Biology Commons^™

Avian Extraembryonic Membranes Respond To Yolk Corticosterone Early In Development, Emily P. Harders, Mitch Agustin, Ryan T. Paitz

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

During times of maternal stress, developing embryos can be exposed to elevated levels of glucocorticoids which can affect development and permanently alter offspring phenotype. In placental species, the placenta mediates fetal exposure to maternal glucocorticoids via metabolism, yet the placenta itself responds to glucocorticoids to regulate offspring growth and development. In oviparous species, maternal glucocorticoids can be deposited into the egg yolk and are metabolized early in development. This metabolism is mediated by the extraembryonic membranes, but it is unknown if the extraembryonic membranes also respond to maternal glucocorticoids in a way comparable to the placenta. In this study, we …

Linking Microbial Community Assembly In Flowers With Function Under Diverse Environmental Conditions: A Case Study Involving Erwinia Amylovora, Christopher Skylar Mcdaniel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Fire blight, a devastating disease of pome fruit trees caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora, can cause millions of dollars in losses for producers each year around the globe. Management approaches that involve use of antibiotics, such as streptomycin, can be effective; although concerns exist over pollinator and crop health when using them regularly. Recently, there have been developments that allow for biological agents such as microbes to curtail fire blight infection. These agents work by competing with Erwinia for resources or space, producing antibacterial compounds, or even killing Erwinia cells on contact. Unfortunately, these agents do not yet …

A New Frontier For Fat: Dietary Palmitic Acid Induces Innate Immune Memory, Amy L. Seufert, Brooke A. Napier

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Dietary saturated fats have recently been appreciated for their ability to modify innate immune cell function, including monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils. Many dietary saturated fatty acids (SFAs) embark on a unique pathway through the lymphatics following digestion, and this makes them intriguing candidates for inflammatory regulation during homeostasis and disease. Specifically, palmitic acid (PA) and diets enriched in PA have recently been implicated in driving innate immune memory in mice. PA has been shown to induce long-lasting hyper-inflammatory capacity against secondary microbial stimuli in vitro and in vivo, and PA-enriched diets alter the developmental trajectory of stem cell progenitors in …

Rna Virus-Mediated Changes In Organismal Oxygen Consumption Rate In Young And Old Drosophila Melanogaster Males, Eli Hagedorn, Dean Bunnell, Beate Henschel, Daniel Smith Jr, Stephanie Dickinson, Andrew Brown, Maria De Luca, Ashley Turner, Stanislava Chtarbanova

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Aging is accompanied by increased susceptibility to infections including with viral pathogens resulting in higher morbidity and mortality among the elderly. Significant changes in host metabolism can take place following virus infection. Efficient immune responses are energetically costly, and viruses divert host molecular resources to promote their own replication. Virus-induced metabolic reprogramming could impact infection outcomes, however, how this is affected by aging and impacts organismal survival remains poorly understood. RNA virus infection of Drosophila melanogaster with Flock House virus (FHV) is an effective model to study antiviral responses with age, where older flies die faster than younger flies due …

Changes In Metal-Chelating Metabolites Induced By Drought And A Root Microbiome In Wheat, Anne J. Anderson, Joshua M. Hortin, Astrid R. Jacobson, David W. Britt, Joan E. Mclean

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

The essential metals Cu, Zn, and Fe are involved in many activities required for normal and stress responses in plants and their microbiomes. This paper focuses on how drought and microbial root colonization influence shoot and rhizosphere metabolites with metal-chelation properties. Wheat seedlings, with and without a pseudomonad microbiome, were grown with normal watering or under water-deficit conditions. At harvest, metal-chelating metabolites (amino acids, low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs), phenolic acids, and the wheat siderophore) were assessed in shoots and rhizosphere solutions. Shoots accumulated amino acids with drought, but metabolites changed little due to microbial colonization, whereas the active …

Parental Effects On Offspring Reaction Norms: Consequences For Complex Phenotypes In Variable Environments, Alexandra G. Cones

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Organismal traits all exhibit some degree of environmental sensitivity, and both the strength and direction of these phenotypically plastic responses to the environment can evolve in adaptive ways. For example, parents can use information about their own environment to precondition the traits of their offspring so that they thrive in their future environment. This transgenerational plasticity can also alter the plasticity of offspring, but explicit investigations of this specific phenomenon are rare. I begin with a review of the literature and provide a quantitative genetic framework to investigate this phenomenon, which I then explore empirically using avian embryos. The metabolic …

