Botany Commons^™

Molecular And Phenotypic Characterization Of Transgenic Wheat And Sorghum Events Expressing The Barley Alanine Aminotransferase, Pamela A. Peña, Truyen Quach, Shirley Sato, Zhengxiang Ge, Natalya Nersesian, Ismail M. Dweikat, Madhavan Soundararajan, Tom Clemente

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Main conclusion — The expression of a barley alanine aminotransferase gene impacts agronomic outcomes in a C3 crop, wheat.

The use of nitrogen-based fertilizers has become one of the major agronomic inputs in crop production systems. Strategies to enhance nitrogen assimilation and flux in planta are being pursued through the introduction of novel genetic alleles. Here an Agrobacterium-mediated approach was employed to introduce the alanine aminotransferase from barley (Hordeum vulgare), HvAlaAT, into wheat (Triticum aestivum) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor), regulated by either constitutive or root preferred promoter elements. Plants harboring the transgenic …

Metabolism Of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic Acid Contributes To Resistance In A Common Waterhemp (Amaranthus Tuberculatus) Population, Marcelo R. A. Figueiredo, Lacy J. Leibhart, Zachary J. Reicher, Patrick J. Tranel, Scott J. Nissen, Philip Westra, Mark L. Bernards, Greg R. Kruger, Todd A. Gaines, Mithila Jugulam

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Synthetic auxins such as 2,4-D have been widely used for selective control of broadleaf weeds since the mid-1940s. In 2009, an Amaranthus tuberculatus (common waterhemp) population with 10-fold resistance to 2,4-D was found in Nebraska, USA. The 2,4-D resistance mechanism was examined by conducting [¹⁴C] 2,4-D absorption, translocation and metabolism experiments.

RESULTS: No differences were found in 2,4-D absorption or translocation between the resistant and susceptible A. tuberculatus. Resistant plants metabolized [¹⁴C] 2,4-D more rapidly than did susceptible plants. The half-life of [¹⁴C] 2,4-D in susceptible plants was 105 h, compared to …

Multisite Evaluation Of Apex For Water Quality: Ii. Regional Parameterization, Nathan O. Nelson, Claire Baffaut, John A. Lory, G.M.M.M. Anomaa Senaviratne, Ammar B. Bhandari, Ranjith P. Udawatta, Daniel W. Sweeney, Matt J. Helmers, Mike W. Van Liew, Antonio P. Mallarino, Charles S. Wortmann

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Phosphorus (P) Index assessment requires independent estimates of long-term average annual P loss from fields, representing multiple climatic scenarios, management practices, and landscape positions. Because currently available measured data are insufficient to evaluate P Index performance, calibrated and validated process-based models have been proposed as tools to generate the required data. The objectives of this research were to develop a regional parameterization for the Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) model to estimate edgeof- field runoff, sediment, and P losses in restricted-layer soils of Missouri and Kansas and to assess the performance of this parameterization using monitoring data from multiple sites …

A Vascular Flora Of The Kiavah Wilderness, Scodie Mountains, Kern County, California, Erika M. Gardner

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

Congress designated the Kiavah Wilderness in 1994 under the California Desert Protection Act. It is located in the Scodie Mountains in Kern County, ca. 24 km (15 mi) east of Lake Isabella and 24 km (15 mi) west of Ridgecrest, and encompasses a total of 137 mi² (354 km²) with elevations ranging from 1000 to 2200 m (3500–7294 ft). The Wilderness is ecologically important because it occurs in a transition zone between two floristic provinces, the Sierra Nevada of the California Floristic Province and the Mojave Desert of the Desert Province. It is of cultural significance because …

Plant Phenology And Water Relations In A Saline Pan-Dune Mosaic In The Western Mojave Desert, M. Rasoul Sharifi, William N. Brostoff, Philip W. Rundel

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

An extensive mosaic of small clay pans and low stable dunes exists within Edwards Air Force Base in the western Mojave Desert of California. This pan-dune ecosystem, positioned between the large Rosamond and Rogers dry lakes on the old Pleistocene lakebed of Lake Thompson, provides an opportunity to study the seasonal patterns in growth and flowering phenology and water relations in a saltbush scrub community dominated by a mix of C₃ and C₄ species. C₃ shrubs initiated vegetative growth in February, with current shoot and leaf production largely ceasing in most species by mid-April. The deeply rooted …

