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Full-Text Articles in Plant Sciences

Investigating Birds As Dispersal Vectors Of Litylenchus Crenatae Subsp. Mccannii (Anguinidae), The Nematode Associated With Beech Leaf Disease, Spencer Rock Parkinson Jan 2024

Investigating Birds As Dispersal Vectors Of Litylenchus Crenatae Subsp. Mccannii (Anguinidae), The Nematode Associated With Beech Leaf Disease, Spencer Rock Parkinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Beech leaf disease (BLD) is an emerging forest pathogen primarily affecting American beech (Fagus grandifolia, Ehrh.) in North America and has been attributed to tree mortality of sapling sized trees within five to seven years of infection. Symptoms typically occur in regenerating American beech thickets sprouting from roots of trees killed by beech bark disease. Scientists first observed BLD in Ohio in 2012 and currently has spread to 15 states in the USA and one Canadian province. The nematode Litylenchus crenatae subsp. mccannii (Lcm) is highly associated with BLD symptoms, interveinal chlorosis and defoliation of leaves, and is currently …


Getting To The Root Cause: The Genetic Underpinnings Of Root System Architecture And Rhizodeposition In Sorghum, Farren Smith Jan 2022

Getting To The Root Cause: The Genetic Underpinnings Of Root System Architecture And Rhizodeposition In Sorghum, Farren Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Plants are some of the most diverse organisms on earth, consisting of more than 350,000 different species. To understand the underlying processes that contributed to plant diversification, it is fundamental to identify the genetic and genomic components that facilitated various adaptations over evolutionary history. Most studies to date have focused on the underlying controls of above-ground traits such as grain and vegetation; however, little is known about the “hidden half” of plants. Root systems comprise half of the total plant structure and provide vital functions such as anchorage, resource acquisition, and storage of energy reserves. The execution of these key …


The Morphological, Physiological, And Genetic Underpinnings Of Intraspecific Salinity Tolerance In Sorghum Bicolor, Ashley N. Henderson Jan 2020

The Morphological, Physiological, And Genetic Underpinnings Of Intraspecific Salinity Tolerance In Sorghum Bicolor, Ashley N. Henderson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Decreases in land quality and quantity threaten the efficient production of agriculturally and economically pivotal crops. Such reductions in arable lands are a consequence of population growth and urbanization, and often result in the introduction of various abiotic stresses. The most common abiotic stressors include water limitation (drought), water logging (over watering), poor water quality (salinity), and extreme temperatures (cold, frost, heat). Each of these stressors negatively impact plant growth, development, and yield. Soil salinity, specifically, is a considerable constraint affecting lands used in agriculture. Salts in the soil rise both naturally and through anthropogenic factors making the abundance a …


Genetic And Biochemical Characterization Of Ergot Alkaloid Synthesizing Fungi And Their Symbionts, Matthew Duane Maust Jan 2020

Genetic And Biochemical Characterization Of Ergot Alkaloid Synthesizing Fungi And Their Symbionts, Matthew Duane Maust

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Ergot alkaloids are fungal tryptophan derived toxins which affect mammalian circulation and neurotransmission. These compounds are biosynthesized by a conserved genetic pathway, known as the ergot alkaloid synthesis (EAS) pathway by fungi belonging to the ascomycete families Trichocomaceae and Clavicipitaceae. Several Ipomoea species and related plants in the morning glory family harbor vertically transmitted symbiotic fungi in the genus Periglandula, also members of Clavicipitaceae, that produce ergot alkaloids. Metabolomic analysis of seeds identified a previously uncharacterized glycoside form of the pharmaceutically important ergot alkaloid, ergonovine. Several species belonging to the fungal genus Metarhizium have recently been shown to have the …


Evolutionary Genomics Of Dynamic Sex Chromosomes In The Salicaceae, Ran Zhou Jan 2020

