Browsing by Author "Schwartz, Tonia"

Now showing items 1-14 of 14

Adaptive developmental plasticity and hormetic effects in the zebra finch (Taeniopygia castanotis)

Hoffman, Alexander (2024-05-01) ETD File Embargoed

Stressors experienced during development can have persisting detrimental effects on an individual’s phenotype, as well as indirect effects on the phenotype of offspring. However, developmental stressors can also be beneficial ...

Assessing stress physiology of cane toads in Florida: tradeoffs with dispersal

Gardner, Steven (2021-04-08)

Physiological tradeoffs occur in organisms coping with their environments, which are likely to increase as populations reach peripheries of established ranges, potentially due to stress. Invasive species offer opportunities ...

Cellular Elucidation of Mode of Defense Responses in Cotton Roots in response to Rotylenchulus reniformis Infections

Jeffrey, Ross (2017-04-15)

The hypersensitive response is an important mechanism of plant innate immunity which has been studied for decades. It is the immune response whereby a host plant R genes will recognize a specific effector gene from a ...

Characterizing the Chemical and Structural Basis of Animal Coloration from an Evolutionary Perspective

Justyn, Nicholas (2023-04-20)

Many questions regarding how animals produce their striking range of colors remain unanswered, particularly when pigments and structures are combined. In this dissertation, I completed four studies centered around ...

Developing omics and cell culture resources in non-model organism for their application in elucidating complex trait evolution in natural populations.

Clark, Amanda (2022-08-15)

In the past, researchers chose models organisms to answer research questions based on their simplicity in morphology, domestication, and/or life history traits. Now, with high throughput sequencing (HTS) rapidly becoming ...

The Effects of the Environment on Phenotypic and Genetic Variation

Papstein-Novak, Taylor (2023-05-09) ETD File Embargoed

The study of genetic and phenotypic variation in the natural world is one of the cornerstones of biological research and is the founding basis of many subfields. Despite centuries of research, there still remains questions ...

The Evolution of Live Birth and the Insulin and Insulin-like Signaling Network in Sceloporus Lizards

Westfall, Aundrea (2018-07-18)

Transitions to live birth have occurred in approximately 150 different vertebrate lineages, with 115 of these alone within the clade encompassing snakes and lizards. Many questions remain about how this transition occurs ...

Genetic Resources for Improved Selection and Management of Aquaculture and Conservation Fish Species

Zhao, Honggang (2019-11-21)

Molecular markers are versatile tools for conservation genetics allowing the identification of populations in genetic crisis, resolving taxonomic uncertainties, and establishing management units within fish species. Advances ...

How does the major histocompatibility complex influence reproductive success in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)?

Ivy-Israel, Natascha (2019-07-23)

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) gene products can influence sexual selection through their impact on the vertebrate immune system. Individuals with greater MHC diversity are generally believed to have more effective ...

Sex Differences in the Drosophila Immune Response: Evolution & Molecular Mechanisms

Khan, MD Mursalin (2023-12-01) ETD File Embargoed

Sex dimorphism is a common fundamental characteristic of sexually reproductive organisms, exerting influence over nearly all aspects of life history and reproduction. The pervasiveness of sexually dimorphic traits is also ...

Telomeres dynamics across early life of the Cuban Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei)

Haridn, Ryan (2023-12-01)

Telomere length is a key biomarker for cellular senescence and organismal survival. However, relatively little research has been conducted on the dynamics of telomeres in early life, particularly in reptiles. Through the ...

Testing the Shared-Pathway Hypothesis through experimentation on the mating behavior, carotenoid biosynthesis, and mitochondrial function of Tigriopus californicus

Powers, Matthew (2022-07-13)

For decades, scientists have noted connections between individual condition and carotenoid-based coloration in terrestrial and aquatic animals. Organisms that produce more vibrant carotenoid-based coloration tend to have ...

Venom allergen-like protein diversification in flatworms

Sipley, Breanna (2019-07-16)

Flatworm Venom Allergen-like Proteins (VAPs) modulate mammalian and avian host immune responses, but their evolutionary origins and functions within symbioses (especially parasitism) remain poorly studied. Previous studies ...

What do we really know about oxidative stress? Facing the problems with current oxidative stress studies in passerine birds.

Santos, Alexandra (2017-07-27)

Oxidative stress occurs in organisms when there are not enough antioxidants to satiate reactive oxygen species formed during oxidative phosphorylation within the mitochondria. The excess in reactive oxygen species can cause ...