Section 1: Development and Physiology Part 2 Flashcards
Why don’t we generally study development in humans ?
- observation is difficult
- morally and ethically (no experiments on embryos
- We couldn’t nor would we want to breed humans
Why do we use model organisms ?
they were chosen for the ease with which they can be used to study in the laboratory, different models have different advantages
When is a something known as a model organism ?
When the primary research goal is to understand broad biological principles
Why were frogs chosen as a model organism ?
they were chosen as a good model for observing development of an animal embryo because their large eggs are easy to observe and manipulate + fertilization happens outside the mothers body
What are the most common invertebrates used for studying development ?
- Nematode worm (Caenorhabditis elegans) : small transparent body, from zygote to adult in 3 days, gnome has been sequenced, easy to detect mutant animals (disadvantage is its simplicity)
- fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster): easily grown in lab, generation time is only two weeks + produces many offspring, embryos develop outside mothers body, genome has been sequenced
What are the most common vertebrates for studying development ?
-Frog (Xenopus laevis): ease of access and manipulation of egg + embryo, robust embryo, repid development, well-established system (disadvantage - no genetics, poorly characterized genome, cannot be bred for multiple generations)
-Chicken (Gallus Gallus): large easily obtainable eggs, development can be observed by cutting hole in egg, can be manipulated, complex development
-Mouse (Mus musculus): well studied, genome is almost completely sequenced, can manipulate mouse genes (disadvantages - development is hidden from us, embryo culture is limited, generation interval is long) VERY IMPORTANT MODEL
Why were sea urchins also used as a model organism ?
they were historically an important model, fertilization was studied, chance plays a role in the organisms chosen, found in the Naples bay, were easy to get and use, transparent eggs and embryos, echinoderms
What are the considerations when choosing a species for research ?
-Biological: is the organism suited for the type of study
- Practical: cost, space required, ease of handling and breeding
- Historical: if a model has been used in the past it is better understood
What does the study of development involve ?
- observing and describing embryos (descriptive embryology)
- manipulating embryos (experimental embryology)
- mapping the origin and destiny of cells (cell lineage analysis)
- altering genes and observing the affect on development (developmental genetics)
What is a plant often used for studying plant development ?
a small weed called Arabidopsis thaliana (member of the mustard family): short generations, small and easy to house, have genome sequenced, used for gene manipulation studies
What are the major differences between plant and animal development ?
- In animals but NOT in plants movements of cells and tissues are involved in transforming the embryo
- In plants, morphogenesis and growth are not limited to embryonic and juvenile periods
What is the cleavage stage in development ?
Cleavage: very rapid division of the fertilized egg (involves s phase, DNA synthesis), and m phase (mitosis), but skips G phase so there is no growth. The embryo does not enlarge
What is the gastrulation stage in development ?
It is marked by extensive cell movement, where the cells of the blastula become organized into three layers (3 layer embryo is a primitive gut) - 3 layered embryo is called a gastrula. They eventually develop into all the tissues and organs of a developed animal
What is a 3 layered embryo called, and what are the 3 layers ?
a gastrula, Ectoderm: outer, Mesoderm: middle, Endoderm: inside
What is an example of an organism that only has two layers in their embryo ?
a hydra only has two layers
Where was gastrulation classically studied ?
It was classically studied in frogs and other amphibians, bc the frog embryo is not so tiny, obvious poles in the embryo, ability to mark cells
What is lineage marking/cell fate mapping ?
you mark a cell by injecting a special dye early in development and observe where it and its decedent cells end up
What is convergent extension ?
embryo changes shape elongates its cells to meet and converge
What are the important features of gastrulation ?
-elaborate cell movement
-differentiation of cells into three broad types placed in the correct position
- allows communication between cells that are now set apart as different to one another
What does a complex organism require ?
it requires many hundreds of cell types to form structures and carry out specific functions
What do red blood cells do ?
