The purpose of this study was to analyze the current and pre-service conditions that can affect student teachers' preparedness to pass the science portion of the EC-6 Texas Examinations for Educator Standards (TExES), one of the mandatory certification exam to become a teacher in Texas. Two types of prediction models were employed in this study: binomial logistic regression and multiple linear regression. The independent variables used in this study were: final grade in BIOL 1082, classification of students, transfer status, taken college biology, taken college chemistry, taken college physics, taken college environmental science, taken college earth science, attending college part-time, number of credits taken during the semester, first-generation college student, relatives with degree in education, and current GPA. The dependent variable of this study was the posttest score on science portion of the EC-6 TExES practice exam. A total of 170 preservice teachers participated this study. This study used students enrolled in BIOL 1082, who volunteered to take a Biology for Educators QualtricsTM survey and the EC-6 TExES practice exam in a pretest (start of semester) and posttest (end of semester) form. The findings of this study revealed that the single best predictor of preservice teachers' performance on the science …

Genomic modifications occur slowly across generations, whereas short-term epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of adaptive phenotypes may be immediately beneficial to large numbers of individuals, acting as a bridge for survival when adverse environments occur. In this study we used dietary exposure to crude oil as an example of an environmental stressor to assess its effects from the molecular to the organismal levels in piscine and avian animal models. In addition, we assessed the role of the parental exposures on their offspring F1 generation. The research developed in this dissertation has contributed to several areas of investigation including molecular biology, animal physiology, and evolutionary biology. The quantitative information from these studies may be utilized to supplement information regarding the proximate and ultimate effects of environmental stressors on fish and bird populations. Furthermore, this information may be used as additional support for understanding the conservation of the responses from the molecular to the whole organismal levels across the vertebrate taxa, as well as their implications for population survival and maintenance. Additionally, the zebrafish (Danio rerio), the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) and the king quail (Coturnix chinensis) have proven to be excellent models to start building a strong basis for understanding the effects …

I used the C. elegans genetic model to examine the role of ceramide biosynthesis (sphingolipid pathway) and iron regulation and found that each process impacts germline development and function. Using a sphingolipid specific antibody mAb15B4, I found that sphingolipids are associated with germ granules (P granules) within C. elegans and zebrafish; thus, suggesting conservation of macromolecules associated with germ granules. Phenotype analysis of ceramide biosynthesis mutants in C. elegans revealed that this pathway is essential for normal germline function in the aging adult hermaphrodite; specifically, precocious germline senescence was observed. Furthermore, I found that disruption of ceramide biosynthesis, via the hyl-2 deletion mutation, negatively impacts mAb15B4 localization at the P granules. Through genetic suppression analysis, I determined that insulin signaling and lipid biosynthesis can modulate the mAb15B4 localization to P granules. Additional, phenotype analysis showed that ceramide biosynthesis dysfunction decreased fecundity, and led to germline structure defects and uterine tumors. Through suppression analysis, I determined that modulation of the insulin signaling pathway suppressed the precocious germline senescence due to ceramide biosynthesis dysfunction. Since the presence of uterine tumors is associated with reproductive senescence I concluded that ceramide biosynthesis has a role in germline maintenance in the aging of the germline …

Using a high throughput closed respirometry method to measure oxygen consumption, I determined metabolic rates in asexual and sexual Schmidtea mediterranea and Girardia dorotocephala, as a function of temperature, taxon, stressors, reproductive mode, age, regeneration, and specific dynamic action. This study has shown that oxygen consumption can reliably be measured in planaria using optode closed respirometry, and also provided a reliable method for measuring wet mass in planaria, which has been a challenge to researchers in the past. This research revealed that oxygen consumption in S. mediterranea is 1.5-2.1X greater in the sexual strain over the asexual strain at 13-18°C. Within the sexual strain, oxygen consumption is 1.5 -2.2X greater in sexually mature adults over the sexually immature groups (hatchlings, juveniles, and regenerating sexuals). Furthermore, I was able to quantify differences in sexual morphology between these groups exhibiting significant differences in oxygen consumption. The results of this research supports a theory of higher metabolic costs with sexual maturity in S. mediterranea. Therefore, this study has established sexual and asexual S. mediterranea as simple, yet attractive models for investigating energetic costs between sexual and asexual phenotypes. This research also provided quantitative values for specific dynamic action in planaria, with a maximum …

