1960-1969 Dissertations (MU)
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Item The biosystematics of the Lupinus argenteus complex and allies(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1969) Hess, Lloyd William; Dunn, David B."Introduction: For many years there has been great confusion in the nomenclature of Lupinus. Many authors have contributed numerous names as they interpreted the morphological variations. Since the work of Sereno Watson (1873) there has not been an attempt to make a monographic study of the perennial lupines of the United States. Individual authors have attempted to work up the treatment of Lupinus for their particular state without reference to the taxa described in neighboring areas. It was believed that a careful monographic study of related taxa was badly needed and could help clear-up some of the confusion. The large flowered members of the Lupinus argenteus complex and its apparent relatives were selected as a group extending widely in the Rocky Mountain area, which could be studied as a starting point. Since three taxa of this group existed in the Crested Butte area (near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory) it was believed that work on the possible genetic barriers could be utilized in interbreeding studies to shed some additional light on the relationships within the group. No biosystematic technique, such as breeding studies, has been used in the previous studies. The present study then is the first attempt at a monograph on this related segment of Lupinus using both field work and the extensive collections that have been accumulated to date. Field collections were made throughout the extensive range of the Great Basin and western face of the Rockies inhabited by the various members of this group. Collections of various other workers and the major herbaria of the area were also used. The ecology, geography, and especially the monographic comparisons and breeding studies have hopefully given an improved understanding of the relationship within this complex. From this understanding of the genetically significant groups, as biological populations of nature, the taxa are defined and interpreted. An understanding of the extremely varied ecology of the extensive range involved, as well as its cataclysmic geological history is important to an understanding of the evolution and hence the phylogeny of the taxa of the complex. For this reason the geological history, especially glaciation, has been reviewed and related since most of the range has probably been invaded in post glacial times. The basic ecology of the range is also considered. Chromosome numbers have been counted but are of little value in the biosystematics of these lupines since they are octaploid and are extremely small. This and other unique problems pertaining to the interpretation of the speciation of polyploids have also been reviewed."--Page 1.Item Cuticular variation in Kalanchoe and Datura(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1967) Sharma, Gopal Krishan; Dunn, David B."The epidermal characters, if properly interpreted, are being regarded as important taxonomic tools. They should not be dissociated from supplementing the morphological features which have so long been used in the taxonomic and phylogenetic interpretations. Since the development of the technique by Sinclair and Dunn (1961), consistent attempts have been made and still are being made to find the values of the cuticular features in the systematics. Their process has made it possible to handle such investigations with ease and dexterity, and with very encouraging results, which have been used to explain some rather basic differences between monocotyledons and dicotyledons by Dunn, Sharma, and Campbell (1965). Cuticular features such as stomatai frequency, stomatai index, stomatai complex, trichomes, and others are helpful in understanding relationships which could not be explained otherwise. Fritsch (1903) believed that the characteristic structure of the stomatai apparatus in many plants is undoubtedly due to an inherent property in the plant and he considered them to be of great importance in the characterization of some orders..." Since their mere occurrence and constancy are genetically controlled, it should be helpful to utilize these features of the cuticle as taxonomic tools, which may be used in phylogenetic comparisons." If constancy of various characters can be accepted at various levels of a taxon - some are applicable at species level, while others are useful at the generic or familial level. It is, therefore, imperative that environmental variations, as affecting the cuticular features, should be studied critically. The understanding of the degree of modification would affect the value one could place on each trait, regarding reliability. It is with this in mind, that two different plants - Kalanchoe fedschenkoi and species of the genus Datura, belonging to families Crassulaceae and Solanaceae respectively, were chosen for the present study on the effects of different environmental conditions in the greenhouses. There are certain cuticular characters which are affected by environment while there are others which are 'significantly' constant. The results obtained from such studies supplement but definitely do not supplant the reliability and importance of other genetically controlled features including the classical morphological characters. An alliance of the morphological, anatomical, and cuticular characters may help resolve some of the phylogenetic problems in paleobotany and living plant material. Stebbins (1961) rightly remarks that another point "which makes the study of the stomatai complexes a desirable tool in taxonomic research is that genera and even families show great constancy for their possession of a particular complex, yet there is considerable variability from one higher taxon to another. Thus, at the level where classical methods of cytology and genetics cannot be applied, this study of stomatai complexes should help us to understand true evolutionary relationships of monocotyledons". Accordingly, this study deals with the taxonomic value of the cuticular features of flowering plants as seen in the cuticular imprints. It also embraces a discussion of these cuticular features which are useful in taxonomy, and of the variations which are exhibited by some of these under different environmental conditions. Finally in the words of Stace (1965), "a soundly based theory of cuticular patterns can be put to a good number of uses besides the obvious applications in identification, taxonomic research, and phylogenetic investigations. These include peat stratigraphy, pharmacological analyses and animal foodstuff research." In the present study, morphological features have been studied along with the epidermal characters while the plants used were subjected to different environmental conditions. A comparison is also presented for the species of Datura, which are considered as authentic material. These studies are based on the Blakeslee seed collections which were successfully germinated, as well as original field collections from within the natural distributional range of several species. It is hoped, then, that the present study will help to understand taxonomic and eventually phylogenetic relations that exist in various groups of plants, both living and fossil."