Introduction to MARE 172Marine Biology: Cellular Processes

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Introduction to MARE 172Marine Biology
Cellular Processes
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What is Biology?

• Biology is the scientific study of life
• Biologists ask questions such as
• How a single cell develops into an organism
• How the human mind works
• How living things interact in communities

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Evolution defines Biology

• Evolution is the process of change that has
  transformed all biological entities on Earth
• Evolution accounts for the unity AND diversity of
  life
• Evolution unifies biology at different scales of
  size throughout the history of life on Earth
• Nothing in biology makes sense except in the
  light of evolutionTheodosius Dobzhansky

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Fig. 1-16
15 µm
5 µm
Cilia of Paramecium
Cilia of windpipe cells
0.1 µm
Cross section of a cilium, as viewed with an
electron microscope
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Biology?questions? more ?questions?

• Biological questions can never be answered w/
  simplified, short explanations
• Always seems to be exceptions to rules
• Always more questions to ask

Hawaiian Endemic from HI
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Our Focus

• The cellular mechanisms that enable these
  processes to occur ?
• not only within the marine environment,
• but ALL environments

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Getting Organized

• Hierarchy of Biology
• Molecules
• Organelles
• Cells
• Tissues
• Organs/organ systems
• Organisms
• Populations
• Communities
• Ecosystems
• The Biosphere

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Fig. 1-4
The biosphere
Cells
10 µm
Organs and organ systems
Cell
Ecosystems
Organelles
Communities
1 µm
Atoms
Tissues
50 µm
Molecules
Populations
Organisms
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Fig. 1-4l
Atoms
Molecules
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Fig. 1-4k
1 µm
Organelles
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The Cell

• Lowest level of organization that can perform all
  functions required for life
• Two types of cells prokaryotes and eukaryotes
• Simple, no membrane-bound organelles vs. more
  complex, with membrane-bound organelles
• Contains heritable information ? DNA
• DNA?genes?chromosomes?genome

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Fig. 1-4j
10 µm
Cell
Cells
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Fig. 1-4i
Tissues
50 µm
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Fig. 1-4h
Organs and organ systems
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Fig. 1-4g
Organisms
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Fig. 1-4f
Populations
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Fig. 1-4e
Communities
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Fig. 1-4d
Ecosystems
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Ecosystem Dynamics(it takes a village)

• Nutrient cycling
• Energy flow

One marine example plankton nutrient cycling
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Fig. 1-4c
The biosphere
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Reductionism

• This hierarchy displays the fundamentals of
  REDUCTIONISM reducing complex systems to
  simpler components making them easier to
  understand apply to SYSTEMS
• Human Genome Project sequencing the 3 billion
  bp of human DNA labeling genes comparing to
  other organisms
• NOW, apply that basic knowledge to the protein
  products of our genes and how those products work
  together to make organisms

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Pufferfish HumansMore alike than you ever
knew

• 3/4 of the genes in the human genome have
  identifiable counterparts in Fugu
• highlighting the shared anatomy physiology
  common to all vertebrates
• 400 million years of evolution since the two
  species diverged from their common ancestor

• Shortest genome of any vert ? lack junk DNA
  found in human genome
• Use this info to ID human genes more easily