Diversity

of Life I
Campbell Chapters 27-28
Note that we will not cover much of these chapters. Focus on the
sections relevant to the lectures.
 Cellular life
Shared derived characteristics
Genetic code with transcription
and translation
Metabolism and ATP
Lipid bilayer membrane
Prokaryotes
Archaea + Bacteria
Paraphyletic group (archaea are more closely
related to Eukaryotes than to Bacteria)
Prokaryotes thrive almost everywhere,
including places too acidic, salty, cold, or hot
for most other organisms
Most prokaryotes are microscopic
What they lack in size they make up for in
numbers
Earths first organisms were likely prokaryotes
Most prokaryotes are unicellular, although
some species form colonies
Most prokaryotic cells are 0.55 m, much
smaller than the 10100 m of many
eukaryotic cells
Bacteria vs Archaea vs Eukarya

Characteristic Bacteria Archaea Eukarya

Nuclear envelope Absent Absent Present

Membrane enclosed Absent Absent Present

organelles
Peptidoglycan in cell wall Present Absent Absent

Introns in genes Rare Common Very common

Response to streptomycin Growth inhibited No effect No effect

and chloramphenicol
Circular chromosome Present Present Absent
Archaea
Some archaea live in extreme environments and
called extremophiles
Extreme halophiles live in highly saline environments
Extreme thermophiles thrive in very
Methanogens live in swamps and marshes and
produce methane as waste product
Methanogens are strict anaerobes and poisoned by
O2
Recently, genetic prospecting has revealed many
new groups of archaea
Some of these may offer clues to early evolution of
life on Earth
hot environments
Bacteria
Bacteria include vast majority of
prokaryotes of which most people are
aware
Diverse nutritional types are scattered
among the major groups of bacteria
Many species are closely associated with
eukaryotic hosts: parasites, commensals,
mutualists
Number of bacteria 10x larger than
number of human cells
Human intestines are home to about 500
1,000 species of bacteria
Many of these are mutualists and break
down food undigested by our intestines
and play an important role in health
Bacterial Cell Wall
Bacterial Cell Wall
Cell wall maintains cell shape, protects the cell, and prevents it from
bursting in a hypotonic environment
Bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan, network of sugar polymers cross-
linked by polypeptides (when present, eukaryote cell walls made of
cellulose or chitin)
Archaea cell wall lack peptidoglycan
Gram stain is used classify bacteria by cell wall composition
Gram-positive bacteria have simpler walls with a large amount of peptidoglycan
Gram-negative bacteria have less peptidoglycan and an outer membrane that can be
toxic
Many antibiotics target peptidoglycan and damage bacterial cell walls
Gram-negative bacteria more likely to be antibiotic resistant
Pathogenic bacteria typically cause disease by releasing exotoxins or
endotoxins
Some definitions
Mutualism, both symbiotic organisms benefit
Commensalism, one organism benefits while neither harming nor
helping other in any significant way
Parasitism, organism called a parasite harms but does not kill its
host
Parasites that cause disease are called pathogens
Bacteria: Flagella and Motility
Many bacteria exhibit taxis,
the ability to move toward
or away from a stimulus.
Motile bacteria propel
themselves by flagella
scattered about surface or
concentrated at one or both
ends
Flagella of bacteria, archaea,
and eukaryotes composed
of different proteins and
likely evolved independently
Rapid evolution in Prokaryotes
Their short generation time allows prokaryotes to evolve quickly
Prokaryotes are not primitive but are highly evolved
Prokaryotes have considerable genetic variation
Three factors contribute to this genetic diversity:
Rapid reproduction
Mutation
Genetic recombination
Prokaryotes reproduce by binary fission, and offspring generally identical
Mutation rates during binary fission are low, but because of rapid
reproduction, mutations can accumulate rapidly in a population
High diversity from mutations allows for rapid evolution
Genetic Recombination in Prokaryotes
Genetic recombination: combining of DNA from two sources,
contributes to diversity
Prokaryotic DNA from different individuals can be brought together
by transformation, transduction, and conjugation
Movement of genes among individuals from different species called
horizontal gene transfer
Conjugation and Recombination
conjugation: the process
where genetic material is
transferred between
prokaryotic cells
In bacteria, the DNA transfer
is one way
A donor cell attaches to a
recipient by a pilus, pulls it
closer, and transfers DNA
A piece of DNA called the F
factor is required for the
production of pili
Conjugation and Recombination
Cells containing the F plasmid function as DNA donors during conjugation
Cells without the F factor function as DNA recipients during conjugation
The F factor is transferable during conjugation
A cell with the F factor built into its chromosomes functions as a donor during conjugation
The recipient becomes a recombinant bacterium, with DNA from two different cells
Metabolic Diversity in Prokaryotes
Metabolic Diversity in Prokaryotes
Prokaryotes can be categorized by how they obtain energy and
carbon
