@article{rowe_rowe_2008, title={Physiological resistance of grasshopper mice (Onychomys spp.) to Arizona bark scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda) venom}, volume={52}, ISSN={["0041-0101"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.toxicon.2008.07.004}, abstractNote={Predators feeding on toxic prey may evolve physiological resistance to the preys' toxins. Grasshopper mice (Onychomys spp.) are voracious predators of scorpions in North American deserts. Two species of grasshopper mice (Onychomys torridus and Onychomys arenicola) are broadly sympatric with two species of potentially lethal bark scorpion (Centruroides exilicauda and Centruroides vittatus) in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts, respectively. Bark scorpions produce toxins that selectively bind sodium (Na(+)) and potassium (K(+)) ion channels in vertebrate nerve and muscle tissue. We previously reported that grasshopper mice showed no effects of bark scorpion envenomation following natural stings. Here we conducted a series of toxicity tests to determine whether grasshopper mice have evolved resistance to bark scorpion neurotoxins. Five populations of grasshopper mice, either sympatric with or allopatric to bark scorpions, were injected with bark scorpion venom; LD50s were estimated for each population. All five populations of grasshopper mice demonstrated levels of venom resistance greater than that reported for non-resistant Mus musculus. Moreover, venom resistance in the mice showed intra- and interspecific variability that covaried with bark scorpion sympatry and allopatry, patterns consistent with the hypothesis that venom resistance in grasshopper mice is an adaptive response to feeding on their neurotoxic prey.}, number={5}, journal={TOXICON}, author={Rowe, Ashlee H. and Rowe, Matthew P.}, year={2008}, month={Oct}, pages={597–605} }
 @article{rowe_rowe_2006, title={Risk assessment by grasshopper mice (Onychomys spp.) feeding on neurotoxic prey (Centruroides spp.)}, volume={71}, ISSN={["0003-3472"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.anbehav.2005.08.003}, abstractNote={Predators should benefit from assessing the risks posed by prey that differ in their dangerousness. Assessment might come at any phase of the predatory sequence: search/recognition, pursuit/attack and handling/subjugation. Grasshopper mice are voracious carnivores in North American deserts, feeding almost exclusively on arthropods. In certain regions, grasshopper mice co-occur with extremely neurotoxic bark scorpions, whose sting can prove lethal to vertebrates. We presented three different prey items to wild-caught grasshopper mice at several field sites in the southwestern U.S. The three items, listed in increasing order of dangerousness, were: laboratory crickets, Acheta domesticus, having few or no defences; two sister species of Vaejovis spp., a non-neurotoxic genus of scorpion; and two sister species of toxic Centruroides. Grasshopper mice made no distinctions among the prey in either the recognition or pursuit phases of the encounter, attacking crickets and both genera of scorpions with little hesitation. There were, however, significant differences in how the mice handled the three different prey types, with Centruroides requiring significantly more effort to subdue. The difficulties that mice had in dispatching Centruroides were not related to the neurotoxic components of these scorpions' venoms, to which the mice are resistant. Instead, the difficulties appeared to result from other constituents of Centruroides' venom that cause intense, short-term pain.}, journal={ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR}, author={Rowe, AH and Rowe, MP}, year={2006}, month={Mar}, pages={725–734} }
 @article{luckenbach_early_rowe_borski_daniels_godwin_2005, title={Aromatase cytochrome P450: Cloning, intron variation, and ontogeny of gene expression in southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma)}, volume={303A}, ISSN={["2471-5646"]}, DOI={10.1002/jez.a.198}, abstractNote={Aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) is the enzyme complex responsible for conversion of androgens to estrogens in vertebrates. Consequently, in some fishes its activity appears critical to ovarian differentiation. Southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) is a commercially important flatfish in which females grow larger than males and sex determination is temperature sensitive. Through cloning of the P450arom gene in ovary and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, we developed a biomarker for early female differentiation in southern flounder. The deduced amino acid sequence for southern flounder P450arom is similar to other teleosts. Comparison of P450arom intron sequences from fish of different populations revealed substantial inter-individual variation. Adult ovary and spleen exhibited high levels of P450arom mRNA, while P450arom mRNA was only weakly detected in testes. Brain, liver, intestine, kidney, gill, muscle, and heart showed little or no P450arom mRNA expression. Gonads of wild and hatchery-produced juvenile flounder of sizes spanning the period of sex differentiation initially exhibited low levels of P450arom mRNA followed by increases in some individuals and bifurcation into two clearly segregated groups (i.e., putative males and females) beginning at approximately 65 mm in total length. Gonadal histology confirmed predictions of sex based on P450arom expression in juvenile flounder, demonstrating that the patterns of P450arom expression observed relate to sex-specific differentiation. This research represents a unique approach to assessing sex differentiation in a natural population, and a powerful technique for better understanding mechanisms of flounder sex determination and rapidly defining conditions for controlling sex for aquaculture.}, number={8}, journal={JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART A-ECOLOGICAL AND INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY}, author={Luckenbach, JA and Early, LW and Rowe, AH and Borski, RJ and Daniels, HV and Godwin, J}, year={2005}, month={Aug}, pages={643–656} }