Microbiota Effects on Ethanol Tolerance in Drosophila Melanogaster

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Rebekah Rushforth and John Chaston: Plant and Wildlife Sciences Introduction: Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, is one of the primary organisms for genetic study because it contains a small genome that allows for easy study of mutations. Furthermore, Drosophila is a choice model for host genetics. The human gut microbiome contains hundreds to thousands […]

Bioactivity of Secondary Metabolites of the Alaskan Fungus, Phellinus igniarius

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Johnathon Kreider and Faculty Mentor: Brad Geary, Plant and Wildlife Science Introduction Drug testing is one of the most important activities of the Life Sciences. As biotechnological resources like genetically modified mice or artificial skin become more commonplace and accessible to drug researchers, testing has become more efficient. One of the reoccurring problems, though, is […]

Combating Anemia and other Iron Related Deficiencies Through Iron- Efficiency in Soybeans

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Miranda Ruth and Bryan Hopkins, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences Introduction Plants uptake iron from the soil in a variety of ways. Dicots, like soybeans, primarily exude hydrogen (H+) ions and chemical reductants from their roots, which acidify the root zone and reduce Fe3+ to Fe2+ that can then be utilized by the plant […]

Soil Water and Temperature Effects on Resilience Resistance of Sagebrush Steppe Plant Communities

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Gruwell, Trevor Soil Water and Temperature Effects on Resilience Resistance of Sagebrush Steppe Plant Communities Faculty Mentor: Bruce Roundy, Plant and Wildlife Science Project Purpose-The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effects of environmental factors on overall resistance and resilience of the sagebrush steppe community. Resistance is defined as a system’s ability to […]

Mono-Associated Gnotobiotic Animal Meta-Genome Wide Association R Package

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Penrod, Corinne MAGNAMWAR Mono-Associated Gnotobiotic Animal Meta-Genome Wide Association R Package Faculty Mentor: John Chaston, Plant & Wildlife Science Introduction Animal-associated bacteria fundamentally influence the normal function and behavior of their hosts, and understanding the genetic basis for these effects is an ongoing challenge. The traditional approach to understanding phenotypic effects of genes by mutant […]

VelvetS: Software for Optimizing Velvet Input

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Ford, Donald VelvetS: Software for Optimizing Velvet Input Faculty Mentor: John Chaston, Plant & Wildlife Sciences Introduction Genome assembly is an important tool used to obtain more complete representations of entire genomes. Sequencing techniques, such as shotgun sequencing, are able to generate short pieces of a genome known as reads. Genome assemblers use these reads […]

Discovery and Characterization of Honey Bee Larvae Gut Microbiota

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Fajardo, Christopher Discovery and Characterization of Honey Bee Larvae Gut Microbiota Faculty Mentor: John Chaston, Plant & Wildlife Sciences Introduction Honey bees are currently plagued by an infection known as American Foulbrood (AFB). This disease is caused by the bacterium Paenibacillus larvae. It is carried by adult Honey bees and becomes an active infection once […]

Hydrophobic Seed Coating

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Humrich, Karlee Hydrophobic Seed Coating Faculty Mentor: Dr. Matthew Madsen, Plant and Wildlife Sciences Introduction The western rangelands are the wide open spaces of American history. They are increasingly used as a recreational resource by millions of visitors each year. Rangelands produce tangible products such as forage, wildlife habitat, water, minerals, energy, plant and animal […]

Are remote cameras and mark-recapture estimators a viable method to monitor mule deer populations?

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Fullmer, Jacob Are remote cameras and mark-recapture estimators a viable method to monitor mule deer populations? Faculty Mentor: Dr. Randy Larsen, Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences Introduction Current methods for estimating mule deer populations are costly and difficult to complete with accuracy. Biologists traditionally use ground or aerial surveys, model-based simulations, or a combination […]

The Effect of Gut Microbiota on Cancer Metastasis in Model Organism D. Melanogaster: Establishing an Abnormal Genetic Line of D. Melanogaster

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Bratsman, Andrew The Effect of Gut Microbiota on Cancer Metastasis in Model Organism D. Melanogaster: Establishing an Abnormal Genetic Line of D. Melanogaster Faculty Mentor: Prof. John Chaston, Plant and Wildlife Sciences Introduction As early as the beginning of the 20th century, Metchnikoff proposed that putrefactive bacteria living in the digestive tracts of hosts contribute […]