Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>In an effort to improve upon existing analytical methods, electrochemical sensors offer portable, cost-effective alternatives to traditional lab-based techniques. Recent advances in supramolecular chemistry offer a unique alternative to achieve high selectivity while also benefitting from facile scaling for mass production. Thus, by incorporating host-guest chemistry with electrochemical… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>DNA methylation (DNAm) is a useful indicator of phenotypic expression and diversity, and can potentially inform adaptations to environmental changes. This thesis uses epigenetic techniques to investigate the mechanisms underlying phenotypic variation in white-tailed deer, black bear, and mountain goat, with a particular focus on age and body size. In the second chapter, we aimed to… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Smith, Ewart Anthony, Thesis advisor (ths): Emery, Neil NE, Thesis advisor (ths): Narine, Suresh SN, Degree committee member (dgc): Martic, Sanela SM, Degree committee member (dgc): Kisiala, Anna AK, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>The study examines the phytochemical and phytohormone profiles of two ecotypes of Doliocarpus dentatus (Capadulla) from Guyana with an emphasis on their potential therapeutic applications, particularly in the context of erectile dysfunction. The research concentrates on the red and white ecotypes, which are visibly differentiated by the colouration of their inner and outer bark; moreover… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>DNAJC5, an HSP40 member, supports synaptic vesicle release and protein folding byactivating HSP70 ATPase activity. In humans, it localizes to presynaptic terminals and
endomembrane compartments that are involved in protein trafficking. Mutations in DNAJC5
cause CLN4 disease, a rare adult-onset Batten disease. Dictyostelium discoideum, a model for
neurodegenerative research, encodes a… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Prewer, Erin, Thesis advisor (ths): Kyle, Christopher J, Degree committee member (dgc): Donaldson, Michael, Degree committee member (dgc): Shafer, Aaron, Degree committee member (dgc): Saville, Barry, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Molecular and genomic tools provide a deeper understanding of the ecology and evolution of species and their capacity to adapt to changing selective pressures, where diversity is presumedly linked to higher fitness and evolutionary potential. Molecular tools can also illustrate how historical processes affect contemporary genetic variation to predict how current population trends may… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Baecklund, Tristan Mackenzie, Thesis advisor (ths): Kyle, Christopher J, Degree committee member (dgc): Donaldson, Michael, Degree committee member (dgc): Shafer, Aaron, Degree committee member (dgc): Brown, Glen, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Heterogeneous environments impose discordant selective pressures on natural populations, where disparate biotic/abiotic factors and variable population connectivity, yield mosaic patterns of genetic variation on the landscape. The ability to maintain or change genetic mosaics of populations becomes key to persistence, as species increasingly need to adapt to rapidly changing… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Bare, Evan, Thesis advisor (ths): Murray, Dennis, Thesis advisor (ths): Hossie, Thomas, Degree committee member (dgc): Bogart, Jim, Degree committee member (dgc): Wilson, Chris, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Measuring biodiversity has become increasingly complex as biologists and ecologists have gradually learned more about how biotic systems are structured and interact. Given the wide range of tools, techniques and approaches now in use to quantify biological diversity, it is useful to consider different "dimensions of diversity" to classify these measurements and provide context… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Frog virus 3 (FV3) belongs to the genus Ranavirus within the Iridoviridae family.Its 105,903 base genome encodes 98 open reading frames (ORFs), including ORF 97R, a
putative apoptosis regulator sharing 31% structural similarity with the anti-apoptotic Bcl-
2 family protein, myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1). 97R contains a BH1 domain,
