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The Norfolk Island Eye Study (NIES): Rationale, Methodology and Distribution of Ocular Biometry (Biometry of the Bounty)
- David A. Mackey, Justin C. Sherwin, Lisa S. Kearns, Yaling Ma, John Kelly, Byoung-Sun Chu, Robert MacMillan, Julie M. Barbour, Colleen H. Wilkinson, Elizabeth Matovinovic, Hannah C. Cox, Claire Bellis, Rod A. Lea, Sharon Quinlan, Lyn R. Griffiths, Alex W. Hewitt
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- Journal:
- Twin Research and Human Genetics / Volume 14 / Issue 1 / 01 February 2011
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 February 2012, pp. 42-52
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- Article
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Aim: To describe the recruitment, ophthalmic examination methods and distribution of ocular biometry of participants in the Norfolk Island Eye Study, who were individuals descended from the English Bounty mutineers and their Polynesian wives. Methods: All 1,275 permanent residents of Norfolk Island aged over 15 years were invited to participate, including 602 individuals involved in a 2001 cardiovascular disease study. Participants completed a detailed questionnaire and underwent a comprehensive eye assessment including stereo disc and retinal photography, ocular coherence topography and conjunctival autofluorescence assessment. Additionally, blood or saliva was taken for DNA testing. Results: 781 participants aged over 15 years were seen (54% female), comprising 61% of the permanent Island population. 343 people (43.9%) could trace their family history to the Pitcairn Islanders (Norfolk Island Pitcairn Pedigree). Mean anterior chamber depth was 3.32mm, mean axial length (AL) was 23.5mm, and mean central corneal thickness was 546 microns. There were no statistically significant differences in these characteristics between persons with and without Pitcairn Island ancestry. Mean intra-ocular pressure was lower in people with Pitcairn Island ancestry: 15.89mmHg compared to those without Pitcairn Island ancestry 16.49mmHg (P = .007). The mean keratometry value was lower in people with Pitcairn Island ancestry (43.22 vs. 43.52, P = .007). The corneas were flatter in people of Pitcairn ancestry but there was no corresponding difference in AL or refraction. Conclusion: Our study population is highly representative of the permanent population of Norfolk Island. Ocular biometry was similar to that of other white populations. Heritability estimates, linkage analysis and genome-wide studies will further elucidate the genetic determinants of chronic ocular diseases in this genetic isolate.
3 - A community and ecosystem genetics approach to conservation biology and management
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- By Thomas G. Whitham, Northern Arizona University, Catherine A. Gehring, Northern Arizona University, Luke M. Evans, Northern Arizona University, Carri J. LeRoy, The Evergreen State College, Randy K. Bangert, Idaho State University, Jennifer A. Schweitzer, University of Tennessee, Gerard J. Allan, Northern Arizona University, Robert C. Barbour, University of Tasmania, Dylan G. Fischer, The Evergreen State College, Bradley M. Potts, University of Tasmania, Joseph K. Bailey, Northern Arizona University
- Edited by J. Andrew DeWoody, Purdue University, Indiana, John W. Bickham, Purdue University, Indiana, Charles H. Michler, Purdue University, Indiana, Krista M. Nichols, Purdue University, Indiana, Gene E. Rhodes, Purdue University, Indiana, Keith E. Woeste, Purdue University, Indiana
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- Book:
- Molecular Approaches in Natural Resource Conservation and Management
- Published online:
- 05 July 2014
- Print publication:
- 14 June 2010, pp 50-73
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Summary
INTRODUCTION
The emerging field of community and ecosystem genetics has so far focused on how the genetic variation in one species can influence the composition of associated communities and ecosystem processes such as decomposition (see definitions in Table 3–1; reviews by Whitham et al. 2003, 2006; Johnson & Stinchcombe 2007; Hughes et al. 2008). A key component of this approach has been an emphasis on understanding how the genetics of foundation plant species influence a much larger community. It is reasoned that because foundation species structure their ecosystems by creating locally stable conditions and provide specific resources for diverse organisms (Dayton 1972; Ellison et al. 2005), the genetics of these species as “community drivers” are most important to understand and most likely to have cascading ecological and evolutionary effects throughout an ecosystem (Whitham et al. 2006). For example, when a foundation species’ genotype influences the relative fitness of other species, it constitutes an indirect genetic interaction (Shuster et al. 2006), and when these interactions change species composition and abundance among individual tree genotypes, they result in individual genotypes having distinct community and ecosystem phenotypes. Thus, in addition to an individual genotype having the “traditional” phenotype that population geneticists typically consider as the expression of a trait at the individual and population level, community geneticists must also consider higher-level phenotypes at the community and ecosystem level. The predictability of phenotypes at levels higher than the population can be quantified as community heritability (i.e., the tendency for related individuals to support similar communities of organisms and ecosystem processes; Whitham et al. 2003, 2006; Shuster et al. 2006).