Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Laboratory and Basic Science Research Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Evolution

2016

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Laboratory and Basic Science Research

Identification, Characterization, And Life Cycle Of Intein-Associated Homing Endonucleases, Joshua J. Skydel Jun 2016

Identification, Characterization, And Life Cycle Of Intein-Associated Homing Endonucleases, Joshua J. Skydel

Honors Scholar Theses

Inteins are molecular parasites that have been identified in unicellular organisms from the three domains of life. The intein self-excises following translation of the host gene, and therefore incurs a fitness cost for its carrier. The symbiotic state of the intein to its host is dependent on the presence or absence of a homing endonuclease domain, which facilitates horizontal transfer of the molecule. Identification of this domain provides information on the evolutionary history of the intein, as well as patterns of horizontal gene transfer in microbial communities. I have therefore developed Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) to identify homing endonuclease domains …

Go to article

Rescuing Perishable Neuroanatomical Information From A Threatened Biodiversity Hotspot: Remote Field Methods For Brain Tissue Preservation Validated By Cytoarchitectonic Analysis, Immunohistochemistry, And X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography, Daniel F. Hughes, Ellen M. Walker, Paul M. Gignac, Anais Martinez, Kenichiro Negishi, Carl S. Lieb, Eli Greenbaum, Arshad M. Khan May 2016

Rescuing Perishable Neuroanatomical Information From A Threatened Biodiversity Hotspot: Remote Field Methods For Brain Tissue Preservation Validated By Cytoarchitectonic Analysis, Immunohistochemistry, And X-Ray Microcomputed Tomography, Daniel F. Hughes, Ellen M. Walker, Paul M. Gignac, Anais Martinez, Kenichiro Negishi, Carl S. Lieb, Eli Greenbaum, Arshad M. Khan

Arshad M. Khan, Ph.D.

Biodiversity hotspots, which harbor more endemic species than elsewhere on Earth, are
increasingly threatened. There is a need to accelerate collection efforts in these regions
before threatened or endangered species become extinct. The diverse geographical, ecological,
genetic, morphological, and behavioral data generated from the on-site collection of
an individual specimen are useful for many scientific purposes. However, traditional methods
for specimen preparation in the field do not permit researchers to retrieve neuroanatomical
data, disregarding potentially useful data for increasing our understanding of brain
diversity. These data have helped clarify brain evolution, deciphered relationships between
structure and function, and revealed constraints …

Go to article

Sources Of Ecologically Important Trait Variation In Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki), Heather Ann Arnett Apr 2016

Sources Of Ecologically Important Trait Variation In Mosquitofish (Gambusia Affinis And Gambusia Holbrooki), Heather Ann Arnett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of contemporary evolution and eco-evolutionary dynamics is classically defined in terms of genetic evolution, but the actual suite of processes driving contemporary trait change is likely much more complex than often credited. This dissertation considers additional mechanisms of trait change that might be important to an emerging model system for study of contemporary evolution and eco-evolutionary dynamics. Specifically, the research focuses on phenotypically plastic and demographic trait variation in Eastern and Western Mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis and G. holbrooki) facing the major ecological gradient of predation risk. Plasticity experiments employed a common-garden rearing design to manipulate fish …

Go to article