats that are necessary for the spawning, feeding, breeding, or growth of marine organisms. One such habitat is that of the shark nursery habitat. Nursery habitats are those …

Effects Of Bacillus Thuringiensis Israelensis (Bti) And Mosquito Larvae On Invasive Mosquito Egg-Laying Behavior, Zachary Runkle

Capstone Showcase

Invasive Aedes mosquitoes, including Asian tiger mosquitoes (Aedes albopictus) and Asian bush mosquitoes (Aedes japonicus), oviposit eggs in natural and artificial sites containing stagnant water. Aedes species exhibit versatility in novel ecological environments, including flexibility in oviposition site selection and overall habitat conditions, demonstrating their continued pertinence in human society. I examined the effects of the biopesticide BTI and Aedes larvae on oviposition habitat selection in Aedes albopictus and Aedes japonicus mosquitoes by observing the number of eggs oviposited. A total of 6552 and 1362 eggs were collected in experiments one and two, respectively. Females consistently …

College Of Natural Sciences 2022 Year-End Publication, College Of Natural Sciences

College of Natural Sciences Newsletters and Reports

This is the 2022 issue of the annual College of Natural Sciences year-end publication.

Contents:
[Page] 2 Dean's message
[Page] 3 Department highlights
[Page] 4 Overview of Bold & Blue Campaign
[Page] 5 Dr. Edward Hogan recognition & endowment
[Page] 6 Career milestones
[Page] 7 Student travel and research
[Page] 8 $11 million COBRE grant
[Page] 9 Professional Science Masters & Research highlights
[Page]10 Outreach highlights throughout the state
[Page] 11 2022 events recap – join us in 2023!
[Page] 12 Updates on our VR initiative
[Page] 14 Overview of awards and recognitions from 2022

Effect Of Soil Transplantation On Fungal Communities During Restoration, Thomas Luehl

All Master's Theses

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are integral parts of natural ecological systems that provide access to nutrients that would otherwise be unavailable by forming symbiotic relationships with plants. Relationships with ectomycorrhizal fungi are known to improve plant growth rate, increase plant resistance to pathogens, and improve survival. Current revegetation practices often ignore this relationship between fungi and plants. During the revegetation of the Interstate 90 Keechelus Lake wildlife overcrossing (Easton, WA), soil from forest sites adjacent to the restoration area were collected and used to inoculate a set of experimental plots to determine whether ectomycorrhizal fungi would become established in the plots and …

Effects Of Solar Arrays On Southwestern Desert Thermal Landscapes: Consequences For Terrestrial Ectotherms, Adrian Slade

All Master's Theses

Solar energy development in the Southwestern United States coincides with habitat for many sensitive and endemic species, including reptiles such as Mojave Fringe-toed Lizards and Mojave Desert Tortoises who are threatened by a warming and drying climate. While utility-scale solar energy reduces carbon emissions and should ultimately benefit climate-sensitive species, it locally destroys fragile desert habitat, displaces wildlife, and has been shown to incur local air and surface temperature changes. Mitigation-based translocation of wildlife species in the face of solar development yields mixed results, and the unprecedented pace of solar expansion in the desert highlights the need for alternative practices …

Cup Is Essential For Oskar Mrna Translational Repression During Early Drosophila Oogenesis, Livia V. Bayer, Samantha Milano, Stephen K. Formel, Harpreet Kaur, Rishi Ravichandran, Juan A. Cambeiro, Lizaveta Slinko, Irina E. Catrina, Diana P. Bratu

Publications and Research

Study of the timing and location for mRNA translation across model systems has begun to shed light on molecular events fundamental to such processes as intercellular communication, morphogenesis, and body pattern formation. In D. melanogaster, the posterior mRNA determinant, oskar, is transcribed maternally but translated only when properly localized at the oocyte’s posterior cortex. Two effector proteins, Bruno1 and Cup, mediate steps of oskar mRNA regulation. The current model in the field identifies Bruno1 as necessary for Cup’s recruitment to oskar mRNA and indispensable for oskar’s translational repression. We now report that this Bruno1-Cup interaction leads …

Radiation-Induced Gastrointestinal (Gi) Syndrome As A Function Of Age, Hongyan Li, Herman C. Kucharavy, Carla Hajj, Liyang Zhao, Guoqiang Hua, Ryan Glass, Phillip B. Paty, Zvi Fuks, Richard Kolesnick, Karen Hubbard, Adriana Haimovitz-Friedman

