Biology - Cell biology Flashcards
How many micrometers in a centimetre
10,000
How to prepare a slide for a microscope
- Add a drop of water to the middle of a clean slide
- Cut up an onion and separate it out into layers. Use tweezers to peel off some epidermal tissue from the bottom of one of the layers
- Using the tweezers, place the epidermal tissue into the water on the slide
- Add a drop of iodine solution
- Place a cover slip on top
Why is iodine solution used to prepare a slide for a microscope
Iodine solution is a stain. Stains are used to highlight objects in a cell by adding colour to them
Why do you not want any air bubbles under the cover
It will obstruct the view of the specimen
How to look at a slide using a microscope
- Clip the slide you’ve prepared onto the stage
- Select the lowest-powered objective lens
- Use the coarse adjustment knob to move the stage up to just below the objective lens
- Look down the eye piece and use the coarse adjustment knob to move the stage downwards until the image is roughly in focus
- Adjust the focus with the fine adjustment knob until you get a clear image of what’s on the slide
- If you need to see the slide with a greater magnification, swap to a higher-powered objective lens and refocus
Why do cells differentiate
To become specialised
Cell differentiation
The process by which a cell changes to become specialise for its job
When does most differentiation occur
As an organism develops
What are the cells that differentiate in mature cells usually used for
Repairing and replacing cells such as skin or body cells
What are undifferentiated cells called
Stem cells
What are sperm cells specialised for and how
Sperm cells are specialised for reproduction - has a long tail and a streamlined head to help it swim to the egg. There are a lot of mitochondria in the cell to provide the energy needed.
Carries enzymes in its head to digest through the egg cell membrane.
What are nerve cells specialised for and how
Nerve cells are specialised for rapid signalling - These cells are long to cover more distance and have branched connections at their ends to connect to other nerve cells and form a network throughout the the body
What are muscle cells specialised for and how
Muscle cells are specialised for contraction - Long so they have space to contract, and contain lots of mitochondria to generate the energy needed for contraction
What are root hair cells specialised for and how
Root hair cells are specialised for absorbing water and minerals - cells on the surface of the plant grow long “hairs” that stick it into the soil. This gives the plant a big surface area for absorbing water and mineral ions from the soil
How is phloem and xylem cells specialised for and how
The cells are long and joined end yo end. Xylem cells are hollow in the centre and phloem cells have very few sub-cellular structures, so that stuff can flow through them.
What are chromosomes
Coiled up lengths of DNA molecules
What does mitosis do
Used to grow or replace cells that have been damaged
Cell cycle
GROWTH AND DNA REPLICATION
- Before the cell divides the DNA is all spread out in long strings
- The cell has to grow and increase the amount off sub-cellular structures such as mitochondria and ribosomes
- It then duplicates its DNA so theres one copy for each new cell. The DNA is copied and forms X-shaped chromosomes. Each ‘arm’ of the chromosome is an exact duplicate of the other
MITOSIS
- The chromosomes line up at the centre of the cell and cell fibres pull them apart. The two arms of each chromosome go to opposite ends of the cell.
Membranes form around each of the sets of chromosomes, these become the nuclei of the two new cells
Lastly the cytoplasm and membrane divide
The cell has now produced 2 new daughter cells. The daughter cells contain exactly the same DNA
How do prokaryotic cells replicate
Through binary fission
How does binary fission work
The circular DNA and plasmid(s) replicate
The cell gets bigger and the circular DNA strands move to opposite poles of the cell
The cytoplasm begins to divide and new cell walls begin to form
The cytoplasm divides and two daughter cells are produced. Each daughter cell has one copy of the circular DNA, but can have a variable number of copies of plasmids
Conditions for bacteria to divide very quickly
- warm environment, lots of nutrients
Practical to grow bacteria in the lab
Place paper discs soaked in different types of antibiotics on an agar plate that has an even covering of bacteria. Leave some space between discs
The antibiotic should diffuse into the agar jelly - non resistant bacteria will die and a clear area will be left where the bacteria have died which is called a zone of inhibition
-Use a control in order to compare results, eg a paper disc that has not been soaked in an antibiotic and instead soaked in sterile water
- the more effective the antibiotic is the larger the zone of inhibition
What is a culture medium
Used to grow bacteria and contains the carbohydrates, minerals proteins and vitamins they need to grow
Can be a nutrient broth or a solid agar jelly
How will you know where the bacteria has grown on an agar plate
The bacteria grown will form a visible colonies on the surface of the jelly, or will spread out to give an even covering of bacteria
How to make an agar plate
Hot agar jelly is poured into a petri dis, when the jelly cools and sets
How is bacteria transferred to the culture medium
Inoculating loops can be used to transfer microorganisms to the culture medium or a sterile dropping pipette and spreader can be used to get an even covering of bacteria