Urban land use and land cover has changed in the USA, giving rise to the American lawn – manicured, resource-intensive, and non-native. Green infrastructure design has been suggested in the literature as a potential alternative to the American lawn when managed as native xeriscapes, which require little to no irrigation after establishment. Given the influence of public preference on landscaping decisions, what is the relationship between the perceived value and ecological benefits of the American lawn compared to such alternatives? Few studies have explored this question in addition to the effects of college courses on influencing student preferences, as future stakeholders, towards native xeriscapes as alternatives to the American lawn. This research measured the effects of an introductory environmental education (EE) course on measurably influencing undergraduate student preferences for four xeriscapes as alternatives to the American lawn. To measure these effects, this study utilized the perceptions of 488 students enrolled in an indirect introductory EE course and 131 students enrolled in an introductory non-EE course. Three key results emerged from this research. Students preferred the American lawn more than xeriscape alternatives, irrespective to course enrolled. Introductory non-EE did not have an effect on student preferences, whereas indirect introductory EE did …

The purpose of my research work was to assess a variety of Northern Thailand plants tissue extracts for antibacterial and anti-platelet aggregation activity. The Minimum Inhibitory Concentration assay method was used to assess antimicrobial activity of plant extracts, while the Zebrafish Platelet Aggregation Assay and the in vitro Whole Human Blood Impedance Aggregation Assay were used to study anti-platelet activity. Forty one plant extracts harvested from the tissues of 26 plants collected from Northern Thailand were assessed. Thirty-four plant extracts were found to have antibacterial activity against the Gram positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and/or Bacillus subtilis, while six plant extracts demonstrated activity against the Gram negative bacterium, Escherichia coli. Thirteen plant extracts exhibited anti-platelet aggregation activity better than the positive control. Two crude plant extracts, twigs from Garcinia sp. and twigs from Goniothalamus chilensis were selected for fractionation. Five of the 12 fractions showed anti-platelet activity. Four fractions (two from each plant extract) were selected for further sub-fractionation. Fourteen of 35 sub-fractions were selected for further testing of anti-platelet aggregation activity with 12 sub-fractions demonstrating positive antiplatelet activity. Positive sub-fractions were analyzed using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to determine their chemical properties. Three compounds that possessed anti-platelet activity were characterized by …

The northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) population decline is a severe, rangewide phenomenon beginning >150 years ago and continuing today. In this investigation, I: 1. document the timeline of bobwhite population decline and unintended genetic consequences of attempted remedies, 2) develop a model useful for predicting possible locations of potentially sustainable bobwhite populations in semiarid rangeland in Texas and Oklahoma, and 3) examine the relationship between population monitoring data and meteorological factors. While breeding season call counts of male bobwhite have been used for >70 years to provide estimates of fall populations for hunting, most studies of call counts have focused on mathematics and statistical accuracy of the count, largely overlooking the influence of meteorological factors on call counts. Here, I present the results of >4,400 individual point counts and examine their relationship with meteorological variables recorded at each stop. Humidity was positively correlated with the number of birds recorded (ρ = 0.275, p < 0.001) and temperature was negatively correlated (ρ = -0.252, p < 0.001). The number of birds recorded was significantly higher in wet years than in drought years. There was no significant correlation between wind velocity and number of birds recorded. These results suggest that, while weather …

One of the challenges in biology is placing a function on the myriad of gene sequences having become available from rapid advances in genome sequencing. One such example is a gene cluster (Nit1C) found in bacteria that is tied to the unusual ability of certain bacteria to grow when supplied cyanide as the sole nitrogen source. The term cyanotrophs has been applied to such bacteria, for which a genetic linkage between cyanotrophy and Nit1C was demonstrated for 10 separate bacteria. In addition to growth, cyanide induced the expression of Nit1C genes in all organisms tested, and in one case, deletion of one of the Nit1C genes (nitC) caused a loss of growth. Of the ten bacteria able to grow cyanotrophically, all gave evidence of harboring Nit1C on their genome except for two (Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf11764 and P. monteilii BCN3), which were sequenced and the presence of Nit1C was also confirmed. A broader search of bacteria identified 270 separate strains with the cluster, all limited to bacteria spanning the phyla Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria. Remarkably, many examples of a single representative of a given taxon contained Nit1C, most poignantly displayed by Pf11764 and PmBCN3; the interpretation being the cluster was …

