Tasnim Ghani

General Biology 116 Section D6

Workshop 1 Outline
January 27, 2014

Classification Review
1. Phylogeny is the evolutionary history species or group of related species produced using
systematics
2. Taxonomy is the ordered division and naming of organisms
3. In hierarchical classification, the order is kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and
species.
a. A taxonomical unit at any level of hierarchy is called a taxon.
b. Polytomy is a branch from which more than two groups emerge
c. Sister taxa are the closest relatives of a group in a phylogenetic tree
d. Hierarchical classification initially changed from just 2 kingdoms to 3 domains
4. The tree of life is based mainly on rRNA
5. Eukaryotes and Archaea are more closely related to each other than bacteria
6. Horizontal gene transfer occurs by exchange of transposable elements and plasmids viral
infections and fusion of organisms
a. The movement of genes from one genome to another
b. Complicates efforts to build a tree of life
Virology
1. Viruses are obligate intracellular parasites; only replicate within a host cell and each virus can
only infect a limited number of host cells.
2. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that infect bacteria
a. Have an elongated capsid head that encloses DNA and a protein tail piece attaches the
phage to the host and injects the phage DNA inside
b. Bacteria have restriction enzymes that recognize and cut up certain phage DNA
c. 2 replicative cycles of phages: lytic and lysogenic
i. Lytic cycle- a phage replicative cycle that culminates in death of the host cell
ii. Lysogenic cycle replicates the phage genome without destroying the host
iii. Phages that reproduce only by lytic cycle are called virulent phages
iv. Phages that use both the lytic and lysogenic cycles are called temperate phages
3. Many viruses that infect animals have a membranous envelope
a. Some viral envelopes are formed from the host cells plasma membrane as the viral
capsids exit while others form from the hosts nuclear envelope, which are quickly
replaced by an envelope made from Golgi apparatus membrane.
b. Viral glycoproteins on the envelope then bind to specific receptor molecules on the
surface of the host cell
4. RNA as viral genetic material
a. Broadest variety of RNA genomes is found in viruses that infect animals
b. Retroviruses use reverse transcriptase to copy their RNA genome into DNA which is
integrates into the host genome (provirus)
i. Hosts RNA polymerase transcribes proviral RNA into RNA molecules
ii. RNA molecules function both as mRNA for synthesis of viral proteins and as
genomes for new virus particles released from the cell