Origins of Life Flashcards
What are we made up of?
NCHOPS
Nitrogen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, Sulfur
What percent of living things are these molecules?
98%
How did the universe originate?
Big bang theory, universe then cooled and made proteins and eventually hydrogen and helium
What are the properties of water?
- polar
- good at dissolving things
- high surface tension
What is the one main thing about carbon that you need to know?
it is the backbone of most molecules and can form 4 bonds.
What is the Miller Urey Experiment?
Experiment that proved that forming macromolecules abiotically is easy. Took water, methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas and spark that created amino acids, amines, and hydroxlated compounds
Formose reactions make what?
Sugar
What makes formate?
Volcanos, UV light, hydrothermal vents
What isa formate?
Sugar including ribose
What makes comets?
amino acids and nucleobases adenine and guanine
What do wet-dry cycles cause?
polymerization
What are characteristics of carbohydrates?
- soluble
- store lots of energy
- can make larger polymers
What are polysaccharides?
- long chains of sugars
- many unique shapes
Proteins are made of what?
Amino Acids
How many common amino acids are there?
20
How many classes of functions of amino acids are there?
6
What are the characteristics of proteins?
- long chains of amino acids
- fold into a final form
- serve either a structural role or catalytic role
- need help of organic molecules sometimes
What chemist can be helpful to catalytic proteins?
Fe, Mo, S, organic molecules
What are the three things that make up nucleotides?
- phosphate
- sugar
- base
DNA is referred to often times as the what?
Recipe Book
RNA is often referred to as the what?
The translator but also ribozyme
What are characteristics of lipids?
- Lipids for a bilayer
- Barrier for the cell
- Hydrophillic head
- Hydrophobic tail
The cytoplasm is a compartment of what?
Metabolic pathways and compartments
What are the 5 specific things included in the cytoplasm?
- inclusions
- gene expression machinery
- nucleoid DNA
- cytoskeleton
- ions and metals
What are inclusions included in the cytoplasm?
- Sulfur globules
- Phosphate granules
- polyhydroxy alkanoate
What are characteristics of the nucleoid?
- Highly organized
- Replication and transcription always happening
What two things allow for the nucleoid to be highly organized?
- long domains
- supercoiling
What are the functions and compartments of inclusion?
- nutrient storage
- compartmentalization
- movement and orientaton
What is an example of inclusions that function for compartmentalization?
Carboxysomes - they accumulate enzymes needed for CO2 fixation
What is an example of inclusions that function for movement?
- Gas vesicles
- Magnetosomes
Chemical structure determines______.
functional properties
What dictates membrane behavior?
Fatty acids that are attached to the membrane
The cell membrane functions as….
the barrier of the celled
Cell membrane is made up of what?
Phospholipids
The cell membrane contains _____ for _________, ___________, _________.
proteins
- energy generation
- transport
- motility
The cell membrane is a __________ barrier.
Semi permeable
What kinds of molecules pass easy through the semi permeable barrier of the cell membrane?
- hydrogen gas
- carbon dioxide
- Nitrogen gas
- water
- glycerol
What kinds of molecules DONT pass easy through the semi permeable barrier of the cell membrane?
- Glucose
-sucrose - Cl-
- K+
- Na+
Active transport contains what types of ports?
- Uniporter
- Symporter
- Antiporter
How do each of the following work?
a. Uniporter
b. Symporter
c. Antiporter
a. passes directly through
b. passes multiple things directly through
c. as one thing goes in another goes out
What is an ABC transport?
ATP-binding cassette ABC systems is a solute binding protein, transport channel, and an ATP binding protein
How does ABC transport work?
- ATP hydrolysis provides energy for transports
What is group translocation?
molecule changes as it moves across membrane
What is an example of group translocation? How does it work?
Phosphogtransferase system (PTS)
It is charged with a phosphate from PEP binds glucose and modifies glucose when it is brought across the membrane
Why type of diffusion/movement contains the property that is carrier mediated?
- Facilitated Diffusion
- Active Transport
- Group Transport
Why type of diffusion/movement contains the property that can concentrate against a gradient?
- Active transport
- Group translocation
Why type of diffusion/movement contains the property that have specificity?
- Facilitated Diffusion
- Active Transport
- Group Translocation
Why type of diffusion/movement contains the property that a type of energy is expended?
- Active Transport (pmf or ATP)
- Group Translocation (phosphate bonds)
Why type of diffusion/movement contains the property that a solute is modified during transport?
- Group Translocation
What is an example protein for Facilitated diffusion?
Aquaporin
What is an example protein for Active transport?
ABC transporter
What is an example protein for Group translocation?
PTS
How can you tell the difference between gram negative and gram positive bacteria?
Staining properties
What does petidoglycan form? How is this accomplished?
Mesh. Accomplished through crosslinking peptides and sugar polymers glycan encircling the cell.
What is a molecule that is unique to peptidoglycan?
DAP = diaminopimelic acid
The gram positive cell is mostly composed of what?
Peptidoglycan
What are the structures in the gram positive cell?
- Wall-associated protein
- Teichoic acid
- Lipoteichoic acid
- Peptidoglycan
- Cytoplasmic membrane
What are the structures in the gram negative cell?
- Porins
- LPS
- Outer membrane
- Cytoplasmic membrane
- Periplasm
- proteins
- polysaccharides
What part of LPS is the toxic component?
Lipid A (NAG)
What part of the gram negative cell varies between species?
Core oligosaccharide (KDO sugar unique to LPS)
What part of the gram negative cell varies between species tremendously?
O polysaccharide
What is a porin?
tubes that are not permeable located in the outer membrane
What structures are in both gram positive and gram negative bacteria?
- N acetyl glucosamine
- N muramic acid
- Diaminopimelic acid
- porins
What are capsules?
