Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Role Of Age And Sex In The Effects Of Repeated Methamphetamine Exposure On Hedonic Tone In Sprague Dawley Rats, Cameron Lewis, Conor Strumberger, Joshua M. Gulley

PRECS student projects

Anhedonia is defined as a reduced or complete loss of pleasure from a previously pleasurable stimulus, and it is comprised of two dimensions:

• Hedonic anhedonia consists of a distinct loss of pleasure in consumption of a normally pleasurable stimulus.
• Motivational anhedonia involves the goal directed behavior to obtain a reward.

Withdrawal induced anhedonia following use of methamphetamine (METH) is thought to contribute to relapse behaviors^1,2 . The anhedonic effects of drug withdrawal largely depend on dose, frequency, and the duration of drug exposure^4,5,6.

The role of sex and age of exposure in this context has yet to …

How Fungicide Alters The Hidden Mycobiome Of A Restored Prairie System, Mya Reyes, Noah Brown, Anthony Yannarell

PRECS student projects

• Fungal Endophytes are microscopic fungi that live inside plant tissues and form a symbiotic relationship that influences the fitness of both parties.

• Fungicides are a widely used method of crop disease control in agriculture, but fungicides can be carried into other environments by water and wind.

• This experiment looks at how long-term fungicide exposure affects diversity of fungal endophytes that are grown in vitro as well as screens them for phosphate solubilization ability.

• Phosphate is a vital macronutrient that is essential for making nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) as well as playing a vital role in energy transfer throughout the plant's …

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Effect Of Varied Macronutrient Ratios On Honey Bee Tolerance To Iapv Infection, Caitlin Lennon-Puthoff, Alex Payne, Adam Dolezal

PRECS student projects

Honey bees are killed by Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV). Because this virus has no cure, it is important to lessen its impact on bees through proper nutrition. This project explores the effects of differing protein to lipid (P:L) ratios in pollen on honey bee susceptibility to this virus.

Over three trials, bees in cages were incubated for 3 days to resemble hive conditions. Two doses of IAPV (10^-3 & 10^-2) and a negative control were used, along with five P:L ratios (1.5, 2.5, 11.5, 16.5, & 21.5:1) and a sucrose-only diet. These treatment groups were combined …

Evaluating The Enzymatic Activity Of Transformed X. Cucurbitae, Emily Beger, Iris Lee, Sarah Hind

PRECS student projects

Introduction

• The United States’ pumpkin industry exceeds one billion dollars [1], with Illinois contributing to over 90% of processing pumpkin production.
• Pumpkin growers face a rising concern due to the increasing occurrence of Xanthomonas cucurbitae , the pathogen that causes bacterial spot disease in cucurbits, including pumpkins.
• X. cucurbitae infection leads to the appearance of small, sunken, beige spots on cucurbit fruits and leaves.
• Over time, the bacterium can compromise fruit integrity by breaking down the epidermis and cuticle. • Bacterial spot disease also creates opportunities for other bacteria and fungi to infiltrate the affected fruits, leading to fruit rot …

The Tomato Strikes Back: Plant Response To Environmental Stress, Maya K. Davis, Erinn Dady, Esther N. Ngumbi

PRECS student projects

Introduction

• Tomato is an important vegetable. Its production is threatened due to altered weather patterns which increase environmental stressors such as flooding^{1, 2} and herbivory³ to crops.
• Plants respond in many ways. Stressed plants strike back to environmental stress by altering their chemistry⁴:

1. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions
2. Defensive secondary metabolites²

• Stress induced physiological changes in plants impact growth and development of insects.
• This study is broken into two experiments:

1. The plant response to flooding stress
2. The insect performance on flooded plants

Confirming Presence And Mobilization Of Partner Quality Genes In Sinorhizobium Meliloti, Ethan Perez, Ivan Sosa Marquez, Katy Heath

PRECS student projects

• Mutualism is an interaction in which two organisms benefit from each other.
• The symbiotic relationship between the bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti and the plant Medicago truncatula is dictated by the bacterial plasmids.
• The Heath lab has a collection of 191 Sinorhizobium meliloti strains with different symbiotic plasmids that vary across populations (Riley et al., 2022).
• Each strain can be a better or worse partner for its plant host in symbiosis with the variation in fitness being called partner quality (Fig. 1)
• These traits can be traced back to the genetic elements that underlie this effect (Batstone et al.,
• These genetic elements …

Revisiting The Reproductive Behaviors Of Blackspotted Stickleback, Cassidy Constant, Megan Tucker, Colby Behrens, Alison M. Bell

PRECS student projects

Why Blackspotted Stickleback?

