Unit 1.8 Genomics Flashcards
What is genomic sequencing?
determining the sequence of nucleodtide bases for individual genes or entire genomes.
Sequences of bases and amino acids are known as?
Sequence data
What can sequence data be used for?
- Comparative genomics
- The study of evolution
- Pharacogenetics
How can we obtain sequence data?
Through the use of special enzymes called restriction endonucleases.
Define the term Bioinformatics?
The use of both computational and statistical analysis to compare sequence data.
Define the term comparative genomics?
Sequence data from different species can be compared, genomes from different organisms contain stretches of the same or similar DNA sequences, this is called conservation.
The degree of conservation between organisms is a measure of how closely they are related by evolution
What is meant by a model organism?
A model organism is a species that has been widely studied, this is usually because it is easy to maintain and breed in a laboratory setting and refers to an organism that has particular experimental advantages, over the years a great deal of data has been accumulated about these model organisms and this makes them more attractive to study.
Model organisms are organisms that are easy to grow and provide information about cell processes that can be applied to species that are more difficult for biologists to study.
What is meant by the term phylogenetics?
The study of evolutionary history and relationships.
What are the main types of data used in phylogenetics?
- sequence data (used to compare the degree of evolutionary relatedness) - - fossil evidence.
The process of the evolution of life from is?
cells —–> L.U.C.A ——–> prokaryotes ——-> photosynthetic organisms —> eukaryotes ——-> multicellular organisms —–> animals ——> vertebrates —–>land plants.
What is sequence divergence used for?
to estimate the time since lineages diverged.
what does the term divergence describe?
a process that has taken place when two or more species arise from a common ancestor.
Once the different species have diverged each new species genome will be affected by different mutations.
The more time goes on the more mutations occur and the more differences in the genomes of the species there will be.
What is the relationship between the point of divergence and the evolutionary relatedness of two species?
The longer ago the point of divergence was between the two species was the more differences between the genomes of the species there will be.
What are molecular clocks used for?
Molecular clocks are used to show when species diverged during evolution
Differences in sequence data between species indicate the time of divergence from a common ancestor.
What is one source of error in the way that molecular clocks function?
Molecular clocks assume that mutations occur at a constant rate, the rate at which mutations occur may not be the same for each species being observed.
