First Advisor

Deborah A. Duffield

Term of Graduation

Winter 1990

Date of Publication

2-2-1990

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology

Department

Biology

Language

English

Subjects

Peptides -- Analysis, Myoglobin -- Analysis, High performance liquid chromatography, Cetacea -- Evolution

DOI

10.15760/etd.5970

Physical Description

1 online resource (3, ix, 123 pages)

Abstract

Due to the large gaps in the fossil record, the evolutionary history of the mammalian order Cetacea is incomplete and controversial. Increasingly researchers are utilizing molecular and biochemical procedures to supplement cetacean paleontology. One of these methods is the comparison of amino acid sequences of myoglobin among species of this order. since this method is time-consuming and expensive, an alternative procedure is desirable.

As a candidate for such an alternative, peptide mapping was performed on selected species of cetaceans. This mapping was done utilizing High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Myoglobin was extracted from skeletal muscle, purified, digested with trypsin, the digest separated on a C-18 reversed phase column, and eluted with a gradient of increasing acetonitrile concentration. The eluent was monitored with ultraviolet light at 220 nm, and the absorbance of individual peptides was integrated and plotted. The characteristic peptide maps produced for each sample were compared, and the number of differences between samples tabulated in a difference matrix. Based on the amount of peptide similarity, a phylogenetic tree was constructed for the species represented. The identity of each peptide peak was determined through the use of retention coefficients.

Rights

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Comments

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Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/23466

Included in

Biology Commons

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