Biology Commons^™

Assessing Stream Ecosystem Structure And Function In An Urban Canal And Logan River In Logan, Utah, Ellie Smith-Eskridge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Humans have constructed canals to support agriculture, to mitigate flooding, and to discharge stormwater, especially in the Intermountain West. These canals are common in Cache Valley, where they receive flows from the Logan River during summer months. However, the ecological structure (e.g., water quality, freshwater invertebrates) and function (e.g., leaf decomposition) of these canals remains largely unknown. Studying ecosystem structure and function of these urban waterways is important because it can inform us of the health of these waterways.

My research had three objectives. First, I compared water chemistry, invertebrate assemblages, and leaf decomposition in an urban canal and the …

Targeted Mapping Of Oryza Sativa Chilling Tolerance Candidate Genes Using Multiple Stress-Relevant Quantitative Traits, Naoki Simon Shimoyama

Dissertations (1934 -)

Developing chilling tolerant accessions of domesticated Asian rice is a potential source of significant crop improvement to address the needs of a growing global population. The uniquely chilling sensitive nature of the tropically originating Oryza sativa make it the most important staple crop that could gain the maximum benefit from improved tolerance to low temperature stress. However, mechanisms underlying this complex trait are not fully understood. Oryza sativa has two major varietal groups with different levels of chilling tolerance, JAPONICA and INDICA, providing an ideal tool to investigate mechanistic differences in the chilling stress tolerance responses within this important crop …

Methylene Blue Inhibits Cromakalim-Activated K+ Currents In Follicle-Enclosed Oocytes, Dmytro Isaev, Keun-Hang Susan Yang, Georg Petroianu, Dietrich Ernst Lorke, Murat Oz

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

The effects of methylene blue (MB) on cromakalim-induced K⁺ currents were investigated in follicle-enclosed Xenopus oocytes. In concentrations ranging from 3–300 μM, MB inhibited K⁺ currents (IC₅₀: 22.4 μM) activated by cromakalim, which activates K_ATP channels. MB inhibited cromakalim-activated K⁺ currents in a noncompetitive and voltage-independent manner. The respective EC₅₀ and slope values for cromakalim-activation of K⁺ currents were 194 ± 21 µM and 0.91 for controls, and 206 ± 24 µM and 0.87 in the presence of 30 μM MB. The inhibition of cromakalim-induced K⁺ currents by MB was not …

The Effects Of Salinity And Acetaminophen On The Aquatic Snail Physa Acuta, Michelle Sackey-Ansah, Megan Mackey, Daniel Elias, Jason Doll, Alyssa Brookhart

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Pharmaceuticals are increasingly detected in water bodies, and their presence can negatively impact aquatic organisms. This effect can be amplified when combined with increasing salinity in freshwater ecosystems. Acetaminophen is a widely used analgesic that is commonly found in river, streams, and waters where it is discharged directly. Therefore, organisms present in these locations (e.g., insects, snails, amphibians, and fish) are likely to be affected by acetaminophen. In this study, we determined the effects of elevated salinity (0.68 g/L), acetaminophen (500 µg/L) and combined elevated salinity (0.68 g/L) and acetaminophen (500 µg/L), on the growth, reproduction, and movement of the …

Change And Stasis Of Distinct Sediment Microbiomes Across Port Everglades Inlet (Pei) And The Adjacent Coral Reefs, Lauren E. Krausfeldt, Jose V. Lopez, Catherine Bilodeau, Hyo Won Lee, Shelby L. Casali

Biology Faculty Articles

Deep water ports are human built coastal structures that by definition welcome ship traffic and disturbance. Evidence is accumulating that enhanced port activities such as dredging or deepening have negatively affected nearby natural habitats. Port Everglades Inlet (PEI) is a large active South Florida cargo port for over two million people and lies adjacent to coral reefs, dwindling mangroves, and recreational beaches. In this study, the microbial communities of PEI and adjacent reef sediments were characterized to serve as indicators for change due to dredging and assess anthropogenic influence on these sensitive ecosystems by sequencing the V4 region of 16S …

Insight From Biology Program Learning Outcomes: Implications For Teaching, Learning, And Assessment, Noelle Clark, Jeremy L. Hsu

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Learning goals and objectives are a key part of instruction, informing curricular design, assessment, and learning. These goals and objectives are also applied at the programmatic level, with program learning outcomes (PLOs) providing insight into the skills that undergraduate biology programs intend for their students to master. PLOs are mandated by all major higher education accreditation agencies and play integral roles in programmatic assessment. Despite their importance, however, there have not been any prior attempts to characterize PLOs across undergraduate biology programs in the United States. Our study reveals that many programs may not be using PLOs to communicate learning …

