Macquarie University

Comparative Physiology - BIOL606

All living things share a series of basic cell processes that are vital to life as we know it: these include membrane integrity, transport and energy transduction, enabling microorganisms, fungi, plants and animals to grow, develop and reproduce. However, these processes have evolved from their prokaryotic origins in eukaryotes, now varying qualitatively across taxa. For example, at the cell level, signal amplification, hormonal regulation, sensory responses, photosynthesis, locomotion and immune responses are examples of adaptations that are genetically distinct in either plants or animals. Within the life cycle of a single organism, expression of these gene combinations determines the way that organisms develop and acclimate to their immediate environment. This unit will explore the full range of adaptations across Kingdoms and how specific gene combinations are expressed to enable life to flourish. Such events will be viewed primarily through the prism of physiology but with reference to morphology, gene expression and metabolism.