Midterm Flashcards
Compare these 2 diatom types (centrics and pennates) based on the following characteristic:
- marine or freshwater? phytoplankton or benthos?
- Centrics: Primarily marine phytoplankton.
- Pennates: Freshwater (primarily) and marine, phytoplankton and benthos
Describe this algal storage product: Glucose.
- How is it produced? Is it used immediately or stored, and how?
- Produced by dark fixation of CO2 and energy products of light reactions (photosynthesis)
- May be used immediately to meet energy requirements of the cell
- Organism may store into glucose polymers (High molecular weight compounds or Low molecular weight compounds)
Xenic
presence of foreign organism in a culture
- good exam question *
Compare these flagella types: isokontous, heterokontous, haptonema.
- Isokontous: Flagella (more than 1) that are similar in length and type.
- Heterokontous: Dissimilar flagella (more than 1), of unequal length, and/or one smooth and one hairy (“tinsellated”).
- Haptonema: Superficially resembles flagellum but different internal anatomy (no 9+2 microtubular structure).
- function uncertain but may be used for defence, food capture, or attachment.
- exclusive to Division Haptophyta.
Algae are distributed in virtually every environment on earth. In terms of aerial/terrestrial environments, define this possible habitat:
- Epixylon
On wood surface (ie. wet tree)
Describe what Beta-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) is, which is produced by cyanophyta.
- Effects?
- Where is it produced/how?
- What is a population of interest in studying this, and why?
- An amino acid that can be incorporated into the body.
- Research says BMAA may be connected to degenerative nerve diseases like ALS, Alzeimer’s, and Parkinson’s.
- BMAA is produced by cyanobacterial endosymbionts of cycad roots in Guam.
- Connection with neurodegenerative diseases and BMAA studied in Guam where incidence is 50-100x higher, BMAA biomagnifies and is eaten by the Chamorro people in Southeast Asia.
- Cyanobacteria produces toxin, calculates in the cycad/cyano symbiosis, eaten by flying foxes (huge concentration), and then by the people.
Intercalary or terminal heterocyst
may be intercalary in filament or terminal
if intercalary, heterocysts are spaced at regular intervals
Monophyletic.
Descended from a common evolutionary ancestor (a single line of evolution) and are all related.
Diffuse growth in brown algae
- thallus growth
- new cells produced throughout the thallus (anywhere in body)
Describe this general feature of algae:
- Unicellular reproductive structures.
- In the rare cases where the structures are multicellular (they reproduce sexually), there is no distinction (or specialization) between fertile and sterile plants.
- exam
Define: Tinsel flagellum
Tinsel flagellum: Hairy flagella (like tinsel on xmas tree).
from other flashcards:
covered in tubular hairs (mastigonemes), used for motility and for capturing food
In algal morphology, a species can be palmelloid (also colonial); define this.
- Cells are all in one plane (flat plane) in a colony or coenobial, almost 2D.
Compare these 2 diatom types (centrics and pennates) based on the following characteristic:
- raphe present? motility?
- Centrics: No raphe (nonmotile when vegetative). Motile spermatozoids with single flagellum (not heterokont).
- Pennates: Raphe may be present (gliding motility by mucilage). No flagellated spermatozoids
Describe this type of projectile in the division chrysophyta (classes synurophyceae and chrysophyceae): Muciferous bodies
Contain granular mucilage bounded by single membrane
When discharged, contents form fibrous network outside the cell
If a chloroplast membrane has ___ membranes, what kind of endosymbiosis did it go through (primary or secondary)?
- 2 membranes:
- 2 or 4 membranes:
- 2 membranes: primary
- 2 or 4 membranes: secondary
In algal morphology, a species can be filamentous, more specifically, uniseriate; define this.
Has a single chain of cells.
Polyploid
multiple copies of each individual gene
Describe asexual reproduction in diatoms. Not mechanism, just the result and why this mechanism must be used.
- Size of vegetative cell is constrained by frustule (silica, can’t grow or stretch); cell can only grow by adding cingular plates and elongate in the girdle axis.
- Product of asexual reproduction are two dissimilar daughters where one is same size as parental epivalve and other is same size as parental hypovalve.
- Implication is that with successive generations, an increasing proportion of population is smaller than the original parent
pneumatocyst
- Also called air bladder or floats
- Like a beach ball, filled with air, holds the plant at the surface of the water
- An expanded area of thallus containing gases for buoyancy in phaeophyceae (brown algae)
Describe this feature of diatom frustule ornamentation: Striae.
- basic, the other words are on their own cards.
- Lines on surface of valve
- Little distinct rows of dots (at low magnification it looks like a line)
- Contains shallow depressions called areolae in which are smaller pores/slits called punctae.
- More heavily silicified ribs between rows of striae are costae
Describe this method of non-flagellar movement: Euglenoid movement.
What division has this?
- Exclusive to Euglenophyta
- Due to contraction and expansion of pellicular bands
- Cause unknown, may be associated with cytoplasmic streaming
alginate (which group?)
- sugar that retains or absorbs water and forms a viscous material
- thickeness varies between species
- outer, slimy, amorphous
- part of the cell wall in brown algae/ phaeophyceae; protects against desiccation, pounding waves, temperature changes, and salinity
- absorb 300X their weight in water (hygroscopic polysaccharide), used as a thickening agent in shampoo, cosmetics, food
Neurotoxins vs Hepatotoxins
Neurotoxins: affects muscles, functioning of the brain, effects on memory, communication, walking, outcome usually death
Hepatotoxins: affects the liver
List 4 new technologies that were developed post 1950’s that advanced our knowledge of algae.
- Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).
- Electrophoresis.
- Chromatography.
- Radioisotopes.