What is the importance of Prochlorococcus for life on the planet Earth, both historically and in the present day?

Assignment: SCI115 Week3 Discussion-STR

SCI 115 Week 3 Discussion STR
Energy for Life / Energy Reactions and Processes

In your primary post, please write a response of at least 125 words to one of the following three topics, using your own words. In addition, please make a substantive reply to a fellow student on any topic.

Topic 1. The phytoplankton that brought Earth to life. Review the video (1)* about the “phytoplankton that brought Earth to life” from the link given below, or from the link in the Instructor’s Insights area. In this clip, which is under 5 minutes in length, Penny Chisholm discusses a tiny phytoplankton called Prochlorococcus. Based on that video, please address the following:

(a) What is the importance of Prochlorococcus for life on the planet Earth, both historically and in the present day?
(b) Explain what the known geographic variations in Prochlorococcus tell us about relationships between organisms and their environments.
Topic 2. Characteristics of ATP. If you choose this topic for your primary post, you must base your post on the instructor’s video about ATP (2)*. The video can be found in the Instructor Insights area.

(a) Describe at least three specific points that the video makes about ATP.
(b) Explain how this fits with this week’s lessons.
Please note that I am looking for specific points that are covered in the video, so material gleaned from Wikipedia or other sources may not meet the requirements.
Topic 3. Chemosynthesis in the Giant Tubeworm. The Giant Tubeworm (Riftia pachyptila) is an animal that lives on the floor of the ocean, near hydrothermal vents that release very hot, chemical-rich water. The adult form of the tubeworm is sessile, which means that it plants itself in one place, and doesn’t have any locomotion. Riftia pachyptila has a unique way of getting the energy that it needs to stay alive (3)* (4)* (5)*.

(a) Describe how Riftia pachyptila gets its energy.
(b) Discuss how this relates to this week’s lessons.
References*

PBS Newshour, March 5, 2014, The phytoplankton that brought Earth to life, https://youtu.be/m_43nR11PW8
James Cox, 2015, Four minutes about ATP, see Kaltura video via the “Instructor’s Insights” area for Week 3.
Deep Marine Scenes, 2013, Facts: Giant tube worms, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IddCPTnmj4Q
JKM12988, December 5, 2016, Giant tube worms and symbiotic bacteria, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg6ZewBTRj8&t=6s
Kristen M. Kusek, January 12, 2007, Deep-sea tubeworms get versatile ‘inside’ help, http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/deep-sea-tubeworms-get-versatile-inside-help

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.