Environmental temperature is a crucial environmental factor that influences many physiological functions in fishes. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) are a native anadromous species that inhabit a variety of freshwater rivers and lakes and are widel . . .

To better understand the neural mechanisms for human physiology, an invertebrate’s control on its cardiovascular system should be investigated. The leech’s heartbeat is controlled by segmental ganglia and has a phase delay in its peristaltic heartbeat . . .

Wetland ecosystems are among the most biologically productive ecosystems on Earth, yet they are being lost and degraded at an alarming rate. A growing trend to offset this loss is to construct artificial wetlands to replace the destroyed natural wetla . . .

DNA storage in the nuclei of cells is important for both compaction and the regulation of gene expression. DNA packaging is altered by chemical modifications to the tails of the histone octamer around which the DNA is wrapped, specifically histones H3 . . .

Paralemanea is a freshwater red alga genus in the family Lemaneaceae, of which Paralemanea catenata is a member. The cues by which it regulates its triphasic sexual life history are not well known, either in terms of environmental stimuli or mechanism . . .

A large portion of nitrogen deposition on southern California’s chaparral and coastal sage scrub (CSS) is due to anthropogenic sources. The implications of increasing soil nitrogen, and the relationship between soil nitrogen and carbon on soil microor . . .

In the push to determine a means to decrease the rate of biological aging in humans, conclusions about over-the-counter use of some anti-aging drugs may be premature. Rapamycin is one drug that, while currently prescribed as an immunosuppressant for v . . .

Roads are recognized as a source of increased mortality and restricted movement among populations, and are expected to impact population connectivity. However, roads that are permeable barriers would still allow some degree of gene flow, and reduced a . . .

The tropical savanna of Brazil (cerrado) is extremely species diverse and it encompasses many different physiological features. These physiological differences are influenced by rainfall and nutrient availability in the soil. Plant litter decompositio . . .

Anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition represents a significant input of N into coastal sage scrub (CSS) and chaparral ecosystems of Southern California. Increased N deposition has the potential to alter the decomposition rate of soil organic matter (S . . .

The importance of perennial access to water for invasive plants in arid environments was examined at eighteen sites containing Eucalyptus groves in proximity to a water source within San Diego County between June I stand September 30111, 2009. Diamete . . .

Cortaderia selloana, or pampas grass, is a serious invader of disturbed, coastal and riparian ecosystems in Southern California. The purpose of this study was to determine how the growth and physiology of C. selloana respond to various combinations of . . .

While performing, racehorses use the transverse gallop gait. When a racehorse begins to gallop, it must use either the right lead stride pattern (RLSP) or the left lead stride pattern (LLSP). When racehorses make a trot-to-gallop transition, 91% start . . .

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), a dsDNA virus, is the most important viral pathogen in cultured penaeid shrimp worldwide. In cultured shrimp, WSSV infection can reach a cumulative mortality of up to 100% within 3-10 days upon infection. Intensive sh . . .

In aquaculture facilities worldwide, T enacibaculum maritimum is a common marine pathogen that infects important marine fish species causing flexibacteriosis. Monitoring T. maritimum levels is important for effective treatment to mediate possible outb . . .

Retrotransposons encompass a specific class of mobile genetic elements that are widespread across eukaryotic genomes, the impact of which are just beginning to be deciphered. In a step towards understanding their role in litopenaied shrimp, we have he . . .

Biotelemetry studies assume that vital biological processes are unaffected by the attachment method and presence of the transmitter. I examined the effects surgically implanted transmitters (representing 0.2-0.9 % of body weight) had on feeding activi . . .

Serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) was used to examine gene expression profiles of healthy (pathogen-free) Litopenaeus stylirostris. Of the one thousand eight hundred forty-two SAGE clones sequenced, we found seven thousand six hundred and sixt . . .

Measurements of the leaf photosynthetic light response, water potential, and specific leaf area of two tropical transitional forest tree species, Tovomita schomburgkii and Brosimum lactescens, were quantified to establish how these properties are affe . . .

The annealing algorithm in MARXAN was used to build possible marine reserves by selecting the best of 26 heterogeneous rocky intertidal sites using various modeling parameters. Because comprehensive data on biological diversity is impractical to gathe . . .

Taura syndrome disease, caused by Taura syndrome virus (TSV), is one of the most important viral diseases of penaeid shrimp in the Western Hemisphere. A 3278 bp eDNA representing the 3' end of the TSV genome was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analyses . . .

The overall objective of this research was to identify and characterize the myostatin or myostatin-like gene sequence in the commercially important aquaculture species Litopenaeus stylirostris. Myostatin is a negative regulator of muscle growth and wh . . .

Coastal sage scrub and chaparral vegetation of Southern California have become fragmented due to a loss of habitat over the past several decades, which has been caused by several contributing factors such as agriculture, urbanization, increased fire f . . .

To understand the complex network of the biological processes of an organism, transcription factors (TFs) and their direct target genes must be identified. In Arabidopsis, the TF GLABRA3 (GL3) is involved in trichome initiation and development. To ide . . .

The global aim ofthis research is to elucidate the role of retrotransposons in stress and immune response. As cloning and sequencing of genes has become commonplace, researchers are finding that the insertion and activity of transposable elements incl . . .

