Classical measures of environmental quality for the marine ecosystem have included assessment of the relative abundance of species, and the levels of pollutants found in the environment and in indigenous organisms. While valuable, these measures do not provide the most sensitive nor most rapid information on the effects of multiple environmental stressors. Major advances in the knowledge of dolphin biology and the unique adaptations of these animals in response to the marine environment are being made as a result of 1) the development of cell-lines for use in in vitro experiments 2) the production of monoclonal antibodies to define dolphin proteins 3) the development of dolphin DNA microarrays to measure global gene expression and 4) the sequencing of the dolphin genome. These new approaches may permit the discovery of new genes and/or functions of the proteins for which they encode. Hence, they may play a central role in understanding the complex and specialized biology of the dolphin with regards to how this species responds to an array of environmental insults. This chapter presents a review of recent advances in the cell biology, biochemistry and functional genomics of the dolphin using biological fluids, tissues or cell lines in efforts to further our understanding of dolphins and their responses to a changing environment.
From DNA to RNA to Proteins: Molecular Approaches to Decipher Dolphin’s Genetic Information
MANCIA, Annalaura;
2010
Abstract
Classical measures of environmental quality for the marine ecosystem have included assessment of the relative abundance of species, and the levels of pollutants found in the environment and in indigenous organisms. While valuable, these measures do not provide the most sensitive nor most rapid information on the effects of multiple environmental stressors. Major advances in the knowledge of dolphin biology and the unique adaptations of these animals in response to the marine environment are being made as a result of 1) the development of cell-lines for use in in vitro experiments 2) the production of monoclonal antibodies to define dolphin proteins 3) the development of dolphin DNA microarrays to measure global gene expression and 4) the sequencing of the dolphin genome. These new approaches may permit the discovery of new genes and/or functions of the proteins for which they encode. Hence, they may play a central role in understanding the complex and specialized biology of the dolphin with regards to how this species responds to an array of environmental insults. This chapter presents a review of recent advances in the cell biology, biochemistry and functional genomics of the dolphin using biological fluids, tissues or cell lines in efforts to further our understanding of dolphins and their responses to a changing environment.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
