Unit 5: Scientific Article for use with Question 7

Paragra
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Task

The article gives three sources of variation are there really three?
There are two. Upbringing is a part of our environment.
Why does the organism have a name in two parts?
Genus species are part of a hierarchical classification system. They are
used to ensure that every species has a unique name.
Can you place protozoa in the modern classification system?
Well, you don't need to do this further than recognising that
phylogenetic classification using molecular differences places these
organisms in the eukarya.
What features would you expect protozoan cells to have?
Genetic material enclosed in a nucleus and membrane bound
organelles.
Write down the 4 stages that lead to changes in allele frequency due to
natural selection.
There are many opportunities for a question about natural selection in
the passage so, make sure that you can suggest appropriate causes of
variation, suitable struggles for existence, features that may result in
differential survival by some individuals and a resulting change to allele
frequencies in the population.
What is a pathogen? Which two pathogens should you be an expert on?
A pathogen causes disease. It is one side of a symbiotic relationship
called parasitism where there is a winner and a loser. You should be an
expert on TB and HIV by now.
Which of these pathogens carries out replication in a manner that is
most like the description given in the paragraph?
The TB bacterium is taken into macrophages in a vacuole and it can
reproduce in this. HIV inserts its RNA and a couple of useful enzymes
into T helper lymphocytes so, on balance I think that it is more like TB.
Suggest the advantage of shedding oocysts in faeces. What type of
adaptation is this?
This seems like a good way to get the parasite back to the soil stage in
its rather complicated life cycle. While it will involve physiological and
anatomical adaptations, I am tending towards behavioural. It was
probably a dumb question.
Give 4 different ways in which sexual reproduction leads to greater
genetic variation.
The parasite uses the cat for the sexual phase of its life cycle. It spends
a lot of its time in the soil and other animals as haploid, vegetative
parasites but carries out fertilisation to spend a short time as diploid in
the cats intestine before meiosis returns it to the haploid phase again.
So, fertilisation, crossing over, independent assortment and yes that is
only 3! I probably had mutation in my head but this is not a
consequence of sex just of cell division.
Explain the advantage to the pathogen of having a sexual phase to its
life history.
The sexual phase may increase the genetic diversity within the parasite
gene pool but only if two parasites with at least some different alleles
fuse together. Some organisms benefit from being diploid as this allows
recessive alleles that are less-favourable at that time to hide behind a
dominant allele. However, since the parasite lives most of its life in
haploid form, this will not be of particular benefit. However, the sexual

phase in the cat releases a resistant Oocyst which provides effective

transfer via the soil into other animals.
Explain why the muscle and brain are places that are relatively safe
from discovery and action from the bodys immune system.
When the parasite is in cysts inside cells it is less visible to immune
system cells. The cysts are protected inside their enclosing vesicle in the
cells and so proteins from it are less likely to be presented to
lymphocytes by the host cells. Also, the brain is distanced from the
blood system being at one side of the blood-brain barrier.

Give the advantage of having a tough cell wall around each cyst and
suggest why the phrase is not particularly precise.
Well, it isnt a cell wall in the sense of a bacterial, fungal or plant cell
wall. It is a vesicle, strengthened with proteins that discourage the host
cell from destroying it with lysosomes.
Find a diagram that summarises the parasites life cycle. Annotate it
with suggestions for the advantages / functions of each stage.
Life cycles arent explicitly on spec. so you may just be interested in how
it moves from various different animals (including humans) via soil to
cats and back again.
Describe the nature of the rat and mouse behaviour where they avoid
areas with cat urine (clue: is it likely to be a reflex? What should you
know about reflexes?)
Remind yourself about the Stimulus > receptor > motor neurone > relay
> sensory neurone > effector > response pathway. It is involuntary and
fast.
Suggest an advantage to the parasite of having two different hosts.
They do different jobs, rapid reproduction increasing the numbers and
sexual reproduction increasing variation. Perhaps it is best not
depending on a single host by being too specialised; this way leads to
extinction when the specific host becomes extinct.
Use the information in this paragraph to describe the process by which
ancestors of the parasite may have developed to become less
pathogenic to mice.
Those variants that caused greater disease in mice would be less likely
to end up in a cat. Their alleles would be less likely to be recombined by
the sexual stage and so less variation might make them more
susceptible to environmental change e.g. a more effective host immune
system in a host. This wouldnt prevent the dead animal releasing the
cysts in its cells into soil as they decay however. It seems to have all
ways covered.
Use the information in this paragraph to describe the process by which
ancestors of the parasite may have developed to cause the specific
behaviour changes to only cats.
Those parasites that changed behaviour of mice to other predators
would be less likely to be eaten by cats (falling prey to other predators)
and so may not enter the sexual stage in the life cycle and may be in an
animal that is less prone to distributing its faeces so widely. I know about
this, I have a cat!

