Topic 2 - Genes and Health Flashcards
What are the properties of gas exchange surfaces?
- surface area to volume ratio
- diffusion pathway
- concentration gradient
How does surface area to volume ratio affect different organism exchange systems?
As organisms increase in size, their SA:Vol ratio decreases. This means there is a longer distance for diffusion, so larger multicellular organisms have evolved adaptation to facilitate the exchange of substances (e.g. alveoli in mammals, gills in fish)
What is Fick’s Law?
rate of diffusion ∝ (surface area x difference in concentration) / thickness of exchange surface
What is the equation for Fick’s Law?
Rate = P x A x (C1 - C2)/T Where P = permeability constant A = surface area C1-C2 = difference in concenrration T = thickness of exchange surface
How does Fick’s law explain the adaptation of mammalian gas exchange surfaces?
- rate of diffusion proportional to surface area (alveoli have large surface area)
- rate of diffusion proportional to difference in conc (breathing and constant blood flow maintains difference in gas conc)
- rate of diffusion inversely proportional to thickness of exchange surface (walls of alveoli/capillaries one cell thick)
- diffusion distance shortened due to flattened cells forming alveoli and capillary walls
What are the adaptations of the mammalian lung?
- cilia hair in trachea wafts mucus, which traps dust and pathogens
- bronchioles have smooth muscles and elastic fibres to allow adjustment of size of airway
- ALVEOLI
How are the alveoli adapted for efficient gas exchange?
Good blood supply creates a steep concentration gradient, alveolar wall and capillary wall are only 1 cell thick, layer of moisture lines alveoli so O2 and CO2 dissolve and exchange occurs in solution
What is diffusion?
The net movement of a substance from a region of its higher concentration to a region of its lower concentration (down a concentration gradient)
When does diffusion occur, and when does it stop?
Wherever there is a concentration gradient, and it stops when the particles of the substance are evenly spread throughout the whole volume
What are the properties of molecules that move by simple diffusion?
Small (can fit between phospholipids)
Non-polar (can interact with hydrophobic non polar tails)
What molecules require facilitated diffusion, and why?
Large, polar molecules (cannot fit through phospholipid bilayer and cannot pass through hydrophobic tails)
Ions
What is facilitated diffusion?
Facilitated diffusion is the process of molecules or ions diffusing across a biological membrane via specific transmembrane integral proteins.
What is a carrier protein?
A transmembrane protein that switches shapes when the ion or molecule binds onto a specific site on the protein, which then changes shape and as a result the ion or molecules crosses the membrane (direction dependent on concentration gradient)
requires atp
What is a channel protein?
Pores that extend from one side of the membrane to the other, allowing charged substances to diffuse through. Have a FIXED SHAPE
What is passive transport?
No metabolic energy required for the transport, driven by concentration gradient.
What is osmosis?
The net movement of water molecules from a solution with a lower concentration of solute to a solution with a high concentration of solute through a partially permeable membrane
How does the partial permeability of the surface membrane of the cells allow osmosis to take place?
Is a barrier to some solutes, but not water. Enables a concentration gradient of solutes/water
What happens when water moves into a cell via osmosis? (animal vs plant)
Animal cell - can burst
Plant cell - cell wall prevents bursting
What happens when water moves out of a cell via osmosis? (animal vs plant)
Animal cell - shrivels
Plant cell - vacuole and cytoplasm shrink away from the cell wall
What is active transport?
The movement of a substance against a concentration gradient, requiring ATP and a CARRIER protein
What are some examples of active transport?
- Reabsorption of useful molecules and ions into the blood after filtration into the kidney tubules
- Loading inorganic ions from the soil into root hair cells
What is exocytosis?
Exocytosis is the release of substances, usually proteins or polysaccharides, from the cell
How does exocytosis occur, and what is an example of this?
Vesicles containing substance pinch off from sacs of Golgi apparatus, move towards and fuse with the cell surface membrane to be released outside of the cell. ACTIVE PROCESS
Example - insulin released into blood by exocytosis
What is endocytosis?
Endocytosis is taking in substances from outside the cell
How does endocytosis occur, and what is an example of this?
Cell surrounds a substance with a section of cell surface membrane, the membrane engulfs the substance and pinches off inside the cell to form a temporary vacuole. ACTIVE PROCESS
Example - white blood cells ingesting bacteria (phagocytosis)
Why are cell membranes vital structures?
They create an enclosed space separating the internal cell enviornment from the external cell environment
What is the structure of a cell membrane?
Phospholipid bilayer containing proteins, cholesterol, glycoproteins and glycolipids
What are phospholipids made up of?
