A comparative review of the vascular system in seed plants and humans
In the evolutionary tree of life, all biotic organisms are believed to have derived from a common ancestor. The organisms falling under the eukaryotic kingdom of Plantae are known to have arisen in the same time period as those in the eukaryotic kingdom of Animalia—the Paleozoic era, about 500 million years ago (MYA) (Raven et al., 2008). Despite their chronological resemblance, their evolutionary diversity is especially great in their most advanced organisms—humans and seed plants. One key system that illustrates this diversity is the vascular system (or the cardiovascular system in humans). The vascular system of the respective lines of organisms show similarities in origin, food and water circulation, while at the same time showing differences in disease prevention and environmental dependency.
Genetic mapping has confirmed the origin of plants to be from an ancestral alga. Modern phylogenetics categorizes green algae and higher order plants into a new kingdom called Viridiplantae. As Viridiplantae organisms evolved, they eventually sprawled from freshwater and came to evade land. Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and selective pressures caused a large diversification and thus gave rise to three types of land plants (Figure 1): bryophytes, tracheophytes, and seed plants (*Puigbò et al., 2009; Raven et al., 2008). Bryophytes, which include liverworts, hornworts, and mosses arose 450 MYA, and thus began the terrestrial colonization of plants. Tracheophytes first appeared about 420 MYA are plants specialized in vascularization—they were among the first plants to tissue that allowed for the distribution of material throughout their bo...
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Figures1-3 are courtesy of the McGraw-Hill Companies (Raven, 2008)
Figure 4 is courtesy of Journal of Obesity (Iacobellis, 2006)
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In this lab, we explored the theory of maximal oxygen consumption. “Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) is defined as the highest rate at which oxygen can be taken up and utilized by the body during severe exercise” (Bassett and Howley, 2000). VO2max is measured in millimeters of O2 consumed per kilogram of body weight per min (ml/kg/min). It is commonly known as a good way to determine a subject’s cardio-respiratory endurance and aerobic fitness level. Two people whom are given the same aerobic task (can both be considered “fit”) however, the more fit individual can consume more oxygen to produce enough energy to sustain higher, intense work loads during exercise. The purpose of this lab experiment was performed to determine the VO2max results of a trained vs. an untrained participant to see who was more fit.
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Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald Audesirk, and Bruce E. Byers. Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. 268-69. Print.
The communities of various native plants have been significantly minimized as a result of ...
...hemical energy from cyanobacteria (the only bacteria that can perform photosynthesis) 2.4 billion years ago (Wernergreen). The first chloroplast came into being about one billion years ago when a single-celled protist and a cyanobacterium came together through endosymbiosis, and this first photosynthesizing eukaryotic lineage was the ancestor of land plants, green algae, and red algae. Cyanobacteria and algae endosymbionts have spread photosynthetic capabilities in such a broad range (Wernergreen). In other words, heterotrophic prokaryote cells had taken in autotrophic photosynthetic bacteria cells. The ingested cell continued to provide glucose and oxygen by photosynthesis. The host cell protected as well as provided carbon dioxide and nitrogen for the engulfed cell and overtime both cells lost the aptitude to survive without each other (Weber and Osteryoung).
Evolution is a process of living things change slowly in a very long time, so it evolved into a new species more complete body structure. According to the theory of evolution, living now in contrast to living in the past. The ancestors of creatures alive today may experience changes in form and structure. In addition, may experience changes in both the structure and genetics in a very long time, so the shape was totally different from the original and finally generate different types of species present. So the plants and animals living there now was not the first time here on earth, but it comes from living in the past.
Cain, M. L., Urry, L. A., & Reece, J. B. (2010). Campbell Biology. Benjamin Cummings.
Plant defences are those mechanisms employed by plants in response to herbivory and parasitism. According to Hanley et al. (2007), “the tissues of virtually all terrestrial, freshwater, and marine plants have qualities that to some degree reduce herbivory, including low nitrogen concentration, low moisture content, toxins or digestibility-reducing compounds”. The type of chemical defence may be species specific (Scott 2008). The defences that plants possess may be in the form of chemical production or in the form of physical defences such as thorns or spikes and even through reinforced, rigid leaves. “The compounds that are produced in response to herbivory can either have a direct effect on the attacker itself (e.g. toxins or digestibility reducers), or serve as indirect defenses by attracting the natural enemies of the herbivores” (Bezemer & van Dam 2005). This essay will focus on chemical plant defences and in particular the effects of terpenes, phenolics, nitrogen-based defences as well as allelopathy in plants.
... The Web. 4 Feb. 2014. Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Biology.
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