Notes 1

From notes given:

Ecological and Environmental Physiology (EEP):

-Physiology in a 'real world' context: interface of physiological systems with the environment
-Physiology in a historical context: evolutionary origins of physiological traits- genetic 'raw material'
-Physiology in a 'holistic' context: complex interactions among different systems e.g. macromolecules and small molecules ('micromolecules'): genomes, transcriptomes, proteomes & metabolomes
-Physiology in a global context: using physiological data to interpret biogeography and predict effects of global climate change

Perterbation of Physiological Systems:

How does the abiotic environment 'hurt'?
- Pertubation of Structures
-Rates of Physiological Activity
key rate processes include: movement gene expression, biosynthesis, ion transport & thermogenesis

Physiological stress: Alteration of a physiological system by the environment such taht the system no longer exists in an optimal state.

Adaptation: an attribute (trait) of an orrganism that enhances its survival under a particular set of conditions (biotic and/or abiotic)
-it may be difficult to prove that a trait is adaptive!
-a trait is adaptive only if its current use is the same as the original benefit

Exaptation: A trait that has assumed a new adaptive significance that differs from the adaptive value of the trait at the time of origin (the original adaptive role may still be important however).

Trait: some isolated characteristic of an organism that we may find convenient for study.

Rapid Response adaptations: adjusting the activities of 'pre-existing machinery' (enzymes, mRNA, ion pumps, hormone-responsive systems, etc.)

Acclimation/Acclimatization: regulate gene expression (vary transcriptome- mRNA population) to support changes in protein pool (proteome). Protein activity may alter metabolome: (chemicals found in the cell) and metabolic rates.

Evolutionary adaptation- changes in genetic information:
-shifts in DNA sequence of existing genes, leading e.g. to conservation of protein function at a new temperature.
-new gene regulatroy potentials
-new kinds of genes (new forms of proteins, new species of regulatory RNAs).