Biology - Prelim Study Flashcards
What size are cells?
All shapes and sizes - ranging from millimetres to microns
What size is a typical plant cell?
Typical plant cell 20-100 μm
What size is a typical animal cell?
Typical animal cell 5-20 μm
What size is a bacterial cell?
Bacterial cell 0.1-5 μm
What is an organelle?
An organelle is a tiny cellular structure that performs specific functions within a cell
What are the two main types of cells?
- prokaryotic
- eukaryotic
What is a prokaryotic cell?
Prokaryotic cells are single-celled organisms with no membrane bound organelles. Eg no nucleus.
They have a capsule, cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleoid, ribosomes, plasmids, pilus and flagella.
The size of a cell ranges from 1-10microns
Examples include - Monera (bacteria) and Archaea
What is a Eukaryotic cell?
Eukaryotes have a membrane bound nucleus with many cell organelles to perform several cellular functions within the system
Eukaryotic cells are more complex than prokaryotic cells
They are larger at the cell cell ranges from 10-100 microns
Examples include - Animals, Muscle cell, plants, fungi, yeast cells and protists
What is the nucleus?
The nucleus is the control centre of the cell and coordinates all of the cell’s activities
It contains the DNA in chromosomes
It is surrounded by a double membrane
The nuclear pore allows movement into and out of the cell
What is the nucleolus?
RNA is made here (RNA is used to make proteins)
The nucleolus is located in the nucleus.
What is the mitochondria?
The mitochondria generate most of the cells supply of chemical energy called ATP
This is created by respiration
They have a highly folded double membrane. This increases the surface area so more respiration can take place
What is the chloroplast?
Chloroplast contains chlorophyll needed to carry out photosynthesis (where light is absorbed and carbon dioxide and water are converted into glucose and oxygen)
Chloroplast have a double membrane and the internal membranes are in stacks called grana
Chloroplasts trap light energy, which is used to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen in the process of photosynthesis
The hydrogen then combines with carbon dioxide to make glucose, and the oxygen is released into the atmosphere as a waste product
Is not in animal cells
What are vacuoles?
Vacuoles are fluid filled storage spaces for water, salts, sugars, amino acids and other chemicals
They have a single membrane
Plant vacuoles provide structural support by helping to maintain turgor
What is the Endoplasmic reticulum?
Rough E.R is abundant in cells that actively produce and export proteins, such as pancreatic cells, which secrete digestive enzymes
Smooth E.R contains the enzymes involved in the synthesis of molecules other than proteins, such as phospholipids and steroids
What is the Golgi apparatus?
They receive, sort, store and secrete materials
Golgi bodies are membrane stacks with transport vesicles at the perimeter
The vesicles transport the proteins from one cisternae to the next, where they are modified for use by the cell, or the transport out of the cell
What are lysosomes?
Lysosomes are round and have a single membrane
They are vesicles that store enzymes to break down old organelles and some molecules
They are more common in animal cells
What are ribosomes?
Ribosomes are tiny round structures that are responsible for helping the making of proteins
They do not have a membrane and are often attached to the endoplasmic reticulum
There can be millions of them
What is the cell wall?
The cell wall is a rigid structure that surrounds the cell membrane of plant cells, fungal cells and some prokaryote cells. It is not in an animal cell.
In plants, the cell wall is composed mainly of cellulose. Fungal cell walls are made of chitin
The cell wall provides support, prevents expansion of the cell, and allows water and dissolved substances to pass freely through it
Lignin in the cell walls of the woody plants, especially the xylem, gives them additional strength
What is the cell membrane?
The cell membrane provides protection for a cell.
It provides fixed environments inside the cell and that membrane has several different functions
One is to transport nutrients into the cell and also to transport toxic substances out of the cell
What is the surface area of a cell?
The surface area of the cell is the outside area of the cell
What is the volume of a cell?
The volume of a cell is the inside capacity or amount of space inside the cell
What is the surface area to volume ratio?
The surface-area-to-volume ratio or SA:V, is the amount of surface area of an organism divided by its volume.
Organisms must take in food, oxygen and water, and other essential substances, from the environment. Plants also need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. Organisms also need to remove waste substances. Small organisms exchange these essential and waste substances between themselves and the environment. They do this over their body surface. Simple chemical substances can
diffuse in and out of their bodies.
Inside their bodies, in small organisms, substances don’t have to move far.
The size of their surface, or surface area, defines how quickly they can absorb substances. The size of their volume defines how much of these substances they need.
As the cell size increases the surface area to volume ratio decreases.
What are the factors affecting the rate of diffusion across a cell membrane?
