Wireless technologies advance rapidly in the recent time. The maJor initiative is the realization of the third generation wireless network that provides high bandwidth access to digital data on the Internet. Moreover, recent improvements in computer and embedded systems have enabled portable devices with sufficiently high computing capability.
The combination...
Impedance spectroscopy is a method of modeling materials with equivalent circuits to determine electrical properties, such as the resistivity and the dielectric constant. We explore impedance spectroscopy, both theoretically and experimentally through applying the method to samples of BaCuS1-xSexF. Grain boundary effects were dominant in the results, and although they...
Riparian areas are an integral component of fluvial ecosystems. The management of Oregon's riparian areas has come under greater scrutiny since that latest revision of the Oregon Forest Practices Act (1994). Many riparian areas lie within forested areas. Riparian management issues such as anadromous fish population decline and large woody...
Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) depend on the fir-dominated forest ecosystem in the states of Michoacán and Mexico for shelter during their winter hibernation. Since 1980, the Mexican government has sought to protect this natural phenomenon by designating their overwintering habitat as the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR). According to the...
Various mollusks, including small bivalves and gastropod snails, are a common food source for intertidal crabs. Prey opening techniques used on hard-shell prey are dependent on claw size and morphology. For example, large, strong claws can crush a snail outright while smaller, weaker claws leave characteristic peels, pulls and upper...
With the realization that traditional means of providing useful energy have formidable environmental and economical repercussions, many counties have begun to explore more benign and sustainable energy sources—renewables. Photovoltaics (PV), a sub-group of renewable energy technologies, convert incident solar radiation into electrical power. Germany, the US and Japan are racing...
This paper studies the current counternarcotics methods and the electronics technology used by the United States and Colombian governments to combat narcoterrorism in the Andean region. The efficiency and efficacy of these methods with the use of electronics technology are analyzed to determine if they are
successful. The current counternarcotics...
Sweet onions are valued for their unique flavor and praised for their health and dietary character. Onion sweetness is perceived as the degree of pungency decreases. Pungency can be quantitatively determined in onions by measuring enzymatically produced pyruvic acid. The onion industry quantifies a sweet onion as one having a...
Perfluorinated chemicals have been widely used in industry for their superior surfactant qualities. Because of their widespread usage and resistance to photolytic and biodegradation mechanisms, as well as their ability to undergo long-range atmospheric transport, these compounds have become ubiquitous in the world-wide water supplies. Of particular interest are perfluorooctanoic...
Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) and interferon gamma (IFN γ) were initially recognized as inflammatory mediators produced by immune cells in response to infectious agents or foreign material. (1,5) However, over the past decade much research in mammalian species has indicated that these proteins also play key roles in...
This thesis explores the effects study abroad literature, specifically promotional Websites, have on
Oregon State University students when selecting a study abroad program and if the students’ choices reflect
OSU’s International Degree and Education Abroad’s (IDEA) goal of global competency for students.
To explore this, two online surveys were made;...
This essay seeks to analyze the wind-power policies of Spain, the United States and the
world in order to better understand the past, present and future potentials of the resource.
The growing demand for energy, concerns about global warming, and the need for
increased energy security encourage societies to embrace...
The prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight has grown significantly in France in the past twenty years. Obesity is associated with many diseases such as metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, cancer, and depression. These diseases once confined to adults are increasingly being observed in children. Thus there are...
Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in many species of bacteria today, with pathogens an important focus. Fecal contamination of shellfish is already a concern due to potential pathogens. This report examines the possibility of resistance gene transfer between microbes, due to fecal bacteria, within the oyster. In this study,...
Agricultural areas can be inhospitable to the attraction and maintenance of beneficial insects like natural enemies and pollinators and this can result in a decrease in the ecosystem services of pollination and pest control that these insects supply. If habitat can be created and maintained on-farm, an increase in the...
Pesticides are ubiquitous, with more than one billion tons of pesticide products used in the United States annually. These compounds are characterized by their toxic effects to the target organism; however, pesticides are also well known for their deleterious effects to non-target species. Because pesticides have ecological and human health...
