Individual Research

For our project we will be using four fish samples (one saltwater, one freshwater and two fresh/salt water) to determine if there are any differences or similarities in their protein size that would have been influenced by the fresh/salt water being able to adapt between two different environments. 

 
According to an article posted by the public library of science salinity is a key factor that affects metabolism, survival and distribution of fish species (Laudet). The study conducted by PLoS ONE investigated the gene expression of regulatory genes in various fish species. In their  study they analyzed a stress related heat shock protein in gill tissue of marine and freshwater populations and found that the various genes analysis had not only similarities, but major differences in a higher expression rate of a gene in a saltwater fish compared to freshwater. In our experiment we will be using these similarities and differences to compare how fish who are able to adapt between fresh and saltwater have evolved different or similar protein structures and size according to their environment. 


Laudet, V. " Small Changes in Gene Expression of Targeted Osmoregulatory Genes When Exposing Marine and Freshwater to Abrupt Salinity Transfers." PLos ONE. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

Individual Blog Post #1

In this group project, our experiment is about to figure out the differences and similarities of heart and skeletal muscle among three animals that are cow, chicken and turkey. Our hypothesis is that muscles of animals that serve the same function will have more common proteins. By running gel and find the difference in number of proteins, size of proteins, and migrated distance of proteins, we are able to compare the muscles of these animals.

According to “Embryonic Chicken Skeletal, Cardiac, and Smooth Muscles Express a Common Embryo-specific Myosin Light Chain”, there is a relatedness between types of muscle in embryonic chicken. Thus, the same common light chain is expressed in these muscles and about to change as chicken embryo grows. We are going to experiment how proteins are expressed in cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle among chicken, turkey and cow. Furthermore, we want to see whether or not these muscles share common proteins.

Reference:

Takano, H., Obinata, T., Kawashima, M., Masaki, T., Tanaka, T. Embryonic chicken skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles express a common embryo-specific myosin light chain [Internet]. 1985 [cited Feb 10 2017]. Available from http://jcb.rupress.org/content/jcb/100/6/2025.full.pdf

Individual Blog Post

We will be testing four different species of fish and compare the relativity of their proteins based on their habitats which will be freshwater, saltwater or both.

The species we chose to compare are salmon, tuna, catfish, and trout. Tuna lives in saltwater while trout survives in freshwater. Salmon and catfish survive in both of these ecosystems. The fish muscle will vary between each other as the crude proteins will vary depending on the moisture content and it ecosystem (Shahidi et. al, 2009). The protein profile will be determined through the process of protein gel electrophoresis and will be compared to each other by the gel band travel as well as its molecular weight.

Venugopal V, Shahidi F. 2009. Structure and composition of fish muscle. Food Reveiws International [Internet]. [cited 2017 Feb 10] Volume 12, 1996 -  Issue 2 . Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/87559129609541074?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Research Project Blog #1

Our project is to determine the different color of meat in bird type animal. Different part of the animal has different color of meat. For example, the breast meat of a turkey or chicken is white meat, because the muscle fibers on the breast does not require much oxygen from the blood. In the other hand, the wing and thighs is dark meat because these muscles require more energy since these muscles move more often than other muscle. We want to compare the breast and leg between turkey, chicken, and duck; to see the similar and different between them.

Christensen E. Food Science: The Difference Between White Meat and Dark Meat. @kitchn. 2008 Nov 18 [accessed 2017 Feb 8]. http://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-the-difference-be-69729http://www.thekitchn.com/food-science-the-difference-be-69729

Gretchen Janes’ Individual Blog Post #1

The goal of our experiment is to determine the similarities and differences in the muscle proteins between three farmed and wild-caught organisms of different species: chicken, milkfish, and shrimp.

We hypothesized that the wild-caught organisms would have more muscle proteins because their lifestyle included larger spaces to roam and exercise. There are “data which suggest that exercise training shortens the duration of the anabolic response” of muscle protein synthesis (Atherton et al. 2012).  This could indicate that wild-caught animals that are influenced by factors such as predators and environmental changes have more muscle protein synthesis than farmed animals who do not experience those factors. In another study, it is said that the “breast muscle of chickens grows more rapidly and has a higher rate of protein synthesis than other muscles during the first few weeks after hatching” (Conlon et al. 2002). This data corroborates the notion that muscle protein can differ, although in this case it is in the same organism. It also suggests that when our experiment is run, samples should be taken from the same area of each organism and the age of the organism could be relevant to the data collected.

References:

Conlon MA, Kita K. Muscle Protein Synthesis Rate Is Altered in Response to a Single Injection of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I in Seven-Day-Old Leghorn Chicks. 2002 May 18 [accessed 2017 Feb 9]. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c30d/c423377f183afa153fc1991466ea44a61f96.pdf

Atherton P, Smith K. Muscle protein synthesis in response to nutrition and exercise. Wiley Online Library. 2012 Mar 1 [accessed 2017 Feb 9]. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.225003/full

Megan Thees Research Project Individual Blog #1

Our experiment is to determine if there is a significant difference of protein content in farmed raised organisms versus wild caught organisms of the same species. We will be comparing factory raised chicken (caged) and free-range chicken, farm raised and wild caught shrimp and farm raised and wild caught milk fish. It is our prediction that organisms that are raised in the wild or free-range conditions, will contain higher protein content compared to the same species, farm raised counterpart. 

