Which types of human habitats harbor the most bacterial phylogenetic diversity? Which habitats harbor the most bacterial taxon diversity? What does the difference between phylogenetic diversity and taxon diversity suggest about these different habitats?

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Phylogenetic diversity tends to be greatest on outside habitats (i.e. skin) rather than inside habitats (i.e. external auditory canal). For example, the oral cavity has a lot of bacterial phylogenetic diversity, but not nearly as much as the skin.
By contrast, the human gut harbors a large amount of bacterial diversity, particularly in the colon (i.e. large intestine), at the species/taxon level. The colon actually has higher diversity than skin at the species/taxon level (i.e. more different taxa colonizing the colon than the skin). This suggests that the colon has been very selective in the types of microbes that it gets colonized by, and that those lineages colonizing the colon have radiated into many different taxa after colonization. Phylogenetic diversity is the total branch length between taxa over the entire bacterial phylogenetic tree that is found within the skin community). Higher phylogenetic diversity on skin indicates that a greater diversity of bacterial lineages (perhaps at the order or family level) can colonize the skin, perhaps because it is in direct contact with.

Biology & Microbiology

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As physical activity ramps up, a person typically begins to breathe more rapidly, to sweat, and to flush red. Describe how each of these physical responses of the body is connected to the reactants and products of the process of aerobic respiration.

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Biology & Microbiology

Water has an unusually high boiling point for its molecular weight because water molecules ____

a. are very dense b. get much heavier as they are heated c. are held to each other by hydrogen bonds d. are held together by covalent bonds e. form hydration layers

Biology & Microbiology

Membrane-bounded organelles facilitate faster chemical reactions because:a

reactants are within close proximity to each other. b. membranes lower the activation energy of biochemical reactions. c. membrane-bounded organelles act as catalysts for biochemical reactions. d. reactants move faster within membrane-bounded organelles. e. reactants are less likely to encounter each other within membrane-bounded organelles.

Biology & Microbiology

Which of the following is NOT an organic molecule?

A) Nucleic acid B) Lipid C) Protein D) Carbon monoxide E) Monosaccharide

Biology & Microbiology