• Examination of relationships between bacterial communities, urease activity, and environmental variables over space and time in Gulf of Mexico wetlands 

  Lee, Philip Oscar (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  Urea is an organic form of nitrogen that has seen enormous commercial growth as agricultural fertilizer. With this expansion, ecosystems such as wetlands are more likely to experience elevated concentrations of urea via ...
• Genetic analyses of lipid metabolism pathways involved in alpha-synuclein-induced neurodegeneration using a Caenorhabditis elegans model of Parkinson’s disease 

  Zhang, Siyuan (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an aging-associated neurodegenerative disease affecting millions worldwide. Misfolding of the human α-synuclein protein is a key pathological hallmark of PD and is associated with the progressive ...
• Population dynamics and range limits of a montane salamander 

  Caruso, Nicholas (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  Understanding the abiotic and biotic factors that determine the limits to species’ ranges is an essential goal in ecology, biogeography, evolutionary biology, and conservation biology. The abiotic environment, specifically ...
• Gene-by-environment stressor interactions integrate at the mitochondria to determine severity of detrimental proteostatic and cellular health-related phenotypes in C. elegans models of Parkinson’s disease 

  Martinez, Bryan A. (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  Parkinson’s disease (PD) associates with selective degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons culminating in irreversible motor dysfunction such as gait instability and tremors. Despite the localized nature of toxicity, ...
• Crispr regulation and RNA biogenesis in staphylococcus epidermidis 

  Walker, Forrest (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  CRISPR-Cas is a prokaryotic adaptive immune system that recognizes and degrades specific nucleic acid invaders, producing a “memory” of past infections that allows for heritable immunity. CRISPR-Cas systems are widespread ...
• Towards a phylogenetic framework of the family rhodomelaceae (ceramiales, rhodophyta) using an improved gene and taxon sampling, emphasizing underrepresented genera 

  Garcia-Soto, Gabriela Cristina (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  The family Rhodomelaceae represents a monophyletic lineage of the order Ceramiales and it is the largest within the Rhodophyta with 145 genera and over 1,000 species. The family is divided in several tribes according to ...
• The role of larval anurans as consumers in ecosystem processes within geographically isolated wetlands in the Southeastern United States 

  McLeay, Scott (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  The role of consumers in aquatic ecosystems has gained substantial recognition due to their potential contributions to ecosystem processes such as decomposition, primary production, and nutrient availability. Our understanding ...
• Molecular systematics and organellar genomics of the green macroalgal genus Ulva (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) with a phylogenomic analysis of the "core Chlorophyta" 

  Melton III, James Theodore (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  The green macroalgal genus Ulva (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) is found worldwide in varying salinities and water depths.Ulva species are ecologically and economically important, and are known to be taxonomically troublesome ...
• A multiphasic approach to investigating microbial community structure and function in oiled salt marshes and weathered crude oil products during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 

  Flournoy, Nikaela Yarbrough (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  On April 20, 2010, a catastrophic incident occurred on the exploratory BP oil rig, Deepwater Horizon (DWH). At the time of the Macondo wellhead blowout, the extent of ecological and economic devastation in northern Gulf ...
• A multiphasic approach to investigating microbial community structure and function in oiled salt marshes and weathered crude oil products during the deepwater horizon oil spill 

  Flournoy, Nikaela Yarbrough (University of Alabama Libraries, 2017)

  On April 20, 2010, a catastrophic incident occurred on the exploratory BP oil rig, Deepwater Horizon (DWH). At the time of the Macondo wellhead blowout, the extent of ecological and economic devastation in northern Gulf ...
• Speciation, hybridization, lineage persistence, and conservation of North American musk turtles: (genus sternotherus) 

  Scott, Peter Alexander (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  Species are the most fundamental units of biodiversity, and importantly the only unit of biodiversity that can be explicitly evolutionarily defined. Thus, understanding biodiversity on all levels (e.g. ecosystem, community, ...
• Systematics of the neotropical genus drymonia (gesneriaceae) 

  Clavijo, Laura (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  Understanding the patterns and processes that have shaped the current distribution of biodiversity in the Neotropics is a major focus in biological research. Robust phylogenetic hypotheses are fundamental to infer these ...
• Inventory of chytrid diversity using a multiphasic approach 

  Davis, William J. (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  Chytrids are an inconspicuous, microscopic early-diverging lineage of fungi. They are among the “dark matter fungi;” little is known about them relative to what is known about Dikarya fungi. Temporary forest ponds are ...
• Analysis of genetic and environmental factors in neurodegenerative disease 

  Hall, Marleshia Dorcell (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  The incidence of neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s disease is ever-increasing. Therefore, it is essential that we understand the mechanisms behind the pathology of these ...
• River ecosystems in a changing Arctic: using retrospective and experimental approaches to understanding future change 

  Kendrick, Michael R. (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  Accelerated rates of warming in arctic environments are expected to have substantial effects on arctic river ecosystems. This dissertation uses observational and experimental approaches to understand potential responses ...
• Shaping the range: disentangling the effects of geography, ecology, history, genetics, and life history on the wood frog’s distribution 

  Duncan, Sarah Isabelle (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016)

  Exploring the factors that structure and limit species' ranges are of central importance to ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary biology because these factors are tied directly to understanding the distribution and ...
• A genetic and neurochemical analysis of dopamine regulation in drosophila melanogaster of human neurodegenerative disorders and neuroinflammation 

  Ajjuri, Rami Rifat (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015)

  Dopamine, a critical neurotransmitter, regulates dozens of vital biological functions within the human brain and throughout the body, and therefore disruptions in dopamine signaling result in a wide range of behavioral, ...
• Regulation of sexual dimorphism in the drosophila melanogaster abdomen 

  Yan, Shun (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015)

  Sexual dimorphism throughout the animal kingdom is important for proper behavior and reproduction within species. A deeply conserved family of transcription factors called DMRTs control many aspects of sex-specific development ...
• Microbial community dynamics of a coastal Alabama salt marsh impacted by the deepwater horizon oil spill 

  Rajan, Suja Susan (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015)

  Microbial communities in salt marsh sediments perform vital ecosystem services such as decomposition of organic matter, nutrient cycling, acting as the base of the food chain, stabilizing marsh sediments through plant-microbe ...
• Mechanisms of chronic cadium-induced carcinogenesis: implications of the heme oxygenase 1/biliverdin reductase pathway 

  George, Corinne Reina (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015)

  Many people are potentially exposed to the toxic heavy metal cadmium (Cd) throughout their lifetime. Of particular interest in this dissertation are the effects of long-term, low-level exposure to Cd. Cd has a biological ...

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