- a molecule of glycerol
- a phosphate group (head)
- 2 fatty acid tails (lipid tail)
How do the phospholipids contribute to the structure of the cell membrane?
Due to the hydrophilic phosphate head of the molecule, it attracts other polar molecules like water. The fatty acid tails are non polar and are therefore hydrophobic, this means the phospholipids become arranged so the tails have no contact with the water.
What does the term ‘fluid mosaic’ mean in reference to cell membranes?
Fluid refers to the movement of the phospholipids in the plane of the membrane
Mosaic refers to the random association of proteins within the membrane
What are models of membrane structure?
Interpretations of data which can change when scientific advances enable new discoveries. Models represent real life structures and processes
What is the role of proteins within the cell membrane?
Involved with cell transport and communication
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinisic proteins?
Intrinsic - embedded within the membrane, precise arrangement determined by hydrophillic and hydrophobic regions
Extrinsic - attatched to the outer or inner surface of the membrane
What is the difference between glycolipids and glycoproteins?
Glycolipids - lipids with carbohydrate attached
Glycoproteins - proteins with carbohydrate attached
What is the location and function of glycolipids and glycoproteins in the cell membrane?
Location: present on surface of cell membrane
Function: aid cell to cell communication by attaching as cell markers or binding with substances at the cell surface
What is the role of cholesterol within the cell membrane?
Found between the phospholipids where it regulates membrane fluidity by stopping the phospholipid tails from packing too closely together,
It increases the mechanical strength and stability of membranes (at higher temps too) and without it membranes would break down and cells would burst
What are nucleotides in DNA and RNA made from?
- pentose sugar
- nitrogen containing organic base
- phosphate group
What are the components of a DNA nucleotide?
Deoxyribose sugar with hydrogen at the 2’ position
Phosphate group
Organic bases A T C or G
What are the components of an RNA nucleotide?
Ribose sugar with a hydroxyl (OH) group at the 2’ position
Phosphate group
Organic base from A U C or G
Which bases are purines, and what does this mean?
Purine = double ringed structure
A and G
Which bases are pyrimidines, and what does this mean?
Pyrimidine = single ring structure
C, U and T
What type of bonds join nucleotides in DNA and RNA?
Phosphodiester bonds
How are phosphodiester bonds formed?
When separate nucleotides are joined by condensation reactions occurring between the phosphate group of one nucleotide and the pentose sugar of another. This creates a sugar-pentose backbone in DNA and RNA
What is the structure of DNA?
Double helix structure
Why is DNA antiparallel?
It is made up of 2 polynucleotides running in opposite directions
How do the bases pair in DNA?
Purine A with pyrimidine T (2 H bonds)
Purine G with pyrimidine C (3 H bonds)
Hydrogen bonds form between complementary bases
What is the difference between RNA and DNA?
RNA is only made up of 1 polynucleotide strand, whereas DNA is made up of 2
RNA = ribose sugar, DNA = deoxyribose sugar
RNA is relatively short compared to DNA
What is the difference between transcription and translation?
Transcription occurs in the nucleus and is when DNA is transcribed and mRNA is produced
Translation occurs in the cytoplasm and is when mRNA is translated and a polypeptide is formed
What happens in transcription?
Enzyme unwinds DNA molecule, breaking H bonds, and exposing the gene to be transcribed.
RNA nucleotides line up and pair with complementary bases on the antisense strand. RNA polymerase bonds the RNA nucelotides together to form the backbone of the mRNA molecule which then leaves via a nuclear pore and DNA reforms
What is the difference between the antisense/template strand and the sense/coding strand?
The antisense strand is the strand of DNA that RNA nucleotides pair with
The other strand is known as the sense or coding strand as mRNA will have the same base sequence as this strand (T replaced by U)
What direction does RNA polymerase move down the template strand, and why?
Moves in 3’ to 5’ direction as mRNA grows in 5’ to 3’ direction
What happpens in translation?
Once in cytoplasm, mRNA attaches to a ribosome. Each tRNA molecule has the complementary anticodon to the codon on the mRNA. tRNA molecules then form H bonds with the codons on the mRNA to bring amino acids, which form peptide bonds. 2 tRNA molecules are on the ribosome at a time, the process continues until a stop codon, when the polypeptide chain moves away and translation is complete.
What is the role of tRNA in translation?
- transport amino acids to the ribosome
- tRNA has an anticodon which binds to/recognises codon on mRNA
- each tRNA carries a particular amino acid
What is the structure of globular proteins?
Polypeptide chain folded into compact spherical shape. Non polar hydrophobic regions orientated towards the centre of the protein (away from aqueous surroundings), polar hydrophillic groups orientate themselves on outside of protein
Tertiary and potentially quaternary structure