Mutations that block expression of the E-cadherin gene are thought to be an important step in metastasis. To better understand how loss of E-cadherin contributes to metastasis, scientists created two cell lines that differed in their expression of E-cadherin. One cell line expressed normal E-cadherin, but at 10% of the usual levels. The other cell line expressed normal E-cadherin at the usual levels, and also, at high levels a mutant form that included the cytoplasmic domain but lacked the rest of the protein. Both cell lines exhibited strongly reduced cell adhesion in culture. However, only the cell line with reduced expression of normal E-cadherin metastasized when introduced into mice.

Which of the following hypotheses is most consistent with the observations on cell adhesion and metastasis in these cell lines?

#Question id: 11161

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

The lakes of northern Minnesota are home to many similar species of damselflies of the genus Enallagma that have apparently undergone speciation from ancestral stock since the last glacial retreat about 10,000 years ago. Sequencing which of the following would probably be most useful in sorting out evolutionary relationships among these closely related species?

#Question id: 11160

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

A phylogenetic tree constructed using sequence differences in mitochondrial DNA would be most valid for discerning the evolutionary relatedness of

#Question id: 11159

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

Which kind of DNA should provide the best molecular clock for gauging the evolutionary relatedness of several species whose common ancestor became extinct billions of years ago?

#Question id: 11158

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

Which of these items does not necessarily exist in a simple linear relationship with the number of gene-duplication events when placed as the label on the vertical axis of the graph below?

#Question id: 11157

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

Typically, mutations that modify the active site of an enzyme are more likely to be harmful than mutations that affect other parts of the enzyme. A hypothetical enzyme consists of four domains (A—D), and the amino acid sequences of these four domains have been determined in five related species. Given the proportion of amino acid homologies among the five species at each of the four domains, which domain probably contains the active site?

#Question id: 11156

#Unit 9. Diversity of Life Forms

Species that are not closely related and that do not share many anatomical similarities can still be placed together on the same phylogenetic tree by comparing their