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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 …
Advancing Behavioural Genomics By Considering Timescale, Clare C. Rittschof, Kimberly A. Hughes
Advancing Behavioural Genomics By Considering Timescale, Clare C. Rittschof, Kimberly A. Hughes
Entomology Faculty Publications
Animal behavioural traits often covary with gene expression, pointing towards a genomic constraint on organismal responses to environmental cues. This pattern highlights a gap in our understanding of the time course of environmentally responsive gene expression, and moreover, how these dynamics are regulated. Advances in behavioural genomics explore how gene expression dynamics are correlated with behavioural traits that range from stable to highly labile. We consider the idea that certain genomic regulatory mechanisms may predict the timescale of an environmental effect on behaviour. This temporally minded approach could inform both organismal and evolutionary questions ranging from the remediation of early …
Characterizing Mekk1: Candidate Behavioural Isolation Gene, Caryn Dooner
Characterizing Mekk1: Candidate Behavioural Isolation Gene, Caryn Dooner
Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository
Behavioural isolation can occur due to divergence in aspects of courtship and mating, and can contribute to reproductive isolation. The purpose of this study is to determine how a gene, Mekk1, contributes to female rejection behaviour between D. melanogaster and D. simulans. Unique polymorphisms were identified within D. simulans Mekk1 that could contribute to behaviour, most of which are non-coding. Both transcripts of Mekk1 appear to be expressed at similar levels in D. simulans and D. melanogaster. These data also indicate that Mekk1 may be expressed in a specific region of the brain called the mushroom body, …
Population And Demographic Structure Of Ixodes Scapularis Say In The Eastern United States., Joyce M. Sakamoto, Jerome Goddard, Jason L. Rasgon
Population And Demographic Structure Of Ixodes Scapularis Say In The Eastern United States., Joyce M. Sakamoto, Jerome Goddard, Jason L. Rasgon
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Publications and Scholarship
INTRODUCTION: The most significant vector of tick-borne pathogens in the United States is Ixodes scapularis Say (the blacklegged tick). Previous studies have identified significant genetic, behavioral and morphological differences between northern vs. southern populations of this tick. Because tick-borne pathogens are dependent on their vectors for transmission, a baseline understanding of the vector population structure is crucial to determining the risks and epidemiology of pathogen transmission. METHODS: We investigated population genetic variation of I. scapularis populations in the eastern United States using a multilocus approach. We sequenced and analyzed the mitochondrial COI and 16S genes and three nuclear genes (serpin2, …
Inbreeding-Stress Interactions: Evolutionary And Conservation Consequences, David H. Reed, Charles W. Fox, Laramy S. Enders, Torsten N. Kristensen
Inbreeding-Stress Interactions: Evolutionary And Conservation Consequences, David H. Reed, Charles W. Fox, Laramy S. Enders, Torsten N. Kristensen
Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications
The effect of environmental stress on the magnitude of inbreeding depression has a long history of intensive study. Inbreeding-stress interactions are of great importance to the viability of populations of conservation concern and have numerous evolutionary ramifications. However, such interactions are controversial. Several meta-analyses over the last decade, combined with omic studies, have provided considerable insight into the generality of inbreeding-stress interactions, its physiological basis, and have provided the foundation for future studies. In this review, we examine the genetic and physiological mechanisms proposed to explain why inbreeding-stress interactions occur. We specifically examine whether the increase in inbreeding depression with …