Silva and Chamul claim that the nutrient profiles of most animals vary under different conditions. Variability is found with and within species, where the animal is harvested (wild or farmed), the season in which they are harvested, environmental conditions, age and feed, among others. Proximate compositions of crude protein for milkfish is 20.53g and shrimp is 20.31g (Silva, Chamul, 2000). Seafood in general is considered with high nutritional quality including, lower levels of fat, saturated fat and cholesterol while high in polyunsaturated fatty acids, proteins and minerals. Research has been done on farmed yellow perch and it’s wild counterpart. It was found that protein content was significantly lower and fat content was significantly higher in farmed yellow perch than wild yellow perch (Gonzalez et. al, 2006). 

J. L. Silva, R. S. Chamul. Composition of Marine and Freshwater Finfish and Shellfish Species and Their Products. In: R.E. Martin, E.P. Carter, G.J. Flick, Jr., L.M. Davis, editors. Marine & Freshwater Products Handbook. Lancaster (PA): Technomic Publishing Company, Inc.; 2000. P. 31-45. 

S. Gonzalez, G.J. Flick, S.F. O’Keefe, S.E. Duncan, E. McLean, S.R. Craig. Composition of farmed and wild yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Journal of Food Composition an Analysis. March 2006; Volume 19 (issue 6-7): 720-726. 

Research Project Blog #1 (individual blog)

Group Project Individual Blog Post

(Jaena Ristel Bautista)

For our group experiment, we will be exploring the differences in protein content between farmed meat and wild caught meat or farm raised or free-range meat. We will be using three different kinds of meat for comparison; this includes farmed and wild caught milkfish, farmed and wild caught shrimp and farm raised and free-range chicken. The purpose of this project is to determine which meat is better with respect to protein content between same species raised in different environments. Will a free-range chicken or wild caught fish and shrimp be healthier for us or not?

An article from CBS News reported that there are farm industries that raise salmon fish poorly. Pollutants like PCB’s are higher in farmed industries; also, farm raised fish are given antibiotics to stave off disease and are treated with pesticides to combat sea lice. On the other hand, wild caught fishes are more natural and free. From this information, I am expecting that there should be some difference between farm-raised and wild caught meats.

References

News, CBS, 2014. Wild-caught or Farmed? The Diner’s Dilemma. CBS News, CBS Interactive; [cited 10 Feb, 2017].

Group Project Individual blog post #1

In our project, we will be testing the phylogeny of five mammals (cougar, cow, bear, pig, and sheep) and one avian(turkey) in the protein test group.

We will be testing how closely related the mammal groups are by testing their protein samples in a gel electrophoresis. We expect to run this lab using the same general protocol from the fish protein lab. We predict the turkey will be our out group as it is an avian. The cougar will be on the outskirts of the phylogenetic tree as well for it is a carnivore, the bear and pig are omnivores, but the rest are herbivorous ungulates.

Our ungulate test samples belong to the same order, artiodactyla, which is characterized by the presence of even number of toes (2/4), have different pre-molars than the other order of ungulate (perissodactyls), and have a greater range of motion in their ankles than perissodactyls; due to a “double-pulley” mechanism in the talus bone region. (Ferguson S, Preston P.) For this reason, we expect the ungulates to be closely related in terms of their phylogeny.  

 

Sources:

Ferguson S, Preston P. WELCOME TO THE UNGULATE COLLECTION. Natural History Collections: Ungulates. 1997 [accessed 2017 Feb 8]. http://www.nhc.ed.ac.uk/index.php?page=493.170 

Research Project Blog #1 (individual blog)

For this resarech project our group will be using Protein Gel Electrophoresis to compare 5 mammal’s protein (cougar, bear, pig, sheep, cow) and an outgroup (Turkey) to see if we can find similarities in the structures of protein to link them to one another phylogenetically. We predicted that since the Cougar is the only carnivorous mammal that it would branch off first. This would be followed next by the Bear due to that fact it is omnivous and non domesdicated. Then the pig becaue it is omnivorous aswell but domesticated. The reason behind putting sheep and cow together at the end is they are herboviors with a true ruminant disgestive system. True ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and antelope, have one stomach with four compartments: the rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasums. (Parish J, Rivera D, Boland H.). This similarity in digestive tract lead us to believe that similarity in muscle tissue would arise the closet between these two sets of animal protein when we run the Protein Gel Eletrophorsis. The group decided to follow Bio Rad Manual that was used in the fish protein lab only changing the amount of samples that would undergo Protein Gel Electrophoresis from 5 to 6.

Reference: 

Dr Jane A. Parish, Dr J. Daniel Rivera  Dr Holly T. Boland. Understanding the Ruminant Animal's    Digestive System. The Beef Site. 2009 Aug 22  [accessed 2017 Feb 9] http://www.thebeefsite.com/articles/2095/understanding-the-ruminant-animals-digestive-system/

Group Project Individual Blog Post

    

Group Project Individual Blog Post #1

By: Nhy Tran 

     For my group’s research project, we will be exploring to see if there are many different protein contents that found in three different animals: chicken (free-rage and cage), shrimp and milkfish (wild-caught and farm-raised).

     While doing some research, I found a research article called “Effect of Free-range Rearing on Meat Composition, Physical Properties and Sensory Evaluation in Taiwan Game Hens”. This article talks about the experiment of Taiwan game hens that were raised in three different environments (cage, floor-pen and free-range). Based on the results of this article, the cage group had a higher crude fat content in breast and thigh meat than the free-range group, while the free-range hens had a higher content of proteins and collagen. According to these results, I hope that we can find some significant differences of protein contents in the chicken that we will do the experiment on. 

Reference: 

Lin C-Y, Kuo H-Y, Wan T-C. Effect of Free-range Rearing on Meat Composition, Physical Properties and Sensory Evaluation in Taiwan Game Hens. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences. 2014 Jun [accessed 2017 Feb 8]
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4093180/