Induction of neurons in the correct number and location is essential for the proper development and function of a nervous system. Signaling mediated by the Hedgehog (Hh) family of secreted proteins plays a vital role in ...

A dispensable supernumerary chromosome present in maize, the B chromosome, was the focus of many centromere studies. First, I examine the variation in copy number of centromeric elements and other repeats among different ...

The failure of endosperm development due to interploidy crosses could be due to two reasons, neither of which has been studied on its own. 1) There is an imbalance of inherited imprinted loci in the endosperm (HAIG and ...

In Saccharomyces cerevisiae it is generally accepted that there are two routes for trafficking of proteins from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the vacuole. One involves direct transport from the TGN to the vacuole. The ...

The movement of individuals within and among populations has been recognized as an important determinant of the persistence of species. Fragmentation of terrestrial landscapes has exacerbated the need to understand the ...

Even though millipedes provide a number of important ecosystem services, the group overall is understudied and nowadays largely ignored in the USA. Most millipedes that are well-studied occur in temperate, mesic environments, ...

While $14 to $15 billion have been invested in 37,000+ river and stream restoration projects in North America since 1990, only 10% are monitored for biological function. My work examines factors that affect landbird ...

The drug 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO) displays both carcinogenic and antitumor effects, a well known characteristic of many chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition 4NQO shares a similar operating mechanism with the commonly ...

While there are many types of habitat loss and degradation (e.g., agriculture, land development), many studies have focused on the impacts of logging on wildlife populations and on ecosystem processes. Little information, ...

Land use is a pervasive form of disturbance affecting natural systems on Earth. My dissertation research is set within the context of a large scale project referred to as Land-use Effects on Amphibian Populations (LEAP), ...

Members of the Enchenopa binotata species complex (Hemiptera: Membracidae) are host-specific phytophagous insects that communicate by sending vibrations through their host plants. Successful communication depends on the ...

Effective amphibian conservation requires an understanding of how populations respond to specific natural and anthropogenic factors. Chemical contaminants are among the known sources of acute and chronic stress and have ...

We developed a translational magnetic tweezers for quantitative measurements at cellular and sub-cellular level. In the cellular studies, multiple membrane tethers were extracted simultaneously under constant force transduced ...

Obesity is a growing epidemic and a major health concern in the United States and elsewhere. The Fetal Basis of Adult Disease (FBAD) theory holds that events that occur during development can permanently alter gene expression ...

I used both demographic modeling and experimental field research to evaluate the role of terrestrial habitat in the population dynamics and conservation of pond-breeding amphibians. I began by using literature data to ...

Nectar is the primary floral reward offered by plants to attract pollinators. Pollinators often exhibit a preference for certain types of nectars over others. If pollinator preferences for certain nectar traits are strong ...

After spinal cord injury in larval lamprey, RS neurons regenerate their axons (Davis and McClellan, 1994a,b), restore synaptic contacts and most of the original locomotor functions (McClellan, 1998). It was previously ...

Salamanders in the Appalachian region have been extensively studied, but the majority of research assessing the impacts of logging has focused on terrestrial species that are not dependent on stream habitats for egg ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The development of a complex organism, such as a plant, requires the function of multiple pathways that regulate various aspects of the developmental ...

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] We describe a novel neural stem cell (NSC) culture system, derived from embryonic stem (ES) cells, that maintains and expands a population of neural ...