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Coevolution Of Cyanogenic Bamboos And Bamboo Lemurs On Madagascar, Daniel J. Ballhorn, Fanny Patrika Rakotoarivelo, Stefanie Kautz Aug 2016

Coevolution Of Cyanogenic Bamboos And Bamboo Lemurs On Madagascar, Daniel J. Ballhorn, Fanny Patrika Rakotoarivelo, Stefanie Kautz

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Feeding strategies of specialist herbivores often originate from the coevolutionary arms race of plant defenses and counter-adaptations of herbivores. The interaction between bamboo lemurs and cyanogenic bamboos on Madagascar represents a unique system to study diffuse coevolutionary processes between mammalian herbivores and plant defenses. Bamboo lemurs have different degrees of dietary specialization while bamboos show different levels of chemical defense. In this study, we found variation in cyanogenic potential (HCNp) and nutritive characteristics among five sympatric bamboo species in the Ranomafana area, southeastern Madagascar. The HCNp ranged from 209±72 μmol cyanide* g-1 dwt in Cathariostachys madagascariensis to no cyanide …


Mutation Selection On The Metabolic Pathway And The Effects On Protein Co-Evolution And The Rate Limiting Steps On The Tree Of Life, Katherine S. Porter Jul 2016

Mutation Selection On The Metabolic Pathway And The Effects On Protein Co-Evolution And The Rate Limiting Steps On The Tree Of Life, Katherine S. Porter

Mathematics Summer Fellows

Metabolic pathways are made of a series of reactions by enzymes at different speeds. These pathways include the rate limiting step, which is the slowest step that determines the rate of the overall reaction. To date, one study has examined the pathway of glycolysis and found no evidence of evolutionary stability of its rate limiting step. In addition, phylogenetic evidence has shown evolution in the pathway over time including gene duplication and positive selection within the pathway. This evidence suggests that there is coevolutionary selection on glycolysis. The evidence from this previous study is simulation-based. The Michaelis-Menten kinetics that describe …


Phylogenetic Analysis Of Human Cytomegalovirus Pus27 And Pus28: Ascertaining An Independent Or Linked Evolutionary History, Jessica A. Scarborough May 2016

Phylogenetic Analysis Of Human Cytomegalovirus Pus27 And Pus28: Ascertaining An Independent Or Linked Evolutionary History, Jessica A. Scarborough

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is a widespread pathogen that is particularly skilled at evading immune detection and defense mechanisms, largely due to extensive co-evolution with its host’s immune system. One aspect of this co-evolution involves the acquisition of four virally encoded GPCR chemokine receptor homologs, products of the US27, US28, UL33 and UL78 genes. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) are the largest family of cell surface proteins, found in organisms from yeast to humans. In this research, phylogenetic analysis was used to investigate the origins of the US27 and US28 genes, which are adjacent in the viral genome. The results indicate that …


Genetic And Temporal Variation In Resource Exchange Between An Ectomycorrhizal Fungus, Rhizopogon Occidentalis, And Seedlings Of Pinus Radiata, Mariah Meachum Jan 2016

Genetic And Temporal Variation In Resource Exchange Between An Ectomycorrhizal Fungus, Rhizopogon Occidentalis, And Seedlings Of Pinus Radiata, Mariah Meachum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Various economic theories have been adapted to explain the evolutionary persistence of resource exchange mutualisms such as mycorrhizae. The ratio of resources exchanged is an important variable comto all these models. Measuring resource exchange ratios is the first step in testing the hypotheses predicted by these models and will provide insight into resource dynamics of mutualisms. We examined how the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus resource exchange dynamics between Pinus radiata and an ectomycorrhizal fungus, Rhizopogon occidentalis, varied between native populations of Pinus radiata and over the first 64 weeks of the mycorrhizal mutualism. Using a mycocosm approach, the C:N and …