When people think of fossils, they generally imagine the bones of large, charismatic animals. However, small mammals are an ecologically important group of organisms that show up frequently in the fossil record, and can frequently function as indicators for local environmental and ecological conditions (Terry, 2007, 2010). Rodent and rabbit...
Agrobacterium tumefaciens causes the economically important plant disease, crown gall. These galls are the result of abnormal growth that manifests itself on either the root or the stem and can be devastating for the ornamental plant industry. Introduction of A. tumefaciens to a nursery can be highly detrimental and thus...
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an environmental bacterium which
opportunistically infects humans. Commonly residing in irondepleted
environments, P. aeruginosa uses iron-chelating
molecules called siderophores to scavenge iron from its
environment. The most prevalent siderophore used by P.
aeruginosa is known as pyoverdine. After the cell synthesizes and
secretes pyoverdine, the molecule binds...
Tyria jacobaeae was introduced as a biological control agent to control the noxious weed Jacobea vulgaris. Eventually introduced to the Cascade mountain range of Oregon, T. jacobaeae has been found to feed on Senecio triangularis, a native plant closely related to J. vulgaris. Nosema tyriae is a parasitic fungus under...
Dibenzo[def,p]chrysene (DBC) is a highly potent, but less prevalent, environmental carcinogen belonging to a class of compounds known as Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). They are highly ubiquitous and arise as a byproduct of natural and anthropogenic combustion processes. Previous studies have documented carcinogenic effects upon in utero exposure of PAHs....
ASD is characterized primarily by deficits in social and communicative skills, however recent studies show differences in motor skills as well when compared to typically developing children. Because of these differences, parents of children with ASD may portray different behaviors than parents of typically developing children. This research aims to find...
Approximately 37.6% of Fiji’s population is comprised of individuals that have Indian descent (2007 census). This is primarily due to the recruitment of Indian indentured servants to work on the sugar plantations of Fiji during British colonial rule in the 1880s. Many descendants of these servants have since moved to...
Over 70% of the Antarctic krill population exists along the Antarctic Peninsula, a region undergoing rapid climate change. Recent studies have shown a clear correlation between krill recruitment each spring and the timing and coverage of sea ice the winter before, with less sea ice and a shorter duration being...
The discovery of novel compounds with antibacterial properties continues to be critically important.3 One potential source of such compounds is the cryptic genome of fungi known to produce biologically active molecules. A kmt6 mutant of the cereal pathogen Fusarium graminearum was previously developed through a histone H3 lysine 27 methyltransferase...
Fruit diameter of triploid and tetraploid Malus spp. accessions were evaluated based on ploidy and seed number. Pome size in relation to seed number and ploidy level was evaluated using Tukeys HSD in R. With 95% confidence, pome diameter was not impacted by seed number in these selections (Tukey’s HSD...