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- Creatore:
- Chen, Sylvia
- Descrizione:
- Worldwide, there are 65 million people that have epilepsy and approximately 200,000 additional individuals are diagnosed with epilepsy annually. There is no cure and currently available anticonvulsants, which are medications to treat seizures, are not universally effective. Additional studies are needed to generate better treatment options. Drosophila melanogaster provides a valuable and efficient model to study seizure disorders due to the low cost of maintenance, genetic tractability, and short lifespan, which allows for observation at various life stages. D. melanogaster also possesses similarities to humans on cellular and subcellular levels. These advantages allow the development of a model for the high throughput study of epilepsy. This study aims to induce single and multiple seizures and monitor locomotion, learning, and memory. The results from the negative geotaxis assay, which takes advantage of D. melanogaster’s innate climbing behavior, suggest that single seizure events have minimal impact, whereas multiple seizures result in deficits in visuo-motor/motor behavior. Additionally, a visual place learning assay was used to study the cognitive abilities and results suggest a single seizure event impacts learning and memory. Lastly, whole brain slides were made and determined lesions in brain tissue result from repeated seizure events. The significant findings from this research may contribute to improve therapeutics for epilepsy by providing a method of high throughput screening.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Gonzalez, Dalia Banesa
- Descrizione:
- This study involved Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, as the model organism to study the behavioral differences seen in flies overexpressing the human tau protein throughout their adult life span. The tau protein (MAPT – microtubule associated protein tau) is linked to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). It is seen in both humans and Drosophila and has been noted to decrease learning and cognitive abilities in both. This study aimed to look at the cognitive and behavioral difference seen as adult flies age. The adult flies were tested at three different ages (young, middle, elderly) in order to look for any progression declines in behavior as the flies aged and expressed the human tau for longer periods of time. The human tau was driven into two different areas of the brain (ellipsoid body, mushroom body) that have been shown to be important regions for learning and memory in insects. The flies were tested in two different behavioral assays, a visual place learning assay and a negative geotaxis assay, in order to quantify spatial learning and memory. Additionally, fluorescence microscopy was used to analyze the amount of tau present in the brain at different times of the adult’s life, which confirmed the increased expression of tau as flies aged. As tau-expressing flies aged, both visual place learning and memory were impacted. These flies also showed a decline in planning ability. The behavioral declines seen in this study can be correlated to patients with AD who also overexpress this abnormal tau protein. This study aims to create a better Drosophila melanogaster model for AD. Moreover, the findings of this study can contribute to a better model organism for AD, which allow us to test interventions prior to the onset of dementia.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Montiel, Christian M.
- Descrizione:
- The Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein (CRP) requires both DNA binding and RNA polymerase recruitment for its transcriptional activation function. The DNA recognition of CRP is performed by the F-helix (residues 180-185) and several F-helix residues (Arg180, Glu181, Gly184, Arg185) are well-characterized as to their importance in DNA binding. However, no apparent function has been known for the other two residues (Thr182 and Val183). In this work, I show that the position-183 amino acid (Val 183) is important for the transcriptional activity of CRP. First, Ala substitution at position 183 led to an increase in transcriptional activation activity. Second, CRP mutants altered at position 183 were created to show an inverse correlation between amino acid size and transcriptional activation activity (V183A > V183G > wild type CRP > V183I > V183M > V183F = no activity). Third, the loss of the activity in V183F could be restored by a smaller amino acid substitution (IleGly) at position 172, implying that it is the combined size of positions 172 and 183 which is important. A structural analysis of CRP reveals that the position-183 amino acid faces the opposite of target DNA and is in close proximity to the position-172 amino acid. The requirement of a small residue at position 183 is hypothesized to avoid steric hindrance to the position-172 residue as steric hindrance would misalign the nearby AR1 residues, leading to poor RNA polymerase recruitment and transcriptional activation.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Thomas, Jason Michael
- Descrizione:
- Bacteria must be able to withstand a myriad of stresses from both their environment, and in the case of pathogens, from their host. Low molecular weight thiols serve as redox buffers to maintain a reducing environment in the cell and participate in various protective mechanisms, including detoxification of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, resistance against electrophiles and antibiotics, and protection against environmental stressors. In this study, I analyze the transcriptome of two heterotrophic clinically relevant bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Staphylococcus aureus SAUSA300 and transposon mutants disrupted in thiol biosynthesis. The transposon mutants are disrupted in P. aeruginosa glutathione biosynthesis gene, gshA, and S. aureus bacillithiol biosynthesis gene, bshC. I also analyze the transcriptome of the autotrophic cyanobacterium, Synechocystis PCC 6803 as well as a knock-out mutant disrupted in egtB, which is involved in ergothioneine biosynthesis. P. aeruginosa gshA mutant is downregulated in type II and type VI secretion systems and upregulated in type III secretion systems while the S. aureus bshA mutant is downregulated in type VII secretion suggesting that thiols play a role in secretion of effectors. Strikingly, both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus switch to anerobic respiration with nitrate as the electron acceptor in the thiol mutants. A number of other virulence factors are also differentially expressed in these mutants agreeing with the attenuation of the mutants in disease models. In contrast, genes related to high light resistance, acid stress tolerance, and osmotic stress tolerance are downregulated in Synechocystis PCC 6803. This suggests that ergothioneine is involved in abiotic stress tolerance in the autotrophic bacteria. Overall, we demonstrate that LMW thiols are involved in a myriad of functions have not been previously identified.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Ajanel Gomez, Jehiel Abigail
- Descrizione:
- Discovered in 2004, tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are actin-based, bridge-like structures that allow the intercellular transport of cellular components, electrical signals, and pathogens. Thus, TNTs have been implicated in viral propagation, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Most research has focused on examining the molecules within cells that aid in TNT formation and function, but little has been documented on the role that exogenous molecules have in TNT formation. Past research has determined that hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induces TNTs in various cell lines; however, the amount of H2O2 used was above was high (100μM). The aim of this study was to establish if TNT formation can be induced by pathophysiological H2O2 concentrations. In addition, we also investigated glutamate, an inducer of actin-based filopodia in astrocytes, as a possible TNT inducer. The data obtained using fluorescence microcopy suggest that low concentrations of H2O2 and glutamate are able to increase TNTs in both HeLa and CAD cell lines. Furthermore, cells treated with low concentrations of H2O2 or glutamate showed an increase in the expression of Myo10, a protein that has been linked to TNT formation and function. Lastly, the data obtained with a microscope capillary single cell sorting system suggest that H2O2 and glutamate can induce the formation as well as the elongation of cellular protrusions in distances ranging from 14-96 μm. Altogether, these results provide useful insights regarding TNT formation pathways in cells as well as the exogenous molecules involved in the formation of TNTs.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Trujillo, Andreina
- Descrizione:
- Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) have been recently discovered as an essential form of cell-cell communication in multicellular organisms. Although TNTs appear to be an important cell-cell signaling pathway, its mechanism of formation and functions are still not fully understood. A central issue is determining whether mitochondria play a vital role in the formation of TNTs. Previous studies have shown that exposure to a low concentration of ethidium bromide (EtBr) in mammalian cells caused a complete loss of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) leading to non-functional mitochondria (Rho0 cells); therefore, this technique will be applied to produce a HeLa Rho0 cell line to study the effects of non-functional mitochondria on TNT. Here we will determine if Rho0 cells were successfully engineered by labeling the mtDNA with Quant-it PicoGreen Reagent and labeling of the plasma membrane with WGA Rhodamine to determine the effects on TNT formation. We will also determine the expression levels of Myosin-X (Myo10), a known TNT inducer, in Rho0 cells versus control cells. Overall results revealed that mitochondria do play a role in TNT formation. As cells were in the process of becoming Rho0 cells, TNT formation increased peaking at week 4. As Rho0 cells stabilized, TNT formation significantly decreased. In addition, cells were seen to expel their mitochondria into the extracellular medium in week 6, a process known as mitochondrial extrusion. Lastly, Myo10 protein levels significantly increased during the production of a stable Rho0 cell line at week 4. The increase in Myo10 protein levels correlated with an increase in TNT formation.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Chand, Shristi
- Descrizione:
- Bacterial second messenger, c-di-GMP, regulates important functions such as biofilm formation, motility, and virulence. C-di-GMP also has an immunostimulatory property, so can be used as a vaccine adjuvant. In this project, DgcZ (a diguanylate cyclase) was engineered to create hyperactive mutants in c-di-GMP production. For this, two protein sites were targeted: substrate (GTP) binding site and product (c-di-GMP) inhibition site. At the GTP binding site, three residues (L134, D182 and R204) were tested through codon randomization and in vivo c-di-GMP production assay, but none of the positions provided high activity DgcZ mutants superior to wild type DgcZ. In contrast, the engineering at the product inhibition site was fruitful as superior mutants could be made at both R197 and E200 positions. So far, R197T, E200A and E200G were identified to be better than wild type DgcZ in in vivo c-di-GMP production based on both Clp toxicity-masking assay and c-di-GMP toxicity assay. These mutants were toxic to the host cell when highly produced. The toxicity problem was circumvented by tagging one of the mutants (E200A) with PelB, a signal sequence to the periplasmic space, at the N- terminus and the fused PelB-E200A was not toxic to the cells. In the future, the resultant PelB-E200A needs to be tested thoroughly through protein expression, purification and in vitro c-di-GMP production assay for mass production of c-di-GMP.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Ziser, Brian.
- Descrizione:
- Clearcut logging of numerous small stands of trees over the last fifteen years has provided suitable areas for the study of early secondary plant succession on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada mountains. Familiarity with early successional patterns in these areas is essential in the development of appropriate silvicultural practices for the maintenance of viable, productive forests, as well as aiding in effective management of wildlife resources. Clearcut logging has been widely practiced and researched in the coastal Redwood forests of Northern California, and in the Douglas Fir dominated forests of Oregon and Washington. However, as indicated by the available literature, no significant research on secondary succession following clearcutting has been conducted in the Sierra Nevada mountains. This project was undertaken to provide information about early regrowth patterns on these clearcut areas.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Yoshimura, Glenn.
- Descrizione:
- Six species of Simulium larvae found in the Kings River near Piedra, Fresno County, California, are described. The black fly larvae and pupae were reared in the laboratory for taxonomic association of the immature instars, the pupae and the adults. The differential morphology of S. argus Williston, S . aureum Fries, S. canadense Hearle, S. virgatum Coquillett, and S. vittatum Zetterstedt is presented in greater detail than ever before, with the S. arcticum Malloch larva being described for the first time.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Willson, Ruth.