Seeds from the desert shrub Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) are one of the only known natural plant sources to store a majority of its oil in the form of liquid wax esters (WE) instead of triacylglycerols (TAGs) and these oils account for ~55% of the seed weight. Jojoba oil is highly valued as cosmetic additives and mechanical lubricants, yet despite its value much is still unknown about its neutral lipid biosynthetic pathways and lipid droplet packaging machinery. Here, we have used a multi-"omics" approach to study how spatial differences in lipid metabolites, gene expression, and lipid droplet proteins influence the synthesis and storage of jojoba lipids. Through these studies mass spectrometry analyses revealed that WEs are compartmentalized primarily in the cotyledonary tissues, whereas TAGs are, surprisingly, localized to the embryonic axis tissues. To study the differences in gene expression between these two tissues, a de novo transcriptome was assembled from high throughput RNAseq data. Differential gene expression analysis revealed that the Jojoba Wax Synthase, which catalyzes the formation of wax esters, and the Diacylglycerol O-Acyltransferase1, which catalyzes the final acylation of triacylglycerol synthesis, were differentially expressed in the cotyledons and embryonic axis tissues, respectively. Furthermore, through proteomic analysis of lipid droplet …

Bacteriophages, or simply "phages," are the most abundant biological entities on the planet and are thought to be the largest untapped reservoir of available genetic information. They are also important contributors to both soil health and nutrient recycling and have significantly influenced our current understanding of molecular biology. Bacteria in the genus Streptomyces are also known to be important contributors to soil health, as well as producing a number of useful antibiotics. The genetic diversity of large (> 30) groups of other actinobacteriophages, i.e. phages infecting a few close relatives of the Streptomycetes, has been explored, but this is the first formal effort for Streptomyces-infecting phages. Described here are a group of 45 phages, isolated from soil using a single Streptomycete host, Streptomyces griseus ATCC 10137. All 45 phages are tailed phages with double-stranded DNA. Siphoviruses predominate, six of the phages are podoviruses, and no myoviruses were observed. Notably present are seven phages with prolate icosahedral capsids. Genome lengths and genome termini vary considerably, and the distributions of each are in line with findings among other groups of studied actinobacteriophages. Interestingly, the average G+C among the 45 phages is around 11% lower than that of the isolation host, a larger …

The aim of the study was to identify the factors that have an influence on the completion rates of undergraduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Using Tinto's retention rate theory as the theoretical foundation, data were collected from freshman who were enrolled in the years 2005 to 2008. Results showed gender and first-generation status were significant predictors of STEM completion and time taken to complete the degree. Institutional bias played a role in race/ethnicity not being a factor affecting completion rates, as this study was conducted at a Predominantly White Institution. SAT scores and first and second-year college GPA showed to have the most prominent influence on both STEM completion rate and time taken to complete the degree. Females with higher first-year college GPA and higher high school rank finished faster. Similar results were found with first-generation students as well. Students belonging to ethnic minority groups with higher SAT scores and college GPA had greater success in STEM fields as well. The study results can be used to increase completion rates of underrepresented students in the STEM fields, given what we know about the interactions between underrepresented student groups and the most important predictors.

Although cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) are the major reserves for energy-dense neutral lipids in plants, the cellular mechanisms for packaging neutral lipids into LDs remain poorly understood. To gain insights into the cellular processes of neutral lipid accumulation and compartmentalization, a necessary step forward would be to characterize functional roles of lipogenic proteins that participate in the compartmentalization of neutral lipids in plant cells. In this study, the lipogenic proteins, Arabidopsis thaliana SEIPIN homologues and mouse (Mus Musculus) fat storage-inducing transmembrane protein 2 (FIT2), were characterized for their functional roles in the biogenesis of cytoplasmic LDs in various plant tissues. Both Arabidopsis SEIPINs and mouse FIT2 supported the accumulation of neutral lipids and cytoplasmic LDs in plants. The three Arabidopsis SEIPIN isoforms play distinct roles in compartmentalizing neutral lipids by enhancing the numbers and sizes of LDs in various plant tissues and developmental stages. Further, the potential applications of Arabidopsis SEIPINs and mouse FIT2 in engineering neutral lipids and terpenes in plant vegetative tissues were evaluated by co-expressing these and other lipogenic proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. Arabidopsis SEIPINs and mouse FIT2 represent effective tools that may complement ongoing strategies to enhance the accumulation of desired neutral lipids and terpenes …

