b'Department of BiologyMedicinal and Commercial Properties of Illicium verumand Related SpeciesLukas SmidtasSponsor: Dr. Richard CarterResearchers in the field of ethnobotany continue to use ancient records in order to discover sources of new medicines. Illicium verum, native to Asia where it has been used medicinally by humans for more than 1,000 years, is reported to have medicinal properties that combat against an array of diseases and viruses. Illicium verum is compared both morphologically and chemically with its two sister species: Illicium anisatum, an Asian species, and Illicium floridanum, a species native to southeastern North America. Researchers have targeted various naturally occurring organic compounds, including shikimic acid in a variety of forms. One study focused on the antifungal properties of Illicium verum by experimenting with different plant pathogenic fungi in order to determine inhibitory and antifungal activity. Results showed favorable antifungal properties that were deemed safe for agricultural use. Another study showed that Illicium verum has anti-viral properties against avian viruses such as infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). Positive outcomes from such studies have led to the creation of Tamiflu, an anti-viral medication widely used to combat symptoms caused by avian viruses, and other applications.Determining Reproductive Parameters for two Distinct Geographic Locations of Lined Seahorses, Hippocampus erectusJennifer R. Nelson, Brylie A. RitchieSponsor: Dr. Emily RosePredicting reproductive rates and offspring survivorship trends are a challenging, yet vital component of protecting and conserving populations of endangered species, such as the lined seahorse, Hippocampus erectus. Previous studies in seahorses have shown that the offspring from larger males had higher survivorship and smaller sized broods had faster growth rates. We are investigating intraspecific variation in number and size of offspring, relative to the fathers size, for two distinct geographic populations of the lined seahorses. Pregnant fathers and their offspring were photographed in Tampa Bay, Florida and Eleuthera, Bahamas, to obtain size measurements using the program ImageJ. Ongoing analyses are being conducted to determine if there are significant differences between the number of offspring in the broods and sizes of baby seahorses both within and between Florida and Bahamian populations. Preliminary analyses indicate that the pregnant adult male seahorses collected in the Bahamas were significantly smaller than the pregnant males retrieved in trawl nets in Tampa. The results from our work will provide a better understanding of the reproductive biology of these two critical populations of the lined seahorse and enable us to make predictions about the relationship between offspring size and reproductive rates for this endangered species.12'