Search

A turnkey observatory with 6.5-m telescope has been developed for a broad range of science applications. The observatory includes the telescope, mount and enclosure, installed on site and ready for operation. The telescope’s primary mirror is an f/1.25 honeycomb sandwich of borosilicate glass, similar to that of the MMT and Magellan telescopes. The baseline optical design is for a Gregorian Nasmyth focus at f/11. A Gregorian adaptive optics secondary that provides a wide-field focus corrected for ground layer turbulence (0.25 arcsecond images over a 4 arcminute field) as well as a narrow-field diffraction-limited focus is optional. Another option is a corrected f/5 focus with a 1° field. The observatory, built by partners from academia and industry with extensive experience, can be delivered within five years at a fixed price.

Lythrurus fasciolaris (Scarlet Shiner) and Lythrurus umbratilis (Redfin Shiner) are closely related minnow species usually exhibiting a parapatric distribution in the Ohio River basin; however, areas of sympatry do exist and hybridization has been documented. In Eagle Creek (Kentucky River drainage), a stream capture event is likely responsible for creating the contact zone, providing a unique opportunity to study hybridization. In this paper, we conduct a morphological analysis of nuptial males from six Lythrurus populations in Eagle Creek. Our results show longitudinal variation in morphology. Individuals from downstream areas exhibit a novel phenotype with a robust body and low meristic counts. In contrast, upstream areas contain individuals resembling Redfin Shiner. Overall, 62% of individuals examined in Eagle Creek have the novel phenotype and 27% have the Redfin Shiner phenotype. Local selection pressures and apparent geographical isolation may be fostering the development of a distinct ph...

Estrogen plays an important role in skeletal physiology by maintaining a remodeling balance between the activity of osteoblasts and osteoclasts. In an attempt to decipher the mechanism through which estrogen elicits its action on osteoblasts, experimentation necessitated the development of a culturing environment reduced in estrogenic compounds. The selected medium (OPTI-MEM) is enriched to sustain cultures under reduced fetal bovine serum (FBS) conditions and is devoid of the pH indicator phenol red, a suspected estrogenic agent. This protocol reduced the concentration of FBS supplementation to 0% through successive 24 h incubations with diminishing amounts of total FBS (1%, 0.1%, and 0%). The protocol does not appear to alter the viability, cell morphology, or osteoblast-like phenotype of 7F2 and UMR-106 cell lines when compared with control cells grown in various concentrations of FBS. Although the rate of mitotic divisions declined, the 7F2 and UMR-106 cultures continued to express osteoblast-specific markers and exhibited estrogen responsiveness. These experimental findings demonstrate that the culture protocol developed did not alter the osteoblast nature of the cell lines and provides a model system to study estrogen’s antiresorptive role on skeletal turnover.

Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. & Zucc. is an invasive species that has spread across Britain, Europe, Canada, and the United States. Prior to this research, no analysis of genetic diversity within, or among, populations had been conducted in the United States, although population genetic diversity had been examined in Britain. An analysis of genetic diversity was carried out using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based DNA fingerprinting on plant populations along two creeks in Rowan County, Kentucky. One creek was sampled at one-meter intervals and the other at intervals of one to nine km. The results of this analysis indicate that the plants along both of these creeks are genetically dissimilar and not clonal. The data did not support the hypothesis that P. cuspidatum is reproducing and dispersing by asexual means.

The growth hormone gene has been used to infer phylogenetic relationships in fishes, and in closely related species the intronic sequence has shown particular value in discriminating among taxa. We examined the growth hormone gene in the esocid family by cloning the fourth intron of the growth hormone gene from all five esocid species. Our initial analysis identified a 33-nucleotide minisatellite in the fourth intron that is present in copy numbers ranging from seven to 16 among the various species. Database searches indicate that this minisatellite is present only as a single copy element in all of the salmonids, indicating a recent expansion in the esocid species since their divergence from a common ancestor. The minisatellite was not detected in any other growth hormone sequences available at the time of this writing. Furthermore, point mutations and deletions in the esocid minisatellites indicate a model for the evolution of this genetic element and corroborate existing molecular phylogenies for the five members of this genus.

The five species in the genus Esox are popular gamefish that form a unique phylogenetic group based on their characteristic duckbill morphology as well as recent molecular data. To better understand the inter-specific relationships in this genus, the beta-actin gene was isolated from each of the five species, and sequence comparisons were carried out for nucleotide and amino acid positions within the gene. Additionally, an internal region of each actin gene family member was sequenced from Esox masquinongy. In contrast to published reports on Takifugu rubripes, where nine actin genes were identified, only six actin genes were detected in the esocids. The similarity and differences between these family members is outlined and the evolution of the actins is discussed. The significant intronic divergence between the actin family members among the five Esox species makes multi-actin gene amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a potential diagnostic marker for species within a genus, and sug...

The alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) gene is transcribed at high levels in the fetal liver and is repressed at birth, leading to low but detectable levels of AFP mRNA in the adult liver. This repression is regulated, in part, by a locus that is unlinked to AFP called Alpha-fetoprotein regulator 1 (Afr1). Previous studies showed that Afr1 regulation is independent of the AFP enhancers but requires the 1-kb AFP promoter/repressor region. Here, we demonstrate that a transgene with the 250-bp AFP promoter region linked to AFP enhancer element EII is expressed in the fetal liver and is postnatally repressed. In addition, this transgene is regulated by Afr1. These data indicate that the promoter is involved in postnatal AFP repression. Furthermore, we provide a high-resolution map of the Afr1 locus on mouse chromosome 15.

Integration of mouse endogenous retroviral (MERV) elements is responsible for an estimated 10% of spontaneous mutations that have been characterized in the laboratory mouse. We recently identified a MERV integration in the first intron of the Zinc fingers and homeoboxes 2 (Zhx2) gene in BALB/cJ mice, resulting in reduced Zhx2 expression. This integration is found in BALB/cJ but not in other BALB/c substrains, indicating that it occurred after these substrains separated in the late 1930s. We have characterized this MERV element and show here that it belongs to the ETnII-α class of elements. Our analysis reveals that the Zhx2 ETn element lacks a 69-bp sequence compared to most other ETn elements which may be due to recombination between two identical 13-bp elements. Three mature Zhx2 transcripts are found in the liver of BALB/cJ mice. The major transcript is spliced from Zhx2 exon 1 to the 5′ ETn LTR and is polyadenylated at the 3′ LTR. Of the two less abundant transcripts, one is identical to the wild-type transcript, whereas the second contains 183 bp of ETn sequence spliced between Zhx2 exons 1 and 2. We have also sequenced and analyzed products from the fas lpr ETn found in MRL/lpr mice and show that it belongs to the ETnII-β class of elements.