The increase in fast food establishments on Kirkwood Avenue is taking a deadly toll on the squirrels and chipmunks of the community. Red squirrels are frequently seen munching on the remains of nachos and fries, and local chipmunks have developed a strong preference for peanut butter cookies and pizza remnants over acorns. The results have been disastrous. Obese young squirrels are toppling from trees and overhead power lines, the victims of heart attacks. Their chipmunk counterparts are candidates for cardiac by-pass surgery. As a concerned Pre-Vet student, you launched a research study to learn more about the health problems devastating the squirrel and chipmunk communities. Some of your key findings are summarized below. In squirrels and chipmunks, as in humans, cholesterol is removed from the circulation, first by complexing with Low Density Lipoproteins (LDLs). Next, the cholesterol-LDL complex is bound to LDL receptors found predominantly on the surface of liver cells, which then undergo receptor-mediated endocytosis, thus removing the LDL-cholesterol from the blood serum. Inside the cells, a drop in pH causes the LDLs to separate from their receptors, and the receptors are ultimately returned to the cell surface via exocytosis. You are surprised to discover that in both squirrels and chipmunks, certain individuals are predisposed to suffering heart attacks at an early age, and these early heart attacks are linked to the presence of a mutation in the gene that codes for their LDL receptors. This is where the similarity ends. 1. In chipmunks, the relationship between genotype and the age at which heart attacks occur is similar to that in squirrels. However, in chipmunks that are homozygous for the normal LDL receptor allele, Fn, only normal receptors are present. Heterozygous chipmunks have a single type of LDL receptor present on the cell surface, but those defective receptors exhibit only 50% of the normal LDL binding capacity. Finally, chipmunks that are homozygous for the defective receptor allele possess receptors with virtually no LDL binding ability. NAME and DEFINE the genetic phenomenon illustrated here.
The increase in fast food establishments on Kirkwood Avenue is taking a deadly toll on the squirrels and chipmunks of the community. Red squirrels are frequently seen munching on the remains of nachos and fries, and local chipmunks have developed a strong preference for peanut butter cookies and pizza remnants over acorns. The results have been disastrous. Obese young squirrels are toppling from trees and overhead power lines, the victims of heart attacks. Their chipmunk counterparts are candidates for cardiac by-pass surgery. As a concerned Pre-Vet student, you launched a research study to learn more about the health problems devastating the squirrel and chipmunk communities. Some of your key findings are summarized below.
In squirrels and chipmunks, as in humans, cholesterol is removed from the circulation, first by complexing with Low Density Lipoproteins (LDLs). Next, the cholesterol-LDL complex is bound to LDL receptors found predominantly on the surface of liver cells, which then undergo receptor-mediated endocytosis, thus removing the LDL-cholesterol from the blood serum. Inside the cells, a drop in pH causes the LDLs to separate from their receptors, and the receptors are ultimately returned to the cell surface via exocytosis.
You are surprised to discover that in both squirrels and chipmunks, certain individuals are predisposed to suffering heart attacks at an early age, and these early heart attacks are linked to the presence of a mutation in the gene that codes for their LDL receptors. This is where the similarity ends.
1. In chipmunks, the relationship between genotype and the age at which heart attacks occur is similar to that in squirrels. However, in chipmunks that are homozygous for the normal LDL receptor allele, Fn, only normal receptors are present. Heterozygous chipmunks have a single type of LDL receptor present on the cell surface, but those defective receptors exhibit only 50% of the normal LDL binding capacity. Finally, chipmunks that are homozygous for the defective receptor allele possess receptors with virtually no LDL binding ability. NAME and DEFINE the genetic phenomenon illustrated here.
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