The Texas Stream Team (TST) is one of an increasing number of citizen science water monitoring programs throughout the US which have been continuously collecting surface water quality data under quality assurance protocols for decades. Volunteer monitoring efforts have generated monitoring datasets that are long-term, continuous, and cover a large geographic area - characteristics shown to be valuable for scientists and professional agencies. However, citizen science data has been of limited use to researchers due to concerns about the accuracy of data collected by volunteers, and the decades of water quality monitoring data collected by TST volunteers is not widely used, if at all. A growing body of studies have attempted to address accuracy concerns by comparing volunteer data to professional data, but this has rarely been done with large-scale, existing datasets like those collected by TST. This study assesses the accuracy of the volunteer water quality data collected across the state of Texas by the TST citizen science program between 1992-2017 by comparing it to professional data from corresponding stations during the same time period, as well as comparing existing and experimental data from a local TST partner agency. The results indicate that even large-scale, existing volunteer and professional …

Despite the variety of successful reports of the preservation, recovery, and identification of archaeological proteins in general, there are few positive reports regarding mass spectrometry-based identification of ceramic-bound proteins. In large part, this shortage is due to the lack of consideration for the unique taphonomic histories of such residues and, in general, methods development. Further, because negative results are rarely published, there is no baseline to which results can be compared. This paper attempts to address these challenges via a multi-pronged approach that uses mass spectrometry and complementary approaches to evaluate ceramic-bound protein preservation in both controlled, actualistic experiments, and in archaeological artifacts. By comparing the results obtained from protein-spiked, experimentally-aged ceramic to those obtained from both faunal and ceramic archaeological materials, an enhanced perspective on protein preservation and subsequent recovery and identification is revealed. This perspective, focusing on taphonomy, reveals why negative results may be the norm for ceramic artifacts when non-targeted methods are employed, and provides insight into how further method development may improve the likelihood of obtaining positive results.

Primary cilia are nonmotile, hair-shaped organelles that extend from the basal body in the centrosome. The present study is the first investigation of this organelle in the oligodendrocyte lineage in vivo. I used immunohistochemical approaches in normal and cilia-deficient mutant mice to study cilia in relation to oligodendrogenesis and myelination. Primary cilia immunoreactive for Arl13b and ACIII were commonly present in NG2+ oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs), in which cilia-associated pathways control proliferation, differentiation, and migration. The loss of primary cilia is generally associated with enhanced Wnt/β-catenin signaling, and Wnt/β-catenin signaling has been shown to promote myelin gene expression. I examined whether the lack of cilia in the oligodendrocyte lineage is associated with elevated Wnt/β-catenin activity. I found that absence of a primary cilium was associated with with higher levels of TCF3, and with β-galactosidase in Axin2-lacZ Wnt reporter mice. This evidence supports the proposal that cilia loss in oligodendrocytes leads to enhanced Wnt/β-catenin activity, which promotes myelination. Cilia are dependent on the centrosome, which assembles microtubules for the cilium, the cytoskeleton, and the mitotic spindle. Centrosomes are the organizing center for microtubule assembly in OPCs, but this function is decentralized in oligodendrocytes. I found that the intensity of centrosomal pericentrin …

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill released millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, impacting economically and ecologically important fishes. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in the oil have been shown to cause developmental impairments in early life stage fishes, such as morphological and behavioral changes related to eye formation and visual processing following PAH exposure. Prior research reported reduced eye growth in open water, pelagic species, as well as reduced photoreceptor-specific transcription factors associated with eye development following exposure to crude oil. Though changes in transcriptomic-level pathways associated with vision and visual processing have been reported, it has yet to be determined how these changes relate to physiological or behavioral-level effects in fish. Therefore, the present studies evaluated the effect of weathered crude oil on eye development and visual function in mahi-mahi, red drum, sheepshead minnow, and zebrafish larvae. Fish were assessed through several visually-mediated behavioral assays, analyzed histologically and immunohistologically, along with subsequent transcriptomic analyses and associated gene expression changes. Larvae exposed to crude oil experienced significantly reduced abilities to exhibit optomotor or optokinetic responses relative to controls, with associated reductions in retinal development. Furthermore, genes associated with eye development and phototransduction were downregulated, with subsequent …