Evolutionary Genomics Of Dynamic Sex Chromosomes In The Salicaceae, Ran Zhou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Identifying the sex-determination region (SDR) and other genomic features of sex chromosomes are of great importance in the studies of the evolution of sex. However, the process of accurately identifying the size and location of the SDR is often difficult, even when a genomic sequence is available. This usually is hindered by large repetitive elements and a lack of recombination in the SDR. In this thesis, I assemble sex chromosomes with whole genomic sequencing data, identify SDRs and explore their genomic features in two sister species from the Salicaceae family. I also develop an interpretation of the lability of the …


Trees, Fungi, Insects: How Host Plant Genetics Builds A Community, Sandra Jeanne Simon Jan 2020

Trees, Fungi, Insects: How Host Plant Genetics Builds A Community, Sandra Jeanne Simon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Organisms, such as fungi and insects, can cause millions of acres of agricultural and forest damage, while others provide billions of dollars in ecological services such as education, aesthetic enjoyment, pollination, and gardening. Plant breeding and biotechnology can potentially help establish a balance between the proliferation of detrimental pests and attraction of beneficial insects. Variation in plant physiological and morphological characteristics are extremely important in the ability of host tissues to support many different types of organisms. When that variation is genetically heritable in a plant population, shifts in the underlying genes can have predictable consequences in structuring entire ecosystems. …


Genetic Regulation Of The Elicitation Of Glyceollin Biosynthesis In Soybean, Md. Asraful Jahan Jan 2019

Genetic Regulation Of The Elicitation Of Glyceollin Biosynthesis In Soybean, Md. Asraful Jahan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Glyceollin phytoalexins are the pathogen-elicited defense metabolites that belong to the isoflavonoid family of molecules of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr). Phytophthora root and stem rot of soybean caused by Phytophthora sojae is a destructive disease throughout the soybean-growing regions worldwide causing devastating economic damages (globally $1-2 billion and over $250 million in the USA) every year. Engineering soybean plants that produce higher levels of glyceollins could confer resistance against this pathogen. Glyceollins also show anticancer and neuroprotective activities in mammals, therefore they are important for agriculture and medical research. Firstly, we were interested in understanding how biotic and …


Enhancing Water Stress Tolerance In Floriculture Crops, Suejin Park Jan 2019

Enhancing Water Stress Tolerance In Floriculture Crops, Suejin Park

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Water deficit is one of the major constraints on plant growth and development, causing reduction of crop productivity. To minimize water loss, among many adaptation strategies, plants close their stomata to reduce transpiration. The stomatal closure is regulated by light, internal CO2 concentration, and plant hormones, mainly abscisic acid. Plants’ response mechanisms to water deficit are complex processes involving numerous genes and various signaling pathways. Floriculture crops are often exposed to water deficit during shipping and retailing, and these periods often result in damaged crops and profit loss. Understanding of plant responses to water deficit stress will provide us an …


Combining Semi-Synthesis With Plant And Microbial Biocatalysis: New Frontiers In Producing A Chemical Arsenal Against Cancer†, Samuel Gary, Janet Adegboye, Brian Popp, Jean-Christophe Cocuron, Brooklyn Woodrum, Nik Kovinich Jan 2018

Combining Semi-Synthesis With Plant And Microbial Biocatalysis: New Frontiers In Producing A Chemical Arsenal Against Cancer†, Samuel Gary, Janet Adegboye, Brian Popp, Jean-Christophe Cocuron, Brooklyn Woodrum, Nik Kovinich

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Natural products (NPs) that exhibit anticancer activities are frequently not potent enough to be used clinically as therapeutics. Semi-synthesis and metabolic engineering are promising approaches for producing more efficacious derivatives of anticancer NPs (ACNPs), but each technique alone can be inefficient at obtaining specific ACNP derivatives that may be suspected to have enhanced anticancer activity. Here, we demonstrate that the methods of semi-synthesis and biocatalysis can be used as modules in succession and in different combinations to produce 6,8-dibromogenkwanin, a derivative of the ACNP apigenin. Further, we demonstrated that soybean seed coats can be used as a biocatalyst to convert …