Digital Commons Network^™

Larval Fishes Utilize Batesian Mimicry As A Survival Strategy In The Plankton, Adam T. Greer, C. Brock Woodson, Cedric M. Guigand, Robert K. Cowan

Faculty Publications

Marine teleost fishes often experience over 99% mortality in the early life stages (eggs and larvae), yet larval survival is essential to population sustainability. Marine fish larvae from a wide range of families display elaborate, delicate features that bear little resemblance to adult forms and hinder their swimming escape ability by increasing drag. Here, we systematically examine the criteria needed for Batesian mimicry to evolve as a survival strategy and present new evidence from in situ imaging technology and simulation modelling to support the hypothesis that many larval morphological features (particularly long, delicate fin rays) and behaviors evolved at least …

Canned Vegetable And Fruit Consumption Is Associated With Changes In Nutrient Intake And Higher Diet Quality In Children And Adults: National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010, Marjorie Freedman, Victor Fulgoni

Faculty Publications

Background Canned vegetables and fruit (CV+CF) are ubiquitous throughout the food supply. Yet information regarding their specific contribution to nutrient intake and health measures is lacking.Objective The objective of this study was to examine the association of CV+CF with nutrient intake, diet quality, anthropometric indicators of overweight/obesity, and blood pressure in a nationally representative population.Design and participants A secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from 17,344 children and 24,807 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001-2010 was conducted. A dataset was developed that distinguished CV+CF consumers from nonconsumers.Main outcome measures Diet quality was calculated using the Healthy Eating …

Feeding Ecology Of Three Coastal Shark Species In The Northwest Gulf Of Mexico, Jeffrey D. Plumlee, R. J.David Wells

Faculty Publications

The feeding ecology of 3 coastal shark species-Atlantic sharpnose Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, bonnethead Sphyrna tiburo, and blacktip Carcharhinus limbatus shark-was examined in the northwest Gulf of Mexico (GOM). A total of 601 sharks (305 Atlantic sharpnose, 239 bonnethead, and 57 blacktip) were collected over 2 yr from recreational anglers in Galveston, TX. All individuals had stomach contents examined and a subset (50 Atlantic sharpnose, 50 bonnethead, and 36 blacktip sharks) was analyzed for stable isotopes (carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur) in muscle tissue, revealing short-term and long-term feeding strategies. Both blacktip and Atlantic sharpnose shark stomach contents consisted of teleost fishes with …

Rickettsia Parkeri Colonization In Ambylomma Maculatum: The Role Of Superoxide Dismutases, Gary Crispell, Khemraj Budachetri, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Background

The Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) is an arthropod vector of Rickettsia parkeri, the causative agent of American boutonneuse fever and an infectious agent of public health significance. In this study, we evaluated the biological significance of the superoxide dismutases (SODs) of A. maculatum in hematophagy and R. parkeri colonization within the tick host.

Methods

An RNA interference approach was used to measure the functional roles of tick SODs (Cu/Zn-SOD and Mn-SOD) in R. parkeri colonization of the tick vector. Total microbial load, R. parkeri infection rate, and compensatory mechanisms by tick genes were …

Progress In Improving Provincial Plans For Nutrition Through Targeted Technical Assistance And Local Advocacy In Vietnam, Jody Harris, Phuong H. Nguyen, Quyen To, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Purnima Menon

Faculty Publications

Vietnam has been decentralizing nutrition planning to provinces, which could help with local relevance and accountability. Assessment in 2009 found a continuing top-down approach, limited human capacity, and difficulty in integrating multiple sectors. Alive and Thrive (A&T) provided targeted assistance and capacity-building for 15 provincial plans for nutrition (PPNs). We aimed to (i) assess PPN content and quality improvements 2009-2014, and (ii) explain processes through which change occurred. Data consisted of interview-based assessments of provincial planning processes, annual PPN assessments, and tracking of A&T involvement. At endline, some provinces produced higher quality plans. Local planning skills improved, but capacity remained …