- Descrizione:
- Nitidulid beetles have been recognized as major pests of figs In California since 1900 (Simmons et al., 1931). Early workers were concerned primarily with Carpophllus hemlpterus (Linnaeus), the dried-fruit beetle, as the principal nitidulid pest (Smith et al., I927). More recent studies have shown four other pestiferous nitidulids: Carpophllus freemanl Dobson, Carpophllus mutllatus Erichson, Urophorus humeralls (Fabrlcius), the pineapple beetle, and Haptoncus luteolus Erichson. Of these species, C. mutllatus was found in 56^ the Calimyrna figs in one sample from Madera County, California (Smilanick and Ehler, 1975)*
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Warner, Donald Remi.
- Descrizione:
- The natural history of the Fresno kangaroo rat, Dipodomys nitratoides exilis, in the San Joaquin Valley's alkali sink habitat was first described by Culbertson (1946). His study included little information on the interspecific interactions with other rodent species or the intraspecific interactions of the Fresno kangaroo rat. Little attention has been given to its ecology since. Instead the emphasis has been placed on the controversy of whether there do or do not exist three distinct subspecies of Dipodomys nitratoides.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Stewart, Katherine.
- Descrizione:
- The California State Park system, hereafter referred to as CalDPR, has sought for five years to include Carmel Bay, California, in its park system as an underwater park. Carmel Bay is approximately 15 km (5 mi ) in area, located between Pescadero Point, 36°33'40"N by 121°56130"W, and Carmel Point (Point Lobos) at 35°33'40"N by 121°55'42"W, immediately south of the Monterey Peninsula (Fig. 1). It is about 125 km (80 mi.) south of the city of San Francisco, and is a popular weekend trip for visitors from the Bay Area and inland cities such as Sacramento and Fresno. Since the advent of recreational diving in the 1950's, divers have found that the subtidal scenery here is equally as beautiful as the world-famous beauties of its shoreline.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Shumaker, Evelyn.
- Descrizione:
- An important aspect of any group of organisms from both ecologic and evolutionary points of view is the part played by that group in channeling the flow of energy within the community in which it lives. Foraminifera, marine protozoans with calcium carbonate or sand grain (agglutinated) tests, are recorded as feeding chiefly upon bacteria, small diatoms, and nannoplankton in a wide variety of marine environments (Myers, 1943; Bradshaw, 1961; Lee et al., 1966; Muller and Lee, 1969; Murray, 1963). Myers (1943) found the diet of foraminifera includes soft-bodied flagellated organisms such as gametes of larger algae as well as filamentous algae, minute eggs, spores, and cysts. Their food items are usually below 25 y in size (Lipps and Valentine, 1970). Predators upon foraminifera range from highly specialized microcarnivores that feed largely on foraminifera to less selective ones that include foraminifera in a mixed diet and to generalized feeders that ingest foraminifera along with much other material (Lacaze-Duthiers, 1856; Mare, 1942; Graham, 1955; Morton, 1958; Lipps and Valentine, 1970). The present study considers the effect of organic enrichment on the abundance and diversity of intertidal benthic foraminifera. This requires an understanding of regional differences in their habitat and local variations of rnicroenvironments within that habitat. Sediment is an important microhabitat feature and must be included in a complete study of foraminifera! assemblages.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Ruagh, Amer Ali.
- Descrizione:
- The primary purpose of this study was to-investigate the feeding habits of silversides (Family Atherinidae) in Elkhorn Slough, Monterey Bay, California, since little detailed work on the feeding habits of silversides from California has been published.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Moss, Martin.
- Descrizione:
- The field of membrane investigation is over 80 years old. Yet that remarkably complex and diverse structure, the cell membrane, continues to elude precise definition of structure and function. Observers have found cell membranes to be involved in a variety of functions essential to cell survival, such as preservation of cell boundaries, regulation of passage of ions and other molecules into and out of the cell, modification of intercellular interaction, and regulation of release of cell products.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Mahoney, John.
- Descrizione:
- The rate of growth of catfish farming in the United States during the past 16 years is. unequalled in the history of fish culture. Commercial production of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) has increased from its beginnings in 1960 to an estimated 36,000,000 pounds in 1968, it now exceeds the total production of all other commercially reared fish species in the United States. (Fijan, et. al., 1970) .
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Lynch, Michael Wayne.
- Descrizione:
- The presence or absence of intestinal parasites in a human population is one indication of the quality of life the people lead. Particularly, human intestinal helminths and protozoans have been used to indicate the sanitary standards of a population. Arnett, Wenrich, and Stabler (1933) reported on a survey for intestinal protozoans in 401 college freshmen in the eastern United States. They found 33.1% had one or more species of protozoans after analyzing one stool sample from each subject. McQuay found 20.1% protozoan and 20.2% helminth infections in 4,000 individuals drawn from furloughed missionary families from tropical and subtropical countries (McQuay, 1967). Gleason et al. reported on a stool survey of about half the permanent residents of Aspen, Colorado, done after an outbreak of giardiasis during the 1965-66 ski season (Gleason et al., 1970). Of the 419 people sampled, 5%. were positive for Giardia lamblla. All other protozoans were found in less than 2% of the subjects. The only helminth found was one case of Enterobius vermicularis. The outbreak was attributed to the contamination of water supplies with sewage. In 1971 Allen and Ridley reported on a survey for parasitic infections in patients of a British hospital who had once resided in tropical or subtropical areas (Allen and Ridley, 1971). In this study of 1,000 people, 33.3% were found to have pathogenic or potentially pathogenic helminths or protozoans. An additional 15.1% of the subjects were infected with commensals living in the digestive tract or elsewhere in the body. The present study was a survey for human intestinal parasites in Cantua Creek, a farm labor community 60 miles southwest of Fresno, California (Figure 1). It had a population of approximately 1,800 people, primarily Mexican Americans, Punjabis, and Caucasians. The only unifying force bringing the widely distributed labor camps into a community was the Cantua Creek Elementary School. There were several purposes for surveying Cantua Creek. The first was to determine what parasites the people had. The second was to determine if parasite transmission was occurring. The final purpose was to correlate demographic information on each subject with the presence of parasites.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Lam, Christine.
- Descrizione:
- Shortly after the discovery of the role of bacteria as the etiological agents of human disease, the search for bacterial toxins began. Bacterial toxins were an important discovery, because they may enhance the pathogenicity of infection; the effect of toxins on pathogenicity depends upon the infecting microorganism, the dose, and the route of injection, as well as the interval between the administration of the toxin and the initiation of infection.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
19. Fawn production, habitat use, and growth in the North Kings deer herd, Fresno County, California.
- Creatore:
- Holl, Stephen.
- Descrizione:
- Previous work on the North Kings deer herd has shown that the reproductive potential of the does was high; however, there was a 50 percent neonatal loss of fawns. The neonatal loss was hypothesized to be the result of a nutritional stress experienced by the does during the spring migration, sufficient to retard fetal growth and development. A second loss of 50 percent of the remaining fawns was seen in 1971 and 1972, which appeared to coincide with the fall migration. Additional observations by Cal ifornia Department of Fish and Game personnel indicated that there were specific habitat requirements associated with the successful rearing of fawns. The present study was designed to refine the relationship between fetal growth and doe physical condition, quantitatively describe areas associated with successful fawning, and determine the physical condition, growth rates, and food habits of fawns prior to and following the fall migration
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Harp, Thomas Kring.
- Descrizione:
- Ranch ponds are numerous in the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada. An article appearing in the California Cattleman (anon, 1975) estimated that there were more than 50,000 ponds of less than 0.0123 cubic hectometers (10 acre feet) in California. Nearly 40 ponds in Madera County were visited and fewer than one half were less than 0.0123 cubic hectometers. This small sample indicates that there are probably many more than 50,000 ponds in California. Most of these ponds were built to provide water for livestock or irrigation. Many ponds are stocked with fish and are a potentially valuable fishery. Currently, there is very little information available on the biology of fish in California ranch ponds.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- George, Nelda Lee.
- Descrizione:
- Two hemipterans, Oncopeltus fasciatus Dallas (Lygaeidae) and Leptocoris trivittatus Say (Corizidae) (Feir, 1974; Woolley, 1949), have been used extensively in research and teaching due to availability and/or ease of rearing. The common squash bug, Anasa tristis De Geer, should be added to the list since it is easily reared in the laboratory, is larger in size than either of the above, and the internal organs are brightly and differently colored permitting color coding. Additional advantages are the plant and fruit feeding habit of this species as opposed to the strictly seed feeding O. fasciatus, and the fact that it belongs to another family (Coreidae). The first steps in establishing the squash bug as a laboratory animal are the development of rearing methods, the collation of current knowledge, and the preparation of an available anatomical study. This paper describes the gross anatomy of the majority of the internal non-skeletal organ systems of the squash bug A. tristis De G.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Clymore, Gary Lee.
- Descrizione:
- Waters containing enteropathogenic microorganisms (i.e., Salmonella, Shigella) are considered unsafe for human consumption. Traditionally, indicator bacteria have been utilized for the assess- ment of bacteriologically unsafe waters. However, a demand for increased water quality assurance has created renewed interest in the natural relationships of enteric pathogens and indicator bacteria (14, 31, 32). The reliability of the coliform test, the utilization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa as an indicator organism, and the relationship of fecal streptococci to pollution have currently been under consideration. Furthermore, the criteria for determining these particular bacterial populations and the environmental factors capable of influencing them are becoming of utmost importance in water sanitation.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Wetzel, John.
- Descrizione:
- The primary emphasis in most studies of bacteria and the relationship they have with their host is directed at the study of pathogenic species and the diseases caused by them, However, in addition to the pathogenic bacteria, there are many bacteria which are essentially nonpathogenic and can often be found in very healthy animals. These bacteria, although differing from animal to animal, perform important biological functions and in doing so affect both directly and indirectly an animal's general health. In spite of the contribution of the normal bacteria, only a few studies have been performed which attempt to determine the normal populations of even some of our most common domestic and wild animals.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Summers, Robert Wayne.
- Descrizione:
- Meso-American squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus), restricted to the narrow coastal zone of southeastern Costa Rica and southwestern Panama, are widely separated from their conspecifics east of the Andes, and have a more reduced range than indicated by Hill (1960). None occur naturally in the eastern half of Panama, the Colombian Choco, or west of the Andes in South America, with the exception noted by Hershkovitz (1972b) of a small population of squirrel monkeys he discovered in the Upper Rio Magdalena Valley in southern Colombia.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Stebbins, John.
