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Full-Text Articles in Biology
Evolution Of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels, Kevin Gregory Bennett, Kevin Bennett
Evolution Of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels, Kevin Gregory Bennett, Kevin Bennett
Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses
Voltage-gated Ion Channels (VICs) form a superfamily of energy-independent membrane transporters that facilitate the transfer of charged sodium, calcium, and potassium ions across the cell membrane (Hodgkin & Huxley 1952). The channels contain a selective ion-conducting pore along with several other structural and gating features that come together to form a functional hetero- or homotetramer. A comprehensive phylogenetic study of all available proteins aimed at finding unknown distribution and illuminating evolutionary paths would be immensely useful in understanding relationships of structure, function, and organismal distribution. This phylogenetic analysis of VICs will be immensely useful in characterizing functional and structural distribution, …
Differences In The Communicative Behavior And Neurobiology Of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) And Bonobos (Pan Paniscus), Brittany Moore
Differences In The Communicative Behavior And Neurobiology Of Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes) And Bonobos (Pan Paniscus), Brittany Moore
Master of Science in Integrative Biology Theses
Chimpanzees and bonobos have distinctly different vocalizations, but it is unclear why these differences have evolved. We hypothesized that differences in habitat and feeding ecology have selected for bonobos to have an increased reliance on vocal communication compared to chimpanzees. To evaluate this hypothesis 1571 chimpanzee vocal events and 612 bonobo vocal events were analyzed. After analyzing and coding video of communicative interactions it was determined that chimpanzees are more likely than bonobos to utilize multimodal communication and to direct vocalizations to an individual conspecific. Bonobos were more likely than chimpanzees to produce a vocalization that was not bound to …
Electrosensory Ampullary Organs Are Derived From Lateral Line Placodes In Bony Fishes, Melissa S. Modrell, William E. Benis, R. Glenn Northcutt, Marcus C. Davis, Clare V.H. Baker
Electrosensory Ampullary Organs Are Derived From Lateral Line Placodes In Bony Fishes, Melissa S. Modrell, William E. Benis, R. Glenn Northcutt, Marcus C. Davis, Clare V.H. Baker
Faculty and Research Publications
Electroreception is an ancient subdivision of the lateral line sensory system, found in all major vertebrate groups (though lost in frogs, amniotes and most ray-finned fishes). Electroreception is mediated by 'hair cells' in ampullary organs, distributed in fields flanking lines of mechanosensory hair cell-containing neuromasts that detect local water movement. Neuromasts, and afferent neurons for both neuromasts and ampullary organs, develop from lateral line placodes. Although ampullary organs in the axolotl (a representative of the lobe-finned clade of bony fishes) are lateral line placode-derived, non-placodal origins have been proposed for electroreceptors in other taxa. Here we show morphological and molecular …