Ain\'t nature wonderful (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, August 19, 2010, 23:42 (5209 days ago) @ xeno6696


> 1. The fungus and ant had a long history even before 48M years ago. Perhaps this species of fungus was able to infect, during the eukaryotic stage, a subset of eukaryotes, Consequently, the arms race between eukaryote and fungi resulted in what we see now.-I don't know of an intermediate steps from a Cambrian beginning to our present ants. Perhaps EO wilson does. But you are presuming a fungus with an established lifecycle invaded some pre-ant organism. Then both changed simultaneously to the symbiosis we now see. All by Darwinian chance or by a complex interaction of both species epigenetic mechanisms? I'll take well-established designed epigenetic mechanisms any day. 
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> 2. (My favorite.) The fungus started out as a beneficial organism. Termites use bacteria to transform cellulose into sugar. Some ants developed an overactive immune reaction to the fungi, triggering competition; ultimately ending in the form we see today. At some point, the ant--out of the genetic diversity needed to fight the organism, simply has to take the abuse. Clearly, some ants MUST be immune to this parasite, or clearly--we wouldn't have leaf-cutter ants. -This is a specialized symbiosis, for special ants and for special fungus. Again I don't see how Darwinian chance can arrange for these guys to waltz together so well. Again, you are implying epigenetics, which had to be present over 550 million years ago to satisfy the time line of the Cambrian and the "plant bloom" period slightly later.
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> 3. Like how C. difficile works in humans--if you have a normal intestinal flora, the bacteria can never take hold.-Don't really see how this fits. Normal flora are competition to other bacteria. I know C. difficile infect about 40% of the world implying their symbiosis with us, but your 3rd proposal doesn't make any sense in the above discussion. Ant and fungus gradually developed their weird relationship. 
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> If you want, I can keep going. Like origins, we can come up with any number of explanations, but again, only those that can be verified or tested should be trusted or used.-Please keep going. You are proving my point.