Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Examination Of Polymorphism In The Serine Proteinase Inhibitor Gene In The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica., Aine Lehane

Senior Honors Projects

Oysters are a keystone species; they are filter-feeders and reef-builders. Additionally, oysters are extremely important within the shellfish aquaculture industry; they are the second most widely produced species in world aquaculture production. Eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, are produced in aquaculture and are unfortunately susceptible to Dermo disease. Dermo is caused by a protozoan parasite, Perkinsus marinus, and infection is often fatal in oysters due to widespread tissue damage and blockage of blood vessels. Research in oyster disease is particularly needed because disease is one of the largest impediments faced by the aquaculture industry as entire oyster populations can …

Characterization Of A Novel Clade Of Transporters In Phytophthora, Stephanie Padula, Paul F. Morris Dr, Howard Casey Cromwell Dr., Menaka Ariyaratne, Andrew Wagner

Honors Projects

The oomycete Phytophthora parasitica has a worldwide distribution and is an economically important pathogen of more than 100 species⁴. RNA-seq analysis showed that one gene, PPTG_16698 has the 5^th highest level of expression of all transport proteins in the zoospore stage, and is highly conserved throughout Phytophthora species. This project attempts to characterize the important biological role that PPTG_16698 plays in P. parasitica and other oomycetes. Three strategies have been implemented to accomplish this goal: growth analysis by heterologous expression in yeast, metabolite analysis in yeast, and construction of a GFP fusion protein to enable localization of …

Overexpression And Gene Profiling Of Asparagine Synthetase In Hybrid Poplar, Kristopher Murray

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Plants with polysaccharide-rich secondary cell walls have great potential as a source of carbohydrates for bioethanol production. However, the presence of phenolic lignin inhibits the isolation of bioethanol precursors cellulose and hemicellulose from the secondary cell wall. Recent studies have linked nitrogen availability to secondary cell wall development and composition, making nitrogen metabolism genes an interesting target in the improvement of plant cell walls for biofuels production. Plants use a nitrogen assimilation pathway to convert inorganic nitrogen sources into organic sources, included amino acids, which play key roles in metabolism and cell wall development. Asparagine synthetase (AS), a key enzyme …

