Reference no: EM133453374

Assignment:

1) What do you think causes cavities? Answer this question before reading any further. Do not change your answer after moving through the assignment.

2) How have you or someone you know been impacted by cavities?

3) How easy do you think it is to seek out dental care?

Read the following passage from the textbook:

While the genotype of a cell remains constant, the phenotype may change in response to environmental signals (e.g., changes in temperature or nutrient availability) that affect which Non constitutive genes are expressed. For example, the oral bacterium Streptococcus mutans produces a sticky slime layer that allows it to adhere to teeth, forming dental plaque; however, the genes that control the production of the slime layer are only expressed in the presence of sucrose (table sugar). Thus, while the genotype of S. mutans is constant, its phenotype changes depending on the presence and absence of sugar in its environment (Openstax, 2018, p. 432).

4) What are environmental signals? What effect can they bacterial phenotype? (Think back to the pGLO bacterial transformation! The arabinose sugar led to the expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP), which is why those colonies fluoresced under the black light).