Political Ecology Of Medicinal Plant Use In Rural Nepal: Globalization, Environmental Degradation, And Cultural Transformation, Emily Dovydaitis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Prior to the advent of biomedicine, rural communities in Nepal relied on phytochemically active compounds in medicinal plants as their primary source of medicine; however, ethnobotanical practices have shifted over time due to economic, environmental, and sociocultural stimuli. Findings from 2016 fieldwork conducted in Dumrikharka, Nepal and Tutung, Nepal are compared to existing literature to describe the political ecology of medicinal plants in rural Nepal.

Anthropogenic climate change threatens individual plant species and ecosystem biodiversity. Globalized markets unabated by weak conservation programs place increasing demands on medicinal plants. As indigenous plants become overharvested and more difficult to access, Nepalis incorporate …

Araucaria In The Urban Landscape: A Novel Leaning Pattern And Evidence Of Cultivated Hybridization, Jason W. Johns

Master's Theses

Our understanding of the natural world is constantly evolving and strengthening as more observations are made and experiments are performed. For example, we understand that tree stems grow toward the light (positive phototropism; Darwin 1880, Loehle 1986, Christie et al. 2013) and against gravity (negative gravitropism; Knight 1806, Hashiguchi et al. 2013). We also know that plants respond to mechanical stimulus and perturbation (thigmotropism; Braam 2005). Genes and their resulting proteins have been described to uncover some of the mechanisms for these environmental responses, but relatively speaking, we have just scratched the surface (Wyatt et al. 2013). While the discovery …

Modeling The Spread Of Sudden Oak Death Across A Heterogeneous Landscape In Redwood National Park Using A Spatially-Explicit Epidemiological Model, Laura A. Morgan

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, the causal agent of Sudden Oak Death (SOD), is responsible for the deaths of millions of oak (Quercus spp.) and tanoak (Notholithocarpus densiflorus) trees in California and Oregon (USA). A recent infection in Redwood National Park (RNP) in California (USA) provided an opportunity to adapt an existing SOD model to assess the efficacy of current and proposed management strategies. A common method of SOD treatment includes killing both infected and uninfected hosts in the area of infection, as well as the area surrounding the infection to create buffers to account for undetected …

¬Multilocus Phylogeny Of The Lichen Family Megasporaceae, Tim B. Wheeler

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The lichen symbiosis is one of the oldest studied mutualisms; in fact, Frank and De Bary coined the term "symbiosis" while studying lichens (Frank, 1877; De Bary 1879). The widespread, stable association between the mycobiont and photobiont in lichens offers an ideal system for the study of co-evolution. The recent application of molecular data to lichens has begun to unveil the complexities involved in these associations (Upreti et al. 2015, Spribille et al. 2016). Lichenized fungi make up a huge fraction of fungal diversity (Nash 2008), yet very little is known of their genetic diversity. Fungal taxonomy is notoriously difficult …

Comparative Leaf Anatomy Of C3 And Cam Species In Oncidiinae (Maxillarieae, Orchidaceae), Samuel A. Eident

Masters Theses

The subtribe Oncidiinae is a diverse group of mostly epiphytic orchids within the tribe Maxillarieae, consisting of 55 genera and 1700 species. In this group, there have been many studies examining morphological and anatomical variation as well as metabolic pathways of carbon fixation, but most have not integrated morphological and anatomical variation with a physiological aspect of inquiry. The objective of my research was to establish a suite of anatomical characteristics that can be used to distinguish between C₃ and CAM species. Secondarily, I hoped to use that suite of characteristics in determining whether intermediate CAM species (those that …

Phylogenetics Of The Borage Family: Delimiting Boraginales And Assessing Closest Relatives, Kristen E. Hasenstab-Lehman

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

The placement of Boraginales, and relationships within the family have remained elusive in modern, broad phylogenetic studies. In order to assess the phylogeny of Boraginales, and specifically to test the sister lineage of the order, a data matrix of the chloroplast markers rbcL, ndhF, and trnL-trnF was assembled from GenBank and de novo sequences (representing 132 new GenBank accessions). Phylogenies inferred using Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian frameworks resulted in identical topologies. Tests for alternative topologies were used to assess whether any of the candidates for sister (Solanales, Gentianales, Lamiales, or Vahlia) to Boraginales could …

Index To Volume 35

Aliso: A Journal of Systematic and Floristic Botany

No abstract provided.

