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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Population Genetics Of Transposable Element Load: A Mechanistic Account Of Observed Overdispersion, Gregory Conradi Smith, Ron D. Smith, Joshua Puzey Jul 2022

Population Genetics Of Transposable Element Load: A Mechanistic Account Of Observed Overdispersion, Gregory Conradi Smith, Ron D. Smith, Joshua Puzey

Arts & Sciences Articles

In an empirical analysis of transposable element (TE) abundance within natural populations of Mimulus guttatus and Drosophila melanogaster, we found a surprisingly high variance of TE count (e.g., variance-to-mean ratio on the order of 10 to 300). To obtain insight regarding the evolutionary genetic mechanisms that underlie the overdispersed population distributions of TE abundance, we developed a mathematical model of TE population genetics that includes the dynamics of element proliferation and purifying selection on TE load. The modeling approach begins with a master equation for a birth-death process and extends the predictions of the classical theory of TE dynamics in …


Use Of Nest Web Cameras And Citizen Science To Quantify Osprey Prey Delivery Rate And Nest Success, Michael H. Academia, Harmony J. Dalgleish Jun 2022

Use Of Nest Web Cameras And Citizen Science To Quantify Osprey Prey Delivery Rate And Nest Success, Michael H. Academia, Harmony J. Dalgleish

Arts & Sciences Articles

Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are obligate piscivores and their nesting success depends on sufficient amounts of fish delivered to the nests during the breeding season. Nests are considered successful when pairs raise a minimum of one young to fledging or near-fledging age. Through web cameras and online broadcasts of Osprey nests, citizen scientists quantified daily number of fish deliveries, nest survival, and nest success. We received and analyzed curated data (one to seven seasons, 2014–2020) from citizen scientist groups representing 19 Osprey web cameras from four countries in North America and Europe. We compared the average and the coefficient …


Transcriptomes Of Electrophysiologically Recorded Dbx1-Derived Respiratory Neurons Of The Prebötzinger Complex In Neonatal Mice, Prajkta S. Kallurkar, Maria Cristina D. Picardo, Yae K. Sugimura, Margaret Saha, Gregory D. Conradi Smith, Christopher A. Del Negro Feb 2022

Transcriptomes Of Electrophysiologically Recorded Dbx1-Derived Respiratory Neurons Of The Prebötzinger Complex In Neonatal Mice, Prajkta S. Kallurkar, Maria Cristina D. Picardo, Yae K. Sugimura, Margaret Saha, Gregory D. Conradi Smith, Christopher A. Del Negro

Arts & Sciences Articles

Breathing depends on interneurons in the preBötzinger complex (preBötC) derived from Dbx1-expressing precursors. Here we investigate whether rhythm- and pattern-generating functions reside in discrete classes of Dbx1 preBötC neurons. In a slice model of breathing with ~ 5 s cycle period, putatively rhythmogenic Type-1 Dbx1 preBötC neurons activate 100–300 ms prior to Type-2 neurons, putatively specialized for output pattern, and 300–500 ms prior to the inspiratory motor output. We sequenced Type-1 and Type-2 transcriptomes and identified differential expression of 123 genes including ionotropic receptors (Gria3, Gabra1) that may explain their preinspiratory activation profiles and Ca2+ signaling ( …