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In which lobe of the cerebral hemispheres is the amygdala found?

Temporal lobe.
Describe two ways by which the functions of the amygdala in mammals
may have been identified in that region.
fMRI, PET scanning, damage leading to loss of function, direct electrical
stimulation.
Suggest how the parasite may have two genes that are related to
mammalian genes.
Common ancestry, mutation of multiple copies of the same gene,
retrovirus gene.
What type of substance is dopamine?
Neurotransmitter.
Explain how the reward pathways mentioned are implicated in the
reinforcement of activities and addiction.
Animal does an activity, results in production of dopamine in an area of
the brain which results in higher frequency of impulses in reward
pathways, these pathways are used for survival behaviours such as
responses to foods and they reinforce actions that are an advantage
although clearly only to the parasite in this case!
Which brain disorder have you learned about that is also connected with
dopamine?
Parkinsons
Explain why the parasite produces more severe symptoms with
individuals with a weakened immune system.
The parasite will be able to infect more cells and increase its population
in the body if the immune system is unable to defend the body through
the development of active immunity.
Which components of the immune system are likely to be key to a
response to infection by the parasite?
T helper cells. Macrophages.
Give two reasons why the effect on a foetus is likely to be significantly
greater.
The immune system is undeveloped and damage to cells in developing
organs is more likely to lead to more severe symptoms. Mums immune
system is also depressed, so the foetus is not rejected.
Suggest which other infection may be expected to result in more severe
symptoms from this parasite and explain why.
HIV as it reduces the number of T helper lymphocytes.
Explain the difference between correlation and cause.
Correlation describes a link between two factors where the change in
one is matched with a change in the other. A causal relationship is where
a biological mechanism explains the link.
Suggest two alternative explanations other than that the parasite
causing changes to the brain that may lead to schizophrenia.
Genetic, drugs, social isolation, pre-natal damage to the brain.
The pathogen is thought to gain entry to a brain cell by forcing itself
through the cell membrane. This results in the parasite surrounded by
cell membrane in the cytoplasm. What properties of the hosts cell
membrane allow it to enter and form a vesicle in this way?
It is fluid due to the phospholipid bilayer.
What is the advantage to the parasite of being surrounded by the host
cells membrane?
It forms a barrier to the hosts defence mechanisms. It may allow the
parasite to hide from the cell.

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Suggest how the parasite may further protect itself inside the vesicle /
vacuole.
Production of proteins that further reinforce the membrane. Produce
proteins that interfere with the host cells metabolism.
Suggest a cell organelle whose function may be inhibited by the
parasite, reducing the cells capacity to attack it.
Lysosome. Golgi apparatus.
Suggest two different ways that the parasite could interfere with the
functioning of a brain cell so that the amount of dopamine it produces is
altered.
Production of proteins that either act as negative transcription factors or
through complementary attachment, disable transcription factors. They
may also affect the production of transport vesicles that deliver the
transmitter.
The pathogen may eventually lead to the death of cells by apoptosis.
What is this process?
Programmed cell death in response to a harmful factor e.g. mutation,
entry of a pathogen.
Explain how the process acts as a defensive mechanism in the event of
significant changes to a cell.
A number of metabolic pathways are activated that lead to the death of
the cell and therefore the parasite.
Explain how the three Type strains mentioned may have arisen.
Mutation of specific alleles. Isolation.
Suggest why all three strains produce the same behavioural effect on
mice.
Common ancestor had evolved this behavioural effect.
What is the conclusion that was developed based on the information in
paragraphs 12 to 14?
Changes to mouse behaviour is caused by the parasite before it forms
cysts.
Use your knowledge of brain cell structure to suggest 3 different ways in
which the hard wiring mentioned could have taken place leading to the
behaviour being permanently maintained in the mice.
May involve changes to synapses (e.g. transmitter release, calcium or
sodium permeability, receptor protein production, reuptake or hydrolytic
enzyme activity) or possibly development of myelin sheath around
axons.
What are the benefits and risks associated with using mice as models to
help us understand human diseases?
Benefits: mammal so some similarity with human chemistry, various
models already developed by GM, fewer ethical concerns compared
with primates.
Risks: biochemistry is not sufficiently like that of humans, welfare
concerns, economic concerns related to the profitability of any resulting
treatments.
What are the ethical problems that result from this type of use of
animals in research?
The balance between inevitable suffering and the possible beneficial
outcomes, concerns from various animal welfare and activist groups.
Suggest the nature of the genetic tools mentioned.
Genetically modified mice with additional human genes or genes that
have been knocked out / silenced to produce a feature that can be used
in the study.
Describe one method by which the mice may have been modified.