Phenotypic Plasticity Of Native And Invasive Cool-Season Grasses In Response To Frequency Of Moisture Availability, Ming-Yu Stephens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of an individual to alter its growth in response to environmental conditions, is an attribute that is considered a likely invader attribute, as it provides the opportunity to expand its ecological niche breadth. Adaptive phenotypic plasticity can affect not only the ability to establish in a new environment, but also the ability to outperform the existing vegetation over time. Bromus inermis (smooth brome) and Poa pratensis (Kentucky bluegrass) are invasive species in tall- and mixed-grass prairie ecosystems. The objectives of this two-part study were to quantify the adaptive plasticity of biomass accumulation and tiller production in …

1980 Lilley Cornett Woods Soil Data, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Data collected in 1980 on the soil in the Big Everidge Hollow portion of the Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in southeastern Kentucky. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.4b97vlypkk

1979 Lilley Cornett Woods Overstory Data, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Data collected in 1979 on the overstory in the Big Everidge Hollow portion of the Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in southeastern Kentucky. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Accompanying photo by Julia I. Chapman.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.s2qvt68sox

Museum Collections: Natural History Training Bridges Time, Space, And Digital Platforms., Anna Monfils, Karen Powers, Christopher J. Marshall, James F. Smith, Chris Martine, L. Alan Prather

Faculty Journal Articles

Natural history collections offer a number of unique physical and virtual opportunities to create formal and informal progressive learning environments. Collections provide direct interaction with biodiversity as it changes through time and space. Collections-based experiences lead to an increased understanding and substantive interaction with the living world. Recent studies demonstrate how nature and outdoor experiences can improve learning. We discuss how collections, and the data associated with collections, are a critical component linking nature and scientific inquiry. Partnerships that develop around collections and collections-based science can foster innovative educational and research experiences that are enhanced by access to museum specimens. …

Robust Spatial Frameworks For Leveraging Research On Sustainable Crop Intensification, Patricio Grassini, Cameron M. Pittelkow, Kenneth Cassman, Haishun S. Yang, Sotirios Archontoulis, Mark Licht, Kendall R. Lamkey, Ignacio A. Ciampitti, Jeffrey A. Coulter, Sylvie M. Brouder, Jeffrey J. Volenec, Noemi Guindin-Garcia

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Meeting demand for food, fiber, feed, and fuel in a world with 9.7 billion people by 2050 without negative environmental impact is the greatest scientific challenge facing humanity. We hypothesize that this challenge can only be met with current and emerging technologies if guided by proactive use of a broad array of relevant data and geospatial scaling approaches to ensure local to global relevance for setting research priorities and implementing agricultural systems responsive to real-time status of weather, soils, crops, and markets. Despite increasing availability of field-scale agricultural data, robust spatial frameworks are lacking to convert these data into actionable …

Reproductive Biology Of The Critically Endangered Endemic Planterodium Somanum In Turkey, Di̇lek Oskay

Turkish Journal of Botany

The reproductive characteristics of Erodium somanum (Geraniaceae), a critically endangered endemic species, were investigated in order to evaluate the main factors that affect its reproductive success and to evaluate their importance on its conservation. The estimated pollen/ovule ratio was calculated as 1187. Pollen viability and stigma receptivity experiments showed that stigma receptivity and pollen viability were high and synchronous throughout the anthesis. E. somanum is a strictly dioecious species and pollinated by insects. Flower visitors in the studied populations were mostly beetles and ants. The average percentage of fruit formation for each plant was determined as 46%. Capacity of seed …

Centaurea Bingoelensis (Asteraceae), A New Species From Turkey, Lütfi̇ Behçet, Ahmet İlçi̇m, Yakup Yapar

Turkish Journal of Botany

Centaurea bingoelensis Behçet & İlçim is described as a new species. It is confined to Bingöl in Eastern Anatolia, Turkey. The diagnostic characters are discussed and taxonomic comments are presented. Seed and pollen characteristics were investigated using light and scanning electron microscopy. Notes on its ecology are also presented.