Genetic Manipulation Of Putrescine Biosynthesis Reprograms The Cellular Transcriptome And The Metabolome., Andrew Francis Page, Leland J. Cseke, Rakesh Minocha, Swathi A. Turlapati, Gopi K. Podila, Alexander V. Ulanov, Zhong Li, Subhash C. Minocha

Faculty Publications

With the increasing interest in metabolic engineering of plants using genetic manipulation and gene editing technologies to enhance growth, nutritional value and environmental adaptation, a major concern is the potential of undesirable broad and distant effects of manipulating the target gene or metabolic step in the resulting plant. A comprehensive transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis of the product may shed some useful light in this regard. The present study used these two techniques with plant cell cultures to analyze the effects of genetic manipulation of a single step in the biosynthesis of polyamines because of their well-known roles in plant growth, …

Let There Be Light: Social Enterprise, Solar Power, And Sustainable Development, Tonia Warnecke

Faculty Publications

Energy poverty is a major problem in the developing world, with nearly 1.3 billion people lacking household electricity. Strikingly, the electrification rate is not only low, but is falling in many countries as population growth outpaces efforts to give more people access to electricity. Seizing the opportunities presented by rapid changes in technology and the availability of renewable energy at continually falling costs, social enterprises have begun to light the darkness and fill in the gap between the public and private provision of electricity. We review the extent of energy poverty and explain why neither the public, nor the private …

Insights From The Pollination Drop Proteome And The Ovule Transcriptome Of Cephalotaxus At The Time Of Pollination Drop Production, Cary Pirone-Davies, Natalie Prior, Patrick Von Aderkas, Derek Smith, Darryl Hardie, William E. Friedman, Sarah Mathews

Faculty Publications

© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. Background and Aims Many gymnosperms produce an ovular secretion, the pollination drop, during reproduction. The drops serve as a landing site for pollen, but also contain a suite of ions and organic compounds, including proteins, that suggests diverse roles for the drop during pollination. Proteins in the drops of species of Chamaecyparis, Juniperus, Taxus, Pseudotsuga, Ephedra and Welwitschia are thought to function in the conversion of sugars, defence against pathogens, and pollen growth and development. To better understand gymnosperm pollination biology, the pollination …

Replacing Arginine 33 For Alanine In The Hemophore Hasa From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Causes Closure Of The H32 Loop In The Apo-Protein, Ritesh Kumar, Yifei Qi, Hirotoshi Matsumura, Scott Lovell, Huili Yao, Kevin P. Battaile, Wonpil Im, Pierre Moënne-Loccoz, Mario Rivera

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Chemical Society. Previous characterization of hemophores from Serratia marcescens (HasAs), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (HasAp), and Yersinia pestis (HasAyp) showed that hemin binds between two loops, where it is axially coordinated by H32 and Y75. The Y75 loop is structurally conserved in all three hemophores and harbors conserved ligand Y75. The other loop contains H32 in HasAs and HasAp, but a noncoordinating Q32 in HasAyp. The H32 loop in apo-HasAs and apo-HasAp is in an open conformation, which places H32 about 30 Å from the hemin-binding site. Hence, hemin binding onto the Y75 loop of HasAs or HasAp triggers …

Comprehensive Analysis And Expression Profiling Of The Oslax And Osabcb Auxin Transporter Gene Families In Rice (Oryza Sativa) Under Phytohormone Stimuli And Abiotic Stresses, Chenglin Chai, Prasanta K. Subudhi

Faculty Publications

The plant hormone auxin regulates many aspects of plant growth and developmental processes. Auxin gradient is formed in plant as a result of polar auxin transportation by three types of auxin transporters such as OsLAX, OsPIN, and OsABCB. We report here the analysis of two rice auxin transporter gene families, OsLAX and OsABCB, using bioinformatics tools, publicly accessible microarray data, and quantitative RT-PCR. There are 5 putative OsLAXs and 22 putative OsABCBs in rice genome, which were mapped on 8 chromosomes. The exon-intron structure of OsLAX genes and properties of deduced proteins were relatively conserved within grass family, while that …

