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Science of the Sea - Biology Karen Selph Department of Oceanography School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology

Science of the Sea !  Between 1 – 10 million species of plants and animals live in

the Ocean !  The ocean has the greatest diversity of plants, animals and

microbial groups on Earth

!  Study of Marine Life - !  Marine Biology

!  Scientific study of organisms that live in the marine environment

!  Marine Ecology !  How organisms interact with each other and their environment

!  Biological Oceanography !  How the physical and environmental properties of the ocean control biological processes

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is quite clearly Ocean”

! Arthur C. Clarke

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iClicker Quiz

! Why are you taking OCN 201?

A.  Marine Science or GES major

B.  I want to be a marine biologist!

C.  I like physical oceanography/chemistry or geology!

D.  I love whales and dolphins!

E.  I’m not in the right classroom……

There’s a lot more to the ocean than whales and dolphins…..

!  Origins of Life

!  Classification of Life

!  Primary Production

!  Consumers

!  Invertebrates

!  Vertebrates

!  Marine Community Ecology

!  Survival

!  Corals and Coral Reefs

!  Fisheries

!  Marine Food Webs

!  Marine Environmental Issues

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Origins of Life

Karen E. Selph

What is life? !  Definition of “Life” -

!  Self-Replicating

!  Self Repairing

!  Responsive, Adaptive

!  Controlled transformation of matter and energy

!  Life on Earth today – !  Cellular

!  Water-dependent

!  Carbon-based

!  Four major components – !  Carbohydrates, Nucleotides,

Protein, Lipid

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iClicker Quiz

! Which of these is alive?

A.  Rocks

B.  Viruses

C.  Bacteria & Plants & Animals

D.  Fossils

E.  Your shoes

Building Blocks of Life !  Carbohydrates

!  Monosaccharides !  Glucose, Fructose

!  Unmodified - C.H2O

!  Fuel & building blocks for nucleic acids

!  Disaccharides !  Sucrose, Lactose

!  Two monosaccharides

!  Fuel

!  Oligosaccharides & Polysaccharides !  Longer chains of monosaccharides

!  Glycogen, Cellulose, Starch

!  Structure & Storage of Energy

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Building Blocks of Life !  Nucleotides

!  Nucleobase & Sugar & One Phosphate Group !  DNA – Deoxyribonucleic Acid

!  Instructions for development and functioning of all living organisms

!  Double stranded

!  Two long polymers of nucleotides & backbone of sugars & phosphates

!  Each sugar has a base that encodes information

!  Guanine – Cytosine (3 hydrogen bonds)

!  Adenine – Thymine (2 hydrogen bonds)

!  RNA – Ribonucleic Acid

!  Synthesis of proteins

!  Single Stranded

!  Structural

Building Blocks of Life !  Proteins (Polypeptides)

!  Amino Acids (20) !  Linear chain folded into globular

form !  Short chain – peptide !  Long chain - polypeptide

!  Sequence of amino acids defined by sequence of gene

!  Three main classes !  Globular Protein

!  Enzymes !  E.g. – Hemoglobin

!  Fibrous Protein !  Structural !  E.g. - Collagen

!  Membrane Protein !  Cell membrane functions !  E.g. – insulin

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!  TRANSCRIPTION !  Enzymes

!  Makes RNA from DNA

!  TRANSLATION !  Ribosomes

!  Makes amino acids (& proteins) from RNA

DNA

Makes

RNA

Makes

PROTEINS

“central dogma”

Animation of Central Dogma: https://www.dnalc.org/resources/3d/central-dogma.html

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Building Blocks of Life !  Lipids

!  Structural component of membranes !  Eight Major Lipids

!  Fatty Acids !  Immune system & blood pressure

regulation !  Phospholipid

!  Lipid bilayers !  Metabolism, Cell signaling

!  Sterol Lipids !  Hormones & Signaling molecules !  Cholesterol & Testosterone

!  Sphingolipids !  Glycerolipids !  Prenol Lipids !  Saccharolipids !  Polyketides

