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Full-Text Articles in Entomology
The Effects Of Internal Physiology On Polyphenic Horn Development In The Dung Beetle Onthophagus Taurus, Naomi Garrett Williamson
The Effects Of Internal Physiology On Polyphenic Horn Development In The Dung Beetle Onthophagus Taurus, Naomi Garrett Williamson
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
An organism’s phenotype can be affected in development by alterations to gene expression based on environmental inputs. Nutrition is one such environmental input and the central regulator of development of large horn or small horn phenotypes in the dung beetle species, Onthophagus taurus. However, little is known about the nature of chemical compounds that are critical to this plastic horn development. To better understand these compounds, we are utilizing an untargeted metabolomic approach as well as a targeted gene approach. Through the metabolomic approach, it was uncovered that environmental conditions tend to have a greater impact on metabolomic composition …
The Host Gatekeeper: Using The Flagellar Pathway To Understand Symbiont Host Adaptation, Adam R. Pollio
The Host Gatekeeper: Using The Flagellar Pathway To Understand Symbiont Host Adaptation, Adam R. Pollio
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
The acquisition of microbial partners is a strategy used by a diverse group of arthropods to overcome ecological barriers that might normally make certain niches uninhabitable. The unique phylogenetic opportunities attainable from the natural experiment of the Sodalis-allied clade allow for better understanding of how molecular structures evolve through time. Here, we focus on the evolution of the flagellar synthesis pathway, due to its complexity and ability to diverge in response to ecological pressures. We used this molecular pathway and natural experiment to show that normal evolutionary outcomes associated with symbiosis (i.e., genome reduction) do not explain the predicted conservation …
Trees, Fungi, Insects: How Host Plant Genetics Builds A Community, Sandra Jeanne Simon
Trees, Fungi, Insects: How Host Plant Genetics Builds A Community, Sandra Jeanne Simon
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Organisms, such as fungi and insects, can cause millions of acres of agricultural and forest damage, while others provide billions of dollars in ecological services such as education, aesthetic enjoyment, pollination, and gardening. Plant breeding and biotechnology can potentially help establish a balance between the proliferation of detrimental pests and attraction of beneficial insects. Variation in plant physiological and morphological characteristics are extremely important in the ability of host tissues to support many different types of organisms. When that variation is genetically heritable in a plant population, shifts in the underlying genes can have predictable consequences in structuring entire ecosystems. …