Digital extractor: analysis of digital differential display output

Digital Extractor is a program for the high-throughput processing of data sets derived from digital differential display-based comparisons of EST libraries. These comparisons can be utilized to identify discrete subsets of genes whose expression is restricted to distinct tissue types. The program facilitates these investigations by permitting parallel annotation of genes identified as being differentially expressed.     

Recent horizontal transfer of mellifera subfamily mariner transposons into insect lineages representing four different orders shows that selection acts only during horizontal transfer

We report the isolation and sequencing of genomic copies of mariner transposons involved in recent horizontal transfers into the genomes of the European earwig, Forficula auricularia; the European honey bee, Apis mellifera; the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata; and a blister beetle, Epicauta funebris, insects from four different orders. These elements are in the mellifera subfamily and are the second documented example of full-length mariner elements involved in this kind of phenomenon. We applied maximum likelihood methods to the coding sequences and determined that the copies in each genome were evolving neutrally, whereas reconstructed ancestral coding sequences appeared to be under selection, which strengthens our previous hypothesis that the primary selective constraint on mariner sequence evolution is the act of horizontal transfer between genomes.     

The behavior of R-ovalbumin and its individual components A1, A2, and A3 in urea solution: kinetics and equilibria

Procedures are described for the isolation of the individual components A₁, A₂, and A₃ of native R-ovalbumin from freshly laid domestic hen eggs. Because heavy metal ion contaminants result in spurious irreproducible kinetics, particularly at high pH, considerable care is taken to avoid their presence. Kinetics studies are made of the behavior of whole R-ovalbumin and its individual components in urea solution over the pH range 3.7–9.6 following the reaction by determining absorbance differences at 233, 287, and 293 nm and ORD and CD changes at 350 and 221 nm, respectively. Reaction is rapid at low pH, slowing with increasing pH. Except under limited conditions, the reaction is not simple first order. Equations are presented for describing the reactions, and the nature of the reaction products is considered. Unfolding equilibrium profiles were also determined by ORD at several wavelengths and were not stigmoidal in shape and the normalized curves were not superimposed.Deceased December 8, 2001     

Optimal harvesting for a predator-prey metapopulation

In this paper we present a deterministic, discrete-time model for a two-patch predator-prey metapopulation. We study optimal harvesting for the metapopulation using dynamic programming. Some rules are established as generalizations of rules for a single-species metapopulation harvesting theory. We also establish rules to harvest relatively more (or less) vulnerable prey subpopulations and more (or less) efficient predator subpopulations.     

Population Genetic Structure Within and among Seasonal Site Types in the Little Brown Bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the Northern Long-Eared Bat (M. septentrionalis)

During late summer and early autumn, temperate bats migrate from their summering sites to swarming sites, where mating likely occurs. However, the extent to which individuals of a single summering site migrate to the same swarming site, and vice versa, is not known. We examined the migratory connectivity between summering and swarming sites in two temperate, North American, bat species, the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). Using mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA markers, we examined population structuring within and among summering and swarming sites. Both species exhibited moderate degrees of mitochondrial DNA differentiation (little brown bat: F_ST(SWARMING)= 0.093, F_ST(SWARMING)= 0.052; northern long-eared bat: F_ST(SWARMING)= 0.117, F_ST(SWARMING)= 0.043) and little microsatellite DNA differentiation among summering and among swarming sites. Haplotype diversity was significantly higher at swarming sites than summering sites, supporting the idea that swarming sites are comprised of individuals from various summering sites. Further, pairwise analyses suggest that swarming sites are not necessarily comprised of only individuals from the most proximal summering colonies.