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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Molecular Evolutionary Analysis Of The American Pika (Ochotona Princeps), Andrew Michael Rankin
Molecular Evolutionary Analysis Of The American Pika (Ochotona Princeps), Andrew Michael Rankin
All NMU Master's Theses
American pika (Ochotona princeps) are small winter-active mammals inhabiting alpine environments. As the American pika occupies a niche characterized by hypoxia, these animals are an excellent system to use for detecting genetic changes associated with adaptation to these conditions. American pika populations were located at lower elevations during glacials, and shifted upslope during interglacials. In this scenario, pikas would have experienced increased selective pressure to develop adaptations to hypoxia. Here, I use a candidate gene approach to identify molecular signals of adaptation in the American pika genome. I first examined the sequences of 54 candidate genes for adaptation …
Molecular Variation In Avp And Avpr1a In New World Monkeys (Primates, Platyrrhini): Evolution And Implications For Social Monogamy, Dongren Ren, Kelvin R. Chin, Jeffrey French
Molecular Variation In Avp And Avpr1a In New World Monkeys (Primates, Platyrrhini): Evolution And Implications For Social Monogamy, Dongren Ren, Kelvin R. Chin, Jeffrey French
Biology Faculty Publications
The neurohypophysial hormone arginine vasopressin (AVP) plays important roles in fluid regulation and vascular resistance. Differences in AVP receptor expression, particularly mediated through variation in the noncoding promoter region of the primary receptor for AVP (AVPR1a), may play a role in social phenotypes, particularly social monogamy, in rodents and humans. Among primates, social monogamy is rare, but is common among New World monkeys (NWM). AVP is a nonapeptide and generally conserved among eutherian mammals, although a recent paper demonstrated that some NWM species possess a novel form of the related neuropeptide hormone, oxytocin. We therefore characterized variation in the AVP …
A Homogenizing Process Of Selection Has Maintained An 'Ultra-Slow' Acetylation Nat2 Variant In Humans, Blandine Patillon, Pierre Luisi, Estella S. Poloni, Sotiria Boukouvala, Pierre Darlu, E. Genin, Audrey Sabbagh
A Homogenizing Process Of Selection Has Maintained An 'Ultra-Slow' Acetylation Nat2 Variant In Humans, Blandine Patillon, Pierre Luisi, Estella S. Poloni, Sotiria Boukouvala, Pierre Darlu, E. Genin, Audrey Sabbagh
Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints
N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) is an important enzyme involved in the metabolism of a wide spectrum of naturally occurring xenobiotics, including therapeutic drugs and common environmental carcinogens. Extensive polymorphism in NAT2 gives rise to a wide interindividual variation in acetylation capacity which influences individual susceptibility to various drug-induced adverse reactions and cancers. Striking patterns of geographic differentiation have been described for the main slow acetylation variants of the NAT2 gene, suggesting the action of natural selection at this locus. In the present study, we took advantage of the whole-genome sequence data available from the 1000 Genomes project to investigate the …
Celiac Disease As A Model For The Evolution Of Multifactorial Disease In Humans, Aaron Sams, John Hawks
Celiac Disease As A Model For The Evolution Of Multifactorial Disease In Humans, Aaron Sams, John Hawks
Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints
Celiac disease (CD) is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory condition that results in injury of the mucosal lining of the small intestine upon ingestion of wheat gluten and related proteins from barley and rye. Although the exact mechanisms leading to CD are not fully understood, the genetic basis of CD has been relatively well characterized. In this review we briefly review the history of discovery, clinical presentation, pathophysiology, and current understanding of the genetics underlying CD risk. Then, we discuss what is known about the current distribution and evolutionary history of genes underlying CD risk in light of other evolutionary models …
Biology: What One Needs To Know, Ursula Goodenough
Biology: What One Needs To Know, Ursula Goodenough
Biology Faculty Publications & Presentations
Biology on this planet represents an astonishing experiment in carbon-based chemistry which, over billions of years, has generated billions of species adapted to countless major and minor fluctuations in ecological circumstances. In one sense there is no way to generalize about biology. While biological activities can all be ultimately explained by physical laws (like everything else in the universe), it is the emergent intensely particular properties of organisms that most interest us. This essay represents an attempt to describe some of the more prominent patterns that emerge from the sea of biological particularities, patterns that present many opportunities for religious …