--Introduction.Item Morphology of the female reproductive organs of sea otters (Enhydra lutris L.)(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1965) Sinha, Akhouri Achyutanand; Conaway, Clinton H."The purpose of this study was to investigate the gross and microscopic anatomy of the reproductive organs of the female sea otter (Enhydra lutris L.) and relate them to the reproductive cycle. Emphasis has been given to ovarian histology. Although the value of the sea otter has been known to fur hunters for over two centuries, very little is known about this animal. Barabash-Nikiforov (1947) noted that sea otters have lentioulate shaped ovaries. Pearson (1952) studied a single pregnant sea otter and noted that the ovaries have irregular surface and subsurface fissures, besides the small Graafian follicles and a corpus luteun. The uterus was bipartite. Lensink (1962) briefly described reproduction in sea otters, based upon field observations."--Introduction.Item The influence of the bursa on Fabricius, spleen and thymus on the course of Plasmodium lophurae infections in chickens(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1968) Longenecker, Bryan M.; Breitenbach, Robert P."Splenectomized chicks were severely deficient in their ability to combat an infection or reinfection with Plasmodium lophurae. Infection of splenectomized chicks usually caused death while sham-operated controls recovered. Birds splenectomized on the 5th day of an infection, when parasitemias had dropped to a low level, showed an immediate and usually fatal recrudescence. Chicks which were hormonally or surgically bursectomized on the 1st day after hatching demonstrated higher parasitemias then their sham-operated controls. However, parasitemias of birds bursectomized at 18 days of age did not differ from their control group. Thymectomy had no significant effect on the resultant parasitemias. It is thus concluded that the spleen is of primary importance in the development of immunity to this strain of Plasmodium lophurae. The bursa is of secondary importance and contributes something to the development of the immune mechanism before 18 days of age. Bursaless birds demonstrated higher initial gamma-1, beta-1, beta-2, alpha-1 and alpha-2 values than sham operated control groups. These high mean values in the bursaless birds decreased during the malarial infection to a low level on about day four of the infection. The infected control group showed no decrease; in fact, an increase was often observed in this group. On the other hand, low albumin and gamma-2 titers were obtained in the bursaless groups. These altered protein changes were most apparent in the hormonally bursectomized groups, and especially in the thymectomized-hormonally bursectomized group. The plasma protein values of the thymectomized group were similiar to those of the sham operated infected birds. The major plasma protein response to the injected malarial parasites in the sham operated infected group was an increase in gamma-1 globulin. An early peak was noted on day two of the infection as well as an increase from day ten to fifteen. This response did not appear in any of the bursaless groups or in the non-infected group. The possible significance of a relationship between the high alpha and low gamma-2 globulin levels of bursaless birds is discussed. Antimalarial antibodies were detected in the plasma of normal birds which recovered from infection with P. lophurae. These antibodies were detected as specific antiparasitic agglutinins in normal birds. These agglutinins were not detected in the plasma of bursaless birds which had been infected and reinfected. The administration of hyperimmune plasma to bursaless and normal birds resulted in highly depressed parasitemias. Interestingly, infected bursaless birds which were given normal plasma from mature cockerels demonstrated parasitemias which were depressed to the level of parasitemias of intact infected birds. This indicated that bursaless birds lack a natural antibody which birds normally develop. Splenectomized-infected birds which received hyperimmune plasma eventually recovered from an infection. Splenectomized—controls, however, succumbed to the infection. The surviving splenectomized birds subsequently demonstrated an ability to control the parasites, as attempts to reinfect these birds failed. It was postulated that in the absence of the spleen and during intense antigenic stimulation, other lymphoid centers develop which are able to participate in normal anamnestic reactions."--Summary.Item Palynology of the Hannibal Formation (Lower Mississippian) of northeast Missouri and western Illinois(University of Missouri--Columbia, 1968) Brown, Dwight Delon"The purpose of this study is to describe and illustrate the miospore, acritarch, and Tasmanites assemblages which are present in the Lower Mississippian Hannibal Formation of northeast Missouri and western Illinois, and to determine the botanical, stratigraphical, and paleo-ecological significance of the assemblages. This research project was initiated in the summer of 1964 under the direction of Dr. J. M. Wood who foresaw the need to fill the void in palynological information regarding the occurrence of Mississippian miospores in Missouri sediments. The present study is the first report on the Lower Mississippian miospores of Missouri and Illinois. The one other report concerned with Lower Mississippian miospores in the United States is that of Winslow (1962). An abundant acritarch assemblage is reported here for the first time from the Lower Mississippian strata of North America."--Page 2.