Latest Polymorphism Stories
In most animal species, males and females show obvious differences in body size. But how can this be, given that both sexes share the same genes governing their growth? University of Arizona entomologists studied this conundrum in moths and found clues that had been overlooked by previous efforts to explain this mystery of nature.Take a look around in the animal world and you will find that, in most organisms, individuals of one sex are larger than the other of the species.Even though...
Scaling and shear link morphology, genotype and developmental geneticsFrom how massive humpbacks glide through the sea with ease to the efficient way fungal spores fly, applied mathematicians at Harvard have excavated the equations behind a variety of complex phenomena.The latest numerical feat by Otger Campàs and Michael Brenner, working closely with a team of Harvard evolutionary biologists led by Arhat Abzhanov, zeroes in on perhaps the most famous icon of evolution: the beaks of...
New research on lizards supports an old idea about how species can originate. Morphologically distinct types are often found within species, and biologists have speculated that these "morphs" could be the raw material for speciation. What were once different types of individuals within the same population could eventually evolve into separate species.A new study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, supports this idea. The study documents the...
Looks can be deceiving, but certain bird species have figured out that a voice can tell them most of what they need to know to find the right mate.Andrew DeWoody, a Purdue University associate professor of forestry and natural resources, found that the higher the pitch of a male bird's song, the more genetic diversity that bird has, making him a better mate for breeding. His study was published Wednesday (Dec. 2) in the early online edition of PLoS Biology."If you have a diverse set of...
Engineers at the University of Leeds have developed a simple technology which can be used in existing chemical reactors to ensure "right first time" drug crystal formation.Ensuring drug crystals are formed correctly is crucial to their efficacy and the efficiency of pharmaceutical manufacturers' operations. Using self-assembled monolayers, the team has been able to show that crystals form into their desired product form with the correct shape and particle structure, without the...
While many genetic studies have examined alcoholism among adults, identifying genes that are associated with alcohol misuse during youth is equally important, given that genetic and environmental influences on alcoholism vary across development. New findings show an association between a polymorphism of the µ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene and alcohol misuse among adolescents.Results will be published in the January 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are...
Diversity of fish in East African lakes points to mechanism for evolution of sex chromosomesBiologists have genetically mapped the sex chromosomes of several species of cichlid fish from Lake Malawi, East Africa, and identified a mechanism by which new sex chromosomes may evolve.In research published in this week's issue of the journal Science, biologists Thomas Kocher, Reade Roberts and Jennifer Ser of the University of Maryland describe the genetic basis for two co-existing systems of...
Travelers to the neotropics"”the tropical lands of the Americas"”might be forgiven for thinking that all of the colorful insects flittering over sunny puddles or among dense forest understory are butterflies. In fact, many are not. Some are moths that have reinvented themselves as butterflies, converging on the daytime niche typically dominated by their less hairy relatives. Now, a new revision of the taxonomic relationships among one such group of insects, the subfamily Dioptinae,...
Cicadas - better known for providing the soundtrack of our hot summer are remarkably interesting animals, they are the longest living insects "“ 17 years for some species "“ but spent 99% of this time underground to then emerge for a few weeks, reproduce and finally die. Now a study of north-African and Mediterranean cicadas by scientists in Portugal and the UK uncover yet more interesting data on the group by revealing that these species although differentiated by their mating calls (and...
An area of chromosome 6 that affects cattle carcass weight has been identified using two different Japanese species. Knowledge of this four-gene region, described in the open access journal BMC Genetics, should be useful in breeding beef cattle.Akiko Takasuga, from the Shirakawa Institute of Animal Genetics, led a team of researchers who studied Japanese Black and Japanese Brown cattle, two breeds that have survived separately for thousands of years. According to Takasuga, "The 591-kb...
