Category: NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS)

Use mathematical representations to support explanations of how natural selection may lead to increases and decreases of specific traits in populations over time.​

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

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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

Earth Science, Earth's System, ES 5: Life on Earth (HS), HSus 3: Human/Ecosystem Interactions (HS), Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 4: Adaption (HS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS)

Modeling Ecosystem Invasions with Bacteria

GwynneL.

Invasion triple trouble: Environmental fluctuations, fluctuation-adapted invaders and fluctuation-mal-adapted communities all govern invasion success SUMMARY: To model how ecosystems react to invaders and temperature changes (due to global warming), researchers used different bacteria clones to simulate invasions. Results showed that communities in fluctuating temperatures were more susceptible to invasion compared to communities with constant temperatures.… Continue reading Modeling Ecosystem Invasions with Bacteria

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

Life Science, Natural Selection & Evolution, NSE 1: Evolution Evidence (HS), NSE 2: Evolution Factors (HS), NSE 5: Natural Selection (MS), NSE 5: Population Flux (HS), S&F 1: DNA to Proteins (HS), Structure and Function

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in People and Chickens in Ghana

GwynneL.

Detection and Characterization of ESBL-Producing Escherichia coli From Humans and Poultry in Ghana SUMMARY: Farm animals (for food) in African countries have high levels of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing E. Coli. Beta-lactamase is an enzyme produced by certain types of bacteria that disable antibiotics. Researchers looked at fecal samples from children in rural Ghana and samples… Continue reading Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria in People and Chickens in Ghana

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