Role Of Microorganisms In Horticulture To Improve Plant Quality, Domenico Prisa

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

One of the most anticipated challenges in the field of agriculture is to ensure high production levels while limiting the use of environmentally harmful synthetic chemicals. One of the most interesting strategies to overcome this challenge is the exploitation of the interactions between soil microorganisms and plants which result in stimulating plants’ natural activity. The interactions among mycorrhiza, growth-promoting microorganisms and plants play a crucial role in soil fertility, biocontrol and protection. The use of mixed microbial products can simulate interactions between fungi and bacteria, realising all the benefits that can be obtained from these associations in terms of quantity …

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Traditional Plants That Are Utilized To Treat Urinary Tract Infections: A Review, Rasha Hadi Saleh, Aseel Mohammad Omran, Rafah S. Almuttairi Alhilla

Maaen Journal for Medical Sciences

Among the most serious problems affecting public health is urinary tract infection (UTI). There are several parts of the urinary tract affected by this type of inflammation and affects women more frequently than men. As the antibacterial resistance problem is growing in urological medicine, there is a increasing and a continuing requirement to add antimicrobial medication which could be from medicinal herbs in regulatory UTIs. Since the beginning of civilization, medicinal plants have been an integral element of human society in the fight against diseases. For the aim of reducing costs, increasing the effectiveness of treatment and eliminating the side …

Selective And Differential Feeding On Marine Prokaryotes By Mucous Mesh Feeders, Carey P. Sweeney, Kelly R. Sutherland, Anne W. Thompson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Microbial mortality impacts the structure of food webs, carbon flow, and the interactions that create dynamic patterns of abundance across gradients in space and time in diverse ecosystems. In the oceans, estimates of microbial mortality by viruses, protists, and small zooplankton do not account fully for observations of loss, suggesting the existence of underappreciated mortality sources. We examined how ubiquitous mucous mesh feeders (i.e. gelatinous zooplankton) could contribute to microbial mortality in the open ocean. We coupled capture of live animals by blue-water diving to sequence-based approaches to measure the enrichment and selectivity of feeding by two coexisting mucous grazer …

Blue Carbon Science, Management And Policy Across A Tropical Urban Landscape, Daniel A. Friess, Yasmine M. Gatt, Tze Kwan Fung, Jahson B. Alemu I, Natasha Bhatia, Rebecca Case, Siew Chin Chua, Danwei Huang, Valerie Kwan, Kiah Eng Lim, Yudhishthra Nathan, Yan Xiang Ow, Daniel Saavedra-Hortua, Taylor M. Sloey, Erik S. Yando, Hassan Ibrahim, Lian Pin Koh, Jun Yu Puah, Serena Lay-Ming Teo, Karenne Tun, Lynn Wei Wong, Siti Maryam Yaakub

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The ability of vegetated coastal ecosystems to sequester high rates of “blue” carbon over millennial time scales has attracted the interest of national and international policy makers as a tool for climate change mitigation. Whereas focus on blue carbon conservation has been mostly on threatened rural seascapes, there is scope to consider blue carbon dynamics along highly fragmented and developed urban coastlines. The tropical city state of Singapore is used as a case study of urban blue carbon knowledge generation, how blue carbon changes over time with urban development, and how such knowledge can be integrated into urban planning alongside …

Secondary Analysis Of Chip-Seq Dataset And Genomic Interactions Of Icer, Karem Rivera

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The Inducible cyclic AMP (cAMP) Early Repressor (ICER) is an endogenous transcriptional repressor of the cAMP-mediated signaling gene transcription pathway and belongs to the CRE-binding protein (CREB)/CRE modulator (CREM) gene family. ICER is associated to many functions and biological processes in the immune system, brain, regulation of spermatogenesis, circadian control of transcription, apoptosis and metabolic functions, and of particular interest, has been shown to act like a tumor suppressor. Recent findings from our laboratory suggest that ICER might have a role in DNA repair, but further experiments need to be performed. In this research, we aimed to elucidate the function …

Stamp Sand Along The Keweenaw Shoreline: Solid And Dissolved Copper & Effects On Biota, Gary Swain

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Stamps sand refers to the regional colloquialism for the mine-tailing byproducts generated from copper (Cu) ore processing mills located in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. In the Keweenaw region, copper extracted from basalt ores resulted in a legacy of 100’s of millions of metric tonnes of stamp sand wastes, including 22.7 million metric tonnes at Gay, MI. Trace amounts of Cu persist in stamp sands and when leached have toxic enough concentrations to influence aquatic biota. To better understand stamp sands’ properties, we ran experiments and compiled data about the solid and dissolved phases of Cu. Solid phase concentration of Cu was …

Movement As Medicine: Dance/Movement Therapy For Individuals With Autism, Parkinson’S Disease, And Cancer, Alessia Zanobini

