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Bursary Sketches - Biological Sciences
Proteomic analysis of mRNA-bound proteins in Aradopsis thaliana 
Aline Marnef, Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of the West of England
The summer project carried out by Aline Marnef at the University of the West of England investigated how plants react to environmental stress by regulating gene expression through the action of a particular group of mRNA binding proteins. (see case study)
URB/01948/G
Flux analysis in metabolic networks – the impact of growth in stable isotope [13C] substrates
Joanna Huddlestone investigated whether growing plants on sugars with different carbon forms would alter metabolism. Her results, obtained using radioactive labelling, suggest that sugars containing stable isotopes do not affect processes in growing cells, thereby opening the way for the use of these compounds to study plant metabolism. Joanna’s summer project was carried out in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford.
URB/01962/G
Proximate mechanisms underlying boldness in rainbow trout 
Alexandria Winrow-Giffen, Biological Sciences, Liverpool
At the University of Liverpool, Alexandria Winrow-Giffen found that innately bold and shy trout are capable of changing their behaviour patterns. Bold and shy fish were given the experience of losing or winning a series of fights. Subsequently, the bold losers took longer to approach a new object than they had before, whereas the shy winners approached the new object much more quickly. Bold fish that watched shy fish approach a new object through a one-way mirror also showed increased shyness.
URB/02032/G
Decay rate of a newly discovered negative trail pheromone in the Pharoah's Ant (Monomorium pharaonis) 
Ed Jenner, Animal & Plant Scis, Sheffield
Ed Jenner studied the decay rate of the negative pheromone used by Pharoah's ant workers to signal "no entry" to trails not leading to food. His results will shortly be published and are a valauble part of the research program at the Laboratory of Apiculture & Social Insects, Sheffield University, investigating how ant colonies organize their foraging.
URB/01958/G
The energetic cost of the immune response in bumblebees 
Bumblebee colony
The advantages of a perfect immune system are obvious, so why aren’t they perfect? The results of Elizabeth Tyler’s project (at Leicester University) with bumblebees suggest that such efficiency might have too high a price in terms of energy costs. Elizabeth showed that bees injected with lipopolysaccharides (LPS), found on the surface of bacteria and known to stimulate the insect immune system, consumed more honey water than bees injected with an inert control solution. The work has since been published and Elizabeth has begun a PhD in the Department of Genetics at Leicester University.
URB/01882/G
Coordination of activities in vertebrate groups
Tzo Ang’s project in the Zoology Department at Cambridge also uncovered the depths of fish personality. Sticklebacks were allowed to stay in a safe area with no food, or move to an exposed, open area, for foraging. When allowed to move in pairs, the fish showed an increase in foraging behaviour, and coordinated their trips out of the safe area. When bold and shy fish were paired, it was the shy fish that had most influence on the behaviour of the pair.
URB/02120/G
Host-masking semiochemicals against Scottish biting midges
The female Scottish biting midge, Culicoides impunctatus is attracted by CO2, and a semiochemical, 1-octen-3-ol, produced by large mammals, including humans. April Tyror used a series of baited suction traps to test whether potential insect repellent compounds, occurring in greater amounts in people unattractive to biting flies would mask the attractants. The results suggest that this is the case; April’s project was with the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Aberdeen.
URB/02221/G
Development of a stochastic simulation programme to predict selection response in livestock 
Gwylim Williams, Sustainable Livestock Systems Group, Scottish Agricultural College
Gwylim Williams joined the Sustainable Livestock Systems Group at the Scottish Agricultural College for his project to develop a stochastic simulation programme to predict selection response in livestock. Gwylim’s programme, written in Java, with the capability to integrate Fortran programmes as plug-ins, models the inheritance of various traits, and the influence of fixed and random environmental effects.
URB/02257/G
Last Updated Thu, 30 November 2006