Cancer is class of diseases that has great diversity and unfortunately is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Chemotherapy remains an important cancer treatment modality, and superior chemotherapeutic drugs are constantly being sought. Gemcitabine is an anti-tumor chemotherapeutic drug and it is the first line...
The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is between the United States and Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA was decided in Costa Rica by a national referendum in 2007, after years of delay that left Costa Rica as the only country to have...
Chitosan based hemorrhage control dressings provide effective external hemorrhage control while having few side effects. Known residual contaminants present in chitosan formulations include endotoxins and proteins known to stimulate gene expression in the liver. This study investigated gene expression in the liver using rat bio-compatibility models to gain knowledge regarding...
Renibacterium salmoninarum is the causative agent of bacterial kidney disease in both
wild and farmed salmonid species worldwide. The genome of this pathogen has
significant synteny to the ubiquitous, soil-dwelling Arthrobacter spp. though it is 1.9 Mb
smaller, suggesting that reductive evolution has occurred. Recently, our group finished
sequencing and...
The ability of soils to store large quantities of carbon (C) makes them an important factor in the global C cycle. Small changes within soil C can lead to large changes in atmospheric C. Land management practices can influence the amount of C that is stored within the soil and...
The goal of this project was to develop and test non-herbicidal techniques that remove nonnative plant or weed seeds from the top 2 inches of the soil. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is currently restoring prairies in the Willamette Valley. Some areas of the Pacific Northwest have already seen loss of...
Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a naturally occurring halophilic pathogen, is seasonally abundant in marine and estuarine environments. It is also the leading cause of gastroenteritis in humans world-wide. Numerous outbreak incidences associated with the pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus contaminations in oyster products have raised public-health concerns as well as economic challenges to the...
The goal of my thesis is to examine and analyze the influence and importance of the Roman aqueducts in Mérida, Spain. Throughout the history of the world there has been an ever-evolving spectrum of power and influence. Although we can date the city’s origin to prehistoric time Mérida truly became...
Literary fairy tales facilitate a specific inquiry into heroine quests. Due to the flexibility of the fairy tale genre, a variety of heroine tales have been produced. The specific stages of a heroine quest must be described in order to understand the direction and goals of these quests. In order...
Intellectual property rights is an incredibly important and salient issue today in both China and the rest of the world. This topic of intellectual property rights, or IPRs, has been an increasingly frictional and hostile issue of contention between
China and the rest of the world for many years. IPR...
In this thesis I examine the biocultural affects of nutrition and pregnancy on dental health throughout Ecuador. Factors such as diet, fertility rates, cultural practices and barriers to health care are investigated through a review of the existing literature. Three main regions of Ecuador were selected for examination -- the...
Upon the annex of Lithuania as a Soviet state, the Soviet Union imposed an order
on Lithuanian athletic figures to represent the Soviet Union. Lithuanian athletes would
now be obligated to represent the Soviet Union in all international sporting events in
which they competed. The international success of Soviet Athletes,...
The purpose of this thesis is to provide the reader with an understanding of the history of North African immigration into France and explain how the current conditions were formed. A further objective is to decipher how the circumstances for North Africans in France have improved or worsened in comparison...
For the past twenty-seven years, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has become a worldwide pandemic. Due to the properties of HIV, such as its fast replication rate and error-prone reverse transcriptase, researchers have been unsuccessful in finding a cure or vaccine. Researchers have, however, developed a treatment regimen...
Organophosphate insecticides may produce sublethal, adverse effects on salmonid
growth, reproduction, maturation, swimming, and feeding. Chlorpyrifos, an
organophosphate insecticide, was detected by the Oregon Department of Environmental
Quality in the Hood River and tributaries during March 1999 at levels exceeding state
water quality standards in the range of 0.011-0.482 μg/L....
With the rapid onset of globalization, there are a large number of political, economic and social factors which are constantly changing. These all have profound effects on the demographics of individual populations. This shift in social demography is accompanied by an epidemiologic transition as well.
In order to gain an...
In the last decade food production has undergone dramatic changes. The introduction of biotechnology and genetic modification has greatly increased crop yields and altered the balance of international agricultural trade. This paper aims to discuss and explore a current global issue involving international trade and its sometimes hazardous environmental impact....
