Research Project Blog Individual Post By Jonathan Hong

     The color of the meat can indicate various things. Dark meat is considered to be slow-twitch muscles or aerobic muscles. Thus, meaning it constantly requires a flow of oxygen. An example of this would be all the heart muscles and the cow leg (shank). Meanwhile, the light meat is the fast-twitch fiber or the anaerobic muscles. This allows quick contraction which grants them explosive speed for a short term. The chicken leg and duck legs are prime examples of the light meat.
     In our experiment, we will be analyzing the protein of the heart and leg from different species such as chicken, duck, and cow. Our objective is to test if the proteins from the heart is more related to another species’s heart protein or if it is more similar to the same species’s leg protein. To test our experiment, we will be using protein gel electrophoresis which will give us an approximate length of each band. Then, we will be comparing each band size within 10-37 kDa to determine which proteins are more similar.

References: 
White versus Dark Muscles in Birds. Maine Birds. 2013 Nov 26 [accessed 2017 Feb 10].http://web.colby.edu/mainebirds/2014/01/19/white-versus-dark-muscles-in-birds/

****My blogger had issues but I emailed it on time****

Research Project Blog Individual Post By Horea Oprean

The purpose of this lab is to examine the differences and similarities between cardiac and skeletal muscles of three different vertebrates, a chicken, a duck, and a cow.

Of the three samples, two are avians (the chicken and duck), two are red meat (cow and duck (Guen-Ho et al., 2007), and two are mostly terrestrial (chicken and cow). Also being compared are the skeletal and cardiac tissues of the three animals. Due the difference in myoglobin and other proteins of the six samples, we will compare the protein profiles and determine any similarities between the categories of the six samples, specifically between the dark meats and poultry.

Shawkat A, Guen-Ho K, Han-Sul Y. A Comparison of Meat Characteristics between Duck and Chicken Breast. Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies. 2007; 20(6). (1002-1006).

Accessed at: http://ajas.info/upload/pdf/20-142.pdf

Individual Blog Post #1

The purpose of our experiment is to test the similarities and differences in the proteins found in similar structures (heart, leg, and breast) in two organisms (turkey and chicken). We hypothesized that similar body structures in different organisms will have more similar proteins or protein ratios as opposed to proteins in different structures within the same organism.

A study by Children’s Fund of Michigan Research Lab experimented to find similarities in the presence of certain amino acids in muscle meats and beef organs. The animals they experimented with (for muscle meats) were  beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken, turtle, codfish, salmon, frog legs and shrimp, while the amino acids collected from within the same animal (a cow) were from the liver, kidney, brain, heart, stomach and lung (Beach et al).  The study found that the muscle meats, though collected from a variety of organisms, all had quite similar amino acid sequences (Beach et al). On the other hand, the different organs within the cow shared great differences in amino acid coding. Though our experiment is limited to comparing muscle tissue from two organisms, and can only compare 3 organs from a single animal, this previously conducted experiment does support our hypothesis.

The results of this experiment are relevant for dietary and evolutionary studies. Comparing the proteins present in the different organs of an animal would help us better understand which animal is better for consumption. In addition, similar protein structures also help us better understand evolutionary relationships between species, which is also why it is important to conduct such studies.

References:

Beach, E.F.; Munks, B.; Robinson, A. The amino acid composition of animal tissue protein.

[accessed 2017 Feb 9]. https://www.cabdirect.org/cabdirect/abstract/19431401259

Research Project Blog #1 (individual blog)

Our research project is to find out if proteins from the same tissue/organs of different organisms will have more similarities or will the proteins of different tissues within an organism will have more similarities.  Proteins are very important because its presence and functions dictate the phenotype of an organism.  Though the DNA is also important because it provides the coding sequence to make a protein, but we know that not all DNA get transcribe into proteins (Freeman et al, 2014).  The genetic makeup can be very similar but when compared on the protein level it can be very different among organisms.  This is due to expression on that gene in the organisms (Annenberg 2016).  Since not all genes present will be expressed, this is why we want to compare the proteins within and between closely related organisms. 

Reference:

Freeman S, Allison L, Black M, Podgorski G, Quillin K, Monroe J, Taylor E. 2014. Biological Science. 5^th Ed. San Franciso CA: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.

