Data management plan for the grant, "NSFDEB-NERC: Collaborative Research: Wildlife corridors: do they work and who benefits?" Research on the impact of wildlife corridors using genetics as the measure of effectiveness. The study will use 20 independent landscapes to quantify how corridor traits affect gene flow, and will use non-flying mammals as focal species because they are strongly affected by fragmentation. The research team hypothesizes (1) a strong non-linear decline in success (gene flow) with corridor length, reflecting the skewed distribution of dispersal distances within species; (2) success will drop steeply as corridor width falls below a threshold, with the threshold determined by species traits; and (3) species that are bigger, are habitat specialists, or have greater dispersal abilities (relative to brain size or reproductive rate) will benefit more from corridors. Testing these hypotheses will allow generalization to a wide range of mammal species not included in this project. It will use highly flexible Random Forest models to answer the overarching question: What landscape traits (e.g., corridor width, degree of human disturbance) and species traits (mobility, affinity to particular land cover types) are associated with effective corridors?

Data management plan for the research grant "Generating pathogen- / pest-resistant non-GMO cotton through targeted genome editing of oxylipin signaling pathways."

Data management plan for the grant "G-RISE at the University of North Texas." The University of North Texas (UNT) serves over 32,000 undergraduate and 7,000 graduate students of which 50% of the undergraduate population and 20% of the graduate population are underrepresented minority (URM). UNT is ranked by the Carnegie Classification as a Tier 1 institute, is a Hispanic Serving Institute, and is dedicated to providing quality mentoring to a diverse group of Ph.D. students. The UNT G-­RISE mission is to provide a biomedical Ph.D. training program that is inclusive, culturally responsive, increases diversity, enhances scientific skill sets, develops trainee career and professional skill sets, provides opportunities to participants, and increases faculty development as a mentor.

Data management plan for the grant, "Non-Genetic Inheritance of Hypoxia Tolerance in Fishes: Dynamics and Mechanisms." Research quantifying the inheritance of tolerance to low oxygen in a model fish and then determine the tolerance mechanisms, at organismal to molecular levels, that are passed on from parents to their offspring. The investigators will not only focus on conventional, well-studied genetic mechanisms for inheritance, but will explore so-called “epigenetic” forms of inheritance that may transfer parental characteristics for only a generation or two. Such “temporary inheritance” might actually require less energy and be more beneficial to a species than the more permanent form of genetic inheritance. This project will quantify non-genetic inheritance of hypoxia tolerance in zebrafish as a model organism and then identify underlying mechanisms, at organismal to molecular levels, in parents and in their progeny. Specifically, this project will quantify non-genetically inherited traits that allow hypoxia tolerance, determine “wash-in” and “wash-out” (i.e., the dynamics) of hypoxia-tolerant phenotypes across multiple generations, and establish epigenetic mechanism(s) of non-genetic inheritance in subsequent generations. The information provided by this project will allow biologists to better predict, and perhaps even mitigate, the negative consequences of future episodes of low oxygen in rivers and lakes.

Data management plan for the grant, "Chemical-Guided Identification of Primary Metabolic Targets for Improvement of Hydroxy Fatty Acid Synthesis in Physaria fendleri." Research on the identification of primary metabolic targets using chemical-guided identification. The first objective of this research is to conduct metabolomics analysis on P. fendleri embryos cultured with two identified chemical regulators of fatty acid metabolism. The second objective of this research is to generate a metabolic flux map of embryos treated with these regulatory compounds in order to determine how metabolic rates and carbon flow can be manipulated to improve HFA production in this species and increase its commercial viability. With properties that could replace imported castor oil, research on the crop in discussion is situated directly in the scope of the USDA-AFRI Education and Workforce Development goals.

Data management plan for the grant, "Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolases and Chemical Communication in Plants." Research seeking to understand how an evolutionarily-conserved group of plant enzymes utilizes chemical signals to regulate growth and to influence their microbial environment. Specific research aims include the discovery of new enzymes and their substrate molecules that act as communication signals. Broader applications of this research may offer new strategies to enhance agricultural outputs by manipulating plant-microbe interactions in crop and soil systems.

Data management plan for the grant "IRES Track II - Cape Horn ASIs: Climate change and disease ecology at the southern end of the Americas." Research giving students the opportunity to be trained in quantitative experimental design and work as part of a multinational research collaboration to study infectious disease emergence in one of the few remaining pristine places on Earth. The Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) off the southern tip of South America protects pristine ecosystem is perfect for this type of graduate student training. The CHBR is part of the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion, which is globally significant because it houses the worlds southernmost forest biome, contains numerous endemic species, is remote, and is relatively free of anthropogenic impacts. The research questions themselves will be flexible, but organized thematically. Specifically, this IRES Track-II will focus on the merging molecular genetic analysis using a mobile next generation sequencing lab with mist netting and arthropod trapping to investigate the impacts of wildlife disease on local biodiversity and community structure. Secondarily, eDNA and traditional wildlife disease monitoring approaches will be applied to understand the potential for zoonosis and understanding ecological factors that contribute to, or inhibit, zoonosis. Resultantly, participation in this program …

Data management plan for the grant "Regulators of von Willebrand Factor Levels." Von Willebrand Disease is the most prevalent bleeding disease. In one of the types called type 1 von Willebrand Disease, the disease-causing genes are not known. Using zebrafish as a model, this project proposes to identify genes that cause the disease by crippling the genes by knockdown methods, and such identification may lead to not only the identification of mutations in the corresponding human genes but also to a better diagnosis.

