Several species of North American migratory songbirds reportedly experience seasonal diet shifts involving a shift from an insect diet during the breeding season to one incorporating fruits during migration and non-breeding periods but the extent to which dietary plasticity occurs in migratory songbirds is poorly quantified. Thus, I used stable carbon (ä13C) and nitrogen (ä15N) isotope analyses to evaluate the timing and extent of frugivory throughout the annual life cycle of 16 species of migratory songbirds, representing wide ranges in body size and reported diets. Birds were sampled during spring and fall migration at the Delta Marsh Bird Observatory in 2003. To investigate dietary patterns, I sampled multiple tissues (muscle, liver, whole blood, claws, bone collagen, feathers) as these represent different periods of diet integration due to varying elemental turnover rates.<p>Assuming that relatively low ä15N values represent a fruit diet and relatively high ä15N values represent an insect diet, I expected tissues representing fall migration (liver, blood, and muscle from fall-captured birds) and winter (greater coverts and claws from spring-captured birds) to have lower ä15N values than tissues representing spring migration (liver, blood, and muscle from spring-captured birds) and summer (tail feathers and claws from fall-captured birds) when fruits are presumed to be less common in songbird diets. Based on blood and claw ä15N values, there was no isotopic segregation of species I classified a priori as insectivores or omnivores. For most species, tissue ä15N values showed either no seasonal change or a shift opposite to my prediction (e.g., ä15N values higher in fall birds compared to spring birds). Boreal fruit ä15N values were lower than those for insects; however, ä15N values of agricultural fruits overlapped both boreal fruit and insect values suggesting that food web baselines did not conform to a simple (single) linear trophic-enrichment model. In Yellow-rumped Warblers (Dendroica coronata), within-tissue seasonal comparisons for liver, muscle and blood indicated a fruit diet during fall and winter and an insect diet during spring and summer; claws and feathers of birds captured in spring (representing winter diet) had unexpectedly high ä15N values. Diet-tissue isotopic discrimination factors associated with both a fruit diet and insect diet were taken from the literature and used to correct stable isotope values of tissues to putative diet because, currently, little is known about the nature of factors influencing discrimination factors to be used in simple linear dietary mixing models. There were differences in tissue ä13C and ä15N values depending on which discrimination factor was used. Based on mixing model results for tissue ä15N values, a higher proportion of insects vs. fruits was detected in the diet of Yellow-rumped Warblers for all tissues except muscle and claws. <p>My interpretations are contingent on the fact that the available natural history information, on which guild classifications were based, was correct and that elemental turnover rates and discrimination factors used were accurate. However, much uncertainty remains about the appropriate diet-tissue isotopic discrimination factors corresponding to fruit and insect diets. Due to extensive natural variability of stable nitrogen isotope values in food sources, possible anthropogenic influences and a lack of knowledge of the metabolic processes that can potentially affect stable isotope values, I caution against using stable isotope analysis alone to track frugivory in temperate North American migratory songbirds. Future research should focus on captive studies aimed at determining and validating discrimination factors of various tissues, particularly claws and feathers, for birds feeding on varying proportions of fruits and insects. Additionally, more information on the dietary habits of these migratory songbirds is needed, as previous estimates of insectivory and frugivory in songbirds may not be accurate.

What impact does the Swedish society have on the practice of Islam? That is the main topic of this thesis. As a result of migration, the distinction between a specific region and a culture or religion has been mixed. Islam is not just part of the Middle East but is more and more institutionalized in the Western, and the Swedish society. Sweden, which is one on the most secular countries in the world, has developed into a country where the view on religion have been privatized. Religion can be practiced, but not in public. This also has an impact on the individual’s practice of Islam. To grow up in a society where the Islam is dominated in the public space and migrating to a society where there is little public support for practicing your own religion does in many ways affect the expression of Islam. The thesis is based on interviews with ten individuals practicing Islam and living in Sweden,but who have been growing up in different societies. Through the interviews there has emerged a tendency that the visible/outer practice of Islam decreases and the non-visible/inner practice are becoming more apparent. In this thesis this is de-islamisation. For example, praying five times a day is an aspect of Islam that among some of the respondents is less focused on. There is not less of Islam, but the practice of Islam has changed in a way where most of the focus is on the non-visible part of Islam.