Port-Orford-cedar (POC) (Chamaecyparis lawsoniana (A. Murl.) Parl) is an
important tree species native the coastal ranges of southern Oregon and northern
California. The tree is a false-cedar in the cypress (Cupressaceae) family and is used for
timber and planted as an ornamental. The tree in most of its native range...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are common pollutants of aquatic systems in urban environments. Due to their lipophilicity, persistence, toxicity and carcinogenicity, they are chemicals of considerable concern. The Portland Harbor includes a large industrial section with numerous current and historic sources for PAH contamination. Runoff from a large metropolitan area...
Deforestation, intensive agriculture and chemical use all can cause long-lastingn negative impacts on soil health. With all the vital functions that soils perform and the potential for further soil degradation, it is important that standards of soil quality or soil health be implemented. Soil aggregation is considered to be a...
Five new anti-zebrafish cytochrome P450 (CYP) antipeptide polyclonal antibodies were tested for tissue specificity using immunohistochemistry. The antibodies are for the zebrafish CYPs IA, 2K6, 2K7, 3A65 and 3C1. Three of these antibodies were also compared to existing antibodies made against CYP isozymes in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Individual staining...
The cabbage maggot, Delia radicum (L.) (Diptera: Anthomyiidae) is a serious
pest of cruciferous crops (i.e. broccoli, cabbage, turnip, rutabaga) in North America and
Europe (Coaker and Finch, 1971; Whistlecraft et al., 1985). The adult flies lay eggs
around the base and in cracks at the soil surface around wild...
Northwest cherry cultivars including Prunus avium 'Bing', Prunus avium 'Rainier', Prunus avium 'Royal Anne' and Prunus cerasus 'Montmorency' were separated into epidermal tissue, flesh and pit and cryogenically milled with liquid nitrogen. These samples as well as whole samples from each variety were extracted with acetone followed by a chloroform...
Little is known about Frankia, a gram-positive, nitrogen-fixing bacterium, because of the difficulty associated with isolating pure cultures. This nitrogen-fixing symbiosis involves Frankia and the roots of actinorhizal host plants belonging to eight plant families and 25 genera. These plants are important pioneer species traditionally found in nitrogen-poor soils and....
Little is known about upland agricultural grassland soil invertebrate composition and its contribution to ecosystem functioning. Soil-dwelling organisms play a central role in soil formation, plant nutrition, and are significant food contributors for organisms in several trophic levels. Information is needed about mesofauna seasonal population and composition trends throughout the...
Saturated hydraulid conductivity (Ks) is a central soil physical property in determining water movement and contaminant transport through soils; hence modeling this system requires an accurate determination of K. Decimeter-scale KS measurements employing cores or infiltrometers are used frequently, but field-scale KS values are required to encompass the full range...
A set of flour samples with protein content ranging from 9.7 - 13.3 % was used for this study to evaluate the effectiveness of HMW-GS, SEHPLC and mixograph characteristics as screening tools for noodle texture. The sample set had a large variation in HMW-GS composition with Payne score ranging from...
Because global warming is predicted to increase the severity of El Niño events in the future, understanding how warmer temperatures affect seaweed growth and the animals associated with seaweeds is important for predicting how marine ecosystems will change. The Galapagos Islands of Ecuador are considered a living laboratory for studying...
An organisms' genotype may not be reflected in its phenotype. For example, epistasis - the interaction of non-allelic genes can cause deviations from expected phenotypic ratios. The epistatic interaction between the hooded (Kap) and short-awned (lks2) loci in barley (Hordeum vulgare) precludes the localization of the Kap locus, based on...
Gaps in the forest canopy allow more light to reach the understory. Since
light in the understory is heterogeneous, understanding the physiological
processes in gaps and non-gaps will improve estimates of carbon balance. This
research outlines an approach for defining carbon balance for Salal (Gaultheria
shallon Pursh.), a dominant understory...
Soil CO2 efflux is a major contributor of CO2 to the atmosphere. The rate that CO2 is respired out of the soil is called the soil flux (Fs). Many variables alter Fs. These variables differ drastically in the variety of ecosystems found on the earth. It is important to understand...
