Tugas Terstruktur 2 - BioDas II

Biologi Dasar II
Semester Genap 2015/2016

Tugas Terstruktur 2
TT1 - TOPIC 6
How Does the Immune System Respond to a Changing Pathogen?
[Data from L. J. Morrison, et al., Probabilistic order in antigenic variation of Trypanosoma brucei,
International Journal for Parasitology 35:961-972 (2005) and L. J. Morrison, et al., Antigenic variation in
the African trypanosome: molecular mechanisms and phenotypic complexity, Cellular Microbiology 1:
1724-1734 (2009)].
Natural selection favors parasites that are able to maintain a low-level infection in a
host for a long time. Trypanosoma, the unicellular parasite that causes sleeping sickness, is one
example. The glycoproteins covering a trypanosomes surface are encoded by a gene that is
duplicated more than a thousand times in the organisms genome. Each copy is slightly
different. By periodically switching among these genes, the trypanosome can display a series of
surface glycoproteins with different molecular structures. In this exercise, you will interpret two
data sets to explore possible explanation about the benefits of the trypanosomes evershifting
surface glycoproteins and the hosts immune response.
Part A: Data from a Study of Parasite Levels.
This study measured the abundance of parasites in the blood of one human patient
during the first few weeks of a chronic infection.
Part A: Interpret the Data

1. Plot the data in the above table as a line graph. Which column is the independent variable,
and which is the dependent variable? Put the independent variable on the x-axis.
2. Visually displaying data in a graph can help make patterns in the data more noticeable.
Describe any patterns revealed by your graph.
3. Assume that a drop in parasite abundance reflects an effective immune response by the host.
Explain the pattern you described in question 2.
Part B: Data from a Study of Antibody Levels
Many decades after scientists first observed the pattern of Trypanosoma abundance
over the course of infection, researchers identified antibodies specific to different forms of the
parasites surface glycoprotein. The table below lists the relative abundance of two such
antibodies during the early period of chronic infection, using an index ranging from 0 (absent)
to 1.
Part B: Interpret the Data

4. Note that these data were collected over the same period of infection (days 424) as the
parasite abundance data you graphed in part A. Therefore, you can incorporate these new
data into your first graph, using the same x-axis. However, since the antibody level data are
measured in a different way than the parasite abundance data, add a second set of y-axis
labels on the right side of your graph. Then, using different colors or sets of symbols, add the
data for the two antibody types. Labeling the y-axis two different ways enables you to
compare how two dependent variables change relative to a shared independent variable.
5. Describe any patterns you observe by comparing the two data sets over the same period. Do
these patterns support your explanation from part A? Do they prove that explanation?
6. Scientists can now also distinguish the abundance of trypanosomes recognized specifically by
antibodies type A and type B. How would incorporating such information change your
graph?
TT2 - TOPIC 7
What Causes the End of Cleavage in a Frog Embryo?
[Data from J. Newport and M. Kirschner, A major developmental transition in early Xenopus
embryos: I. Characterization and timing of cellular changes at the midblastula stage, Cell
30:675686 (1982)]
During cleavage in a frog embryo, as in many other animals, the cell cycle consists
mainly of the S (DNA synthesis) and M (mitosis) phases, and there are no G1 and G2 phases.
However, after the 12th cell division, G1 and G2 phases appear, and the cells grow, producing
proteins and cytoplasmic organelles. These and other changes in activity mark the end of
cleavage. But what triggers the change in the cell cycle?
How the Experiments Were Done
Researchers tested the hypothesis that a mechanism for counting cell divisions
determines when cleavage ends. They allowed frog embryos to take up radioactively labeled
nucleosides, in one experiment labeling thymidine to measure DNA synthesis and in another
experiment labeling uridine to measure RNA synthesis. They then repeated these two
experiments in the presence of a toxin that prevents cell division by blocking cleavage furrow
formation and cytokinesis.
Data from the Experiments
Interpret the Data

1. How were the researchers able to independently measure DNA synthesis and RNA synthesis?
2. Use the data in the table to create a graph showing DNA synthesis and RNA synthesis with
and without the toxin that prevents cell division. For the DNA data, draw a straight line to
represent the general trend for time points 15 and another straight line for time points 5
and later. For RNA, connect each data point with the next. Describe the changes in synthesis
that occur at the end of cleavage.
3. Do the data support the hypothesis that the timing of the end of cleavage depends on
counting cell divisions? Explain based on the data.
4. In a separate experiment, researchers disrupted the block to polyspermy, generating
embryos with 7 to 10 sperm nuclei. At the end of cleavage, these embryos had the same
nucleus-to-cytoplasm ratio as the wild-type embryos, but cleavage ended at the 10th cell
division rather than the 12th cell division. What do these results indicate about the timing of
the end of cleavage?
TT2 - TOPIC 8
What Are the Energy Costs of Locomotion?
[Data from K. Schmidt-Nielsen, Locomotion: Energy cost of swimming, flying, and running, Science
177:222228 (1972). Reprinted with permission from AAAS]
In the 1960s, animal physiologist Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, at Duke University, wondered

