Plant Biology Commons^™

Effect Of Different Miracle-Gro Concentrations On The Growth Of Wisconsin Fast Plants, Eric D. Shershen, Nicholas M. Orslini, David Channon, Marvin Agyeben

Celebration of Learning

The Wisconsin Fast Plant, Brassica rapa (Brassicaceae) seeds were planted in three, six-celled containers and were filled with standard potting soil under continuous grow-lux lighting. After the first week of plant growth, E1and E2 were placed in a separate trays and given 1.0 and 1.5x the recommended amount of Miracle-Gro formula, respectively. The control was left in tap water and all were kept in 1 cm of solution. Every seven days the plants’ heights were recorded, and the total number of flowers were counted. By the fourth week, the average height of the control plants was 105.7 mm, of the …

Long-Term Sandhills Prairie Responses To Precipitation, Temperature, And Cattle Stocking Rate, John A. Guretzky, Cheryl Dunn, Heidi L. Hillhouse

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Understanding of Sandhills prairie, the most expansive sand dune region stabilized by perennial grasses in the Western Hemisphere, is limited by lack of long-term vegetation data. We used a 26-year dataset to evaluate Sandhills prairie responses to yearto- year variation in precipitation, temperature, and cattle stocking rate. Basal cover, a measurement that is constant seasonally and used to detect long-term changes in bunchgrass vegetation, was measured in 38–40 permanent plots positioned along four transects spanning 769 ha from 1979 to 2007. Across this period, total basal cover averaged 2.4 % and was dominated by warm-season grasses (81.1 %). Schizachyrium scoparium …

Regeneration: An Overlooked Aspect Of Trait-Based Plant Community Assembly Models, Julie Larson, Jennifer L. Funk

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Despite the disproportionate influence that propagule production, dispersal, seed to seedling recruitment, and vegetative reproduction can have on plant population and community dynamics, progress has been slow in the directed collection of regeneration traits to inform community assembly outcomes.

While seed mass is globally available and linked to growth and reproductive output, there are limits to its explanatory ability. In this essay, we call for expanded efforts to integrate a more diverse set of regeneration traits into community assembly models.

First, we extend an existing community assembly framework to conceptualize regeneration as a series of transitional processes whose outcomes are …

Herbaceous 2016, Julia I. Chapman, Keith E. Gilland, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2016 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Searching For Potential Binding Partners Of Arabidopsis Β-Amylase2 Using Yeast 2-Hybridization, Megan E. Hines

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

BAM2 is a chloroplast-targeted member of the β-amylase gene family that currently has an unknown function in starch hydrolysis. Previous research indicated that BAM2 did not have significant catalytic activity, but, because the gene is highly conserved and there is a starch-excess phenotype in older plants lacking BAM2, it was hypothesized that BAM2 may instead have a regulatory function. Many regulatory proteins function by interacting with other proteins, so we wanted to test for potential protein binding partners for BAM2 using the yeast two-hybrid system. A plasmid containing the BAM2 gene from Arabidopsis thaliana was co-transformed into Y190-strain yeast ( …

Changes In Oxidative Patterns During Dormancy Break By Warm And Cold Stratification In Seeds Of An Edible Fruit Tree, Dilinuer Shalimu, Jia Sun, Carol C. Baskin, Jerry M. Baskin, Liwei Sun, Yujun Liu

Biology Faculty Publications

The transition from seed dormancy to germination is triggered by environmental factors, and in pomegranate (Punica granatum) seeds higher germination percentages are achieved by warm + cold stratification rather than by cold stratification alone. Our objective was to define the pattern of internal oxidative changes in pomegranate seeds as dormancy was being broken by warm + cold stratification and by cold stratification alone. Embryos isolated from seeds after 1–42 days of warm stratification, after 56 days of warm stratification + 7, 28 or 56 days of cold stratification, and after 1–84 days of cold stratification alone, were used …

A Brief History Of Corn: Looking Back To Move Forward, Jon Derek Pruitt

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Maize was domesticated from teosinte in Mexico some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago and quickly spread through the Americas. It has become one of the most important crops at a local and global level. Two types, Northern Flint corn and Southern Dent corns provided the basis of the genetic background of modern maize hybrids. The development of hybrids, first double-cross and later single-cross hybrids, along with a transition to high input farming provided huge yield increases, which have continued to improve with improving technology.

