Ch 19 Flashcards
Prokaryotic DNA
DNA is “naked” not complexed with proteins; negative charges neutralized by calcium ions; short circle of DNA; only 3,000 genes; few introns and mRNA processing is simple
Eukaryotic DNA
has nucleosome histones and forms chromosomes; each DNA molecule is long and can carry thousands of genes; contains introns and large segments of DNA do not code for any type of RNA
Organelles
prokaryotes lack membrane bound organelles; only have ribosomes and storage granules in their cytoplasm; eukaryotes have nuclei and mitochondria and plants and algae have plastids
Endosymbiont theory
the theory that plastids and mitochondria arose as prokaryotes that were living symbiotically within an early eukaryotic cell; prokaryotes evolved to the level of having a membrane-bound nucleus
Origin of Mitochondria
the early eukaryotes engulfed but did not digest a prokaryote, which then evolved into a mitochondrion
Origin of Plastids
some descendants of that early eukaryote would engulf but not digest a prochlorophyte type of cyanobacterium, which would evolve into a plastid
Spore (n)
a single cell that is a means of asexual reproduction; it can grow into a new organism but cannot fuse like a gamete
Gametophyte (n)
a haploid plant that produces gametes
Fertilization (n + n -> 2n)
fusion of two gametes (egg and sperm)
Zygote
the diploid cell formed as the result of the fusion of two gametes
Sporophyte (2n)
a diploid plant that produces spores
Sporangium (2n)
a structure that produces spores
Meiosis (2n -> n+n)
reduction division; a process in which nuclear chromosomes are duplicated once but divided twice; chromosome number is reduced; becomes independent chromosomes