Structures outside the cell wall that are for hydration, protection, and attachement.
What are the purpose of pili and fimbriae?
located outside the cell responsible for movement, protection, and attachment
What is the difference between the type I pili, and type IV pili?
IV pili can retract
Flagella serve what purpose?
Appendages for motility, and adhesion
What are 3 examples of arrangements for flagella?
- Peritrichous
- Polar
- Lophotrichous
- Many more
Flagellar motion is what kind of motion?
Rotary motion
What type of flagella motion uses type IV pili?
Twitching
What are different kinds of flagella motion?
- Swarming
- Swimming
- Twitching
- Gliding
What are the 3 requirements for life?
- A self maintained metabolic network
- A self replicating genome
- A self reproductive compartment
Polymerization includes what methods?
-Adsorptive surfaces
-Evaporation
- Freezing out of water
Montmorillonite clay is an example of what polymerization method?
Adsorptive surfaces
Wet dry cycles near shorelines is an example of what polymerization method?
Evaporation
Volcanic, icy ares is an example of what polymerization method?
Freezing out of water
What 6 things must MOs have? What are the must important ones that are common to all MOs?
- Compartmentalization and metabolism *
- Reproduction *
- Differentiation
- Communication
- Movement
- Evolution*
What is the ideal surface to volume ratio for getting nutrients?
large surface/volume ratio (smaller thing)
cell shapes _____.
vary
What are the reasons for having various cell shapes?
- Nutrient acquisition
- Defense against predators
- Attachement to surfaces
- Dispersal
- Motility
- Differentiation
If you know the cell shape what microscope would you use?
Light microscope
Phase microscope
To demonstrate the existence of pili on the outside of the cell what microscope would you use?
Scanning electron microscope
If you wanted to know the protein that forms the structure what microscope would you use?
X-ray crystallography
Archaeal cell membranes have lipids that are what linked?
Ether-linked
C-O-C
Archaeal cell membranes have lipid side chains that form what?
Isoprenoids
What is the overall structure of archaeal lipids?
Amphipthic
Archaeal cell membranes have similar structure to their ____ and _____ counterparts?
bacterial
eukaryl
Do archaea have various cell wall types?
yes, (S layer proteins)
What proteins are common archaea?
S layer proteins
Eukaryotes have a more _____ cell structure?
complex
What are organelles that are common to all eukaryotic cells?
Nuclear envelope
ER
What are some characteristics of the nuclear envelope?
- Contains the nucleus which contains the chromosomes 2-46
- Also contains the nucleolus - ribosomes assembled
What are characteristics of the rough ER?
- Has ribosomes - protein synthesis
What are some characteristics of the smooth ER?
- no ribosomes - fatty acid and phospholipid synthesis
Mitochondria is known to be…..
The power house of the cell
The mitochondria accounts for ____% of the cell volume?
20%
The mitochondria has how many membranes?
2 membranes
What is the purpose of the inner membrane in the mitochondria?
Fluid filled matrix
What cell organelle is present in phosynthetic eukaryotes?
Chloroplasts
Chloroplasts are the site of _____ and contain _______.
Photosynthesis
Contain chlorophylls
What is the virus?
- nucleic acid that can reproduce
- Protective cover - capsid
- envelope - not all viruses
dsDNA is _____
ssDNA is ______
double stranded
single stranded
For ssDNA and ssRNA if it is positive what does it mean?
Can be coded - can be translated in the ribosome
For ssDNA and ssRNA if it is negative what does it mean?
cannot be translated at the ribosome (must provide its own replicase)
What are the components of a naked virus?
Capsid
Nucleic Acid
What are components of an enveloped virus?
Nucleic acid
Capsid
Envelope
Viruses can have……
DNA, RNA, ss, ds genomes
Genomes can be….
positive or negative and may or may not have an envelope
What is the life cycle of a virus? 6 steps?
- Attachment
- Penetration
- Synthesis
- Assembly
- Release - few to few 1000 viruses
- Maturation
How long is the viral life cycles for bacteriophage?
20-60 minutes
How long is the viral life cycles for animals?
8-40 hours
What are the two types of penetration for viruses?
- Endocytic Routes
- Non-Endocytic Routes
What is synthesis?
Tightly regulated gene expression and protein synthesis, when the host cell machinery is taken over to produce viruses
How does assembly occur?
Steps are sequential and may occur on scaffolds, may involve host-encoded proteins in addition to virally encoded proteins
What is maturation?
Modification of capsid to recognize host and activation of enzymes,
After penetration what decision is made for viruses?
If it will be lytic or lysogenic
Qbeta is a….
positive ssRNA virus that infects E. coli
influenza is a…..
negative ssRNA virus that infects humans
Lambda is a….
dsDNA virus that infects E. coli and can hide out in the genome
What are the characteristics of Qbeta?
- positive ssRNA virus
- Translated at the ribosome
- Intentional read-through of stop codon
- has its own replicase
What is special about the influenza A virus envelope?
It has a NA and a HA
What is the process of Influenza A virus replication?
Enters when acidification of endosome and negative strands bind to nucleus, they cop and cap steal, and there is assembly at membrane and budding
What are the characterisitics of the lambda virus?
-dsDNA
-48 kb
-Lysogenic virus - has to make a decision
- Stbl cll protein = lysogeny
- If cll unstable increase Early Left and Right
What are viroids?
- Circular ssRNA
- Does not encode protein
- Cause > 20 kinds of plant diseases
What are prions?
- Proteinaceous infectious particle
-Prp gene encoded - causes dementia, loss of balance
- Prp SC - scrapie
What are some examples of prion diseases? how are they caused?
- misfolding of protein
- Creutzfeldt-jakod disease
-kuru
-fatal familiar insomnia - mad cow disease
