Browsing Dissertations by Author "Biology"
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Genetic regulation of maize floral development - insights from the transcriptome and translatome
Yang, Hailong (East Carolina University, 2022-06-24)Flowers are produced by floral meristems, groups of stem cells that give rise to floral organs. In grasses, including the major cereal crops, flowers (florets) are contained in spikelets, which contain one to many florets, ... -
How do modified nanoclays adversely affect aquatic species relative to natural nanoclay?
Tullio, Suelen C. de Morais Calado (East Carolina University, 2017-07-17)Nanoclays represent a large class of modified nanomaterials (NMs) (i.e. nanoscale particles from 1 to 100 nm) that has received great attention from the scientific and industrial communities. This material has been widely ... -
IDENTIFICATION OF GEOCHEMICAL TRACERS WITHIN BIOMINERALS OF JUVENILE AND LARVAL MERCENARIA MERCENARIA : IMPLICATIONS FOR MODELING LARVAL DISPERSAL
Cathey, Andrew M. (East Carolina University, 2013)This study was designed to investigate the application of geochemical signals within biominerals to identify site fidelity and natal origin of the commercially valuable bivalve Mercenaria mercenaria. My first study ... -
Integrative multi-omic analyses identify novel biomarkers for recurrent stroke in participants from the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention (VISP) clinical trial
Davis Armstrong, Nicole M. (East Carolina University, 2019-05-01)Background: Recurrent strokes are deadlier and more disabling than primary strokes and over 185,000 individuals in the US suffer a recurrent event each year. Current diagnostic and at-risk identification tools are inadequate ... -
Investigating the genetic basis of aposematic coloration in poison frogs
Rubio, Andrew Otto (East Carolina University, 2023-11-29)Aposematic organisms rely on their conspicuous appearance to signal that they are defended and unpalatable. Such phenotypes are strongly tied to survival and reproduction. Aposematic colors and patterns are highly variable; ... -
Molecular evolution of venom proteins in Ctenidae (Order: Araneae) spiders
Cole, T. Jeffrey (East Carolina University, 2021-01-20)Spiders comprise the largest group of venomous animals and are a pivotal component of the global ecosystem with approximately 50,000 species spread across nearly every habitat on Earth. The family Ctenidae Keyserling, 1877 ... -
Multifunctional experimental assessment in a newly established Mediterranean restored marsh : marsh elevation, carbon accumulation and pollutant concentration reduction
Calvo-Cubero, Juan (East Carolina University, 2014)The Delta of the Ebro River (Catalonia, Spain) is among the most important marsh areas in the Western Mediterranean Sea, highly valuable both economically and ecologically. Fluvial sediment reduction by dams in a relative ... -
Multiple Factors Influence the Strength of Intraguild Interactions
Davenport, Jon M. (East Carolina University, 2011)Species engaged in intraguild predation (IGP) not only compete for the same food resources but can also eat each other. In some cases, a predator species in a higher trophic position (i.e., a top predator) can eat a ... -
Poison frog warning signals: From the rainforest to the genome and back again
Stuckert, Adam Michael Murray (East Carolina University, 2018-06-18)Signal communication is pervasive in nature and is used to convey information to both conspecifics and heterospecifics. Aposematic species use warning signals (e.g. bright coloration) to alert predators to the presence of ... -
PROLACTIN FUNCTION IN ZEBRAFISH DEVELOPMENT
Nguyen, Nhu (East Carolina University, 2010)Extensive studies have implicated a myriad of functional roles for prolactin (PRL) and prolactin receptor (PRLR) across a variety of adult vertebrate species. However, much less is known about the physiological role(s) of ... -
Rectifying Limitations On Species Delineation In Dusky Salamanders : Lineage Detection Using An Ecoregion-Drainage Sampling Regime
Beamer, David A. (East Carolina University, 2015)The dusky salamanders (Desmognathus) constitute a large, species-rich group, and although a considerable body of literature exists on systematic relationships and adaptive trends, these issues have heretofore been approached ... -
REPRODUCTIVE ISOLATION AND MIMETIC DIVERGENCE IN THE POISON FROG RANITOMEYA IMITATOR
Twomey, Evan (East Carolina University, 2014)Understanding the process of speciation requires examination of various stages of its progress. This work focuses on the early stages of population divergence, where populations of a single species may show varying levels ... -
Reproductive Toxicity of Crude oil-Dispersant Mixture in Caenorhabditis elegans
Zhang, Yanqiong (East Carolina University, 2016-05-05)As crude oil remains a vital natural resource for the energy need of the world, environmental crude oil spills continue to be a health risk to human beings and ecological systems. During clean-up efforts, surfactant-like ... -
RNA polymerase II CTD Evolutionary Diversity and Associated Protein Identification in Green and Red Algae
Yang, Chunlin (East Carolina University, 2014)In model eukaryotes, the C-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit (RPB1) of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II is composed of tandemly repeated heptads with the consensus sequence YSPTSPS. Both the core motif and tandem ... -
THE ROLE OF SDF-1[alpha] AS A VASCULOGENIC CHEMOKINE AND ENDOTHELIUM-ASSOCIATED CELL ADHESION MOLECULE FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF BONE MARROW-DERIVED PROGENITOR CELLS TO DEVELOPING TUMORS
Joshi, Molishree Umesh (East Carolina University, 2010)Tumor vascularization is an important control point in cancer progression and its inhibition is a promising approach to cancer therapy. Stromal-derived factor-1 alpha (SDF-1 alpha or CXCL12) is a chemoattractant for ... -
THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE ON THE SYNERGISTIC NEUROMODULATION OF MOTOR CIRCUITS
Clements, Katie (East Carolina University, 2022-07-15)Forming social groups is a critical adaptive strategy for the survival of many animal species, where conflict between members can result in dominance relationships. Dominance relationships are often formed through aggressive ... -
THE EFFECT OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE ON THE SYNERGISTIC NEUROMODULATION OF MOTOR CIRCUITS
Clements, Katie N (East Carolina University, 2022-07-15)Forming social groups is a critical adaptive strategy for the survival of many animal species, where conflict between members can result in dominance relationships. Dominance relationships are often formed through aggressive ... -
The effects of stress on avian gene expression and microbiomes
Newhouse, Daniel J (East Carolina University, 2019-07-24)Organisms must cope with stressors throughout their lifetime. Stressors are broad and come from both intrinsic and extrinsic sources. In this era of rapid global change, exposure to stressors will become more unpredictable ... -
THE EFFECTS OF ZOOPLANKTON DISPERSAL ON COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY OF TEMPORARY PONDS
McCarthy, Lauren C. (East Carolina University, 2015-12-10)The dispersal of individuals among habitat patches is thought to have an important effect on ecological communities as it can influence both population dynamics and community assembly. Though much work on dispersal has ... -
THE ROLE OF THE LATERAL LINE IN EARLY LARVAL ZEBRAFISH AND CONTRIBUTION TO MULTISENSORY BEHAVIORS
Venuto, Alexandra (East Carolina University, 2023-07-21)The lateral line is a hair cell-based sensory system that is important for multisensory behaviors like schooling, rheotaxis, and predator/prey detection in aquatic vertebrates. This dissertation work uses the first genetic ...