Final Definitions Flashcards
Element
A substance that cannot be broken down any more.
Essential Fatty Acid
An unsaturated fatty acid that an animal need but cannot make.
Mole(as used in Chemistry)
Unit of measurement, 8.02x10^23
Polymer
A molecule consisting of different monomers
Science
Knowledge of the natural world obtained by study and experience
Taxonomy
The science of naming and classifying organisms
Genomics
The study go the whole sets of genes and their interactions within a species, as well as the genome comparisons between species
Cohesion
The linkage together of atoms or molecules within a single substance often due to hydrogen bonding
Artifacts
Features seen when using the microscope that do not exist in the living cell
Plasmodesmata
Open channels through the cell wall that connect the cytoplasm of adjacent plant cells
Membrane Potential
The difference in voltage across a plasma membrane due to the differential distribution of ions
Ligand
Any molecule that binds specifically to a receptor site on another molecule
Turgor Pressure
The force directed against a plant cell wall after a influx of water and swelling of the cell due to osmosis
Allosteric Regulation
The binding of a regulatory molecule to a protein at one site that affects the function of the protein at a different site.
Genome
The genetic material of an organism or virus
Bacteriophage(phage)
A virus that infects bacteria
Metastasis
The spread of cancer cells to locations distant from their original site
Gamete
A haploid reproductive cell, such as an egg or a sperm
Zygote
The diploid cell produced by the union of haploid gametes during fertilization; a fertilized egg
Helices
An enzyme that unwinds the double helix of DNA at the replication forks, separating the two strands and making them available to template strands
Topolsomerase
A protein that breaks, swivels, and rejoins DNA strands
Heterozygous
Having two different alleles
Wild type
The phenotype most commonly observed in the natural populations
DNA Polymerase
Am enzyme that catalyzes the elongation of new DNA by the addition of nucleotides to the 3’ end of an existing chain
Promoter
A specific nucleotide sequence in the DNA of a gene that binds RNA polymerase, positioning it to tart transcribing RNA at the appropriate place
Oncogene
A gene that is involved in triggering molecular events that can leas to cancer
Palaeontology
The scientific study of fossils
Homology
The similarity in characteristics resulting from a shared ancestry
Capsid
The protein shell that encloses a viral genome
Pangaea
The supercontinent that formed near the need go the Paleozoic era
Microevolution
Evolution of a species over time
Cline
A graded change on character along a geographical axis
Punctuated Equilibrium
In the fossil record, long periods of apparent stasis, in which a species undergoes little or no morphological change, interrupted by relatively brief periods of sudden change
Heterochrony
Change in the timing or rate of an organism’s development
Endosymbiont Theory
The therapy that mitochondria and plastids including chloroplasts, originated in a prokaryotic cell engulfed by an ancestral eukaryotic cell. The two cells became one organism
