JENNER, RA; TELFORD, MJ; Univ. of Cambridge, U.K.; Univ. of Cambridge, U.K.: Molecular tests of the phylogeny of the Arthropoda and the Ecdysozoa Recent advances in molecular phylogenetics have provided increasingly convincing support for a close relationship between Hexapoda and Crustacea (together Pancrustacea or Tetraconata) within the Arthropoda, a hypothesis for which morphological support is […]

PASSAMANECK, Y.J.; Weill Medical College of Cornell University: Mitochondrial genome of the bryozoan Membranipora membranacea and its phylogenetic implications. The current study has sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome of the cheilostome bryozoan Membranipora membranacea. The Bryozoa are of particular interest to investigations on higher level metazoan evolution, as their phylogenetic position remains among the most […]

LINDNER, Alberto; Duke University: Evolution of shallow-water stylasterid corals (Cnidaria; Hydrozoa; Stylasteridae) from deep-sea ancestors The fossil record indicates that the origin and diversification of marine taxa is often associated with onshore and offshore patterns of distribution. We investigated onshore-offshore trends in the evolution of stylasterid corals (family Stylasteridae), a group that embraces over 280 […]

MEDINA, M�nica; Joint Genome Institute: Cnidarian Genomics at the Joint Genome Institute The availability of powerful genomic tools has triggered an immense interest in comparative metazoan biology. With several of the genomes from model organisms, either complete, or well underway, there is now room for the use of these modern approaches to understand the biology […]

PEMBERTON, A. J.; HANSSON, L. J.; BISHOP, J. D. D.; Marine Biological Association of the UK; current address: Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, Charlottenlund, Denmark; Marine Biological Association of the UK: Polyembryony in spermcast simultaneous hermaphrodites: a twinned response to sperm limitation and restricted gene flow ? Polyembryony, the splitting of a single sexually produced […]

FAUCCI, A.; HADFIELD, M.G.; Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu: Marine dispersal patterns in Hawaii: a casestudy of tubesnails with differing developmental modes Population genetic data can be used as an indirect measure of dispersal, because the variation in the distance that larvae are transported, and subsequently gene flow, result in characteristic genetic patterns. Vermetids or tubesnails […]

CHAN, L. M.; Cornell University: Intra- and inter-annual variation in the genetic diversity of a desert breeding anuran. In the deserts of the southwestern United States many anurans breed explosively at ephemeral ponds with the onset of monsoon rains in dense aggregations lasting only one to four nights. Mating system characteristics, life history traits, and […]

ZARDUS, J.D.*; HADFIELD, M.G.; University of Hawaii, Honolulu; University of Hawaii, Honolulu: Genetic comparisons between native Atlantic and invasive Pacific populations of the barnacle Chthamalus proteus. The Atlantic Barnacle (Chthamalus proteus) is a recent invader of the Pacific, first found in Hawaii in 1993. Faunal surveys suggest it became established in Hawaii between 10 and […]

HARPER, G. R.; University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill: Does gene flow maintain a maladaptive phenotype in a Batesian mimicry complex? Palatable species (mimics) may resemble toxic or venomous species (models) with which they co-occur and thus gain protection from predators. This phenomenon, termed Batesian mimicry, occurs in numerous plant and animal taxa. A […]

BAKER, M.E.; Univ. of California, San Diego: Role of the Environment on the Evolution of Signal Transduction Proteins and Metamorphosis Signal transduction proteins regulate differentiation and development, which are central to metamorphosis. We focus on the role of environmental factors (e.g. climate, chemicals) in the evolution of nuclear receptors and Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPK), two […]