Wrinkled1 Rescues Feedback Inhibition Of Fatty Acid Synthesis In Hydroxylase-Expressing Seeds, Neil D. Adhikari, Philip D. Bates, John Browse

Faculty Publications

Previous attempts at engineering Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) to produce seed oils containing hydroxy fatty acids (HFA) have resulted in low yields of HFA compared with the native castor (Ricinus communis) plant and caused undesirable effects, including reduced total oil content. Recent studies have led to an understanding of problems involved in the accumulation of HFA in oils of transgenic plants, which include metabolic bottlenecks and a decrease in the rate of fatty acid synthesis. Focusing on engineering the triacylglycerol assembly mechanisms led to modest increases in the HFA content of seed oil, but much room for …

Streptomyces Coelicolor Xdhr Is A Direct Target Of (P)Ppgpp That Controls Expression Of Genes Encoding Xanthine Dehydrogenase To Promote Purine Salvage, Smitha Sivapragasam, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. The gene encoding Streptomyces coelicolor xanthine dehydrogenase regulator (XdhR) is divergently oriented from xdhABC, which encodes xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh). Xdh is required for purine salvage pathways. XdhR was previously shown to repress xdhABC expression. We show that XdhR binds the xdhABC-xdhR intergenic region with high affinity (Kd ∼ 0.5 nM). DNaseI footprinting reveals that this complex formation corresponds to XdhR binding the xdhR gene promoter at two adjacent sites; at higher protein concentrations, protection expands to a region that overlaps the transcriptional and translational start sites of xdhABC. While substrates for Xdh have …

The Cytoplasmic Carbonic Anhydrases Βca2 And Βca4 Are Required For Optimal Plant Growth At Low Co2, Robert J. Dimario, Jennifer C. Quebedeaux, David J. Longstreth, Maheshi Dassanayake, Monica M. Hartman, James V. Moroney

Faculty Publications

© 2016 American Society of Plant Biologists. All Rights Reserved. Carbonic anhydrases (CAs) are zinc metalloenzymes that interconvert CO2 and HCO3-. In plants, both α-and β-type CAs are present. We hypothesize that cytoplasmic bCAs are required to modulate inorganic carbon forms needed in leaf cells for carbonrequiring reactions such as photosynthesis and amino acid biosynthesis. In this report, we present evidence that βCA2 and βCA4 are the two most abundant cytoplasmic CAs in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) leaves. Previously, βCA4 was reported to be localized to the plasma membrane, but here, we show that two forms of βCA4 are expressed in …

Fibroblast Growth Factor-23 (Fgf-23) Levels Differ Across Populations By Degree Of Industrialization, Shennin N. Yuen, Kramer Holly, Amy Luke, Pascal Bovet, Jacob Plange-Rhule, Terrence Forrester, Vicki Lambert, Myles Wolf, Pauline Camacho, Regina Harders, Lara Dugas, Richard Cooper, Ramon Durazo-Arvizu

Faculty Publications

Context: Compensatory increases in fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) with increasing phosphate intake may adversely impact health. However, population and clinical studies examining the link between phosphate intake and FGF23 levels have focused mainly on populations living in highly industrialized societies in which phosphate exposure may be homogenous. Objective: The objective of the study was to contrast dietary phosphate intake, urinary measures of phosphate excretion, and FGF23 levels across populations that differ by the level of industrialization. Design: This was a cross-sectional analysis of three populations. Setting: The study was conducted in Maywood, Illinois; Mahé Island, Seychelles; and Kumasi, Ghana. …

New Compartment Model Analysis Of Lean-Mass And Fat-Mass Growth With Overfeeding, Dmytro Shumilov, Steven B. Heymsfield, Leanne M. Redman, Kesava Kalluri, Joyoni Dey

Faculty Publications

Objectives: Mathematical models of lean- and fat-mass growth with diet are useful to help describe and potentially predict the fat- and lean-mass change with different diets as a function of consumed protein and fat calories. Most of the existing models do not explicitly account for interdependence of fat-mass on the lean-mass and vice versa. The aim of this study was to develop a new compartmental model to describe the growth of lean and fat mass depending on the input of dietary protein and fat, and accounting for the interdependence of adipose tissue and muscle growth. Methods: The model was fitted …

