Browsing 2015 Dissertations (MU) by Thesis Department "Biological sciences (MU)"
Now showing items 1-13 of 13
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Behavioral consequences of polyploidy in hyla chrysoscelis treefrogs : implications for speciation and underlying mechanisms
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 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 ... -
Changes in properties of lamprey reticulospinal neurons following spinal cord injury
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The lamprey is one of the most ancient vertebrates, sharing many of basic characteristics of the brain and spinal cord with higher, more evolved ... -
Examining the role of Gbx1 in spinal cord development and its contribution to mammalian locomotion
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)Animals explore their environment through locomotion. Motion is largely generated by the activity of neurons in the spinal cord. Genes expressed during embryonic development are essential for the formation of connections ... -
It's a jungle out there : myoblasts, matrix, and MMPs.
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)Extracellular Matrix: Mammalian skeletal muscle is notable for both its highly ordered biophysical structure and its regenerative capacity following trauma. Critical to both of these features is the specialized muscle ... -
Localization mechanisms of small plant-dwelling insects
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Movement is the basis of animal ecology, and understanding the causes and consequences of animal movement is a major goal of ecological research. ... -
Molecular dissection of a genome defense pathway in Neurospora crassa
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD) is an RNA interference (RNAi) pathway in Neurospora crassa that detects genes without a homologous partner and ... -
Molecular dissection of meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Meiotic silencing by unpaired DNA (MSUD) is a genome surveillance mechanism that uses RNAi to protect against genetic parasites such as retrotransposons ... -
Phylogeography and population genomics of the American black bear (ursus americanus)
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is one of the eight living species of Ursidae, and the only one to have speciated in North America (1.8 - 1.2 Mya). This dissertation investigates the contemporary population ... -
The role of heme oxygenase in metastatic melanoma tumorigenicity
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly reactive, tumorigenic molecules. In response to ROS accumulation, or oxidative stress, the transcription factor Nrf2 promotes expression by binding antioxidant response elements ... -
The role of myostatin deficiency in the development and biomechanical integrity of offspring bone
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 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 ... -
The spatial dimensions of Savanna fire ecology in Kruger National Park, South Africa
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)Savannas are thought to be bistable with forests potentially occurring above [about]650 mm / yr of Mean Annual Precipitation (MAP) due to the limiting effects of fire on tree cover. This is predicated on two assumptions: ... -
Therapeutic and chemopreventive potential of luteolin against growth and metastasis of breast cancer
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in older women. Many postmenopausal women undergo hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. Recent studies implicate the ... -
Unconventional oil and gas extraction as a novel source of endocrine disrupting chemicals to water and the potential for adverse human and animal health outcomes
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The proper and unimpeded function of hormones is essential for normal development, maturation, and prevention of chronic diseases. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are exogenous chemicals that have been found to disrupt ...