Proteomic Analysis Of Flowers At Two Developmental Stages In Thermopsis Turcica (Fabaceae), Mustafa Yildiz, Emre Pehli̇van, Hakan Terzi̇

Turkish Journal of Botany

Flower development is a complex physiological phenomenon that is affected by environmental stimuli and endogenous signals. Several molecular approaches have provided a comprehensive view of the physiological processes associated with flower development, but little is known about proteomic changes. Therefore, we investigated the proteomic alterations during flower development in endemic Thermopsis turcica (Vuralia turcica), an unusual legume species with 3-4 free carpels in a single flower. A comparative proteomic analysis to identify proteins involved in flower development was carried out in T. turcica. Alterations in proteomes of the flower buds and fully opened flowers were studied by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. …

Characterization Of Rice Polyphenol Oxidase Promoter In Transgenic Arabidopsis Thaliana, Wasim Akhtar, Ejaz Aziz, Hisashi Koiwa, Tariq Mahmood

Turkish Journal of Botany

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO) enzymes are ubiquitous in plant kingdom and catalyze the oxidation of phenols to highly reactive quinones. The PPO gene plays an important role in plant defense mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stresses but the regulation of PPO promoter in stresses remains unclear. Here Oryza sativa (OsPPO) promoter was fused to firefly Luciferase (LUC) and β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter genes separately to test the effects of wounding, abscisic acid (ABA), and methyl jasmonate (MeJ) applications on PPO promoter induction. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report about rice PPO promoter induction in response to wounding …

First Genome Size Assessment In The Genus Peganum And Inthe Family Nitrariaceae: Iberian And North African Data On Peganum Harmala,Including An Intensive Sampling In Tunisia, Abdelhamid Hajji, Daniel Vitales, Mohamed Elgazzeh, Teresa Garnatje, Joan Vallès

Turkish Journal of Botany

Peganum harmala is a halonitrophilous perennial herb that is relevant in the landscape of steppe, semidesert, and desert territories in southern Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia. We present here data on the nuclear DNA amount assessment in one Iberian and 17 Tunisian populations of this species. The 2C values, belonging to the very small genome category, ranged from 0.61 to 0.67 pg. These data are the first on genome size for the species and for the whole genus and the whole family. In addition, the somatic chromosome number (2n = 24) has been counted in one population, confirming previous …

Phlomis Iranica (Lamiaceae: Lamioideae), A New Species Fromthe Khorassan-Kopet Dagh Floristic Province, Ne Iran, Jamil Vaezi, Maryam Behroozian, Mohammad Reza Joharchi, Farshid Memariani

Turkish Journal of Botany

The genus Phlomis L. consists of three species, Ph. cancellata Bunge, Ph. chorassanica Bunge, and Ph. herba-venti L., in the Khorassan-Kopet Dagh floristic province, NE Iran. A new species is described and illustrated here as Ph. iranica Joharchi & Vaezi sp. nov. from this area. We included voucher specimens of the new and allied species in a morphological and molecular (nrDNA ITS) framework to examine the taxonomic status of the new taxon. Results showed that Ph. iranica can be morphologically distinguished from the species distributed in NE Iran by seven diagnostic traits including length and width of calyx tube, flower …

Dianthus Ucarii (Caryophyllaceae): A New Species From The Northwest Of Turkey, Ergi̇n Hamzaoğlu, Murat Koç, İlker Büyük

Turkish Journal of Botany

Dianthus ucarii Hamzaoğlu & Koç (Caryophyllaceae) is described as a new species to science based on material collected in Kırklareli Province in northwestern Turkey. The new taxon belongs to sect. Carthusiani (Boiss.) F.N.Williams and it is closely related to Dianthus pinifolius Sm., an Eastern Mediterranean element. A description, illustration, and identification key for the new species are given. In addition, D. ucarii and D. pinifolius are compared in terms of general morphology and molecular phylogeny.