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Identify gene, extract gene, restriction enzymes, multiply e.g. by

bacterial plasmid, insertion into vector, addition of marker gene,
modification of mouse genome.
Suggest the mechanism within the mice that was modified to prevent
the production of cysts.
e.g. production of proteins that lead to endocytosis.
Explain the evidence that suggests that free-range farming of livestock
may lead to a higher rate of Toxoplasma infection than more intensive,
indoor rearing.
Free-range livestock are more likely to contract the parasite from soil
and so transmit it. e.g. meat containing cysts.
Suggest why this may be an acceptable increase in risk.
The balance between animal welfare and human health. Low-level,
asymptomatic in most.
When researchers replicated the effect produced by the wasp species,
describe the key part of the experimental design that would provide
valid evidence that they have worked out the mechanism.
Their experiment would be validated by a suitable control.
Suggest what the antidote injection may contain and explain how it
would release the cockroaches from their zombie state.
It could be an enzyme that only hydrolyses the substance in the sting or
a protein with a complementary shape to the active ingredient in the
sting.
Why is it only the female wasp that is able to sting the cockroach?
Because the female lays eggs. There is no benefit to the male other than
if it used the cockroach for food and like many insects, it is the larvae
that do the feeding and growing.
Once the single egg hatches, the wasp larva inside the cockroach eats
the insects organs in a particular order. Suggest the advantage of this
behaviour.
To keep it alive for as long as possible and therefore extend the feeding
period. Nice!
One of the compounds in the wasps sting is also produced by some
plant species. What is the advantage to a plant in producing this
compound?
It may discourage the plant from being eaten by herbivores a
physiological adaptation.
This compound may be one that could have clinical benefits. Outline the
process which would be used to test this compound with a view to its
use as a medical treatment for cardiac arrest.
Tested for effectiveness on target molecules, model cells and model
animals; on lab animals to test for safety and suggest a starting dose for
clinical trials; phase 1 trials on a few volunteers to check dosage and
safety; phase 2 clinical trial with a randomised, case controlled design
comparing the new drug with current alternative or placebo; phase 3
clinical trials with larger population of patients to check for safety, longterm side effects and effectiveness.
Using what you have learned of the methods used to investigate the
process of the development of vision in mammals, give a suitable way
that the target of the second sting could be identified.
Radioactive or fluorescent tracers that indicate the pathway to the brain.
Use your knowledge of synapse function to suggest one way that the
toxin in that sting could block a key chemical messenger.
Block receptors or bind to transmitter to prevent binding.
Describe the innate escape response in the cockroach that is prevented

from taking place.

Stimulus: wasp, Receptors: light sensitive cells in eyes; sensory neurone;
central nervous system; motor neurone; muscle in limbs; Response: run
away.

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In humans, which two parts of the brain are responsible for the
coordination of muscle groups associated with walking?
Cerebellum and motor cortex in frontal lobe of cerebrum.
Explain how the wasp venom is able to allow the cockroach to walk but
not attempt to escape from the wasp.
Control of movement follows a different set of pathways from the escape
response.
What can you deduce about the shape of the compound in the wasp
venom and the compound the researchers used to provide evidence of
the venoms mechanism of action?
Complimentary shape.
The changes to the behaviour of carpenter ants infected by
Ophiocordyceps fungus are an example of an extended phenotype. What
is a phenotype?
The observable characteristics of an organism.
Suggest which organisms phenotype is being observed.
Ophiocordyceps (not the ants).
Describe in outline the process that produces several different species of
Ophiocordyceps, all with the life cycle described in the passage.
Isolation of populations e.g. ecological, geographical > different
environments provide selective pressure or genetic drift over time i.e.
insect hosts with differing behaviours or habitats > natural selection >
development of sufficient differences so that fungi cannot reproduce
successfully with other populations.
Explain why information published in a journal such as BMC Ecology is
likely to be considered as reliable.
Peer review process.
Give one other way in which scientists may report the results of their
studies.
At conferences bringing together subject specialists.
Give two features that separate fungi from other eukaryotic organisms.
Chitin cell wall, molecular genetics.

