Lecture 3

BIOL1000A S2015

Food Selection
The Driver of Trichromatic Evolution?

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

There are three types of opsins:

Short Wave Sensitive (SWS)
Medium Wave Sensitive (MWS)
Long Wave Sensitive (LWS)

An individual possessing only

SWS and MWS opsins will have
DICHROMATIC vision.
An individual possessing SWS,
MWS and LWS opsins will have
TRICHROMATIC vision.

Where did the third opsin (LWS) come from?

Random genetic mutation

Selection

What is Selection?
Selection occurs when some force or
phenomenon affects the survival of
individual organisms.

Impacts the population

Russell et al (2010)

Levels of ecological scale

Population group of individuals

from same species that live in same
area & regularly interbreed

Evolution of the
camera eye

Fig. 1.15

Simple Complex Eyes

Eye spot e.g., Euglena

Eye cup e.g., Planaria

Pinhole eye e.g.,Nautilus

Primitive lens e.g., Box

jellyfish

Evolution of Eyes

Mollusca (e.g. clams, snails, octopus):

Share common ancestor
Simple to complex eyes found.

Cephalopod

Slit-shell snail simple layer

of photosensitive cells curved
in eyecup

Limpet simple layer of

photosensitive cells

Nautilus pinhole-camera eye

Squid advanced camera eye

How does light impact behaviour?

Refer to Chapter 1 for examples

Circadian Rhythms and Light

Fig. 1.20

What happens when external cues

do not match the circadian rhythm?

Fig. 1.25

Resetting the circadian rhythm

Fig. 1.24

Role of Light in Behaviour and Ecology

Signals
Mate attraction
Pollination
(read text)

Fig. 1.26, 1.27

The Detriments of Light

DNA damage

Thymine dimer formation

Change the DNA structure
Prevents DNA replication at that point in the DNA

Fig. 1.18

DNA damage

Fig. 1.18

 What could happen if DNA is damaged?

Think about all the potential implications.

Can the DNA be repaired and if so how?

What is the other detriment of light outlined
in the text?

Pygmy Seahorse

Pygmy Seahorse

Pygmy Seahorse

Taxonomic Organization
Taxonomic rank

Domains

See Aplia Course Materials-> Biology Videos, Animations and Figures

->Defining Life and Its Origins-> Figure 3.20.

Fig. 3.20

Bacteria (e.g. E. coli)

prokaryotic cell
circular DNA within nucleoid (chromosomal region)
lack internal membranes
Fig. 20.3

Archaea
recently determined to be evolutionarily different from bacteria
look like bacteria but......
at molecular level are more related to Eukarya

Many archaea live in extreme conditions

Cold-dwelling
Crenarchaeota in
Antarctic Peninsula

Domains

See Aplia Course Materials-> Biology Videos, Animations and Figures

->Defining Life and Its Origins-> Figure 3.20.

Fig. 3.20

Random genetic mutation

Selection

http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0/bergstrom_03

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Super
bugs+thrive+overcrowded+hospital/3471380/
story.html

How do we get
a resistant
variety?
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0/bergstrom_03

Artificial Selection

How does selection contribute to

evolution?

What is Evolution
A slow and gradual change in the characteristics of
organisms over time
random genetic mutations contributes to evolution
selection contributes to change and thus to evolution

Why should we care about evolution?

Evolution Major Unifying Concept of Biology

Some evolutionary
process
Generation 1

e.g., natural
selection

Generation 10

A change in the traits

of a population over
time

EVOLUTION

Hypothesis: early stages of an idea or a model

Theory: hypothesis widely accepted by the scientific
community via rigorous experimentation and re-testing
(replication) with same results.

 hypothesis is:
specific to the question
testable and falsifiable
based on knowledge

WHYisismy
myflashlight
flashlightnot
is
WHY
not
working!
working?

See Purple Pages F2-F5 for text

example

Theory Everyday Use vs Science

IT IS JUST A THEORY!
Impliesuntested speculation.
(e.g. In theory, she should do fine in the course)

THEORY in science
Broad explanation based on many lines of
evidence.
Aids in the generation of many new hypotheses.
Has withstood rigorous scientific testing.

(e.g. Natural selection is a method of evolution.)

Two major unifying concepts of Biology

1. Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Characteristics of a population change over time. (pattern)

Individuals with certain heritable traits produce more
offspring than those without those traits. (mechanism)

2. Cell Theory

Theory of evolution
Explains the unity and diversity of life.
Darwins theory of evolution:

Since species are highly fertile, they make more offspring than can grow
to adulthood.
Food resources are limited, but should remain relatively constant as time
progresses.
In a species that sexually reproduces, it is likely that no two individuals
are identical. A great deal of variation exists.
This variation is inherited so favorable traits are passed on to offspring.