The ionotropic glutamate receptors are ligand-gated ion channels that mediate the majority of excitatory neurotransmission in the brain. The three classes of ionotropic glutamate receptors are alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA), N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), and kainite. These three classes have unique subunits. NMDA receptors play important roles in development, forms of synaptic plasticity,...
Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens with a unique biphasic life cycle that consists of an infectious but non-dividing form, called elementary bodies (EB), and a noninfectious but metabolically active form, called reticulate bodies (RB). Chlamydia has an unusual process of cell division of which still remains uncharacterized subject matter;...
The acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) is among the most common primary cavity nesters of the Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana) woodlands. Understanding their selection of granary sites is important in evaluating habitat quality and management actions. I hypothesized that granary locations would be consistent with the optimal foraging theory. Site...
COUP-TF interacting protein 1 (CTIP1) is a novel C2H2 zinc finger protein that mediates transcriptional repression of ARP1, a member of the COUP-TF subfamily of orphan nuclear receptors [1]. Here we show that CTIP1 interacts with heterochromatin-associated protein 1 (HP1) in vitro and in cells. This
interaction suggests the existence...
Grain protein concentration of wheat is influenced by numerous factors. When determining a wheat variety's ability to produce protein, the plant's ability to uptake and translocate nitrogen is critical. A greenhouse study was conducted to assess differences in nitrogen use among different wheat varieties. The objective was to determine if...
Crystallizing a virus can be difficult and not always successful. Forty-eight salts, buffers, and precipitating agents were used in the hanging drop preparations in attempts to crystallize the San Miguel sea lion virus type 5 (SMSV-5). The first attempt resulted in 22 of the 48 solutions forming a precipitate. The...
Indole-3-carbinol (13C), a metabolite of glucobrassicin, is found in cruciferous vegetables. It is able to act as an inhibitor or promoter of carcinogenesis depending on the species, the carcinogen and when it is given in relation to the carcinogen. This is probably due to the fact that it reacts in...
Age-related decline in the capacity of endogenous antioxidant systems
complicates pharmaceutical use by the elderly by potentially increasing the toxicity of
some compounds. Of particular interest is chemical detoxification via glutathione (GSH)
and attendant GSH-requiring detoxification enzymes, e.g. GSH peroxidases (GPX) and
GSH S-transferase (GST). These enzymes have been shown...
Kincaid's lupine (Lupinus sulphureus ssp. kincaidii [Smith] Phillips) is a federally listed Threatened plant of Willamette Valley prairies. Both low reproduction, due to seed coat dormancy, and competition from invasive plants may threaten the longterm viability of this species. In separate studies, I investigated seed germination and an invasive species...
An analytical method was adapted to extract semi-volatile organic compounds (SOCs) from conifer needles. Needles from Abies concolor
(white fir) and Pinus contortas (lodgepole pine) from Sequoia National Park (SNP) were collected during the summer of 2003, and analyzed for SOCs. The goal of this research was to determine differences...
The nursery industry plays a critical role in Oregon's economy. An increase in wood-boring insect, or borer, activity has impacted the industry. The goal of this research is to determine key borer species in the nursery industry, flight times so targeted spray schedules can be established, and assess grower knowledge...
A genetic selection study to determine the effects on egg hatchability and subsequent chick performance of Japanese quail eggs incubated at a 38.9° C (102° F) dry bulb temperature (Selected, S) when compared to 37.8 C (100°F) (Control, C) was conducted for four consecutive generations. Eggs from a randomly mated...
Raspberry bushy dwarf virus (RBDV) infects red raspberry and black raspberry worldwide. Infection causes reduced vigor and drupelet abortion leading to crumbly fruit and reduced yields. While this crumbly fruit can still be used in juice, jam, and preserves, it cannot be used for the more valuable fresh and individually...
The diageotropica (dgt) mutation has been proposed to affect either auxin
perception or responsiveness in tomato plants. Auxins and cytokinins are plant
growth regulators known to interact with each other via a variety of mechanisms.
Here, we report the interactions of auxins and cytokinins in VFN8 wild-type and
dgt mutant...
Cell lines deficient in certain genes of the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) system show a marked resistance to the cell killing or apoptotic effects of DNA alkylating agents. The molecular mechanism for this resistance is not yet understood, but is currently of great interest because of the recent use of...
