RSS 1.0Division of Biological Sciences (MU)
The Division of Biological Sciences at MU offers a unique integration of world-class research, award-winning graduate and undergraduate training, and outstanding community outreach. Our faculty research programs include the acquisition of new knowledge through basic research, and coordinated translational research to improve human health, our food supply, and our environment. Our graduate training programs emphasize the excitement of discovery and the development of individual creativity and critical reasoning skills, with graduate mentors who are experts at the frontiers of their field. In undergraduate education, as in our graduate programs, we emphasize the excitement of discovery and the development of individual creativity and critical reasoning skills, providing an excellent foundation for advanced study or direct entry into the workplace. Because science exposure in the pre-college years is critical to the development of both scientists and informed citizens, we also offer special outreach programs for secondary school science teachers and their students in Missouri.
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Characterizing territoriality and the mechanisms that mediate it in female Anolis gundlachi lizards
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Territoriality is a suite of behaviors through which animals secure access to particular areas or resources. It is prevalent across animal groups and has the potential to exert substantial influence on fitness by mediating ... -
Approaches for unveiling the kinetic mechanisms of voltage gated ion channels in neurons
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Ionic currents drive cellular function within all living cells to perform highly specific tasks. For excitable cells, such as muscle and neurons, voltage-gated ion channels have finely tuned kinetics that allow the ... -
Exploring the diverse functions of peptidoglycan hydrolases in the plant pathogen, Agrobacterium tumefaciens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)The plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens displays an atypical form of unipolar elongation, followed by incipient pole synthesis during cell division and cell separation. Currently, how polar growing bacteria modulate ... -
Elucidation of the genetic control of carbohydrate partitioning in Zea mays
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Carbohydrate partitioning, the process of transporting carbohydrates from sites of synthesis in hotosynthetic tissue to developing sink tissues, is crucial for the growth, development, and yield in plants and crops. ... -
From unique killers to a jumbo genome - isolation and characterization of phages that infect the plant pathogen, Agrobacterium tumefaciens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Bacteriophages and their lytic peptides can protect plants from phytopathogens such as Agrobacterium tumefaciens. To better understand mechanisms of phagemediated host killing, we isolated and characterized five lytic ... -
Phylogenomics of orchids and their mycorrhizal fungi : trees, diversity, and the pursuit of symbiosis
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Phylogenetic trees show us how organisms are related and provide frameworks for studying and testing evolutionary hypotheses. To better understand the ... -
The role of myostatin deficiency in the development and biomechanical integrity of offspring bone
(2015)Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic bone disorder primarily caused by mutations to the genes for type I collagen, a major structural protein found in bone. There have been over 1,500 different mutations described ... -
Behavioral consequences of polyploidy in hyla chrysoscelis treefrogs : implications for speciation and underlying mechanisms
(2015)Polyploidy occurs when organisms have more than the typical two copies chromosome sets. Polyploidy has occurred many times throughout plant and vertebrate evolution, and recently in diverse families of frogs. Male treefrogs ... -
Assessing the effects of anticoagulant rodenticides on non-target fish species
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Invasive rat species have negatively affected island ecosystems contributing to the decline and extinction of many endemic species. The eradication of ... -
Developing tools for making inferences from genomic data
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)The central question that the King lab seeks to answer is, "What happens on the genomic level when phenotypes evolve?" To this end, the core focus of my work has been on developing software and analytical methods that ... -
Metabolic responses of meniscal tissue to collagenase stimulation
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Meniscal degeneration as a result of injury or aging is a common contributing factor in the development of knee OA. Meniscal degeneration develops and ... -
Regional mapping of the osteoarthritic joint
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Osteoarthritis (OA) progresses from a focal lesion of articular cartilage to whole-joint inflammation and degradation. The "focal spread" progresses ... -
Establishing a foundation for large DNA transfer to artificial minichromosomes and B insert platforms in maize
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)In plants, conventional genetic engineering methods limit the number of available traits that could potentially improve the quality of agriculture. Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and biolistic bombardment are tools ... -
The molecular underpinnings of neuronal cell identity in the stomatogastric ganglion of cancer borealis
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Throughout the life of an organism, the nervous system must be able to balance changing in response to environmental stimuli with the need to produce reliable, repeatable activity patterns to create stereotyped behaviors. ... -
Atypical localization of Eph-RTKs in childhood cancer rhabdomyosarcoma
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS), the most common soft tissue tumor in children, is an aggressive cancer with a 5-year survival rate of 24% if it has metastasized. Current treatment options are limited to surgery, chemotherapy and ... -
Assessment of the microbiome associated with endangered orchids
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)The Orchidaceae (orchid family) is perhaps the most speciose group of flowering plants with approximately 25,000 described species and many thousands of hybrids. While certain mycorrhizal fungi are required for orchids to ... -
Mechanisms of the phototropic pathway
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Plants are sessile organisms and therefore are limited in their ability to gather resources. Therefore, they have evolved several mechanisms that aid them in their quest to gather light, water and nutrients. One such ... -
PopZ and FtsZ coordinate polar growth termination and cell division in Agrobacterium tumefaciens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Understanding how bacterial cells expand their cell walls is an important question with relevance to development of antibiotics. While many studies have focused on the regulation of bacterial elongation utilizing lateral ... -
The evolution of complex calls In meadow Katydids
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Meadow Katydids (genera Orchelimum and Conocephalus) are a specious group often are found in habitats with several species within the group living in sympatry. They produce complex calls with two distinct phrases, "buzzing" ... -
Genetic diversity and distribution of the ringed salamander (ambystoma annulatum) across multiple spatial scales
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Species distributions are governed by a complex suite of abiotic and biotic interactions that govern movement of individuals and are variable through time and space. These dynamic processes, such as shifts in temperature ...