implicated in apoptosis regulation, and a predicted C-… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Methylobacterium spp., a dominant and functionally conserved group of plant-associated bacteria, have long been recognized for their roles in promoting host growth, stress tolerance, and phytohormone modulation. This body of work collectively repositions Methylobacterium not only as a plant growth-promoting genus but also as a promising agent of microbiome-mediated crop protection.… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>A meta-analysis revealed that while there is often a greater degree of contamination of soils and sediments with metals, contamination by mercury (Hg) is a large concern owing to its toxicity at low concentrations. The case study in Guyana characterized Hg and concentrations of other metals (As, Cd, Co, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in soil and sediment within gold mined areas. Metal… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Name(s): Creator (cre): Bonnett, Sarah, Thesis advisor (ths): Nol, Erica, Thesis advisor (ths): Smith, Paul A, Degree committee member (dgc): Nol, Erica, Degree committee member (dgc): Smith, Paul A, Degree committee member (dgc): Brown, Glen, Degree granting institution (dgg): Trent University Abstract: <p>Climate change affects birds' reproductive ecology by altering breeding timing, distribution, and habitat suitability. Snowmelt patterns complicate these changes affecting habitat availability and suitability for birds and their arthropod prey. Snow varies as a function of both large-scale climate patterns and local-scale topography. I used elevational gradients as a proxy for local… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Innovative strategies to manage copious waste streams by upcycling feedstocks to valorized products which are then used in environmental remediation applications is an attractive circular economy model. This thesis explores this approach using waste wood generated from the milling of Chlorocardium rodiei (greenheart), a tropical hardwood species abundant in Guyana. We evaluate the… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Forests play a critical role in the global carbon cycle, acting as carbon sinks that remove and store an estimated 0.4 to 4.1 Pg of atmospheric carbon annually. However, historical acid deposition and timber harvesting have disrupted nutrient cycles, leading to nutrient-deficient soils that hinder tree growth, particularly for sugar maple (Acer saccharum), a keystone species in Ontario… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>The TATA-binding protein (TBP) is a key regulator of eukaryotic transcription initiation. The TBP homolog from Giardia intestinalis (gTBP) is highly divergent among all TBPs; notably lacking three of the four phenylalanine residues to unwind double- stranded DNA. I show that gTBP preferentially binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) in two modes based on sequence and protein concentration… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Mutations in the CLN7 (MFSD8) gene, causes CLN7 disease, a subtype of neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis. MFSD8 is a lysosomal transmembrane protein that transports chloride across membranes. Experimentation regarding Dictyostelium discoideum revealed that mfsd8 deficiency altered lysosomal enzyme activity. During starvation, the aggregation of mfsd8¬¬- cells was delayed, and cells formed… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Microsatellites and microhaplotypes are genetic markers that, through DNA amplicon sequencing, generate genotypes to distinguish between individuals from wildlife populations. Here, these markers were sequenced in caribou (Rangifer tarandus) specimens using Oxford Nanopore's MinION DNA sequencer for the first time. Microsatellite loci previously sequenced with an Illumina MiSeq were… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Trait variation in wild populations is shaped by the interaction of genetics and the environment. Given these interactions, this thesis explored trait variation in white-tailed deer from two angles: one focused on broad-scale environmental factors, the other on fine-scale genetic mechanisms. The first chapter investigated how climate and habitat variation influence antler size,… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Since the mid-Pleistocene, evolutionary histories of North American species were shaped by extreme climatic oscillations involving major range and habitat shifts at a rapid pace. The peopling of the continent and the subsequent human colonisation waves created further pressures affecting North American faunal and plant populations. Cervidae (deer family) are a diverse group which arrived… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Rare earth elements (REEs) are in high demand globally for the green transition and high technologies. The growing demand leads to their release into aquatic ecosystems from various point and non-point sources, which creates urgency to investigate their fate and enrichment. This thesis further investigates the biogeochemical fate and REE uptake mechanisms throughout aquatic ecosystems.… more Year: 2025, 2025
Member of: Trent University Graduate Thesis Collection
Abstract: <p>Flavohemoglobins are enzymes primarily implicated in nitrosative stress due to their high nitric oxide (NO) dioxygenase activity and transcriptional upregulation in response to NO. Giardia intestinalis assemblages A, B, and E possess flavohemoglobins (gFlHb) that may function beyond their NO dioxygenase activity, potentially contributing to oxidative stress regulation, as transcriptional… more
