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Recommended: homeostasis zoology
Many organisms are presented in various environments all over the world. Some of them see extreme environments as their cradles of life: volcano hot spring, extremely salty lake water or even deep ocean where there lacks light or oxygen. But these organisms have their very own mechanisms; have already embedded in their genetic materials. But there are also organisms showed adaptations to some experimental environments in researches, which proves that these adaptive mechanism are not only genetically determined, but also can be triggered when these special functions are needed as one fundamental strategy of surviving in the nature. But not only the organisms live in extreme conditions have the ability to find strategies to survive. These adaptations can be explored in our very own body.
The organisms will be discussed in the following paragraph will be mostly single cells or even organic molecules. Since the following aspects of discussions will be focusing about the cellular functions or strategies of regulations of the homeostasis.
Some organisms like the extreme thermophiles (Campbell, N. A., et. Al, 2009), can survive in inhabitable environment, which is the acrhaea in the genus Sulfolobus. These archaea can survive and function normally in the sulphur-rich volcanic springs, where could be hot as 90 degree Celsius, lack of food and contain a high dosage of sulphur. Normally, most organisms would not be able to survive as the protein that constructs our body tissue will change their shape under the heat (above 90 degree Celsius), and these changes of the shape can lead to the dysfunction and denature of the enzymes. (But these Sulfolobus have their special genetic information sequencing so their ribosome can induce the...
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... (see Endothelium)
3. Duncan, R. F. and J. W. B. Hershey. Protein synthesis and protein phosphorylation during heat stress, recovery, and adaptation. J. CeZZ Biol. 109: 1467-1481, 1989.
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6. Wiegant, F. A. C., P. M. P. van Bergen en Henegouwen, G. van Dongen, and W. A. M. Linnemans. Stress-induced thermotolerance of the cytoskeleton. Cancer Res. 47: 1674-1680,1987.
7. Zhu, H. & Bunn, H. F., "Oxygen sensing and signaling: impact on the regulation of physiologically important genes," Respir. Physiol. 115, pp. 239-247, 1999.
Biology 2A03 Lab 4 Respiratory Gas Exchange in a Mouse Lab Manual. Winter Term 2014 (2014). Biology Department. McMaster University.
The gaseous free radical nitric oxide is an abundant intracellular messenger molecule that plays a central role in maintenance of health, and is heavily involved in signal transduction in various cells of the body [1]. This molecule acts as a mediator in the regulation of cardiac function as well as having an important role in regulating contractility of the heart and maintenance of vascular tone in the cardiovascular system. As one of the most significant individuals in our discovery of nitric oxide, Dr. Robert Furchgott pioneered our understanding of this molecule through his experiments on the vasorelaxant properties of acetylcholine and the subsequent proposal of the presence of the endothelium derived relaxing factor, which was later identified to be nitric oxide [7]. Given the observation that cardiovascular disorders are the number one cause of death in many nations around the world, research into the vasorelaxant properties seems particularly relevant in order to help combat rising rates of vascular hypertension and high blood pressure. In this paper, the properties of nitric oxide are discussed largely with respect to the cardiovascular system. This paper focuses on the synthesis and characteristics of nitric oxide, the mechanisms of action by which nitric oxide works and the regulation of nitric oxide in the body, and finally a short summary of Robert Furchgott’s contributions to the discovery of nitric oxide and its properties.
2)Campbell, Neil A., and Jane B. Reece. Biology. San Francisco, CA: Benjamin Cummings, 2008. Print.
Miller, K. R., & Levine, J. S. (2010). Miller & Levine biology. Boston, Mass.: Pearson.
Barlic J, & Murphy PM. (2007). Chemokine regulation of atherosclerosis. Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 82, 226-36.
AGEs alter the mechanical properties of cells and tissues by crosslinking intracellular and extracellular proteins. They also bind to cell surface receptors called receptor for AGEs (RAGE), thus interrupting various cellular processes. Through laboratory experiments, scientists have shown that glycation of mitochondrial proteins, lipids and DNA may induce mitochondrial dysfunction due to a decrease in ATP production and increased free radical formation. The mitochondria are specialized...
In our body’s we have thousands upon thousands of cells that work together to maintain the whole structure. Although cells accomplish different roles, they all are comparable in their metabolic conditions. Preserving a continuous inner environment with what the cells require to survive like sugar, minerals, oxygen and waste removal is essential for the cells and host well-being. The diverse process that the body controls its inner environment are referred to as homeostasis. Homeostasis refers to maintaining a stable environment in reaction to environmental changes. The body’s inner environment requires constant observation to maintain a stable inner environment this way if conditions occur they can be adjusted. Homeostatic regulation is the adjustment of systems in the body. “Homeostatic regulation involves three parts or mechanisms: 1) the receptor, 2) the control center and 3) the effector.” (Wikibooks, para. 2)
Thewessen, J. G. M., Williams, E. M., Roe, L. J. & Hussain, S. T. Nature 413, 277-281.
7 Jones, M. , Fosbery, R. , Taylor, Dennis. , (2007), Biology 1, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Audesirk, Teresa, Gerald Audesirk, and Bruce E. Byers. Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. 268-69. Print.
According to Darwin and his theory on evolution, organisms are presented with nature’s challenge of environmental change. Those that possess the characteristics of adapting to such challenges are successful in leaving their genes behind and ensuring that their lineage will continue. It is natural selection, where nature can perform tiny to mass sporadic experiments on its organisms, and the results can be interesting from extinction to significant changes within a species.
There are microbes, known as barophiles, which live in pressures that are extremely high. “The microbes live at the bottom of the ocean, where pressures can be 16,000 lbs per square inch”. These microbes could not survive on the surface on the surface of the water, because they require the constant pressure to stay alive. How creatures like this able to live in such astonishing pressure? “Dr. Jiasong Fang of Iowa State University and Dr. Tonya Peeples of the University of Iowa studied samples from the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana trench”. Fang and Peeples are trying to prove the hypothesis that “polyunsaturated fatty acids in the lipids help piezophiles adapt to permanent cold and pressurized environments”. However, there is no consensus on how these microbes are able to thrive and grow under these extreme pressures. Unlocking this mystery will go a long way for us to understand how life first began on Earth, and also in helping us understand the possibility of life on other
Based on experimental evidence from the Astyanax mexicanus investigation, it can be argued that eye regeneration in the dark cave environment is due to adaptive evolution. Experiments that have been carried out on Astyanax cavefish do not seem to favor the neutral mutation theory. The results from these experiments have shown that several eye genes are pleiotropic and regulatory since they have many functions in development in addition to their eye forming roles. This means that the genes do not experience the neutral decay process. Even critical eye structural genes such as retinal opsin, which functions at the base of gene cascades, are still expressed during the eye development of cavefish. This is why the adaptation hypothesis based on pleiotropy is the most credible explanation behind the loss of eyes in cave-adapted animals.
Since cell membranes make up an important part of life it’s important to know how certain factors such as physical stress particularly the temperature effect the membrane and the vulnerability of these membranes. In both extremes of temperature, the membrane is susceptible to the degradation of the membrane due to the expansion of water when freezing or lack of diffusion when there is too much heat.
Sadava, David E., et al. Life the Science of Biology. 8th ed. USA: The Courier Companies Inc, 2008