A behavioural analysis of phase change in the desert locust

Article Abstract:

Locusts are a phylogenetically heterogenous group exhibiting an ability to change phase in response to population density. The changes, including behaviour, colour, reproductive development and are gradual. Phase change is central to the occasional catastrophic impact of locusts on human beings, particularly the desert locust Schistocerca gregaria. An assay to measure behavioural phase-state in individual locusts was developed, based on logistic regression analysis.

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Pitx2 participates in the late phase of the pathway controlling left-right asymmetry

Article Abstract:

Misexpression experiments were conducted to investigate the function of the gene Pitx2 in the development of laterality in chick embryos. This gene, a member of the bicoid homeobox gene family, is normally expressed in the left lateral mesoderm. Its expression is modulated by two genes, Sonic hedge hog and nodal. Results of the misexpression experiments reveal that Pitx2 has a role in the late phase of the development of laterality.

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Change in morph frequency in the snail Cepaea nemoralis on the Marlborough Downs

Article Abstract:

Snail populations of the Marlborough Downs, southern England, were surveyed for the color brown in shell locus in two studies 25 years apart, and the data was analyzed with 3 methods estimating selective coefficients. The integration method gave too-high values, but the ratio method provided estimates closer to the values from iteration.

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