Llama reproductive physiology is unique when compared with other livestock species. Llamas carry 95-98% of all pregnancies in the left uterine horn. It is believed that there is a physiological difference between the uterine horns that contributes to this phenomenon. This study examined the uterine environment for protease and protease...
Auxin and ethylene regulate many important aspects of plant growth and development and are
essential to the plants survival. They help regulate such diverse processes as cell elongation,
growth of adventitious roots, fruit growth, germination, and a variety of other processes. Few
studies have examined how the hormones auxin and...
A lexicon to define the sensory properties of melted Cheddar cheese was created
using a trained descriptive panel. The lexicon characterized appearance (surface rupture,
meltedness, oiliness, and edge browning) and texture (stringiness, stretchiness,
springiness, firmness, toothpull, smoothness, cohesiveness, denseness, and chewiness).
Three brands of commercially available shredded Cheddar cheese were...
Relationships among soil pH, redox potential, and ferrous iron content data obtained from
various field and lab methods were determined, with the following 4 objectives:
1.) Compare pH values obtained in the field to those obtained in the lab
2.) Evaluate different methods to measure pH in field
3.) Determine...
The following paper is an objective view on the viability of growing the truffle Tuber melanosporum in the Willamette Valley. Included in this study are the history of the truffle, biological cycle, habitat description, method of cultivation and an enterprise budget for commercial production in the Willamette Valley. The truffle,...
Sarcocystis neurona is the 1responsible for the disease Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM). Exposure rates to S. neurona across the United States is about 50%, yet only about 2% of exposed horses develop EPM. The cell-mediated immune (CMI) response is hypothesized to be important for protective immunity against this disease. The...
Sometimes there are movies that do more than just tell a story; sometimes they make a character come to life in such a way that the audience is profoundly moved. In this thesis I have compared and explored two movies that truly impacted my view on life. Il Postino and...
Adolescents are faced with many life changing decisions as they prepare for adulthood. The choice to engage in sexual activity is among the most difficult of these decisions. Risks, such as unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and other physical complications associated with early onset sexual activity are a harsh...
The Gothic cathedrals of France arose in a particular social and political environment, and the material culture, the structures themselves and their contents, bear witness to those realities even today. In addition, the cathedrals themselves were catalysts for cultural change. They encouraged urban growth in a country that had previously...
Studies were conducted to assess influencing the effectiveness of sheep for grazing control of false brome (Brachypodium sylvaticum) an invasive grass species. Orphan lambs were exposed to false brome via grass extract in their milk and naturally reared lambs were exposed by grazing dense stands of false brome with their...
Immigrants must cross two barriers when entering the United States, the physical border and a cultural border created by a set of exclusive cultural values and profits-before-people economic ethics. Immigrants, coerced by unstable and desperate economic situations, risk their lives and leave behind their families to cross the physical border...
Motivation: It can take considerable amounts of time and effort to use existing computational tools to analyze a small RNA sequence for the purpose of determining if it is characteristic of microRNA. It is similarly tedious to search for homologs to known microRNA sequences in the rapidly growing collection of...
Chlorinated and non-chlorinated solvents are used in a variety of industrial processes and as a consequence, they have become environmental contaminants as well. Because of this, they lead to both occupational and environmental exposures. Exposure to these compounds can potentially result in various forms of neurological damage with a wide...
The bovine blastocyst is composed of a one-celled layer of trophectoderm
surrounding a fluid filled sac called the blastocoel and a ball of cells called the inner cell
mass (ICM). On Day 8 (Day 0=fertilization) in bovine embryos, endodermal cells leave
the ICM, migrate over the extracellular matrix (ECM) on...
The issue of immigration is at the forefront of all national policy discussions in the industrialized world. In recent years, the globalization of communication, international travel and job opportunities has rekindled this historically long and complex debate. This text attempts to explore the inadequacies of immigration policy and practice in...
Kabuki theatre, popular entertainment in Edo Period Japan, is a colorful and lively genre that has thrived in the island nation for the past four centuries. Influenced by Japan’s other theatre arts—noh, kyogen, and bunraku—kabuki grew up from simple (if not sordid) origins, and worked for decades to create for...
