O Flashcards
Obliquely Striated Muscle
A muscle where striations run obliquely to the axis of shortening.
Odorant
Molecules that can be detected by the sense of smell.
Odorant-Binding Protein
Proteins found in the mucus of the nasal epithelium that bind to odorants and transfer them to odorant receptors.
Odorant Receptor Protein
A G protein–coupled receptor involved in the detection of odorants and thus the sense of smell.
Olfaction
Detection of environmental chemicals from outside the body: the sense of smell.
Olfactory Bulb
A part of the vertebrate forebrain that is involved in processing olfactory sensations.
Oligodendrocyte
A vertebrate glial cell that forms the myelin sheath of a neuron in the central nervous system.
Ommatidium
plural: ommatidia
The functional unit of the arthropod compound eye.
Oncotic Pressure
The osmotic pressure of blood that is due to the concentration of large macromolecules, primarily protein.
Oocyte
One of the intermediate stages in the process of producing an ovum during meiosis.
Oogenesis
The production of an ovum.
Oogonia
singular: oogonium
After the primordial germ cell enters the ovary, it differentiates into an oogonium, which undergoes multiple rounds of mitosis before entering meiosis.
Open Circulatory System
A circulatory system in which the blood passes through one or more unbounded spaces called sinuses.
Operculum
The stiffened flaplike cover of the gills of bony fishes.
Opsin
A family of G proteins that is involved in visual phototransduction.
Opsonins
Proteins that bind to pathogens, enabling them to be better recognized by
immune cells.
Opsonization
The addition of opsonins to pathogens.
Optic Chiasm
Area in the vertebrate brain where the optic nerves cross.
Optic Lobe
Either of the two lobes of the vertebrate midbrain that are involved in visual processing; also, in arthropods the regions of the brain involved in processing signals from the compound eyes.
Organ of Corti
Located in the cochlea of the inner ear; contains the hair cells that are involved in the sense of hearing.