
Concept explainers
The unicellular cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp. is the most abundant photosynthetic microbe in tropical and subtropical oceans. At least two ecotypes exist: one is adapted to high light and the other to lower light intensities. How does the presence of these two ecotypes contribute to their physiological success and their numerical success? How would you determine the amount of fixed carbon they contribute to these open-ocean ecosystems?

To determine: The way in which presence of two ecotypes (one adapted to high light and other to lower light) contribute to the physiological and numerical success of cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp.
Introduction: Prochlorococcus are green, small, and unicellular bacteria having chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b pigments. The species of this bacterium exist in two ecotypes: one which is adapted to the high intensity of light while the other adapted to low light intensity.
Explanation of Solution
The existence of cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus sp. in two different ecotypes, help them in their survival in different conditions. Because of this adaptation, these bacteria are the most abundant microbe in the oceans of tropical and subtropical those are capable of carrying out photosynthesis.
The presence of two ecotypes in this bacterial species, have given them an advantage over oxygenic phototrophic microbes. By having access to high as well as low light intensities, these bacteria are able to establish two different types of niche for themselves. The strains adapted to high light intensity can inhabit shallow water while those adapted to low light intensity can inhabit deep waters. In such a way, they both would not compete for similar resources with the same bacterial species.

To determine: The way in which the amount of fixed carbon contributed by cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus to an open-ocean ecosystem can be determined.
Introduction: Prochlorococcus are green, small, and unicellular bacteria having chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b pigments. The species of this bacterium exist in two ecotypes: one which is adapted to the high intensity of light while the other adapted to low light intensity.
Explanation of Solution
The development of micro-ecosystem in the laboratory would be required to determine the amount of fixed carbon contributed by cyanobacterium Prochlorococcus to the open-ocean ecosystem. By setting up micro-ecosystem similar to the open-ocean ecosystem, would help in manipulating the amount of carbon fixed by the bacterium. The addition, as well as the removal of these microbes from the micro-ecosystem, will help in measuring the amount of fixed carbon by using various electrodes to test the level of carbon dioxide in the system.
Want to see more full solutions like this?
Chapter 30 Solutions
Prescott's Microbiology
- Ch.21 What causes patients infected with the yellow fever virus to turn yellow (jaundice)? A. low blood pressure and anemia B. excess leukocytes C. alteration of skin pigments D. liver damage in final stage of disease — What is the advantage for malarial parasites to grow and replicate in red blood cells? A. able to spread quickly B. able to avoid immune detection C. low oxygen environment for growth D. cooler area of the body for growth — Which microbe does not live part of its lifecycle outside humans? A. Toxoplasma gondii B. Cytomegalovirus C. Francisella tularensis D. Plasmodium falciparum — explain your answer thoroughlyarrow_forwardCh.22 Streptococcus pneumoniae has a capsule to protect it from killing by alveolar macrophages, which kill bacteria by… A. cytokines B. antibodies C. complement D. phagocytosis — What fact about the influenza virus allows the dramatic antigenic shift that generates novel strains? A. very large size B. enveloped C. segmented genome D. over 100 genes — explain your answer thoroughlyarrow_forwardWhat is this?arrow_forward
- Molecular Biology A-C components of the question are corresponding to attached image labeled 1. D component of the question is corresponding to attached image labeled 2. For a eukaryotic mRNA, the sequences is as follows where AUGrepresents the start codon, the yellow is the Kozak sequence and (XXX) just represents any codonfor an amino acid (no stop codons here). G-cap and polyA tail are not shown A. How long is the peptide produced?B. What is the function (a sentence) of the UAA highlighted in blue?C. If the sequence highlighted in blue were changed from UAA to UAG, how would that affecttranslation? D. (1) The sequence highlighted in yellow above is moved to a new position indicated below. Howwould that affect translation? (2) How long would be the protein produced from this new mRNA? Thank youarrow_forwardMolecular Biology Question Explain why the cell doesn’t need 61 tRNAs (one for each codon). Please help. Thank youarrow_forwardMolecular Biology You discover a disease causing mutation (indicated by the arrow) that alters splicing of its mRNA. This mutation (a base substitution in the splicing sequence) eliminates a 3’ splice site resulting in the inclusion of the second intron (I2) in the final mRNA. We are going to pretend that this intron is short having only 15 nucleotides (most introns are much longer so this is just to make things simple) with the following sequence shown below in bold. The ( ) indicate the reading frames in the exons; the included intron 2 sequences are in bold. A. Would you expected this change to be harmful? ExplainB. If you were to do gene therapy to fix this problem, briefly explain what type of gene therapy youwould use to correct this. Please help. Thank youarrow_forward
- Molecular Biology Question Please help. Thank you Explain what is meant by the term “defective virus.” Explain how a defective virus is able to replicate.arrow_forwardMolecular Biology Explain why changing the codon GGG to GGA should not be harmful. Please help . Thank youarrow_forwardStage Percent Time in Hours Interphase .60 14.4 Prophase .20 4.8 Metaphase .10 2.4 Anaphase .06 1.44 Telophase .03 .72 Cytukinesis .01 .24 Can you summarize the results in the chart and explain which phases are faster and why the slower ones are slow?arrow_forward
- Can you circle a cell in the different stages of mitosis? 1.prophase 2.metaphase 3.anaphase 4.telophase 5.cytokinesisarrow_forwardWhich microbe does not live part of its lifecycle outside humans? A. Toxoplasma gondii B. Cytomegalovirus C. Francisella tularensis D. Plasmodium falciparum explain your answer thoroughly.arrow_forwardSelect all of the following that the ablation (knockout) or ectopoic expression (gain of function) of Hox can contribute to. Another set of wings in the fruit fly, duplication of fingernails, ectopic ears in mice, excess feathers in duck/quail chimeras, and homeosis of segment 2 to jaw in Hox2a mutantsarrow_forward
- Biology Today and Tomorrow without Physiology (Mi...BiologyISBN:9781305117396Author:Cecie Starr, Christine Evers, Lisa StarrPublisher:Cengage LearningBiology: The Dynamic Science (MindTap Course List)BiologyISBN:9781305389892Author:Peter J. Russell, Paul E. Hertz, Beverly McMillanPublisher:Cengage LearningBiology (MindTap Course List)BiologyISBN:9781337392938Author:Eldra Solomon, Charles Martin, Diana W. Martin, Linda R. BergPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Biology 2eBiologyISBN:9781947172517Author:Matthew Douglas, Jung Choi, Mary Ann ClarkPublisher:OpenStaxConcepts of BiologyBiologyISBN:9781938168116Author:Samantha Fowler, Rebecca Roush, James WisePublisher:OpenStax CollegeBiochemistryBiochemistryISBN:9781305577206Author:Reginald H. Garrett, Charles M. GrishamPublisher:Cengage Learning





