2015 Abstracts

Michael Packer, Utah Valley University Life Sciences Dipsosaurus dorsalis is a desert dwelling iguana species geographically distributed throughout the south-western United States, northern Mexico, and the Baja Peninsula. Throughout the Baja Peninsula, multiple species of herpetofauna exhibit a distinct north-south division, both morphologically and genetically, with no presence of any physical barriers. The goal of this study was to examine how the genetic structure of D. dorsalis has been influenced by past geological events, and whether this species exhibits a similar north-south division on the Baja peninsula. Additionally, this study aimed to see if the current taxonomy of Dipsosaurus is reflective of the evolutionary relationships across its entire geographic range. 100 tissue samples of D. dorsalis were collected across the species geographic range. DNA extraction from collected tissue samples and sequencing of nuclear loci MLH3 (~900bp), NT3 (489bp), as well as mitochondrial loci ND4 (~900bp) were performed to examine the distribution of genetic variation in D. dorsalis. The collected data was then used to construct phylogenetic trees for each locus, comparing individuals of Dipsosaurus to the geologic history of its geographic distribution. Although shallow, a maximum likelihood tree of the ND4 mitochondrial gene shows the phylogeographic separation of three distinct clades. The results do not support the designation of Dipsosaurus catalinensis as currently defined.

Stephanie Bartlett, Utah Valley University Life Sciences Our project investigates the phylogenetic relationships of the superfamily Ephemeroidea + Behningiidae. Found in waters worldwide, burrowing families are unique in that they have mandibular tusks that allow them to tunnel in the silt or gravel of riverbeds. Surprisingly, even without the mandibular tusks necessary for tunnel construction, the Behningiidae family is still found within these burrows as nymphs. Because the Behningiidae don’t have tusks, morphological research has lead to a phylogenetic classification of this family that our genomic investigation ultimately disputes. To begin this investigation, mayfly specimens were collected worldwide and prepared for DNA extraction. For each specimen genes were amplified via polymerase chain reaction and visualized on an agarose gel, before being sequenced and analyzed. The specific genes targeted for this analysis include; 12s mitochondrial rDNA, 16s mitochondrial rDNA, 18s nuclear rDNA, 28s nuclear rDNA, H3 nuclear protein coding, and CO1 mitochondrial protein coding. Datasets were supplemented with sequences acquired from Genbank. The ingroup consisted of approximately 30 samples. Phylogenetic relationships were estimated using Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood, and Baysian methods. We constructed phylogenetic relationships of burrowing mayflies using molecular DNA data analysis, when compared to morphological analysis we identified some important classification differences. As a result of our findings, we propose an alternative explanation for the evolution of mandibular tusks in burrowing mayflies (Ephemeroptera). The data support that burrowing mayflies first evolved tusks. Within the family Behningiidae, tusks were lost, while the burrowing lifestyle (i.e., living in a burrow to filter feed) was retained. This study represents the largest analysis to date for these insects and strongly supports the evolutionary trend of a gain and a loss of mandibular tusks during their evolution.

Jacob Welch, Brigham Young University Life Sciences Learning and memory occur due to adaptive brain changes in response to our environment. These changes are mediated by synaptic plasticity, particularly within the hippocampus. Plasticity can either strengthen or weaken synapses, known as long-term potentiation (LTP) or long-term depression (LTD) respectively. While many forms of plasticity are NMDA-dependent, recently endocannabinoids were identified to mediate several new forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity through the CB1 and TRPV1 receptors. However, research has demonstrated a non-CB1/TRPV1-dependent endocannabinoid synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. Several potential candidate receptors that bind the endocannabinoid anandamide have been identified. These are among the orphan G-protein coupled receptors (GPRs) whose distribution in the brain and/or function is less well known. GPR55 is of particular interest as it activates second messenger systems. Using quantitative RT-PCR, electrophysiological and memory behavioral tasks we examined hippocampal GPR55 expression and function. GPR55 is expressed in hippocampus of both rats and mice. Cellular expression is currently being examined and appears to be rare in interneurons and more likely expressed by pyramidal cells. Interestingly, application of the GPR55 agonist LPI (2 μM) to wild-type mice demonstrates a significant enhancement of LTP in brain slices. This LPI effect was not noted in GPR55 knock-out (KO) mice, which exhibit significantly (p < 0.05) smaller LTP (146%) than wildtype (WT) (181%). GPR55 also appears to increase release probability (Sylantyev et al., PNAS, 2013), denoting a presynaptic role. Paired-pulse ratios are now being analyzed between GPR55 KO and WT mice to confirm this finding; however we did not note a change in EPSCs in CA1 in response to 2μM LPI. These data suggest GPR55 is expressed and physiologically relevant in the hippocampus. Because enhanced LTP is usually associated with better memory performance in rodents, this provides a potential target to enhance the cellular mechanism associated with memory formation.