- Membrane thickness:
For nutrients to diffuse into a cell they must cross the cell membrane. Cell membranes are extremely thin to allow for the diffusion of materials across the cell membrane - Concentration gradient:
The greater the concentration gradient (the difference in the concentration either side of the membrane) the greater the rate of diffusion - Surface Area to volume ratio:
The larger the area over which diffusion can occur, the greater the rate of diffusion - Temperature and pressure
As with any chemical reaction, increasing the temperature or pressure increases the kinetic energy of the particles, thus increasing the rate of diffusion - Types of Molecules
- Lipid soluble (non polar) such as alcohol dissolves in the lipid bilayer
- Water soluble molecules tend to be repelled however small molecules such as water are small enough to pass between phospholipids
- Uncharged molecules such as oxygen and carbon dioxide pass between phospholipids
- Large water soluble molecules (polar) such as sugars and amino acids cannot pass directly across unless through protein channels
- Ions cross cellular membranes is mediated by transport proteins and an input of energy
What are enzymes?
Enzymes are organic catalysts.
They are proteins made up of amino acids linked and folded to produce a three dimensional protein structure.
Enzymes are highly effective - only minute amounts are needed to bring about reactions and they can be reused
A substrate is the reactant on which an enzyme works
The enzyme fits with its substrate molecule at a precise place on its surface - the active site
The active site is a restricted region of the enzyme that binds and attaches to the substrate with weak chemical bonds
The shape of this site must not be altered if the enzyme is to function
What is a catalyst?
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up or brings about a chemical change without being used up or changed in the reaction
What are the models of the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane?
- Lock and key model
- Induced fit model
What is the lock and key model?
The shape of the enzyme permits it to bind at a particular site (called the active site) to the substrate molecule (reactant)
This causes a reaction to occur
The key (substrate) fitting the lock (enzyme)
Substrate + enzyme → enzyme/substrate complex → products + enzyme
What is the induced fit model?
In some cases the shape of the active site of the enzyme varies slightly from that of the substrate and the two fit only after contact when the active site slightly changes it shape to accommodate the substrate perfectly
What are the effects of the environment on enzyme activity?
pH
Enzymes are affected by changes in pH
The most favourable pH value is where the enzyme is most active
It is known as the optimum pH
Changes in pH may not only affect the shape of an enzyme but it may also change the shape or charge properties of the substrate so that either the substrate cannot bind to the active site or it cannot undergo catalysis
Within a narrow pH range, changes in the structural shapes of the enzymes and substrates may be reversible
But for a significant change in pH levels, the enzyme and the substrate may undergo denaturation
The optimum pH varies from one enzyme to another
Temperature
Enzymes are affected by temperature
If you heat them they can become permanently changed called denatured
They remain inactive even when temperature cools
Enzymes are inactivated at low temperatures
They can become active again when the temperature is returned to normal
Different enzymes have different temperature optimums
Enzyme activity increases to a certain point due to increase in kinetic energy of particles
Above or below the optimum temperature the efficiency (rate of reaction) decreases
What is substrate concentration?
Adding more substrate to an enzyme solution will initially increase the rate of the reaction if active sites are available
However, there is a saturation point
Once all active sites are occupied further increase in substrate does not increase the rate of reaction
The higher the substrate concentration, the greater the rate of enzyme reaction, until all available enzymes are being used to catalyse reactions - saturation point
Summarise substrate concentration?
Increasing substrate concentration will increase the activity of a corresponding enzyme
More substrates mean there is an increased chance of enzyme and substrate colliding and reacting within a given period
After a certain point, the rate of activity will cease to rise regardless of any further increases in substrate levels
This is because the environment is saturated with substrate and all enzymes are bound and reacting (Vmax)
What is enzyme concentration?
If the amount of enzyme is increased the amount of product made per unit time increases
The total product does not increase
What is the structure of a cell membrane called and what is it made up of?
The structure of the membrane is called a fluid mosaic model
It has a double layer made up of proteins and lipids called phospholipids
What is a glycoprotein?
A glycoprotein is a molecule composed of a protein and a carbohydrate on the outside of the membrane
What does the fluid mosaic model of the membrane show?
The fluid mosaic model of the membrane shows that membranes are not rigid structures instead they are fluid and able to drift along the plane of the membrane
What is the function of a cell membrane?
Cell membranes are semi permeable.
This means they only allow some substances to move through bu not others
They have 3 functions:
1. They keep toxic substances out of the cell
2. They contain receptors and channels that allow specific molecules, such as ions, nutrients, wastes, and metabolic products to pass between organelles inside cell and the outside environment
3. They separate vital but incompatible metabolic processes conducted within organelles
What do models do for biological concepts?
They enable processes to be observed and investigated easier
- Time factors (such as evolution)
- Size factors (molecular level)
- Simplifies complex processes
What are some problems associated with modelling biological concepts? (List 4)
- The fact that a model may oversimplify processes resulting in misconceptions
- The relative time or size may be misrepresented
- Most models can’t incorporate all the details of complex natural phenomena (incorporating these additional details would make the model too complex)
- Models include some approximations as a convenient way to describe something that happens in nature (these approximations are not exact, so predictions based on them tend to be a little bit different from what you actually observe)
What is the fluid mosaic model?