How Behaviors Evolve Comparing closely related species can give insights into how behavior evolves.

Well studied: Three-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

• Model organism for natural variation in behavioral evolution 1.
• Divergence in parental care in two ecotypes1,2.
• White and common ecotypes recently diverged 2.

Lesser studied: Blackspotted Stickleback (Gasterosteus wheatlandi)

• Three-spined’s closest living relative.
• Possible behavioral intermediate of commons & whites.
• Blackspotted egg dispersal is similar to white three-spined 3.

Fusarium Isolates Adapt To Specific Wheat Tissues, Liam Kent, Mara Krone, Santiago Mideros

PRECS student projects

Introduction

Tissue specificity is a pathogen’s preference for infecting one section of tissue (i.e., root, stem, or head) over another. 1 Having a better understanding of a pathogen’s ability to cause disease on specific tissues could contribute to new mechanisms of disease control. This will allow growers to make the best decision on effective pathogen management. In 2022, Fusarium isolates were collected from wheat heads and roots across Illinois. These isolates were used in a pathogen aggressiveness assay on wheat roots, in an in vitro growth rate experiment , and in the development of a spore quantification protocol. The phenotypic …

Identifying Genes Influencing The Efficiency Of Photosynthesis, Jason M. Rivera, Steven Burgess

PRECS student projects

• Photosynthesis adapts to environmental conditions over time.¹

• Varying environmental conditions lead to stress accumulation on the plant.²

• A genetic library has been assembled for forward genetic screening of Arabidopsis thaliana.³

• Arabidopsis Thaliana is a model plant used as a model organism in growth experiments.

• This research project aims to identify and analyze candidate genes that impact the efficiency of photosynthesis.

• These genes can be transplanted into commercial crops to increase efficiency of photosynthesis and crop yields.

Potential Implications Of Elevated Co2 For Enhanced Rock Weathering In Croplands, Hannah Maher, Megan Allen, Lisa Ainsworth

PRECS student projects

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels are increasing by 2.37 ppm year, and levels have increased from about 370 ppm in 2000 to about 420 ppm in 2023¹
• Increased CO₂ levels result in climate change, including increased temperatures and drought which impacts soybean crops
• Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) is the process of spreading basalt on fields to accelerate the natural reaction between rocks, CO2, and water²
• Enhanced Rock Weathering is a possible way to combat increasing CO₂ levels because of its carbon sequestration properties²

Acth Challenge: Stress Response Across Tadpole Development, Lauren W. Mobo, Lucas Jimenez, Lisa L. Surber-Cunningham, Eva K. Fischer

PRECS student projects

Research Questions

1. Do tadpoles excrete more cortisol or corticosterone?
2. Do tadpoles excrete more corticosterone after ACTH injections?
3. Does the ACTH stress response change across development?

The Ethical Controversy Around Gene-Editing Technology, Katrina Powers

A with Honors Projects

In this honors project, the author discusses the risks and benefits of using CRISPR to edit genetics.

The Effects Of Temperature Changes On Bioluminescent Dinoflagellates (How Climate Change May Affect Our Ocean's Raves), Kayleigh X. Ambrose, Molly Fleming, Carla Caceres

PRECS student projects

Many species of Dinoflagellates are capable of producing bioluminescence. Most species will have an optimal temperature range for bioluminescence production. With sea surface temperatures expected to rise, we have designed an experiment to test the relationship between temperature and bioluminescence in Pyrocystis fusiformis.

Bacterial Metabolism Of Glucosinolates From Brassica: Association With Isothiocyanate Production, Stephanie Thomas, Jiaxuan Li, Michael J. Miller

PRECS student projects

Study Focus: To explore the alternative metabolic pathways of GSLs in bacteria, present on the surface of brassica vegetables.

Hypothesis: The alternative pathways used to metabolize GSLs in bacteria located on the surface of brassica vegetables, may contribute to the high variance of human gut GSL conversion to ITC.

Concentrating On Carbon Concentration In Algae, Chandra Davies, Steven Burgess

PRECS student projects

Carbon Concentrating Mechanisms Improve Photosynthesis Rates in Low-Carbon Environments. CCMs allow the aggregation of carbon near the site of rubisco, that way even small amounts of available carbon are being utilized.

Yes, this is important to you!

Albeit somewhat indirectly, but massively nonetheless! Algae are a driving force behind the global carbon cycle, they sequester CO2 in the oceans. Understanding the mechanisms behind the tiny marine alga O. tauri gives us a better understanding of a vital global process.

Polinators In Peril - Are Illinois Native Bees Getting Smaller?, Anthony Lamb, Tristan Barley, Adam Dolezal

PRECS student projects

Why it matters.

