User:Sydney Marshall/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

January 30, 2014

Observing the Evolutionary Specializations of Cells in the Volvocine Line and Determining the Characteristics of a Niche on Campus

Introduction

The title of this lab is Observing the Evolutionary Specializations of Cells in the Volvocine Line and Determining the Characteristics of a Niche on Campus. The purpose of this lab was to determine the evolutionary changes of cells within the Volvocine line, specifically from the Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvox. The second procedure was to take a sample of our transect #2 in order to make a hay infusion culture for studying bacteria in the following week. The two hypotheses for each procedure this experiment are as follows:

• If the origin of the Volvocine line is Chlamydomonas, then the evolutionary progress of the following cells should exhibit more complexity.
• If the transect is in an area not frequently disturbed by human presence, then there will be a wide range of organisms to observe.

Materials and Methods

Procedure I: Observing the Evolutionary Changes in Cells within the Volvocine Line

• Prepare slides of Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvox using a light microscope.
• Analyze the evolutionary specializations such as number of cells, colony size, relations of structure to function, and reproductive specializations.

Procedure II: Observing Characteristics of a Transect on Campus

• Go to a 20x20 foot transect near campus and describe general characteristics such as location and land profile.
• Determine the biotic and abiotic components of of the transect.
• Take a soil sample from the transect that is an accurate representation of the transect as a whole.
• Create a hay infusion culture using the retrieved soil sample.
  • Put sample in a jar with 500ml of deerpark water.
  • Add .1 grams of dried milk in the jar and label it for next week's use.

Observations and Data

Procedure I: Observing the Evolutionary Changes in Cells within the Volvocine Line

Characteristic	'	Chlamydomonas	Gonium	Volvox
Number of Cells		13	14	10000+
Colony Size		1ɥm	4ɥm	5ɥm
Describe any functional specialization of cells		motility (flagella)	form colonies with similar cells	motile flagellate cells, form spherical colonies made of glycoproteins
Describe any reproductive specialization (isogamy vs oogamy)		isogamy of motile cells fusing together to make a gamete	isogamy - cells can function as gametes and fuse together to make a zygote	oogamy - female is nonmotile and males are motile

Figure 1: Sketches of Three Organisms within the Volvocine Line

Figure 1: Sketches of Three Organisms within the Volvocine Line

Procedure II: Observing Characteristics of a Transect on Campus
General Characteristics:

• Located Behind Cassell Hall and in front of Wesley Theological Seminary
• Shaded under flowering and non-flowering organisms
• Abiotic components:
  • Holly
  • Ivy
  • American Sycamore
  • Pine Tree
• Biotic components:
  • Aluminum Foil
  • Soil

Conclusions

Relating back to the purpose of the lab, our group was to determine whether there was significant evoltionionary change in the original Chlamydomonas algae based on its predecessors, the Gonium and Volvox. According to Table 1, the number in cells in each slide increased, as the Chlamydomonas algae evolved over time. Also, the colony size increased from 1um to 5um. The most significant differences were the structures, starting as individual motile cells to spherical motile colonies made from glycoproteins. In addition, the reproductive specialization changed from isogamy, the fusion of cells to make gametes to oogamy, with the female gamete being nonmotile and the male sperm motile. Therefore, the original hypothesis is confirmed by this increase in complex progression over time. A sample sketch of what was seen in the slide can be found in Figure 1.

Based on the transect observations, it was to be determined whether or not a lack of human presence within the transect indicated a large amount of organisms. Our group found that there were a variety of biotic factors found such as Ivy, holly, pine, and sycamore. Only one abiotic component was found, which was aluminum foil, and I assumed that because of this, this transect was not commonly disturbed by human company. Although this information is not enough to determine whether the transect is a place containing a large variety of organisms, I conclude that my data does not support my hypothesis because visually, our group could not find organisms other than botanical organisms . However, I believe that in next week’s lab, I will be able to look at a microscopic view of the organisms that the transect can contain, possibly supporting of refuting my hypothesis. Because of this lack of information in the experiment, I would maintain my hypothesis for the next experiment to determine whether or not there is a large variety of bacteria and protists, In addition, it was hard to see the transect in the dark, therefore had there been an adequate amount of light, there would have been other organisms that our group could have observed.

January 22, 2014

Test.