Population Genetics of Death Valley Pupfishes (Cyprinodontidae:Cyprinodon Spp.) and the Identification of a New Retrotransposable Element Family

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dc.contributor.authorDuvernell, David D. IIen
dc.contributor.committeechairTurner, Bruce J.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHallerman, Eric M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberLederman, Muriel L.en
dc.contributor.committeememberWallace, Bruceen
dc.contributor.committeememberWest, David A.en
dc.contributor.committeememberMcDaniels, Carl O.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiologyen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:21:37Zen
dc.date.adate1998-04-15en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:21:37Zen
dc.date.issued1998-03-24en
dc.date.rdate1999-04-15en
dc.date.sdate1998-03-24en
dc.description.abstractStudy of the genetic relationships and evolutionary histories of pupfish populations (Cyprinodontidae: Cyprinodon spp.) from the remnant aquatic habitats of Death Valley was approached by exploring the genetic structure and divergence within and among populations using mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers. The findings of these studies illustrate the influences of population size and isolation time in the divergence of small, fragmented populations largely via genetic drift. The information revealed in this study has implications for assessing priorities in the conservation of the unique evolutionary heritage among populations of the Death Valley pupfishes. A new retrotransposable element family was identified and characterized. This family of genetic elements was uncovered during a search of the pupfish genome for transposable elements to be used as molecular markers for population analyses. The description of this element family, named "Swimmer 1" (SW1), provides new insights into the evolution of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) in vertebrates. Therefore, a full characterization of the SW1 element family was undertaken in the Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes) as well as in the pupfish genome. The Japanese medaka is a model organism widely used for genetic and developmental biology studies.en
dc.description.degreePh. D.en
dc.identifier.otheretd-31498-17523en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-31498-17523/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/30399en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartDuverne.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjecteffective population sizeen
dc.subjectevolutionarily significant unitsen
dc.subjecttransposable elementsen
dc.titlePopulation Genetics of Death Valley Pupfishes (Cyprinodontidae:Cyprinodon Spp.) and the Identification of a New Retrotransposable Element Familyen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineBiologyen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.namePh. D.en

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