whether general principles govern the energy costs of different forms of locomotion among
diverse animal species. To answer this question, he drew on his own experiments as well as
those of other researchers. In this exercise you will analyze the combined results of these
studies and evaluate the rationale for plotting the experimental data on a graph with
logarithmic scales.
How the Experiments Were Done
Researchers measured the rate of oxygen consumption or carbon dioxide production in
animals that ran on treadmills, swam in water flumes, or flew in wind tunnels. For example, a
tube connected to a plastic face mask collected gases exhaled by a parakeet during flight. From
these measurements, Schmidt-Nielsen calculated the amount of energy each animal used to
transport a given amount of body mass over a given distance (calories/kilogrammeter).
Data from the Experiments
Schmidt-Nielsen plotted the cost of running, flying, and swimming versus body mass on
a single graph with logarithmic (log) scales for the axes. He then drew a best-fit straight line
through the data points for each form of locomotion. (On the graph below, the individual data
points are not shown.)
Interpret the Data

1. The body masses of the animals used in these experiments ranged from about 0.001 g to
1,000,000 g, and their rates of energy use ranged from about 0.1 cal/kgm to 100 cal/kgm. If
you were to plot these data on a graph with linear instead of log scales for the axes, how
would you draw the axes so that all of the data would be visible? What is the advantage of
using log scales for plotting data with a wide range of values?
2. Based on the graph, how much greater is the energy cost of flying for an animal that weighs
10-3 g than for an animal that weighs 1 g? For any given form of locomotion, which travels
more efficiently, a larger animal or smaller animal?
3. The slopes of the flying and swimming lines are very similar. Based on your answer to
question 2, if the energy cost of a 2-g swimming animal is 1.2 cal/kgm, what is the estimated
energy cost of a 2-kg swimming animal?
4. Considering animals with a body mass of about 100 g, rank the three forms of locomotion
from highest energy cost to lowest energy cost. Were these the results you expected, based
on your own experience? What could explain the energy cost of running compared to that of
flying or swimming?
5. Schmidt-Nielson calculated the swimming cost in a mallard duck and found that it was nearly
20 times as high as the swimming cost in a salmon of the same body mass. What could
explain the greater swimming efficiency of salmon?
TT2 - TOPIC 9
How Efficient Is Energy Transfer in a Salt Marsh Ecosystem?
[Data from J. M. Teal, Energy flow in the salt marsh ecosystem of Georgia, Ecology 43:614624 (1962)]
In a classic experiment, John Teal studied the flow of energy through the producers, consumers,
and detritivores in a salt marsh. In this exercise, you will use the data from this study to
calculate some measures of energy transfer between trophic levels in this ecosystem.
How the Study Was Done
Teal measured the amount of solar radiation entering a salt marsh in Georgia over a year. He
also measured the aboveground biomass of the dominant primary producers, which were
grasses, as well as the biomass of the dominant consumers, including insects, spiders, and
crabs, and of the detritus that flowed out of the marsh to the surrounding coastal waters. To
determine the amount of energy in each unit of biomass, he dried the biomass, burned it in a
calorimeter, and measured the amount of heat produced.
Data from the Study
Interpret the Data

1. What proportion of the solar energy that reaches the marsh is incorporated into gross
primary production? Into net primary production? (A proportion is the same as a percentage
divided by 100. Both measures are useful for comparing relative efficiencies across different
ecosystems.)
2. How much energy is lost by primary producers as respiration in this ecosystem? How much is
lost as respiration by the insect population?
3. If all of the detritus leaving the marsh is plant material, what proportion of all net primary
production leaves the marsh as detritus each year?
TT2 - TOPIC 10
How Does the Atmospheric CO2 Concentration Change During a Year and from Decade to
Decade?
[Data from National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Earth System Research Laboratory, Global
Monitoring Division]
The blue curve in Figure 56.28 shows how the concentration of CO2 in Earths atmosphere has
changed over a span of more than 50 years. For each year in that span, two data points are
plotted, one in May and one in November. A more detailed picture of the change in CO2
concentration can be obtained by looking at measurements made at more frequent intervals. In
this exercise, youll graph monthly CO2 concentrations for three years over three decades.
Data from the Study

The data in the table below are average CO2 concentrations (in parts per million) at the Mauna
Loa monitoring station for each month in 1990, 2000, and 2010.
Interpret the Data

1. Plot the data for all three years on one graph. Select a type of graph that is appropriate for
these data, and choose a vertical axis scale that allows you to clearly see the patterns of CO2
concentration changes, both during each year and from decade to decade.
2. Within each year, what is the pattern of change in CO2 concentration? Why does this
pattern occur?
3. The measurements taken at Mauna Loa represent average atmospheric CO2 concentrations
for the Northern hemisphere. Suppose you could measure CO2 concentrations under similar
conditions in the Southern Hemisphere. What pattern would you expect to see in those
measurements over the course of a year? Explain.
4. In addition to the changes within each year, what changes in CO2 concentration occurred
between 1990 and 2010? Calculate the average CO2 concentration for the 12 months of each
year. By what percentage did this average change from 1990 to 2000 and from 1990 to 2010?

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Biologi Dasar II

Semester Genap 2015/2016

Part A: Interpret the Data

Part B: Interpret the Data

Interpret the Data

In the 1960s, animal physiologist Knut Schmidt-Nielsen, at Duke University, wondered

Interpret the Data

Interpret the Data

Data from the Study

Interpret the Data

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