This thesis aimed to study plants and animals of North Texas which are adaptable for use in elementary science. In this study, 15 groups of plants and animals were selected as representative ones and among other benefits, each group of organisms was examined for its contributions to a limited understanding of bilogical principles.

The Problem of the cause and control of tastes and odors in water supplies has been the subject of a great many investigations during the last half-century; however, many questions in this field remain to be answered. Theories relating to the cause of tastes and odors occurring in water are still rather numerous and, at present, only a few of them are compatible. Although several procedures have been employed for the eradication of tastes and odors from water supplies, none of them are completely successful.

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the population dynamics of the benthos of selected pristine thermal springs.

This study is designed to (a) demonstrate the highly productive nature of the littoral area as compared to the pelagic region, (b) the possible importance of phyco-periphyton in the diets of fish, (c) the effects of meteorological conditions on distribution of phytoplankton, and (d) a demonstration of the invalidity of using artificial substrates as a universal means of measuring productivity.

The aims of this study were: (1) to determine simultaneously by means of a micro-potometric method the rates of water and various isotopic ion effluxes from isolated onion roots; (2) to determine and compare the effects of metabolic inhibitors on both processes simultaneously; (3) to ascertain the similarity or dissimilarity of mechanisms involved with these two processes; (4) to ascertain the role of active metabolism in each of these processes; (5) to shed light on possible gearing mechanism(s) between metabolic and transport processes.

Actinomycetes are able to utilize a great variety of carbohydrates, like sugar. The particular kind of sugar and its concentration has decisive effect on the growth of microorganisms. The proper nutritional media aids also in the production of spores. Based on this generalization, that the growth and sporulation of microorganisms are greatly influenced by the nature and the concentration of carbohydrates, an attempt has been made to study Actinoplanes philippinensis with respect to this influence.

It seemed desirable to investigate more fully the effect of hexadecanol on the microbial population of a reservoir. It was the purpose of this investigation to determine the effect of hexadecanol on the micro-biota of Lake Hefner, to ascertain which organisms were stimulated by hexadecanol both in the laboratory and the reservoir, and to investigate the degradation of hexadecanol by microorganisms selected from Lake Hefner.

The purpose of this investigation was to extract, separate, partially characterize and compare the individual phospholipids of the atypical mycobacteria.

This study had a three-fold purpose. First, it was decided to determine if algae and protozoa were emitted to the air at the Denton sewage treatment plant. The information obtained could be of future importance in the fields of algal and protozoan ecology and public health. Second, it was decided to make a survey of the airborne bacteria at this plant. Some researchers have described bacterial air contamination at similar sewage treatment plants, but the one in Denton has not been studied. Third, it was hoped that in this research some relationships could be found between the bacteria and the algae and protozoa in the air in the vicinity of the sewage aeration basin. It was hypothesized that pathogenic bacteria were carried in the air with these other organisms.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the variability of oxygen and carbon dioxide rate of change methods for measuring primary productivity and respiration in an aquatic environment.

The purpose of this paper is to detail the distribution and quantity of soluble phosphates in an activated sludge plant, its discharge creek, and receiving reservoir. The resultant analyses and comparison of data should provide some better understanding of the fate of phosphorus in a Southwestern waterway system.

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of studies on the aerobic, mesophilic intestinal flora of guinea pigs subjected to conditions similar to those encountered by man in spacecraft.

The purpose of this study is to determine if a strain of Azotobacter chroococcum isolated from the soil in northern Louisiana produces cysts which are as resistant to deleterious agents as those produced by previously reported strains os Azotobacter.

It was the purpose of this investigation to attempt to quantitate the microflora of the fields which receive the effluent from the Campbell Soup Plant, Paris, Texas, and to determine whether or not there is a correlation between the numbers and types of organisms present and the efficiency of purification of the system.

Laboratory and field investigations during the past ten years have demonstrated that certain microorganisms can cause deleterious effects in jet fuel tank systems. These investigations have brought about new concepts concerning the mechanisms of utilization of certain constituents in jet fuel tanks by microorganisms. Since the presence of microorganisms is inevitable in fuel systems, research efforts have been directed towards identification and determination of the types of microorganisms which can utilize jet fuel hydrocarbons, fuel additives, polyurethane foam structural materials, and particular hydrocarbons present in the fuel.

In this study, branchiobdellids were collected from crayfish captured from two adjacent sites in Denton County, Texas. Identification of the branchiobdellid, Cambarincola vitrea Ellis, was first made and then work was extended to include several topics of ecological interest.

The respiratory activity of three aquatic animals selected from different pollution index classifications is examined in the presence of sublethal concentrations of Dibrom, a commonly used, broad-spectrum, organophosphate insecticide.

The coexistence of Dipodomys ordii and Perognathus hispidus with Peromyscus maniculatus and Reithrodontomys montanus was studied in a grassland association of central Texas. The food habits of these species were compared with information from habitat vegetation analysis in an effort to determine food selectivity and the amount and importance of niche overlap and competition among these rodents.

This investigation was concerned with the relationship of the slime layer material of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Verder and Evans strain 1369, to the presumably somatic "O" type of antigen used by these authors as the base for their serological schema.

The purpose of this research was to attempt to duplicate the in vitro bactericidal test against Pseudomonas aeruginosa as reported by Bjornson and Michael and to correlate agglutinating titer of an antiserum to protective activity.

The purpose of the investigation was to locate the plant population which had the greatest impact on soil nitrogen in a successional sequence from newly deposited alluvia to a mature streamside forest, and to evaluate the pioneer populations in terms of their annual nitrogen contribution.

Two isoenzymes of malate dehydrogenase were isolated and partially purified from the midge larva Glyptotendipes barbipes. Differential centrifugation followed by cellulose acetate and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed one isoenzyme associated with the mitochondrial fraction and another form found only in the cytoplasm.

The present study was on the isolation of a bacterium capable of producing filtrable forms which passed through the 0.45µ filter membrane and regenerated the parental form; the testing of the true filtrability of the isolate; the relationship between growth of the isolate and appearance of filtrability; partial characterization of the isolate and visualization of the elements that passed through the membrane filter with electron microscopy and shadow casting technique.

A large, multi-basin, reservoir (Garza-Little Elm Reservoir) in north central Texas was studied to determine the relative effects of various parameters on primary productivity. The basins were impounded several years apart,thus allowing the influence of age on water chemistry and biota to be considered. Another principal influence on water quality was secondary sewage effluent that entered one basin from a nearby source.