Daily Archives: June 15, 2021

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Evolution Driving School - Brooklyn, NY | 7187584309

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lee Mick Demi | 717-513-7443 | lmdemi@ncsu.edu

Michelle Jewell | 919-515-3766 | majewell@ncsu.edu

Does evolution explain why we cant resist a salty chip? Researchers at NC State University found that differences between the elemental composition of foods and the elemental needs of animals can explain the development of pleasing tastes like salty, umami and sweet.

Taste tells us a lot about foods before they are swallowed and digested, and some tastes correspond with the elemental composition of foods. For example, an aged steak lights up the umami taste receptors, because it has a high concentration of the element nitrogen, which occurs in amino acid molecules. Nitrogen is essential for survival, but often occurs in low concentrations relative to the demand by animals. Likewise, sodium is limited in many foods in nature think of life before supermarkets. So if you need sodium to survive and all animals do you are more likely to have adapted a taste for, and seek out, salty foods.

Nutritional imbalances, even at the elemental level, can limit the growth and metabolism of animals, says Lee Demi, a co-author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in NC States Department of Applied Ecology. We posited that animals should have evolved the ability to taste, and enjoy, certain elements and nutrients that are most likely to be limiting for growth, due to their low concentrations in typical foods.

To investigate this hypothesis, Demi and colleagues compared the body elemental composition of three animal groups (mammals, fish, and insects) to the elemental composition of plants, the base of most food webs. They predicted that animals who eat foods composed of particular elements that are rare or unpredictable are more likely to have taste receptors that reward them for finding those same elements.

Because animals have very limited ability to change their elemental composition, the old adage that You are what you eat doesnt really apply, says Demi. Rather, animals are rewarded with pleasing tastes for eating what they are, at least from an elemental composition perspective, which helps reduce the prospect of dietary nutrient limitation.

This is particularly important for omnivorous and herbivorous animals that eat a variety of different foods which vary in nutritional quality. Within this framework, taste becomes a tool that helps consumers prioritize which foods they should search for and consume, so they dont waste time on foods that have less of these necessary elements. Equally, taste can also inform consumers to avoid foods that contain too much of an element they need. This is why eating a handful of chips is more attractive than eating a handful of table salt.

Where you are on the food chain can predict the complexity of your taste systems. Some top predators, like orcas, have lost many taste receptors over evolutionary time. This study suggests that predators are less likely to experience strong elemental imbalances in their diet than herbivores or omnivores. Because their prey already match their elemental needs, predators experience less selective pressure to maintain elaborate taste systems. However, these top predators have kept their taste for salt, which can be harmful if overconsumed.

Affinity for certain foods must have strong evolutionary drivers, because without taste, animals would be forced to overconsume everything in the hopes of hitting the magic ratio of elements needed for growth and development, says Benjamin Reading, co-author of the study and a professor in NC States Department of Applied Ecology. They would need to eat way too much and end up excreting huge quantities of those things they need less of, which is not efficient.

The research team also found strong evidence of convergent taste evolution in mammals, fish, and insects. Each group, although far apart on the phylogenetic tree, all have adapted tastes that prioritize the same infrequent elements, including sodium, nitrogen and phosphorus.

Phosphorus is particularly intriguing because this recently discovered taste is most strongly linked to phosphate, which is also the primary form of phosphorus in many nucleic acids, ATP, phospholipids, etc., says Brad Taylor, a co-author of the study and professor in NC States Department of Applied Ecology. Phosphate is the most readily available form of phosphorus for uptake by plants, and often the primary growth limiting element in organisms and ecosystems. So, links between the elemental form, taste receptors, organismal needs, and ecosystem are really direct.

While the neurobiological process of taste has been extensively researched, this study is the first to explore taste as an evolutionary tool for optimal foraging. The researchers suggest that this may open a new area of thought on how taste can indicate how animals impact their environments through foraging, nutrient-cycling, and other core principles of ecology.

The paper, Understanding the evolution of nutritive taste in animals: Insights from biological stoichiometry and nutritional geometry, is published in the journal Ecology and Evolution. The paper was co-authored by Michael Tordoff of the Monell Chemical Senses Center; and Rob Dunn from NC States Department of Applied Ecology and the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

The work was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation [grant number 1556914] as well as the Department of Applied Ecology and Dr. Jules Silverman at North Carolina State University.

-jewell-

Note to Editors: The study abstract follows.

