Investigation of Mammalian Ecology Using Stable Isotopes Analyses
By: Jordan Claytor (Wilson Mantilla Lab)

The effects of horizontal gene transfer on the evolution of proteins encoded on mobile genetic elements
By: Olivia Kosterlitz (Kerr Lab)

Confined epidermal cells mimic in vivo migration and reveal volume-speed relationship
By: Ellie Labuz (Theriot Lab)

Functional Evolution of a Meristem Identity Gene
By: Hannah McConnell (Di Stilio Lab)

Towards a phylo(genetic) understanding of avian iridescence
By: Yasmeen Erritouni (Leaché Lab)

Intraspecific morphological variation in the widely distributed least chipmunk (Tamias minimus)
By: Donavan Jackson (Santana Lab)

Exploring the Potential Roles of FLP1 as a Shade-Induced Systemic Developmental Signal
By: Andy Hempton (Imaizumi Lab)

The feeding biomechanics of nectarivorous birds
By: David Cuban (Rico-Guevara Lab)

In bacteria, plasmids can move horizontally between cells of the same and different species through the process of conjugation. When a plasmid imposes a fitness cost on its bacterial host, a sufficiently high level of conjugation is required to maintain the extrachromosomal element in the population (effectively as a molecular parasite). For costly plasmids with low conjugation rates, their long-term persistence presents a paradox. Prime examples of this paradoxical persistence concern plasmids that house antibiotic resistance genes, which can be costly in the absence of antibiotics.

An animal’s skin provides a durable barrier to environmental insults, but also serves as a substrate for somatosensory neurons and a first point of contact with the sensory world. Indeed, many types of cutaneous receptors form specialized terminal structures within the skin that contribute to somatosensation, and recent studies have begun to define primary sensory functions for skin cells.