Pollination services provided by native bees are an important natural process, providing ~150 billion dollars globally in agricultural gains.

A bee’s body size is a trait that is an important indicator of the nutritional environment. A loss of habitat results in a loss of rich nutritional environments as flowers and resource become more fragmented and scarcer.

It has been discovered that a bee’s body size is a determinant of their foraging range. The smaller the bee, the less distance they can travel for food, therefor, the more susceptible they are to habitat loss and resource limitation.

Exploring Amaranth’S Color Palette: Linking Phenotype, Plant Adaptation, And Human Health, Sarah Redman, Chance Riggins Ph.D.

PRECS student projects

Amaranthus is a genus containing species that are highly desirable, yet underutilized crops and species that are highly despised pernicious agricultural weeds.

• Cultivated species are primarily grown as nutritious pseudograins, colorful ornamentals, or leafy greens and are recognized for tolerance to heat, drought, and salinity.
• Weedy amaranths possess similar adaptive traits, in addition to evolved resistance to numerous herbicides, and pose severe challenges to global agriculture.
• Plant pigments (i.e., betalains, carotenoids) are central to understanding this impressive diversity of phenotypes and adaptive traits.

Exploration Of Squash Plant Floral Volatiles Influencing Beetle Attraction, Olivia Barrett, Nicholas Seiter, Esther Ngumbi, Joseph Spencer, Sarah Hind

PRECS student projects

Flowers emit volatiles to attract pollinators, but these volatiles can also attract pest insects. Our study builds on earlier findings that showed that cucumber beetle attraction to squash flowers is mediated by volatile release and cucurbitacin accumulation (Theis, 2014, DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1400171). Of the three main domesticated squash species, only a few varieties of Cucurbita maxima had large quantities of floral volatiles and cucurbitacin (Andersen and Metcalf, 1987, doi: 10.1007/BF01020152); however, these studies were limited in the number of varieties that were examined. Here, we increased the number of C. maxima varieties examined, to identify patterns in floral volatile production, with …

How To Quantify Female Mate Preference In Threespine Stickleback, Kaithren Garcia, Megan Tucker, Meghan Maciejewski, Usan Dan, Alison M. Bell

PRECS student projects

Social behavior is diverse. For example, males from two stickleback ecotypes (whites and commons, Fig. 1) are highly divergent in courtship and parental care behavior [1]. Little is known about ecotypic differences in female behavior. In this study, we develop methods to quantify female preference in this system.

Intra- And Interspecific Variation In Tadpole Lateral Line Cells, Sarah Porth, Lisa Surber, Eva Fischer

PRECS student projects

Background

• The lateral line is a sensory system that detects motion and pressure in fish & larval amphibians.
• The sensory end organs are called neuromasts.
• A gosner stage describes the 46 stages of tadpole development

Hypothesis: We hypothesize that the number of neuromasts will vary more between species than within a species.

Stressed Out: Why Does Ancient Maize Thrive In High-Stress Conditions?, Alexander C. Lozano, Aaron Mleziva, Esther Ngumbi

PRECS student projects

Why is understanding stress response in maize so important?

• Maize, along with rice and wheat, provide at least 30% of calories to over 4.5 billion people
• Increases in flooding events has heavily impacted natural vegetation and crop production
• Combinatorial stresses, particularly flooding and herbivory, remain understudied for both modern and ancient verities of maize
• Ancient maize may be a superior genetic resource for flood-tolerant corn

Gems Student: Can Improved Diet Quality Alleviate Harmful Effects Of Pesticides And Viruses In Honey Bees?, Brittney Bailey, Ed Hsieh, Adam Dolezal

PRECS student projects

This study investigates interacting effects of viruses and pesticides within honey bees and how improved diet quality can mitigate these effects. This experiment allows a multivariate problem which exists in natural conditions of the honey bee community to be observed in a controlled cage bioassay. • The virus used in this study is the Israeli acute-paralysis virus (IAPV). Neonicotinoid thiamethoxam is the pesticide used in both trials shown in the ‘Results’ section. This experiment has not begun the use of the pyrethroid at this time.

