Transcript mealworm
What is known about the genetics of Tenebrio molitor? question answered by jordan yaron What is Genetics? Genetics is the basis for what makes everybody and everything individual and unique. The DNA (information held within chromosomes) from two different organisms are combined to create one unique organism. Popularized by Gregor Mendel in 1865 DNA? Chromosomes? DNA is deoxyribonucleic acid. The double helix - The basis for life Read by the body like a line of “code.” Chromosomes are genetic carriers Tightly wound structures of DNA This is how DNA is contained within cells (10,000 to 1,000,000,000 nucleotides - letters of code) 11001101 00101101 00110110 01101001 adenine guanine cytosine thymine Our friend, the Mealworm In 1905, Nettie M. Stevens reinforced, via experiments on T. molitor, the concept of sex/gender determination based on dominant and recessive chromosomes T. molitor contains 10 pairs of chromosomes (20 total, versus the 23 pairs/46 total in humans) Males have a smaller, recessive chromosome in one pair (the “Y” chromosome) Thus, males are “XY” and females are “XX” Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/389882 What else? Other studies have shown that T. molitor’s genetics follow the general dominant-recessive principle: The color of the hard outer layer (cuticle) has been linked to genetic inheritence Source: (Armitage, et al: http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v94/n6/full/6800675a.html) Interestingly, there are links between the color of the cuticle, and naturally inherited pathogen (germ) resistance in T. molitor Source: (Armitage, et al: http://www.nature.com/hdy/journal/v94/n6/full/6800675a.html) Occasionally, there exist “XYY” T. molitor, with two male-sex chromosomes; while this is considered a complicated system, it has not been shown to differentiate the selection of males and females Source: (Kido, et al: http://www.journalarchive.jst.go.jp/english/jnlabstract_en.php?cdjournal=pjab1977&cdvol=61&noiss ue=8&startpage=368) My Question for You... • We now know that examples of genetic inheritance in T. molitor are sex and color. • Based on the genetics of Tenebrio molitor, what are some possible characteristics in humans that could be related to genetic inheritance?