Yale Collaboration
In 2017, The Conservancy partnered with Yale University to investigate the molecular basis for the sense of touch within the bills of waterfowl which exhibit varying foraging behaviors. The Conservancy supplied Yale with eggs from the Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), Wood Duck (Aix sponsa), and the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). Eggs were then examined to understand how the expression of mechanosensitive ion channels and associated proteins vary per foraging strategy within the Anatidae family. While this work is still in progress, the Bagriantsev lab has published previous works investigating the molecular basis of tactile specialization in the duck bill (see *Figure Y.1 and *Video Y.1 below).
*Figure Y.1: Light-sheet microscopy and Tuj1 immunostaining of a whole-mount preparation of embryonic duck bill skin. Shown is a still image from Video 1.
*Video Y.1: Light-sheet microscopy of a whole-mount preparation of a patch of dorsal bill skin (0.64 mm2) from a late-stage duck embryo stained with Tuj1 antibody.
*E. R. Schneider, E. O. Anderson, M. Mastrotto, J. D. Matson, V. P. Schulz, P. G. Gallagher, R. H. LaMotte, E. O. Gracheva, and S. N. Bagriantsev. 2017. Molecular Basis of Tactile Specialization in the Duck Bill. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (49):13036-13041.