1. A new combination insecticide/herbicide called Toxicon was just released, and
ID: 206781 • Letter: 1
Question
1. A new combination insecticide/herbicide called Toxicon was just released, and it is used to control populations of the pest insect, the European corn borer, and invasive plants in cornfields. The chemical causes toxicity by increasing the permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane and thylakoid membrane. Your local corn supplier hears of your expert knowledge of biology and wants to know more about this chemical and how, specifically and in excruciatingly painful detail , this new chemical causes toxicity to insects and plants. Can you enlighten your beloved supplier of nature’s yellow candy?
(5 points)
2. Three months later, another company releases a chemical called Lethalicon, which causes toxicity to European corn borer and invasive plants in cornfields in the exact same way as Toxicon! Your local corn supplier is back and wants to know which one is better. Design an experiment to determine the efficacy of both Toxicon and Lethalicon to inform your local corn supplier which chemical to buy. Be sure to include in your answer what data you will collect, how it will be collected, and how you will make your final determination (i.e. what specifically from the data sets will you compare?). (5 points)
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Explanation / Answer
1. Mitochondria serve as the powerhouse of the cell. The inner mitochondrial membrane contains electron transport carriers that establish membrane potential using NADH and FADH2 generated during respiration. This membrane potential is used to drive ATP synthesis from ADP + Pi via ATP synthase complex. The drug acts by increasing the permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane so that membrane potential required for ATP synthesis can not be established. If ATP is not synthesized, cells can not survive longer.
2. To determine which chemical works best, the following experiment can be done.
i. Take 1000 susceptible plants/insects. DIvide them into 10 sets (each set contains 100 plants)
ii. Use one set of plants as the control group.
iii. Treat four sets of plants with varying concentrations of Toxicon and the other four sets with varying concentrations of Lethalicon.
iv. Calculate the effective concentration for each drug that is required for killing function.
v. Calculate the effective time for each drug that is required for killing function.
vi. Based on the time and concentration values, determine which drug acts efficiently. Consider side effects if possible.
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