Detailed Lab Notes on Terrestrialization and Plant Biology

Read Lab Introduction: Familiarize yourself with concepts before lab.
Complete Pre-Lab Assignments: Watch videos and assignments thoroughly.
Review Key Terminology: Understand important terms relevant to the lab (see provided list).
Organismal Biology Lectures: Review lectures for foundational knowledge.
Study Mitosis and Meiosis: Focus on the ploidy of initial and resulting cells; detailed phases not required.

To Bring:
- Lab introduction and terminology list (digital access is acceptable).
- Textbook or digital e-text access (check bCourses for instructions).

Definition: Microscopic organisms in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, known for the pigment phycocyanin used in photosynthesis.
Ecological Role: Major contributors to primary production, essential for carbon capture on Earth; part of marine and freshwater phytoplankton.
Cellular Structure:
- Prokaryotic: Lack membrane-bound organelles (nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts).
- Cell Wall: Prokaryotic walls differ structurally from eukaryotic cell walls.
Reproduction: Asexual through binary fission; do not reproduce sexually.

Definition: Organisms that produce their own food using sunlight. Cyanobacteria use CO₂ and light to synthesize glucose, releasing oxygen as a by-product.
Historical Significance: Contributed to the Great Oxygenation Event over 2 billion years ago.

Concept: The theory that chloroplasts in green plants originated from symbiotic cyanobacteria incorporated into eukaryotic cells.

Colonial Forms: Can exist as unicellular or aggregate into filaments, sheets, or hollow spheres.
Specialized Cells: Some filaments contain heterocysts for nitrogen fixation, showcasing functional differentiation within colonies.

Spirulina: High in protein, used as a supplement; historically significant for indigenous cultures (e.g., Mexicas and Kanembu people).

Causes: Fluctuations in light, temperature, pH, nutrients (N and P) can lead to harmful blooms, producing cyanotoxins.
Eutrophication: Nutrient overload can lead to decreased oxygen, harming aquatic life.
Human Impact: Increased blooms due to anthropogenic nutrient discharges (wastewater, livestock, agriculture).

Definition: Colonial freshwater green algae, belonging to eukaryotes; contains chlorophyll, hence green color.
Structure: Hollow spheres of cells in a gelatinous matrix with cytoplasmic connections for organelle sharing and coordination of movement.
Cell Types: Composed of somatic cells (movement, photosynthesis) and germ cells (reproduction).
Reproduction: Can reproduce asexually (daughter colonies) or sexually (in response to environmental stress).

Common Name: Sea lettuce; grows in coastal environments.
Structure: Composed of two layers of cells; forms a holdfast for anchoring.
Life Cycle: Haplodiplontic; alternates between multicellular diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophyte, with isomorphic conditions (similar morphology of both generations).

Relation to Land Plants: Closest relatives of land plants, sharing traits like zygote retention and similar flagella structure.
Reproductive Structures: Female gametes are produced in oogonia, and male in antheridia; the zygote undergoes meiosis to produce spores directly.