Multilevel Phenotypic Integration Of Metabolism And Behavior In House Sparrows And Mice, Tim Salzman

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Patterns of multilevel variation in behavior, both within and among individuals, raise challenging questions about underlying mechanisms and the selective pressures acting on them. One intriguing hypothesis is that physiology shows parallel multilevel variation, and so might represent a latent trait that integrates multilevel behavioral responses. For example, foraging acquires the fuel needed to maintain metabolism, and in turn, an individual’s metabolism affects expression of foraging, and other, behaviors. Metabolism and behavior thus might coevolve to become integrated traits. Despite the appeal of this hypothesis, numerous investigations into the link between metabolism and behavior have yielded largely equivocal results.

To …

A Metagenomic Analysis Of The Microbial Communities Associated With Different Hydrothermal Vent Chimneys, Laura Murray

WWU Graduate School Collection

Hydrothermal vents host a diverse community of microorganisms that utilize chemical gradients from the venting fluid for their metabolisms. The venting fluid can solidify to form chimney structures that these microbes adhere to and colonize. These chimney structures are found throughout many different locations in the world’s oceans. In this study, comparative metagenomic analyses of microbial communities on five chimney structures from around the Pacific Ocean were elucidated focusing on the core taxa and genes that are characteristic for each of these hydrothermal vent chimneys, as well as highlighting differences among the taxa and genes found at each chimney due …

A Long‐Term Obesogenic High‐Fat Diet In Mice Partially Dampens The Anti‐Frailty Benefts Of Late‐Life Intermittent Fasting, Yoko Henderson, Nazmin Bithi, Jie Yang, Christopher Link, Aili Zhang, Benjamin Baron, Eran Maina, Christopher Hine

Senior Honors Projects

The global obesity pandemic coupled with ever-growing life expectancies equates to hundreds of millions of individuals with potentially longer but not healthier lives. Aging is one of the risk factors for numerous maladies such as metabolic dis- order and frailty, which are exacerbated under obesity. Thus, therapeutic approaches that address obesity to ultimately improve afected individuals’ quality of life and extend their lifespan are needed. We previously reported that the every other day (EOD) fasting initiated late-life improved metabolic, musculoskeletal, and cognitive endpoints in standard rodent diet-fed mice. In the present study, using the same dietary intervention methodology, we tested …

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 …

Ankyrin Dependent Mitochondrial Function And Bioenergetics In The Heart, Janani Subramaniam, Janani Subramaniam

Dissertations & Theses (Open Access)

ANK2 mutations in patients are associated with numerous arrhythmias, cardiomyopathies, and other heart defects. In the heart, AnkB, the protein encoded by ANK2, clusters relevant ion channels and cell adhesion molecules in several important domains; however, its role at Mitochondria Associated ER/SR Membranes (MAMs) has yet to be investigated. MAMs are crucial to mitochondrial function and metabolism and are signaling hubs implicated in various cardiac pathologies. Among several functions, these sites mediate the direct transfer of calcium from the ER/SR to the mitochondria to modulate ATP synthesis. Given that mitochondrial function and energy production are paramount to cardiovascular heath, …

Circadian Clock Controls Rhythms In Ketogenesis By Interfering With Ppar Alpha Transcriptional Network, Volha Mezhnina, Oghogho P. Ebeigbe, Nikkhil Velingkaar, Allan Poe, Yana I. Sandlers, Roman Kondratov

Biological, Geological, and Environmental Faculty Publications

Ketone bodies are energy-rich metabolites and signaling molecules whose production is mainly regulated by diet. Caloric restriction (CR) is a dietary intervention that improves metabolism and extends longevity across the taxa. We found that CR induced high -amplitude daily rhythms in blood ketone bodies (beta-hydroxybutyrate [beta OHB]) that correlated with liver beta OHB level. Time-restricted feeding, another periodic fasting-based diet, also led to rhythmic beta OHB but with reduced amplitude. CR induced strong circadian rhythms in the expression of fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis genes in the liver. The transcriptional factor peroxisome-proliferator-activated-receptor alpha (PPAR alpha) and its transcriptional target hepatokine …