Increase in maize production also caused a rise in Western corn Rootworm (Diabrotica virgifera virgifera …

Photosynthetic Characterization Of Invasive Plant Diversity In Los Angeles County From 1830-2010, Lauren E. Pangburn, Erich Eberts, Victor Carmona-Galindo

Honors Thesis

The increase in atmospheric CO₂ levels due to climate change may greatly impact invasive plant species, which are non-native organisms that spread unchecked in space and negatively impact native organisms. The success of these invasives may be related to specific traits, such as their photosynthetic pathway. We acquired the specimen information for invasive species registered in the Consortium for California Herbaria of the University of California Berkeley to evaluate the community dynamics of 1,000 invasive species in Los Angeles County. We found that both diversity and richness of invasive plant species has increased over a period of 180 years. …

Identification Of N-Acylethanolamine Hydrolyzing Enzyme In Solanum Lycopersicum, Derek A. Stuffle

Undergraduate Honors Theses

N-acylethanolamines (NAEs) are fatty acid derivatives that occur naturally in plant and animal systems. In mammals, they regulate physiological functions, including neurotransmission, immune responses, vasodilation, embryo development and implantation, feeding behavior, and cell proliferation. NAEs are metabolized by fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), which belongs to the amidase signature family. It is hypothesized that putative FAAH functions as the catalyst in the metabolism of N-acylethanolamine in tomato plants. To test the hypothesis, FAAH protein homologs were identified in tomato via in silico analysis. Among the six homologs identified, FAAH1 and FAAH2 were selected for further validation. This study …

Genetic Determinism Of Xanthomonas Arboricola Pv. Pruni (Xap) Resistance, Fruit Quality, And Phenological Traits In Peach And Incorporation Of Marker-Assisted Selection (Mas) In The University Of Arkansas Peach And Nectarine Breeding Program, Terrence James Frett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For over two decades the incorporation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) has been discussed as an innovative approach to increase peach breeding efficiency. Although hundreds of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) have been identified, only a few have been converted into usable MAS tools. This highlights a disconnect between genomic discoveries and practical application in breeding programs, which has delayed use of MAS.

In this dissertation, three sequential steps were performed with the objective to bridge this gap and develop breeding-relevant DNA tests for MAS of fruit bacterial spot resistance (Xap1 and Xap6), fruit quality [blush (Rf), acidity (D), and acidity and …

Heat Stress Effects On Cotton During Reproductive Development And Subsequent Acclimation Responses, Toby Ryan Fitzsimons

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High temperature stress is among the most difficult to control abiotic factors affecting crop yields in the Southern United States due to its wide regional influence. Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) though a tropical plant in origin, it is sensitive to the effects of high temperature. This is of particular concern when the warmest temperatures coincide with the most sensitive developmental stage of flowering. Thus, the capacity to improve cotton’s ability to tolerate heat stress has been a significant focus for many decades. Therefore, this research was composed of several different components all designed to investigate heat stress effects. Using a …

Effect Of Potassium Deficiency On Uptake And Partitioning In The Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum L.) Plant And Detection By A Crop Reflectance Sensor, Taylor Dayne Coomer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to grow and develop normally, plants need to uptake the necessary amount of nutrients and use those nutrients in a beneficial fashion. It is recognized that cotton needs a certain tissue concentration of ions to achieve and maintain growth rates (Siddiqi et al., 1987). One of the most essential and abundant nutrients in cotton is potassium (K), second only by mass to nitrogen (N) (Marschner, 1995; Oosterhuis et al., 2013). Potassium exists in the soil in four separate pools and moves through soil to roots mainly through diffusion (Rengel & Damon, 2008; Samal et al., …

Influence Of Fatty Acids And Their Derivatives On Aphid Resistance In Arabidopsis And Tomato, Jiamei Li