Publications and Research

Previous studies show increased sensitivity of older mice (28–29 months) compared with young adult mice (3 months, possessing a mature immune system) to radiation-induced GI lethality. Age-dependent lethality was associated with higher levels of apoptotic stem cells in small intestinal crypts that correlated with sphingomyelinase activity, a source of pro-apoptotic ceramide. The objective of this study is to determine whether the cycling crypt base columnar cells (CBCs) in aging animals are specifically more sensitive to radiation effects than the CBCs in young adult mice, and to identify factors that contribute to increased radiosensitivity. Mortality induced by subtotal body radiation was …

Quantity Of Questing Black-Legged Ticks And Associated Micro-Scale Environmental Data Collected From Four Suburban Parks Near New York City, Shipeng Sun, Chong Di, Li Li, Brian Sulkow, Weigang Qiu

Publications and Research

During 2017 and 2018, we collected the quantity of questing black-legged ticks (Ixodes scapularis), also known as deer ticks, in 124 sampling sites of 5m by 5m in four state parks—Caumsett State Historic Park, Connetquot River State Park, Rockefeller State Park, and Fire Island National Seashore—around New York City. The black-legged tick is the primary vector for the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen of Lyme disease, in Northeastern United States. Using the flagging method, we collected and counted the numbers of adult and nymphal black-legged ticks at each site. Along with these quantities, we also recorded the …

Automated Morphological Phenotyping Using Learned Shape Descriptors And Functional Maps: A Novel Approach To Geometric Morphometrics, Oshane O. Thomas, Hongyu Shen, Ryan L. Raaum, William E. H. Harcourt-Smith, John D. Polk, Mark Hasegawa-Johnson

Publications and Research

The methods of geometric morphometrics are commonly used to quantify morphology in a broad range of biological sciences. The application of these methods to large datasets is constrained by manual landmark placement limiting the number of landmarks and introducing observer bias. To move the field forward, we need to automate morphological phenotyping in ways that capture comprehensive representations of morphological variation with minimal observer bias. Here, we present Morphological Variation Quantifier (morphVQ), a shape analysis pipeline for quantifying, analyzing, and exploring shape variation in the functional domain. morphVQ uses descriptor learning to estimate the functional correspondence between whole triangular meshes …

3d-Printed Hydrogels Dressings With Bioactive Borate Glass For Continuous Hydration And Treatment Of Second-Degree Burns, Fateme Fayyazbakhsh, Michael J. Khayat, Candy Sadler, Delbert Day, Yue-Wern Huang, Ming-Chuan Leu

Biological Sciences Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent advances in additive manufacturing have led to the development of innovative solutions for tissue regeneration. Hydrogel materials have gained significant attention for burn wound treatment in clinical practice among various advanced dressings due to their soothing and moisturizing activity. However, prolonged healing, pain, and traumatic removal due to the lack of long-term wound hydration are some of the challenges in the treatment of second-degree burn wounds. In this study, 3D-printed dressings were fabricated using gelatin, alginate, and bioactive borate glass (BBG) using an extrusion-based bioprinter. After ionic crosslinking, the 3D-printed dressings were characterized for mechanical properties, degradation rate, hydration …

Lake Huron Microbial Mats: A Novel Anagnostidinema Species, A Cyanobacteria-Specific It's Motif Slicer, & A Multi-Marker Community Analysis, Callahan Mcgovern

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A region of Lake Huron near Alpena, Michigan (U.S.A) includes karstic sinkholes with oxygen-poor, sulfur-rich ground water that contain vibrant microbial mats resembling life in early Earth’s shallow seas. We sought to document some of this unique ? diversity including the cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria, and diatoms. Using culture-based investigations, we recovered strains of a novel cyanobacterium, Anagnostidinema visiae, and by employing a polyphasic approach we described this novel species from the Middle Island Sinkhole. In the processes of characterizing this novel species, the challenges of cyanobacterial systematics became evident. This led us to create a bioinformatics tool to help in …

Cleaning The Variable Mess: A Population Genomics Approach To Understanding The Evolutionary History Of A Complicated Plant Group, Claire Marino

Honors Theses

The Solanum dioicum clade is a group of Australian bush tomatoes consisting primarily of species native to Western Australia and the Northern Territory whose species delimitations tend to be quite unclear. Since David Symon’s monograph A Revision of the Genus Solanum in Australia was published in 1981, little additional progress has been made in clarifying these relationships. In this project, a population genomics approach was used to analyze the relationships and delimitations between three species within the S. dioicum clade: Solanum dioicum, S. carduiforme, and S. ossicruentum. The use of population genomics methods is advantageous to understanding …