Eluication Of Lipid Metabolic Pathways In Differentiating Giardia Lamblia Using High Resolution Mass Spectrometry, Cameron Ellis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Giardia lamblia is an intestinal protozoan found worldwide, including the U.S. This parasite exists in two morphologic stages - a replicative trophozoite and a relatively dormant yet viable cyst. While exposures of cysts to gastric acid during passage through the human stomach induces excystation, factors in the small intestine, where trophozoites colonize trigger encystation or cyst formation. Transformation into cyst stage is essential for Giardia to survive in the environment for months before infecting new hosts. Because of its small genome size (11.7 Mb), metabolic pathways in Giardia are highly reduced. As far as lipid metabolism is concerned, only limited …

Blood Chemistry And Biliverdin Differ According To Reproduction And Tourism In A Free-Living Lizard, Susannah French

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Changes in the physiological health of species are an essential indicator of changing conditions and environmental challenges. Reponses to environmental challenges can often induce stress, influence physiology, and change metabolism in organisms. Here we tested blood chemistry parameters indicative of stress and metabolic activity using an i-STAT point-of-care blood analyzer in seven populations of free-ranging rock iguanas exposed to varying levels of tourism and supplemental feeding. We found significant differences in blood chemistry (glucose, oxygen, carbon dioxide, hematocrit, hemoglobin, calcium, potassium, and biliverdin levels) among populations exposed to varying levels of tourism, and also some variation between sexes and reproductive …

Selection On Dispersal Drives Evolution Of Metabolic Capacities For Energy Production In Female Wing-Polymorphic Sand Field Crickets, Gryllus Firmus, Lisa A. Treidel, Gessen S. Quintanilla Ramirez, Dillon J. Chung, Michael Menze, Jose P. Vazquez-Medina, Caroline M. Williams

Faculty Scholarship

Life history and metabolism covary, but the mechanisms and individual traits responsible for these linkages remain unresolved. Dispersal capability is a critical component of life histories that is constrained by metabolic capacities for energy production. Conflicting relationships between metabolism and life histories may be explained by accounting for variation in dispersal and maximal metabolic rates. We used female wing-polymorphic sand field crickets, Gryllus firmus, selected either for long wings (LW) and flight-capability or short wings (SW) and high early lifetime fecundity to test the hypothesis that selection on dispersal capability drives the evolution of metabolic capacities. While resting metabolic …

Relating Metabolic Phenotypes To Movement Behavior In Brook Trout, Jacob E. Bowman

All NMU Master's Theses

Brook trout movement-related life history strategies vary considerably and range from individuals that stay within the same 100 meters their entire life to individuals that are potamodromous or anadromous. Potential drivers of movement life histories have been the subject of much research in fish, with genetic subpopulation explanations often failing to explain the phenomenon. Metabolic phenotypes have been suggested as a possible driver for expression of different movement life histories. I investigated if metabolic phenotypes are related to movement strategies within a population of brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Unnamed Creek, a tributary to the Rock River, Alger …

Uv Exposure Causes Energy Trade-Offs Leading To Increased Chytrid Fungus Susceptibility In Green Tree Frog Larvae, Rebecca L. Cramp, Michel E. B. Ohmer, Craig E. Franklin

Faculty and Student Publications

Levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation have increased in many parts of the world due to the anthropogenic destruction of the ozone layer. UV radiation is a potent immunosuppressant and can increase the susceptibility of animal hosts to pathogens. UV radiation can directly alter immune function via immunosuppression and photoimmunotolerance; however, UV may also influence pathogen defences by affecting the distribution of energy resources among competing physiological processes. Both defence against UV damage and repair of incurred damage, as well as the maintenance of immune defences and responding to an immune challenge, are energetically expensive. These competing demands for finite energy …

Beyond Cortisol: Indicators Of Stress And Negative Feedback In Plasma And Blubber Of Marine Mammals, Jessica Avalos

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Marine mammals play an important role in ecosystem stability. However, anthropogenic activity is compounding pressure on many already vulnerable populations. A potential consequence of anthropogenic disturbance is physiological stress, which can impact metabolism, immunity, and reproduction, especially if it occurs repeatedly. Previous studies on marine mammals have focused on acute stress, but the impacts of repeated stress are poorly understood. Due to its accessibility on land during haul-outs, the northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) is a good system in which to study the effects of stress in marine mammals. Stress stimulates the release of glucocorticoid hormones, primarily cortisol. Elevated cortisol …