This study examined how different urbanization patterns in France and the United States influenced the development of their respective housing markets. More specifically, the study analyzed the evolution of housing size in France and the United States during the 20th century. Descriptive statistical analysis and regression models were used to...
Since 1935, France has introduced a set of strict national wine rules and regulations, the Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC). The AOC limits fraud and oversees quality control by basing the rules on terroir. High quality from terroir comes has both physical and cultural factors. Before 1935, France produced a variety...
This thesis examines the current state of the publishing industry in Tunisia in order to understand the nature of writing and publishing in an international context. In discovering the publishing procedure, I have included information on how books are used in education, homes, and libraries as well as the roles...
Youth who are at-risk of homelessness are placed into jeopardizing situations because
they are often pushed toward the outer edges of society, disconnected from healthy support
networks, involved in illegal activities, and their chances of having successful futures are, in turn, diminished. The goals of this project were to: review...
The purpose of this essay is to examine the reasons for why the political, economic
and social merging of East and West Germany has been difficult, and to better understand
the factors that could lead one day to the development of one unified political culture.
In order to explain different...
Part 1:
White muscle disease (WMD), a degenerative muscle disease brought on by a deficiency of the essential trace nutrient selenium, is thought to be mediated by the protein Selenoprotein W (SeW). In its relationship with WMD, SeW, like many selenoproteins, binds to glutathione, serving some purpose in redox mechanisms...
Mammary tumors are the third most common tumor in cats after cutaneous neoplasia and lymphosarcoma. More than 80% of feline mammary tumors are adenocarcinomas, which are similar to human mammary adenocarcinomas in their biologic behavior and histologic characteristics. Despite treatment with radical mastectomy, feline mammary adenocarcinoma is associated with a...
The AhR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that mediates the potent immunosuppressive effects of TCDD. AhR-dependent changes in gene expression appear to alter the differentiation of CD4+ T cells to induce a population of CD4+CD25+ T regulatory cells (Tregs) that suppress the immune response. Ascertaining if and how the AhR...
Biological introductions may considerably alter the composition and community dynamics of invaded areas thereby changing many ecosystem processes including productivity, decomposition, nutrient cycling and hydrology. The effects on native species may be obscured by a lack of information on distribution and abundance patterns. The Japanese eelgrass, Zostera japonica, was introduced...
Chilean society has been changing rapidly for the last few decades during a time of rapid economic growth. Some sociological and economical analyses state that when a nation grows, inequality between the rich and poor grows too, leaving the poor behind. The Chilean economy is the most rapidly growing in...
The purpose of this essay is to explore the dynamics of social movements, and better understand why some populations succeed when others fail. This topic was motivated by travels across the United States and Europe. In these journeys, minority groups and their unequal treatment by society were a constant feature,...
Clostridium perfringens type A isolates produce the spore-specific enterotoxin, CPE, upon sporulation in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals. Spo0A is a response regulator representing the major transcription factor for sporulation initiation in C. perfringens. In Bacillus subtilis, a multicomponent phosphorelay involving five histidine kinases (KinA-KinE), the intermediate response...
The prey consumption rates of two estuarine crab species were compared: the introduced Carcinus maenas and the native Cancer magister. Similar sized crabs of each species were placed into individual perforated plastic boxes and then placed in a seawater table. Each crab was offered 50 Mytilus trossulus mussels (15-25mm) per...
Winter hardiness in barley (Hordeum vulgare) is a trait targeted by breeding programs in order to expand the potential area of adaptation of fall-sown cereals. Vernalization requirement is an important factor in winter hardiness. A vernalization requirement is an extended period of low temperature required for transition from the vegetative...
Temperate evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest support big huckleberries (Vaccinium membranaceum) despite their nutrient impoverished soils. Acquisition of nitrogen and phosphorous are the major nutrients limiting V. membranaceum. The plant’s access to these resources is linked to their mycorrhizal symbiosis. To learn more about the symbionts of eriaceous plants...
Celiac disease, an autoimmune response triggered by the consumption of seed storage proteins of cereals, affects an estimated 1% of the human population. In the case of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), one of the world’s most consumed cereals, alcohol-soluble proteins, the gliadins, have been identified as the allergy-eliciting agents. Previous...