Jake Loveless, Utah Valley University Life Sciences Macroinvertebrate assemblage composition was assessed in two perennial streams, Pleasant Creek, and Sulphur Creek in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, during the summer of 2014. Individuals collected were identified to genus. This information was used to compare assemblage composition, nutrient availability, and water quality between the two streams. Five collection trips were made (May 27, June 10,17, July 1,15). Sampling was conducted randomly using mesh kick nets with four samples being collected per site, per trip. Heavy rains caused flash flooding on July 15 prohibiting sampling, so a total of sixteen samples per site were taken. Samples were stored in 90% isopropyl alcohol until they could besorted and identified using a dissecting microscope. Water quality estimates were determined by taking the weighted average of the tolerance values, and the final classification was made using the family-level biotic index. Pleasant Creek showed the highest number of taxa present, fourteen, compared to six in Sulphur Creek. Both streams followed the predictions of the River Continuum Concept consisting of collector-dominated functional feeding groups, with Pleasant Creek showing a higher percentage of predators 35.7% to 16.6%. Tolerance values of collected taxa were used to estimate organic pollution indicating good water quality in Pleasant Creek, and fairly poor water quality in Sulphur Creek. The differences in the macroinvertebrate assemblage composition in this study were likely multi-causal. Stream size is a major factor influencing the structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages; in general, as stream size increases, more taxa are added. Pleasant Creek is a much larger stream with a well-established channel, while Sulphur Creek is shallow with depths never exceeding fifteen centimeters. The shallow channel of Sulphur Creek also made it prone to frequent flooding. Isolated floods have little impact on macroinvertebrate communities due to availability of aerial adults nearby to recolonize rapidly, however, frequent flooding may have long-term effects through extirpation of taxa with high mortality. The difference in water quality was the most surprising finding in this study. The fairly poor water quality of Sulphur Creek may also be a factor in the lack of genera found there. Organic pollution effects primary productivity in streams, and while primary productivity was not measured in this study, visual observations found very little algae or aquatic vegetation at Sulphur Creek.

Anne Thomas and Richard Gill, Brigham Young University Life Sciences Providing water for expanding urban communities in the western United States is a growing concern for city planners and governmental agencies. Landscaping can claim up to 50% of the urban water budget but also has the most potential for water conservation. Landscape water use is highly variable, however, because of species-specific differences in tree water use and because of decision-making by city planners and residents in maintaining trees. The objective of this study is to improve our ability to predict urban forest water use by identifying differences in tree basal area and diversity between neighborhoods that have arisen at different periods of development in Heber Valley, Utah. We classified neighborhoods as established, exurban (rural housing), commercial, or new tract based on age, location, and lot size. We performed a stratified random survey with twenty lots in each category and collected diameter and species data for each tree in the lot. Some of the patterns we observed were easily anticipated, such as higher basal area per hectare in the older, established neighborhoods relative to newer tract housing. Surprisingly, the number of individual trees per hectare in tract and established neighborhoods is very similar. Perhaps of more interest is the low species richness of tract housing compared to exurban communities. Because exurban communities are being replaced by tract housing there is evidence that tree diversity will be lost. Another important aspect of community structure in urban forests is the ratio of conifers to broadleaf trees because of fundamental differences in water use patterns. Conifers comprised twenty-five percent of the basal area in exurban and thirty-five percent in established neighborhoods, as opposed to five percent in tract. Our data suggest that tree diversity is likely to decrease while water demand is likely to increase with changes in urban forests in the coming decade.

