Genes --> Ecosystems
Why might a phenotype that benefits humans not increase evolutionary fitness in nature?
Natural Selection favors traits that improve survival and reproduction, not human preference.
What compounds are responsible for the pungency in chilly peppers?
Capasaicinoids
How do most edible bananas reproduce?
Through cloning using suckers.
What evolutionary process allows pests to adapt to genetically engineered traits?
Natural Selection
What is DNA?
Molecule that stores genetic information and provides instructions for cells.
What process allows genes to be turned on or off without changing the DNA sequence?
Gene expression (or regulation)
Why don't tomatoes naturally produce capsaicinoids despite having similar genes?
The genes are not expressed or are weakly regulated.
Why are bananas seedless?
They are triploid and cannot produce viable seeds.
What term describes environmental forces that favor certain traits over others?
Selection Pressure
What is a phenotype?
Observable traits of an organism resulting from its genes and environment.
Why can altering gene expression still cause ecosystem-level effects?
Changes in phenotype may affect species interactions and population dynamics.
What is the main goal of engineering spicy tomatoes?
Use tomatoes as biofactories for pharmaceutical and industrial compounds/
Why does low genetic variation make banana populations vulnerable to disease?
Genetically identical individuals respond similarly to stress and pathogens.
What ecological process occurs when engineered genes spread into wild populations?
Gene flow
What is a mutation?
A change in the DNA sequence of an organism.
Why might genetically engineered traits fail to resist in wild populations?
They may not increase fitness under natural environmental conditions.
What is the major ecological concern if genes for capsaicinoid production spread into wild populations?
Gene flow into wild relatives.
What disease historically wiped out the Gros Michel banana and now threatens Cavendish bananas?
Panama disease (Fusarium wilt).
Why can resistance evolution lead to ecological feedback loops?
Increased human intervention causes ecosystems to continually adapt.
What is natural selection?
The process by which traits that increase survival and reproduction become more common in a population over generations.
What biological levels do most ecological impacts of genetic engineering occur?
Population and Ecosystem levels.
Which evolutionary concept explains why pungency would be selected by humans but not nature?
Artificial Selection
What agricultural problem could genetic engineering help reduce in banana production?
Monoculture
Why are the ecological risks of genetic engineering often irreversible?
Genes persist and spread across generations.
A cycle where changes in an ecosystem cause responses that further influences those changes.