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10/30/2020

Ancient Life Forms and Evidence of Adaptation

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Taxonomy



​The science of naming, describing and classifying organisms and includes all plants, animals and microorganisms of the world.

Every species is organized by Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.


Picture
https://www.biologyjunction.com/classification-of-living-things


Phylogenetic Tree

Picture

https://www.thoughtco.com/three-domain-system-373413

The three Domains are Bacteria, Eukaryota, and Archaea

Bacteria are prokaryotes, they do not have a nucleus

Eukaryotes have a nucleus, this group includes plants, animals, fungi, and many single celled eukaryotes

Archaea are very ancient, some live in environments that few living beings can thrive in



Stromatolites



Are about 3.5 billion years old, calcareous mound built up of layers of lime-secreting cyanobacteria and trapped sediment, found in Precambrian rocks as the earliest known fossils, and still being formed in lagoons in Australasia.

Cyanobacteria are very ancient life forms, perhaps only Archaea are older.

Picture

​https://sciencestruck.com/what-are-stromatolites-how-do-they-form
​


FOssil Dating


Radiometric Dating 

The use of radioactive isotopes as a measure for determining the age of a rock or fossil
​
Radioactive isotope

An unstable form of an element that decays into another element by radiation, that is, by emitting energetic particles

Half-Life

The amount of time it takes for one half of a substance to decay

Uranium-238

Has a half life of 4.5 billion years

Potassium-40

Has a half life of 1.3 billion years


Types of life



​Prokaryotes

Found to have existed 3.5 billion years ago, a microscopic single-celled organism that has neither a distinct nucleus with a membrane nor other specialized organelles.


Prokaryotes include the bacteria and cyanobacteria.
  • Unicellular organism who lacks membrane bound organelles
  • DNA not in a nucleus, it just floats around in cytoplasm
  • much smaller than eukaryotic cells
  • a prokaryote is about the size of a mitochondria in a eukaryote 
  • single DNA loops

Bacteria and Archaea are prokaryotes
​
Picture

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-cells/hs-prokaryotes-and-eukaryotes/a/prokaryotic-cells
​

Bateria may have:


Flagella


whip-like appendages used to move around, like arms


Pili

short, hair-like appendages extending from the surface, used to stick to surfaces


Capsule

​
sticky coating, used to stick to surfaces
​


Types of bacteria



​Cyanobacteria 

are a phylum of bacteria that obtain their energy through photosynthesis and are the only photosynthetic prokaryotes able to produce oxygen.


Round bacteria 

are referred to as cocci (singular: coccus),

an example is Streptococcus 
​
​C
ylindrical, capsule-shaped bacteria 

are named bacilli (singular: bacillus), 
bacteria that make yogurt: Lactobacillus bulgaricus ​

​Spiral bacteria 

are called spirilla (singular: spirillum) 
​Lyme disease and syphillis are caused by this type of bacteria
​
Picture

https://microbenotes.com/classification-of-bacteria/


Binary Fission



​Cell division in prokaryotes is called binary fission, asexual reproduction by a separation of the body into two new bodies, cells transfer genetic information by making contact. 

​Both Archaea and Bacteria can reproduce through binary fission. 


Picture

​https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_fission
​


are all bacteria bad?



​
​Some but not all bacteria are pathogens: a disease causing agent

Some bacteria are purely beneficial and help with symbiosis: the relationship in which two different organisms live together, often interdependently. 

Nitrogen Fixation:


Converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can use to grow
  • ​Two types of bacteria do this job: non-symbiotic bacteria in the soil and symbiotic bacteria that live in the roots of plants.
  • Bacteria in the genera Clostridium and Azotobacter are non-symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  • The genus Rhizobium are symbiotic bacteria.
​
Picture

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitrogen_fixation


Archaea



The other domain of prokaryotic life, tend to live in extreme environments

Grouped according to where they live (pg 371):
​
  • Halophiles: live in very salty places
  • Hyperthermophile: extremely high temperatures (80 to 100 Celcius), (176 to 212 Fahrenheit) ​
​

Some Archaea live in hydrothermal vents



In deep sea vents, heated fluids rise to the surface through openings in the seafloor. Hydrothermal fluid temperatures can reach 400°C (750°F) or more, but the archaea do not boil under the extreme pressure of the deep ocean.

As they pour out of a vent, the fluids encounter cold, oxygenated seawater, causing another, more rapid series of chemical reactions to occur. Sulfur and other materials precipitate, or come out of solution, to form metal-rich towers and deposits of minerals on the seafloor. 

​The sea floor is an anaerobic environment, no oxygen

  • Serpentinization: H2, hydrogen is formed when mantle rock is exposed to seawater, the rock columns that are formed as gases emerge from the earth's crust in hydrothermal chimneys
​
  • Methanogens: archaea that produce methane as a by-product of converting energy from carbon dioxde, using hydrogen H2 as an energy source
  
  • Anaerobic Archaea: eat methane
​

Who lives there



It is theorized that this is where life on Earth originated



Deep sea mining might be connected to cobalt mining



Cobalt is used for phones and computer batteries, some companies are interested in mining it from the deep sea. 

​Alternatives to cobalt are needed so companies don't consider deep sea mining a viable option.



Most Cobalt currently comes from Democratic Republic of Congo


DR Congo produces 60% of the world's supply of cobalt. The mineral is used to produce lithium-ion batteries used to power electric cars, laptops and smartphones. However, the extraction process has been beset with concerns of illegal mining, human rights abuses and corruption.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-50812616#:~:text=DR%20Congo%20produces%2060%25%20of,human%20rights%20abuses%20and%20corruption.


What are alternatives to cobalt?



A good battery is able to store current and transfer it, conduct heat, and cool quickly.


Other possibilities



​Manganese:


https://www.azomining.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1438
​

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