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
File:15 40x-2 (c1+c2).TIFThis 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). Very good start. Well described, thorough notes. Ensure that all red text questions and comments are addressed. SK
Lab 2: Identifying Algae and Protists: Objective: The objectives of this lab were to understand how to use a dichotomous key and to understand the characteristics of Algae and Protists. In this lab we set up our lab for future weeks to come so as far as predictions and hypothesis go, I predict that our hay infusion will give us a result of bacteria and animilia that are isolated or abnormal in a populated area since our transect is so secluded. Initially when we brought the transect back to our work station the smell was similar to that of the potomac rivers, there was no mold present but the color of the water was dark green. Animilia or samples that we take from the transect that are further away from the plant matter may rely less on the plant matter for food and in addition the ones farther away from the plant matter may be required to be more mobile due to the less abundance of food. The samples we picked from the middle of the transect were more mobile and showed flagella which increase motility. The three samples we observed were, Ameoba proteus (suspected), Paramecium aurelia (suspected) ,and Euglena from the middle part of the transect and Gonium, Blepharisma (suspected), and chlamydomonas (suspected) from the bottom. The sizes in respected order were about 620 um, 136 um, 45 um, 85 um, 425 um, 6 um. The euglena meets the need for life because they are able to reproduce, have a metabolism, grow, and are mobile due to the environment they are in. I believe if the hay infusion were allowed to be incubated for another 2 months without any more food being put into the environment I believe the smaller organisms will perish and the larger organisms will dominate. A proper food chain will be put into order and the survival of the fittest will essentially be put in place and in addition I believe that this is only possible if oxygen levels stay high enough and there is enough plant matter to sustain the level of reproduction that will occur by the organisms. I believe the selected pressures that would effect our samples would involve availability of food and level of oxygen. A more mobile organism would have an advantage in an environment with less food where as a organism that may be bigger but not have a flagella would have an advantage in a environment with an abidance of food.
Picture of drawings: Picture of diagram:
"Lab 3: Microbiology and Identifying Bacteria with DNA" The objective of this lab was to understand the characteristics of bacteria, to observe antibiotic resistance, and to understand how DNA sequences are used to identify species. I believe their will be archaea species that will grow on the agar plate because some of them may be immune to the agar that kills off bacteria/archaea. The appearance/smell may change week to week because of the growth of bacteria/archaea. Possibly more archaea/bacteria--> More smell. Overall the dishes that did not have the tetercylcine grew more bacteria compared to the ones that didn't. We had no fungi on our plates. The unaffected bacteria are the ones that grew on the tet+ plates. Tet inhibits a lot of enzyme reactions. This link explains in detail what TET does. http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/tetracycline/antimicr.htm. Of the three bacteria plates we looked at only the -9 non get plate exhibited mobile not grouped bacteria. The other two dishes we looked at (-7 get and -5 NA) were both grouped and non mobile so it seemed. The -7 get were rod+coci shaped and grouped while the 05 NA were grouped together circular and of the color blue. Insert picture of graph Insert pictures of slides
