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Genetics and Genomics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Genetics and Genomics

Investigation Of Neurotransmitter’S Knockdown Effect On Drosophila Melanogaster Female Aggression, Asil N. El Galad Aug 2022

Investigation Of Neurotransmitter’S Knockdown Effect On Drosophila Melanogaster Female Aggression, Asil N. El Galad

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) is a popular model organism in neurobiology. While aggression has been studied heavily in male drosophila, there's minimal research on aggression in female drosophila. Neurotransmitters influencing aggressive behaviour in female D. melanogaster are poorly understood. Various neurotransmitters such as dopamine, octopamine, and serotonin influence aggression in D. melanogaster Further investigation of the role of neurotransmitters on aggression is thus important. The purpose of our experiment is to observe the effect of the knockdown of dopamine, octopamine and glutamate on aggression in female D. melanogaster.


Utilizing Rnai Technology To Develop Novel Agricultural Pesticides, Ethan B. Zand Aug 2022

Utilizing Rnai Technology To Develop Novel Agricultural Pesticides, Ethan B. Zand

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

A general description of why RNAi based pesticide technology is a breakthrough technology able to target only pests while not harming others. This presentation gives a summary of RNAi technology, the current drawbacks of conventional pesticides, and our research on how RNAi can be used against the two-spotted spidermite; a polyphagic pest that causes significant financial damage to Canadian and worldwide agriculture


My Summer Working With Two-Spotted Spider Mites, Renée A. Smith Aug 2022

My Summer Working With Two-Spotted Spider Mites, Renée A. Smith

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Two-spotted spider mites are a polyphagous pest, capable of eating a magnitude of food crops which causes a large problem for Canadian agriculture. Their ability to consume various crops stems from their ability to adapt to various chemical defence mechanisms. This ability allows them to acquire resistance to many commonly used pesticides. This has resulted in large infections in Canadian farms with few options to prevent the pests from affecting crop yields. Take a look at my project if you'd like to see how the Grbic lab is working to combat this issue using genetic engineering techniques!


Rna-Interference As A Topical Pesticide, Eleanor Khochaba Aug 2022

Rna-Interference As A Topical Pesticide, Eleanor Khochaba

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Tetranychus urticae are a species of pests that are very problematic in agricultural environments, as they cause lots of damage to a wide variety of crops. One step in figuring out a solution to this problem is through the use of RNA interference. After synchronizing the spider mites, they are treated with the dsRNA solution. The dsRNA is cleavage inside the mite, and the siRNA fragments then bind to a target gene in hopes of homologous sequence recognition leading to knockout/deregulation of the target gene. After treatment, the mites are observed for multiple variables, primarily fecundity and survival. If a …


Examining The Effect Of Knocking Down Dopamine Receptors In Fruitless Sexually Dimorphic Neurons On Social Spacing, Avneet A. Sahota Aug 2022

Examining The Effect Of Knocking Down Dopamine Receptors In Fruitless Sexually Dimorphic Neurons On Social Spacing, Avneet A. Sahota

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Social behaviour is an individual's response to others within a group. From humans to mice to even fruit flies, social behaviour involves interactions with others and their ability to exchange information. Social spacing is a type of social behaviour which measures the distance between two organisms. It is a balance of attractive and repulsive cues which are influenced by genetics and by the external environment. However, individuals with disorders such as autism spectrum or Williams syndrome display abnormal social spacing as they are unable to understand social and non-social cues. Also, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that is a contributing factor …


Investigating The Biological Function Of Female-Specific Fruitless Transcripts, Liam Mcfarlane Aug 2022

Investigating The Biological Function Of Female-Specific Fruitless Transcripts, Liam Mcfarlane

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

In Drosophila, the fruitless (fru) gene encodes an array of alternatively spliced transcription factors, some of which are sex-specifically spliced. The male-specific transcript (fruM) has been previously determined to be involved in male courtship behaviours. The female counterpart (fruF) however, has been assumed to have no function due to the incorporation of a stop codon near the 5' end of the transcript. Interestingly, RNAseq data shows that expression levels of fruF in females exceeds that of fruM in males in the brain and thoracoabdominal ganglion, bringing to …