Contributions To The Macrofungi Of Bingöl, Turkey, Yusuf Uzun, İsmai̇l Acar, Mustafa Emre Akçay, Abdullah Kaya

Turkish Journal of Botany

The present study was carried out on macrofungi samples collected from Bingöl Province between 2006 and 2010. As a result of field and laboratory investigations 112 species belonging to Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were determined. Ten of them are new records for the Turkish mycobiota: Orbilia auricolor (A. Bloxam) Sacc.; Orbilia luteorubella (Nyl.) P. Karst.; Mollisia lividofusca (Fr.) Gillet; Calycina languida (P. Karst.) Baral, R. Galán & G. Platas; Vibrissea filisporia (Bonord.) Korf & A. Sánchez; Iodophanus carneus (Pers.) Korf; Amanita gilbertii Beauseign.; Conocybe brachypodii (Velen.) Hauskn. & Svrcek; Coprinopsis cordispora (T. Gibbs) Gminder; and Paxillus vernalis Watling.

Micro-Spectroscopy Of Bio-Assemblies At The Single Cell Level, Jeslin Kera

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this thesis, we investigate biological molecules on a micron scale in the ultraviolet spectral region through the non-destructive confocal absorption microscopy. The setup involves a combination of confocal microscope with a UV light excitation beam to measure the optical absorption spectra with spatial resolution of 1.4 μm in the lateral and 3.6 μm in the axial direction. Confocal absorption microscopy has the benefits of requiring no labels and only low light intensity for excitation while providing a strong signal from the contrast generated by the attenuation of propagating light due to absorption. This enables spatially resolved measurements of single …

Taxonomic Position Of Abies Equi-Trojani On The Basis Of Needlecharacters By Comparison With Different Fir Species, Anna Katarzyna Jasinska, Katarzyna Sekiewicz, Tolga Ok, Angel Romo, Adam Boratynski, Krystyna Boratynska

Turkish Journal of Botany

The needles from 25 trees of Abies equi-trojani from Kazdağı (Mount Ida) were compared with those from four populations of A. alba, two of A. cephalonica, and three of each of A. xborisii-regis, A. bornmuelleriana, and A. nordmanniana, each represented by 29-31 individuals. Thirty-nine morphological and anatomical needle characters (26 main and 13 estimated ones) were examined biometrically to verify the systematic position of A. equi-trojani. To evaluate the relationships among taxa, Student's t-test for independent samples, the Mann-Whitney U test, and discrimination and clustering analyses were applied. The differences between taxa were statistically significant for several characters, but the …

Seed Dispersal For The Unusual Inflated Berries Of Burmeistera (Campanulaceae), Diana Gamba, N. Maguiña, Camilo Calderón-Acevedo, Karina Torres, Nathan Muchhala

Biology Department Faculty Works

Examining dispersal is critical for understanding the diversity of Andean-centered plant lineages, like Burmeistera (Campanulaceae). One-third of its species present an unusual inflated berry. Unlike the bright colors of non-inflated fruits in the genus, these fruits are typically dull-green; however, the fact that the seeds are loosely held in the placenta and easily removed when touched seems to suggest adaptation to animal dispersal. We studied two inflated-baccate species, Burmeistera glabrata and B. borjensis, with the aim of testing the non-exclusive hypotheses that their seeds are dispersed by (1) small mammals, (2) slugs, or (3) adult flies that develop inside the …

Sexual Dimorphism In The Moss Bryum Argenteum And Its Implications For Sex Ratio Bias, Jonathan David Moore Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

In dioecious plants, selection due to sex function differences has produced sex-specific life histories, morphologies, and physiologies. In many dioecious seed plants, dimorphisms and population sex ratios have been plausibly linked, but similar links are not yet apparent in dioecious bryophytes. Population sex ratio bias is often expected to favor the sex with lower investment in sexual reproduction, especially in resource-poor environments. Unlike in seed plants, bryophyte males may have higher average reproductive investment than females, which typically have low offspring production rates due to sperm limitation. However, traits aside from reproductive investment such as shoot and leaf arrangement may …

Column Key, Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots, Ryan W. Mcewan, Julia I. Chapman, Robert N. Muller

Data Files: Big Everidge Hollow Permanent Plots

Column key for .csv data files.

Accompanying photo by Julia I. Chapman.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26890/lcw.rx26w6rcvs