SCHULZE, A*; CUTLER, E.B.; GIRIBET, G.; Smithsonian Marine Station; Harvard University; Harvard University: Molecular and Morphological Evolution in Sipunculan Worms Sipuncula are not only a key group in protostome evolution but they are also used as bio-indicators for marine pollution and as model systems in physiological studies. A stable phylogenetic framework is necessary to interpret […]

MOTT, TAMI; Univ. of California, Berkeley: Molecular Systematics of Brazilian amphisbaenids (Reptilia, Squamata, Amphisbaenidae) Amphisbaenians, or worm lizards, are a monophyletic lineage of fossorial squamate reptiles that comprises ca.165 species distributed in Africa and South America primarily. The family Amphisbaenidae includes nearly 90% of all extant amphisbaenians: 17 genera and ca.150 species. Seven of these […]

ZHONG, M.*; HALANYCH, K. M. ; Auburn University; Auburn University: Mitochondrial Genomes of Three Terebelliformia Annelids Sequencing of complete mitochondrial genomes has become a useful tool for inferring animal phylogeny. Complete mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences have been determined for many invertebrate species and partial sequences for hundreds of others. Since the rate of gene arrangement […]

MOOI, R.*; PIMENTEL, F.; Calif. Acad. of Sciences, San Francisco; Kalamazoo Coll., Kalamazoo: From large to small to large: Phylogenetic systematics of rotulid �sand dollars� and their tiny relatives Recent phylogenies of the Clypeasteroida (sand dollars and allies) recognize 3 clades (Clypeasterina, Laganina, Scutellina). The Laganina contains the strangest of all clypeasteroids. Although many laganine […]

JACKMAN, W.R.*; STOCK, D.W.; University of Colorado at Boulder: Transgenic analysis of the mechanism of cypriniform oral tooth loss We are interested in the developmental genetic mechanisms responsible for evolutionary change in fish dentition, and are specifically investigating the mechanism of oral tooth loss in cypriniform fishes. In a survey of genes with known tooth […]

HURLEY, IA*; SCEMAMA, JL; PRINCE, VE; Organismal Biology & Anatomy, The University of Chicago; Dept. of Biology, The University of Chicago; Organismal Biology & Anatomy, The University of Chicago: The mechanism and consequences of duplicate gene preservation � a comparison of hoxb1 duplicates across teleost fish Vertebrate evolution is characterized by gene/genome duplication events, and […]

JIMENEZ, Lizandra; Adelphi University: Preliminary Phylogeny of the Tilefishes Based Upon Their Cytochrome b and 16S Gene Sequences Tilefishes are found worldwide. Tilefishes are presently thought by some to be monophyletic (i.e. belong to one family, Branchiostegidae, comprised of two subfamilies, Malacanthinae and Branchiosteginae). Another alternative theory is that the tilefishes consist of two separate […]

SCHLUETER, P.J.*; DUAN, C.; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: Overlapping and distinct functions of the duplicated zebrafish insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) genes in early development The process of gene duplication is a major contributor to the genetic diversity of vertebrate genomes, and the driving force behind a complicated process […]

WISE, S. B.*; STOCK, D. W.; University of Colorado at Boulder: Bone morphogenetic protein expression, regulation, and function in teleost tooth development and evolution Bone morphogenetic proteins (Bmps) have been shown to be important in tooth development in the mouse and the evolution of dentition in rodents and birds, but little comparable data is available […]

CROTWELL, P.L.*; MABEE, P.M.; Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion; Univ. of South Dakota, Vermillion: A comparative analysis of gene expression patterns conserved in segmentation of fish and tetrapod skeletons Much skeletogenesis in zebrafish occurs at �late stages� for which there are few tools to test gene function. The study of mutants, for example, is limited […]