Spring/Summer 2023 Biology Research Papers & Grants

The faculty of The University of Kansas's Undergraduate Biology Program, Department of Molecular Biosciences, and Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology have had a wealth of Research Papers accepted into journals in the Spring and Summer of 2023. They have also been awarded a number of grants, all of which can be seen in the listing below:

Daniel Montezano, Rebecca Bernstein, Matthew M. Copeland, and Joanna S. G. Slusky (2023). General features of transmembrane beta barrels from a large database PNAS https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2220762120

Catherine M. Kerr, Srivatsan Parthasarathy, Nancy Schwarting, Joseph J. O’Connor, Emily Giri, Sunil More, Robin C. Orozco, Anthony R. Fehr (2023). PARP12 is required to repress the replication of a Mac1 mutant coronavirus in a cell and tissue specific manner. Journal of Virology https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.06.16.545351v1

Huynh, K., Smith, B. R., Macdonald, S. J., & Long, A. D. (2023). Genetic variation in chromatin state across multiple tissues in Drosophila melanogaster. PLoS genetics, 19(5), e1010439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1010439

Everman, E. R., Macdonald, S. J., & Kelly, J. K. (2023). The genetic basis of adaptation to copper pollution in Drosophila melanogaster. Frontiers in genetics, 14, 1144221. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2023.1144221

Snehal S. Mahadik, Erik A. Lundquist; TOM-1/tomosyn acts with the UNC-6/netrin receptor UNC-5 to inhibit growth cone protrusion in Caenorhabditis elegans. Development 1 April 2023; 150 (7): dev201031. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.201031

L.F.T. Souza, D.R. Hirmas, P.L. Sullivan, D.C. Reuman, M.F. Kirk, L. Li, H. Ajami, H. Wen, M.V.M. Sarto, T.D. Loecke, A.K. Rudick, C.W. Rice, S.A. Billings. 2023. Root distributions, precipitation, and soil structure converge to govern soil organic carbon depth distributions. Geoderma 437, 116569. 

J.A. Walter*, D.C. Reuman, K.R. Hall, H.H. Shugart, L.G. Shoemaker. 2023. Seasonality in environment and population processes alters population spatial synchrony. American Naturalist. In press. doi: 10.1086/725804.

Travert, M., Boohar, R., Sanders, S.M. et al. Coevolution of the Tlx homeobox gene with medusa development (Cnidaria: Medusozoa). Commun Biol 6, 709 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-023-05077-6

Pierotti, R.J. and C. A. Annett (2023). Western Gull (Larus occidentalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.wesgul.01

Barua N, KM Clouse, DA Ruiz Diaz, MR Wagner, TG Platt, RR Hansen. Screening the maize rhizobiome for consortia that improve Azospirillum brasilense root colonization and plant growth outcomes. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7: 219.

Wagner MR, T Mitchell-Olds. Soil variation among natural habitats alters glucosinolate content in a wild perennial mustard. Journal of Experimental Botany erac520.  

Rushworth CA, MR Wagner, JT Anderson, T Mitchell-Olds. The Boechera model system for evolutionary ecology. American Journal of Botany 109: 1939-1961

Maasri, A. and J.H. Thorp (eds.). 2023. Identification and Ecology of Freshwater Arthropods in the Mediterranean Basin. Elsevier. ISBN 9780128218440 [2 senior authored chapters]

Thorp, J.H., M. Thoms, M.D. Delong, and A. Maasri. 2023. The ecological nature of whole river macrosystems: new perspectives from the Riverine Ecosystem Synthesis. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution - Population, Community, and Ecosystem Dynamics. Volume 11 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1184433.

Colella JP1, L Silvestri1, G Suzán, M Weksler, JA Cook, E Lessa. (2023) Engaging with the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits-Sharing: recommendations for non-commercial biodiversity researchers. Journal of Mammalogy, 104(3): 430-443.

Colella JP, ME Cobos, I Salinas, JA Cook, the PICANTE Consortium. (2023). Advancing the central role of non-model biorepositories in predictive modeling of emerging pathogens. PLoS Pearls, 19(6): e1011410.

Gonzalez P, JR Salazar, TP Salinas, M Avila, JP Colella, JL Dunnum, GE Glass, G Gonzalez, E Juarez, K Lindblade, E Pile, Y Mendoza, JM Pascale, AG Armien, JA Cook, B Armien. (2023). Two decades of wildlife pathogen surveillance: case study of Choclo orthohantavirus and its wild reservoir Oligoryzomys costaricensis. Viruses, 15(6): 1390. DOI:10.3390v15061390.

Hauser, E., Sullivan, P. L., Flores, A. N., Hirmas, D., & Billings, S. A. (2022). Global-scale shifts in rooting depths due to Anthropocene land cover changes pose unexamined consequences for critical zone functioning. Earth's Future, 10, e2022EF002897. https://doi.org/10.1029/2022EF002897

Emma Hauser, Jon Chorover, Charles W. Cook, Daniel Markewitz, Craig Rasmussen, Daniel D. Richter, Sharon A. Billings. (2023) Integrating decadal and century-scale root development with longer-term soil development to understand terrestrial nutrient cycling. Geoderma 435 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116520

Ligia F.T. Souza, Daniel R. Hirmas, Pamela L. Sullivan, Daniel C. Reuman, Matthew F. Kirk, Li Li, Hoori Ajami, Hang Wen, Marcos V.M. Sarto, Terry D. Loecke, Aoesta K. Rudick, Charles W. Rice, Sharon A. Billings. (2023) Root distributions, precipitation, and soil structure converge to govern soil organic carbon depth distributions. Geoderma,Volume 437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2023.116569

Lin, Shu-Yi, Oakley C. Elizabeth, Jenkinson, Cory B., Chiang, Yi-Ming, Lee, Ching-Kuo, Jones, Christopher G., Seidler, Paul M., Nelson, Hosea, Todd, Richard B., Wang, Clay C. C. and Oakley, Berl R. (2023) A heterologous expression platform in Aspergillus nidulans for the elucidation of cryptic secondary metabolism biosynthetic gene clusters: Discovery of the Aspergillus fumigatus sartorypyrone biosynthetic pathway. Chemical Science. (Published online as an advance article: DOI: 10.1039/D3SC02226A)

Oakley, Berl R. (2023) The ring saga: Looking back at the discovery of γ-tubulin and γ-tubulin ring complexes. Mol. Biol. Cell 34, rt1 (published online) (Invited, peer reviewed).

Rabot, C., Chen, Y., Lin, S.-Y., Miller, B., Chiang, Y.-M., Oakley, C. E., Oakley, B. R., Wang, C. C. C., and Williams, T. J. (2023). Polystyrene upcycling into fungal natural products and a biocontrol agent. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145:5222-5230.

Grants

Dr. Joanna Slusky was awarded Plugging & Pulling-in: tuning peptides for ToIC to overcome antibiotic resistance from NIH NIGMS.

Dr. Jocelyn Colella received a grant for the Systematic viral discovery through structured search of host phylogeny and uses metatranscriptomic sequencing methods to screen mammal specimens in museums for viral pathogens​ from NSF.​​​​​​

Dr. Stuart Macdonald was awarded A Resource for the Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits from NIH.

Dr. Stuart Macdonald was awarded Dissecting the Genetic Basis of Longevity in Drosophila from KU’s 2023 Research Grant Opportunity program.

PhD candidate Matthew Travert received a new Training Grant.

Postdoc Dr. Joel Swift was awarded and recently began an NSF Plant Genome Postdoctoral Fellowship.

PhD candidate Kayla Clouse was awarded and recently began a USDA Pre-doctoral Fellowship.