Journal of Undergraduate Research

Melanie A. Watson and Dr. Edwin D. Lephart, Zoology Cyclooxygenase, a bifunctional enzyme, converts arachadonic acid to prostaglandins that are important for maintaining critical physiological functions such as nervous system regulation, pain response, and specifically inflammation of tissues. The enzyme exists in two isoforms: COX-1 is constitutionally produced, playing important maintenance roles throughout the body. […]

Matthew J. Cornish and Drs. Matthew L. Madsen and Daniel L. Simmons, Zoology Organisms are equipped with an amazing ability to deal with situations which its environment may present. There are biochemical pathways responsible for monitoring and responding to environmental changes. Two examples are protein induction and inhibition. In the last few years, however, signaling […]

Joseph M. Thompson and Dr. Edwin D. Lephart, Zoology Calcium plays a major role in the body; it’s involved in bone growth, muscle contraction, and especially in the central nervous system (CNS) development and function. However, an overabundance of calcium leads to cell degeneration and eventually cell death, disrupting the formation of synapses. The body […]

Amara Earley Bray and Dr. Dennis K. Shiozawa, Zoology Recent studies of native trout in Utah have found that populations in separate stream drainages tend to have unique mitochondrial DNA lineages. The association of lineage with drainage implies that the trout tend to remain within their own streams and do not readily migrate to adjacent […]

Victoria Ryder and Dr. Robert Seegmiller, Zoology Mice heterozygous for the semi-dominant mutation disproportionate micromelia (Dmm) express mild chondrodysplasia by three weeks postnatally. This phenotype is attributed to a deletion of three contiguous nucleotides within the Col2A1 gene on mouse chromosome 15. The phenotype of Dmm/+ mice resembles that of human Stickler syndrome, which can […]

Adam Bowen and Professor Richard A. Heckmann, Zoology Argulus, commonly called fish-lice, are crustacean ectoparasites of fish. This study compared three members of the genus Argulus: A. pugetensis from Nanaimo, British Columbia; A. coregoni from Curitiba, Brazil; and A. siamensis from Bangalore, India. It was hypothesized that argulids of different taxons must have morphological variations […]

Nathan Bay and Dr. Richard A. Heckmann, Zoology Despite drastic control and containment measures, the incidence of whirling disease is on the rise in the West. Whirling disease occurs when the trophozoite stage of Myxobolus cerebralis invades the cartilage and organ of equilibrium of salmonids. Pathological symptoms include tail chasing behavior, blackened tafls, and vertebral […]

Donna Melinda Earl Ashton and Dr. William S. Bradshaw, Zoology The malignant transformation of chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) following infection with the Rous sarcoma virus is mediated through the oncogene v-src. One of the first responses of infected cells is the transcriptional activation of a set of immediate-early genes. Among these are CEF-5 (homologue of […]

Jason T. Rich and Dr. James D. Porter, Zoology The purpose of my study was to quantify the effects of angiotensin II on young rats under extreme stress. We hypothesized that we would observe an angiotensin II-mediated switch in brain hormonal expression from corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) to arginine vasopressin (AVP). Ten rats were equipped with […]

Jennifer L. Potter and Dr. Laura C. Bridgewater, Zoology The human skeletal structure is formed first by cartilage which later ossifies to bone. It follows, therefore, that if cartilage formation is aberrant, the resulting bone formation will be affected. Cartilage is composed of fibrils consisting of three types of collagen: type II, type IX, and […]