Defense Date

7-11-2008

Graduation Date

Summer 2008

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Biological Sciences

Committee Chair

Michael Jensen-Seaman

Committee Member

Phillip Auron

Committee Member

Brady Porter

Keywords

Prostatic Acid Phosphatase, Hominoids, Seminal Proteins, Gene Regulation, Sperm Competition, Copulatory Plug

Abstract

Hominoids vary in their mating behavior. Levels of sperm competition vary accordingly. Species in which females mate with a large number of males are expected to experience high levels of sperm competition, such as chimpanzee and bonobo, while polygynous gorillas likely have little or no sperm competition. Coding regions of several seminal proteins have been shown to be experiencing positive selection, but little is known about the regulatory regions of these genes. The 1.7 kb upstream promoter region of prostatic acid phosphatase (ACPP) of human, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan, gibbon, and macaque was cloned into a luciferase reporter vector and transiently transected into a human prostate cancer cell line (LNCaP). The in vitro expression levels were measured and were found to vary. These results are discussed in terms of mating behavior, sperm competition, and the influence of regulatory regions on phenotypic adaptations.

Format

PDF

Language

English

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