In the yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (L.), hemolymph-circulating diuretic hormones act upon the renal organs (Malpighian tubules) to regulate primary urine composition and secretion rate; however, the molecular endocrine mechanisms underlying rapid water elimination upon adult eclosion and blood feeding are not fully understood. Bioinformatic analysis of the current Aedes aegypti genome assembly reveals only a single predicted corticotropin releasing factor (CRF)-like diuretic hormone 44 (DH44) gene, but two DH44 receptor genes. The tissue expression profiles of the DH44 receptor(s), and specifically the identity of the DH44 receptor(s) in the Malpighian tubule, are undetermined in any mosquito species. This dissertation shows that Vectorbase gene ID AAEL008292 encodes a DH44 receptor (AaegGPRdih1) transcribed in Malpighian tubules. Sequence analysis and transcript localization indicate that AaegGPRdih1 is the co-ortholog of the Drosophila melanogaster DH44 receptor (CG12370-PA). The presence of conserved amino acid residues between AaegGPRdih1 and vertebrate CRF receptors suggests this mosquito receptor modulates multiple G protein-dependent intracellular signaling pathways. Quantitative PCR analysis of a time course of Malpighian tubule cDNA reveals AaegGPRdih1 abundance increases paralleling periods of observed urination. This suggests that target tissue receptor biology is linked to the known periods of release of diuretic hormones from the nervous system, pointing to a common up-stream regulatory mechanism. Higher relative abundance of AaegGPRdih1 transcript in female Malpighian tubules 24 hours after blood feeding suggests a role for AaegGPRdih1 in the excretion of nitrogen waste. RNA-mediated silencing to establish the significance of AaegGPRdih1 to mosquito Malpighian tubule physiology was inconclusive.

Yellow rust disease is one of the most important problems in wheat production. It causes substantial yield losses throughout the world. There are resistant and susceptible wheat varieties to various yellow rust pathotypes. In this thesis genes that are induced in wheat, in virulence and avirulence conditions upon yellow rust inoculations were investigated. Consequently, it was aimed to identify genes that may be playing critical roles in the disease resistance mechanism. The strategy was to construct subtracted cDNA libraries from resistant and susceptible plants and analyse the sequences obtained from these libraries. The subtraction approach in this study differs from the common subtraction designs implicated in plant-pathogen interactions / instead of comparing a compatible or an incompatible interaction with a control, one of the subtractions in this study is done taking a compatible interaction as the tester and an incompatible one as the driver, and the second subtraction, vice versa. Therefore, it was intended to compare the transcriptomes from compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interactions directly. Suppression Subtractive Hybridization method was used to construct subtracted cDNA libraries. Two subtractions were performed / SSH1 (D-R), taking a compatible interaction as the tester sample and an incompatible one as the driver sample, and SSH2 (R-D), taking an incompatible interaction as the tester sample and a compatible one as the driver. In the end, two subtracted cDNA libraries, SSH1 (D-R) library (1536 clones) and SSH2 (R-D) library (1152 clones) were obtained and the libraries were sequenced. Sequence results were subjected to BlastN and BlastX analysis. We looked for a group of genes that were frequently emphasized in plant disease related studies when we searched within the Blast N homology results of the two libraries. We found out that 19 such genes are present in our libraries. We discussed supposed induction of these genes in the interactions investigated in our study. The fact that these genes were found to be present in our libraries enhances the reliability of our results suggesting that the gene sequences we found indeed belong to genes differentially expressed in the respective comparisons investigated in our study. As such, it also implies that other sequences that were found similar to genes of known functions may represent candidate genes as subjects of further studies investigating wheat-yellow rust interactions.

No description available.