- Descrizione:
- Bush Anemone (Carpenteria californica Torr.) is a rare endemic shrub that exists within a limited range in Eastern Fresno County, California. Little floristic or vegetation research has been conducted on the species in its natural environment. The present study performed on the Carpenteria Botanical Area, within the Sierra National Forest, was undertaken with three main objectives: 1) A floristic survey of all vascular plants in the Botanical Area. 2) A mapping of the distribution of C, californica within the bounds of the Botanical Area. 3) A vegetational analysis to clarify the relationship between C. californica and associated woody species in the Botanical Area.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Shapiro, Gary Louis.
- Descrizione:
- Following the methods of Gardner and Gardner (1969) and Premack and Premack (1972), others have continued human- pongid two-way communication studies elaborating upon the procedures of both the former investigators. Fouts (1973), after the Gardners, has employed hand gestures or modified American Sign Language as a medium of communication in his work. Rumbaugh and his group (1973), following Premack, have used an artificial symbol language in a system in which a computer can mediate dialog between subject and experimenter. It is not surprising that the subject of. study has been the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Except for an attempt to teach a gorilla (Pan gorilla) gestural language,1 linguis- tic studies with pong ids have been exclusively with chimpan- zees. This has been primarily a matter of availability and economics since the chimpanzee is only now becoming threatened in its natural environment, whereas the other two species, the gorilla and the orangutan (Pongo pygmeaus), have been endan- gered for quite some time (MacKinnon, 1975, van Lawick- Goodall, 1971, and Bourne, 1971).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Schaeffer, Barbara Jo.
- Descrizione:
- Farm ponds are small man-made resevoirs used for watering of farm animals, irrigation and fishing. Because of their small size, farm ponds are susceptible to rapid eutrophication which can cause growth of noxious or poisonous algae, unpleasant odor from decaying plant material, and loss of aesthetic value. Farmers are interested in farm pond management practices to produce high yields of fish without unnecessary algal growth.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Page, Peter John.
- Descrizione:
- This three year study (1970-1972) was undertaken to document reproductive success in a colony of great blue herons at the San Joaquin River Heronry, Merced County, California. Quantitative data were collected on incubation period, clutch size, hatching dates, fledging success, and nesting mortality. Studies during the 1970 and 1971 nesting season were part of a research program conducted by the California State Department of Pish and Game to document reproductive success in several central California heronries.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Mulligan, Michael.
- Descrizione:
- Declining trout harvests in rivers on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevada constitute a major fishery management problem in California. As part of a research team investi- gating this problem in the Kings River, my research consisted of documenting seasonal movement and annual use by fish of Mill Flat Creek, a tributary to the Kings River. Life history and ecological data are reported for each associated species of fish. Also discussed are the physico- chemical conditions, and species interactions within the creek.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
30. Morphological and physiological studies of macroaleuriospore germination of Microsporum gypseum.
- Creatore:
- Lin, Jun-pai.
- Descrizione:
- The germination of asexual spores of most fungi requires a suitable substrate and a compatible environment. Heat-induced macroaleuriospore germination in Microsporum gypseum has been studied previously by Leighton and Stock (1968). They mentioned that the preincubation of macro- aleuriospores at 37 C was necessary for obtaining 85 to 90% germination of spores with or without the presence of exogenous nutrients. They were unable to obtain above 50/£ germination of spores under normal nutritional conditions at temperatures below 33 C. On the basis of these observations, a series of physiological and biochemical studies was con- ducted by these authors. They found that the germination process was initiated by 2 hours and was completed by 7 hours in physiological saline at 37 C. They concluded that the involvement of a protease was the event essential for germination.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Kelly, Barry.
- Descrizione:
- Formation of endospores by aerobic bacilli serves as a model system for answering basic questions related to development and cyto- differentiation in general. An important aspect of sporulation is that different bacilli seem to form spores by going through the same basic morphological changes. Differentiation begins by the formation of an asymmetric crosswell septum which divides the prespore (forespore) region from the vegetative mother cell. The prespore region becomes engulfed by another layer of membrane to form the double membrane bound forespore. Final maturation occurs with the sequential appearance of cell wall primordium adjacent to the inner forespore membrane, deposition of the mucopeptide cortex within the double membrane, and formation of the proteinaceous coat outside the outer forespore membrane. Concomitant with these morphological changes is an entire battery of biochemical changes which occur during sporulation. Alterations in DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis have been detected in sporulating cells (6). The overall effect is that poor growth conditions derepress regions of the bacterial genome (the precise mechanism is currently not known) which contain the genetic information for making cryptobiotic structures called endospores. Expression of this genetic information results in the disappearance, alteration, or new production of specific proteins, and the production of sporulation specific m-RNA and t-RNA molecules.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
32. Geographic variation and taxonomy of Dipodomys nitratoides from the California San Joaquin Valley.
- Creatore:
- Hoffmann, Walter McKie.
- Descrizione:
- There has been some uncertainty regarding the subspecific variation, distribution, and resultant taxonomy Dipodomys nitratoides. It was the purpose of this study to critically examine the geographic variation of this species and, on the basis of that variation, attempt to establish the taxonomic status and distribution of the subspecies.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
33. Induction and physiological-genetic characterizations of selected Staphylococcus aureau strains.
- Creatore:
- Elhag, Tahani.
- Descrizione:
- The L-Form of Staphylocoecus aureus is of interest from a clinical point of view since it has been often associated with certain diseases. S- aureus L-Forms have been isolated from recurrent osteomyelitis (Rosner, 1968)., In addition, Kagan (1972) reported isolation of L-Forms of S aureus from recurrent furunculosis, from blood cultures of a leukemia patient, and from sputum of some patients with cystic fibrosis. Because L-Forms are cell wall deficient organisms, they may survive in vivo, under conditions that would not allow survival of intact bacteria. The lack of cell wall or presence of cell wall remnants in these variants has been established by chemical analysis. Pratt (1966) found that L-Forms of S_. aureus contain negligible amounts of muramic acid and no teichoic acids. Chatterjee et al. (1967) reported the presence of only mucopeptide intermediates and only some of the enzymes responsible for cell wall synthesis in this organism.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
34. Food preferences of Triopha maculata and Triopha carpenteri on the Monterey Peninsula, California.
- Creatore:
- Eastman, James Kirbye.
- Descrizione:
- Faculty and students of the Moss Landing Marine Laboratory, Moss Landing, California, have been conducting population studies of the dorid nudibranchs in the intertidal of the Monterey Peninsula, California, since 1969. Throughout the studies two closely related species, Triopha maculata MacFarland, 1905 and Triopha carpenteri (Stearns, 1873), were found to be dominant in abundance, making it a matter of some interest to determine how two such apparently similar species could coexist. If considerable competition occurred between the two species, how were such large populations maintained? If, on the other hand, no significant competition existed, how was it avoided.? As food is one of the key resources for which competition may occur (Emlen 1966) , the quantitative study was limited to the relative food preferences of the two species of Triopha, in order to assess the extent to which significant competition might exist for food resources.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Dorman, Douglas.
- Descrizione:
- It has been reported by Chew (1965) that all pathways of water exchange are reduced when mammals are subjected to dehydration. With few exceptions, evaporation is the major loss, and usually the greatest absolute conservation of water is realized by the reduction of urine and fecal water loss (Chew, 1965). Research dealing with the water economy of kangaroo rats (Dipodomys) has primarily centered on Eb_ merriami. This species is the most polytypic and widely distributed species of the genus and characteristically occupies extreme desert habitats (Carpenter, 1966). Extensive studies by Schmidt-Nielsen and Schmidt-Nielsen (1951) and summarized by Schmidt-Nielsen (1964) have reported EU_ merriami's structural, physiological, and behavioral adaptations to the conservation of water. Using the extensive studies by the Schmidt-Nielsens as a basis of comparison, other researchers have studied the extent to which the availa- bility of water in different habitats acts as a factor in selection. It is to be expected that the water require- ments and exchanges of each species of mammal have evolved into a "fit" with its environment which precludes its expanding its range into environments that are more rigorous (Chew, 1965).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Cockerham, William.
- Descrizione:
- When pasture land, is grazed by cattle the composition of the herbaceous vegetation is changed from that of the ungrazed state and the ecology of the pastoral habitat will be variously affected. The object of this investigation was to examine the distribution of small mammal populations on two areas, one moderatly grazed and the other not grazed, to determine the effect of grazing on small mammal distribution. The importance of small mammal habitat preference was also to be determined.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Canaday, Jim.
- Descrizione:
- Taxonomic and general natural history studies have been complemented by physiological and energetic considerations. This additional emphasis is necessary if the functional role that each species plays in the ecosystem is to be determined. To ascertain each species' energetic relationship, data on food habits, behavior, population dynamics and metabolic physiology must be collected. Once collected, these data can be incorporated into an energetic mosaic evaluating each species capability for capturing and utilizing a limited energy source. Ideally, these energy mosaics can be combined to provide an insight into ecosystem dynamics and to serve as tools in the prudent management of ecosystems.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Samuelian, Dale.
- Descrizione:
- A population of three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus L. from the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam near Fresno, California, was found to be infected with the plerocercoid larval stage of a pseudophyllidean cestode, Schistocephalus solldus (Muller, 1776). Schistocephalus solidus belongs to the class Cestoidea, subclass Cestoda, order Pseudophyilidea, family Dibothrio- cephalidae. During the plerocercoid larval stage it is a coelomic tapeworm of the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus. Members of this genus are widely distributed in many parts of the world, with the majority of infections being reported in Great Britain and Ireland (Smyth, 19-4-6; Hopkins and McCaig, 1963; Arme and Owen, 1967; Chappell, 1969a,b; and Pennycuick, 1971a, b, c, d. In California, S. solidus has been studied by Markley (19^-0) and Haderlie (1953). The present study will: (1) demonstrate the seasonal incidence and variation of the parasite infection, (2) indicate the differences in the sizes of the infection in stickle- backs of different sexes and sizes, and (3) show the frequency distributions of the parasite within the host population.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Rossitto, Joseph James.
