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Evo in the news: Gender-biased bacteria throw off an evolutionary balance

Grade Level(s):

  • 13-16
  • Advanced

Source:

  • UC Museum of Paleontology

Resource type:

  • Evo in the News article

Time: 10 minutes

Overview

The percentage of southwestern whiteflies infected with Rickettsia bacteria has skyrocketed; but this is not a boon for local farmers, as the bacterium actively helps the pest spread. This news brief examines how evolutionary theory accounts for this and how we might turn it in our favor.

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  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Evolution results from natural selection acting upon genetic variation within a population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Over time, the proportion of individuals with advantageous traits may increase (and the proportion with disadvantageous traits may decrease) due to their chances of surviving and reproducing.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Traits that confer an advantage may persist in the population and are called adaptations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Natural selection may favor individuals with one extreme value for a trait, shifting the average value of that trait in one direction over the course of many generations.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] Frequency-dependent selection preserves genetic variation in a population.
  • [Mechanisms of evolution: Grades 13-16] An organism's fitness depends on both its survival and its reproduction.
  • [Studying evolution: Grades 13-16] As with other scientific disciplines, evolutionary biology has applications that factor into everyday life, for example in agriculture, biodiversity and conservation biology, and medicine and health.

There are no NGSS/DCI concepts currently linked to this resource.

This article includes a set of discussion and extension questions for use in class, as well as advanced discussion questions for undergraduates. It also includes hints about related lessons that might be used in conjunction with this one. Get more tips for using Evo in the News articles in your classroom.