I. Lecture Section 1
A. Fundamental Cell Theory and Taxonomy (Chapter 1)
1. What is life? What are Cells?
a. The definition of ‘alive’
b. What ‘organisms’ do not fit the definition?
2. How Do We Classify Living Organisms?
a. The Domains and Kingdoms of life
b. Phylogeny to the Genus/Species level
3. The Universal Features of Cells
a. Basic Features of All Cells
b. Differences between Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes
B. Species Variability and Cellular Genomics (Chapter 1, 4, 7)
1. The Existing Genomes in the World Today
a. The number of bases and the complexity of their organization vary far more
than the number of genes
b. The conservation of critical functions and the base sequence of the genes that
code for them show that all cells are related evolutionarily
c. These close structure and function relationships allow us to gain information
about ourselves from a wide variety of organisms
3. Gene families
a. Gene duplications give rise to families of related genes in a single cell
b. More than 200 gene families are common to all three domains
c. The function of a gene can often be deducted from its sequence
C. Sources and Regulation of Genetic Change (Chapter 5, 4)
1. Natural genetic flow
a. Bacteria have multiple mechanisms
b. Sexual reproduction
c. Transposable elements
2. Generation of new genes
a. New genes are generated from preexisting genes, no new synthesis
b. Mutation - Accidents/mistakes followed by non-random survival
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c.
d.
e.
f.
Gene duplication provides an important source of genetic novelty
DNA Shuffling - Reassortment during homologous recombination
Horizontal transfer - between organisms, in the lab and in nature
Transposable elements
3. Disruption or loss of existing genes
a. DNA Shuffling - Reassortment during homologous recombination
b. Transposable elements
c. Mutation - Accidents/mistakes followed by non-random survival
4.
Size of a genome reflects the relative DNA addition and DNA loss
D. The Role of Cells in Multicellular Organisms (Chapter 19)
1. Regulation of Organism Size by Cell Number
a. Size of cells is relatively common across species
b. Number of cells determines size of organism
c. Cell number is a balance between cell division and cell death
2. Regulation of Extracellular Structure
a. Functions of the Extracellular Matrix
b. Variations in the Structure of ECM
c. Specialized Connective Tissues
d. Degradation is as important as deposition for maintenance
3. Regulation of Cell Adhesion
a. Most cells must adhere to survive
b. Cell-matrix adhesion
c. Cell-cell adhesion
4. Regulation of the Internal Aqueous Environment
a. Universal nature of the aqueous environment
b. Variability in homeostatic regulation
5. Regulation of Organism Function by Intercellular Communication
a. Evolution of cell sensing and cell communication
b. Contact-dependent signaling
c. Soluble- molecule signaling
d. Structure of signaling systems in multicellular organisms
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6. Regulation of Organism Function by Cell Specialization
a. Anatomical organization in multicellular organisms
b. Epithelial vs. mesenchymal cell morphologies
c. Variability of cellular phenotype
E. Multiple Cell Types in Complex Tissues
(Chapter 23)
1. Epithelial barriers and tubular organs
a. Review of epithelial cell biology
b. Primary Examples:
1. The GI Tract Epithelium
2. The Airway Epithelium
3. The Vascular Epithelium
4. The Epidermal Epithelium
2. Mesenchymal cell types and connective tissues
a. Review of mesenchymal cell biology
b. Connective tissues
1. Fibroblasts and other cells of connective tissues
2. Chondrocytes of the cartilage
3. Osteoblasts and other cells of bone
4. Adipocytes of the adipose tissues
3. Contractile tissues
a. Cardiac muscle
b. Smooth muscle
c. Skeletal muscle
4. Nervous tissues
a. CNS neurons, neuroglia and ependymal cells
b. Nerve bundles
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