John W. Thieret (1926–2005), an internationally recognized American plant taxonomist, is remembered as a consummate field botanist, exemplary teacher, acclaimed author, superb editor, fine herbarium director, inspiring mentor to students and colleagues, and noble friend.

Marauding snails may not immediately come to mind when considering invasive species, but many non-native snails have successfully colonized the U.S. The wood snail, Cepaea nemoralis (L.), is one of the most striking of these introductions, due in part to its attractive shell coloration. This is one of the few snails that people have purposely introduced into their gardens. Several populations are now established in Kentucky, including a newly discovered population in Kenton County. The bright, striped or solid, yellow, pink, and brown shells of this species have long caught the eyes of natural historians and biologists. Populations of these snails are classic model systems for ecological genetics studies. While introduced populations of wood snails seem to have had only minor impact as agricultural pests, they may have the potential to competitively exclude some native species of snails.

The objectives of this study were to describe the (1) location of Proterometra macrostoma rediae in the snail intermediate host, Elimia semicarinata, and (2) daily emergence of cercariae from individual snails over 3 weeks. Decalcification and histological sections of infected snails revealed rediae restricted to the bottom whorl within the mantle cavity in close association with the host gills. A continuous, low-level emergence of cercariae (0.25–0.833 larvae/snail/day) was observed over 21 days. Both moderately frequent (7–12 days) and infrequent (2–6 days) shedding of cercariae were observed (i.e., mean ± SE = 7.3 ± 0.4 days; range = 2–12 days), but no consistent pattern was apparent. The average ± SE number of rediae was significantly smaller in snails shedding only 2–6 days (11.9 ± 2.9) than snails shedding between 7–12 days (35.2 ± 8.5) at the termination of the experiment.

The objectives of this study were to describe the effect of light wavelength and osmolality on the vertical swimming distance of the cercaria of Proterometra macrostoma. Significant differences were found in the average swimming distances and electrical burst activity in the tail of cercariae exposed to red vs. blue, green or white light, but no difference was observed when the last three colors were compared to one another with one exception. Cercarial swimming decreased slightly after 12 hr PE (post-exposure) in artificial pond water (15 mOsm) and artificial snail water (102 mOsm). By contrast, a significant reduction in swimming distance was observed in distilled water (0 mOsm) and artificial snail water with two different concentrations of mannitol (180 and 267 mOsm).

The objectives of this study were (1) to use egg development in the adult worm of Proterometra macrostoma as a means to delineate new infections of centrarchid fishes with this digenean and (2) to assess histopathology associated with infection of the fish host. An equal mix of adult worm ages/types based on eggs stages was produced by exposing individual hatchery-reared bluegill to the same number of cercariae at weekly intervals. These results confirmed the use of egg stages for differentiating recent vs. older infections in fishes from North Elkhorn Creek, Scott County, Kentucky, during June and July 2002. Between 50.5% and 74.4% of worms recovered from naturally infected warmouth, bluegill, and longear sunfish lacked eggs or possessed eggs in early cleavage with a large vitelline mass implicating summer as a period for new infections of fishes with this worm. A proportionately smaller number of P. macrostoma containing eggs in late cleavage (11.4–20.5%) or with miracidia (14.6–29.7%) was also found at this time. In experimental infections of hatchery-reared bluegill, damage to the host mucosa appeared restricted to the attachment site. The oral sucker of adult worms constricted the mucosa of the host esophagus and stomach, causing hemorrhaging and epithelial necrosis. Complete detachment of host tissue in the oral sucker of many worms was confirmed through serial sections, yet no experimentally infected fish died before they were sacrificed at the end of this study.

Opioid receptors belong to the superfamily of G protein coupled receptors and are primarily responsive to opiates to produce analgesia, but opiates also produce a variety of side effects. One goal of computational chemistry is to determine the interactions between a ligand and protein. This knowledge could allow for the development of opioid agonists without current side effects. Homology models of human mu, kappa, and delta receptors were developed based on a previously validated homology model of the endothelial differentiation gene. Docking of native ligand, morphine, was performed. The results indicate that the docking studies identified the actual active site in the model. Morphine had hydrogen bonds to Asp211, His361, and Ser381 in the mu receptor, and hydrogen bonds to Asp138 and His291 in the kappa receptor. Morphine had hydrogen bonds to Asp128 and His278 in the delta receptor. This correlates well with experimental data. We predict, based on the models, that mutation of Ser319 to alanine in the mu receptor would confer delta type binding. We further predict that mutation of Tyr312 to tryptophan in the kappa receptor would confer mu type binding. If Tyr312 were mutated to leucine, the resulting receptor would have delta type binding.

We conducted dose-response studies of the toxicity of salicylate (SA; a putative signal molecule for enhancement of plant disease resistance [EPDR]) toward plant-pathogenic fungi. SA concentrations ≥10.0 mM were required for complete inhibition of fungal growth from mycelial plugs. SA doses of 2.0–5.0 mM typically reduced fungal growth by 50%, whereas doses of 0.5 mM or lower had little or no effect on fungal growth. However, growth of several test fungi was completely inhibited by 2.0 mM SA combined with concentrations of cupric chloride, antifungal bacterial culture fluids, or neem extract that were otherwise only slightly to moderately inhibitory. We conclude that (1) endogenous SA concentrations (up to 10.0–100.0 μM) are unlikely to directly inhibit fungi in plants, (2) concentrations of exogenous SA applied for EPDR (2.0–10.0 mM) are likely to be only moderately inhibitory to fungi, and (3) additions of other antifungal materials with which SA synergizes may enhance the antifungal activity of SA applied to plant surfaces for EPDR. The latter conclusion provides a rationale for further study of the synergistic interactions of moderately active antifungal materials for practical plant disease control.

This paper presents the Kentucky baccalaureate origins of men, women, and under-represented group U.S. citizen doctoral recipients in the biological sciences, chemistry, and physics from 1978 through 2002. Counterintuitive results are reported for chemistry and physics. For these disciplines, institutions with an undergraduate focus and smaller science infrastructure have outperformed Kentucky's research universities.

Further, the results suggest that little or no attention has been paid in a systemic manner to any Kentucky under-represented minority group during this period. Conversely, there has been significant growth in the percentage and absolute numbers of U.S. women earning doctoral degrees in the biological sciences and in chemistry after receiving Kentucky baccalaureate degrees.