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fatty acid desaturases (FADs) are enzymes that act in the chloroplast or the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to incorporate double bonds into the acyl chains of fatty acids, and recent evidence indicates that at least one of these enzymes, FAD7, also influences plant resistance to aphids. FAD7 is an enzyme in the chloroplast that is found throughout the plant kingdom and that desaturates 16- and 18-carbon fatty acids (FAs) with two double bonds (dienoic acids) to generate FAs with three double bonds (trienoic acids). In tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, mutants with impaired FAD7 function are more …

Geospatial Analysis Of Droughts, Rice And Wheat Production, And Agrarian Vulnerability: A District-Level Study Of The Self-Calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index In India, Aaron Michael Shew

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Droughts have affected more people than any other natural disaster in the last century, causing billions in economic damages and millions of deaths. As the Sea Surface Temperatures (SST) have heated in the Indian Ocean, drought patterns across South Asia have changed; the Indian monsoon has become more volatile and less predictable. In this study, monthly self-calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (sc-PDSI) data for the time period between 1950 and 2009 were interpolated to India’s districts; then the data were analyzed for changes in frequency and severity. The data were further evaluated using Anselin’s Local Moran’s I Statistic to elicit …

Design Of A Nutrient Reclamation System For The Cultivation Of Microalgae For Biofuel Production And Other Industrial Applications, Heather Sandefur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microalgal biomass has been identified as a promising feedstock for a number of industrial applications, including the synthesis of new pharmaceutical and biofuel products. However, there are several economic limitations associated with the scale up of existing algal production processes. Critical economic studies of algae-based industrial processes highlight the high cost of supplying essential nutrients to microalgae cultures. With microalgae cells having relatively high nitrogen contents (4 to 8%), the N fertilizer cost in industrial-scale production is significant. In addition, the disposal of the large volumes of cell residuals that are generated during product extraction stages can pose other economic …

Growth And Productivity Of Irrigated Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) For A Tropical High Altitude Environment In Rwanda, Elie Rene Gasore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Yield components, grain yield, biomass and plant N accumulation, and N fertilizer responses of irrigated rice (Oryza sativa, L.) were evaluated for a tropical inland valley environment in the high altitudes in Rwanda. Effects were measured for nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate (0, 60, 90,120,150,180 kg N ha-1), season, growth stage and cultivar of different subspecies and plant types during 2012 dry season (DS) and 2013 wet season (WS) at Cyili Rice Research Farm (1380 m above sea level). Variations in irradiance (17.2± 0.32 MJ m-2 day-1 in DS and 9.4 ± 0.66 MJ m-2 day-1in WS) were linked to seasonal …

Lipid Content And Biomass Analysis In Autotrophic And Heterotrophic Algal Species, Addie M. Lauder, Daniel P. Jones, Thomas E. Walker, Todd Allen

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

Biofuels are a form of renewable energy derived from living matter, typically plants. The push for biofuels began in order to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) released into the atmosphere, as biofuels are essentially carbon neutral. The idea is the same amount of CO2 the plants took in to perform photosynthesis will then be released in the burning of the biofuels. Algae is an excellent source of biofuels because it grows quickly and is versatile in terms of the type of fuel it can produce. The two most common mechanisms for algae growth are heterotrophic or photoautotrophic. Heterotrophically …

Investigation Of Parasympathetic Effects Of Lavender Essential Oil In Humans, Haakon Robert Nelson, Rachel Ann Burkhart, Daniel Morin, Nicole Grace Weissenfluh, Michael R. Korn

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

The purpose of this study will be to investigate the claim that administration of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) essential oil (topically, orally, and/or respiratorily) produces a relaxative effect in human subjects. This investigation will theoretically be conducted in two stages. Stage one will focus primarily on determining the presence of therapeutic effects and the relative effectiveness of lavender in several application modalities. Stage two will proceed based on findings from stage one. If significant parasympathetic effects are observed in relation to one or more of the lavender oil modalities described above, a more focused investigation will be conducted in stage two …