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Suggest an advantage in the fungus effects, causing the host ant to bite
down on a leaf at around noon and in a roughly North-western direction.
Fixed at a height that will distribute spores effectively.
Suggest how a so-called clock gene could produce an effect that is
timed in the way described.
Genes produce protein product (e.g. transcription factor) that increases
in concentration until it is at a critical level that causes the effect after a
period of time.
What is the role of mitochondria in muscle tissue?
Oxidative phosphorylation / production of ATP / complete oxidation of
glucose.
Use your knowledge of the muscle contraction cycle to explain why
fewer mitochondria will produce the effect described in the passage.
On each cycle of interaction between actin and myosin resulting in
shortening of the muscle cells as the proteins overlap more, ATP releases
the myosin heads from binding sites on actin and resets the position
of the head molecules to then bind to actin further along the length of
the protein so that the proteins further overlap in the next cycle.
What is the role of the sarcoplasmic reticulum in muscle tissue?
To act as a store and rapid source of calcium ions.
Explain how loss of this organelle affects muscle contraction.
Calcium ions are not stored in the sarcoplasmic reticulum, increasing the
concentration in the cytoplasm of muscle cells resulting in continuous
cycling of the actin and myosin interactions and shortening of the
muscle fibres.
Which type of organism causes lockjaw in humans?
Bacterium. Tetanus.
In what way is the same effect caused in a different way from the socalled lockjaw in the ants?
The toxin affects the neurones controlling muscle contraction.
Describe how the individual cells of the yeast stage of the fungus carry
out nutrition.
Absorption of molecules from the fluids surrounding the insects organs.
Suggest how the cells cause their effects on the brain and muscle cells if
they do not enter the cells.
Produce compounds that diffuse into the affected organs from the
insects body fluids. Insects have an open blood system; the organs are
bathed in a fluid that contains nutrients.
Suggest a mechanism by which the movement of water in or out of the
fungal cells results in spores being fired into the soil below.
Water potential of cells decreases (less free water) > water enters by
osmosis through partially permeable membranes > volume increases >
cell walls resist expansion > increasing pressure > cell walls break >
contents are projected by forces due to the sudden release of pressure.
It isn't clear from the passage if the fungus has a sexual stage in its life
cycle or if the spore production is asexual. Give two advantages for the
reproduction of the fungus being entirely asexual and one disadvantage.
Reproduction may be faster, have greater numbers for the same
resource inputs and all individuals are a clone; adapted to their
environment. However, little variation is produced and so a change in
the environment may cause extinction.
If there is a sexual stage to the life cycle, it is likely that the fungus is
haploid for much of its life cycle. What does haploid mean.
Each cell has one copy of each chromosome and therefore one copy of
each gene.

If spores from two different individual fungi of the same species are
picked up by the same foraging ant, describe how this may lead to
variation in the spores that are then produced.
May have a sexual phase in whichhaploid cells combine and then divide
by meiosis to produce a new generation.

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The majority of ants in a colony are unable to reproduce. Explain how

their role in the colony ensures that their genes are successfully passed
into the next generation.
They share many of the same genes as the queen and males that can
reproduce. They assist the survival of these individuals and therefore
their own alleles.
In what way can the relationship between the Ophiocordyceps fungus,
the ant and the hyper parasitic fungus that feeds on the Ophiocordyceps
fungus be considered as an arms race?
A change in the biology of one will affect the environment of the other
leading to a different selective pressure and drive natural selection to
increase allele frequency for features that result in a change to the other
species. This then provides a change to the environment that is likely to
result in a change in allele frequency in the other organism.
Suggest why theOphiocordycepsfungus can never win this arms race.
If it causes the extinction of the specific ant species it uses, it will
become extinct as it is unable to infect other ant species. Its biology is
so specific to that ant species that it is unable to adapt quickly to survive
outside of its host.
Give 3 measures of biodiversity.
Species richness (number of different species), species evenness
(relative population sizes of different species), genetic diversity.
Give two DNA based methods used to identify two organisms as different
species.
Genetic fingerprinting, DNA hybridization, sequence of specific gene.
What evidence might suggest that the zombifying fungus developed
before many of the continents split apart?
Its current geographical distribution over a wide area, on different
continents.
Suggest an advantage to the fungal hyperparasite of preventing the
zombie-ant fungus from ejecting its spores.
It reduces the ability of the fungus to disperse and infect ants and
therefore reduces ant mortality which reduces the risk of extinction of
specific ant species so, ensuring that the fungus has a host and the
hyperparasite also has its host.
Which features of an ecosystem are demonstrated by the relationships
in the paragraph?
Its biotic environment.
Explain why monoculture agriculture is considered by many to be
unsustainable.
Loss of biodiversity and damage to soil fertility means that use of the
forests for timber or short term agriculture reduces the potential of the
area to produce these useful resources in the future.
Give 3 challenges to global food security from climate change.
Rising average temperatures will affect organisms whose enzymes are
adapted for the current range of temperatures; increasing desertification

leads to a reduction of land area for agriculture; the need for irrigation in
warmer climates will affect water security in the area and also lead to
increased evaporation and increased salinity of soils; rising sea levels
may reduce usable coastal farmland; migration of communities may put
pressure on existing agricultural systems.