GENERAL BIOLOGY 2

Chapter 4
Evolution and the Origin
of Life
 Learning Objectives
• To describe the major history and origin of life on
Earth especially the accepted geological
chronology and the distinguishing characteristics of
major group of organisms present during those time
periods
• To explain the mechanisms: artificial selection,
natural selection, genetic drift, mutation, and
recombination that leads to the different patterns of
descent with modifications from the common known
ancestors to produce the organismal diversity
known as of today
 Learning Objectives
• To trace back the origin of evolutionary thoughts
• To explain the different pieces of evidence of
evolution and infer evolutionary relationships
among organisms using the said pieces of
evidence
 There Are Two Tenets by Which
Evolution Is Viewed Today

 First, evolution explains the major principles in

biology.

 Second, evolution is a dynamic and multifaceted area

of research (evolutionary biology).
 Characteristics of Life
• Cellular complexity. All living things are composed of either one
or more cells that are highly complex yet organized and enclosed
within membranes.
• Growth and Development. Living things use energy to grow by
metabolizing compounds by cellular respiration or photosynthesis.
Organisms also undergo different life stages, which follow a
systematic process from birth to maturity.
• Reproduction. Continuity of life would definitely be impossible
without reproduction. We know that no organism can live forever;
however, through this fundamental quality, life continues and traits
are passed on from generation to generation. Organisms possess
a system of complicated yet intricate genetic system based on
biochemical processes of the DNA. This mechanism is passed on
from generation to generation allowing organisms to survive and
evolve over long periods of time.
• Irritability (response to stimuli). All organisms are very sensitive
to different stimuli—may they be environmental or physiological.
This may refer to any form of response or movement to stimuli in
its own volition.
• Homeostasis. Living things maintain relatively constant internal
conditions, which are different from their environment.
Geologic Time Scale of the
Earth’s History

As the bombardment decreased, the Earth’s surface also cooled

the atmosphere was then likely

Theories about the Origin of Life
PANSPERMIA

This hypothesis proposes

that microscopic life forms
that survived the effects of
space became trapped in
debris that were expelled
into space after strong
collision between the
planets were responsible
for harboring life forms.
ABIOGENESIS
• This hypothesized that life evolved from inanimate
objects.
• Models of abiogenesis are:
1. Spontaneous Generation. Its idea is described as the
formation of living organism without arising from a similar
organism.
2. Primordial Soup Theory. It hypothesizes that possible
conditions on the primitive Earth allows the onset of chemical
reactions that leads to the formation of other complex organic
compounds using simple inorganic substances.
3. The Clay Hypothesis. It suggests that the first molecules of
life might have met on clay, whose surfaces not only
concentrated these organic compounds together, but also
helped organize them into patterns.
4. Deep Hot Biosphere Hypothesis. It suggests that life did
not begin on the surface of the Earth but instead in the
porosity of its crust.
 Key Figures in the Evolutionary
Schools of Thought
JEAN BAPTISTE DE LAMARCK
The French scientist formulated
the Theory of Adaptation,
which suggests that if an animal
could develop a particular
characteristic in its lifetime, then
this trait could be passed on to
its offspring and its succeeding
generations.
 CHARLES DARWIN
Darwin, an English naturalist and
geologist, espoused the Theory of
Evolution by Natural Selection, which
states that if an organism developed and
possessed a small inherited variation that
would increase the individual’s ability to
compete, survive, and reproduce, then this
characteristic will be passed on to the next
generation. The rest of the organisms that
did not have the trait will not survive.
Therefore, through time, species became
gradually adapted to their environment,
leading to the evolution of new species.
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE

Known as the Father of Biogeography,

Wallace started an expedition in 1848
through the Amazon and Southeast
Asian region to demonstrate that
evolution took place by showing how
geography influenced the current
distribution of species. In one of his
journeys, he found a pattern that
corroborated the evidences of evolution:
physical barriers (i.e., rivers or mountain
ranges) served as a demarcation of
many species’ distributional range.
GREGOR MENDEL
For years, Mendel, an Austrian monk,
carried out imperative experiments
that would finally prove Darwin’s
concept of natural selection. In quite a
remarkable feat, while crossbreeding
different strains of pea plants for
seven years, he was able to cultivate
almost 30,000 pea plants and in doing
so figured out the basic foundation of
genetics. He presented that an
offspring can receive characteristics http://a4.files.biography.com/image/upload/c_fit,cs_srgb,dpr_1.0,h_1200,q_80,w_1200
/MTIwNjA4NjMzNTA5MDg2NzMy.jpg