The Use Of Marine Aquaculture Solid Waste For Nursery Production Of The Salt Marsh Plants Spartina Alterniflora And Juncus Roemerianus, Heather M. Joesting, Reginald B. Blaylock, Patrick Biber, Andrew Ray

Faculty Publications

Recent technological advances in marine shrimp and finfish aquaculture alleviate many of the environmental risks associated with traditional aquaculture, but challenges remain in cost-effective waste management. Liquid effluent from freshwater aquaculture systems has been shown to be effective in agricultural crop production (i.e., aquaponics), but few studies have explored the potential for reuse of marine aquaculture effluent, particularly the solid fraction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of marine aquaculture solid waste as a nutrient source for the nursery production of two salt tolerant plants commonly used in coastal salt marsh restoration, Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) …

Eating Increases Oxidative Damage In A Reptile, Michael W. Butler, Thomas J. Lutz, Haralambos Fokidis, Zachary R. Stahlschmidt

Faculty Publications

While eating has substantial benefits in terms of both nutrient and energy acquisition, there are physiological costs associated with digesting and metabolizing a meal. Frequently, these costs have been documented in the context of energy expenditure while other physiological costs have been relatively unexplored. Here, we tested whether the seemingly innocuous act of eating affects either systemic pro-oxidant (reactive oxygen metabolite, ROM) levels or antioxidant capacity of corn snakes (Pantherophis guttatus) by collecting plasma during absorptive (peak increase in metabolic rate due to digestion of a meal) and non-absorptive (baseline) states. When individuals were digesting a meal, there was a …

14th Congress Of Combustion By-Products And Their Health Effects—Origin, Fate, And Health Effects Of Combustion-Related Air Pollutants In The Coming Era Of Bio-Based Energy Sources, Eva Weidemann, Patrik L. Andersson, Terry Bidleman, Christoffer Boman, Danielle J. Carlin, Elena Collina, Stephania A. Cormier, Sandra C. Gouveia-Figueira, Brian K. Gullett, Christer Johansson, Donald Lucas, Lisa Lundin, Staffan Lundstedt, Stellan Marklund, Malin L. Nording, Nuria Ortuño, Asmaa A. Sallam, Florian M. Schmidt, Stina Jansson

Faculty Publications

© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. The 14th International Congress on Combustion By-Products and Their Health Effects was held in Umeå, Sweden from June 14th to 17th, 2015. The Congress, mainly sponsored by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Superfund Research Program and the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning, focused on the “Origin, fate and health effects of combustion-related air pollutants in the coming era of bio-based energy sources”. The international delegates included academic and government researchers, engineers, scientists, policymakers and representatives of industrial partners. The Congress provided a unique forum for the discussion of …

Phylogenetic And Epigenetic Footprinting Of The Putative Enhancers Of The Peg3 Domain, Joomyeong Kim, An Ye

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Kim, Ye. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Peg3 (Paternally Expressed Gene 3) imprinted domain is predicted to be regulated through a large number of evolutionarily conserved regions (ECRs) that are localized within its middle 200-kb region. In the current study, we characterized these potential cis-regulatory regions using phylogenetic and epigenetic approaches. According to the results, the majority of these ECRs are potential enhancers for the transcription of the …

Comparisons And Correlations Of Phenolic Profiles And Anti-Oxidant Activities Of Seventeen Varieties Of Pineapple, Liqing Du, Guangming Sun, Xiumei Zhang, Yuge Liu, Witoon Prinyawiwatkul, Zhimin Xu, Yixiao Shen

