Heidi Francis and Dr. Steven L. Peck, Integrative Biology Animal intelligence has been studied for years, yet very few people are aware that parrots are ranked near the top with regards to cognition. For almost 20 years Dr. Irene Pepperberg has been teaching African Grey parrots to communicate using language, these birds then use English […]
Purification and Characterization of a Putative Single-Stranded DNA Binding Protein from Arabidopsis thaliana
Andrew C. Edmondson and Dr. Brent L. Nielsen, Microbiology and Molecular Biology DNA recombination is the exchange of segments between homologous molecules of DNA, resulting in expanded genetic diversity. Recombination provides essential genetic variation, but can also cause harmful rearrangements, resulting in genetic disorders in plants, mammals and yeast. The mechanisms and results of these […]
Creating Nutritionist Software to Aid a Poor Community in Northeastern Brazil
Jacob D. Durrant and Professor David D. Busath, Physiology and Developmental Biology Virgem dos Pobres is an impoverished community on the banks of lake Mundaú in the Brazilian state of Alagoas. Its dirt roads are lined with houses made of mud and plaster, and sewage is disposed of by means of an open canal that runs through […]
Use of ESEM and Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Microanalysis to Study Leaf Surfaces of Austrian Pine
Joseph Donaldson and Dr. Wilford M. Hess, Integrative Biology The following is a report of an investigation on the effects of air pollution on Austrian pine needles. The report will state the initial question, how the report was carried out, the results of the investigation, and our conclusions. Additionally, it will report on publication and […]
Patterns of Paternity in Clutches of Giant Amazon River Turtles, Podocnemis expansa, from Venezuela
R. Brigham Dastrup and Drs. Jack W. Sites, Jr. and Devon E. Pearse, Integrative Biology In recent years, molecular genetic data have shown that multiple paternity occurs in groups of offspring in many taxa. Though multiple paternity has been found in a wide variety of turtles (Pearse and Avise 2001), limited clutch size and/or small […]
A Col2a1 Mutation Leads to Increased Degradation of Type II Collagen in Articular Cartilage: A Murine Model for Osteoarthritis
Peter Crane and Dr. Robert Seegmiller, Physiology and Developmental Biology Normal articular cartilage is characterized by a resilient collagen and proteoglycan matrix interdispersed with chondrocytes. Collagen type II is the most abundant collagen found in the matrix and is responsible for providing tensile strength to the tissue. The highly conserved Col2a1 gene is responsible for […]
The Way Genetic Codes Differentially Filter Molecular Evolution Varies with Nucleotide Substitution Rate Parameters
Ryan G. Christensen and Dr. David McClellan, Integrative Biology The nuclei of most extant organisms utilize the universal or standard genetic code. Other codes (e.g. vertebrate, invertebrate, echinoderm, ascidian and insect mitochondrial codes) are quite similar to the universal code (Osawa 1995). However, there are at least 1084 possible genetic codes, each of which encode […]
Defining Species Concepts: Testing Species Boundaries of Sceloporus Grammicus
Daniel H. Chappell and Dr. Jack W. Sites, Jr. Integrative Biology Species concepts are the methods biologists use to name and describe species. There are many important reasons for having an empirically based species concept. Species definitions are important to the fields of population biology and phylogenetics. Species are the fundamental unit of evolution. Operationally […]
A Phylogeny of Robber Flies (Diptera: Asilidae) at the Subfamilial Level: Molecular Evidence
Seth Mikaya Bybee and Dr. Michael Whiting, Integrative Biology Robber flies (Diptera: Asilidae) comprise one of the largest groups of extant flies (Hull, 1962). Asilids constitute more than 500 genera (Woodley, 1989) and more than 5500 species (Lehr, 1988) with a worldwide distribution except Antarctica. Species range in size from less than one centimeter to […]
Inducing Coexistence of Incompatible Single-Copy Plasmids with Selective Pressure
Geoffrey Benton and Dr. Alan Harker, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Background and Significance Plasmids, which are circular molecules of extrachromosomal DNA, are often found in bacterial cells. Traditionally plasmids have been considered simply accessories to chromosomal DNA. However, recent publications have demonstrated that plasmids may be more than simply an appendage to the bacterial chromosome. […]