Drosophila Muller F Elements Maintain A Distinct Set Of Genomic Properties Over 40 Million Years Of Evolution, Wilson Leung, William Dirkes, Matthew Dothager, Paul Lee, Jeanette Wong, David Xiong, Han Yuan, James E J Bedard, Joshua F. Machone, Seantay D. Patterson, Amber L. Price, Bryce A. Turner, Srebenka Robic, Erin K. Luippold, Shannon R. Mccartha, Tezin A. Walji, Chelsea A. Walker, Kenneth Saville, Marita K. Abrams, Andrew R. Armstrong, William Armstrong, Robert J. Bailey, Chelsea R. Barberi, Lauren R. Beck, Amanda L. Blaker, Christopher E. Blunden, Jordan P. Brand, Ethan J. Brock, Dana W. Brooks, Marie Brown, Sarah C. Butzler, Eric M. Clark, Nicole B. Clark, Ashley A. Collins, Rebecca J. Cotteleer, Peterson R. Cullimore, Seth G. Dawson, Carter T. Docking, Sasha L. Dorsett, Grace A. Dougherty, Kaitlyn A. Downey, Andrew P. Drake, Erica K. Earl, Trevor G. Floyd, Joshua D. Forsyth, Jonathan D. Foust, Spencer L. Franchi, James F. Geary, Cynthia K. Hanson, Taylor S. Harding, Cameron B. Harris, Jonathan M. Heckman, Heather L. Holderness, Nicole A. Howey, Dontae A. Jacobs, Elizabeth S. Jewell, Maria Kaisler, Elizabeth A. Karaska, James L. Kehoe, Hannah C. Koaches, Jessica Koehler, Dana Koenig, Alexander J. Kujawski, Jordan E. Kus, Jennifer A. Lammers, Rachel R. Leads, Emily C. Leatherman, Rachel N. Lippert, Gregory S. Messenger, Adam T. Morrow, Victoria Newcomb, Haley J. Plasman, Stephanie J. Potocny, Michelle K. Powers, Rachel M. Reem, Jonathan P. Rennhack, Katherine R. Reynolds, Lyndsey A. Reynolds, Dong K. Rhee, Allyson B. Rivard, Adam J. Ronk, Meghan B. Rooney, Lainey S. Rubin, Luke R. Salbert, Rasleen K. Saluja, Taylor Schauder, Allison R. Schneiter, Robert W. Schulz, Karl E. Smith, Sarah Spencer, Bryant R. Swanson, Melissa A. Tache, Ashley A. Tewilliager, Amanda K. Tilot, Eve Vaneck, Matthew M. Villerot, Megan B. Vylonis, David T. Watson, Juliana A. Wurzler, Lauren M. Wysocki, Monica Yalamanchili, Matthew A. Zaborowicz, Julia A. Emerson, Carlos Ortiz, Frederic J. Deuschle, Lauren A. Dilorenzo, Katie L. Goeller, Christopher R. Macchi, Sarah E. Muller, Brittany D. Pasierb, Joseph E. Sable, Jessica M. Tucci, Marykathryn Tynon, David A. Dunbar, Levent H. Beken, Alaina C. Conturso, Benjamin L. Danner, Gabriella A. Demichele, Justin A. Gonzales, Maureen S. Hammond, Colleen V. Kelley, Elisabeth A. Kelly, Danielle Kulich, Catherine M. Mageeney, Nikie L. Mccabe, Alyssa M. Newman, Lindsay A. Spaeder, Richard A. Tumminello, Dennis Revie, Jonathon M. Benson, Michael C. Cristostomo, Paolo A. Dasilva, Katherine S. Harker, Jenifer N. Jarrell, Luis A. Jimenez, Brandon M. Katz, William R. Kennedy, Kimberly S. Kolibas, Mark T. Leblanc, Trung T. Nguyen, Daniel S. Nicolas, Melissa D. Patao, Shane M. Patao, Bryan J. Rupley, Bridget J. Sessions, Jennifer A. Weaver, Anya L. Goodman, Erica L. Alvendia, Shane M. Baldassari, Ashley S. Brown, Ian O. Chase, Maida Chen, Scott Chiang, Avery B. Cromwell, Ashley F. Custer, Tia M. Ditommaso, Jad El-Adaimi, Nora C. Goscinski, Ryan A. Grove, Nestor Gutierrez, Raechel S. Harnoto, Heather