Faculty Publications

Major phenolic, β-carotene, and ascorbic acid (AA) contents in 17 pineapple varieties were quantified and compared. Anti-oxidant activities were evaluated using 2,2-Diphenyl-l-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’-Azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), ferric reducing anti-oxidant power (FRAP), and metal chelating capacity (MCC) assays. MD-2 exhibited the highest AA and total phenolic (TP) contents and DPPH and ABTS assay results, but was lower in β-carotene contents. Ripley had the highest total flavonoid (TF) content with a low AA content. Comte de Pairs exhibited the highest MCC and the lowest FRAP values. TP contents and both DPPH and ABTS activities, FRAP values and both AA contents and DPPH …

Suprachiasmatic Nucleus And Subparaventricular Zone Lesions Disrupt Circadian Rhythmicity But Not Light-Induced Masking Behavior In Nile Grass Rats, Andrew J. Gall, Dorela D. Shuboni, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez, Laura Smale

Faculty Publications

The ventral subparaventricular zone (vSPVZ) receives direct retinal input and influences the daily patterning of activity in rodents, making it a likely candidate for the mediation of acute behavioral responses to light (i.e., masking). We performed chemical lesions aimed at the vSPVZ of diurnal grass rats (Arvicanthis niloticus) using N-methyl-D,L-aspartic acid (NMA), a glutamate agonist. Following NMA lesions, we placed grass rats in various lighting conditions (e.g., 12:12 light-dark, constant dark, constant light); presented a series of light pulses at circadian times (CT) 6, 14, 18, and 22; and placed them in a 7-h ultradian cycle to assess behavioral masking. …

Biology, Genetics, Nurture, And The Law: The Expansion Of The Legal Definition Of Family To Include Three Or More Legal Parents, Myrisha S. Lewis

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Soil And Plant Biogeochemistry Sampling Design For The National Ecological Observatory Network, Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley, Gordon B. Bonan, Gabriel J. Bowen, Benjamin P. Colman, Paul A. Duffy, Christine L. Goodale, Benjamin Z. Houlton, Erika Marin-Spiotta, Kiona Ogle, Scott V. Ollinger, Eldor A. Paul, Peter M. Vitousek, Kathleen C. Weathers, David G. Williams

Faculty Publications

Human impacts on biogeochemical cycles are evident around the world, from changes to forest structure and function due to atmospheric deposition, to eutrophication of surface waters from agricultural effluent, and increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will contribute to understanding human effects on biogeochemical cycles from local to continental scales. The broad NEON biogeochemistry measurement design focuses on measuring atmospheric deposition of reactive mineral compounds and CO2 fluxes, ecosystem carbon (C) and nutrient stocks, and surface water chemistry across 20 eco‐climatic domains within the United States for 30 yr. Herein, we …

Supply- And Demand-Side Factors Influencing Utilization Of Infant And Young Child Feeding Counselling Services In Viet Nam, Phuong H. Nguyen, Sunny S. Kim, Tuan T. Nguyen, Lan M. Tran, Nemat Hajeebhoy, Edward A. Frongillo Jr., Marie T. Ruel, Rahul Rawat, Purnima Menon

Faculty Publications

Adequate utilization of services is critical to maximize the impact of counselling on infant and young child feeding (IYCF), but little is known about factors affecting utilization. Our study examined supply- and demand-side factors associated with the utilization of IYCF counselling services in Viet Nam. We used survey data from mothers with children <2y >(n = 1,008) and health staff (n = 60) from the evaluation of a program that embedded IYCF counseling into the existing government health system. The frequency of never users, one-time users, repeat users, and achievers of the recommended minimum number of visits at health facilities were …

Dietary Plant Lectins Appear To Be Transported From The Gut To Gain Access To And Alter Dopaminergic Neurons Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, A Potential Etiology Of Parkinson’S Disease, Jolene Zheng, Mingming Wang, Wenqian Wei, Jeffrey N. Keller, Binita Adhikari, Jason F. King, Michael L. King, Nan Peng, Roger A. Laine