Many years of research have gone into attempting to accurately describe the structure of cell membranes
Our current accepted understanding is based on a model called the fluid mosaic model of cell membranes
Model proposed by J. Singer and G. Nicholson in 1972
What is the evidence supporting the fluid mosaic model?
The behaviour of membranes, for example how they reseal themselves when punctured with a fine needle, led to the idea that they are not rigid, but more like a fluid
The membrane allows lipid soluble substances to pass through easily, suggesting a lipid basis
What are unicellular organisms?
A unicellular organism has just one cell
What are multicellular organisms?
Multicellular organisms - a multicellular organism has more than one cell and act like a community working together to ensure the organism survives and reproduces (eg. plants and animals).
What is ingestion?
Ingestion - taking food into body
What is digestion?
Digestion - breaking down food
What is absorption in cells?
Absorption - moving food into cells
What is assimilation in cells?
Assimilation - making food part of cell
What is elimination in cells?
Elimination - removing unused food
How can food be digested? (List 2)
- Physical digestion
- Chemical digestion
What is physical digestion?
In physical digestion, food is broken down into smaller fragments via the acts of chewing (mouth), churning (stomach) and segmentation (small intestine)
Chewing (mouth)
Food is initially broken down in the mouth by the grinding action of teeth - called mastication
The tongue pushes the food towards the back of the throat, where it travels down the oesophagus as a bolus
Churning (stomach)
The stomach lining contains muscles which physically squeeze and mix the food with strong digestive juices (‘churning’)
Food is digested within the stomach for several hours and is turned into a creamy paste called chyme
Eventually the chyme enters the small intestine (duodenum) where absorption will occur
What is peristalsis?
Peristalsis is the principal mechanism of movement in the oesophagus, although it also occurs in both the stomach and gut
Continuous segments of longitudinal smooth muscle rhythmically contract and relax
What is segmentation?
Segmentation involves the contraction and relaxation of non-adjacent segments of circular smooth muscle in the intestines and helps to physically digest food
Segmentation contractions move chyme in both directions, allowing for a greater mixing of food with digestive juices
What is chemical digestion?
Food is broken down by the action
Enzymes
- Enzymes are biological catalysts which speed up the rate of a chemical reaction (i.e. digestion) by lowering activation energy
- Enzymes allow digestive processes to therefore occur at body temperatures and at sufficient speeds for survival requirements
- Enzymes are specific for a substrate and so can allow digestion of certain molecules to occur independently in distinct locations
What is amylase?
The digestion of starch is initiated by salivary amylase in the mouth and continued by pancreatic amylase in the intestines
Starch digestion by amylase does not occur in the stomach as the pH is unsuitable for amylase activity (optimal pH - 7)
What are proteases?
The family of enzymes that can catalyst the digestion of proteins are called proteases
Pepsin is one such protease and acts in the stomach it has an optimum pH of 1.5-2
Another protease enzyme Trypsin is made in the pancreas and enters the duodenum
What is bile?
The liver produces a fluid called bile which is stored and concentrated within the gallbladder prior to release into the intestine
Bile contains bile salts which interact with fat globules and divide them into smaller droplets (emulsification)
The emulsification of fats increases the total surface area available for enzyme activity (lipase)
What are stomach acids?
The stomach contains gastric glands which release digestive acids to create a low pH environment pH ~ 2)
The digestive fluid formed in the stomach and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCI), potassium chloride (KCI) and sodium chloride (NaCl)
The acidic environment functions to denature proteins, aiding the overall digestion
What happens during absorption of nutrients, minerals and water?
During absorption, digested food monomers must pass from the lumen into the epithelial lining of the small intestine
The inner epithelial lining of the small intestine is highly folded into finger-like projections called villi (singular: villus)
Many villi will protrude into the intestinal lumen, greatly increasing the available surface area for material absorption
Once products are absorbed, they are then transported to the liver by means of the hepatic portal vein
What is diffusion?
Diffusion is the movement of molecules in a fluid from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration
What is osmosis?
Osmosis is the passage of water molecules across a semipermeable membrane from a solution with a high concentration to a solution with a lower concentration
What is elimination of solid waste?
The final step is the elimination of undigested food content and waste products
After food passes through the small intestine, the undigested food material enters the colon, where most of the water is reabsorbed
The semi-solid waste is moved through the colon by peristaltic movements of the muscle and is stored in the rectum
As the rectum expands in response to storage of faecal matter, it triggers the neural signals required to set up he urge to eliminate
The solid waste is eliminated through the anus using peristaltic
What is the large intestine made up of?
colon and rectum
What is the vascular system of a plant composed of?
Two vessels - the xylem and the phloem
What is the xylem responsible for?
The xylem is responsible for transporting water