1. Why should organisms possess an immune system?

Each and every living thing in this world has to survive in multi organismal ecosystems. From simple prokaryotes to complex eukaryotes every single organism needs to maintain parasitic and symbiotic relationships with other organisms and to maintain them. There has to be something which can protect an organism against parasites, bacteria, environmental conditions and which can help them to survive and adapt to the changing environment, and that something is The Immune System. Immune system helps an organism to survive in a multi organismal environment and protects against continuous assault from various parasites. Helps in healing wounds and maintain mutual beneficial relationships, repair of organs and tissue damage. Without an immune system maintenance of life on the face of earth with continuously changing and competitive environments will be difficult as it is very important for the integrity of organisms. 2. Is there any relationship between the complexity of the organism and the immune system? Justify your opinion. Immune needs of simple and complex organisms are different. Like in prokaryotes, bacteria need an immune system which can help them against bacteriophages and environmental threats. A simple bacterium is a single celled organism so that a simple immune system is required to take care of a single cell as compared to complex multicellular organisms. As the organisms continues to become complex and develop bodies comprising a large no of body systems their immune needs also become complex. They require immunity against a large no of parasites like viruses and bacteria and other parasites. Complex organisms are composed of billions of cells so that a well-organized system for the controlled synthesis of a large no of immunity molecules, receptor molecules and a well-organized signaling system are required for the induction of immunity. As the organisms grows complex internally and the environment grows complex, the immune system also becomes advanced to make them able to survive. In bacteria, Restriction Modification system work as innate immune system which distinguishes between self and foreign DNA as the self DNA is methylated. Restriction enzymes chop down and foreign phage DNA entering the cell. CRISPR system (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) works as adaptive immune system in bacteria. These simple systems are not enough for the complex organisms because of a large no of cells, tissues and body systems. In complex organisms like mammals, cells require surface receptors proteins as well as cytoplasmic receptor proteins to communicate within, between the cells and outside world. They require immune system which can look after all the cells exposed to the invading pathogens and alert other cells to get ready to fight against the threat. Complex organisms like mammals require cell mediated as well as antibody mediated immunity to cope with the pathogens.

3. Unicellular bacteria and archea to multicellular plants and animals have different immune needs. Explain why? Different species have evolved different types of immune systems which are not homologous or genetically related to each other. These immune systems are according to their own immune needs. From unicellular to multicellular plants and animals have different immune needs according to the threats they are facing and complexity of their body systems. Bacteria and archea face threats from viral pathogens while multicellular organisms like plant and vertebrates needs to deal with microorganisms like viruses and bacteria, and they also need to maintain delicate interactions with symbionts. Bacterial symbionts are essential for nitrogen fixation in plants as well as endospheric colonization of bacteria in plants also helps in activating defense mechanisms of plants. Bacteria present in human gut prime the immune system for better performance. All these symbiotic as well as pathogenic relationships of bacteria and viruses with the complex organisms needs a completely different and much complex immune system as compared to prokaryotes because immune needs of unicellular and multicellular organisms are different from each other not only from the perspective of their complexity but also from broad spectrum of their pathogens. 4. Why authors suggest the use of term acquired rather than adaptive immune system? Also give your own opinion and justify it. Word Acquired means To gain possession of or To gain through experience. Acquired immunity results from the personal experiences of an organism and keeps it ready for the future encounters with the pathogen. Both words Acquired and adaptive are used interchangeably but according to the authors of the paper even Innate Immunity is adaptive from the evolutionary point of view. According to my own opinion term Acquired is more suitable as it clearly indicates that the immunity is gained or possessed from the past encounters with the pathogen which is the basic concept of this type of immunity but word Adaptive can also be used because it prepares the body's immune system for future challenges. Both words can be used but Acquired is more appropriate from all perspectives. 5. Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus is responsible for Citrus- greening. Suggest vaccination mechanism against this problem. 6. Even prokaryotes can die due to autoimmunity. Suggest a mechanism to induce autoimmunity in pathogens. 7. .What is evolutionary significance of transposons? Give example/s 8. Why did acquired immunity develop in first place? 9. Why do we have lymph-nodes? Why are lymph-nodes absent in reptiles?