Hedeen, Emily L. Hong, Barbara L. Hopkins, Vilma F. Huerta, Colin Khoshabian, Kristin M. Laforge, Cassidy T. Lee, Benjamin M. Lewis, Anniken M. Lydon, Brian J. Maniaci, Ryan D. Mitchell, Elaine V. Morlock, William M. Morris, Priyanka Naik, Nicole C. Olson, Jeanette M. Osterloh, Marcos A. Perez, Jonathan D. Presley, Matt J. Randazzo, Melanie K. Regan, Franca G. Rossi, Melanie A. Smith, Eugenia A. Soliterman, Ciani J. Sparks, Danny L. Tran, Tiffany Wan, Anne A. Welker, Jeremy N. Wong, Aparna Sreenivasan, Jim Youngblom, Andrew Adams, Justin Alldredge, Ashley Bryant, David Carranza, Alyssa Cifelli, Kevin Coulson, Calise Debow, Noelle Delacruz, Charlene Emerson, Cassandra Farrar, Don Foret, Edgar Garibay, John Gooch, Michelle Heslop, Sukhjit Kaur, Ambreen Khan, Van Kim, Travis Lamb, Peter Lindbeck, Gabi Lucas, Elizabeth Macias, Daniela Martiniuc, Lissett Mayorga, Joseph Medina, Nelson Membreno, Shady Messiah, Lacey Neufeld, San Francisco Nguyen, Zachary Nichols, George Odisho, Daymon Peterson, Laura Rodela, Priscilla Rodriguez, Vanessa Rodriguez, Jorge Ruiz, Will Sherrill, Valeria Silva, Jeri Sparks, Geeta Statton, Ashley Townsend, Isabel Valdez, Mary Waters, Kyle Westphal, Stacey Winkler, Joannee Zumkehr, Randall J. Dejong, Arlene J. Hoogewerf, Cheri M. Ackerman, Isaac O. Armistead, Lara Baatenberg, Matthew J. Bor, Lindsay K. Brouwer, Brandon J. Burkhart, Kelsey T. Bushhouse, Lejla Cesko, Tiffany Y Y Choi, Heather Cohen, Amanda M. Damsteegt, Jess M. Darusz, Cory M. Dauphin, Yelena P. Davis, Emily J. Diekema, Melissa Drewry, Michelle E M Eisen, Hayley M. Faber, Katherine J. Faber, Elizabeth Feenstra, Isabella T. Felzer-Kim, Brandy L. Hammond, Jesse Hendricksma, Milton R. Herrold, Julia A. Hilbrands, Emily J. Howell, Sarah A. Jelgerhuis, Timothy R. Jelsema, Benjamin K. Johnson, Kelly K. Jones, Anna Kim, Ross D. Kooienga, Erika E. Menyes, Eric A. Nollet, Brittany E. Plescher, Lindsay Rios, Jenny L. Rose, Allison J. Schepers, Geoff Scott, Joshua R. Smith, Allison M. Sterling, Jenna C. Tenney, Chris Uitvlugt, Rachel E. Vandyken, Marielle Vandervennen, Samantha Vue, Nighat P. Kokan, Kwabea Agbley, Sampson K. Boham, Daniel Broomfield, Kayla Chapman, Ali Dobbe, Ian Dobbe, William Harrington, Marwan Ibrahem, Andre Kennedy, Chad A. Koplinsky, Cassandra Kubricky, Danielle Ladzekpo, Claire Pattison, Roman E. Ramirez Jr., Lucia Wande, Sarah Woehlke, Matthew Wawersik, Elizabeth Kiernan, Jeffrey S. Thompson, Roxanne Banker, Justina R. Bartling, Chinmoy I. Bhatiya, Anna L. Boudoures, Lena Christiansen, Daniel S. Fosselman, Kristin M. French, Ishwar S. Gill, Jessen T. Havill, Jaelyn L. Johnson, Lauren J. Keny, John M. Kerber, Bethany M. Klett, Christina N. Kufel, Francis J. May, Jonathan P. Mecoli, Callie R. Merry, Lauren R. Meyer, Emily G. Miller, Gregory J. Mullen, Katherine C. Palozola, Jacob J. Pfeil, Jessica G. Thomas, Evan M. Verbofsky, Eric P. Spana, Anant Agarwalla, Julia Chapman, Ben Chlebina, Insun Chong, I N. Falk, John D. Fitzgibbons, Harrison Friedman, Osagie Ighile, Andrew J. Kim, Kristin A. Knouse, Faith Kung, Danny