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Dna Methylation Among Chestnut-Crowned Babblers, Caddie E. Nguyen
Dna Methylation Among Chestnut-Crowned Babblers, Caddie E. Nguyen
Honors College Theses
Many Australian birds, including chestnut-crowned babblers, commonly use cooperative breeding. In these species, individuals may delay or refuse dispersal to provide care to the offspring of the others instead of producing their own. This system challenges natural selection evolution and postulates that reproductively advantage genes will be more favorable. One possibility that contributes to chestnut-crowned babblers’ dispersal behavior is the epigenetic modifications interacting between the genome and the environment during development. Chestnut-crowned babblers (Pomatostomus ruficeps) are usually found in arid and semi-arid zones, which are varied and poor-conditioned. In the undesired conditions, helpers are needed for breeding to occur …
The Role Of Valproic Acid, A Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, In Reducing Anxiety Levels In Rats: An Epigenetics Study, Juliet Buteme
The Role Of Valproic Acid, A Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, In Reducing Anxiety Levels In Rats: An Epigenetics Study, Juliet Buteme
Honors College Theses
Rats, like humans, show personality traits: they are born with different anxiety levels (i.e., high (HAn) or low anxiety (LAn) levels). In this study, we investigated (1) if treatment with valproic acid (VPA) can lower anxiety level in trait anxiety rats and (2) how VPA may interact with environment (e.g., enriched (EE), standard (SE) and isolated environments (IE)). VPA is a deacetylase inhibitor that increases Histone 3 acetylation, a known epigenetic mechanism that interacts with stress response proteins, and treats epilepsy and mood disorders. Since rats reared in IE exhibit heightened anxiety levels as compared to those in EE, we …