Browsing MS Theses - DO NOT EDIT by Title
Now showing items 38-57 of 60
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Population Genetics Of Phanaeus vindex And P. difformis And Congruence With Morphology Across A Geographic Zone Of Species Overlap
(Biology, 2007-08-23)Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLPs) reveal that the rainbow scarabs Phanaeus vindex (MacLeay) and Phanaeus difformis (LeConte) are distinct evolutionary units which occur in sympatry at the Fort Worth Nature ... -
Population Genetics, Systematics, Biogeography, And Evolution Of The Southeastern Central Texas Eurycea Clade blepsimolge (Plethodontidae)
(Biology, 2007-08-23)The central Texas Eurycea are a diverse group of perennibranchiate salamanders which inhabit the Edwards Plateau. Although several studies have addressed the systematics and taxonomy of this group, little is known about ... -
Proteasomal Gene Duplications And Recruitment Of Testis Specific Expression In Drosophila
(Biology, 2008-09-17)Proteasome is a large multisubunit complex that degrades ubiquitinated proteins in a highly regulated manner in all eukaryotes. Two subcompartments of this subunit are the 19Scap and the 20S core particle with 19S acting ... -
Proximate And Ultimate Mechanisms Associated With Female Secondary Coloration In The Mexican Boulder Spiny Lizard, (Sceloporus pyrocephalus)
(Biology, 2007-08-23)Secondary sexual coloration is thought to be the result of runaway selection for signals that honestly communicate relative fitness. Much theoretical work suggests sexual selection has driven conspicuous secondary traits ... -
Rcd-1 Related:a Positively Selected Retrogene With Spermatogenesis Function In Drosophila
(Biology, 2008-04-22)Gene duplication is one of the major forces in driving genome evolution. Our study focuses on a particular retrogene Rcd-1 related (Rcd-1r) that originated through retroposition of the parental gene Required for cell ... -
The Relationship Of Oribatid Soil Mite Abundance To Abiotic And Biotic Factors
(Biology, 2008-08-08)Oribatid soil mites primarily feed on fungi and dead organisms. They belong to the arthropod subclass, Acari, that are believed to contribute to soil processes such as plant litter breakdown and nutrient release. In order ... -
Reproductive Behaviors Of Two Congeneric, Sympatric Jumping Spiders: Gene Flow Barriers And Polyandry
(Biology, 2007-08-23)This two part study compares aspects of jumping spider reproductive behavior and their implications 1) as gene flow barriers during the process of speciation and 2) in the occurrence of polyandry. Courtship behaviors of ... -
Role Of Repetitive DNA In Apicomplexan Genome Evolution
(Biology, 2010-07-19)The Apicomplexa represent a phylum of obligate intracellular parasites that impart significant medical, veterinary, and socioeconomic burdens worldwide. The opportunistic, AIDS-associated, pathogen Toxoplasma gondii for ... -
Role Of The Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factor carQ In Oxidative Response Of Bradyrhizobium japonicum
(Biology, 2013-10-23)Bradyrhizobium japonicum is a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that can establish a symbiotic relationship with the soybean plant. To be a successful symbiont, B. japonicum must have an effective mechanism to deal with plant ... -
Sequence Evolution Of Recurrently Recruited Retroposed Genes In Drosophila And Their Possible Role In Meiotic Drive
(Biology, 2009-09-16)Gene duplications are a valuable source of genetic information that can evolve under positive selection creating a new gene function without affecting the original function.A gene duplication mechanism is retroposition. ... -
Sex, War And Disease: The Effects Of Infection On Horn Size And Intra-sexual Competition In The Broad-horned Flour Beetle, Gnathocerus cornutus
(Biology, 2010-03-03)Sexual selection is widely used to explain the evolution of mating systems where most often it is manifest as the competition among males for access to females. This competition takes the form of direct male-male interactions ... -
A Study Of Factors Affecting Scale Roughness In The Western Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)
(Biology, 2007-08-23)Reptilian scales are very complex with patterns across their surface like a human fingerprint. These patterns are species specific, but there has been no way to quantify differences. A new technique using the confocal ... -
Study Of The Expression Pattern Of A Possible Pseudogene And A Functional Retrogene In Drosophila
(Biology, 2007-08-23)Gene duplication occurs when a mutation leads to the copying of a region of DNA that contains a functional gene. After duplication, there will be two copies of the gene in the genome. Gene duplication can have deleterious ... -
A Tale Of Three Phytopathogens: Impact Of Transposable Elements On Genome Evolution
(Biology, 2010-07-19)The genus Phytophthora harbors some notorious plant pathogens like Phytophthora infestans (causal of Irish potato famine), Phytophthora sojae (soybean rot agent), and Phytophthora ramorum (responsible for sudden oak ... -
Targeting Of Site-specific Non-LTR Retrotransposons: Role Of Amino-terminal Domains
(Biology, 2012-04-11)Restriction-like endonuclease (RLE) bearing non-LTR retrotransposons are site-specificelements that integrate into the genome through target primed reverse transcription (TPRT). RLE-bearing elements have been used as a ... -
The Influence Of Thermal Effluent On Life History Evolution In The Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis
(Biology, 2015)The evolutionary consequence of heated effluent on the Western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, was studied at Lake Fairfield, in Freestone County, Texas. The Lake Fairfield reservoir receives heated effluent from Luminant’s ... -
Thermal Transgenerational Plasticity and Its Effect on Competitive Ability and Consumer-Resource Dynamics in a Population of Daphnia ambigua
(2015-12-08)Global temperature increases are predicted to quicken in pace this century, and with them so will the likely impact on natural populations. The extent to which organisms will be able to keep pace with and adapt to these ... -
Transposon Exaptation In Mammalian Evolution
(Biology, 2008-08-08)A growing body of work suggests that the exaptation of transposon-derived sequences to perform beneficial cellular functions has played a significant role in eukaryotic evolution. In chapter 1, we present an analysis of ... -
TWENTY YEARS OF LAND USE AND THE IMPACT OF NITRATE, E. COLI AND CHLOROPHYLL FOR TWO LAKES IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
(2021-08-10)Clean and safe drinking water is a human right. Global, federal, and state agencies that monitor the source and quality of drinking water are limited in power and oversight. Historically, human groups have replaced wetland ... -
Use Of A Tri-axial Accelerometer, Behavioral Observation, And GPS To Monitor The Activity Of Female Asian Elephants In A Zoo
(Biology, 2013-07-22)Wild elephants spend approximately 90% of their day actively foraging. Reduced activity in captive elephants may increase the risk of obesity and the formation of stereotypical behaviors. In order to evaluate and enhance ...