Session A: 9AM – 10:30AM
Science. Session A – Oral Presentations. Sorenson, (2nd floor), Alumni House
SESSION A (9:00-10:30AM)
Location: Sorenson (2nd floor), Alumni House
Microtubule rigidity and associated stability phenomena
Tanner Hoole, University of Utah
Faculty Mentor Michael Vershinin, University of Utah
SESSION A 9:00-9:15AM
Sorenson, (2nd floor), Alumni House
Microtubules (MTs) are polymers of alpha-beta tubulin dimers and are the most rigid part of the cytoskeleton in eukaryotic cells. Extreme cold and heat are known to cause MT depolymerization. Several published reports showed that MTs stabilized with slow- or non-hydrolyzable GTP analogs or aldehyde-type cross-linking declined with increasing temperature in a small range of temperatures (20-35°C). Taxol-stabilized microtubule rigidity was reportedly temperature-independent. Our lab expanded on this by (1) expanding the temperature range from 0°C to as high as 50°C and (2) by testing single MTs polymerized using three different nucleotides: GTP with Taxol, GMPPCP with Taxol, and GMPCPP. Both GMPPCP and GMPCPP are non-hydrolyzable analogs of GTP, and GMPCPP is an established promoter of MT nucleation and growth which enables MT stabilization without Taxol. We observed systematic differences between persistence lengths in these three backgrounds but only statistically insignificant variation with temperature for each background. Specifically, we find that MT persistence length is log-normally distributed which not only obscures temperature variability of rigidity in our assays but also likely makes any such variability insignificant for cell function.
Controlling Harmful Algal Blooms Through Biomanipulation at Utah Lake
Cristina Chirvasa, Utah State University
Faculty Mentor Timothy Walsworth, Utah State University
SESSION A 9:20-9:35AM
Sorenson, (2nd floor), Alumni House
The alteration of food web dynamics through addition or removal of species can have major impacts on the size-structure and abundance of other species. Changes in the size-structure and abundance of zooplankton, whose rapid life-histories allow for swift responses to food web changes, can readily impact prey quality and availability for fishes. Utah Lake has been the site of intensive common carp (Cyprinus carpio) removal efforts since 2009, experiencing a biomass reduction of over 75% at one point. Our previous research has linked reduction in carp biomass to changes in zooplankton species composition, but the impact on size-structure of individual taxa had not been examined. Here, we analyzed the body length of five common taxa, Calanoid and Cyclopoid copepods, Daphnia, Diaphanosoma, and Ceriodaphnia, from 2013-2020 using zooplankton monitoring data to examine their response to carp removal in Utah Lake. We found that all five taxa increased in size during periods of low carp biomass. Additionally, all taxa except Daphnia demonstrated a negative trend across years, suggesting other factors (e.g. lake level, temperat