from both its parents, but the dominant

trait is the one expressed.
 Evidences of Evolution
• Evidence from
Paleontology:
Fossil Records
The most direct
evidences that
evolution had
occurred are
the fossil
records.
• Evidence from
Geographic Distribution:
Biogeography
The distribution of
species in a particular
landscape provides
resounding proof about
evolution.
• Evidence from Comparative Anatomy
An alternative piece of evidence that supports evolution
is the concept that biologists have coined as homology,
which is defined as any anatomical feature originally
possessed by an ancestor that has subsequently been
modified by its descendants for a specific function.
• Evidence from Physiology and Biochemistry
 First, all living things passed on genetic information from
generation to generation via the DNA molecule. Second,
another basic shared characteristic is the use of the ATP
molecule to transport energy around the cell. These two
fundamental similarities then suggest that all living
things evolved from a single common ancestor.
 Another example of a biochemical evidence for
evolution is the protein Cytochrome c found in living
cells. Different organisms show variance of Cytochrome
c, which is measured in the number of differing amino
acids. This difference is due to mutation and/or
substitution, which can be used to estimate how long
ago the two species diverged.
• Evidence from Selection
Antibiotic Resistance
An ultimate and perhaps especially convincing
piece of evidence for evolution is the way that
bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

Selection in Humans
The most common example of selection in human
population is lactose intolerance or the inability to
metabolize lactose from the lack of the required
enzyme lactase in the digestive system.
 Important Mechanisms of How
Evolution Works
1. MUTATION
Very occasionally, little copying alteration or change
(mutations) occurs during the process of DNA
replication. It may be brought about by a number of
factors, which include ‒ but not limited to ‒ radiation,
viruses, or carcinogens (cancer-causing materials).
Since the blueprint of any cell function is dictated by its
genotype, even a minute mutation might mean that the
cells fail to work properly.
2. GENE FLOW
A result of migrating individuals that breed in a new
location is gene flow. Genes coming from the
immigrants may add new alleles to the existing gene
pool of the population, or they may modify the allele
frequencies already present if they come from a
population with different allele frequencies.
3. RECOMBINATIONS
Because of sexual reproduction, new gene
combinations are introduced into a population; thus,
it can be an important source of genetic variation.

4. GENETIC DRIFT
Any change in the allele frequencies in a population
due to random sampling is called genetic drift.
The Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium
 A certain population is said to be at Hardy-Weinberg
equilibrium if it has a constant genetic stability.
 This state is reached when allele and genotype
frequencies do not change from generation to
generation.
 Its five important criteria are: (1) random mating; (2) a
very large population size; (3) migration between
population did not transpire; (4) no mutation occurred;
and (5) gene pool is not affected by natural selection.
 If all the aforementioned criteria are met, two results will
follow. First, allele frequencies at a locus will stay
constant from generation to generation. After one
generation of random mating, the genotype frequencies
will stay the same. Stating the second result in the form
of an equation produces the Hardy-Weinberg equation:

 The most important principle of the Hardy-Weinberg

equilibrium is that unless some agent acts to change
them, allele frequencies should not change from
generation to generation. More so, the equilibrium
shows the distribution of genotypes to be anticipated for
a population at genetic equilibrium at any value p or q.
 Scientist in Action
Dr. Michael D Purugganan is a world-renowned and multi-
awarded Filipino biologist. Dr. Purugganan received his BS
in Chemistry from the University of the Philippines (UP)
Diliman (1985), his MA from Columbia University (1986),
and his PhD in Botany with a Global policy minor from the
University of Georgia (1993). He is the Silver professor of
Biology at New York University and has served as the Dean
for Science of NYU. After finishing his degree at UP, he
fearlessly changed his field to plant genomics and became
interested in studying rice plants because it is one of the
most staple food crops in the world, and in particular a major
agricultural crop in our country. Since then, Dr. Purugganan
has supervised several projects studying the evolutionary
genomics of rice, rice domestication, and environmental
gene regulatory interaction networks in this crop species.
His work includes the study of plant transposable element
evolution, the diversification of regulatory gene families,
evolution of development, molecular population genetics, the
domestication of crop species, and microbial social evolution
(Barghi, 2014). He is a leading authority on plant molecular
evolution and genomics, and has published over a hundred
research papers in prestigious journals.