Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2006. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Committee on Evolutionary Biology, August 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Title from web page (viewed on Apr. 29, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 1998. / Title from document title page. "December 11, 1998." Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 94 p. : ill. (some col.) Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-55).

No description available.

Mosses display a number of hallmark life history traits that influence their ecology at the population and community level. The long lived separation of sexes observed in the haploid gametophyte (dioicy) is one such feature of particular importance, as it is observed in the majority of bryophytes and creates intraspecific specialization of male and female individuals. The prevalence of sexually dimorphic mosses raises the possibility of sex-specific interactions with fungi as observed in some vascular plants. Here I investigated how moss sex shapes fungal communities associated with gametophytic tissues of the ubiquitous moss, Ceratodon purpureus. Using greenhouse populations of C. purpureus grown in a common garden, I examined fungal community structure and overall abundance of fungal biomass associated with male and female individuals from multiple populations. I hypothesized that individual mosses would harbor unique fungal communities based on their sex, and that overall fungal biomass associated with host tissues would differ significantly due to differences in morphological and physiological characteristics between the sexes. I found that fungal community composition and overall abundance (i.e. biomass) differ between male and female individuals of C. purpureus, and that sex-specific patterns are retained across individuals from three different populations. This work provides a first glance at how genetically based sexual systems in early land plants influence affiliated fungal community composition.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the World Wide Web.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University,2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.94-104).

Parasitism is a common phenomenon in nature, where one species benefits at the expense of another. In marine environments, fungal parasites are known to infect phytoplankton, causing disease and death, and contributing to the loss of phytoplankton populations. The impact of fungal parasites on phytoplankton communities can be significant, as selective parasitism on one species of phytoplankton can encourage the development of other species and may be one of the factors influencing communities' seasonal succession. Fungi parasites play a crucial role in sinking by inducing cell death and promoting cell aggregation, which can lead to the export of phytoplankton to the deep sea. Although fungal parasites are well studied in freshwater phytoplankton, there is still little information on marine phytoplankton parasites. Recent studies have shown that large diatoms are the preferred hosts for fungal parasites in cold waters, while the infection of dinoflagellates is reported in the oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea. However, the occurrence and impact of fungal parasites on phytoplankton communities in the Red Sea remain largely unknown. Therefore, the proposed project aims to investigate the occurrence of fungal parasites that infect phytoplankton and analyze their role in the export of phytoplankton to the deep sea in the Red Sea. By understanding the ecological impacts, life cycle, host range, and infection strategies of fungal parasites on populations of Red Sea phytoplankton, this study can provide critical information on the dynamics of marine ecosystems and carbon cycling.