Discussion Topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Discussion Topic - Essay Example Two common genes that undergo mutation to result in achromatopsia are CNGB3 and CNGA3. Four chromosomes might have changes responsible for achromatopsia. These chromosomes are chromosome 14, chromosome 8q21-q22, chromosome 2q11, and chromosome 10q24. A mutation that causes this disorder was discovered through a comparative positional cloning approach. The locus of the disorder is in a region of chromosome CFA29. The homologous region on the human genome has the gene for cyclic nucleotide-gated channel beta subunit. Mutation causes same disorders in human beings. The mode of inheritance for this disorder is autosomal recessive. Some chromosomal information is lost or deleted through the process of converting DNA to amino acids (Parker, 2004). A scientist known as Punnet in 1993 discovered the trait for blue egg. This trait was mapped on chromosome GGA1 to a region from 67.3-69.1. Dongxiang chicken breed was used to discover this trait. Using analysis of linkage on the candidate region on information from 146 F2 hens that originate from cross breeding between homozygous blue and homozygous non-blue birds of the Dongxiang breed, scientists refined the location to 120 kb region from 67296991 bp to 67416784 bp located on chromosome 1along the chicken genome. The location that was refined by scientists is made up of four positional candidate genes. Just a single gene out of the four genes is responsible for blue shell trait. This gene is SLCO1B3. It is expressed in the shell glands in the uterus of chicken with a blue shell trait but it is not expressed in shell glands within the uterus of non blue-shelled hens. Through the process of converting DNA to proteins, a gene responsible for this trait was inserted within the amino acid sequence in the protein structure. Process of sequencing uncovered causal mutation to be a~4.2, (that is a retroviral), EAV-HP in the fifth flanking region of SLCO1B3. A survey for genotyping

The Phenomenon of Harmful Algal Blooms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Phenomenon of Harmful Algal Blooms - Essay Example Among these species, some comes out as a harmful breed for other aquatic animals and human who comes in contact with them because they release toxins which disables certain aquatic lives to breathe or can be dangerous because of their accumulated biomass. These harmful algal blooms are formerly known as â€Å"red tides†, because many were found composed of dinoflagellates with red pigments, which cause discoloration of water in red, but can also discolor water into brown or green. Algal blooms refer to a large concentration of marine microorganism and they get harmful when they start excreting poisonous toxins and become as a contributing factor in hundreds of mortalities of aquatic mammals, fishes, birds and other marine and coastal species which happens at the exposure of a potent neurotoxins. Excretion of toxins can result in deaths of a large number of aquatic species. Harmful Algal Blooms also put a negative impact on natural beauty and have bad odors produced by the deca ying of biomass. Theory Researchers and investigation teams are still unable to know the root cause and it is still controversial. Some theories are underlined, for explaining some of the causes that might be the reason of such dangerous Algal Blooms, threatening millions of aqua marine lives. It is believed that toxin blooms are often in result of one or more species of Cyanobacteria which are blue and green algae and grow on nutrient pollution. These spread during warm season of the year and produces both green (chlorophyll) and blue (phycocyanin) which appears as blue and green discoloration of water. It was previously referred as Red Tides, but with the passage of time, things got clear that these harmful algal blooms are not associated with the movement of tides and can vary in color from red to brown, green and blue, therefore they are now known as HABS (Harmful Algal Blooms). They are dangerous because of their toxins or the manner in which the physical structure of the cell affect co occurring species and alter food web process. It can be extremely dangerous when the water is clear with low concentration of cell in the presence of toxic HABs. Micro or Macro-algae is termed for seaweeds as well which sometimes out grows and causes serious ecological problems like habitat alteration, indigenous species and lowers oxygen level in deep water. Moreover, some HABs are not algae but small animals, who do not grow with photosynthesis but get their nutrition by grazing. A continuous research is going on since decades to get to the root cause of harmful algal blooms. Things are getting clear with the study but root issues are still inapproachable. Contributing Factors A study was carried out to find out the factors that contribute in the massive growth of harmful Algal Blooms. In some coastal regions, they appeared to be completely natural with a seasonal coastal upwelling and with the movement of ocean currents but in some areas, it is noticed that human activi ties are helping them grow massively. They are getting nutrition through human loading. Coastal pollution is the biggest factor, helping HABs to develop at large scale through systematic increase in water temperature and human waste disposal. Iron rich dust influx from large deserts can highly promote the cause of HABs. It is still unclear that what initiates this dangerous algae but research is still going on to reach the root issue. They grow quickly with an abundance of nitrates and phosphates which gets to coastal areas through agricultural run outs or storm water runs, coinciding with warmth which ultimately provide the best atmosphere to grow. Once the bloom is initiated it travels or spread hundreds or thousands of kilometers through coastal currents by wind deviation. Threats It