Biological Sciences thesis and dissertation collection
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Recent Submissions
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Characterising the roles of the members of the nuclear-encoded Rubisco small subunit family in Arabidopsis thaliana
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-02-03)Rubisco is the enzyme responsible for the net photosynthetic carbon fixation in plants. The enzyme consists of chloroplast-encoded large subunits and a family of nuclear-encoded small subunits (SSUs). SSUs are essential ... -
Measuring energy levels in bacterial dormancy
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-02-05)Bacteria are evolving strategies to survive antibiotic treatments at a pace that is not matched by the one at which new drugs are discovered. Beyond the more notorious antimicrobial resistance, other survival mechanisms ... -
Impacts of nutrition quality on host-parasite dynamics in wild wood mice
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-02-05)Factors from the environmental, host, and parasite community levels can all determine helminth burden in natural populations. In particular, the nutritional resources available to the host have long been associated with ... -
Post-transcriptional regulation of miRNA biogenesis
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-12-23)MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNA molecules of ~22 nt in length that function as regulators of gene expression. They bind to the 3’ UTR of target mRNAs in a non-perfect complimentary manner, leading to either ... -
Spatiotemporal and individual drivers of variation in parasitism and immunity in wild red deer
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-06)Parasites are a ubiquitous presence in nature that can profoundly impact the evolution and ecology of their hosts. Despite their longstanding interest for many branches of mammalian biology, there are relatively few ... -
To V, R0 to V ?
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-21)Outbreaks of infectious disease can be caused by only a few highly infectious individuals. These individuals are produced by variation in traits affecting contact between infected and susceptible individuals, the likelihood ... -
Evolutionary analyses of Plasmodium genomes
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-21)Plasmodium is the genus responsible for causing malaria in humans, killing more than 400,000 individuals a year. Species from the genus are also capable of infecting different primate, avian and rodent species. In this ... -
Proteomic analysis of histone mark crosstalk at bivalent domains
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-07-06)The combination and interaction of histone marks and DNA-associated proteins are critical in the regulation of gene transcription. Individual histone marks have been associated with different gene expression states - ... -
Identification of RISC-associated microRNAs and their targets during CD8⁺ T cell activation
(The University of Edinburgh, 2020-01-27)MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short (~22 nucleotide long) single-stranded noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression post-transcriptionally in the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC). miRNAs play an important role in ... -
Remodelling cutin by transacylases in the plant epidermis: dynamic processes during growth and response to environmental stress
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-11)Based on the discovery of the only known cutin-related GDSL transacylase, cutin synthase (CD1), we hypothesized that cutin can also be re-modelled by transacylases in the same family as CD1 post-synthetically. Cutin ... -
Phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography of Ceiba Mill. (Malvaceae: Bombacoideae)
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-25)The Neotropics is the most species-rich area in the world and the mechanisms that generated and maintain its biodiversity are still debated. This thesis contributes to the debate by investigating the evolutionary and ... -
Physiology of Escherichia coli at high osmolarity and its use in industrial ethanol production
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-12-02)Biofuels are becoming increasingly important in the light of climate change, increasing energy demands and higher fuel prices. Their production must be carefully balanced against the production of foods and use of fresh ... -
Elucidating the RNA-binding mechanisms and functions of E3 ubiquitin ligase TRIM25 in cell biology and innate immunity
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-12-04)Pathogenic viruses have a huge impact on human health and have caused numerous major epidemics both in the past and during the 21st century. The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defence against viruses, ... -
Synthetic logic circuits encoded on toehold strand-displacement switchable CRISPR guide RNAs
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)The field of biological computing offers the potential to construct devices using complex and dynamic regulation for applications ranging from theranostics to the production of high value chemicals in bioreactors. However, ... -
New approaches for the conservation genomics of the genus Cycas L. in Australia
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)Cycad species exist as small fragmented populations, therefore understanding their genetic variation is imperative for their conservation to ensure their long-term survival. Genetic data plays a fundamental role in ... -
Investigation of host red blood cell receptors essential for rosetting in severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)Plasmodium falciparum malaria kills almost half a million people every year, many of whom are children living in Africa. Rosetting is a pathological phenomenon which is associated with all types of severe malaria and ... -
Identifying genotypic risk factors for grain skinning in malting barley
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)Barley grains have a protective outer husk which is firmly adhered to the caryopsis at maturity. Mechanical processing can cause husk loss, leaving the caryopsis exposed. This is known as grain skinning. The malting industry ... -
Breeding phenology and its effects on reproductive success in seabirds
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)The timing of reproduction is important for fitness, and has been used to measure the effect of widespread environmental change across ecosystems globally. Across trophic levels, species occupying higher levels of a food ... -
Exploring the interactome of the Drosophila SUMO E3 ligase PIAS
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)Drosophila Protein Inhibitor of Activated STAT (PIAS) is required for chromatin organisation. PIAS proteins are SUMO E3 ligases that provide target specificity for the addition of small ubiquitin like modifiers (SUMO) ... -
BMP signalling via Id proteins in mesoderm progenitor cell differentiation
(The University of Edinburgh, 2019-11-23)Historically the three germ layer of the body: endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm, were considered to diverge early in development with the derivatives of each to progress along differentiation routes independent of one ...