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities on a global scale, and countless research efforts on the pathology of CVD has been well-characterized over the years. However, advancement in modern technologies, such as nanotechnology, has generated environmental and occupational health concerns within the scientific community. Current investigation of nanotoxicity calls into question the negative effects nanomaterials may invoke from their environmental, commercial, and therapeutic usage. As a result, further research is needed to investigate and characterize the toxicological implications associated with nanomaterial-exposure and CVD. We investigated the toxicity of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and titanium dioxide (TiO2), which are two prominently used nanomaterials that have been previously linked to upregulation of inflammatory and atherogenic factors. However, the mechanistic pathways involved in these nanomaterials mediating detrimental effects on the heart and/or coronary vasculature have not yet been fully determined. Thus, we utilized two different routes of exposure in rodent models to assess alterations in proinflammatory and proatherogenic signaling pathways, which are represented in contrast throughout the dissertation. In our MWCNT study, we used C57Bl/6 mice exposed to MWCNTs (1 mg/m3) or filtered air (FA-Controls), via inhalation, for 6 hr/d for 14d. Conversely, intravenous TiO2 …

Horizontal gene transfer enables acquisition and dissemination of novel traits including antibiotic resistance and virulence among bacteria. Frequently such traits are gained through the acquisition of clusters of functionally related genes, often referred to as genomic islands (GIs). Quantifying horizontal flow of GIs and assessing their contributions to the emergence and evolution of novel metabolic traits in bacterial organisms are central to understanding the evolution of bacteria in general and the evolution of pathogenicity and antibiotic resistance in particular, a focus of this dissertation study. Methods for GI detection have also evolved with advances in sequencing and bioinformatics, however, comprehensive assessment of these methods has been lacking. This motivated us to assess the performance of current methods for identifying islands on broad datasets of well-characterized bacterial genomes and synthetic genomes, and leverage this information to develop a novel approach that circumvents the limitations of the current state-of-the-art in GI detection. The main findings from our assessment studies were 1) the methods have complementary strengths, 2) a gene-clustering method utilizing codon usage bias as the discriminant criterion, namely, JS-CB, is most efficient in localizing genomic islands, specifically the well-studied SCCmec resistance island in methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) genomes, and 3) …

It is well established that continual consumption of a diet high in fat leads to the development of chronic conditions such as obesity, cardio metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis that are associated with high incidence of cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have identified endotoxin-derived inflammation as a major diving force for the development of these conditions. Our laboratory has recently demonstrated that consumption of a single high-fat meal results in acute postprandial endotoxemia and alters monocyte cell surface adhesion molecule expression and scavenger receptor CD36 expression. These collective projects describe our efforts to understand the physiological significance of these postprandial changes and if supplementation with spore-based probiotics are able to provide any form of protection against these responses that are associated with the onset of atherogenesis.

Resistance exercise (RE) training is a well-known and effective method for promoting increases in muscle mass and strength. A single bout of RE induces physiological disturbances that require coordinated activation of the immune system and intramuscular signaling in order to return the tissue to homeostasis and adapt to the RE challenge. On the other hand, acute binge alcohol consumption can affect the immune response to an inflammatory challenge, intramuscular anabolic signaling, and muscle protein synthesis, and the effects of alcohol on these processes are opposite that of RE. Furthermore, individuals who report more frequent exercise also report a greater frequency of binge drinking. However, few investigations exist regarding the effects of binge alcohol consumed after a bout of RE on RE-induced physiological changes and performance recovery. Therefore, the overarching purpose of the investigations contained within this dissertation was to investigate the effect of alcohol consumed after RE on the RE-induced changes in mTOR pathway signaling, muscle protein synthesis, inflammatory capacity, strength recovery, and power recovery. Although RE increased mTOR pathway signaling and inflammatory capacity after exercise and reduced maximal strength and explosive power the day after exercise, we observed no effects of alcohol (1.09 g ethanol∙kg-1 lean body mass, designed …

