Genome-Wide Functional Divergence after the Symbiosis of Proteobacteria with Insects Unraveled through a Novel Computational Approach

Symbiosis has been among the most important evolutionary steps to generate biological complexity. The establishment of symbiosis required an intimate metabolic link between biological systems with different complexity levels. The strict endo-cellular symbiotic bacteria of insects are beautiful examples of the metabolic coupling between organisms belonging to different kingdoms, a eukaryote and a prokaryote. The host (eukaryote) provides the endosymbiont (prokaryote) with a stable cellular environment while the endosymbiont supplements the host's diet with essential metabolites. For such communication to take place, endosymbionts' genomes have suffered dramatic modifications and reconfigurations of proteins' functions. Two of the main modifications, loss of genes redundant for endosymbiotic bacteria or the host and bacterial genome streamlining, have been extensively studied. However, no studies have accounted for possible functional shifts in the endosymbiotic proteomes. Here, we develop a simple method to screen genomes for evidence of functional divergence between two species clusters, and we apply it to identify functional shifts in the endosymbiotic proteomes. Despite the strong effects of genetic drift in the endosymbiotic systems, we unexpectedly identified genes to be under stronger selective constraints in endosymbionts of aphids and ants than in their free-living bacterial relatives. These genes are directly involved in supplementing the host's diet with essential metabolites. A test of functional divergence supports a strong relationship between the endosymbiosis and the functional shifts of proteins involved in the metabolic communication with the insect host. The correlation between functional divergence in the endosymbiotic bacterium and the ecological requirements of the host uncovers their intimate biochemical and metabolic communication and provides insights on the role of symbiosis in generating species diversity

Project 1: Environment

This painting was digitized and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center during fall 2017.This painting was created by Sarah Lynn Abbot. It was submitted as part of the first project assigned to the Beginning Painting class of fall 2017 taught by Carl Moore. This assignment, titled "Environment," required students to complete 20 paintings on a 9 x 12 inch cold press illustration board and two color charts. The "Environment" subject could reference objects from everyday life or a still life that was set up in the studio. The paintings were critiqued in class on October 5, 2017

Project 1: Environment

This painting was digitized and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center during fall 2017.This painting was created by Sarah Lynn Abbot. It was submitted as part of the first project assigned to the Beginning Painting class of fall 2017 taught by Carl Moore. This assignment, titled "Environment," required students to complete 20 paintings on a 9 x 12 inch cold press illustration board and two color charts. The "Environment" subject could reference objects from everyday life or a still life that was set up in the studio. The paintings were critiqued in class on October 5, 2017

Project 1: Environment

This painting was digitized and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center during fall 2017.This painting was created by Sarah Lynn Abbot. It was submitted as part of the first project assigned to the Beginning Painting class of fall 2017 taught by Carl Moore. This assignment, titled "Environment," required students to complete 20 paintings on a 9 x 12 inch cold press illustration board and two color charts. The "Environment" subject could reference objects from everyday life or a still life that was set up in the studio. The paintings were critiqued in class on October 5, 2017

Project 1: Environment

This painting was digitized and uploaded to DLynx by the Visual Resources Center during fall 2017.This painting was created by Sarah Lynn Abbot. It was submitted as part of the first project assigned to the Beginning Painting class of fall 2017 taught by Carl Moore. This assignment, titled "Environment," required students to complete 20 paintings on a 9 x 12 inch cold press illustration board and two color charts. The "Environment" subject could reference objects from everyday life or a still life that was set up in the studio. The paintings were critiqued in class on October 5, 2017

Patterns of Contact Attempts in Surveys

Survey participation is a type of social interaction between an interviewer and a respondent; by hypothesis, the way in which the respondent is successfully contacted, and agrees to cooperate, is a process of involvement in a social activity. Therefore, it is appropriate to use sequence analysis to understand how participants enter the survey according to their social status, lifestyle, and attitude. The argument developed here suggests a sociological approach to survey participation. Unlike rational choice analyses or persuasion models, the sequential analysis explores the sociology of how two actors enter and negotiate a situation to which they assign a meaning based on social institution, social times, and social roles. This viewpoint has the potential to assist in the monitoring of survey contact procedures. It also provides insight into the founding principles of survey participation. The authors examined the samples by coefficients derived from the distance between sequences of contact attempts. In exploring the process of respondent selection, this chapter investigates ways of assessing the social construction of survey data