B3 Flashcards
What do all cells contain?
Cytoplasm, a cell membrane, a nucleus and mitochondria.
Where do fundamental processes of life take place?
Inside cells.
Where do chemical reactions within a cell take place?
In the cytoplasm.
What is the purpose of a cell membrane?
Allowing movement in and out of the cell.
What is the purpose of the nucleus?
It contains the genetic information and controls the cell’s actions.
Where does respiration take place?
Inside mitochondria, which supplies energy for the cell.
Name three cell types that have a high energy requirement, and as such have large numbers of mitochondria.
Muscle cells, liver cells and sperm cells.
Name a structure in a cell which is too small to see with a light microscope
Ribosomes
Where are ribosomes located?
In the cytoplasm.
What are the site of protein synthesis?
Ribosomes
What are inside the nucleus of every cell?
chromosomes
What do chromosomes carry?
genetic information in the form of genes
What is a gene?
A region of chromosome that carries information about, and controls, a particular inherited characteristic.
What does the order/sequence of the bases provide?
The genetic code that controls cell activity.
How are genetic instructions carried?
By genes on chromosomes
What are chromosomes?
Long coiled molecules of DNA
How many pairs of chromosomes does the human body have in its cells
23
What does DNA control?
The production of proteins
What does the genetic code control?
Cell activity and some characteristics of the organism
What is the shape of the DNA molecules?
Double helixes (spirals)
What is complementary base pairing?
A always bonds with T, C always bonds with G
Where are proteins made?
In the cytoplasm
In a protein chain, what does a group of three bases represent?
One amino acid
What does the sequence of bases in a gene represent?
The order in which the cell should assemble amino acids to make the protein
What are proteins made of?
Long chains of amino acids
How does DNA control cell function?
By controlling the production of proteins, some of which are enzymes
What are enzymes?
Proteins that act as biological catalysts
What do enzymes do?
Speed up chemical reactions, including those that take place in living cells
What does the fact that enzymes are ‘highly specific’ mean?
Each enzyme only speeds up on particular reaction
How can enzyme activity, and therefore rate of reaction, be affected?
By a change in temperature or pH
How can the fact that enzymes are ‘highly specific’ be explained?
Every enzyme has an active site that only a specific reactant can fit into, like a key in a lock
How can the fact that enzyme activity can be affected by changes in temperature/be explained?
When enzymes get exposed to high temperatures/extreme pH, the bonds holding the protein’s shape breaks, and so the shape of the enzyme’s active site is denatured
What does it mean when a protein is ‘denatured’?
It is changed irreversibly
What do temperatures above the ‘optimum’ do to enzymes?
Damage them irreversibly, decreasing or stopping enzyme activity
What are mutations?
Changes to genes
How can the rate of mutation be increased?
By environmental factors such as radiation or chemicals
What do mutations do?
They change the basic sequence of DNA. This alters the proteins shape and function, or prevents the production of the protein that the gene normally codes for.
How is energy needed for all life processes in plants and animals provided?
By respiration.
What is aerobic respiration, and which cells does it take place in?
The release of energy from glucose in the presence of oxygen. It takes place in all cells.
What happens when exercising in terms of respiration?
Muscles require more energy so respiration must go faster to release more energy.
Why does breathing and pulse rate increase when exercising?
To deliver oxygen and glucose to muscles more quickly and remove carbon dioxide from muscles quickly
What is the recovery rate?
How quickly the heart rate returns to resting after exercise.
Glucose + Oxygen ->
Carbon Dioxide and Water
What does aerobic respiration require?
Oxygen
What is the rate of oxygen consumption?
An estimate of metabolic rate
What type of reaction is respiration, and what does that mean?
An enzyme-controlled reaction, meaning that its rate is influenced by pH or temperature
What is ATP?
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is considered by biologists to be the energy currency of life. It is the high-energy molecule that stores the energy we need to do just about everything we do. It is present in the cytoplasm and nucleoplasm of every cell, and essentially all the physiological mechanisms that require energy for operation obtain it directly from the stored ATP
What does respiration result in the production of?
ATP
When does anaerobic respiration occur?
when the muscles are working so hard that the lungs and circulatory system can’t deliver enough oxygen to break down all the available glucose through aerobic respiration
What does anaerobic respiration do?
It quickly releases a small amount of energy through the incomplete breakdown of glucose, so much less energy is released than in aerobic respiration.
How much energy, approximately, is released in anaerobic respiration in comparison to aerobic respiration?
About a twelfth of the energy released in aerobic respiration is released in anaerobic respiration.
In which form of respiration is Lactic acid produced?
Anaerobic.