Daphnia Essay

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How does the adrenaline affect on the heartbeat of daphnia? Adam Stępień IIB Background information: Daphnia- they are small, planktonic crustaceans, between 0.2 and 5 mm in length. Daphnia are members of the order Cladocera, and are one of the several small aquatic crustaceans commonly called water fleas because of their saltatory swimming style (although fleas are insects and thus only very distantly related). They live in various aquatic environments ranging from acidic swamps to freshwater lakes, ponds, streams and rivers. Epinephrine (adrenaline) - is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. Epinephrine has many functions in the body, regulating heart rate, blood vessel and air passage diameters, and metabolic shifts; epinephrine release is a crucial component of the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, epinephrine is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines. It is produced in some neurons of the central nervous system, and in the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla from the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine.] Research Question: How does the adrenaline affect on the heartbeat of daphnia? Thesis: Adrenaline increases the daphnia's heart rate. The hormone circulates through the daphnia's blood and activates cell surface receptors in what is commonly called a pacemaker, or the sinoatrial node, which increases the rate of blood the heart ejects per minute. Noradrenaline, another hormone, and caffeine, a chemical, have the same effect. Apparatus and chemicals: Chemicals: Culture of water flea – Daphnia Chemicals that may affect the heart rate – at low concentrations( in that design that chemical would be adrenaline. (1 mg bottle of epinephrine on the picture, Suprarerin) Apparatus: Microscope – low power, transmission Petri dish Small piece of cotton wool Pasteur pipette

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