I think it's the first and second option but I could be wrong because I don't know much about deserts :)
The word sponge is more appropriate to use than Underground river since an underground river can loose water while an aquifer cannot loose water, unless it is open-air and above ground. then the aquifer would slowly loose water due to evaporation from the sun.
If the ocean temperature is really hot, it can kill certain marine organisms.
Polypeptide chains undergo some modifications before they become fully functional. Some of these modifications include: proteolytic cleavage, lipidation and glycosylation. Proteolytic cleavage refers to the removal of some amino acids from a polypeptide chain by proteases in order for the protein to become active. An example of a substance that is modified through this process is insulin.
