Eukaryotic organisms Flashcards
Characteristics of fungi
-cell walls contain chitin
-chemoheterotrophs
-major role in decomposition of organic matter on earth
-many fungi exhibit dimorphism: the ability to switch between two forms; filamentous or yeast
Bakers and brewers yeast
-a model eukaryotic cell for research: many genes are highly conserved from yeast to plants to humans
- divides by budding
-stable haploid and diploid states
-about 3x the size of E.coli
has a doubling time about 2hrs
s. cerevisiae is easily transformed any foreign DNA and can be easily made competent
Yeast, cell division, and cancer
The study of the cell cycle in yeast has improved the understanding of the causes of uncontrolled cell division and chromosome loss which can lead to cancer in humans
yeast and Parkinson’s disease
a genetic screen using yeast led to the discovery that alpha Syn is toxic to cells because it blocks ER- to- golgi trafficking
Yeast and genes that control aging
-a genetic screen using yeast found that the sir2 gene influences longetivity
How can protists be classified?
-one method of classification is by motility
–>flagella
–>pseudopodia
–>cilia
–> nonmotile
Useful things that protists do
-carry out a lot of photosynthesis thus sequestering much CO2 and releasing oxygen
-consume great amounts of bacteria including the dangerous to animals and humans
-help decompose plant matter
-help purify wastewater
-provide a source of food to aquatic animals
-make industrial products
which group of protists do plasmodium belong to?
Nonmotile
Malaria caused by apicomplexan Plasmodium
-malaria causing high fevers and chills due to toxins released when red blood cells containing the parasite bursts
-found in salivary glands of mosquitos
-found in human liver
Benefits of yeast AND Ecoli
- yeast gives insight into human bio
-both grow rapidly - both are easy to perform a genetic screen
-both are easy to maintain in lab
-both are easily transferred
-both have small fully sequenced genomes
