code blue??

Null Hypothesis: the opsin genes are no longer experiencing stabilizing selection (because there is no longer selection for function in vision).

Hypothesis would be falsified if only one of the opsin genes is experiencing stabilizing selection (there is still selection for the function of vision).

To test the hypothesis place some surface-dwelling crawfish in a container with equal amount of light as normal environment, and another group of surface-dwelling crawfish in a dark controlled contain with similiar surroundings. Monitor how each group reacts to the amount of light, and how they can move around the obsticals in container to see if there is a difference in amount of activity.

Negative Control: the group exposed to light
Positive Control: the group exposed to no light.

Hypothesis: The opsin genes are no longer under stabilizing selection.
Experiment: Using the sequences of the opsin genes in various species of crayfishes, compare the rate of synonymous substitutions to nonsynonymous substitutions in the corresponding DNA sequences. If the synonymous substitutions are much higher than the nonsynonymous substitutions than the crayfish are still under stabilizing selection. If the nonsynonymous substitutions are much higher than the synonymous substitutions than the crayfish are not under stabilizing selection. A negative control is when there is no difference between the rates.

Hypothesis: The opsin genes are experiencing selection for a function other than vision.
Experiment: Using the sequences of the opsin genes in various species of crayfishes, track what happens to duplicates. If the duplicates keep gaining substitutions than the gene sequence is experiencing selection for a new function. If the duplicates do not gain substitutions than the gene sequence is not experiencing selection for a different function. A negative control is where the duplicates continue to do the same function as before.

Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License