Discuss the advantages and disadvantages associated with asexual and sexual reproduction. What will be an ideal response?
Asexual reproduction is faster and more energetically efficient than sexual reproduction because in
that latter, the animal must utilize energy to produce gametes and find a mate. However, in asexual
reproduction all the offspring are genetically identical to the parent, and in sexual reproduction the
offspring are genetically different. Sexual reproduction thus results in genetic variability in the
population, which increases the chances that some of the offspring will survive in that particular
environment or if that environment later changes. Sexual reproduction is also thought to provide a
better mechanism for spreading beneficial mutations through the population as well as a better
mechanism for more efficiently removing harmful mutations.
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True or false: When two populations have undergone allopatric speciation long enough to be unable to produce fertile offspring, then they are different enough to be considered two different species
A. true B. false
Which is NOT true according to Mendel's law of segregation?
a) An individual must have both a dominant and recessive allele. b) Each gamete contains one copy of each allele. c) Each individual contains two alleles for each trait. d) Alleles separate from each other during gamete formation. e) Fertilization restores the presence of two alleles.
Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, are considered the most ancient organisms capable of photosynthesis. Given what you know about cyanobacteria, which of the following is the more similar species?
A. Halobacterium salinarum; A unicellular obligate aerobe that often inhabits hypersaline lakes. This species produces gas vesicles in order to maximize its access to oxygen at the lake's surface. B. Rickettsia rickettsii; A unicellular intracellular pathogen that infects warm-blooded animals, including humans, causing Rocky Mountain spotted fever. C. Nitrosolobus multiformis; A unicellular rod-shaped nitrifying bacterium that inhabits subsurface soils at depths associated with plant roots. D. Nostoc verrucosum; A filamentous species often found in shallow streams and creeks that is capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen using specialized cells known as heterocytes.
If muscle cells in the human body consume O2 faster than it can be supplied, which of the following is likely to result?
a. the muscle cells will have more trouble making enough ATP to meet their energy requirements b. the cells will not be able to carry out oxidative phosphorylation c. the cells will consume glucose at an increase rate d. only the first 2 are correct e. all 3 answers are correct