- Descrizione:
- Chromosomes were analyzed from the mitotic bone marrow of nine mountain pocket gophers (Thomomys monticola J. A. Allen, 1893). All the specimens, collected from three different localities in the'Sierra Nevadas, had a diploid number (2N) of 40. Animals from two localities exhibited slight variations in chromosome morphology. Pocket gophers from Lake Tahoe possessed a fundamental number (FN) of 76 while those from Huntington Lake and Kaiser Pass Meadow had a FN of 74. The difference in the karyotypes is attrib- uted to non-Robertsonian variation: pericentric inversions and reciprocal translocations.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Restani, Mark.
- Descrizione:
- The structure of intermittent streams has been described by Abell (1956) . Her work was based on the analysis of Dry Creek, Fresno County, California, which she considered a typical intermittent stream. An earlier work (Stehr and Bransen, 1938) had given the faunal makeup of a similar stream in Southeastern Ohio. The effect of drought on the fauna of two small mountain streams turning them into intermittent streams is described by Hynes (1958) and Kamler and Riedel (1959). The apparent patterns of recolonization of temporary streams with the return of water is discussed by Abell (1956), Clifford (1966) and Harrison (1966), and a generalized overview of the subject of intermittent streams is presented by Hynes (1972). A tributary of Cottonwood Creek, which unlike Dry Creek has no permanent pools, was followed from November 20, 1972, just after the first rains, until the stream dried up on June 15, 1973, to establish the diversity of insect forms, their temporal sequences and to permit speculation on reinvasion patterns and habitat preferences or limitations. Samples were taken once every other week with a surber sampler and an aquatic net. Stream current was measured with a Gurley Pygmy Current Meter. The stream proved to have a diverse insect fauna as well as a variety of other forms including molluskans, annelids, acarines, crustaceans, amphibians and reptilians. One fish, Gambusia sp., was taken, a likely contaminant from year-round water sources near the stream.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Nunheimer, Lillian.
- Descrizione:
- An estuary is a coastal area where river water meets oceanic water. A characteristic of a tidal estuary is brackish water which shows fluctuations in salinity. These fluctuations are due to the diurnal periodicity of the tide and the influx of fresh water from precipitation. The differences in water density due to salinity and temperature prevent immediate mixing of the two water types and stratification frequently occurs. The river water usually contains a high concentration of nutrients which promote larger phytoplankton populations in most estuaries than those in adjacent oceanic areas (Sverdrup et al. 19*4-2).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Medeiros, Joseph.
- Descrizione:
- Microsporangial development in angiosperms is a well documented process. In contrast, difficulties such as availability of material, prolonged development, and problems in sectioning have made information concerning microsporogenesis in gymnosperrns scanty. Within the gymno- sperms, most studies have been in groups such as the Pinaceae.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Flores, Emmanuel
- Descrizione:
- Probiotics are live microorganisms that provide therapeutic effects to their consuming host’s gastrointestinal tract and immune system. Although they are considered “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) by the FDA and are added to a plethora of probiotic products, probiotics are known to display patterns of antibiotic resistance and impurity. In this study, we determined probiotic strains of Bacillus were resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion assays were performed to assess if any of these probiotic Bacillus strains were resistant to clinically relevant antibiotics. In B. coagulans and B. subtilis strains, we observed resistance and intermediate sensitivity to various antibiotics. We used the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD) to computationally analyze genomes and plasmids of these probiotic Bacillus strains and probiotics from multi-strain supplements for genes that confer antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and found genes conferring resistance to all classes of antibiotics. In addition, we assessed the purity of the active species content in multi-strain probiotics to identify which probiotic and contaminant is a potential vector of AMR. In the three supplements we found various contaminants and probiotics containing AMR genes on chromosomal and plasmidic elements. Taken together, results from this study provide insight into the potential risks of AMR and impurities in probiotic supplements.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Horgan, Sara Kathryn Anderson.
- Descrizione:
- The effects of two mammalian viruses (SV40 and reovirus) were observed on a homeothermic and on a poikilothermic cell line. Propagation of these viruses in both types of cells could indicate shared biochemical receptor sites on the two types of cell lines which are recognized by the viruses, allowing them to adsorb to ana penetrate the cells. The host cells included a poikilothermic cell line from fathead minnow (FHM) and the homeothermic African green monkey kidney cell line (BSC-1). Virus effects were demonstrated by observations of cytopathic effects (CPE) on stained coverslips of infected cells and unstained roller tube monolayers. The discovery that a mammalian tumor virus could be grown in FHM cells would facilitate experimental studies on these viruses. FHM cells are a practical laboratory host system for viral studies, since these cells are easily detached from a glass surface for stock culture subtransxers and, due to their lower rate of metaoolism, the PRw cells produce acids in the medium much slower than many cell lines of homeothermic origin such as BSC-1 cells. Acid production in cell cultures is undesirable, since it contributes to cellular degeneration.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Grendahl, Jan.
- Descrizione:
- new concept in medical bacteriology was opened for investigation in 1935 when Kleinberger reported she had successfully separated a cell wall deficient variant from a normal culture of Streptobacillus moniliformis (Kleinberger, 1935). Kleinberger denoted the new bacillus type an "L-form" in honor of the Lister Institute. L-forms were first induced from gram negative rods (Kleinberger, 1935), but since then have been induced from gram positive rods and cocci as well as gram negative cocci (Hymans, 1969).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Barreto-Zavala, Yaneth
- Descrizione:
- Xylella fastidiosa is a xylem-obligate plant pathogenic bacterium that causes disease in diverse crop plants. In grapevines, the infection is known as Pierce’s disease, which is limited to regions with warmer climates and fails to appear in cold climates. In previous research, it was observed that grapevines infected with X. fastidiosa can lose the infection during the winter season. However, this phenomenon (termed “cold curing”) is not completely understood. X. fastidiosa lacks certain aspects of bacterial cold response, including cold-inducible cold shock proteins. Due to the known role of cold shock proteins in RNA stabilization, this study investigated the role of RNA metabolism in X. fastidiosa in response to cold temperatures. Specifically, we characterized a purine nucleotide phosphorylase gene (pnp). We utilized knockout mutagenesis to evaluate the role of pnp in X. fastidiosa cold survival, in planta virulence, and cold-inducible gene expression. Our results suggest that X. fastidiosa pnp does not have reduced survival at 4℃ or in planta, but it is less virulent than the wild type, Stag’s Leap strain. In addition, X. fastidiosa Pnp does not show enzyme activity characteristic of that of a purine nucleoside phosphorylase.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Eckman, John.
- Descrizione:
- The western foothills of the Sierra Nevada are dotted with small earthen reservoirs which are maintained by landowners primarily as a source of water for livestock. Most of these farm ponds have been stocked with warmwater gamefish such as largemouth bass, bluegill, green sunfish and catfish, thus creating a source of recreation for fishermen and a source of revenue for the landowner, who usually charges a fishing fee. In most cases, the landowner has done little to maintain the farm ponds, and several of them have been successful in fish production for decades without management. However, in the dry summer and fall months some farm ponds undergo drastic changes which result in massive fish deaths.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Clayton, Bruce.
- Descrizione:
- Mountain meadows offer aesthetic values and provide feed for cattle and wildlife, making it important for both financial and recreational reasons that they be maintained at maximum productivity. At the present, little is known about vegetation structure and floristic composition of meadows. This information is important to understanding meadow ecology, and to developing habitat studies of animals that frequent these areas. This project was undertaken to supply data about these subjects and had three major objectives (l) to compile a floristic inventory as a base line from which meadow vegetation can be studied; (2) investigate the structure of meadow vegetation; (3) determine animal grazing rates on the meadows.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Armstrong, John William.
- Descrizione:
- Three out of five wild populations and a laboratory- population of Indian meal moth, Plodia interpunctella (Hubner), were found resistant to malathion. A malathion-susceptible Indian meal moth population, stressed with malathion, showed a 110-fold increase in resistance after five generations. Reciprocal crosses of malathion—resistant and -susceptible Indian meal moth populations showed that malathion—resistance was not a sex—linked character and the genes, while not simple, allowed for the rapid selection of resistance.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Singh, Krizma
- Descrizione:
- Bladderworts, aquatic carnivorous plants, use specialized traps (with a mouth opening of about 0.2 mm in diameter) to complete their feeding strike in less than a millisecond after the trap begins to open. Suction feeding is well understood in animals with mouth diameters greater than 10 millimeters and the little we know about small suction feeders from larval fish suggests that small suction feeders are not effective. Yet bladderworts have strong suction performances despite having the same mouth size as that of fish larvae. Bladderwort generate suction flows with peak speeds of 5 m/s and reach peak speed in 1 millisecond. In contrast, larval fish reach much lower peak speeds of 1 mm/s within 10 milliseconds. Previous studies of bladderwort suction feeding have focused on the trap door mechanics rather than the mechanics of fluid flow. As it is difficult to study the real organisms due to their small size and short duration, we used fluid-dynamic scaling laws to design a dynamically scaled model and characterize the suction flows. This larger and slower model greatly facilitates the recording of data with better temporal and spatial resolution. The model comprised a linear motor and a housing with a circular test nozzle submerged in mineral oil. We combined flow visualization on bladderwort traps with measurements on the mechanical model and compare experimental data with theoretical predictions about inhalant flows. In this study, we simulated actual traps as well as traps that are smaller and slower than real traps to explore how speed affects suction performance. We also show that a dynamically scaled model provides detailed flow fields to help explore the differences between bladderwort and fish larval suction flows. Our findings largely agree with theoretical models of suction flows, which show that bladderwort traps generate flows that closely resemble inviscid flow whereas fish larvae resemble creeping flow models. This dynamically scaled mechanical model will be a valuable tool to address bio fluid-dynamic questions.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Muñoz, Evelin
- Descrizione:
- Fewer than 40% of students that pursue college degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) do not graduate with a STEM degree. The rate of college degree attainment in STEM is about 20% lower for women, people with disabilities, and people of color. They do not have equal access to STEM education and thus are unequally represented in STEM fields. One of the reasons students struggle in STEM are ineffective experiences in the college classroom. Active learning, also known as evidence-based teaching practices, are more effective than traditional lecture style teaching. However, despite its lack of efficaciousness, 50-75% of North American STEM professors continue to use lecture as their only teaching method. Why do most faculty not use active learning? Adoption of active learning is influenced by both factors external to an individual (time, policy, resources, student resistance) and personal knowledge and beliefs (loss of autonomy, lack of or efficacy in pedagogical skills). Prior work in this area often looks at these variables in isolation, reducing the complex world in which faculty teach into a laundry list of levers and barriers. These studies also often lack a cohesive theoretical framework to explain findings in light of broader educational and socio-psychological work. The goal of my study was a quantitative examination of variables that contribute to active learning adoption through the lens of a framework for individual-level change: The Theory of Planned Behavior I used valid and reliable surveys to examine faculty teaching practice at 7 institutions (N=424 STEM faculty), including their (a) personal attitudes, (b) norms, (c) perceived behavioral control, and (d) self-reported teaching practices. I then explored correlations among these variables using a k-means cluster analysis to find four distinct teaching-attitude-norm ‘clusters.’ The most predictive variable for the differences in clusters was faculty attitudes about teaching. I also found normative differences by cluster for women, international faculty, faculty with Asian ethnicities, and faculty from engineering disciplines. Contextual variables like class size and class layout had some effect on teaching practices, as did views about leadership and organizational support, but these variables did not explain overall cluster patterns with the same consistency as faculty attitudes about teaching.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Moshier, Shelby Paige
- Descrizione:
- Sandy beaches support dynamic and diverse, but physically narrow intertidal ecosystems that are vulnerable to the effects of anthropogenic disturbance, such as coastal dredging and beach nourishment. Our study site in Morro Bay, California has been a site of coastal dredging by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) since the 1960’s. In February of 2017, 240,000 cubic yards of sediment were dredged from the harbor and deposited onto the beach as beach nourishment. We assessed the impacts of this beach nourishment over two years on three aspects of beach ecosystems: 1) beach width, 2) avian biodiversity, and 3) intertidal macroinvertebrate biodiversity. We designated seven sampling sites and at each collected monthly measurements of beach width, monthly avian point counts, and quarterly macroinvertebrate samples. We found spatiotemporal variation present across months and sites, and beach width at the deposition site was significantly higher than the six control sites pooled together. Avian and macroinvertebrate biodiversity was not significantly different at the deposition site compared to the pooled control sites. Our results suggest that the dredge deposition had low or very short-term impacts to both avian and intertidal macroinvertebrate biodiversity at the deposition site over our two years of sampling. Positive impacts include a wider beach at the deposition site.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Worrell, Joanne.