Katherine Harris, Brady Evans and Thomas Andros, Brigham Young University Life Sciences Metabolic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, have become endemic and the need for better treatments is rising. Mutations in PAS kinase, a recently discovered sensory kinase, have been shown to cause Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (MODY) in humans (Semplici et al., 2011). In addition, PAS kinase deficient mice display many phenotypes related to diabetes including resistance to weight gain, insulin insensitivity and triglyceride accumulation in response to a high-fat diet (Hao et al., 2007). Despite its importance in metabolism, little is known about the regulation of PAS kinase. PAS kinase consists of a sensory PAS domain that binds to and inhibits a protein kinase domain (Amezcua et al, 2002). We are currently engaged in several yeast genetic screens which will allow identification of regions in the full length PAS kinase that are essential for activation or for binding its substrates. The first screen is based on the finding that PAS kinase overexpression rescues a temperature-sensitive mutation in Tor2, the tor2(ts). We have isolated both point mutations and truncations in PAS kinase which alleviate the tor2(ts), suggesting they are hyperactive alleles. These mutations identify novel regions involved in PAS kinase regulation. Our second screen uses the yeast 2-hybrid to select for both point mutations and truncations that increase the ability of PAS kinase to bind its substrates. These mutations will help identify key regions of PAS kinase utilized in substrate recognition. Finally, we have identified regions of PAS kinase that are well-conserved throughout evolution and will compare these regions with the regions affected by our mutations. This study will be the first reported mutagenic analysis of PAS kinase. Analysis of these specific genetic regions will help elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation and function of PAS kinase, a key player in the development of metabolic disease.

Scott Newton, Brigham Young University Life Sciences The ventral tegmental area (VTA) is known to controls the processing of rewarding and addictive behaviors. The VTA contains dopamine (DA) cells, which release DA to downstream targets in response to rewarding stimuli, and GABA cells, which modulate DA cell activity. Therefore, both cell types are involved in associative reward learning. Synaptic plasticity plays an important role in adaptive reward signaling within the VTA. Endocannabinoids mediate or modulate synaptic plasticity at synapses within the reward circuit. However, the source of endocannabinoids within the VTA is not well understood. Therefore, our goal was to describe the distribution of endocannabinoid biosynthetic enzyme mRNA within VTA neurons. We extracted single VTA neurons via whole cell patch clamp and used single-cell real-time quantitative PCR to identify DA and GABA neurons based on mRNA expression of cell-type specific targets. Additionally, electrophysiological properties such as action potential frequency and sag potential amplitude were examined between the two cell types. Concurrent with established observations, slower firing frequencies were observed in DAergic neurons, however overlap was identified between these two cell types. VTA neurons were then probed for endocannabinoid/ biosynthetic enzyme mRNA, such as N-acyl-phosphatidylethanolamine-specific phospholipase D (NAPE- PLD), diacylglycerol lipase α (DAGLα), and 12-lipoxygenase. We also probed for type I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) mRNA, as endocannabinoid synthesis requires mGluR activation. Our data demonstrate that endocannabinoid biosynthetic enzyme mRNA is expressed in both DAergic and GABAergic cells with concurrent expression of type I mGluRs. Next, to ensure mRNA expression was representative of protein content, slices were stained using immunohistochemistry for GAD67, DAGLα, NAPE-PLD and type I mGluRs. Positive labeling for these targets was observed in VTA neurons, supporting our RT-PCR results. Collectively, these data suggest DAergic and GABAergic cells of the VTA have the capability to produce endocannabinoids and potentially alter synaptic plasticity involved in reward and addiction.

Alex Hyer, University of Utah Life Sciences Geochemical reactions associated with the process known as serpentinization can generate copious quantities of organic carbon and chemical energy that support life, but these reactions also greatly increase the pH of serpentinization sites. High-pH environments hinder ATP production because the low proton concentrations at high pH can result in a reversed proton gradient across cell membranes. Organisms present at serpentinization sites are not well-characterized, and adaptations to their alkaliphilic lifestyle are unknown. Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4 was not isolated from serpentinization sites, but it is a well- studied alkaliphile that has several distinct adaptations for ATP production in high pH environments. Its sequence for ATP synthase, the molecular motor responsible for ATP generation in the cell, contains several distinctive mutations including an AXAXAXA motif that increases the C-ring stoichiometry, a P51XXE54XXP57 motif that creates a distinct kink in the outer helix of the C-subunit, and a V21 mutation granting rotamer freedom to E54. In this study, we search for similar mutations in metagenomic databases containing DNA sequences collected from serpentinization sites. Analysis of alignments from the programs BLAST and Exonerate indicate that V21 is present in several alignments, but P51 is found in only a single alignment from serpentinization sites. The AXAXAXA motif is non- existent in our databases, but the more common GXGXGXG motif is present with alanine replacements occurring periodically. In general, these results indicate that our DNA sequences from high-pH sites of serpentinization are more reminiscent of typical neutrophiles than of the alkaliphile B. pseudofirmus OF4. Therefore, serpentinization- adapted organisms may harbor other adaptations to high pH such as local pmf regulation. Future work will test for quantitative correlations between environmental pH measurements and the incidence of mutations in ATP synthase in order to identify novel adaptations to high pH in serpentinization-driven ecosystems.