Phototrophs obtain energy from light
Chemotrophs obtain energy from chemicals
Autotrophs use CO2 as carbon source
Heterotrophs require an organic nutrient to make organic compounds
Roles of Prokaryotes in ecosystems
Prokaryotes are so important that if they were to disappear the
prospects for any other life surviving would be dim
Prokaryotes play major role in recycling of chemical elements
between living and nonliving components of ecosystems
Chemoheterotrophic prokaryotes function as decomposers, breaking
down dead organisms and waste products
 Eukaryotes
Shared derived characteristics
Membrane enclosed organelles
Compartmentalized cell
Cytoskeleton
Eukaryotes: Protists
Protist is informal name of group of mostly unicellular eukaryotes
Eukaryotic systematics advances caused protists classification to change
significantly
Protists constitute a polyphyletic group
Most protists unicellular, but there are some colonial and multicellular
species
Protists, most nutritionally diverse of all eukaryotes, include
Photoautotrophs, contain chloroplasts
Heterotrophs, absorb organic molecules or ingest larger food particles
Mixotrophs, combine photosynthesis and heterotrophic nutrition
Eukaryotes: Protists
Eukaryotes: Protists
Considerable evidence that much protist diversity has origins in
endosymbiosis
Endosymbiosis- process in which a unicellular organism engulfs another
cell
Mitochondria evolved by endosymbiosis of an aerobic prokaryote
Plastids evolved by endosymbiosis of a photosynthetic cyanobacterium
Plastid-bearing lineage of protists evolved into red and green algae
Plastid gene DNA in red algae and green algae closely resemble DNA of
cyanobacteria
On several occasions during eukaryotic evolution, red and green algae
underwent secondary endosymbiosis, in which they were ingested by a
heterotrophic eukaryote
Eukaryotes: Protists
Selected protists: Giardia & Trypanosoma
Giardia intestinalis causes
Beaver fever and Trypanosoma,
causes sleeping sickness in
humans
Selected protists: Dinoflagellates
They abundant components of both marine and
freshwater phytoplankton
They a diverse group of aquatic phototrophs,
mixotrophs, and heterotrophs
Toxic red tides caused by dinoflagellate blooms
Autotrophic dinoflagellates form endosymbiotic
relationships with reef building corals (cnidarians) and
give the corals their bright coloration. Up to 90% of the
photosynthesis products may be used by the coral.
Coral bleaching is caused by the loss of the
endosymbiotic dinoflagellates.
Some dinoflagellates produce harmful algal blooms
such as red tides.
Toxic dinoflagellates can accumulate in filter feeders
such as mussels and clams and cause Shellfish
Poisoning which can be lethal.
Selected protists: Dinoflagellates
Selected protists: Dinoflagellates
Selected protists: Apicomplexans
Apicomplexans are parasites of animals, and
some cause serious human diseases
They spread as infectious cells called sporozoites
One end (apex) contains complex of organelles
specialized for penetrating host cells and tissues
Most have sexual and asexual stages that require
two or more different host species for completion
The apicomplexan Plasmodium is the parasite that
causes malaria
Plasmodium requires both mosquitoes and
humans to complete its life cycle
Approximately 900,000 people die each year from
malaria
Efforts are ongoing to develop vaccines that target
this pathogen
Selected protists: Diatoms
Diatoms unicellular algae with unique
two-part, glass-like wall of hydrated silica
Diatoms are a major component of
phytoplankton and are highly diverse
Fossilized diatom walls compose much of
sediments known as diatomaceous earth
After a diatom population has bloomed,
many dead individuals fall to ocean floor
undecomposed
This removes carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere and pumps it to ocean
floor
Selected protists: Diatoms
 Selected protists: Brown algea
Brown algae largest and most
complex algae
All are multicellular, and most are
marine
Brown algae include many species
commonly called seaweeds
Brown algae have most complex
multicellular anatomy of all algae
Giant seaweeds called kelps live in
deep parts of the ocean
The algal body is plantlike but
lacks true roots, stems, and leaves
 Selected protists: Water mold (Oomyctes)
Most oomycetes decomposers
or parasites
They have filaments (hyphae)
that facilitate nutrient uptake
Ecological impact can be great,
potato blight caused by
Phytophthora infestans
P. infestans caused extensive
crops failure in Ireland
between 1845 and 1852
leading to 1 million deaths (1/8
of the population) and 1
million emigrants.
 Selected protists: Red and Green Algae
Red algae and green algae are the
closest relatives of land plants
Land plants are descended from
green algae
Over a billion years ago, a
heterotrophic protist acquired a
cyanobacterial endosymbiont
Photosynthetic descendants of this
ancient protist evolved into red
algae and green algae
Selected protists: Green
Algae
Green algae are named for
their grass-green chloroplasts
Plants are descended from
green algae
Green algae are a paraphyletic
group
Charophytes are most closely
related to land plants
Most chlorophytes live in fresh
water, although many are
marine
Other chlorophytes live in
damp soil, as symbionts in
lichens, or in snow