Quinones are a class of molecules whose effect on cell growth and apoptosis pathways are poorly understood, yet several quinones are widely used as food preservatives and in cosmetics. This study takes advantage of protein microarray technology to ide . . .

Anoxygenic phototrophic purple sulfur bacteria belonging to the Ectothiorhodospiraceae inhabit alkaline saline to hypersaline eniviromnents, such as soda lakes. Mono Lake, located in California s Eastern Sierras (63 83 feet above sea level), is a sali . . .

Habitat loss is thought to be the biggest factor contributing to the decline of shorebirds worldwide. The California coast provides many of the water rich stopovers, wintering and breeding sites that North American shorebird populations depend on duri . . .

The primary goal of my thesis project is to classify and characterize mechanisms of neuromodulation in the central nervous system of the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinafis. In the first set of experiments, N-cells were tested for the presence of auto . . .

RAPD fingerprints of two shrimp populations (Penaeus stylirostris) were compared to find genetic marker(s) that may be associated with Infectious Hypodermal and Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (lHHNV) resistance or susceptibility. Of the one hundred 10-m . . .

Organisms from each of the three domains of life, including the cosmopolitan unicellular marine alga Emiliania huxleyi, require the trace element selenium for growth:~ Selenium is incorporated into the active site of select proteins, known as selenopr . . .

CD4+ T -cell activity, including major histocompatibility class II (MHC II) responses, is vital for proper immune system function including CDS+ T -cell and B cell activation. The identification of antigen specific responses are understudied during ch . . .

Anthropogenic input may double atmospheric carbon dioxide (C02) by the year 2100. Elevating the carbon dioxide concentration in ocean surface waters alters the carbonate system, lowers the carbonate ion (C03-2) concentration and consequently the satur . . .

The semi-arid shrublands of Southern California are subject to some of the highest rates of atmospheric nitrogen deposition in North America. Little is known about the effects of nitrogen (N) pollution on drought-deciduous coastal sage scrub species ( . . .

One of the major tasks of modem neurobiology is explaining at the neuron level how specific behaviors are produced. Recent work in our laboratory has identified a putative peptidergic neuron in the medicinal leech, Hirudo medicinalis, which we believe . . .

Mediterranean-type ecosystems of southern California are exposed to atmospheric nitrogen deposition with some areas receiving 20-45 kg N ha-1 annually. Although nitrogen is a limiting nutrient to plant growth, most nitrogen deposition in southern Cali . . .

The aim of this study is to identify genes involved in calcification and coccolith production in Emiliania huxleyi using Suppressive Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) and microarray analysis techniques. Suppressive subtractive hybridization detected 168 . . .

The Mexican fan palm (Washingtonia robusta) is a non-native plant species which commonly grows in riparian communities throughout Southern California, but there is no documentation of the extent of its range or quantification of its specific impacts o . . .

The Common Raven (Corvus corax) and the American Crow (Corvus brachyrhnchos) are both subsidized by anthropogenic resources. Two patterns of subsidized predation have been identified, spillover predation and hyperpredation, and spillover predation is . . .

Two serial analyses of gene expression (SAGE) libraries of healthy and infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) infected shrimp species, Litopenaeus stylirostris, were constructed to identify genes associated with immune response . . .

Little is known about the ways in which elephants solve novel foraging problems or how conspecifics may influence problem solving. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that social learning may play an important role in elephant behavioral ecology. In . . .

The main objective of this project was to develop a technique that can be used in field studies to increase the probability of locating dholes ( Cuon alpinus) in the wild. The dhole is an endangered canid, occupying a wide variety of habitats in south . . .

Advances in molecular biology using different types of cells, vectors, and novel methods of DNA delivery, are paving the way for the development of reproducible bioprocesses that yield large amounts of recombinant proteins. A new mammalian cell expres . . .

The Pacific Pond Turtle (PPT), Actinemys (Clemmys) marmorata, is a small, highly aquatic turtle whose populations along its entire distribution range are in decline. As most of the published papers focus on the populations in the central and northern . . .

The major goal of this study was to identify genes involved in the calcification and coccolithogenesis in the marine alga, Emiliania huxleyi using microarray analysis. Previous Suppressive Subtractive Hybridization (SSH) identified 168 differentially . . .

Exotic plant invasion is a major environmental and ecological concern and is a particular issue for wetland ecosystems. I present statistical models that predict the locations of three exotic invasive plants (Arundo donax, Eucalyptus species (Eucalypt . . .

The polyphenol oxidase enzyme (PPO) is almost ubiquitous in Kingdom Plantae. PPO catalyzes the oxidation of phenolic compounds to quinones, which polymerize to form brown-colored phytomelanins. Although the physiological function of PPO in plants is u . . .

Emiliania huxleyi, a unicellular marine alga, is notably recognized for its ability to form calcium carbonate structures known as coccoliths via a process referred to as coccolithogenesis. While E. huxleyi is a model organism among the coccolithophori . . .

The Mediterranean climate in southern California results in the existence of temporary streams which present challenges to fresh-water algae since they must persist through long, dry summers to regrow once water returns. This study focused on a green- . . .

Upwelling events along the California coast expose invertebrates to low dissolved oxygen simultaneously with high pCO2 levels that are progressively increasing as a result of rising atmospheric CO2. These multiple stressors could potentially impact th . . .