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Friends in high places : ecology of mycorrhizal associations in alpine plant communities
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
Mutualisms are ubiquitous in nature, yet these interactions often vary in strength and persistence. This variation raises the questions of what determines whether mutualisms persist or vanish, and how does variation in the ...
The secret lives of African forest elephants: using genetics, networks, and telemetry to understand sociality
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2012)
Knowledge of social structure is important to understanding the overall evolution and behavioral ecology of a species as it ultimately influences spatial patterns and gene flow. This dissertation focuses on the social ...
Cellular behaviors regulating tangential migration of facial branchiomotor neurons in the zebrafish embryo
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2009)
Development of the nervous system is characterized by intricate processes like neuronal migration, axon outgrowth and guidance and synaptic connections to their targets. These processes involve navigation of the migrating ...
Beyond the edge : riparian habitat use and forest management effects on stream salamanders in the southern Appalachian mountains
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2007)
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, ...
Regulation of ceramide synthase 1 in cellular stress response
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Ceramides are intimately involved in a wide range of cellular processes. In mammals, de novo ceramide synthesis is catalyzed by the 6 ceramide synthase enzymes, which...
Flipping the switch : regulation of proliferation and differentiation in adult muscle stem cells
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)
Adult muscle stem cells or satellite cells are the committed somatic stem cells responsible for maintenance and regeneration of adult skeletal muscle tissue. Skeletal muscle is capable of multiple rounds of complete ...
Regulation of plant development in Arabidopsis
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
[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 process. Here pathways...
Mating systems in Nicotiana longiflora and N. Plumbaginifolia : the effect of interspecific interactions
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
The research presented here was focused on the effects of interactions between Nicotiana longiflora and N. plumbaginifolia on their mating systems. First, I conducted a series of observations and pollination experiments ...
Generating temperature sensitive inteins for studying gene functions
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2008)
Reversible and easy to use, temperature-sensitive (TS) mutations, are powerful tools to study the functions of all genes, including essential and pleiotropic ones. However, the rarity of TS alleles and the difficulty of ...
Developmental programming by xenoestrogens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2011)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Xenoestrogens (XE) are chemicals in the environment that mimic the body's natural steroidal estrogens. Developmental exposure to XE may interfere with normal hormonal signaling...
Genome-wide exploration of direct GBX2 target genes and their contributions to mouse development
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2013)
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The cells that comprise the vertebrate nervous system require molecular cues to determine their cellular position, identity and their ability to make appropriate connections...
The impacts of partner abundance on benefits from facultative pollination mutualism
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2010)
Partner abundance affects costs and benefits in obligate mutualisms, but its role in facultative partnerships is less clear. I investigated this topic in a small alpine pollination web in the Colorado Rocky Mountains ...