Understanding the evolution of nutritive taste in animals: Insights from biological stoichiometry and nutritional geometry

Authors: Lee M. Demi, Brad W. Taylor, Benjamin J. Reading, North Carolina State University; Michael G. Tordoff, Monell Chemical Senses Center; Robert R. Dunn, North Carolina State University and Natural History Museum of Denmark

Published: May 11, 2021, Ecology and Evolution

DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7745

Abstract: A major conceptual gap in taste biology is the lack of a general framework for understanding the evolution of different taste modalities among animal species. We turn to two complementary nutritional frameworks, biological stoichiometry theory and nutritional geometry, to develop hypotheses for the evolution of different taste modalities in animals. We describe how the attractive tastes of Na-, Ca-, P-, N-, and C-containing compounds are consistent with principles of both frameworks based on their shared focus on nutritional imbalances and consumer homeostasis. Specifically, we suggest that the evolution of multiple nutritive taste modalities can be predicted by identifying individual elements that are typically more concentrated in the tissues of animals than plants. Additionally, we discuss how consumer homeostasis can inform our understanding of why some taste compounds (i.e., Na, Ca, and P salts) can be either attractive or aversive depending on concentration. We also discuss how these complementary frameworks can help to explain the evolutionary history of different taste modalities and improve our understanding of the mechanisms that lead to loss of taste capabilities in some animal lineages. The ideas presented here will stimulate research that bridges the fields of evolutionary biology, sensory biology, and ecology.

See the article here:

The Evolution of Good Taste | Applied Ecology | NC State University - NC State News

SAN DIEGO, Calif. The ancestors of whales used to walk on land, and San Diego scientists are working to uncover mysteries about how the evolution from land to sea took place. Theyre turning to whales teeth to find answers.

More than 50 million years ago, whales ancestors walked on land. Now, they still have features that link the land tendencies.

Theyre air-breathing mammals that are fully aquatic today but their ancestors walked on land with four legs. That transition from a four-legged terrestrial mammal to a fully aquatic marine animal that swims with a tail is an amazing transition and the fossil record preserves the details of that land to sea transition, said Eric Ekdale, a lecturer of Biology at San Diego State University.

Ekdale and fellow scientist Tom Demere, who is the Curator of Paleontology at the San Diego Natural History Museum, decided to dig deeper into this transition.

Fossil records show that millions of years ago, whales had teeth. Now, whale fetuses have teeth, but those teeth disappear by birth and are replaced with something called baleen, which is the same substance that makes up human hair and nails.

But what happened in between? And when?

Using CT scans, Ekdale and Demere analyzed fossils from the middle of those two time frames and discovered that those whales had both teeth and baleen. This tells them that there was a gradual overlap before whales lost teeth.

Whats really intriguing though is were able to use this modern technology to investigate a fossil. We couldnt have done this 25 years ago, said Demere.

The two say that it might seem like an insignificant thing to analyze, but its an important piece of the puzzle when looking at a big-picture transition. Its also rare for mammals to lose teeth the way whales have.

To lose teeth is kind of a big deal. Most mammals have teeth but the animals that dont have teeth, theyve done something different. We view this in an evolutionary perspective as an adaptation, said Demere.

Baleen whales are the largest animal to have ever lived on this planet. They include blue whales, humpback whales, gray whales, and more.

There is currently a display of this research on the third floor of the San Diego Natural History Museum.

This story was originally published by Leah Pezzetti at KGTV.

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Scientists use teeth to analyze evolution of whales walking on land to swimming in ocean - KXLF Butte News

Revolution in an RNA-packaging capsid

Artificial nucleocapsid proteins, which could be analogous to those used by viruses to package their genomes, are a promising way to protect and deliver RNAs. Using an escalating challenge by nucleases, Tetter et al. evolved a protein that forms multimeric, spherical cages into a highly efficient capsid that selectively packages its own encoding RNA. Cryoelectron microscopy of the final design and intermediates revealed a stepwise expansion in size, enabled by destabilizing amino acid substitutions and a domain swap that results in a change of oligomerization interfaces for the base units of the cage. In addition to altering the protein, directed evolution resulted in changes to the encoding RNA structure that enabled efficient uptake versus other cellular RNAs.

Science, abg2822, this issue p. 1220

Viruses are ubiquitous pathogens of global impact. Prompted by the hypothesis that their earliest progenitors recruited host proteins for virion formation, we have used stringent laboratory evolution to convert a bacterial enzyme that lacks affinity for nucleic acids into an artificial nucleocapsid that efficiently packages and protects multiple copies of its own encoding messenger RNA. Revealing remarkable convergence on the molecular hallmarks of natural viruses, the accompanying changes reorganized the protein building blocks into an interlaced 240-subunit icosahedral capsid that is impermeable to nucleases, and emergence of a robust RNA stem-loop packaging cassette ensured high encapsidation yields and specificity. In addition to evincing a plausible evolutionary pathway for primordial viruses, these findings highlight practical strategies for developing nonviral carriers for diverse vaccine and delivery applications.