Natasha Mickelson, Brigham Young University Humanities Young adult contemporary realistic fiction is a genre which attempts to portray real life. Young adult readers of these novels should be able to find themselves in the characters and relate to their backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives on life. While many young adult novels deal with controversial topics such as sexuality, drug use, physical abuse, suicide, and other difficult subjects in an attempt to be realistic, one aspect of life still largely considered a literary “taboo” is religion.Through examining studies done and looking at a sample of novels in the young adult contemporary realistic fiction genre I found that most of these books mention nothing about the religious beliefs or backgrounds of their characters. In the few novels which do bring up religion, Christian beliefs and characters are more common than minority religions. However, those novels depicting Christian characters are more likely to show them in a negative light. These novels frequently portray religious characters (especially leaders) as bigoted, fanatical, or gullible. Often the main adolescent character is trying to break free from cultish groups, and their eventual loss of faith is celebrated. Since contemporary realistic fiction attempts to portray the real world and real teenagers, I researched recent studies surveying American teenagers’ views on and involvement with religion. The results of these studies show that most teenagers identify with and willingly participate in religious groups and practices. In my research I found that this disparity between real life and realistic YA fiction exists due to the aversion of writers and publishers to possible censorship issues and alienating potential readership. However, scholars agree that both the lack of religion and the negative religious stereotypes in these novels can leave teenage readers incorrectly feeling as though their beliefs in or questions about God and religion are uncommon or wrong.

Miranda Roland, Southern Utah University Humanities Voluntourism (volunteer tourism) is the action of using personal vacation time to assist in volunteer service usually in foreign countries. Voluntourism has recently received negative connotation as research has deemed them “non-beneficial” or even “harmful” due to the short duration spent and overall adverse effect caused unintentionally by the project. This research was conducted to determine what participants of the temporary medical clinics hosted by the Global Medical Training program really think of the provided service. This information can deem if the alternative breaks taken by pre-medical and medical volunteers are beneficial to the areas they serve and if future breaks should be considered, if not strongly encouraged. The surveys were completed verbally to the patient with the aid of a Spanish translator. Surveys contained questions that addressed the influence of how they receive medical attention due to these clinics and satisfaction of attention received during the clinic. All of the surveys (100%) signified that these Global Medical Training clinics do influence how they receive medical care with additional comments of “beneficial to the low class economy”, “traveling to us is very helpful”, and “appreciate the advice given”. 98.08% signified that they are satisfied with the medical attention received through the clinics. As demonstrated through these results many communities are satisfied with the service provided and they wish to see more clinics of this set-up as it relieves the cost financially and time-wise of traveling to the nearby medical center. Upon conclusion, the trips taken by pre-medical and medical students through the Global Medical Training program are deemed beneficial to both the volunteers and the recipients of their service. These trips should not be demoted by the negative connotation of voluntourism but instead should be strongly encouraged if a volunteer desires.

Ashley Ostraff, Utah Valley University Physical Sciences Utah Lake has a long history of being impacted by anthropogenic activities like, mining, agriculture, and surrounding industry. All of these activities have contributed to the runoff that feeds the lake, increasing the likelihood that this area contains high levels of trace metals, nitrogen, andphosphorus. Utah Lake contains two subspecies of phragmites, a wetland reed, one native (P. americanus) and one non-native (P. australis). P. australis is replacing the native species at an alarming rate. P. australis is known to have a deeper root system than the native subspecies, because of this we suspect that this allow access to a less competitive soil level giving this subspecies greater opportunity for nutrient and trace metal uptake. By comparing the root zone soils of both subspecies we hope to gather results that support this hypothesis. Examination of the roots will also showthe potential influence the soil conditions have on their growth and development. This study will compare nutrient and trace metal uptake of each subspecies to determine impact. Other factors that will be assessed include plant physiology, carbon to nitrogen ratio (C:N), bioconcentration factor (BCF) and total trace metal content in tissues of both species. Samples of P. americanus and P. australis will be collected at 9 locations in Utah Lake. Soil samples at the root zone of each plant will also be evaluated. Each sampl e will be digested in the Microwave Accelerated Reaction System and analyzed in the Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) for C, N, P, K, Ag, Al, As, Ca, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, K, Mn, Na, Ni, P, Pb, Ti, and Zn. Results from this study will contribute valuable data to future efforts being used to preserve the biodiversity of the plants and animals that live in and around Utah Lake. The end goal of this student project is to be submitted to peer-reviewed scientific journals for publication and to be presented at academic and scientific conferences.