Rickettsial Pathogen Perturbs Tick Circadian Gene To Infect The Vertebrate Host, Supreet Khanal, Vikas Taank, John F. Anderson, Hameeda Sultana, Girish Neelakanta

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ixodes scapularis is a medically important tick that transmits several microbes to humans, including rickettsial pathogen Anaplasma phagocytophilum. In nature, these ticks encounter several abiotic factors including changes in temperature, humidity, and light. Many organisms use endogenously generated circadian pathways to encounter abiotic factors. In this study, we provide evidence for the first time to show that A. phagocytophilum modulates the arthropod circadian gene for its transmission to the vertebrate host. We noted a circadian oscillation in the expression of arthropod clock, bmal1, period and timeless genes when ticks or tick cells were exposed to alternate 12 h …

Knockdown Of Death Receptor 5 Antisense Long Noncoding Rna And Cisplatin Treatment Modulate Similar Macromolecular And Metabolic Changes In Hela Cells, Di̇lek Cansu Gürer, İpek Erdoğan Vatansever, Çağatay Ceylan, Bünyami̇n Akgül

Turkish Journal of Biology

Background/aim: Despite great progress in complex gene regulatory mechanisms in the dynamic tumor microenvironment, the potential contribution of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) to cancer cell metabolism is poorly understood. Death receptor 5 antisense (DR5-AS) is a cisplatin inducible lncRNA whose knockdown modulates cell morphology. However, its effect on cell metabolism is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine metabolic changes modulated by cisplatin and DR5-AS lncRNA in HeLa cells. Materials and methods: We used cisplatin as a universal cancer therapeutic drug to modulate metabolic changes in HeLa cervix cancer cells. We then examined the extent of metabolic changes …

Physiological And Metabolic Strain Differences In Response To Constant Light In Male Mice, Hannah V. Deane

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Circadian rhythms, located in all organisms, is an innate natural clock system driving daily cycles in behavior and metabolism. This clock entrains to daily cycles via regular exposure to light:dark cycles. When light exposure is altered, it is known to cause alterations behavior and metabolism because of its role in regulating bodily function. Constant light (LL) is emerging as a predominant circadian disruption due to prolonged exposure to light at night during night-shift work, and the use of TVs and smartphones at night and throughout the night. To understand how different organisms respond to constant light, two comparative studies were …

Differential Gene Expression In Starvation Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Katherine Schultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fruit flies that have been selected for starvation resistance can be used in experimental studies to study physiological processes. Both their genomes and their phenotypes, especially metabolism, change significantly as a result of artificial selection. Starvation selected flies develop slower and are larger due to higher lipid content as adults. We used RNAseq to study gene expression in third instar larval fat body tissue from selected and control lines at the same chronological time point, when the fed control (“FC”) lines were wandering, and the starvation selected (“SS”) lines were in the third larval instar but not yet wandering due …

How Acetylation Regulates Metabolic Enzyme Function During Environmental Shifts, Jared Canonigo

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae can regulate the mechanisms of proteins through post-translational modification. These modifications play a vital role in functional proteomic activity because they can regulate protein activity, localization, and interaction with other cellular molecules. Such modifications include phosphorylation, methylation, and acetylation. The metabolic mechanisms of yeast became of keen interest to our lab because our lab noticed many stress defense proteins were being acetylated during stress heat shock. Notably, Adh1p and Adh2p showed both an increase and a decrease in acetylation at two lysine residues (K315 and K314) overtime during heat shock respectively, though the exact function …

Do People With Hashimoto’S Disease Need A Thyroidectomy?, Miriam Minkowitz

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis (HT) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases (Hiromatsu et al. 2013 p.13). It primarily affects the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland influences growth and regulates the body’s metabolism by manipulating hormonal levels. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis affects thyroid function through mechanisms that cause the hormone levels to become dysregulated. The standard therapy for Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is hormone replacement. This approach helps most patients by regulating their thyroid hormones, though there are some individuals who fail treatment. Untreatable patients are plagued with weight gain, sleep disturbances, and other symptoms. Certain factors in thyroid disease may cause various secondary complications …

