Category: NSE 4: Fitness (MS)

Construct an explanation based on evidence that describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.

Inheritance & Variation of Traits, Inheritance 1: Behavior and Reproduction (MS), Inheritance 2: Genes and Growth (MS), Inheritance 2: Role of DNA (HS), Inheritance 4: Population Genetics (HS), Inheritance 5: DNA Technology (MS), Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, IR 1: Ecosystem Interactions (MS), IR 3: Ecosystem Stability (HS), Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 1: Evolution Evidence (HS), NSE 2: Evolution Factors (HS), NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS), S&F 1: Cells (MS), S&F 1: DNA to Proteins (HS), S&F 2: Cell Function (MS), Structure and Function

Amoebae, Giant Viruses, and Virophages

GwynneL.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2017.00527 SUMMARY: In 2003, scientists discovered that giant viruses infected amoebas. These giant viruses are so big that they were mistaken for bacteria for the longest time. It wasn’t until scientists realized they contained no ribosomal DNA that these organisms were reclassified as viruses. From there, even more giant viruses were discovered. Some of the… Continue reading Amoebae, Giant Viruses, and Virophages

Inheritance & Variation of Traits, Inheritance 2: Role of DNA (HS), Inheritance 4: Asexual/Sexual (MS), Inheritance 5: DNA Technology (MS), Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, Non-NGSS Articles, NSE 3: Trait Selection (HS), NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), S&F 1: DNA to Proteins (HS), S&F 2: Cell Function (MS), Structure and Function

Anhydrobiosis without trehalose in bdelloid rotifers

GwynneL.

Anhydrobiosis without trehalose in bdelloid rotifers SUMMARY: There are many types of organisms that can dry out, rehydrate, and then go about their lives with no problems. Many of the larger ones use trehalose or sucrose as an antifreeze. Bdelloid rotifers (tiny microscopic animals) do not. This study looked at the carbohydrate content in desiccated… Continue reading Anhydrobiosis without trehalose in bdelloid rotifers

Inheritance & Variation of Traits, Inheritance 1: Behavior and Reproduction (MS), Inheritance 1: Mitosis (HS), Inheritance 4: Population Genetics (HS), Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems, IR 1: Ecosystem Interactions (MS), IR 2: Affecting Biodiversity (HS), Life Science, M&E 3: Food Webs (MS), M&E 5: Changing Ecosystems (MS), Matter & Energy in Organisms/Ecosystems, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 1: Evolution Evidence (HS), NSE 2: Evolution Factors (HS), NSE 3: Trait Selection (HS), NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS)

De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation

GwynneL.

De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation SUMMARY: Chlamydomonas are common, single-celled green algae that are flagellated and can move around. They’re a strange cross between plants and protists. In this study, scientists subjected chlamydomonas to predation by paramecia (common freshwater ciliates) and observed that after about 750 generations, the chlamydomonas took on… Continue reading De novo origins of multicellularity in response to predation

Inheritance & Variation of Traits, Inheritance 2: Genes and Growth (MS), Inheritance 2: Role of DNA (HS), Inheritance 3: Mutations (HS), Inheritance 3: Mutations (MS), Inheritance 4: Population Genetics (HS), Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 2: Evolution Factors (HS), NSE 3: Trait Selection (HS), NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS), S&F 1: Cells (MS), S&F 1: DNA to Proteins (HS), S&F 2: Cell Function (MS), Structure and Function

How Bacteria Genes Change with Dryness

GwynneL.

Environmental filtering of bacterial functional diversity along an aridity gradient SUMMARY: Genes of soil bacteria sampled in the Tibetan Plateau showed that as the environment got drier, the less diverse the genes were. Researchers wanted to compare bacterial gene diversity with the already-known diversity of genes in large animals in various environments. There were less… Continue reading How Bacteria Genes Change with Dryness

Earth Science, Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), W&C 1: Changing Climates (HS), W&C 2: Biomes (MS), W&C 2: Future Climate (HS), Weather and Climate

Predicting Changes in Biodiversity

GwynneL.

Risk of biodiversity collapse under climate change in the Afro-Arabian region SUMMARY: This study looked at three families of mammals (rodents, shrews, and bovines) in the Sahara and Arabian Desert regions. Researchers wanted to know how these animals would react to climate change if they were able to move away from the region versus if… Continue reading Predicting Changes in Biodiversity

Inheritance & Variation of Traits, Inheritance 4: Asexual/Sexual (MS), Inheritance 4: Population Genetics (HS), Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 1: Evolution Evidence (HS), NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 4: Fitness (MS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS)

Rotifers Eating Foreign DNA

GwynneL.

Evidence Supporting the Uptake and Genomic Incorporation of Environmental DNA in the “Ancient Asexual” Bdelloid Rotifer Philodina roseola SUMMARY: This study looked at whether bdelloid rotifers were better at taking in DNA compared to Monogononta rotifers. Bdelloids are a class of rotifers that only reproduce asexually. There has never been a male observed. Their cells… Continue reading Rotifers Eating Foreign DNA