Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 2 of 2
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Molecular Response Of Spartina Alterniflora To The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Mariano Alvarez
Molecular Response Of Spartina Alterniflora To The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Mariano Alvarez
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Although the “genome as a blueprint” metaphor has been pervasive in biology, recent advances in molecular biology have revealed a complex network of regulatory machinery that dynamically regulated molecular processes in response to environmental conditions. However, these patterns, as well as the evolutionary processes that underlie them, remain understudied in natural conditions. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill released an estimated 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, making landfall on salt marsh habitat dominated by the foundation species Spartina alterniflora. Despite the severe impacts to phenotype and fitness, S. alterniflora proved remarkably resilient in …
Population Genetics And Epigenetics Of Two Salt Marsh Plant Species Along An Environmental Gradient, Christy M. Foust
Population Genetics And Epigenetics Of Two Salt Marsh Plant Species Along An Environmental Gradient, Christy M. Foust
USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations
Phenotypic plasticity is the ability of a given genotype to exhibit different phenotypes in response to environmental variables, which can impact population level processes. Plasticity of ecologically-relevant traits is important to an organism’s environmental response; however, the underlying mechanisms of plasticity are largely unknown. Ecological epigenetics may offer mechanisms (e.g. DNA methylation) underlying phenotypic plasticity. Epigenetics can be defined as the underlying molecular mechanisms that allow one genotype to exhibit different phenotypes. Differential DNA methylation is one epigenetic mechanism that has been correlated with a number of ecologically-relevant traits; including, differential herbivory in Viola cazorlensis, spinescence in Ilex aquifolium …