Determining The Causal Link Of Honey Bee Gut Microbial Composition On Behavioral Maturation, Thi Lan Anh Nguyen, Cassondra L. Vernier, Gene E. Robinson

PRECS student projects

Emerging studies have supported the association between gut microbiome and host behaviors. However, it is unclear whether changes in the gut microbiome cause changes in host behaviors or vice versa. The European honey bee, Apis mellifera, is an excellent animal model for identifying the causal link between microbiome and behavioral changes over the lifetime of the host as the honey bee gut contains a simple microbiome composed of only nine bacterial taxa clusters. In honey bees, division of labor occurs through behavioral maturation where age determines what task a bee does. For example, older bees forage while younger bees perform …

Effects Of Color Polymorphism And Lighting Environments On Male Bluefin Killifish Behavior, Elijah Davis, Ratna Karatgi, Becky Fuller

PRECS student projects

Polymorphism occurs when multiple, discrete phenotypes exist for a trait within the same species. Polyphenism, a form of phenotypic plasticity, occurs when the environment in which animals develop determines which discrete, morph is expressed. Color polymorphism occurs in male killifish anal fins where red, yellow, and blue color morphs are observed. Populations are found in both spring and swamp habitats. A polyphenism is present where males develop blue anal fins when raised in tea-stained water, which mimics swamps. My goal was to determine whether this plasticity is adaptive. Do blue males have an advantage in swamp water? Previous research involving …

Can In Vitro Phenotypes Of Fusarium Graminearum Indicate In Planta Aggressiveness?, Harrison Hall, Santiago Mideros

PRECS student projects

What is Fusarium graminearum and what does it do? Fusarium graminearum (F. graminearum), causes Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) in wheat and barley. FHB results in crop destruction and toxins that are harmful for human and animal consumption. There are several populations of F. graminearum present in North America and rates of in planta aggressiveness and toxin levels vary by Population. Visually, it is difficult to determine the aggression or toxin levels of an infection. However, it may be possible to determine this through in vitro growth. By using in vitro growth, it may be possible to determine in planta aggressiveness …

Gems Student: Biofilm Production In Rhizobia Influences Clover Drought Response, Faith Smith, Kevin Ricks, Anthony Yannarell

PRECS student projects

Rhizobia serve as model system for examining how phenotypic changes in rhizobia influence the plant. Rhizobium-legume symbioses result in the formation of nodules on the root systems of host plants. Compositional and functional changes in microbial communities facilitate the host plants’ response to environmental stressors (i.e.; drought stress). Physiological effects of soil moisture on microbial communities result in specialized communities that can tolerate much low soil-moisture habitats while others are limited to high soil-moisture environments. This suggests microbial communities can assist in maintaining plant fitness when exposed to nonideal environmental conditions.

Bioinformatics Protocol For Assessing Contamination Level And Quality On Genomics Data Of Ensifer Meliloti, Soohyun Lee, Mario Ceròn Romero, Katy Heath

PRECS student projects

Nitrogen (N) fixing bacteria have a symbiotic relationship with host plants. The legume plants provide sugar, a product of its photosynthesis, to rhizobacteria. Rhizobacteria, one of the various N fixing bacteria, utilize the sugar for its energy source needed for conversion of N2into NH4+. The rhizobacteria would provide fixed nitrogen to legume plant for its growth in exchange of energy source. There are various symbiotic relationships between microbes and plants, and the Heath Lab is especially interested in relationship between rhizobacteria and legume plants. Various genomic methods to study rhizobacteria require sequence data in Heath Lab. However, there is high …

The Genetics Of Aggression In Unique Three-Spined Stickleback Populations, Megan Tucker, Colby Behrens, Alison M. Bell

PRECS student projects

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Forest Management Practices On Wild Bee Abundance And Functional Traits, Harvey Vela, Marissa H. Chase, Alexandra Harmon-Threatt

PRECS student projects

Both wild and managed bees are in decline due to the combined and interactive effects of anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat loss and pesticide use. This is concerning because bees are important not only for the pollination of agricultural lands, but also for plants in both natural and managed landscapes. North America is home to about 4000 native species of bees, all of which can be further classified by various characteristics such as body size, nesting strategy, diet breadth, and sociality. These traits are considered functional traits because they can impact the function – pollination – bees contribute to an …

Evaluating The Efficiency In The Application Of Transformation And Crispr/Cas9 Gene-Editing Technique On Pumpkins, Min Rung (Nicole) Hsu, Maria Malvino, Sarah R. Hind

PRECS student projects

With the simplicity of a unique genome engineering mechanism, CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique has amazed scholars with its effectiveness and efficiency in manipulating gene sequences.[1] As this advanced technique develops, its applications on different species arise as prominent subjects yet to be determined. Due to the great economic value of pumpkins and the need for examining CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing efficiency, Casperita pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) is chosen as the subject to be investigated on. Through introducing CRISPR/Cas9 system —for modifying phytoene desaturase (PDS) gene— into pumpkin seeds with Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, we regenerate transgenic pumpkins and expect to observe albino leaves in the transformed …