transfer in

Old Dominion forward Brianna Jackson

rebounds per game in a reserve role last year.

Jackson, a 6-foot-3 forward, is a former four-star recruit who started her career at Miami. She was the 17th-ranked player in the 2019 class.

stacks up now.

Remaining players:

Hannah Gusters

Anna Gret Asi

Lior Garzon

Praise Egharevba

Landry Williams

Transferred in:

Just when it looked like the transfer carousel was settling down, OSU women’s basketball coach Jacie Hoyt brought it back to life.

Brianna Jackson committed to the Cowgirls’ basketball team on Wednesday, transferring from Old Dominion, where she averaged 6.4 points and 4.5

SINCE 1957,

At Miami, Jackson played in all 30 games last year and had 16 starts. She played just 10 games in her sophomore season and decided to transfer to Old Dominion.

Jackson’s best season at Old Dominion was her first season in 2021-22 with 21 starts and an average of 1.44 blocks per game.

Jackson’s addition fills the Cowgirls’ roster to 15 players, the same number as last season.

Here’s how the Cowgirls’ roster

Quincy Noble

Rylee Langerman

Ioanna Chatzileonti

Kennedy Fauntleroy

Ale’Jah Douglas

Chandler Prater

Brianna Jackson

Incoming freshmen:

Stailee Heard

Mai Gailbraith

Brenna Butler sports.ed@ocolly.com

A study at Oklahoma State University has revealed a type of fungi that lives in environments without oxygen. Little is known about their distribution patterns, host range and diversity, but thanks to researchers at OSU, researchers have made remarkable insights into the diversity and evolution of anaerobic gut fungi in herbivorous animals.

The research project is led by Mostafa Elshahed and Noha Youssef, whom are professors in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Knowledge has significantly grown thanks to their efforts and need for understanding.

“We have always been fascinated by these interesting critters,” Elshahed said. “These anaerobic gut fungi play a crucial role in host nutrition by breaking down plant material into simpler products.”

OSU scientists and graduate students Casey Meili, Adrienne Jones and Carrie Pratt from the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, and Dr. Andrew Foote, a professor in the Department of Animal and Food Science conducted the research—as well as scientists from 17 institutions in 12 countries.

The team’s goal was to examine the global diversity of these fungi and understand the factors that influence gut microbial communities, both ecologically and evolutionary. The National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology and Biodiversity Sciences.

Nature Communications recently published the study, titled “Patterns and determinants of the global herbivorous mycobiome”

“This study ended up revealing 56 previously undiscovered fungal genera,” Youssef said. “This doubles the known anaerobic fungal diversity uncovered over the past 50 years of research.”

Thirty four species of planteating animals collected hundreds of fecal samples for the team to analyze DNA sequences using a variety of computational tools that highlighted the fungal diversity and community structure, without the need to grow the fungi in the lab. The team documented the occurrence of novel fungi and used the data set to understand patterns of fungal distribution in their hosts.

“We uncovered an interesting pattern where animals that are more genetically related to each other (for example goats and sheep or horses and mules) harbor a collection of fungi that are also more similar to each other than to the communities in less related hosts,” Elshahed said. “On the other hand, domestication, geography, and diet appear to play more minor roles in determining the gut fungal community.”

The researchers discovered an interesting evolutionary phenomenon by combining genomics and fossil dating with ecological insights. What they uncovered was that many fungal genera appear to have co-evolved with their preferred animal hosts.

For example, the evolution of the horse family Equidae occurred at roughly the same time (55 million years ago) as the emergence of their preferred fungal genus Khoyollomyces.

“It appears that fungi and animals that evolve together stay together,” Youssef said. “Such evolutionary-based associations appear to be retained today meaning that by looking at present ecological distribution patterns, we could begin to better understand the evolutionary relationships of the past.”

The identification of these novel genera and the understanding of their evolutionary history have a great effect on future studies on anaerobic fungi and the development of targeted interventions for animal health and nutrition.

Isolation efforts are currently underway, the researchers are hopeful they will be able to learn more about the functional role of these fungi. The novel enzymes and antibiotics produced by these organisms could be utilized in biotechnology, agriculture and health.

Surplus Auction

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Mon–Fri 9:30–6:30, Sat 9:30–5:30, Sun 1–5

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When combined with struggling infrastructure, the record heat poses an even greater risk than in years past. Visits to emergency departments due to heat-related illnesses are 1.5 times higher this year than they were at the same time in 2022. These illnesses, including heat stroke, may lead to organ damage or death if not treated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Early-season h\eat waves, like the current one affecting Oklahoma and Texas, are particularly dangerous as most individuals have not yet adapted to higher temperatures. Young children, the elderly, and individuals on certain medications are at further risk, according to the Mayo Clinic. Forecasts from the National Weather Service show much of Oklahoma and Texas will continue to see temperatures near or over 100 degrees for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, the CDC advises individuals in regions under heat advisories to stay well-hydrated, limit strenuous activity outdoors, and take advantage of cooling centers and air-conditioned facilities.