6th Annual Judith Ramaley Celebration of Research and Creative Scholarship
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Poster #27 Investigation of Cytonuclear Evolution
Skyler Dahlseng and Afton Glander
Faculty Mentor: Amy Runck This research examines two species of voles, Myodes rutilus and Myodes gapperi, which have previously occupied different geographical locations in North America. M. rutilus natively resides in the Arctic tundra and M. gapperi is adapted to a slightly more southerly climate and is native to the boreal forest south of the Arctic. Although both species are nearly identical in appearance and size, they have significantly different metabolic rates. Recently, it has been discovered that these vole populations have been interbreeding, resulting in stable hybrid populations. The novel hybrid populations appear to be out-competing their parental populations. This research is interested in certain aspects of their genetic makeup, which may allow the hybrid populations to utilize their resources more effectively than their parental species. We have investigated protein sequences of cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase subunit III, which are involved in the electron transport chain. Comparisons were made to determine whether or not differences existed among the hybrid and parental species, which might contribute to differences in cellular respiration. Sequences were generated through the polymerase chain reaction from all three groups (M. rutilus, M. gapperi and hybrid type). These genes were translated to obtain the amino acids sequence and compared to determine if differences existed among parental and hybrid vole populations and whether those changes could produce a significant benefit to hybrid populations. |
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