User:Ochitnis/sandbox2

Practice Article Evaluations
Reading through biology topics on wikipedia to evaluate, provide contributions, and make updates where necessary.

HDAC3
The "Function" section should have sources, and more links to several of the definitions references to introduce HDAC3. What are the known targets of HDAC3? That information would be useful for this article.

No biases, all information in this article is evidence based. However, the "Alternative functions" section should be more broad and talk about several Hdac3 deletion studies if it is going to be brought up.

There are no ongoing discussions on the Talk page. The article is rated as a Stub-Class article, and is part of the WikiProjects for Molecular and Cell Biology.

Contributing to Existing Article
I will be contributing to the page for Papilio xuthus, adding a section for wing coloration.

References to be Used
Stavenga, Matsushita, and Arikawa (2015).

This paper will be used to introduce wing coloration in P. xuthus, and provide information on patterning and evolutionary advantages of the color scheme.

Umebachi and Osanai (2003).

This paper will be used to discuss how P. xuthus wing coloration can be altered.

Hidaka and Yamashita (1975).

This paper will discuss one reason for why wing coloration is important.

Wing Coloration
P. xuthus have highly sensitive photoreceptors that can detect a wide range of wavelengths. This adaptation helps them identify members of their own species. Their distinct coloring and patterning are what sets them apart from other butterflies. Wing color is derived from “scales”, and P. xuthus has scales of yellow (cream), orange, black, and blue from the light each scale absorbs and reflects. Spectrophotometer studies saw that the yellow scales absorbed in the UV to violet range, orange absorbed in the lower half-wavelengths of the visible spectrum, black scales absorbed in most of the visible light range, and blue scales absorbed very little light. These absorbance ranges are due to the pigment molecules contained in each wing scale. Yellow and orange contain papiliochrome II and black contains melanin. The blue scales are unique in that they don’t have a pigment molecule, and are instead colored by an optical phenomenon. The interaction of light with the upper and lower lamina of the scale gives them the distinct blue color that we see.

Experimental manipulation of wing coloration has been achieved through administration of the acid carboxypeptidase, Molsin. When injecting Molsin into 0-2 day pupae, the resulting butterflies had high amounts of black wing scales. Further investigation showed that these modified subjects had produced high amounts of melanin and papiliochrome II. Injection of Molsin into 3-4 day pupae showed no change in wing coloration. This indicated that P. xuthus probably has an acid carboxypeptidase of its own that naturally induces production of these pigments, and its action lasts during the first two days of pupation. When administering a higher amount of acid carboxypeptidase to the pupae at 0-2 days, it induced an overproduction of pigmentation molecules which led to a high number of black scales.

P. xuthus uses wing coloration and patterning to identify insects of the same species. Sexual behaviors are elicited from males by visual identification alone. Adult P. xuthus males were able to find odorless conspecifics, and while they do not discriminate by sex, they can identify a female once physical contact is made.