Data management plan for the research project "Molecular Technologies for Mitigating Fusarium Head Blight - Spherical Nucleic Acid Nanomaterials as Fungicide and FHB Resistance-promoting Agents."

Article exploring the association between second-hand smoke exposure, asthma, and asthma severity in children ages 6-17 as well as the effect of birth weight and prematurity (BWP) on parental smoking and asthma. Results indicate that focused asthma interventions in children should inquire about BWP status as well as parental smoking and household smoke exposure to reduce asthma morbidity and mortality.

This article develops a method, using a single DNA construct that uses CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing to knock-out expression of an endogenous gene of lignin monomer biosynthesis while at the same time expressing a modified version of the gene’s open reading frame that escapes cutting by the Cas9 system and complements the introduced mutation in a tissue-specific manner. This method is applicable to any plant species in which transformation and gene editing are feasible and validated vessel-specific promoters are available.

This article developed a modified, rapid higher throughput thioacidolysis method to analyze both lignin monomeric composition and tricin content in the lignin polymer. The results demonstrate that the modified method can be used for rapid, high-throughput, and reliable lignin composition and tricin content analyses for screening transgenic plants for cell wall modifications or in large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS).

This article explores DNA methylation's role in the regulation of gene expression in reptiles. Results show that embryonic hypoxia programs DNA methylation and gene expression patterns and that these changes are associated with enhanced cardiac anoxia tolerance in snapping turtles later in life.

This article explores the connection between thyroid hormones (THs) and immune systems in fish. This article is noteworthy as disruption of the thyroid system during development, which can occur in response to chemicals present in the environment, may have lasting effects on immune function in adulthood for fish.

Article investigating if the exposure to diesel exhaust particles (DEP) can alter commensal lung microbiota, thereby promoting alterations in the lung’s immune and inflammatory responses. This article also explores if diet contributes to the alteration of the commensal lung microbiome.

Article identifying novel epigenetic regulators for tfpia and exploiting this information to discover a drug that enhances tfpia mRNA levels and prolongation of TTO. This discovery provides the basis for testing whether UNC6852 could be used as an antithrombotic drug.

Article discovering a mechanism for how sphingolipids mediate phosphoinositide homeostasis at the TGN in plant cells. The data presented identifies a mode of action of sphingolipids in lipid interplay at the TGN during protein sorting.

This article conducts a study to evaluate the utility of Hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) as a target for lignin modification in a species with an “incomplete” shikimate shunt. Results imply that this gene is a preferred target for biotechnological improvement of grasses for bioprocessing.

Article studying the king quail as an animal model to determine if chronic dietary exposure to crude oil in a parental population affects morpho-physiological phenotypic variables in their immediate offspring generation.

Article utilizing Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology to produce knockout mutations in the FATTY ACID DESATURASE2 (FAD2) and REDUCED OLEATE DESATURATION1 (ROD1) genes to increase oleic acid content in Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.). Results suggest that combinatorial knockout of ROD1 and FAE1 may be a viable route to commercially increase oleic acid content in pennycress seed oil whereas mutations in FAD2 will likely require at least partial function to avoid fitness trade-offs.

This article includes a proteomics analysis of Lipid Droplets (LDs) isolated from drought-stressed Arabidopsis leaves and identifying EARLY RESPONSIVE TO DEHYDRATION 7 (ERD7) as a putative LD protein. Observations provide new insight to ERD7 and the SD-containing family of proteins in plants and suggest that ERD7 may be involved in functional aspects of plant stress response that also include localization to the LD surface.

Article studying seedlings of wild-type and different mutants of Arabidopsis thaliana plants subjected to a multifactorial stress combination of six different stresses, each applied at a low level, and their survival, physiological and molecular responses. Findings reveal that further polluting our environment could result in higher complexities of multifactorial stress combinations that in turn could drive a critical decline in plant growth and survival.

This article examines the relationships between spatial patterns of long-term ozone exposure and respiratory illness within Dallas-Fort Worth to better understand impacts on health outcomes.

Article on the composition of the four cell wall fractions in diverse maize genotypes and to understand how this composition influences the resistance to pests, ethanol capacity and digestibility. Results evidence that there is no maize cell wall ideotype among the tested for optimal performance for various uses, and maize plants should be specifically bred for each particular application.