Mammo, Chun Leung Ng, Vinyak S. Nikam, Diana Norton, Philip Pham, Jessica W. Polk, Shreya Prasad, Helen Rankin, Camille D. Ratliff, Victoria Scala, Nicholas U. Schwartz, Jessica A. Shuen, Amy Xu, Thomas Q. Xu, Yi Zhang, Anne G. Rosenwald, Martin G. Burg, Stephanie J. Adams, Morgan Baker, Bobbi Botsford, Briana Brinkley, Carter Brown, Shadie Emiah, Erica Enoch, Chad Gier, Alyson Greenwell, Lindsay Hoogenboom, Jordan E. Matthews, Mitchell Mcdonald, Amanda Mercer, Nicholaus Monsma, Kristine Ostby, Alen Ramic, Devon Shallman, Matthew Simon, Eric Spencer, Trisha Tomkins, Pete Wendland, Anna Wylie, Michael J. Wolyniak, Gregory M. Robertson, Samuel I. Smith, Justin R. Diangelo, Eric D. Sassu, Satish C. Bhalla, Karim A. Sharif, Tenzin Choeying, Jason S. Macias, Fareed Sanusi, Karvyn Torchon, April E. Bednarski, Consuelo J. Alvarez, Kristen C. Davis, Carrie A. Dunham, Alaina J. Grantham, Amber N. Hare, Jennifer Schottler, Zachary W. Scott, Gary A. Kuleck, Nicole S. Yu, Marian M. Kaehler, Jacob Jipp, Paul J. Overvoorde, Elizabeth Shoop, Olivia Cyranowski, Betsy Hoover, Matt Kusner, Devry Lin, Tijana Martinov, Jonathan Misch, Garrett Salzman, Holly Schiedermeyer, Michael Snavely, Stephanie Zarrasola, Susan Parrish, Atlee Baker, Alissa Beckett, Carissa Belella, Julie Bryant, Turner Conrad, Adam Fearnow, Carolina Gomez, Robert A. Herbstsomer, Sarah Hirsch, Cristen Johnson, Melissa Jones, Rita Kabaso, Eric Lemmon, Carolina Marques Dos Santos Vieira, Darryl Mcfarland, Christopher Mclaughlin, Abbie Morgan, Sepo Musokotwane, William Neutzling, Jana Nietmann, Christina Paluskievicz, Jessica Penn, Emily Peoples, Caitlin Pozmanter, Emily Reed, Nichole Rigby, Lasse Schmidt, Micah Shelton, Rebecca Shuford, Tiara Tirasawasdichai, Blair Undem, Damian Urick, Kayla Vondy, Bryan Yarrington, Todd T. Eckdahl, Jeffrey L. Poet, Alicia B. Allen, John E. Anderson, Jason M. Barnett, Jordan S. Baumgardner, Adam D. Brown, Jordan E. Carney, Ramiro A. Chavez, Shelbi L. Christgen, Jordan S. Christie, Andrea N. Clary, Michael A. Conn, Kristen M. Cooper, Matt J. Crowley, Samuel T. Crowley, Jennifer S. Doty, Brian A. Dow, Curtis R. Edwards, Darcie D. Elder, John P. Fanning, Bridget M. Janssen, Anthony K. Lambright, Curtiss E. Lane, Austin B. Limle, Tammy Mazur, Marly R. Mccracken, Alexa M. Mcdonough, Amy D. Melton, Phillip J. Minnick, Adam E. Musick, William H. Newhart, Joseph W. Noynaert, Bradley J. Ogden, Michael W. Sandusky, Samantha M. Schmuecker, Anna L. Shipman, Anna L. Smith, Kristen M. Thomsen, Matthew R. Unzicker, William B. Vernon, Wesley W. Winn, Dustin S. Woyski, Xiao Zhu, Chunguang Du, Caitlin Ament, Soham Aso, Laura Simone Bisogno, Jason Caronna, Nadezhda Fefelova, Lenin Lopez, Lorraine Malkowitz, Jonathan Marra, Daniella Menillo, Ifeanyi Obiorah, Eric Nyabeta Onsarigo, Shekerah Primus, Mahdi Soos, Archana Tare, Ameer Zidan, Christopher J. Jones, Todd Aronhalt, James M. Bellush, Christa Burke, Steve Defazio, Benjamin R. Does, Todd D. Johnson, Nicholas Keysock, Nelson H. Knudsen, James Messler, Kevin Myirski, Jade Lea Rekai, Ryan Michael