Introduction to Cell Biology Flashcards
What are some of the functions of a phospholipid bilayer?
Selective permeablity
Internal regulation of the cell
If there aren’t enough phospholipids in an aqueous environment what type of structures do they form?
Form micelles which are like lysosomes. hydrophobic tails inside and hydrophilic phosphates outside.
If there are many phospholipids in an aqueous environment what type of structures do they form?
Forms a bilayer.
2 layers of phospholipids laid opposite to each other.
they can then for a simple cell structure with a hydrophilic part in the
Define the term prokaryotes.
Single celled organism without a true nucleus
Define the term Virus.
non living cells and cannot carry out living functions on their own so they survive by high jacking the replication machinery of living cells to produce copies of themselves and can be a major cause of disease
What does reverse transcriptase do?
Make a DNA copy of a RNA genome
What is a bacteriophage?
Bacterial Virus
Explain the structure of a bacteriophage.
Consists of a head containing the DNA. then a body made of a neck, collar and a sheath which is connected to a baseplate. tail fibres come off the base plate.
How do bacteriophages infect host cells?
On contact with a bacterial cell the base plate touches the cell wall of the bacteria and the bacteriophage injects its genome directly into the bacteria so that it will be incorporated into the host genome and therefore be replicated once the host cell replicates creating more viruses
What are Prions?
Small proteinaceous infections that can resist anything procedure that would damage or modify nucleic acids
Give some examples of diseases caused by prions.
Kuru (a disease affecting the South Fore people of Papua New Guinea as they had been practicing cannibalism
What is a bacteriophage?
Bacterial Virus
Give some examples of diseases caused by prions.
Kuru (a disease affecting the South Fore people of Papua New Guinea as they had been practicing cannibalism
CJD (Creutzfeld-jacob disease) caused by eating BSE infected beef