Microbe-Id: An Open Source Toolbox For Microbial Genotyping And Species Identification, Javier F. Tabima, Sydney E. Everhart, Meredith M. Larsen, Alexaandra J. Weisberg, Zhian N. Kamvar, Mathew A. Tancos, Christine D. Smart, Jeff H. Chang, Niklaus J. Grünwald

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Development of tools to identify species, genotypes, or novel strains of invasive organisms is critical for monitoring emergence and implementing rapid response measures. Molecular markers, although critical to identifying species or genotypes, require bioinformatic tools for analysis. However, user-friendly analytical tools for fast identification are not readily available. To address this need, we created a web-based set of applications called Microbe-ID that allow for customizing a toolbox for rapid species identification and strain genotyping using any genetic markers of choice. Two components of Microbe-ID, named Sequence-ID and Genotype-ID, implement species and genotype identification, respectively. Sequence-ID allows identification of species by …

Managing Drought Stress In California Agricultural Systems, Gregory D. Brittain Jr.

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

California is currently facing a historic drought, and this has led many farmers in the state to severely cut back on irrigation. Optimal use of water for irrigation requires a comprehensive understanding of how plants respond physiologically to water stress (Chapter 1). By monitoring water requirements in crops and managing irrigation to meet those requirements, growers can significantly reduce water use (Chapter 2). This can be done through improving application efficiency of irrigation technology as well as increasing the water use efficiency of the crops themselves. Deficit irrigation practices can be used to manipulate the physiology of water use in …

Evaluating Pedestrial Compaction Variation & Soil Organic C Content, Gunner B. Decker

Scholars Week

Over time, playing fields are monitored by overall appearance. However, pedestrian compaction is not evenly distributed throughout the entire surface.

Is A Mitochondrial Plasmid Really A Virus?, Mackenzie Strehle

UCARE: Research Products

In addition to containing a large and complex mitochondrial genome, the mitochondria of several species of plants have been shown to contain an independent, self-replicating DNA molecule in the form of a plasmid. Plants in the Brassica genus contain a linear plasmid that is approximately 11.6 kilobases in length. The plasmid is characterized by the presence of terminal inverted repeats and covalently bonded proteins at its termini (Handa 2008). The plasmid also contains six ORFs that encode DNA and RNA polymerases and a number of unknown proteins (Figure 1). Currently, both the function of this plasmid and the mechanisms by …

Seed Dispersal: A Tale Of Two Species, W. John Hayden

Biology Faculty Publications

Orchids have minute, dustlike seeds. In this respect, Goodyera pubescens (Downy Rattlesnake Plantain), the 2016 VNPS Wildflower of the Year, is a typical orchid. Like all other orchids, Goodyera seeds contain little more than a few embryonic cells enclosed in a thin seed coat. There are two advantages to small seed size in orchids: minute seeds can be produced in prodigious quantities, and they can disperse over great distances by wind.

Bio-Piracy: Creating Proprietary Rights In Plant Genetic Resources, James O. Odek

Georgia Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Information Thermodynamics Of Cytosine Dna Methylation, Robersy Sanchez Rodriguez, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cytosine DNA methylation (CDM) is a stable epigenetic modification to the genome and a widespread regulatory process in living organisms that involves multicomponent molecular machines. Genome-wide cytosine methylation patterning participates in the epigenetic reprogramming of a cell, suggesting that the biological information contained within methylation positions may be amenable to decoding. Adaptation to a new cellular or organismal environment also implies the potential for genome-wide redistribution of CDM changes that will ensure the stability of DNA molecules. This raises the question of whether or not we would be able to sort out the regulatory methylation signals from the CDM background …

Drought Responsive Gene Expression Regulatory Divergence Between Upland And Lowland Ecotypes Of A Perennial C4 Grass, John T. Lovell, Scott Schwartz, David B. Lowry, Eugene V. Shakirov, Jason E. Bonnette, Xiaoyu Weng, Mei Wang, Jenifer Johnson, Avinash Sreedasyam, Christopher Plott, Jerry Jenkins, Jeremy Schmutz, Thomas E. Juenger