Rempe, Michael S. Salgado, Erica Stagaard, Justin R. Starcher, Andrew W. Waggoner, Anastasia K. Yemelyanova, Amy T. Hark, Anne Bertolet, Cyrus E. Kuschner, Kesley Parry, Michael Quach, Lindsey Shantzer, Mary E. Shaw, Mary A. Smith, Omolara Glenn, Portia Mason, Charlotte Williams, S Catherine Silver Key, Tyneshia C P Henry, Ashlee G. Johnson, Jackie X. White, Adam Haberman, Sam Asinof, Kelly Drumm, Trip Freeburg, Nadia Safa, Darrin Schultz, Yakov Shevin, Petros Svoronos, Tam Vuong, Jules Wellinghoff, Laura L M Hoopes, Kim M. Chau, Alyssa Ward, E Gloria C. Regisford, Lajerald Augustine, Brionna Davis-Reyes, Vivienne Echendu, Jasmine Hales, Sharon Ibarra, Lauriaun Johnson, Steven Ovu, John M. Braverman, Thomas J. Bahr, Nicole M. Caesar, Christopher Campana, Daniel W. Cassidy, Peter A. Cognetti, Johnathan D. English, Matthew C. Fadus, Cameron N. Fick, Philip J. Freda, Bryan M. Hennessy, Kelsey Hockenberger, Jennifer K. Jones, Jessica E. King, Christopher R. Knob, Karen J. Kraftmann, Linghui Li, Lena N. Lupey, Carl J. Minniti, Thomas F. Minton, Joseph V. Moran, Krishna Mudumbi, Elizabeth C. Nordman, William J. Puetz, Lauren M. Robinson, Thomas J. Rose, Edward P. Sweeney, Ashley S. Timko, Don W. Paetkau, Heather L. Eisler, Megan E. Aldrup, Jessica M. Bodenberg, Mara G. Cole, Kelly M. Deranek, Megan Deshetler, Rose M. Dowd, Alexandra K. Eckardt, Sharon C. Ehret, Jessica Fese, Amanda D. Garrett, Anna Kammrath, Michelle L. Kappes, Morgan R. Light, Anne C. Meier, Allison O'Rouke, Mallory Perella, Kimberley Ramsey, Jennifer R. Ramthun, Mary T. Reilly, Deirdre Robinett, Nadine L. Rossi, Mary Grace Schueler, Emma Shoemaker, Kristin M. Starkey, Ashley Vetor, Abby Vrable, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Christopher Beck, Kristen R. Hatfield, Douglas A. Herrick, Christopher B. Khoury, Charlotte Lea, Christopher A. Louie, Shannon M. Lowell, Thomas J. Reynolds, Jeanine Schibler, Alexandra H. Scoma, Maxwell T. Smith-Gee, Sarah Tuberty, Christopher D. Smith, Jane E. Lopilato, Jeanette Hauke, Jennifer A. Roecklein-Canfield, Maureen Corrielus, Hannah Gilman, Stephanie Intriago, Amanda Maffa, Sabya A. Rauf, Katrina Thistle, Melissa Trieu, Jenifer Winters, Bib Yang, Charles R. Hauser, Tariq Abusheikh, Yara Ashrawi, Pedro Benitez, Lauren R. Boudreaux, Megan Bourland, Miranda Chavez, Samantha Cruz, Ginell Elliott, Jesse R. Farek, Sarah Flohr, Amanda H. Flores, Chelsey Friedrichs, Zach Fusco, Zane Goodwin, Eric Helmreich, John Kiley, John Mark Knepper, Christine Langner, Megan Martinez, Carlos Mendoza, Monal Naik, Andrea Ochoa, Nicolas Ragland, England Raimey, Sunil Rathore, Evangelina Reza, Griffin Sadovsky, Marie-Isabelle B. Seydoux, Jonathan E. Smith, Anna K. Unruh, Vicente Velasquez, Matthew W. Wolski, Yuying Gosser, Shubha Govind, Nicole Clarke-Medley, Leslie Guadron, Dawn Lau, Alvin Lu, Cheryl Mazzeo, Mariam Meghdari, Simon Ng, Brad Pamnani, Olivia Plante, Yuki Kwan Wa Shum, Roy Song, Diana E. Johnson, Mai Abdelnabi, Alexi Archambault, Norma Chamma, Shailly Gaur, Deborah Hammett, Adrese Kandahari, Guzal Khayrullina

