The eukaryotic cilium (also called flagellum) is a complex, microtubule-based organelle that is found on many different cell types. It produces movement by the precise activation of dyneins that are located along the length and the circumference of...
Many organisms recognize and respond to categories: predator, prey, rival, or juvenile. Organisms recognize these ecologically-important categories by assessing diverse sensory stimuli. A primary focus of my research has been understanding how...
The BCL2 family of proteins control intrinsic apoptosis at the mitochondria through a delicate balance of pro and anti-apoptotic proteins. Anti-apoptotic proteins are frequently relied upon by cancer cells, making them ideal targets for...
The eukaryotic flagellum is a complex organelle that uses the force generated by dynein motors to cause beating motion of the flagellum. The central apparatus of eukaryotic flagella has been implicated in the regulation of dynein-driven motility....
Many environmental toxicants found in pesticides, herbicides, and industrial solvents are believed to have deleterious effects on development by disrupting hormone-sensitive processes. Xenopus embryos were exposed to commonly encountered endocrine...
I investigated the effects of two contemporary disturbances to soil systems: forest clearing in the northeastern U.S. and climate-driven plant succession in the Arctic. To test the effects of clear-cutting forests on mineral soil carbon (C)...
IL-1β is a potent proinflammatory cytokine produced in response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. While it is appreciated that IL-1β is a critical modulator of the host response to P. aeruginosa infection, the host and bacterial determinants...
Introduction. Nosocomial sepsis in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants 501-1000 grams is associated with increased mortality risk, prolonged hospitalization, and increased costs of care. Purpose. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate the...
Ecological and evolutionary implications of polymorphism and polyphenism in the asexual diapause of the rotifer Synchaeta pectinata from Star Lake, VT, were explored via field, laboratory, and theoretical investigations. S. pectinata is a...
Neurospora -- Genetics. ; Neurospora -- Effect of light on. ; Circadian rhythms. ; Proteins -- Synthesis -- Effect of light on. ; Genetic regulation.
The frequency gene and the two proteins it encodes are central components of the Neurospora circadian clock. The frq message and proteins are involved in a negative feedback loop in which FRO represses its own transcript level. Based on this...
Rhizobium -- Physiology. Rhizobium -- Genetics. Plants -- Effect of iron on.
Iron is essential in the agriculturally important symbiosis between Bradyrhizobium japonicum and soybean. Studying iron uptake in B. japonicum presents unique challenges in that the organism is found in two very different environments, free living...
Successful traversal of the cell division cycle is paramount for maintaining a cell's genomic integrity and fitness. To ensure the faithful replication and segregation of the genome, cellular components, and cytoplasm, eukaryotes have evolved a...
Retinoids -- Mechanism of action. ; Post-translational modification. ; Tretinoin -- Therapeutic use. ; Lungs -- Cancer -- Chemoprevention.
The retinoids--natural and synthetic derivatives of vitamin A--are active in cancer therapy and chemoprevention. The signals that underlie retinoid clinical activity are triggered by induction of retinoid target genes. Therefore, a greater...
Order picking systems -- Automation -- Computer simulation.
This research ventures into areas beyond traditional control frameworks in its focus. It integrates holonic concepts into a hierarchical control framework of a complex automated order fulfillment technology. Simulation of an actual full-scale order...
CD antigens. Immune response -- Regulation. Hemoglobin.
CD163 is a monocyte- and macrophage-specific surface glycoprotein proposed to function in the maintenance of homeostasis and the resolution of inflammation. CD163 binds hemoglobin-haptoglobin complexes implicating this receptor as a hemoglobin...
Gene regulation is a principle tool that all organisms utilize to control development, growth, and responses to environmental conditions. Understanding how organisms orchestrate the spatiotemporal regulation of gene expression remains a fundamental...
As the ubiquitous complexity of common disease has become apparent, so has the need for novel tools and strategies that can accommodate complex patterns of association. In particular, the analytic challenges posed by the phenomena known as...
Whi3 is a G1/S regulator and known to inhibit G1 CDK activity. It was first described as a cell-size control gene in a set of cell division cycle mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Dysfunction or deletion of Whi3 leads to abnormal cell cycle...
Estradiol is a key regulator of immune protection in the female reproductive tract (FRT). Its concentration varies during the menstrual cycle, leading to changes in innate immune protection. In this thesis, I demonstrate the multiple levels at...
Temperature has powerful effects on all scales of biological organization from biochemical reactions to ecosystem processes. Despite the well-appreciated influence and thorough understanding of the physiological and population consequences of...
RNA binding proteins are fundamental components of crucial biological processes in all domains of life. The development of techniques to study RNA binding protein complexes is, therefore, broadly impactful. I employed multiple genome-wide...
Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and other high-throughput initiatives have led to an information explosion in human genetics and genetic epidemiology, the mapping from genotype to phenotype remains challenging as most of the...
The coordination and coupling of the several steps in mRNA biogenesis helps to ensure proper regulation of gene expression. The DEAD-box helicase Dbp5/Rat8 is an essential mRNA export factor that has also been implicated in other steps of mRNA...
Circadian rhythms. Proteins -- Synthesis -- Effect of light on. Genetic regulation. Neurospora crassa -- Reproduction -- Effect of light on. Neurospora crassa -- Genetics.
To understand how the circadian clock can temporally organize a cell, the biochemical characterization of a clock protein, FRQ, was initiated in Neurospora crassa using immunochemical techniques. FRQ accumulated in constant light to maximum levels...
Some biomacromolecules require a metal co-factor to stabilize their physiologically active three-dimensional structure. The fundamental thermodynamic values of the binding of metal ions, particularly Zn2+, to a set of biomacromolecules have been...
The cortical cytoskeleton mediates a range of cellular activities such as endocytosis, cell motility, and the maintenance of cell rigidity. In yeast cells, prominent cortical structures called eisosomes generate specialized domains termed MCCs to...
Cupredoxins, such as stellacyanin, plastocyanin, amicyanin, rusticyanin, and azurin perform electron transfer (ET) reactions with partner protein(s) in the cell. The role of the redox cofactor in these proteins is played by a copper ion, which...
Cyclic diguanylate (c-di-GMP) is a primarily bacterial and nearly universal second messenger used to stimulate a variety of responses from the cell by binding effector proteins. It is created by enzymes called diguanylate cyclases (DGCs) and broken...
Niemann-Pick type C (NPC) is a neurovisceral disease that causes intracellular accumulation of cholesterol and other lipids. The exact mechanism how the defects in cholesterol trafficking pathways result in the progressive neurological damage is...
All ecological theories regarding the distribution and relative abundance of species refer to organisms'' abilities to utilize an environment and (sometimes implicitly) their ability to colonize and re-colonize habitats that change in character or...
The heterochronic gene lin-14 affects certain somatic cell-fate choices during post-embryonic development in C. elegans. In lin-14 mutants, cells express stage-specific developmental programs, such as cell divisions or dauer entry, at inappropriate...
The chemistry of indole can be reversed and redirected by the addition of powerful electron-withdrawing groups. Incorporation of a nitro group at C-2 or C-3 renders the adjacent carbon susceptible to nucleophilic attack. Nitro, cyano, and...
RUNX1 is a transcription factor regulating hematopoietic development. Study of the RUNX1 structure revealed two functional domains. The runt domain binds DNA and mediates interaction with CBFß. Sequences C terminal to the runt domain form the...