Term 1 Flashcards
What is metabolism?
Chemical reaction and cell repairs.
What is cellular organisation?
The basic function and structure of a cell.
What is homeostasis?
Self-regulating control mechanisms.
What is heredity?
A genetic system based on the reproduction of DNA.
What is a prokaryote?
- Prokaryotic cells have no nucleus.
- Their genetic material is found in a region called the nuclear area, but is not seperate do by membrane.
- Generally smaller than eukaryotes.
- Usually unicellular organisms (bacteria).
What is a eukaryote?
- Eukaryotes are categorised by having their genetic material contained by a nuclear membrane.
- Much larger than prokaryotic cells.
- More complex because of their membrane bound organelles.
- Examples: fungi, animals, plants, protistans.
What is a protist?
A protist is a large diverse group of eukaryotic organisms which belong to the kingdom Protista.
What are the two classifications of a eukaryote?
They can be;
- Unicellular organisms (e.g. the protistans)
- Multicellular organisms (e.g. plants)
What is a producer, consumer and an autotroph?
A producer produces: plants.
A consumer consumes: birds.
An autotroph makes their own energy using light or chemical energy.
What is a heterotroph?
A heterotroph is an organism which is dependant on complex organic substances for nutrition because it cannot synthesise its own food; e.g. dogs, humans.
What is cell specialisation?
- Cells vary in their shape and contents to match their environment and biological function.
- Cells of unicellular organisms remain quite unspecialised and must carry out a range of biological functions.
- Multicellular organisms exhibit much greater specialisation; each cell may perform limited tasks.
What is osmosis?
- Osmosis is a specific type of cell diffusion. Diffusion is the movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane, from an area of high concentration to low.
- Where solution concentration is greater, water is less.
- Where solution concentration is low (dilute), water is greater.
- The water diffuses from the dilute solution to the concentrated one.
- Water is the solvent.
- Dissolved substances are the solute.
What are the 5 factors affected by diffusion and osmosis?
- Temperature
- Surface Area
- Particle Size
- Diffusion Medium
- Concentration Gradient
What is a hypertonic, hypotonic and isotonic solution?
Hypertonic- Solution with a higher concentration of solute than water (plasmolysis/flaccid cell).
Hypotonic- Solution with a lower concentration or solutes (turgid cell).
Isotonic- Solutions with the same concentration.
What is water potential?
The tendency for water molecules to enter or leave a cell by osmosis. Dissolving a solute into pure water lowers the water potential (makes it more negative).
Water always diffuses from regions of less negative WP to more negative WP (higher water potential to lower).
What is active transport?
- Active transport processes require energy expenditure because materials must be moved against their concentration gradient. Transport proteins harness ATP to pump molecules from a low concentration to a high.
- Active transport is performed by specific carrier proteins in the membrane.
What is cytosis?
- A form of active transport, involving the formation of membrane bound vesicles or vacuoles.
- Most cells carry out various forms of cytosis, including:
- Endocytosis
- Exocytosis
What is invagination and evaginated?
- Regions of the plasma membrane become infolded (invagination) or outfolded (evaginated) to transport substances across the membrane.
What is Endocytosis?
The incorporation of substances from outside the cell into the cell as a membrane bound vesicle.
What happens during Endocytosis?
The plasma membrane invaginate’s around the ,ole ile to be transported into the cell.
What are the 3 forms of Endocytosis?
Phagocytosis: The engulfment of solid particles.
Pinocytosis: The engulfment of liquid particles.
Receptor mediated: Engulfment of specific particles according to membrane receptors.
What is Exocytosis?
Exocytosis releases substances from inside the cell to outside.
How does Exocytosis occur?
Occurs by a fusion of a vesicle membrane with the plasma membrane. The vesicle content are then released outside of the cell.
Why is diffusion effective for smaller organisms?
Because a smaller organism has a large surface area relative for it’s volume, therefor it diffuses faster.