Faculty Publications

© Copyright © 2016 Zheng, Wang, Wei, Keller, Adhikari, King, King, Peng and Laine. Lectins from dietary plants have been shown to enhance drug absorption in the gastrointestinal tract of rats, be transported trans-synaptically as shown by tracing of axonal and dendritic paths, and enhance gene delivery. Other carbohydrate-binding protein toxins are known to traverse the gut intact in dogs. Post-feeding rhodamine- or TRITC-tagged dietary lectins, the lectins were tracked from gut to dopaminergic neurons (DAergic-N) in transgenic Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) [egIs1(Pdat-1:GFP)] where the mutant has the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene fused to a dopamine transport protein gene …

Stinging Nettle (Urtica Dioica L.) Attenuates Ffa Induced Ceramide Accumulation In 3t3- L1 Adipocytes In An Adiponectin Dependent Manner, Diana N. Obanda, Peng Zhao, Allison J. Richard, David Ribnicky, William T. Cefalu, Jacqueline M. Stephens

Faculty Publications

©2016 Obanda et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Objective Excess dietary lipids result in the accumulation of lipid metabolites including ceramides that can attenuate insulin signaling. There is evidence that a botanical extract of Urtica dioica L. (stinging nettle) improves insulin action, yet the precise mechanism(s) are not known. Hence, we examined the effects of Urtica dioica L. (UT) on adipocytes. Research Design We investigated the effects of an ethanolic extract …

Genetically Engineered Yeast Expressing A Lytic Peptide From Bee Venom (Melittin) Kills Symbiotic Protozoa In The Gut Of Formosan Subterranean Termites, Claudia Husseneder, Jennifer R. Donaldson, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

© 2016 Husseneder et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, is a costly invasive urban pest in warm and humid regions around the world. Feeding workers of the Formosan subterranean termite genetically engineered yeast strains that express synthetic protozoacidal lytic peptides has been shown to kill the cellulose digesting termite gut protozoa, which results in death of the termite colony. In this study, we …

Variable Prey Development Time Suppresses Predator-Prey Cycles And Enhances Stability, James T. Cronin, John D. Reeve, Dashun Xu, Mingqing Xiao, Heidi N. Stevens

Faculty Publications

© 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS. Although theoretical models have demonstrated that predator-prey population dynamics can depend critically on age (stage) structure and the duration and variability in development times of different life stages, experimental support for this theory is non-existent. We conducted an experiment with a host-parasitoid system to test the prediction that increased variability in the development time of the vulnerable host stage can promote interaction stability. Host-parasitoid microcosms were subjected to two treatments: Normal and High variance in the duration of the vulnerable host stage. In control and Normal-variance microcosms, hosts and parasitoids exhibited distinct population …

Competition-Mediated Feedbacks In Experimental Multispecies Epizootics, Tad Dallas, Richard J. Hall, John M. Drake

Faculty Publications

© 2016 by the Ecological Society of America. Competition structures ecological communities and alters host-pathogen interactions. In environmentally transmitted pathogens, an infection-resistant competitor may influence infection dynamics in a susceptible species through the negative impacts of competition (e.g., by reducing host density or causing nutritional stress that increases susceptibility to infection) and/or the positive impacts of reducing transmission efficiency (e.g., by removing environmental pathogen stages). Thus, a non-susceptible competitor may enhance, reduce, or have no net effect on susceptible host density and infection prevalence. Here, we couple an epidemiological model with experimental epidemics to test how resource competition with a …

Gene Family Expansions In Aphids Maintained By Endosymbiotic And Nonsymbiotic Traits, Rebecca P. Duncan, Honglin Feng, Douglas M. Nguyen, Alex C.C. Wilson

Faculty Publications

Facilitating the evolution of new gene functions, gene duplication is a major mechanism driving evolutionary innovation. Gene family expansions relevant to host/symbiont interactions are increasingly being discovered in eukaryotes that host endosymbiotic microbes. Such discoveries entice speculation that gene duplication facilitates the evolution of novel, endosymbiotic relationships. Here, using a comparative transcriptomic approach combined with differential gene expression analysis, we investigate the importance of endosymbiosis in retention of amino acid transporter paralogs in aphid genomes. To pinpoint the timing of amino acid transporter duplications we inferred gene phylogenies for five aphid species and three outgroups. We found that while some …