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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Rattlesnake Genomics Illustrate Patterns Of Speciation, Adaptation, And Links Between Genome Structure And Function, Drew Roberts Schield May 2018

Rattlesnake Genomics Illustrate Patterns Of Speciation, Adaptation, And Links Between Genome Structure And Function, Drew Roberts Schield

Biology Dissertations

Understanding the origins of species and biological novelties that allow them to thrive in diverse environments is a key goal in evolutionary biology, and new genomic methods are constantly enabling research using non-model species to address important questions related to speciation and adaptation. Using phylogeographic, population genetic, and comparative genomic methods, I demonstrate that North American rattlesnakes are a uniquely enriched system for investigating patterns and processes at the intersection of adaptation and speciation. Specifically, this dissertation explores the evolution of biological novelty at multiple scales, including the origins of reproductive incompatibilities during the process of gene flow in secondary …


Dna Extraction And Microsatellite Amplification Of Daphnia Pulicaria Resting Eggs: Analysis Of Allele Frequencies Through Time, Anna Ries Jan 2018

Dna Extraction And Microsatellite Amplification Of Daphnia Pulicaria Resting Eggs: Analysis Of Allele Frequencies Through Time, Anna Ries

Departmental Honors Projects

A paleoecological approach allows for the study of genetic change in populations over longer periods of time than would be possible if one were sampling populations from year to year. Daphnia and other cladoceran zooplankton are amenable to this type of study because they produce diapausing embryos (ephippial eggs) when they sexually reproduce, and these resting eggs can remain viable for decades to centuries in lake sediments. This study uses paleoecological methods as well as a new methodology for ephippial DNA extraction and amplification to assay for genetic variation in ephippial eggs obtained from sediments of varying ages from Square …


Genetic And Demographic Consequences Of Lake And River Habitat Fragmentation On Fishes In Vermont, Peter T. Euclide Jan 2018

Genetic And Demographic Consequences Of Lake And River Habitat Fragmentation On Fishes In Vermont, Peter T. Euclide

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Globally, habitat fragmentation has had a major impact on the conservation and management of many species and is one of the primary causes of species extinction. Habitat fragmentation is loosely defined as a process in which a continuous habitat is reduced to smaller, disconnected patches as the result of habitat loss, restriction of migration or the construction of barriers to movement. Aquatic systems are particularly vulnerable to habitat fragmentation, and today an estimated 48% of rivers are fragmented worldwide. My dissertation evaluates how habitat fragmentation has influenced the populations of four different species of fish in the Lake Champlain basin. …