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Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Plant Mitochondrial Genome Evolution And Structure Has Been Shaped By Double-Strand Break Repair And Recombination, Emily Wynn
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
Plant mitochondrial genomes are large but contain a small number of genes. These genes have very low mutation rates, but genomes rearrange and expand at significant rates. We propose that much of the apparent complexity of plant mitochondrial genomes can be explained by the interactions of double-strand break repair, recombination, and selection. One possible explanation for the disparity between the low mutation rates of genes and the high divergence of non-genes is that synonymous mutations in genes are not truly neutral. In some species, rps14 has been duplicated in the nucleus, allowing the mitochondrial copy to become a pseudogene. By …
The Roles Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Genotypic Specialization In High Altitude Adaptation, Danielle M. Tufts
The Roles Of Phenotypic Plasticity And Genotypic Specialization In High Altitude Adaptation, Danielle M. Tufts
School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
In vertebrates living at high altitude, arterial hypoxemia may be ameliorated by reversible changes in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood (regulated by erythropoiesis) and/or changes in blood–oxygen affinity (regulated by allosteric effectors of hemoglobin function). These hematological traits often differ between taxa that are native to different elevational zones, but it is often unknown whether the observed physiological differences reflect fixed, genetically based differences or environmentally induced acclimatization responses (phenotypic plasticity). Here, we report measurements of hematological traits related to blood–O2 transport in populations of deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) that are native to high- and low-altitude …