They carry oxygen
How do cells differentiate ?
they become different because of differential gene expression, they express genes differently
What is a good example of cells differentiating ?
Muscle cells have to express myosin so that they have one of the structural proteins needed (myosin) to enable a muscle fiber to contract and red cells must express globin
What is transcription ?
When a gene is “turned on” its DNA sequence is used as a template for the synthesis of complementary RNA
What is mRNA ?
a single stranded polymer of ribonucleotides produced by transcription of a gene. directs the production of protein during translation, sequence of ribonucleotides is (complimentary to DNA)
What is translation ?
The production of protein from RNA, the sequence of amino acids that make up the protein depending on the genetic code carried by the RNA.
What do regulatory sequences do ?
they determine which cells express that gene and when they turn it on
What are promoters ?
they are regulatory sequences at the start of coding sequences and are needed for transcriptional machinery to assemble and begin to transcribe the DNA sequence into an RNA message or transcript
What is transcription initiation controlled by ?
they are controlled by proteins that interact with DNA
Where are enhancers located ?
they can be thousands of nucleotides away from the promoter or even downstream from the gene
What are factors that turn on a gene called ?
They are called activators
What do repressor proteins do ?
they bind to DNA regulatory sequences and destabilize transcription and turn the gene off (also known as silencers)
How fast does cell differentiation happen ?
it happens progressively as the embryo develops
What has happened as a differentiated cell shows up ?
the cell already produces the proteins that allow them to carry out their specialized role
What are Master regulatory genes ?
they are the genes that encode transcription and control cellular differentiation (they are the genes of most interest to developmental biologists)
What was an advance in developmental genetics that had a great impact ? 1/3
the isolation and study of the genes that regulate development
What was an advance in developmental genetics that had a great impact ? 2/3
The realization that such genes and basic development events are extremely highly conserved through evolution (observations made in one organism have wider relevance to all animals)
What was an advance in developmental genetics that had a great impact ? 3/3
development of molecular techniques to manipulate developmental genes and investigate their function
What was not initially appreciated in the study of development ?
the relevance of genetics to development was not appreciated at first (not until the 1940s)
How can we find the genes that guide development ?
by finding and studying individuals where development proceeds abnormally due to a single gene mutation (developmental mutants)
What are the two ways that developmental genes have been classified ?
- from spontaneous mutations (usually very few)
- large scale mutant screens: where animals are exposed to mutagens (chemical or radiation), this increases the frequency of genetic damage, then they are bred and they offspring are screened for mutants (this is kind of wild)
What are some factors that make it more feasible to screen for mutants ?
- space to house large number of animals
- person hours to screen large number of individuals
- phenotypes that are easy to observe
- short generation interval to accommodate breeding several generations
- simple genome (easy to map and sequence)
What is a particularly good species to do genetic screens ?
the fruit fly (Drosophila), one reason is because they have district appendages so mutations to appearance are easily identifiable
How are mutations classified ?
by describing the exact phenotype of a mutation and at what stage in development it is in
What are maternal affect genes ?
they are early acting genes that are active in the mother not the embryo, so the genetic product is supplied to by the egg (establish the axis’s)
What are segmentation genes ?
the first genes in the embryo’s DNA to be turned on/expressed, they are switched on by signals produced by the maternal affect genes (divide the embryo into segments along the axis)
What are homeotic genes ?
respond to signals produced y segmentation genes, are expressed in a segmented pattern determine segment identity
What happens if the bicoid function is mutated ?
it leads to no head and two tails (in fruit fly)
What does the bicoid gene control ?
it controls axis formation
Why is research on the bicoid gene important ?
- it identified a specific protein required for some of the earliest steps in pattern formation
-increased our understanding for the mothers role in the development of the embryo - showed a key developmental principle (a gradient of molecules can determine polarity and position of embryo
What is another gene affected by the maternal affect genes ?
segmentation genes, genes that affect the actual formation of segments