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Evolution of a virus-like architecture and packaging mechanism in a repurposed bacterial protein - Science Magazine

Veronica, who works in human resources, was reading through the resumes that a recruiter sent for a new opening in the learning and development group. She noticed several candidates referred to themselves as learning experience designers. After reviewing the lists of accomplishments, Veronica figured this must be a new synonym for instructional designer. Did Veronica come to the correct conclusion?

The name of a business, the title of a career, or even a nickname can be arbitrary, or it can be revealing. Learning experience design is a great example of this paradox. As with much terminology in our industry, learning experience design has multiple meanings, depending on your perspective.

As a result, our industry adopted many of the relevant practices and tools from the user experience (UX) community. For example, developing personas, using empathy maps, and creating learning journey maps come from the UX world. This gave instructional designers a new toolkit and somewhat of a new approach. From this perspective, learning experience design is instructional design merged with user experience design. Think of a Venn diagram.

The evolved learning experience designer will be better equipped to solve the messy and complex challenges introduced by rapid technological change, constant disruption, global communities, inclusion strategies, flattening of organizational hierarchies, and new workforce models.

Im advocating for the term learning experience design to be a meaningful change, not an arbitrary oneone that gives us greater leverage and authority to solve the right problems with the right solutions. One that allows us to say that training wont solve every problem. Most importantly, it will give us a role where we transition from order taker to solution builder and change agent.

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The Evolution to Learning Experience Design - ATD

Old Glory has taken many different forms over the years, while still always showing off her red, white and blue.

In celebration of Flag Day, I'm exploring the colorful history of the American flag, starting way back from before even the Declaration of Independence.

This is widely considered the first flag of the United States. It's known as the "Continental Colors" or "Grand Union" flag, and it was in use at the time the American colonies declared independence.

On June 14, 1777, the second Continental Congress adopted a resolution proclaiming, "That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." That's why today is known as flag day.

However, that's a pretty vague statement. And a flag that was flown aboard a captured British frigate in 1779, the Serapis or Franklin flag, was one interpretation. It may look strange, but it was at the time internationally recognized by the Dutch.

After congress adopted the flag resolution in 1777, multiple non-standardized flag designs were going around. One of them was known as the Francis Hopkins flag.

Francis Hopkins was a naval flag designer and actually billed the young congress for having designed the flag which was never officially adopted. It featured 13 stars and 13 alternating red and white stripes.

In 1779, the War Board and George Washington worked to adopt a standard.

This flag, known as the Betsy Ross flag, is still widely known today. Although, there is no proof that Betsy Ross ever actually stitched this flag, nor that she ever had contact with George Washington or the continental congress.

Two stars and two stripes were added to the flag after Vermont and Kentucky were admitted into the Union. This 15-star and 15-stripe flag flew over Fort McHenry in 1812 and is what inspired a certain Francis Scott Key to write a poem known as the "Defense of fort M'Henry," which would later become the Star Spangled Banner.

As more states were admitted into the Union, Congress passed a resolution to add 20 stars to the flag and add an additional star every time a state joined, while the number of stripes was reset to 13 one for each of the American colonies.

By the time the Civil War broke out in 1861, the number of stars on the flag had increased to 33. Some in Washington D.C. wanted to remove the stars of the southern states from the flag, but Abraham Lincoln refused to do so, believing it granted legitimacy to the Confederacy.

Prior to 1912, there was no standard arrangement for the stars on the flag. But when New Mexico and Arizona joined the Union in 1912, a national standard was finally adopted with the updated 48-star flag.

With the addition of Hawaii as the 50th state, a 50-star flag began flying on July 4, 1960. And in 2007, the 50-star flag became the longest tenured flag in U.S. history.

Should a 51st state be added perhaps Washington D.C. a 51-star flag has already been designed by the United States Army Institute of Heraldry.

So if you've got a Betsy Ross flag or perhaps even a 28-star flag from the time when Texas became a state, what can you do with them? According to the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry, any version of the American flag throughout history never becomes obsolete. Any officially approved American flag, regardless of the number or arrangement of the stars and/or stripes may continue to be used and displayed until no longer serviceable.

So fly Old Glory proudly, no matter how many stars or stripes she might have. In the words of Johnny Cash, we're kind of proud of that ragged old flag.

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The evolution and history of the American flag - ABC10.com KXTV