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Climatic adaptation is an example of a genotype-by-environment interaction (G×E) of fitness. Selection upon gene expression regulatory variation can contribute to adaptive phenotypic diversity; however, surprisingly few studies have examined how genome-wide patterns of gene expression G×E are manifested in response to environmental stress and other selective agents that cause climatic adaptation. Here, we characterize drought-responsive expression divergence between upland (drought-adapted) and lowland (mesic) ecotypes of the perennial C₄ grass, Panicum hallii, in natural field conditions. Overall, we find that cis-regulatory elements contributed to gene expression divergence across 47% of genes, 7.2% of which exhibit drought-responsive G×E. …

Ws-2 Introgression In A Proportion Of Arabidopsis Thaliana Col-0 Stock Seed Produces Specific Phenotypes And Highlights The Importance Of Routine Genetic Verification, Mon-Ray Shao, Vikas Shedge, Hardik Kundariya, Fredric R. Lehle, Sally Ann Mackenzie

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Arabidopsis thaliana is an important model organism with a robust network of resources that has been of enormous value to the plant science research community. The use of isogenic material as a reference point or control is critical for many types of experiments in plant molecular biology and genetics. Recently, we noticed that some seed from a common source of the widely used Columbia-0 (Col-0) strain gave rise to plants showing features atypical for this strain. Whole-genome DNA-sequencing and allelespecific PCR assays confirmed that the abnormal individuals contain multiple introgressions from the ecotype Wassilewskija-2 (Ws-2), as described below. This …

Student-Conducted Farmer Video Interviews, Jenn K. Simons, Justin Van Wart, Charles Francis, Kristyn Harms

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

High school agricultural education teachers have expressed concern about the lack of easily accessible educational materials dealing with contemporary topics in sustainable agriculture. There are numerous textbooks and monographs available for farmers and students at the college level, including the highly practical resources available from the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) book series on soil fertility (Magdoff and van Es, 2010), cover crops (Bowman et al., 2007) and building a farm business (DiGiacomo et al., 2003), among others. Although these are full of color photos and easily accessible graphs and tables, they are still in the print media category. …

Dedicated Industrial Oilseed Crops As Metabolic Engineering Platforms For Sustainable Industrial Feedstock Production, Li-Hua Zhu, Frans Krens, Mark A. Smith, Xueyuan Li, Weicong Qi, Elbertus N. Van Loo, Tim Iven, Ivo Feussner, Tara J. Nazarenus, Dongxin Huai, David C. Taylor, Xue-Rong Zhou, Allan G. Green, Jay Shockey, K. Thomas Klasson, Robert T. Mullen, Bangquan Huang, John M. Dyer, Edgar B. Cahoon

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Feedstocks for industrial applications ranging from polymers to lubricants are largely derived from petroleum, a non-renewable resource. Vegetable oils with fatty acid structures and storage forms tailored for specific industrial uses offer renewable and potentially sustainable sources of petrochemical-type functionalities. A wide array of industrial vegetable oils can be generated through biotechnology, but will likely require non-commodity oilseed platforms dedicated to specialty oil production for commercial acceptance. Here we show the feasibility of three Brassicaceae oilseeds crambe, camelina, and carinata, none of which are widely cultivated for food use, as hosts for complex metabolic engineering of wax esters for lubricant …

First Report Of Pythium Ultimum, P. Irregulare, Rhizoctonia Solani Ag4, And Fusarium Proliferatum From Arrowleaf Clover (Trifolium Vesiculosum): A Disease Complex, I. J. Pemberton, G. R. Smith, G. L. Philley, F. M. Rouquette, G. Y. Yuen

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Poor stand establishment, failure to recover after grazing, and premature plant death have reduced the utilization of arrowleaf clover (Trifolium vesiculosum Savi) as a forage crop in the southeastern United States in recent years. Clover plants collected from poor stands in east Texas pastures during the 1995 to 1996 and 1996 to 1997 seasons first exhibited root disease symptoms as young seedlings in the fall. Symptoms consisted of one or more of the following: tan discoloration of lateral roots and taproot; root pruning; and small, tan, sunken lesions on the taproot and crown. Many Rhizobium nodules were brown and …