- Descrizione:
- The subject of this study, Peromyscus boylei (the brush mouse), is found from "Honduras northward to Oregon and Utah and eastward to the Ozark Mountains" (Hooper, 1968: 50). In California, it is found characteristically in the Upper Sonoran life zone and its range extends upward into the Transition zone and occasionally into the Canadian (Grinnel1, 1933). This saxicolous mouse inhabits "wooded or brushy slopes, especially in the vicinity of oaks and usually with reach of water" (Grinnell, 1933: 177).
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Thormann, Barbara.
- Descrizione:
- The Nematode suborder Strongylata is among the most important groups of nematodes to man. In addition to two species of hookworms which infect millions of people in the world today, some 40 species of Strongyles infect domestic animals, causing considerable economic loss (Chandler and Read 1961). The Strongyles cause damage to their hosts by sucking blood. Most live in the digestive tract, but the species of 2 families, the Syngamidae and the Metastrongylidae, live as adults in the respiratory passages of their hosts. A few species in other families, for example the pig kidney worm, Stephanurus dentatus, of the Strongylidae, live in other exter-intestinal habitats.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Kottcamp, Glenn M.
- Descrizione:
- Sculpins of the genus Cottus are commonly found in brackish water and streams of the Pacific drainage of North America (Morris, 1961). Though common, they are infrequently encountered being small, bottom dwelling fish, rarely exceeding 1 50 mm S. The prickly sculpin (Cottus asper Richardson) is found in both freshwater and the intertidal zone from Seward, Alaska., to the Ventura River in southern California. Inland in California, Casper is found in the Sacramento River below Shasta Lake and in the San Joaquin River drainage system; coastal populations are found in fresh and brackish water from the Ventura. River northward (Krejsa,
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Rockwell, Richard Allen.
- Descrizione:
- Intestinal nematodes of the family Heligmosomidae have been the subject of investigation for many years. Perhaps, the best studied species in the family has been Heligmosomoides polygyrus (Dujardin, 1845) (Nematospiroides dubius Baylis, 1926). Although much has been learned about Heligmosomoides polygyrus since its original description, some biological problems concerning it remain to be solved. The most interest- ing and important of these are in the areas of its taxonomy and physiology.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Preston, Wayne.
- Descrizione:
- Inauguration of the embryonic development of the vertebrate nephros begins within the cranial reaches of the intermediate mesoderm. The anterior portions of this mesoderm give rise to the nephrotomes which are the forerunners of the first nephrons. Since these nephrons form in the anterior position and are the first to appear, they are collectively called the pronephros of "head-kidney." Each individual nephron is unfortunately termed a pronephric tubule
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Platzek, James Thomas.
- Descrizione:
- This research project bears upon a number of fields of study, including physiology, biochemistry and psychopathol- ogy. The experiment was designed to create an altered behavioral state by the stress of sensory deprivation. The altered behavioral state can be recognized by some physiological indices of behavior: concentration of the brain amines serotonin and norepinephrine; alterations in locomotor activity, brain weight, and body weight. The information derived from these indices contributes to each of the fields of study mentioned. However, the relationships between these seemingly diverse fields and this project needs to be developed.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Lopez, Rachel L.
- Descrizione:
- Captive breeding is a critical management strategy in the recovery and preservation of certain threatened and endangered species. Programs that implement captive breeding must maintain a balance between preserving the genetic purity and genetic diversity of a population in order to build a viable group of individuals for future reintroduction. This may be difficult due to a limited number of extant wild individuals for establishment of founder populations, leading to an increased risk of inbreeding or outbreeding depression in subsequent generations. In this study, I worked in collaboration with 24 zoos, museums, and aquariums through the Western Pond Turtle Species Survival Plan Sustainability Project to aid in conservation of two threatened and endangered freshwater turtle species through captive breeding. As individuals of the two different species can appear morphologically identical, I used DNA sequencing to identify wild-bred Northwestern (Actinemys marmorata) and Southwestern Pond Turtles (Actinemys pallida) to build captive brood stock of both species. Relatively few studies have assessed conservation efforts in consideration of two genetically distinct species within the genus Actinemys as the majority of research on this clade was done before the discovery of a second species. Here, I analyzed the nicotinamide adenine dehydrogenase subunit four (ND4) mitochondrial gene to identify species and geographic origin for 133 captive pond turtles including 71 members of A. marmorata and 62 A. pallida individuals. Results of this study were used to inform captive breeding program collaborators so that husbandry is managed in consideration of species, geographic origin, and the subsequent risks of outbreeding and inbreeding depression.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Larocca, Ronald.
- Descrizione:
- No Abstract or Summary.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Johnson, Margaret Tupper.
- Descrizione:
- This pilot study was designed to test the null hypothesis that tnere is no significant difference between the information obtained by the indigenous Mexican Health Worker on the initial visit to a Mexican patient and that obtained by the professional nurse. The purpose was to seek an answer to the question: Can a valid nursing diagnosis be made on the basis of information obtained on the initial visit to a patient of Mexican origin?
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Johnke, Roberta.
- Descrizione:
- This study was undertaken to investigate seasonal acclimatization in two populations of Hyalella azteca as measured by their oxygen consumption. One population was taken from a high Mg habitat and one from a low Mg environment. No significant seasonal differences between the two populations appeared to exist except during fall when the high Mg population showed lowered rates while the low Mg population increased its oxygen uptake. Similarity between summer and winter rates for both populations indicates that the seasonal patterns of oxygen consumption are probably due to some factor(s) other than temperature. Differing water types also apparently have little effect on m oxygen consumption with only slightly lowered oxygen consumption seen in water from the opposite source which may indicate a shock reaction as no time for acclimation to a new aquatic medium was given. Analysis of variance tests yielded F values which indicated that oxygen uptake patterns for the two populations studied were significantly influenced by an interaction of the factors studied in this project and most likely other factors not investigate
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Huang, Louise.
- Descrizione:
- Penicill ium exnansum is a common fungus occurring in the organic debris in soil. It can also be found in food products, such as grains, cereal products, eggs and chickens (Raper and Thorn, 194-9). However, it is most common in ripe fruits such as apples and other pomaceous types from which it has been isolated (Sommer, 1967). Workers in the fields of fruit storage and distribution find it to be the principal agent responsible for losses from storage rot. Spores of the fungus are carried from the field onto the surface of the fruit, where they germinate and enter through cuts and abrasions of the cuticle and epidermis. Thus it is of considerable importance in agricultural economy to control the growth of the fungus. However, detailed information on the growth ox bhxs fungus, especially on the spore germination, is lacking in the literature. Only a few reports briefly discuss the growth of this fungus. The present work reports experiments on the changes of nucleic acids and protein during spore germination and the environmental factors affecting the process. The work provides a foundation for further investigation on the control of the fungal growth.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Cornel, Megan
- Descrizione:
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that commonly causes serious nosocomial infections. P. aeruginosa’s virulence is derived from its large genome that allows adaptations to many environments and high antibiotic resistance. Gene sequences and pathways linked to bacterial survival or virulence need to be characterized before being chosen for therapeutic targeting to combat infections. One such set of genes are those leading to the production or activity of glutathione (GSH). GSH is a low molecular weight thiol that P. aeruginosa produces as a redox buffer that significantly contributes to its virulence. Previous studies have shown that P. aeruginosa transposon mutants defective in gshA (the first step of the glutathione pathway) have decreased virulence and increased susceptibility to thiol-reactive antibiotics. Genes encoding glutathione reductase (gor) are another possible target to stunt the P. aeruginosa oxidative stress response. The Gor enzyme maintains cellular redox homeostasis which resists oxidative stress. We obtained a transposon mutant disrupting gor (gor::tn) and generated a gor complement strain (MCgor) in the transposon background. When compared to P. aeruginosa wild type (MPAO1) and MCgor, gor::tn had similar growth and swarming motility capabilities, greater sensitivity to oxidative stressors, and decreased biofilm, pyocyanin, and persister cell production. Surprisingly, gor::tn outcompeted Staphylococcus aureus to a greater extent than MPAO1 did in mixed species competition assays. These comparisons are beneficial to the characterization of gor and add further support to develop antibiotics targeting the glutathione pathway.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Garner, Jack.