Peer Reviewed Articles

The Muller F element (4.2 Mb, ~80 protein-coding genes) is an unusual autosome of Drosophila melanogaster; it is mostly heterochromatic with a low recombination rate. To investigate how these properties impact the evolution of repeats and genes, we manually improved the sequence and annotated the genes on the D. erecta, D. mojavensis, and D. grimshawi F elements and euchromatic domains from the Muller D element. We find that F elements have greater transposon density (25–50%) than euchromatic reference regions (3–11%). Among the F elements, D. grimshawi has the lowest transposon density (particularly DINE-1: 2% vs. 11–27%). F …

Divergent Selection For Four-Day Relative Breast Yield And The Effect Of Thermal Manipulations On Growth Characteristics On Lines Selected For Different Processing Dates., James Grant Mason

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetic selections currently utilized in the poultry industry have been highly successful in promoting broiler growth rate and yield. However, these selections may have come at the expense of broiler physiology, as evidenced by an increase in physiological disorders. To address this experimentation was undergone to develop a novel method of selection to promote growth with minimal physiological impact and to assess how a new embryonic technique affects growth in broiler lines exhibiting different growth rates.

In the first experiment, a random bred control (RAN) broiler line was divergently selected for four-day relative breast yield (BY4) resulting in the high …

Bioinformatic Game Theory And Its Application To Cluster Multi-Domain Proteins, Brittney Keel

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The exact evolutionary history of any set of biological sequences is unknown, and all phylogenetic reconstructions are approximations. The problem becomes harder when one must consider a mix of vertical and lateral phylogenetic signals. In this dissertation we propose a game-theoretic approach to clustering biological sequences and analyzing their evolutionary histories. In this context we use the term evolution as a broad descriptor for the entire set of mechanisms driving the inherited characteristics of a population. The key assumption in our development is that evolution tries to accommodate the competing forces of selection, of which the conservation force seeks to …

The Cancer Genome Atlas (Tcga): Breast And Ovarian Cancers, Laura Ann Riccio

Senior Honors Projects

The field of genomics originated in the 1970’s starting with the sequencing of small organisms’ genomes such as the bacterium, Haemophilus influenzae, and the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A genome is the complete ordered sequence of DNA bases (A, C, G, and T) comprising all of the protein- and RNA-coding genes, as well as all of the regulatory sequences necessary for the construction of an organism. Over time, scientists sequenced the genomes of larger and more complex organisms, eventually leading to the sequencing of the human genome. The Human Genome Project (HGP) was initiated in 1990 and took over ten …

The Hippo Pathway Effector Yki Downregulates Wg Signaling To Promote Retinal Differentiation In The Drosophila Eye, Erika Lynn Wittkorn, Ankita Sarkar, Kristine Garcia, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh

Biology Faculty Publications

The evolutionarily conserved Hippo signaling pathway is known to regulate cell proliferation and maintain tissue homeostasis during development. We found that activation of Yorkie (Yki), the effector of the Hippo signaling pathway, causes separable effects on growth and differentiation of theDrosophila eye. We present evidence supporting a role for Yki in suppressing eye fate by downregulation of the core retinal determination genes. Other upstream regulators of the Hippo pathway mediate this effect of Yki on retinal differentiation. Here, we show that, in the developing eye, Yki can prevent retinal differentiation by blocking morphogenetic furrow (MF) progression and R8 specification. …

A Phylogenetic Analysis Of Dictyostelium Purpureum Based On Nuclear Rdna Sequences, Mahmoud Suliman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dictyostelids (cellular slime molds) are eukaryotic microorganisms that have both unicellular and multicellular stages during their life cycle. In this study, a molecular phylogenetic analysis was conducted for isolates of one species (Dictyostelium purpureum) based DNA sequences of the ITS, 5.8S and SSU regions of nuclear rDNA. Moreover, a detailed morphological study was carried out using images obtained with both dissecting and compound microscopes. Mating experiments were carried out to assess macrocysts formation between each pair of isolates. The constructed molecular phylogenetic trees indicate that (1) D. purpureum isolates are more closely related to each other than to other species …

