SEED CONTEST 12/09/2011

[urbanfarmer]

I will ship the winner some seeds. I will include (at least) seeds from my very recent harvest of ghost peppers, datil peppers, and cayenne peppers. I may also include habanero and scotch bonnet pepper seeds. Since I have so many leftover seed packets I got for free as a Master Gardener, I may include some of those (as I find them).

To win you must be the first person to correctly answer the following question:
What special feature allows Tilapia to survive a high chlorine concentration like that found in regular tap water?

The answer will fit in the following format: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

(I will fill in a few letters tonight and as the question portion of the contest comes to and end.)

If no one answers correctly by December 12th, we will have a random drawing by guessing a number between 1 - 100

[alex281]

I MUST HAVE THOSE PEPPER SEEDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[alex281]

3rd edit now :P

i found this

EURYHALINE FISH, such as tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus),
are able to maintain their internal osmolarity and ionic concentrations
in waters with a wide range of salinities. Mitochondrion-
rich cells (MRCs) in the gill epithelium play a critical
role in regulating internal ionic concentrations, either by secreting
excess internal Na (through a paracellular pathway)
and Cl
in seawater or by taking up Na, Cl
, and Ca2 in
fresh water

Thats the closest thing could find on the net :P

[foodchain]

I believe it's the Mitochondira-rich cells in the gills. Also aids in adjustment from fresh to salt water.
There's some really cool information on this stuff, including lot's of pics for the commic book type folks.

From: The journal of Experimental Biology 200,55-64 (1997)
Printed in the Great Britain, The Company of Biologist Limited 1997
JEB0445

[urbanfarmer]

You guys are so close, and what you said is (of course) correct. However, that is not the answer I seek. You are 1 level too low. You are discussing organelles. We could discuss the epithelial tissue, but that would be 1 level too high. What I seek is the name of that in between the two. If that clue doesn't help, this one will. It needs to fit in the following (2 words):

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

[foodchain]

Probably not what you wanted, but thought I should post this as this is the most advanced break down I have ever seen. After reading this, I have a headache.

The present study presents the complete genomic sequence of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) transferrin and functional studies of transferrin in relation to saltwater resistance. The gene consists of a total of 17 exons separated by 16 introns. The complete coding domain sequence is 2085 bp and the gene spans more than 7 kb of genomic DNA. The gene was compared to other species using phylogenctic analyses and protein alignment. Two microsatellite markers closely linked to transferrin were genotyped on surviving and non-surviving tilapia siblings kept in saltwater. Statistical analysis detected a significant distortion in segregation between two haplotypes defined by the two microsatellites. Sequence analysis of the transferrin gene detected several SNPs, some of which resulted in amino-acid changes in the transferrin protein. A haplotype of several SNPs segregated together with the two microsatellites and indicated that transferrin could be associated with saltwater tolerance in tilapia. An expression study indicated up-regulation of transferrin when tilapias were exposed to saltwater. These findings suggest that transferrin is involved in saltwater tolerance in tilapia. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[foodchain]

Okay, so I THINK I know so far that 'answer' is the same adaptation in the gills that allows the tilapia to tolerate sea water as chlorine. In which case, this applies:

gill structure, plasma sodium levels and gill Na+/K+ ATPase activity. In fresh water (FW), all fish presented a gill epithelium structure characteristic of FW stenohaline fish: no chloride cells (CC) on the lamellae and few CC on the filaments. An increase in external salinity induced the proliferation of CC on filaments, a feature typical of seawater teleosts. This change in gill structure was accompanied by an increase of gill Na+/K+ ATPase activity. In the most tolerant strains, plasma Na+ did not change, indicating successful ion regulation in the hypertonic media. With regard to potential interest of field strains in fish culture, O. aureus acclimated more easily to brackish water than O. niloticus. Interestingly, O. niloticus, kept for several generations in the laboratory, performed best in our challenge studies. Plasma Na+ levels and gill CC proliferation upon transfer to an isotonic medium may be the parameters of choice when testing these fish for their response to a salinity change.

[foodchain]

None of this fits the hang man model provided...

[Basil1]

adaptive time

[foodchain]

Basil that fits, and sounds good. But doesn't that seem more like a verb instead of a noun? Tilapia tolerate a lot of abuse if introduced slowly over time. Could the answer really be this simple?
Reading about the osmo-regulatory capacity of whole blood through the ciculatory tubes of the gills...bleh...boring stuff I can't pronounce half of this. In simple terms, this appears to be a protein working with an enzyme to ease the tolernaces of the gills in regards to many common pollutants, salt, etc.