During avian egg production, oestrogen mediates marked increases in hepatic lipid production and changes in the diameter of assembled very-low density lipoprotein (VLDL). A nearly complete shift from generic VLDL ( approximately 70 nm in diameter), which transports lipids to peripheral tissues, to yolk-targeted VLDL (VLDLy) ( approximately 30 nm), which supplies the yolk with energy-rich lipid,...

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a member of the glucagon/secretin peptide family, and its molecular structure is highly conserved in vertebrates. In this study, the functional role of PACAP in regulating GH release in the goldfish was investigated. Using immunohistochemical staining, nerve fibers with PACAP immunoreactivity were identified in the vicinity of goldfi...

This paper reviews experiments done in the author's laboratory which led to the discovery of an Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) gene, BZLF1, whose product, ZEBRA, switches the virus from latency to the replicative phase of its life cycle. Recent experiments are summarized which explore the effects of EBV genome rearrangements and cell background on the expression of ZEBRA, and which investigate the vi...

Sequencing. The zebra finch DNA for shotgun sequencing, and for bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and cosmid libraries was derived from a single male (Black 17) domesticated zebra finch from the laboratory of Dr. Arthur P. Arnold in the Department of Physiological Science at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA. The parents of this male hatched in the same clutch in an aviary of group-housed zebra fi...

In a recent Opinion in TREE [1], Gurevitch and Padilla question the generalization that biological invasions are a leading cause of species extinctions. The authors note that declines of native species frequently overlap in space and time with invasions by alien species, and these co-occurrences are sometimes used to infer a causal relationship – a potentially erroneous conclusion given that a ...

Birds exhibit a remarkable diversity of different reproductive strategies both between and within species. Species such as the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) may evolve the flexible use of alternative reproductive strategies, as well as benefit from prior breeding experience, which allows them to adaptively respond to unpredictable environments. In birds, the flexible use of alternative repr...