LS1

Lecture 12
October 19, 2016
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Chloroplasts were lost or changed function in a few branches

Photosynthesis was acquired multiple times through endosymbiosis

Protists
- Secondary endosymbiosis
o Photosynthetic protest is engulfed
o Nucleus from photosynthetic protist is lost
o Organelle has four membranes
- Before eukaryotes, prokaryotes still existed
- Ameobozoans
o Use pseudopodia to move and feed
o Entamoeba histolytica, the infectious agent in amoebic dysentery
- Opisthokonta
o This is where animals and fungi are
o Protists are not a monophyletic group
o Choanoflagellates
Closest relative to animals
Marine and freshwater
o Euglenids
Contains parasites
- Archaeplastidae or Plantae
o Cell walls of cellulose
o Most are photosynthetic
o Land plants and green algae are considered a different group
from the protists
- Red Algae
o Have additional pigments
o Not considered to be in the green plant group
o Allows for use of different niches
Allows for absorption of different spectrums of light
- Rhizaria
o Their shells have holes
o Calcium Carbonate Shells
- Ciliates
o Paramecium
- Alveolates
o Incredibly diverse group of protisits have wide range of
movement, feeding, and reproduction
- Stramenopiles
o Brown algae

o Diatoms
25% of photosynthesis on earth
More than tropical rainforests
A lot of different species
Silica cell walls
Hard parts leave a fossil record in sediments
Very important ecosystem service
These produce more photosynthesis than any other
protists
Multicellularity
- One of the most significant changes in the history of life
- First mutations probably caused cells to stick together after cell
division
- Not all cells express the same genes
- A few species of bacteria are multicellular
o Not complex multicellularity
- Eukarya contain the vast majority
- First major innovations in multicellularity are present in eukaryotes
- Evolution of complex multicellularity
o Multicellularity arose independently in a wide array of eukaryotic
lineages
o Convergent evolution
o Complex multicellularity evolved 6 separate times:
Animals
Fungi (twice)
Red Algae
Green algae Plants
Brown Algae
o Common characteristics of most complex multicellular
organisms:
Only a few cells take part in reproduction
Specific tasks for specific cells
o Relationship between O2 and Complex multicellularity
Green Plants
- Green Algae & Land Plants
- In mass and importance to other organisms, green plants dominate
terrestrial & freshwater habitats
- Scientists believe that land plants evolved from green algae
- Green Algae
o Previously considered protists
Most algae are protists
o Monophyletic group with land plants

o Closest living relatives to land plants

o Transition from water to land: green algae to land plants
Plant evolution and diversity
o Plants evolved from green algae
Land Plants
o Able to grow with their tissues exposed to air
o First terrestrial colonizers on land (fungi and animals became
terrestrial later)
o Important as the dominant primary producers in terrestrial food
chains
o Transformed the nature of life-plants made Earth green
o For oxygen, these groups are most important
Protists
Cyanobacteria
Land plants
o Ecosystem services of plants
Plants provide food and habitat for other species
We live alongside plants
They produce oxygen
Earlier in evolutionary history, humans lived in savannahs
Prevent erosion
Without plants, there would not be top soil
Without top soil, no food
All the organisms that cycle nutrients in the
environment are contained in the top soil
Plants hold and stabilize the soil
They store carbohydrates for other organisms
They store water
Plants maintain the climate
Hold water in ecosystems
Sequester carbon
Fix much more carbon than they release
Removal of plants causes climate change
If plants are chopped down, the rains will stop
9 months of rain 5 or 6 months of rain
o Desertification
When plants are chopped down, the area can turn into an
arid environment
o Deforestation is the primary reason of carbon emission in Brazil
When plants are chopped down, decomposition releases
CO2
When photosynthesis happens, plants use CO2 and store it