User:Qasim Mahmood/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

Lab 1: Observing Evolution in regards to The Volvicine line and Defining a Niche at AU Objective: The objective of this lab was to help us better understand natural selection and to help us understand the biotic and abiotic characteristics of a niche. The purpose of the lab was to view a multicellular organism and see how it originated and evolved from once a single celled organism to where it is today. We viewed this from the origin of a volvocine line where we saw the complexity of cells increase from Chlamydomonas to genius's to volvox, the most complex. Additionally we were group #2 so we were in charge of niche #2, we created our hay infusion in order to study bacteria in the following week. If the volvicine line truly does exhibit natural selection and evolution the complexity of the cells ranging from Chlamydomonas to Gonium to Volvox will become increasingly complex. Additionally if the Transect/niche is undisturbed by humans then the niche will provide a more isolated and complex array of bacteria and hay fusion. Steps:

          Procedure 1: The Volvicine Line

1) We took Chlamydomonas and prepared a slide and included Protoslo 2) We observed through a microscope and saw that they were round and not grouped together 3) We prepared our Gonium slide and added protoslo 4) We observed through a microscope and saw that they were some-what grouped up with 4-5 cells per group/colony. 5)We prepared a Volvox slide and added protoslo 6) We observed through a microscope and saw that there were thousands of cells and were grouped together.

          Procedure 2: Defining a Niche at AU

1) We were assigned transect #2 which was near the seminary 2) We traveled to transect #2 3) We observed the niche and saw that this specific niche was more isolated then others 4) We took sample data which was 1/2 soil 1/2 plant matter and took it back to the lab. 5) When we arrived in lab we created a hay fusion which involved: 6) Weighing 11.2 grams of soil/ground sample and placing it in a plastic jar with 500 mld of deer park water 7) adding .1 grams dried milk and mixing for 10 seconds 8)Label Jar 9) Place jar in corner of the room with top off

Table 1. Shows us the size of each cell and how large colonies are within each organism. Additionally it tells whether an organism is motile or not and the way it reproduces.  Characteristic	Chlamydomonas	Gonium	Volvox
Number of Cells:	13	14	Thousands
Colony Size: # of cells in each colony	1	8	Thousands
Describe any functional specialization of cells	Flagella for movement	Cillia moving in groups and slower	Clumped together, too many to count not high enough magnification
Describe any reproductive specialization (Isogamy vs oogamy)	Isogamy	Isogamy	Ogamy
 

(Insert Picture 1) This picture shows us the relative different sizes of the organisms.

(Insert Picture 2) This picture shows the hay fusion and how it looks before water is evaporated

In conclusion I believe our niche will provide us with valuable data and organisms due to the isolation of the environment. Additionally the niche itself seems to have been untouched by man on a daily basis due to the isolation. Additionally I can conclude that the concept of natural selection and evolution is exemplified by the volvicine line due to the increasing complexity of organisms from the Chlamydomonas to the Gonium and then the Volvox. In future studies it will be cool to compare our bacteria to the bacteria of another niche and see the difference and overarching difference in organisms as well as the abiotic/biotic factors in the niche. The objective and problem were both addressed and were easily seen (the concept of natural selection/evolution as well as the different niches and what categorizes each niche).