Scribd
Upload
106 views1 page

Blastprelab

This document provides the pre-lab instructions for an AP Biology lab on using the bioinformatics tool BLAST to analyze DNA sequences and understand evolutionary relationships. The pre-lab involves developing a title, listing objectives, answering pre-lab questions by constructing cladograms and analyzing genetic similarity data, and writing down the lab procedures. The pre-lab questions explain key concepts like systematics, cladistics, shared vs. derived characteristics, and the uses of cladistics.

Uploaded by

api-373193820
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
106 views1 page

Blastprelab

This document provides the pre-lab instructions for an AP Biology lab on using the bioinformatics tool BLAST to analyze DNA sequences and understand evolutionary relationships. The pre-lab involves developing a title, listing objectives, answering pre-lab questions by constructing cladograms and analyzing genetic similarity data, and writing down the lab procedures. The pre-lab questions explain key concepts like systematics, cladistics, shared vs. derived characteristics, and the uses of cladistics.

Uploaded by

api-373193820
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

BLAST PreLab

Resource: AP Bio Big Idea 1 Evolution, Investigation 3: Comparing DNA Sequences to Understand
Evolutionary Relationships with BLAST

Pre-lab: Complete the following parts in your lab book prior to conducting the laboratory.

Part 1: Title
Do not develop a title until you have completed the pre-lab. Then develop a title for this laboratory that
is in the form of a question.

Part 2: Objectives (write them down)


To create cladograms that depict evolutionary relationships
To analyze biological data with a sophisticated bioinformatics online tool
To use cladograms and bioinformatics tools to ask other questions of your own and to test your
ability to apply concepts you know relating to genetics and evolution

Part 3: Pre-lab Questions (write the questions and the answers)


1) Use Table 1, Characteristics of Major Plant Groups, on page S43 of the lab, to construct a
cladogram of the major plant groups.
2) GAPDH (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase) is an enzyme that catalyzes the sixth step
in glycolysis, an important reaction that produces molecules used in cellular respiration. Table
2, Percentage Similarity Between the GAPDH Gene and Protein in Humans and Other Species,
on page S44, shows the percentage similarity of this gene and the protein it expresses in
humans versus other species. For example, according to the table, the GAPDH gene in
chimpanzees is 99.6% identical to the gene found in humans, while the protein is identical.
a. Why is the percentage similarity in the gene always lower than the percentage similarity
in the protein for each of the species? (Hint: Recall how a gene is expressed to produce
a protein.)
b. Draw a cladogram depicting the evolutionary relationships among all five species
(including humans) according to their percentage similarity in the GAPDH gene.
Answer the following questions by reading through Journey into Phylogenetic Systematics here:
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/clad/clad4.html
3) What is systematics?
4) What is the basic idea behind cladistics?
5) What is the difference between shared characteristics and shared derived characteristics?
6) What are the three basic assumptions of cladistics? Briefly describe each.
7) Outline the steps necessary for completing a cladistic analysis.
8) What are clades? What is an outgroup?
9) What are the three main uses for cladistics?

Part 4: Procedure
Read the procedures carefully. Write the procedures down (you may summarize where appropriate).

You might also like