Element Atomic Percentage Role

Oxygen 8 65 Cellular respiration, water

Carbon 6 18.5 Basis of organic molecules

Hydrogen 1 9.5 Water, organic molecules, electron carrier

Nitrogen 7 3.3 Proteins & nucleic acids

Calcium 20 1.5 Bones, teeth, muscle contraction

Phosphorous 15 1 Nucleic acids, energy transfer

Potassium 19 0.4 Positive ion inside cells, energy transfer

Sulfur 16 0.3 Proteins

Sodium 11 0.2 Positive ion outside cell, nerve function

Chlorine 17 0.2 Negative ion outside cell

Magnesium 12 0.1 Energy transferring enzymes

Iron 26 trace Hemoglobin in blood

Copper 29 trace Enzymes

Molybdenum 42 trace Enzymes

Zinc 30 trace Enzymes

Iodine 53 trace Thyroid hormone

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! What are the main building blocks of life?

A.  Carbohydrates and fats

B.  Lipids and proteins

C.  DNA and RNA

D.  Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins & nucleotides

E.  Beer and chips

iClicker Quiz!

But how was it all put together?

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Origin of Life on Earth !  Panspermia (Exogenesis)

!  “The seeds of life exist all over the universe and these seeds are transported across the universe”

!  “Germs from space landed in our oceans and evolved…..”

!  The problem: Challenges of life in space make it unlikely

!  Divine Creation (Intelligent Design) !  “Life was created by a divine being 6000 yrs ago”

!  “All living things are explained by an intelligent cause not an undirected process such as natural selection”

!  The problem: The Earth, and life, are older than 6000 years

!  Chemical Evolution (Abiogenesis) !  How life evolved from inanimate matter

!  Amino acids can form via natural chemical reactions unrelated to life

! What is the theory of Panspermia?

A.  Life started from inanimate matter found on earth millions of years ago

B.  Life on earth was kick-started by single celled organisms from space rocks

C.  Sperm were the first signs of life on earth and started evolution

D.  All living creatures appeared on earth at the same time

E.  Fish falling from space and colonizing earth’s oceans

iClicker Quiz!

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Where did diversity come from? !  Single-celled organisms

are thought to be first living things on Earth

!  How did we get from a single cell to Humans?

! Evolution

!  Change in genetic material passed from one generation to the next

!  Formation of new species

The Miller-Urey Experiment ! Published 1953

! Simulated conditions 10 mya – primitive Earth

! H2O, Methane, Ammonia, Hydrogen ! Spark – Lightning

! Carbon transformed to organic compounds

! Amino Acids

! Inspired many others – repeated

! Comets & Meteorites found to contain organic compounds

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The Origins of Life: a theory http://youtube/U6QYDdgP9eg Movie, inspired by the research of: Dr. Jack Szostak, Harvard

Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Life came from the Oceans !  Life needs Water

!  Photosynthesis & Chemosynthesis uses water

!  Transport of molecules in chemical reactions

!  Hydrothermal vents !  Source of chemosynthetic energy (H2S)

!  Organic molecules not stable at high temperatures, so mixing with cold water necessary…

!  Still an ongoing active area of research!

!  No matter how it came about, the first replicating form would be acted upon by NATURAL SELECTION

https://imgur.com/gallery/VC9cLvy

https://origin-of-life-gquirke.weebly.com/

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Evolution !  Based on two processes

!  Heredity !  Traits are passed to offspring

!  Recognized early in history, but Gregor Mendel (“father of genetics”) formalized its study using peas (29,000!)

!  50 years later DNA indentified (Watson and Crick) as the carrier of genetic information

!  Variation !  Evolution occurs when heritable traits

change

!  An individual (phenotype) results both from gene expression (genotype) and environmental influences

!  Methods of Evolution !  Natural Selection & Genetic Drift

Major Concepts ! The building blocks of life

!  Carbohydrates, Nucleotides, Proteins, Lipids

! How did life begin on earth? ! Most likely theory: Abiogenesis

! Two PROCESSES of evolution ! Heredity & Variation

! Two METHODS of evolution ! Natural Selection ! Genetic Drift

! Diversity on earth comes from ~3.5 billion years of evolution

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Good luck on your exam!