The ovarian hormone 17β-estradiol (E2) is one of the central regulators of the female reproductive system. E2 is also a pleiotropic regulator since it can exert its non-reproductive role on other organ systems. E2 is neuroprotective, it maintains body's energy homeostasis, participates in various repair mechanism and is required for neural development. However, there is a substantial evidence suggesting that there might be a molecular reprogramming of E2's action when it is supplied exogenously after E2 deprivation. Though the length of E2 deprivation and age has been linked to this phenomenon, the molecular components and how they activate this reprogramming is still elusive. Our main goal was to perform global proteomics and metabolomics study to identify the molecular components and their interaction networks that are being altered in the brain and serum after a short-term E2 treatment following ovariectomy (OVX) in Sprague Dawley rats. One of the strength of our global study is that it gave us extensive information on the brain proteome itself by identification of a wide number of proteins in different brain sections. By analyzing the differentially expressed proteins, our proteomics study revealed 49 different networks to be altered in 7 sections of the brain. Most of …

Previous studies have shown that fish release alarming substances into the water to alert their kin to escape from danger. In our laboratory, we found that zebrafish produce trypsin and release it from their gills into the environment when they are under stress. By placing the zebrafish larvae in the middle of a small tank and then placing trypsin at one end of the tank, we observed that the larvae moved away from the trypsin zone and almost to the opposite end of the tank. This escape response was significant and did not occur in response to the control substances, bovine serum albumin (BSA), Russell's viper venom (RVV), and collagen. Also, previously, we had shown that the trypsin could act via a protease-activated receptor-2 (PAR2) on the surface of the cells. Therefore, we hypothesized that trypsin would induce a change in neuronal activity in the brain via PAR2-mediated signaling in cells on the surface of the fish body. To investigate whether the trypsin-responsive cells were surface cells, we generated a primary cell culture of zebrafish keratinocytes, confirmed these cells' identity by specific marker expression, and then incubated these cells with the calcium indicator Fluo-4 and exposed them to trypsin. By …

Through the use of natural history records, published literature, and personal sampling (2011-2016) a total of 454 caddisfly species represented by 24 families and 93 genera were documented from the south-central United States. Two Hydroptilidae species were collected during the 2011-2016 collection efforts that are new to the region: Hydroptilia scheringi and Mayatrichia tuscaloosa. Eightteen species are endemic and 30 are considered species of concern by either federal or state agencies. The majority of each of these groups is Hydroptilidae, or microcaddisflies. Trichoptera community structure, by minimum number of species, was analysed in conjunction with large-scale geographical factors to determine which factor illustrated caddisfly community structure across the region. Physiographic provinces compared to other geographic factors analyzed best-represented caddisfly communities with a minimum of 10 or more species. Statistically, Hydrologic Unit Code 4 (HUC 4) was the most significant geographical factor but low number of samples representing this variable rendered it less representative of caddisfly community structure for the study area.

Skeletal muscle satellite cells are important for muscle repairing and muscle mass growth. For a successful muscle regenerative process, satellite cells have to sequentially undergoing different stages of myogenic process, i.e. proliferative state and differentiation state. To support this process, the presence of different circulating factors, such as immune cells, cytokines, and hormones, at the appropriate time course is critical. Among these factors, hormones, such as testosterone, cortisol, and IGF-1, have shown to play an important role in satellite cell proliferation and differentiation. Studies investigated the effect of testosterone on satellite cell using a supraphysiological dose in human or in cell culture demonstrated that testosterone is critical in satellite cell myogenic process. Due to the anabolic effect of testosterone on muscle, studies had been focused on the physiological means to increase the circulating testosterone concentration in the body to maximize the muscle mass growth from resistance exercise. The acute and transient increase in testosterone has shown to be beneficial to muscle mass growth and strength gain; however, this change in physiological testosterone concentration on satellite cell myogenesis is not known. Therefore the purpose of this dissertation is to first determine the effect of acute change in exercise-induced hormones on satellite …