Development Of A Large Set Of Microsatellite Markers In Zapote Mamey (Pouteria Sapota (Jacq.) H.E. Moore & Stearn) And Their Potential Use In The Study Of The Species, Renee S. Arias, Jaime Martínez-Castillo, V. S. Sobolev, Nasib H. Blancarte-Jaso, S. A. Simpson, Linda L. Ballard, Mary V. Duke, Xiaofen F. Liu, Brian M. Irish, Brian E. Scheffler

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Pouteria sapota is known for its edible fruits that contain unique carotenoids, as well as for its fungitoxic, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant activity. However, its genetics is mostly unknown, including aspects about its genetic diversity and domestication process. We did high-throughput sequencing of microsatellite-enriched libraries of P. sapota, generated 5223 contig DNA sequences, 1.8 Mbp, developed 368 microsatellites markers and tested them on 29 individuals from 10 populations (seven wild, three cultivated) from Mexico, its putative domestication center. Gene ontology BLAST analysis of the DNA sequences containing microsatellites showed potential association to physiological functions. Genetic diversity was slightly higher in cultivated …

Physiological Response To Salinity Challenge Is Mediated By Na+, K+ - Atpase “Isoform Switching” In A Euryhaline Fish, The Alewife, Rebecca S. Colby

Honors Scholar Theses

Na⁺, K⁺-ATPase (NKA) a1a and a1b expression was investigated in Alewives in response to salinity challenge. Anadromous and landlocked Alewives were exposed to freshwater (0ppt) and seawater (30ppt) treatments and sampled at 2-, 5-, and 15-day time points. Anadromous alewives exhibit significant up-regulation of a1a in freshwater compared to seawater at all time points, and significant up-regulation of a1b in seawater compared to freshwater at all time points. In landlocked Alewives, a1a is significantly up regulated at the 5-day time point and a1b is significantly up regulated at all time points (in their respective salinities). Analysis …

Investigation Of Genetic Alterations In Emt Suppressor, Dear1, Through Pan-Cancer Analysis And Ultra-Deep Targeted Sequencing In Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, Jacquelyn Reuther

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is thought to be one of the earliest pre-invasive form of and non-obligate precursor to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). There is an urgent need to identify predictive and prognostic biomarkers for breast cancers with a heightened risk of progression from DCIS to IDC. Our laboratory has previously discovered a novel TRIM family member, DEAR1 (Ductal Epithelium Associated Ring Chromosome 1, annotated as TRIM62) within chromosome 1p35.1, that is mutated and homozygously deleted in breast cancer and whose expression is downregulated/lost in DCIS. Previous work has shown that DEAR1 is a novel tumor suppressor …

Igfbp2 Potentiates Egfr-Stat3 Signaling In Glioma, Yingxuan Chua

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Gliomas are clinically challenging brain tumors with dismal survival rates due to its infiltrative nature and ineffective standard therapy. Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 (IGFBP2) is a pleiotropic oncogenic protein that has both extracellular and intracellular functions. Despite a clear causal role in cancer development, the contributions of intracellular IGFBP2 to tumor development and progression are poorly understood. Here we present evidence that both exogenous IGFBP2 treatment and cellular IGFBP2 overexpression lead to aberrant activation of EGFR, which subsequently activates STAT3 signaling. Furthermore, we demonstrate that IGFBP2 augments the nuclear accumulation of EGFR to potentiate STAT3 transactivation activities, via …

Genetics Of Obesity In Starr County, Texas Mexican Americans, Heather M. Highland

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Currently, over two-thirds of Americans are classified as over-weight or obese. Obesity increases risk for many other diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer, making obesity the largest public health problem in America and most other Westernized nations. Hispanics have a higher rate of both obesity and type 2 diabetes, making them a particularly interesting population in which to study obesity. For the last 33 years, the Starr County Health Studies has collected an array of phenotypes and biological samples from residents of Starr County, along Texas-Mexico border. This study includes 825 subjects who were not known …