Polar Bear Behavior: Morphologic And Physiologic Adaptations, John P. Whiteman

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Polar bears possess morphologic and physiologic characteristics that reflect their terrestrial lineage as members of the bear family (Ursidae) as well as adaptations to the Arctic marine environment. Among marine mammals, they are the least adapted for aquatic life. They exhibit substantial seasonality in body mass, body condition, and many physiological functions, reflecting the annual cycle of both their Arctic sea ice habitat and the availability of their main prey, ringed seals. This hypercarnivorous diet has likely influenced the polar bear’s craniodental morphology and nutritional physiology. Similar to other marine mammal predators, polar bears exhibit a relatively high resting metabolic …

Self And Microbiota-Derived Epitopes Induce Cd4⁺ T Cell Anergy And Conversion Into Cd4⁺Foxp3⁺ Regulatory Cells, Michal P. Kuczma, Edyta A. Szurek, Anna Cebula, Vu L. Ngo, Maciej Pietrzak, Piotr Kraj, Timothy L. Denning, Leszek Ignatowicz

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The physiological role of T cell anergy induction as a key mechanism supporting self-tolerance remains undefined, and natural antigens that induce anergy are largely unknown. In this report, we used TCR sequencing to show that the recruitment of CD4⁺CD44⁺Foxp3⁻CD73⁺FR4⁺ anergic (Tan) cells expands the CD4⁺Foxp3⁺ (Tregs) repertoire. Next, we report that blockade in peripherally-induced Tregs (pTregs) formation due to mutation in CNS1 region of Foxp3 or chronic exposure to a selecting self-peptide result in an accumulation of Tan cells. Finally, we show that microbial antigens from Akkermansia muciniphila …

Physiological And Behavioral Correlates Of Hif-1 Alpha Protein Levels In The Gulf Killifish, Fundulus Grandis, Jasmine Harris

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although the hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF) orchestrates molecular responses to low oxygen, the amount of HIF-1α protein expressed during hypoxia varies among species, individuals, and tissues. This study measured HIF-1α protein levels along with several physiological and behavioral variables in the estuarine fish Fundulus grandis under normoxia (> 7 mg l^-1 dissolved oxygen) and hypoxia (1 mg l^-1 dissolved oxygen). Fish under hypoxic conditions had higher tissue levels of HIF-1α, hematocrit, blood glucose, blood lactate, frequency of aquatic surface respiration (ASR), and lower activity than normoxic controls. Under hypoxia, HIF-1α abundance in gill was positively correlated with body …

Elucidating The Effects Of Glucose Toxicity On Tauopathy And Aging, Lukas Fluitt

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Biological Sciences Master's Theses

Diabetes patients are at higher risk of contracting an age-related neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the mechanisms which link these diseases are poorly understood. We hypothesize that glucose and elevated levels of the glycolysis by product advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), may be involved. AGEs accumulate with age and are elevated in both diabetic and AD patients. Diabetes is a metabolic disorder for which consumption of sugar-rich diets is a major risk factor and is central to etiology in the vast majority of cases.

We show that transgenic C. elegans expressing wild type (WT) human tau fed a …

Determining The Link Between Advanced Glycation Endproducts (Ages), Feeding, And Metabolism, Lauren Wimer

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Biological Sciences Master's Theses

Reactive a-dicarbonyls (a-DC’s), such as methylglyoxal (MGO), are unavoidable metabolites generated during glycolysis that accumulate with age and have been linked with chronic age-related metabolic diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus. Diabetes Mellitus is generally characterized by peripheral neuropathy and sustained hyperglycemia. Chronic hyperglycemia leads to an increase in glycolysis and a downstream increase in reactive a-DC’s. The human body has a natural method of detoxifying these a-DC’s. Glycolytic cells have enzymes which can detoxify a-DC’s, but if overwhelmed, a-DC’s can accumulate and react non-enzymatically with proteins, lipids and DNA to yield a group of molecules called advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). …

The Metabolic Ecology Of Tropical Amphibians Across An Elevational Gradient In The Andes Of Southeastern Peru, Michael R. Britton

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Metabolism is a fundamental biological process that determines the rate at which organisms process energy and materials, and determines the availability of resources for growth, maintenance and reproduction. Metabolic rates scale across levels of organization from cells to whole organisms and affect population, community, and ecosystem processes. Anthropogenic climate change and other environmental changes are predicted to have major impacts on the energetics of organisms that will be mediated through metabolic physiology. Tropical ectotherms, such as amphibians, may be among the most vulnerable to metabolic impacts of climate change as a result of being ectothermic, having high thermal sensitivity, and …