- Descrizione:
- The discovery of antitoxins to both diphtheria and tetanus toxins dramatically introduced two immunological phenomena to twentieth-century science. First, biologically active molecules, such as toxins and enzymes, may have the potential to be neutralized by antibody; secondly, this gave the first proof of the existence of specific antibodies. These findings sparked a determination to reveal the actual mechanism of combination of antigens and antibodies, and introduced some of the concepts and techniques of physics and chemistry into the field of immunology.
- Resource Type:
- Masters Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Hernández, Alejandro
- Descrizione:
- Chalcones are aromatic ketones that form the central core for a variety of important biological compounds. Previous research in Dr. Calderón-Urrea’s laboratory showed the efficacy of eight chalcones (1, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 25, and 30) to kill Caenorhabditis elegans. The chalcones cause 100% mortality, not only in C. elegans but also the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita, at concentrations of 10-4 M (Singh, 2013). Furthermore, chalcones 17, 25, and 30 effectively kill at even lower concentrations (10-5 M). However, the mechanism by which the chalcones kill the nematodes is not known. Previous work, also from Dr. Calderón-Urrea’s laboratory, identified a mutant in the C. elegans strain PD4251 that is resistance to Chalcone 17, and this new mutant strain was named strain RT-Ch17.1.2. Here we set out to identify the DNA sequence responsible for the mutant phenotype of strain RT-Ch17.1.2 using a combination of genetics, whole genome sequencing (WGS), and bioinformatics tools. I identified six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), corresponding to two genes; these two genes are therefore candidates involved in resistance of RT-Ch17.1.2 to chalcone 17. These two genes are the mitochondrial ribosomal protein large subunit (mrlp-15), and a 5'-to-3' DNA helicase (pif-1). Both of these genes play a role in the proper functioning of the mitochondria, which suggest that the chalcones may target essential elements of the mitochondria to cause lethality in the nematodes.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Hernández, Alejandro
- Descrizione:
- Chalcones are aromatic ketones that form the central core for a variety of important biological compounds. Previous research in Dr. Calderón-Urrea’s laboratory showed the efficacy of eight chalcones (1, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 25, and 30) to kill Caenorhabditis elegans. The chalcones cause 100% mortality, not only in C. elegans but also the plant parasitic nematode Meloidogyne incognita, at concentrations of 10-4 M (Singh, 2013). Furthermore, chalcones 17, 25, and 30 effectively kill at even lower concentrations (10-5 M). However, the mechanism by which the chalcones kill the nematodes is not known. Previous work, also from Dr. Calderón-Urrea’s laboratory, identified a mutant in the C. elegans strain PD4251 that is resistance to Chalcone 17, and this new mutant strain was named strain RT-Ch17.1.2. Here we set out to identify the DNA sequence responsible for the mutant phenotype of strain RT-Ch17.1.2 using a combination of genetics, whole genome sequencing (WGS), and bioinformatics tools. I identified six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), corresponding to two genes; these two genes are therefore candidates involved in resistance of RT-Ch17.1.2 to chalcone 17. These two genes are the mitochondrial ribosomal protein large subunit (mrlp-15), and a 5'-to-3' DNA helicase (pif-1). Both of these genes play a role in the proper functioning of the mitochondria, which suggest that the chalcones may target essential elements of the mitochondria to cause lethality in the nematodes.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Scheidt, Thomas W
- Descrizione:
- This environment could explain the rapid proliferation of the bacteria. It wi also considered probable that the destruction, per se, of bronchiolar epithelium by the virus did not contribute significantly to the synergism.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62263154
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Varoujean, Daniel H.
- Descrizione:
- The genus Echlnorhlnus Blainville contains two species, the brambleshark E, brucus. first described by Bonnatere (1788), and the prickly shark E, cookel. first described by Pietschmann (1928), Due to the considered a variant of E. brucus (Fowler, 1941), Garrick (1960), however, redescribed E, cookei and showed that it deserved recognition as a separate species. He found that, the distinction of E. cookel from E, brucus is definite and striking, at least between sub-adult specimens, but so far can be based only on the buckler-like dermal denticles. There appear to be no significant differences in proportional dimensions, in external morphology, or in details of the teeth. However, the differences in the denticles lie not only in their relative size as mentioned above, though this alone is sufficient, but also in the shape and sculpture of the denticle bases (entire-margined or nearly so, and with rather fine radial ridging in E. brucus. but with strongly indented margins and coarse ridges in E. cookel); the presence in E. brucus of compound denticles up to 35 mm long as a result of fusion of adjacent denticle bases, while such fused denticles are not a feature of E. cookei; and there is the tendency in E. brucus to retain noticeable-sized denticles on the underside of the snout and around the mouth even on large specimens, while in the type of E. cookei and in my specimen this area is virtually smooth, only a few minute denticles being present. Garrick also noted that many past records of E. brucus could have been records of E. cookel. for example, the account of an E. "brucus" given by Hubbs and Clark (1945). This specimen was subsequently found to be E. cookei.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm63681431
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Tinkle, David Paul
- Descrizione:
- In the present study, laboratory demonstrations of susceptibility to infection of potential intermediate hosts are considered to provide only circumstantial evidence that these experimental hosts may also be natural intermediate hosts for tapeworms. Therefore, an important part of this work is devoted to comparing the susceptibility of various beetle species to laboratory infection and the occurrence of natural infections of H. microstomoides and H. citelli in these same beetles.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62862389
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Wynn, Franklin E.
- Descrizione:
- Models of muscle contraction were proposed as early as the third century B.C. by an Alexandrian physician, Erasistratus, who believed contraction was evoked by the passage of air into the muscle from surrounding blood vessels. Other historical investigators proposed equally supernatural explanations which involved the passage of "animal spirits" into the muscle. It was not until the mid-1800's that Kuhne successfully extracted a contractile protein which he called myosin. From these modest beginnings have evolved models for muscle contraction.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm64201257
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Field, Eugene Allen
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm58524504
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Rosay, Bettina
- Descrizione:
- Cyclic changes in the size of female accessory glands are described. The gland enlarges during ovarian development and gradually becomes smaller after oviposition. The results after surgical removal of the gland indicated that its function is not pertinent to development and fertilization of eggs, oviposition, or raft formation.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62125653
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Nilmeier, Sara E.
- Descrizione:
- The peptide hormone ghrelin has been shown to stimulate growth hormone (GH) release, appetite, and fat deposition in vertebrates. More recently, ghrelin has been shown to play a role in glucose metabolism in mammals. Ghrelin acts through the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R). The GHS-R codes for two gene transcripts, GHS-R1a and GHS-R1b. In tilapia, two forms of ghrelin have been identified, ghrelin-C8 and ghrelin-C10. This study measured the effect of ghrelin on the hormonal regulators involved in glucose metabolism, appetite, and growth (GH/IGF-I axis) in the tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus. Fish were injected with two doses of ghrelin-C8 and ghrelin-C10. Blood and tissue samples were collected at 2, 4, and 8 h post-injection. The low dose of ghrelin-C8 elevated blood glucose levels at 4 h post-injection. Both ghrelin-C8 and -C10 reduced plasma IGF-I levels and ghrelin-C10 elevated IGF-I mRNA levels in the liver. Ghrelin-C8 and -C10 elevated liver GHR2 mRNA levels, however GHR1 mRNA levels remained unaffected. In the brain, ghrelin-C8 and -C10 treatment elevated both GHS-R1a and GHS-R1b mRNA levels. NPY mRNA levels in the brain, a regulator of appetite, were elevated by ghrelin-C10. These data confirm ghrelin�s role in appetite and glucose metabolism and show that ghrelin up-regulates certain components of the GH/IGF-I axis in tilapia.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Ryan, Lloyd C
- Descrizione:
- The purpose of the study was two-fold: first, to identify and describe the air-borne Moniliales encountered in the Fresno area; and second, to determine their relative abundance. Several methods of collecting culturing and identification are described. Since the study extended only from September to April, all references to abundance are restricted to this period. The system of classification followed was patterned after Bessey (1950). All drawings were made with the aid of a camera lucida.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62050238
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Seto, Chuck Foo
- Descrizione:
- Ever since the discovery of 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) as an effective herbicide during World War II, extensive research effort has been directed to all aspects of this synthesized subs tame that behaves in some respects similar to plant auxin. First, attention was focused on the selective effect; and it became known that 2,4-D was a very effective killer of the broad-leaved plants while it did not affect the grasses and many other monocots in any way at certain concentrations. It also came to be known that three processes were involved in the herbicidal action of the suxi1u, the material entered the plant; it then was translocated throughout the plant; and toxic actions took place at the level of cellular metabolism (Machlis and Torrey, 1936). Many reports on the effects of 2,4—D on physiological and biochemical processes of plants can be found in the literature. Among them are those that Indicate the inhibitory effect on photosynthesis of plants (Wedding et al., 1954, Erickson et al., 1955), and those that show 2,4-D to be stimulatory to plant respiration (Overbeek et al., 1951; Wedding et al., 1954; Humphreys and Dagger, 1957). Mitochondria from soybeans sprayed with 2,4-D have been observed to swell accompanied by increases in rates of phosphorylation and oxidation (Key et al., 1961), Other reports indicate that 2,4-D stimulates cell proliferation (Steward, 1963), promotes carbohydrate depletion (Rasmuseen, 1947), Inhibits lipase activity (Bagen et al. 1949), Inhibits ascorbic acid oxidase (West and Henderson, 1950), and stimulates phosphatase activity (Overbeek et al., 1951). All these experimental reports represent an effort toward the elucidation of the mechanism with which 2,4-13 operates as a herbicide. How we may ask; How is the concentration of 2,4-D related to its herbicidal action? Is it the undis-sociated molecules, or the charged anions, that penetrate the cell membrane? Adequate answers to these questions will provide clues as to how 2,4-D in particular and auxin in general affect the physiological processes of plants.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62589744
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Boolootian, Richard A
- Descrizione:
- This study is necessary because it represents perhaps the last opportunity to examine Grinnell’s findings. Specimens were trapped and their localities mapped (see map, Fig. 1): then statistical methods were applied to various measurements such as tail length, hind foot length, red pelage color, bullae width, and skull length, in order to understand the systematic relationship among these subspecies.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm57029345
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Holeman, Jodi Jazell
- Descrizione:
