Browsing Auburn Theses and Dissertations by Department "Biological Sciences"
Now showing items 21-40 of 276
Characterization of the Glyoxylate Pathway in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(2009-12-17)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are the leading cause of lung dysfunction and mortality in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. Adaptation of P. aeruginosa to become a chronic pathogen of the CF lung includes acquisition of ...
Characterization of the Role of dadA in Pseudomonas aeruginosa Virulence Factor Production
(2011-07-28)
Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections remain the leading cause of lung dysfunction and mortality in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients. Many other bacteria reside within the CF lung, but P. aeruginosa utilizes novel ...
Characterization of tmRNA function and regulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(2013-04-23)
Transfer messenger RNA (tmRNA) encoded by ssrA, is a hybrid RNA with tRNA and mRNA domains that catalyzes recycling of stalled ribosomes. This bioenergetically important process appears to play diverse functions in the ...
Characterization of Tomato Cytokinin Response Factor Genes SlCRF1 and SlCRF2 in Tomato Growth and Development
(2013-07-16)
Cytokinin is a plant hormone that plays a myriad of roles in plant growth and development. Cytokinin is perceived in plants by a multiple-step phosphorelay that is similar to bacterial two component system (TCS). In addition ...
Characterization of Viral Communities in Soil, Activated Sludge, and Influent
(2009-07-15)
Viruses are the most abundant yet uncharacterized biological entities on the planet. This thesis is a survey of viral communities in soil, activated sludge (AS), and influent (IN). Both culture-dependent and culture-independent ...
A combined approach toward resolving the phylogeny of Mollusca
(2013-04-22)
With estimates of up to 200,000 extant species, Mollusca is second in number of species only to Arthropoda. Moreover, with species as different as meiofaunal worms and giant squid, Mollusca is one of the most morphologically ...
Combining morphological, acoustic, and genetic techniques to better understand hybridization of the most abundant toad in Alabama: Anaxyrus fowleri
(2016-04-29)
The Anaxyrus americanus species complex has provided an interesting group of species to study hybridization. Two species in particular, Anaxyrus americanus and Anaxyrus fowleri, are known to hybridize in northern portions ...
Comparative Genomic Analysis and Evaluation of Control Strategies for Hypervirulent Aeromonas hydrophila in Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
(2019-07-01)
This dissertation is a reflection of the insight gained through the genetic analyses of a hypervirulent pathotype of the Gram-negative pathogen, Aeromonas hydrophila, (vAh) in the context of enzymatic, challenge, growth, ...
Comparative genomics of cis-regulatory elements in Cytokinin Response Factors across the plant taxa
(2018-07-10)
Expression patterns of genes are controlled by short regions of DNA in promoter regions known as cis-regulatory elements. How expression patterns change due to alterations in cis-regulatory elements after genes duplicate ...
Comparative genomics reveal symbiont-host evolution of deep-sea tubeworms (Siboglinidae, Annelida) and wood-boring bivalves (Xylophagaidae, Mollusca)
(2017-07-22)
Chemosynthetic communities are patchily distributed in deep-sea ecosystems, including hydrothermal vents, methane seeps and whale, wood, and algal falls. Unlike abyssal seafloor communities that suffer from food limitation ...
Condition Dependence and Status Signaling Function of Structural Coloration in the Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
(2010-11-16)
I examined the relationship between blue feather coloration, nutritional condition, and status signaling in eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis). I quantified nutritional condition by measuring growth rates of tail feathers ...
Consequences of low-head dams on crayfish distribution and gene flow in Alabama stream
(2010-08-03)
Dams are numerous in many eastern US streams, and instream physicochemical and biotic impacts of dams can alter flow and sediment regimes and channel geomorphology as well as reducing longitudinal movement by fishes and ...
Conservation of a Florida Endemic Carnivorous Plant: Godfrey’s Butterwort (Pinguicula ionantha)
(2006-12-15)
For conservation and recovery efforts to be effective under the Endangered Species Act, knowledge of the factors which make a species rare must be gained. In order to meet conservation goals, this study focuses on the ...
Context-dependent immunity in Gopher Tortoises, Gopherus polyphemus
(2016-04-29)
Infectious diseases in wildlife are a significant threat to biological diversity, especially In light of recent anthropogenic alterations to the environment. North American tortoises (genus Gopherus) have experienced ...
Copper dependent defects in mitochondria
(2021-07-27)
Wilson disease (WD) is a disease characterized by excessive copper accumulation in the liver and various other organs. In WD copper is absorbed through dietary consumption and not properly excreted from the body. Excessive ...
Course Elements that Impact Performance and Behavior in Undergraduate Science Classes
(2020-07-14)
Using evidence-based approaches to teaching can help instructors and institutions
improve student experiences in the classroom. By understanding the ways that different
classroom environments and activities impact students, ...
CRF2 and its role in cytokinin response and abiotic stress
(2018-07-24)
Cytokinin Response Factors are a small family of plant transcription factors originally discovered in a screen for genes whose expression is controlled by cytokinin. Cytokinin is a plant hormone known to be involved in ...
Cytokinin Response Factor 4: A Role in Development During Cold Stress in Arabidopsis thaliana
(2012-07-20)
Cold stress is a major cause of crop loss annually in the United States such that a detailed study
of the mechanisms and genes behind these stresses are essential for improvement of crop plants.
This thesis investigated ...
Deep genetic divergence in the Deep South: An integrative approach to species delimitation reveals the paraphyletic nature of speciation in the trapdoor spider genus Cyclocosmia.
(2018-01-09)
Mygalomorph spiders house an incredible amount of cryptic genetic information, making them an excellent model for species delimitation. An integrative approach to species delimitation uses multiple lines of evidence to ...
Demography of the corkscrew sea anemone Bartholomea annulata in the Florida Keys and in laboratory culture: a giant sea anemone under pressure.
(2015-12-11)
The successful management of species requires information on their patterns of distribution, abundance, and population dynamics. Demographic studies are important for gauging how environmental conditions impact populations; ...