Tracking Plastid Gene Migration In Karenia Brevis, Kelly E. Scott

Honors Theses

Karenia brevis is a marine dinoflagellate responsible for the harmful algal blooms (also known as red tides) in the Gulf of Mexico. K. brevis expresses antisense (AS) RNAs, each of which has a complementary region to the messenger RNA (mRNA) of a variety of genes. In dinoflagellates, many plastid (and mitochondrial) genes have migrated to the nuclear genome. It is unknown whether chloroplast genes, such as photosystem – D2, have migrated in K. brevis. It is also unknown where the gene that expresses the AS RNA for photosystem D2 resides. The protein-coding gene and the AS RNA-expressing gene could …

Elucidating The Role Of Rumi And O-Glucosylation In The Drosophila Eye, Amanda Haltom

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Rumi is a protein O-glucosyltransferase that adds the sugar O-glucose onto the serine in the target sequence C-S-X-S-(P/A)-C found within properly folded EGF repeats. It was first discovered to modify the Drosophila Notch extracellular domain and to be required for Notch signaling in a temperature dependent manner, but other targets of Rumi remained unknown. Several other proteins in the Drosophila proteome harbor multiple consensus sequence highly predictive of O-glucose, including the transmembrane protein Crumbs and the secreted protein Eyes shut (Eys). Both of these proteins are required for proper eye development and mutations in their human homologs …

Dna Polymerase Θ (Polq) And The Cellular Defense Against Dna Damage, Matthew J. Yousefzadeh

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

In mammalian cells, DNA polymerase θ (POLQ) is an unusual specialized DNA polymerase whose in vivo function is under active investigation. The protein is comprised of an N-terminal helicase-like domain, a C-terminal DNA polymerase domain, and a large central domain that spans between the two. This arrangement is also found in the Drosophila Mus308 protein, which helps confer resistance to DNA interstrand crosslinking agents. Homologs of POLQ and Mus308 are found in eukaryotes, including plants, but a comparison of phenotypes suggests that not all of these genes are functional orthologs. Flies with defective Mus308 are sensitive to DNA interstrand crosslinking …

Spiritual Exploration In The Prenatal Genetic Counseling Session, Katelynn G. Sagaser

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Religion and spirituality are important components of many individuals’ lives, and spiritual needs may present among persons receiving medical care. Spirituality has been demonstrated to be significant in the coping of women experiencing pregnancy complications (Breen et al. 2006; Price et al. 2007). To characterize the manner in which prenatal genetic counselors might address spiritual issues with their patients, we surveyed 283 patients receiving prenatal genetic counseling using the Brief RCope and a series of questions that examined interest in spiritual exploration. Counselors were concurrently surveyed to identify the spiritual language used within the session and the counselor’s perceived importance …

Investigating The Roles Of P63 And P73 Isoforms To Therapeutically Treat P53-Altered Cancers, Avinashnarayan Venkatanarayan

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Investigating the roles of p63 & p73 isoforms to therapeutically treat

p53-altered cancers

Avinashnarayan Venkatanarayan, M.S.

Supervisory Professor: Elsa R. Flores, Ph.D.

The TP53 tumor suppressor is mutated in approximately 50% of human cancers rendering cancer therapies ineffective. p53 reactivation suppresses tumor formation in mice. However, this strategy has proven difficult to implement therapeutically. An alternate approach to overcome p53 loss is to manipulate the p53-family members, p63 and p73, which interact and share structural similarities to p53. p63 and p73, unlike p53 are less frequently mutated and have two major isoforms with distinct functions …

Evaluating The Nccn Clinical Criteria For Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Genetic Testing, Caiqian Wu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer (HBOC) syndrome predisposes females with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation to an up to 85% lifetime risk for breast cancer and an up to 40% lifetime risk for ovarian cancer. It is crucial for individuals with HBOC to be identified to allow for proper screening, management, and identification of at-risk family members in order to reduce mortality. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has established clinical guidelines for when to recommend BRCA1/2 testing. A retrospective chart review of 1123 M.D. Anderson Cancer Center breast cancer patients was performed in order to evaluate the positive predictive …