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BLGY1124 > Natural Selection and Evolution > Flashcards

Natural Selection and Evolution Flashcards

1
Q

Unity of Life

A
  • all life has a common ancestor
  • there is a diversity of form, but all are linked
  • sharer common molecules and chemistry
  • central dogma, DNA->RNA->protein
  • evolutionary and cell theory are the basis for the interrelation of all living things
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2
Q

Cell Theory

A
  • all life is based on cells

- life forms composed of cells can be classified as either eukaryotic or prokaryotic

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3
Q

Cell Theory

Multicellularity

A

-multicellularity was a key step in the evolution and development of plants and animal as it lead to the specialisation of cells

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4
Q

Evolution

General Trend

A

-increasing size and complexity over time

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5
Q

Classification

Definition

A

-theories about the basis of natural order

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6
Q

Classification

Historically

A
  • before the mid 1900s anything that wasn’t an animal was classified as a plant
  • plant and animals were not seen to be related
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7
Q

Classification

Today

A

-fungi are now known to be closer related to animals than plants

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8
Q

Phylogenetics

Definition

A

-study of evolutionary relatedness among groups of organisms

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9
Q

What are the three domains of life?

A
  • Eubacteria
  • Archaebacteria
  • Eukaryota
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10
Q

Classification Hierarchy

A 
Life
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
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11
Q

Archaebacteria

A
  • discovered in extreme environments e.g. acid pools and volcanic springs
  • single cell
  • prokaryotic
  • initially identified as extremophiles but now known to be present in a wide range of environmental conditions
  • recognised as having major roles in life processes on Earth e.g. nitrogen cycle
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12
Q

Era of Genomes

A
  • two years ago, 200 different genomes had been sequenced

- that number is rapidly increasing as genome sequencing gets cheaper

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13
Q

Genome Sequencing

First Generation

A
  • Sanger Sequencing

- chain termination method

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14
Q

Genome Sequencing

Second Generation

A
  • also known as next generation sequencing
  • massively parallel sequencing
  • millions of DNA fragments from a single sample are sequenced together at the same time
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15
Q

Genome Sequencing

Definition

A

nucleic acid sequencing to determine the exact order of nucleotides in DNA

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16
Q

What has analysis of genomes led to?

A
  • refined classification of eukaryotes into supergroups
  • precise relationships are still debated
  • but we are getting closer to a clearer view
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17
Q

When was the Earth formed?

A

4.6bya

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18
Q

When did the first prokaryotic cell form?

A

~3.75bya

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19
Q

When was oxygen first present in the atmosphere?

A

~2.75bya

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20
Q

When did the first eukaryotic cell form?

A

~2bya

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21
Q

When did the first multicellular eukaryotic cell form?

A

~1.5bya

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22
Q

When did the first animal form?

A

0.75bya

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23
Q

When did the Cambrian Explosion occur?

A

535-525mya

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24
Q

When was the land colonised?

A

less than 500mya

25
Q

When did mammals originate?

A

~180mya

26
Q

When did the Cretaceous Mass Extinction occur?

A

65.5mya

27
Q

What proportion of all existing species are now extinct?

A

Nearly all of the species that have ever been present on Earth are now extinct

28
Q

Important Macroevolutionary Changes

A
  • origin of photosynthesis
  • emergence of complex, compartmented cells
  • multicellularity
  • emergence of terrestrial organisms
  • long term impacts of mass extinctions
29
Q

How Life Began

A

chemical and physical processes lead to the formation of very simple cells:

1) Abiotic synthesis of small organic molecules
2) joining of these molecules to form macromolecules
3) packacging of molecules into protobionts
4) origin of self replicating molecules

30
Q

Miller and Urey

A

Showed in a lab experiment in 1952 that abiotic synthesis of molecules in the early atmosphere was possible

31
Q

Protobiont

Definition

A
  • collection of abiotically produced molecules surrounded by a membrane or membrane-like structure
  • they exhibit simple reproduction and metabolism and maintain an internal chemical environment
32
Q

What was the first genetic material?

A

probably RNA

33
Q

What is a ribozyme?

