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Differential Adaptation (differential + adaptation)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	50%

Selected Abstracts

Differential Adaptations in GABAergic and Glutamatergic Systems During Ethanol Withdrawal in Male and Female Rats

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 6 2005
P E. Alele
Background: There are significant and consistent sex differences in recovery from ethanol withdrawal in our animal model of ethanol dependence. We have also observed significant and varied sex differences in subunit protein levels of ,-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) and the N-metheyl-D-aspartate subtype of glutamate receptors occurring with ethanol dependence and withdrawal. Considering the major role of these two systems as targets of ethanol, we wanted to explore additional possible mechanisms underlying changes in GABAergic and glutamatergic responses after chronic ethanol exposure. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to examine GABAergic- and glutamatergic-associated proteins at three days of ethanol withdrawal, when female rats appear to have largely recovered but male rats still display robust signs of withdrawal. Methods: Male and female rats were fed 6% ethanol in a nutritionally complete liquid diet for 14 days according to a pair-fed design; withdrawal was initiated by replacement of the diet with chow. At three days of withdrawal, the cerebral cortex and hippocampus were dissected for use in Western blot analysis. The paired design was maintained throughout all experimental procedures. Results: At three days of ethanol withdrawal, we found region-specific and sex-selective alterations in levels of GAD (glutamic acid decarboxylase, GABA synthetic enzyme), GABA and glutamate transporters, and the synapse-associated proteins HSP70, PSD-95, and synaptophysin. There were also several significant differences in transporter function at this time that varied between males and females. Conclusions: Taken together, these findings show differential adaptations of GABAergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission between female and male rats that are associated with withdrawal recovery. This suggests that selective withdrawal-induced neuroadaptations in regulation of these systems' activities underlie, at least in part, sex differences in withdrawal recovery between male and female rats. [source]

The genic view of the process of speciation

JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY, Issue 6 2001
Chung-I Wu
The unit of adaptation is usually thought to be a gene or set of interacting genes, rather than the whole genome, and this may be true of species differentiation. Defining species on the basis of reproductive isolation (RI), on the other hand, is a concept best applied to the entire genome. The biological species concept (BSC; Mayr, 1963) stresses the isolation aspect of speciation on the basis of two fundamental genetic assumptions , the number of loci underlying species differentiation is large and the whole genome behaves as a cohesive, or coadapted genetic unit. Under these tenets, the exchange of any part of the genomes between diverging groups is thought to destroy their integrity. Hence, the maintenance of each species' genome cohesiveness by isolating mechanisms has become the central concept of species. In contrast, the Darwinian view of speciation is about differential adaptation to different natural or sexual environments. RI is viewed as an important by product of differential adaptation and complete RI across the whole genome need not be considered as the most central criterion of speciation. The emphasis on natural and sexual selection thus makes the Darwinian view compatible with the modern genic concept of evolution. Genetic and molecular analyses of speciation in the last decade have yielded surprisingly strong support for the neo-Darwinian view of extensive genetic differentiation and epistasis during speciation. However, the extent falls short of what BSC requires in order to achieve whole-genome ,cohesiveness'. Empirical observations suggest that the gene is the unit of species differentiation. Significantly, the genetic architecture underlying RI, the patterns of species hybridization and the molecular signature of speciation genes all appear to support the view that RI is one of the manifestations of differential adaptation, as Darwin (1859, Chap. 8) suggested. The nature of this adaptation may be as much the result of sexual selection as natural selection. In the light of studies since its early days, BSC may now need a major revision by shifting the emphasis from isolation at the level of whole genome to differential adaptation at the genic level. With this revision, BSC would in fact be close to Darwin's original concept of speciation. [source]

Nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency of European maize hybrids developed under conditions of low and high nitrogen input

PLANT BREEDING, Issue 6 2002
T. Presterl
Abstract Maize varieties with improved nitrogen(N)-use efficiency under low soil N conditions can contribute to sustainable agriculture. Tests were carried to see whether selection of European elite lines at low and high N supply would result in hybrids with differential adaptation to these contrasting N conditions. The objective was to analyze whether genotypic differences in N uptake and N-utilization efficiency existed in this material and to what extent these factors contributed to adaptation to low N supply. Twenty-four hybrids developed at low N supply (L × L) were compared with 25 hybrids developed at high N supply (H × H). The N uptake was determined as total above-ground N in whole plants, and N-utilization efficiency as the ratio between grain yield and N uptake in yield trials at four locations and at three N levels each. Highly significant variations as a result of hybrids and hybrids × N-level interaction were observed for grain yield as well as for N uptake and N-utilization efficiency in both hybrid types. Average yields of the L × L hybrids were higher than those of the H × H hybrids by 11.5% at low N supply and 5.4% at medium N level. There was no significant yield difference between the two hybrid types at high N supply. The L × L hybrids showed significantly higher N uptake at the low (12%) and medium (6%) N levels than the H × H hybrids. In contrast, no differences in N-utilization efficiency were observed between the hybrid types. These results indicate that adaptation of hybrids from European elite breeding material to conditions with reduced nitrogen input was possible and was mainly the result of an increase in N-uptake efficiency. [source]