Problem
Read the abstract ONLY of the article "Gut ecosystem: how microbes help us" by R Martín, S Miquel, J Ulmer, P Langella and L G Bermúdez-Humarán and watch the YouTube video "Fecal transplants & why you should give a crap | Mark Davis | TEDxSalem" that follows about "fighting poop with poop" for the questions that follow
A. What are the ecological and evolutionary mechanism that could make an arguably normal gut bacteria like Clostridium/Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) becoming pathogenic and highly virulent?
B. Based on your knowledge of ecology and evolution so far, how does fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) as a treatment option for C. diff disease work (How does FMT work)?
C. What are your sentiments about FMT
D. Draw a cladogram of C. diff and the following other organisms: E. coli (bacteria), Plasmodium falciparum (a parasite/protozoan), Anopheles mosquito (an insect) and insert a screenshot here (use PNG picture format such that your screenshot is embedded in your TNR write up and graders do not have to download it. Please do not use PDF or other file formats).
E. Explain why you have grouped species the way you have in your cladogram. Your explanation should include which is the out group organism and which is in group since the species of interest today is a bacterium in this case. Your explanation should also include the sister taxon of C. diff.
F. What was the most striking thing you learned/reviewed?
G. What was the most confusing thing for you this week? (post any questions you might have here too).