Lecture 3

9 September 2008

A brief survey of unicellular life

Shahid Naeem
(Chapters 28, 29)
 Lecture 3
• Where we were
• self versus non-self
• the cell - the basic unit of life
• command and control – cell signaling
pathways
• The Central Dogma revisited
• Unicellular life – a brief survey
 “Command Center” and the Central
Dogma of Molecular Biology

regulatory (metabolic
processes)
DNA mRNA Protein

transcription translation
(e.g., internal or
structural
external skeletons)

Protein function
determined by primary,
secondary, tertiary, and
quaternary structure and
tRNA + amino acids in motifs, and domains
ribosome
Structural Proteins
Regulatory Proteins
(example)
 Biomolecules tRNA

Photosystem II

Channel protein

Miscellaneous Hemoglobin
Proteins – form determines function

Porin Ribosome (protein + rRNA)

Phosphatase

Pheromone receptor +
Histone (with DNA) pheromone Muscle protein
Fig. 9.16

Change in external environment

(signal)
→
Change in internal metabolism
(response)
Fig. 9.10
 eukaryotes

prokayotes
Microbes are:
abundant
diverse
successful
THE PROKARYOTES
Archaea Bacteria
Fig. 28.3

The Prokaryote

Flagella are very different from eukaryotes.

Page 544
Fig. 28.6
 Where did the Eucarya come
from?
• Endosymbiont hypothesis
(Margulis 1980s)
– mitochondria are symbiotic
bacteria in ancestral
eukaryote (nucleated cell)

• Hydrogen hypothesis
(Martin and Müller 1998)
– mitochondria are symbiotic
bacteria in archaea
Fig. 29.3
Fig. 29.4
Fig. 29.5
Fig. 29.8.b
Welcome to College

http://www.cladocera.de/protozoa/stechmann_2003_cb.pdf#search=%22bikonts%22
Welcome to College

Molecular Biology and Evolution 2005

Embley, T. M., and W. Martin. 2006.
Eukaryotic evolution, changes and
challenges. Nature 440:623-630.
Embley, T. M., and W.
Martin. 2006.
Eukaryotic evolution,
changes and challenges.
Nature 440:623-630.
Fig. 29.1(left)
Fig. 29.1(right)
 Examples of special structures
Protistan statocyst Protistan eyespot with lens
 Polychaete worm

Mudflat in Denmark
 Histophagous
protist

A B

Naeem, S., and T. Fenchel.

1994. Population growth on
a patchy resource: some
insights provided by studies
of a histophagous
protozoan. Journal of
Animal Ecology 63:399-409.
C