Mechanically pressed Brassica napus L. meals’ digestibility nutritional compositions were evaluated with digestibility studies. Two growth trials were conducted identifying the meals’ maximum dietary inclusion level in broiler chicken diets. Heat reduced nutrient digestibility of mechanically pressed black canola meal (MPBCM). Meals with higher residual oil had higher AMEn. Enzyme addition did not affect MPBCM AMEn but increased standardized ileal amino acid digestibility (SIAAD) of meal with high residual oil. Carbohydrase increased AMEn of mechanically pressed yellow canola meal (MPYCM) while lipase generally improved SIAAD. MPBCM with 12 and 17% residual oil can be fed up 15% in the starter and grower diets but at 10% in finisher diet. Mechanically pressed black canola meal (MPYCM) with 12% residual oil should be fed in the starter and finisher diets at 10% and 15% in grower diet. Meal with 17% residual oil should be fed only at 10% in finisher diet. / Masters Thesis

As a result of the legacy of industrial contamination over the last century, areas of sediment deposition in the St. Lawrence River at Cornwall, ON, contain high concentrations of mercury (Hg). The popular sport-fish species, yellow perch (Perca flavescens) and walleye (Sander vitreus) have been found to contain mercury concentrations exceeding Ontario Ministry of Environment consumption guidelines. Interestingly, a paradox exists between two contaminated sites – despite elevated sediment Hg concentrations at Zone 2, fish from Zone 1 contain higher Hg concentrations. Further research has indicated that these patterns of Hg were not attributed to growth rate, condition factor, diet composition, or trophic position of yellow perch. Rather, Hg concentrations in yellow perch may be described by the heterogeneity of prey contamination and fish bioenergetics. As a result of the paradox between total Hg (THg) concentrations in sediments and biota between two contaminated sites, it was necessary to examine the benthic invertebrate community and how it may transfer Hg from sediments to yellow perch. This apparent paradox now extends to all prey items, since prey items from the stomach contents of yellow perch caught in Zone 1 were significantly more contaminated than those of Zone 2. Use of δ15N and δ13C, measures of trophic position and energy source, respectively, indicated that prey selection, but not food chain length, may also be an important factor in explaining the variation in Hg burdens in yellow perch. Small-scale patterns of biomagnification, as shown by a comparison of δ15N and logTHg, indicated that the rates of biomagnification were similar among zones, but the amount of THg present at the base of the food web was twice as high at Zone 1 as at other contaminated sites. Overall, the relative importance of vertical and horizontal food web structure changed spatially and temporally, highly influencing THg concentrations of prey items and yellow perch. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2007-08-02 08:02:40.26

Phenotypic traits that vary geographically within species are commonly assumed to represent local adaptations to different environments. In order for local adaptation to evolve by natural selection, three conditions must be met: (1) traits must vary geographically, (2) local variants of traits must provide a fitness advantage (increased survival or reproductive success) within the local environment, and (3) local variants of traits must be heritable. In chapter two, we review evidence for local adaptation in birds. Geographic variation among populations is nearly ubiquitous, yet experimental tests of the fitness advantages of local trait variants are rare among populations of birds, presumably because of the difficulties in transporting individuals between populations. Thirty-seven studies have tested the heritability of among population variation in traits. Thirty-three of the 37 studies found some degree of heritability of variation among populations, consistent with traits diverging in response to natural selection. In chapter three, we experimentally test the fitness consequences of divergent nest morphologies of Yellow Warblers (Dendroica petechia) using reciprocal nest transplant experiments between a temperate and subarctic site in Canada. Yellow Warblers breeding at our subarctic site build larger nests constructed with more insulative materials than Yellow Warblers breeding at our temperate site, and these differences are the result of different nest building behaviours. Temperate nests transplanted to subarctic sites experienced significantly colder temperatures, and tended to suffer higher egg and nestling mortality due to climatic conditions (cold temperatures), than locally transplanted subarctic nests. Adult females breeding in subarctic sites that received temperate nests changed their incubation behaviours by taking shorter recesses than females who received locally transplanted subarctic nests. In contrast, subarctic nests transplanted to our temperate site showed no changes in nest temperature, fledgling success, or parental behaviour during incubation. We suggest that divergent selective pressures acting on Yellow Warblers in subarctic and temperate environments results in different nest building behaviours. Cold temperatures in our subarctic site likely favour increased investment in larger, insulative nests, whereas warmer temperatures at our temperate sites likely favour reduced investment in nest building, and consequently smaller nests. / Thesis (Master, Biology) -- Queen's University, 2010-09-28 13:16:38.686

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