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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Integrative Biology

2018

Evolution

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

A Novel Body Coloration Phenotype In Anolis Sagrei: Implications For Physiology, Fitness, And Predation, Yasmeen Erritouni, Beth Reinke, Ryan Calsbeek Dec 2018

A Novel Body Coloration Phenotype In Anolis Sagrei: Implications For Physiology, Fitness, And Predation, Yasmeen Erritouni, Beth Reinke, Ryan Calsbeek

Beth Reinke

In animals, color signals that convey information about quality are often associated with costs linked to the expression of coloration and may therefore be honest signals of sender quality. Honest indicators are often seen in sexual signals that are used by males to advertise quality to females. Carotenoid and pterin pigments are responsible for yellow, orange, and red coloration in a variety of taxa, but can also serve important roles as antioxidants by reducing free radicals in the body. In this study, we test the effects of a novel full-bodied orange color phenotype of the brown anole, Anolis sagrei, on …

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Evolution Of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels, Kevin Gregory Bennett, Kevin Bennett May 2018

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, …

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Natural And Anthropogenic Drivers Of Tree Evolutionary Dynamics, Brandon M. Lind Jan 2018

Natural And Anthropogenic Drivers Of Tree Evolutionary Dynamics, Brandon M. Lind

Theses and Dissertations

Species of trees inhabit diverse and heterogeneous environments, and often play important ecological roles in such communities. As a result of their vast ecological breadth, trees have become adapted to various environmental pressures. In this dissertation I examine various environmental factors that drive evolutionary dynamics in threePinusspecies in California and Nevada, USA. In chapter two, I assess the role of management influence of thinning, fire, and their interaction on fine-scale gene flow within fire-suppressed populations of Pinus lambertiana, a historically dominant and ecologically important member of mixed-conifer forests of the Sierra Nevada, California. Here, I find evidence …

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