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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Y-Chromosome's Role In Sexually Dimorphic Evolution And Mother's Curse Compensation, Tobias Nielsen
The Y-Chromosome's Role In Sexually Dimorphic Evolution And Mother's Curse Compensation, Tobias Nielsen
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
The Y-chromosome and mitochondria (containing mtDNA) appear entirely dissimilar, the former being a sex chromosome found in the nucleus and the latter an organelle with thousands of copies in the cytoplasm. However, both experience uniparental inheritance, with Y-chromosomes being patrilineal and mitochondria matrilineal. This leads to various other similarities including haploidy, high mutation rates, and limited or lack of genetic recombination. Moreover, the low number of protein-coding genes contained on both led to the belief that neither contributes significantly to the adaptive evolution of complex traits. However, recent studies show the Y-chromosome and mitochondria both influence roughly 10% of male …
Juvenile Dispersal And Genetic Connectivity In The Sea Turtle 'Lost Years', Katrina Phillips
Juvenile Dispersal And Genetic Connectivity In The Sea Turtle 'Lost Years', Katrina Phillips
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Juvenile dispersal is a life history strategy found across taxa and habitat types. In this dissertation, I examine juvenile dispersal in an evolutionary context and explore the conditions that support high dispersal, which necessitates subsequent ontogenetic habitat shifts. I use a sea turtle study system to evaluate the genetic and behavioral patterns associated with juvenile dispersal and ontogenetic shifts in marine environments. Specifically, I focus on four sea turtle species found in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico in the early life stage known as the 'lost years': green turtles (Chelonia mydas), Kemp's ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii), loggerheads (Caretta caretta), and hawksbills …
Multiomic Hypotheses Underlying Behavioral Manipulation Of Camponotus Floridanus Ants By Ophiocordyceps Camponoti-Floridani Fungi, Ian Will
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Parasitic manipulation of host behavior lies at the intersection of disease, animal behavior, and coevolutionary processes. In many of these interactions, the underpinning biology is brought into sharp focus as they are obligate relationships, under strong selection to bring about specific changes in host behavior that determine if the parasite will transmit or die. However, experimental and molecular techniques to understand these interactions are still developing and identification of the mechanisms of manipulation is a primary goal in the field. As such, we investigated host-parasite interactions between Camponotus floridanus (Florida carpenter ant) and Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani (Florida zombie ant fungus) from …
Role Of Biological Clocks In Ant Behavioral Plasticity And Parasitic Manipulation Of Ant Behavior, Biplabendu Das
Role Of Biological Clocks In Ant Behavioral Plasticity And Parasitic Manipulation Of Ant Behavior, Biplabendu Das
Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-
Living organisms exhibit daily rhythms as a way to anticipate predictable fluctuations in their environment. Such daily rhythmicity is the phenotypic outcome of oscillating genes and proteins, driven by an endogenous biological clock. Clock-controlled behavioral rhythms are inherently "flexible" since their phase, amplitude, and period can change throughout an animal's life hallmarked by changes in so-called chronotype. How this inherent plasticity of clock-controlled rhythms is linked to plasticity of behavior is still an open question in biology. Characterizing the various mechanistic links between plasticity of the animal clock and behavioral state will not only shed light on the molecular underpinnings …