A

RNA molecules that can catalyse many different reactions including forming a complimentary RNA strand

34
Q

Self Replicating RNA in Protobionts

A

early protobionts that had self replicating RNA were able to be more effective at using resources
they quickly increased in frequency by natural selection

35
Q

Stromatolites

A
  • oldest known fossils
  • ~3.5bya
  • rocklike structures
  • layers of bacteria and sediment formed in shallow water
  • prokaryotic
36
Q

Prokaryotes

A
  • only inhabitants of Earth 2.1 - 3.5bya

- structurally simple and metabolically complex

37
Q

Hypothesis of Endosymbiosis

A

-mitochondria and plastids used to be small prokaryotes living within larger host cells

38
Q

Endosymbiont

Definition

A

cell that lives within a host cell

39
Q

How did the endosymbionts enter the host cells?

A
  • as undigested prey or internal parasites

- in the process of becoming interdependent they became a single organism

40
Q

Serial Endosymbiosis

A

supposes that mitochondria evolved before plastid in a series of endosymbiotic events

41
Q

Evidence for the Endosymbiotic Origins of Mitochondria and Plastids

A
  • similarities in inner membrane structure and function with prokaryotes
  • division similar in these organelles to some prokaryotes
  • transcribe and translate their own DNA
  • ribosomes are more similar to prokaryotes than eukaryotes
42
Q

Natural Selection

A
  • only mechanism to explain adaptation

- most dominant mechanism underpinning evolutionary change

43
Q

Allele

Definition

A

different versions of the same gene that diverged due to mutation, they can differ in fitness

44
Q

Directional Selection

A

selection away from the mean

45
Q

Diversifying Selection

A

selection that increases the number of different phenotypes

46
Q

Stabilising Selection

A

selection that increases the proportion of the population with a trait that is already the most common
this type of selection leads to the repression of change

47
Q

Are evolution and natural selection the same thing?

A
  • no, natural selection is only one mechanism by which evolutionary change can occur
  • in the absence of natural selection trait can and do still change over time via migration and genetic drift etc.
48
Q

Requirements for Evolution

A
  • populations of animals which are variable
  • at least some variation that is heritable
  • differential survival and reproduction, i.e. differences in fitness
49
Q

Fitness of Genotype

Definitions

A

average per capita lifetime contribution of individuals of that genotype to the population after one or more generations

50
Q

Relative Fitness

A

for evolution by natural selection it is the relative fitness of genotypes that is important
if everything else is equal, the fitter genotype will increase in frequency over time

51
Q

Components of Fitness

A
  • Viability - probability of survival to reproduce
  • Mating Success - number of mates
  • Fecundity - average number of viable offspring per female
  • Gamete viability
52
Q

Coefficient of Selection, s

A
  • amount by which fitness of a genotype differs from a reference genotype
  • fitness of the wildtype is set as 1
  • fitness of other genotypes is measured as a proportion relative to this
53
Q

Darwins Finches

A
  • Galapogos Islands
  • one colonising event
  • small original group of birds, 30-100
  • 0.9 - 1.5 mya
  • there is now wide variation in beak form related to feeding preference
  • a drought in the 1970s lead to an increase in seed hardness resulting in directional selection for increasing beak size
54
Q

Peppered Moths

A
  • two forms
  • melanic, black form and ‘normal’ speckled form
  • black first seen in 1848
  • black made up majority of urban populations by 1901
  • due to better camouflage
55
Q

Soapberry Bug

A

Decrease in beak length as they started feeding on thinner fruit

56
Q

Fitness and Environment

A

Fitness is not fixed, it is dependent on environmental factors
-some genotypes are more advantageous in some locations than others

57
Q

Natural Selection and Variation

A
  • natural selection can only act on variation that exists

- it is not predictive or foresighted

58
Q

Preadaptation and Exaptation

A
  • adapting existing body parts for new functions
    e. g. limbs to wings in bats and wings to flippers in penguins
  • but there is a cost as by doing this they lose the function of the original body part
59
Q

Does natural selection lead to perfection?

A
  • not necessarily
  • e.g. bird beak length , width and length controlled by one genes so one cant be changed without the other, short and wide is most advantageous but beaks become long and wide, advantages of increased width outweigh the disadvantages of increased length, i.e. the selection pressure on width is stronger than on length

BLGY1124 (8 decks)

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