- During July _ September 2009, ground ultra low volume (ULV) applications of various registered mosquito adulticide formulations were evaluated in a field assay against both wild populations and an insecticide-susceptible laboratory colony of Culex pipiens sensu lato. Initial applications with piperonyl butoxide (PBO) synergized formulations of natural pyrethrins and selected synthetic pyrethroids indicated that the wild populations in question had varying degrees of resistance to these products. Laboratory bottle-bioassay testing confirmed these observations. Adult female surveillance using carbon dioxide baited CDC traps and Bermuda grass infusion gravid traps were also utilized to quantify population impacts of ground ULV applications. There was no significant difference in pre and post treatment collections made at sites throughout the treatment area. Surveillance collections further supported the assumption of resistance and a lack of measurable control. A combination of malathion (Fyfanon�) and natural pyrethrins, synergized at 10:1 with PBO (Evergreen�), had significant resistance-breaking properties. This study demonstrates the existence of significant pesticide resistance in wild Cx. pipiens s. l. populations in Fresno County, as well as the impact of barriers in urban and rural environments on drift, effective swath and reduced efficacy of ground ULV applications.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Herrgesell, Perry L
- Descrizione:
- Eleven years ago, the California State Legislature authorized the construction of a peripheral drainage canal for the San Joaquin Valley. Observations suggest that drainage water, which ultimately will come from the entire valley, may have adverse effects on water quality in San Francisco Bay and the surrounding delta, into which it will drain. The valley is a vast agricultural area, so the proposed "master drain" would discharge predominantly agricultural waste water into the bay. This has stimulated agricultural waste water studies, but comprehensive data on conditions in agricultural drainage canals are lacking. Most of the published and unpublished information on agricultural runoff that is available was produced by state and federal agencies. There are marked differences in the quality of irrigation water applied to the land and the quality of the residual water draining from the land (Sylvester and Seabloom, 1963). Studies describing changes in physical and chemical factors during irrigation are numerous (Knight, 1969; U. S. Department of Agriculture, 1969; Williams and Wadleigh, 1968; Bullard, 1966; Sylvester and Seabloom, 1963; Reid, 1961; Flippin, 1945). Factors mentioned most frequently in runoff situations are sediment, temperature, oxygen content, inorganic plant nutrients (such as nitrogen and phosphorus), and pesticides (California Department of Water Resources, 1968; Mackenthun and Ingram, 1967). Other sources concerning physical and biotic runoff relationships will be listed in the pertinent sections of the following text. Biotic studies concerning agricultural drainage canals are less numerous. The U. S. Public Health Service (1960) and Vinyard (unpublished) have studied the biota of drainage water, but their work dealt mostly with phytoplankton ecology. Aside from general references on pollution and its effect on organisms, data concerning the total biota, and its possible regulation by waste water conditions, are lacking. Recognizing the need for more information on agricultural runoff, I undertook a study of Main Drain Canal, which carries agricultural drainage. The purpose of the study was twofold: 1) to document the spatial and temporal biotic changes in a drainage canal, and 2) to demonstrate, when possible, whether or not these changes were due to irrigation effluents. The remainder of this paper deals with this analysis of Main Drain Canal and its implications for future drainage projects.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm58724554
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Kannan, Shravan Kumar
- Descrizione:
- Mammalian cells produce different types of cell protrusions (CPs)—like filopodia, lamellipodia, invadopdia, and tunneling nanotubes—that have been implicated in numerous important biological functions, such as cell migration, cell-cell communication, cancer-cell invasion, and the intercellular spread of pathogens. Yet, the proteomes of such structures are not well characterized due to the inability to specifically isolate individual types of protrusions for downstream proteomic analysis. In this study we present a novel method using laser capture microdissection (LCM) in conjunction with microproteomics to specifically isolate such structures and define their proteomes. We successfully isolated TNTs and other cellular projections by LCM using glutaraldehyde (GLU) and dithiobispropionimidate (DTBP) fixation. Although we found the TNTs to be more stable with GLU fixation than the DTBP fixation, the number of protein hits from the lysates of cells fixed with DTBP fixation was found to be significantly higher than GLU fixation. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of cells fixed with GLU showed that, using LCM, we were able to isolate 113 proteins specific to TNTs. We found several proteins from cytoskeleton, filopodia, vesicles and mitochondria that have implications in TNT functionality. Thus we demonstrate that LCM/MS system is an innovative combination to isolate proteins specific to such small structures.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Hale, Julie Anne
- Descrizione:
- There is considerable evidence linking cumulative and sustained exposure to estrogens as a key promoter of breast tumor proliferation. Chemicals with estrogenic activity can bind to the estrogen receptor (ER) to affect downstream signaling of estrogen-responsive genes. Organochlorines are a class of chemical pesticides that can act as xenoestrogens to disrupt normal endocrine function. Methoxychlor and Toxaphene are two organochlorine pesticides that have been widely used in California. Statistical data suggest that past use of these pesticides shows a positive association with age-adjusted incidence of breast cancer in Hispanic women in Central California counties. This study investigates the link between these pesticides and molecular mechanisms of breast cancer by examining the hypothesis that Methoxychlor and Toxaphene exposure influence differential protein expression in a cell culture model utilizing cell lines that are either ER positive (ER+) or ER negative (ER-).
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Avery, Nolan
- Descrizione:
- Suction feeding is one of the primary methods aquatic organisms use to capture prey. Suction feeding in aquatic organisms is well understood in adult fish, but poorly understood in fry. Hydrodynamic theory predicts that suction feeding is not effective in smaller organisms, where a minimum gape diameter is required for a successful suction event. This minimum gape diameter is the lower limit where suction feeding is still viable. Studies have shown that fish larvae have low capture success, but there are few data on similar sized plant suction feeders. Aquatic bladderwort species (Utricularia gibba, U. vulgaris) capture microscopic prey using suction feeding in underwater bladder-shaped traps at dimensions typically less than 1 mm. This project examines how bladderworts suction feed by quantifying the capture success, trap morphology and prey morphology to address the following questions: (1) do smaller traps catch smaller and fewer prey; (2) do smaller traps have a relatively larger gape (characterized as gape diameter relative to total trap size) than larger traps to limit the negative effects of being small on capture success. Bladderwort traps capture prey relative to gape diameter, with smaller bladders catching smaller-sized and fewer prey overall compared to larger bladders. Smaller bladderwort traps display isometric allometry, with smaller traps having relatively same gape length as larger traps.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Gutierrez, Israel
- Descrizione:
- Methyl bromide is a broad-spectrum pesticide that successfully controls insects, weeds, rodents, and several pathogens in agricultural crops; however, its use is strongly restricted by international agreement. Consequently, pesticides including inline, methyl iodide, propargyl bromide and chloropicrin have been proposed as alternatives. We have isolated and identified bacterial strains that degrade chloropicrin using traditional techniques and sequencing analysis of the 16S ribosomal subunit. These organisms are able to grow on media containing chloropicrin as a sole carbon source. The rate of chloropicrin degradation was determined using gas chromatography comparing bacterial mediated degradation to abiotic degradation in sterile pesticide media. Pesticide levels were monitored in minimal medium containing 100 ppm chloropicrin and inoculated with a chloropicrin degrading suspect. Nine organisms were characterized and identified from strawberry soils in Watsonville, California. Identified bacteria are from Frateuria, Bacillus, Sphingomonas, Streptomyces, Fulvimonas and Rhodanobacter genera. Rhodanobacter sp., Sphingomonas mali, and Bacillus firmus enhanced chloropicrin degradation compared to the abiotic control. Bacillus sp., and Sphingomonas pruni may degrade products of abiotic chloropicrin degradation that have formed from the interactions of the minimal media and chloropicrin. This study will be useful in determining the environmental fate of the pesticide and the development of bioremediation strategies for removal of pesticide.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Biglione, Normand J
- Descrizione:
- The present paper deals with the contiguity of the ranges of Thomomys bottae pascalis and Thomomys bottae mewa north and east of Clovis, Fresno County, California. In this part of California, the pocket gopher of sierra foothills belongs to the race mewa, whereas the San Joaquin Valley is, in this region, occupied by pascalis, except that mewa also comes out into the valley about 3 miles distant from the nearest foothills. Ingles (1950) pointed out that the zone where intergradation occurs between these races may be as 4 miles wide, but emphasized that his data were inadequate to give an accurate estimate. He further stated that there was no visible reason why the intergrading zone should occur where it did. In order to obtain a better understanding of these and related problems it was decided to locate and map accurately, with respect to established landmarks, the zone of intergradation from Collins Corner and the Enterprise Canal, where intergrades were previously found (Ingles, 1950) to the place where the intergrading zone crossed Maple Road, about ten miles to the northwest (see map, figure 1). An attempt was made to determine the physical and biological factors affecting the present position of the line of contiguity between the two ranges.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm57029076
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Anderson, David
- Descrizione:
- Three families of chick embryo DNA have been characterized and it has been shown that the most rapidly reannealing sequences (R family) are complementary to chromosomal RNA; material which fulfills the requirements of an activator RNA. This information suggests that at least some of the genome may be organized as envisioned by Britten and Davidson (1969). The principle objection to their hypothesis comes from the belief that natural selection and the deleterious mutation rate per gene locus per generation significantly limits the number of functional genes which can be maintained within the genome. The suggestion is made that the S family, comprising 65% of the "total number of sequences, may be involved in the pairing of homologous chromosomes. The idea that the majority of the DNA is non-functional is rejected.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm56986110
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Myers, Charles M
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm61050793
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Edgar, Clara Lee
- Descrizione:
- The length of time a given psychiatric patient may spend in a mental hospital is complex and depends upon many social and personal factors. With custodial care patients accumulating in mental hospitals at the rate of sixteen thousand per year throughout the United States, considerable attention is now being given this problem (5). This thesis will deal with some aspects of this problem as concerned with the neuroses and functional psychoses. These make up about 40 per cent of first admissions, (with another 40 per cent represented by diseases associated with the aged), over 25 per cent having been diagnosed as schizophrenic, according to one of the most careful and comprehensive studies (30).