Annenberg Learner: Rediscovering Biology Unit 2 Proteins and Proteomics. [Internet]. Annenberg Foundation. 2016.  (cited 2017 Feb 9). Available from: https://www.learner.org/courses/biology/textbook/proteo/proteo_13.html

Group Project Individual Blog Post

Research Project Blog #1 (Individual) by Shane Hall

BIO 212

The goal of my group’s research project is to study the relationship of protein sequences across varied meat pigmentation (dark and light).

     While the health benefits between red and white meat have been a cause for concern among many, this project shall observe the possible reasons as to how these meats are different with regard to protein sequences.  Research has shown that red meat can be located in muscular tissues different than that of white meat.  Tissues that are utilized for extended periods of time, for instance, are typically where red meat can be found in animals.  As such, studying differently colored meat can help demonstrate the genetic diversity that is expressed in an individual organism and uncover how muscular tissue behaves differently based upon its function.  Utilizing three species of animal that are similar to one another, our group decided to acquire leg meat (dark) and breast meat (light) across chicken, turkey, and duck for experimentation.  In this manner, we can set up a “protein sequence spectrum” that shows variation between the meat types of each individual animal as well as the differences across each species.

Reference    

The Color of Meat and Poultry [Internet].  [Updated 2013 Aug 6].  FSIS; [cited 2017 Feb 9].  Available from: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/meat-preparation/the-color-of-meat-and-poultry/the-color-of-meat-and-poultry/ct_index

Individual Research Blog Post

In this lab, we will be comparing the muscle proteins of fresh water fish, salt water fish, and fish that lives in both habitats and seeing if they have any similarities or differences between these four species.

In previous studies, changes in levels of fish proteins were seen depending on the salinity of the water (Abdel-Fattah et. al). This research was done to one species and to expand on this research we chose four different species. Even though they are different species, the fishes in similar environments should have more similar proteins than fishes who doesn’t. Using the gels, we will compare the different proteins and see if they are present in each fish or not and analyze whether or not the fishes are similar or not despite the environment.

Abdel-Fattah M. El-Sayed, Cathrine R. Mansour, Altaf A. Ezzat. "Effects of dietary protein level on spawning performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) broodstock reared at different water salinities." Aquaculture: An International Journal. Elsevier, 2002. Web. February 10, 2017

Individual Research Blog Post

The purpose of our project is to determine if there are any significant differences in protein size between freshwater fish and saltwater fish.

From previous studies, we know that salinity content can affect protein activity in fish blood (Peyghan et al), and to expand on this subject, we decided to inspect whether salinity content can also influence fish muscle protein. Proteins are chains of amino acids linked together to form primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary structures. There are certain factors that can affect protein structures, such as temperature and pH level. In our case, we inferred that saltwater fish and freshwater fish must have evolved different structures of proteins in various sizes to adapt to the salinity content of their habitat.

Peyghan, Rahim, Gholam Khadjeh, and Ala Enayati. "Effect of Water Salinity on Total Protein and

Electrophoretic Pattern of Serum Proteins of Grass Carp, Ctenopharyngodon Idella." Veterinary Research Forum : An International Quarterly Journal. National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2017.

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. 

Indicidual blog Post.

Our research is about looking at any differences of protein sequences between red meat and white meat of 3 different birds, which are chicken, duck and turkey.

It is widely known around that consuming red meats are less healthy than consuming white meats. From my experience of living in different countries, the one fact that everyone seems to listen is to avoid eating red meat. Referring to American Institute for Cancer Research, it is recommended that we reduce our red meat consumption to reduce the chance of cancer. Those red meats are referring to beef, lamb and pork, but we would like to see if red meats themselves are different from white meats in general.  We specifically used birds to test red and white meat difference because they have both red meat from their leg and white meat from their breast. This can tell us if red meats are different that white meats in animals and across different animals, and see if red meats have common protein sequence throughout different birds.

Reference:

American Institute for Cancer Research [Internet]. 2009. Washington, D.C.: American Institute for Cancer Research; [02/10/2017]. Available from: http://www.aicr.org/reduce-your-cancer-risk/recommendations-for-cancer-prevention/recommendations_05_red_meat.html