CMC Senior Theses

Dance/movement therapy (D/MT) is the psychotherapeutic use of expressive, creative movement to support holistic well-being. D/MT views the human being as a single body-mind unit and movement as a manifestation of life experiences. While typically practiced as a mental health intervention, D/MT can be adapted for a variety of populations. This thesis evaluates scientific data for the non-traditional use of D/MT for three conditions: autism, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. For individuals on the autism spectrum, D/MT can strengthen attunement skills, provide creative communication outlets, and relieve harmful physical manifestations of autism. For individuals with Parkinson’s disease, D/MT can simultaneously ease …

The Role Of Herbal Medicines In Central American Indigenous Communities; Improving Accessibility To Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treatment, Sarai Ortega

CMC Senior Theses

Indigenous communities in Central America have used various plant medications to treat illnesses and diseases for centuries. Clinicians must consider improving traditional healthcare methods that are intrinsic to indigenous communities in order to increase access to effective treatments, particularly for diseases that these communities are more at risk for. This work aims to propose a method to identify whether traditional preparations of five plants (Anacardium occidentale L., Hamelia patens Jacq., Momordica charantia L, Neurolaena lobota L. R. Br. Ex Cass., and Tecoma stans L. juss. ex Kunth) can reduce blood glucose levels in rats with type two diabetes. Additionally, …

The Photochemical Evolution Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons And Nontronite Clay On Early Earth And Mars, Nina Kopacz, Maria Angela Corazzi, Giovanni Poggiali, Ayla Von Essen, Vincent Kofman, Teresa Fornaro, Hugo Van Ingen, Eloi Camprubi, Helen E. King, John Brucato, Inge Loes Ten Kate

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The photochemical evolution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), an abundant form of meteoritic organic carbon, is of great interest to early Earth and Mars origin-of-life studies and current organic molecule detection efforts on Mars. Fe-rich clay environments were abundant on early Earth and Mars, and may have played a role in prebiotic chemistry, catalyzing the breakdown of PAHs and freeing up carbon for subsequent chemical complexification. Current Mars is abundant in clay-rich environments, which are most promising for harboring organic molecules and have comprised the main studied features by the Curiosity rover in search of them. In this work we …

Potential Effects Of Road Proximity On Zooplankton Communities And Water Quality In Lakes In The Northwest Territories, Marie N. Hannan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Studies conducted along Canada’s Dempster Highway in the Northwest Territories have shown that road dust can affect water quality in roadside lakes, leading to higher calcium, conductivity, and pH levels. These water quality changes have the potential to affect important members of the lower aquatic food web, such as zooplankton.

For my thesis research, I had two main objectives: 1) To determine if changes in water chemistry caused by deposition of road dust affects zooplankton communities; and 2) To examine if the type of roadside vegetation influences the effects of road dust on aquatic habitats. To achieve these objectives, I …

Optimizing Crispr/Cas9 Transfection Protocol To Generate A Tet-On Inducible Sk-Mel 24 Cell Lines To Better Study Icer, Abdulkader Hallak

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Inducible cAMP Early Repressor (ICER) is a dominant transcription repressor of the cAMP Responsive Element Modulator (CREM) and cAMP Responsive Element Protein (CREB) family of transcription factors. ICER isoforms are differently expressed in various cell types and are involved in essential functions including hormonal regulation, circadian rhythm, spermatogenesis, and immune response. In the context of cancer, ICER is proposed as a tumor suppressor in leukemia, prostate, pituitary cancers, and melanoma. In melanoma, ICER is targeted for degradation during tumorigenesis and highly upregulated during regression, further highlighting its potency as a tumor suppressor. Inside the nucleus, ICER targets oncogenes and key …

Temperature Regulation Of Pipecolic Acid-Mediated Plant Systemic Immunity In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Alyssa Shields

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Significant crop losses are caused by pathogenic infections annually, which are exacerbated by increasing global temperatures due to climate change. One way by which plants respond to pathogenic attacks is through the activation of pattern-triggered immunity (PTI), effector-triggered immunity (ETI), and systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which lead to production of the central defence phytohormone salicylic acid (SA). Accompanying SA release is the putative mobilization of pipecolic acid (Pip), which acts as an immune regulatory plant metabolite that works with and independently from SA. As demonstrated in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana following infection with the model bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas syringae …

The Effect Of Alkalinity On Lampricide Effectiveness And Gill Physiology In Invasive Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon Marinus), Alexandre J. Walsh

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The pesticides, 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) and niclosamide are used to control populations of invasive sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in the Laurentian Great Lakes of North America. Added to streams infested with larval sea lamprey, the effectiveness of these pesticides, commonly called lampricides, are strongly influenced by water pH, with greater toxicity for both TFM and niclosamide in lower pH than higher pH water. However, the TFM and niclosamide sensitivity of sea lamprey are also greater in poorly buffered, low alkalinity water than in high alkalinity water but it is unclear why. One goal of my thesis was to propose …