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm58426855
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Toscano, Nicholas C
- Descrizione:
- Changes in the physiological age of females in a population of consperse stinkbugs, Euachistus conspereus Uhler, in Fresno County, California, were followed through one annual cycle. The gonotrophic age techniques developed by Detinova (1945, 1959) and Rosay (in manuscript) for studying the age structure in mosquitoes and other Diptera were used in this study. The observed sequence of events in E. eonspersus was typical of many insects which overwinter as nulliparous females. The female becomes active in the spring, mates, produces a number of egg clutches and dies. By the end of July, nearly all of the new generation females have become multiparous, and their offspring form the overwintering generation. The fat body is readily observable in the females throughout the year. In the diapausing overwintering forma, the fat body changes color and becomes hypertrophied. These females do not mate until spring as shown by their empty spermathecae throughout the winter.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62794696
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Middleton, Matthew Craig
- Descrizione:
- The European grapevine moth (EGVM), Lobesia botrana (Denis & Schiffermu_ller) is a major pest of grapevines in the Palearctic ecozone. In 2008, the moth was reported in Chile and subsequently in California in 2009, representing the first establishments in the Americas. To try to ascertain the geographical source of the invasive population in California, 13 populations originating in Europe and the Middle East were compared to populations from the Americas using 686 bp of the mitochondrial CO1 gene and 369 bp of the ribosomal ITS2 intron and phylogenetic techniques. Similar genetics, among and within sample populations, gave no genetic structure and invasive sources could not be determined. Genetic homogeneity indicates global populations feeding on grapes are not composed of alternative genetic races, likely due to high population connectivity and interbreeding throughout the Mediterranean range. Data support that established populations in the Americas are the same as those homogenous populations in the Old World and more sensitive molecular techniques are needed to create definite molecular structure.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Chand, Shristic
- Descrizione:
- Bacterial second messenger, c-di-GMP, regulates important functions such as biofilm formation, motility, and virulence. C-di-GMP also has an immunostimulatory property, so can be used as a vaccine adjuvant. In this project, DgcZ (a diguanylate cyclase) was engineered to create hyperactive mutants in c-di-GMP production. For this, two protein sites were targeted: substrate (GTP) binding site and product (c-di-GMP) inhibition site. At the GTP binding site, three residues (L134, D182 and R204) were tested through codon randomization and in vivo c-di-GMP production assay, but none of the positions provided high activity DgcZ mutants superior to wild type DgcZ. In contrast, the engineering at the product inhibition site was fruitful as superior mutants could be made at both R197 and E200 positions. So far, R197T, E200A and E200G were identified to be better than wild type DgcZ in in vivo c-di-GMP production based on both Clp toxicity-masking assay and c-di-GMP toxicity assay. These mutants were toxic to the host cell when highly produced. The toxicity problem was circumvented by tagging one of the mutants (E200A) with PelB, a signal sequence to the periplasmic space, at the N terminus and the fused PelB-E200A was not toxic to the cells. In the future, the resultant PelB-E200A needs to be tested thoroughly through protein expression, purification and in vitro c-di-GMP production assay for mass production of c-di-GMP.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Hage, William A.
- Descrizione:
- Naturally occurring cardiac glycosides, such as digitalis, are well known for their therapeutic effects in the treatment of congestive heart failure (Goodman and Gilman, 1970). Administration of these glycosides elicits an increase in the force of myocardial contraction known as the positive inotropic effect which indicates increased efficiency of the myocardium (Marks, .1964) . A cardiac glycoside is a combination of an aglycona with one to four sugar molecules on carbon 3 (see Figure 1A). Physiological activity is imparted by the aglycone or genin portion of the molecule (Hoch, 1961). Its basic structure (see Figure IB) consists of a steroid nucleus with an alpha, beta-unsaturated lactone ring at carbon 17 (Goodman and Gilman, 1970). The lactone ring has been shown to be essential for cardiac activity of the glycosides and aglycones (Meyers, et al. , 1968). Addition of a sugar moiety to the aglycone imparts greater solubility in water, facilitates membrane transport and increases potency and duration of glycoside activity but does not otherwise affect cardioactivity (Drill, 1971).
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm60248982
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Smith, Theodore A
- Descrizione:
- Examination of ovarian morphology was used to determine the seasonal age variations in a field population of house flies. A small winter and early spring population consisted entirely of nulliparous females, mostly in the early stages (N to II) of egg development. With the advent of warm weather gonoactivity increased and newly emerged adults enlarged the population. Summer and fall numbers remained high with minor oscillations, tending upward to a peak in the fall. These populations were characterized by a large proportion of newly emerged females and a very small proportion of parous individuals, indicating a vigorously reproducing, short-lived population. The relative lack of parous females could have been due to emigration or, more likely, to death following the first oviposition. In early winter population numbers were drastically reduced with the advent of cold weather. A large proportion of the surviving females ware physiologically young (70%), and the population resembled that found at the beginning of the study. The overwintering mechanism appeared to be an adult diapause.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62522185
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Hall, Maxwell
- Descrizione:
- Carnivorous plants form traps, which require resources that would otherwise go to photosynthetically more active tissue. Added to this cost of trap construction can be the cost of setting and resetting the trap if the trap is active (such as a Venus flytrap). The carnivorous plants with the most active traps are in the genus Utricularia (bladderwort). A bladderwort trap can fire up to several hundred times over its lifespan. The cost of setting and resetting the trap arises from expelling water from the tap lumen. As lumen volume scales with trap size, active cost scales with trap volume. Given that cost scales with trap size, we expect that the increased cost of larger traps is balanced by increased benefits in the form of larger or more prey captured. In this study we explored the effects of trap size on active costs and prey capture success. We developed a new method to quantify the volume of water expelled from each trap using a fluorescent dye. We found that the volume of water expelled increased with increasing trap size and that larger traps catch more prey. We also found that age effects did not confound size effects. We conclude that in bladderworts, both costs and benefits of traps scale with trap volume. Furthermore, studies that explore the cost of active traps need to take into account trap size as a confounding factor.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Chrysafis, Petros
- Descrizione:
- San Joaquin River riparian habitat has been subject to anthropogenic modifications such as housing development, golf courses, and gravel mining sites. These modifications can affect mammals, potentially causing extirpation, higher mortality, increased population sizes, and increased human contact. Mammal presence was investigated across a land development gradient in riparian habitats along 21.5km of the San Joaquin River. Trail cameras were placed for 396 days at six study sites and in three different vegetation densities within each site. The presence of mammal species at the different sites, different vegetation densities and different time periods was investigated, co-occurrence and overlap models applied to the data, and variation in biodiversity assessed across the development gradient. Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and Coyote (Canis latrans) captures decreased with land development while Ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), Red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), Brush Rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) and Bobcat (Lynx rufus) captures increased. Intra site biodiversity varied between vegetation densities. The positive or negative relationships of mammals with degrees of land development could have an impact in local species populations leading to species extirpation or species overabundance and perhaps increased human-wildlife conflict or the spread of zoonotic diseases.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Mazuski, Ruth L
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm61119181
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Williams, Harold L
- Descrizione:
- The objectives of the present study were to determine the Hlppelates species in Central California, to study the geographic and seasonal distribution of the species, and to evaluate their relative medical importance. The investigations were conducted in parts of Mariposa, Merced, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern Counties. The principal means of acquiring information were through the use of stationary and mobile bait traps and the hand aspirator.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm63791594
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Lui, Chung W
- Descrizione:
- The embryology of nematodes has been investigated by a number of zoologists and has been the subject of several classical studies in cytology and germ-cell lineage. The principal embryological studies are those of Boveri (1567, 1866,1890,1909), Zur Strassen (1696,1698), and Muller (1903) on Parascaris equorum (=Ascaris megalocephala), Martini (1903) on Cucullanus elegans, Goodrich (1916) on Ascaris incurva, Walton (1918) on Ascaris canis, Pai (1928) on Anguillula aceti, Nigon and Brun (1955 ) on Caenorhabditis elegans, and Mulvey (1955) on several free-living and plant parasitic nematodes. The most exhaustive studies of the embryology of the nematode egg were made by Boveri, Zur Strassen, and Muller on Parascaris equorum (=Ascaris megalocephala). Boveri (1887, 1888, 1890) studied in detail the processes of oogenesis and fertilization in the Ascaris egg. Zur Strassen (1696,1898) observed the development of the fertilized egg up to the 200-cell stage. Muller (1903) endeavored to carry on the analysis of the development up till the time when the young worm has hatched. In this project, the embryology of Nematospiroides dubius (a parasitic nematode of mice) is studied. Emphasis is placed on oogenesis, fertilization, cleavage and gastrulation. 'The morphological aspects of these stages are investigated.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm60756824
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
98. A quantitative study on the pelage color of pocket gophers compared to the soil of their habitats
- Creatore:
- Toffoli, Winona B
- Descrizione:
- The purpose of this study was to determine if a similar correlation between soil and coat color exists for a fossorial mammal, the pocket gopher (Thomomys sps.); and to attempt to evaluate the importance of protective coloring for an animal which rarely appears on the surface of the groups.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm62868722
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Cohen, Joel L.
- Descrizione:
- This thesis is concerned with the retinal histology and scotopic (dark adapted) spectral sensitivity of three species of elasmobranch as determined by electroretinography. The cellular makeup of the retinas of each species of elasmobranch will be discussed as well as a determination of rod to bipolar cell and rod to ganglion cell ratios. The purpose will be to determine whether the retinal histology and spectral response appears adaptive to the species' habitat. The three species studied are the sixgill shark, Hexanchus griseus (Bonnaterre), the leopard shark, Triakis semifasciata Girard, and the shove I nose guitarfish, Rhinobatos productus (Ayres). Hexanchus griseus is a primitive deep sea shark found in depths ranging from 75 fathoms to as deep as 3430 fathoms (Bigelow and Schroeder, 1948). I have caught specimens in depths ranging from 70 to 150 fathoms. Triakis semifasciata is found in rather shallow waters and in sloughs (Roedel, 1950). Rhinobatos productus inhabits the shallow waters of shores and bays (Barnhart, 1936).
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm57664880
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology
- Creatore:
- Mallory, Richard M
- Descrizione:
- Big Basin Redwood State Park lies in the Santa Cruz Mountains approximately 40 miles south of San Francisco, 15 miles north of Santa Cruz and 10 miles east of the Pacific Ocean (see Map I in appendix). The park is entirely within Santa Cruz County. It was set aside by the State Legislature in 1902 as a Redwood Preserve. The original reservation was 1,000 acres of the finest Redwood stands. Historically this was the first part of the coastal Redwood forest to be set aside for preservation and as such it is the oldest unit of our present State Park System. Since 1902 additional purchases have Increased the area to 10,000 acres. The new acquisitions include more Redwood forest plus adjacent portions of wooded and chaparral covered land that serve as a watershed for the park water supply.
- Resource Type:
- Thesis
- Identifier:
- ocm61049496
- Campus Tesim:
- Fresno
- Department:
- Biology