AMS - Unit 1 List 2 Flashcards
Autotroph
An organism that serves as a primary producer in a food chain. Autotrophs obtain energy and nutrients by harnessing sunlight through photosynthesis (photoautotrophs) or, more rarely, obtain chemical energy through oxidation (chemoautotrophs) to make organic substances from inorganic ones.
Light Reaction
The light-dependent reaction is a photochemical reaction taking place in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts, where light energy is transformed into adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH).
Chlorophyll
A green pigment, present in all green plants and in cyanobacteria, responsible for the absorption of light to provide energy for photosynthesis. Its molecule contains a magnesium atom held in a porphyrin ring.
Photosynthesis
The process by which green plants and certain other organisms transform light energy into chemical energy. During photosynthesis in green plants, light energy is captured and used to convert water, carbon dioxide, and minerals into oxygen and energy-rich organic compounds.
Calvin Cycle
The Calvin cycle is a process that plants and algae use to turn carbon dioxide from the air into sugar, the food autotrophs need to grow.
Electron Transport Chain
The electron transport chain is a series of four protein complexes that couple redox reactions, creating an electrochemical gradient that leads to the creation of ATP in a complete system named oxidative phosphorylation.
Pigment
The natural coloring matter of animal or plant tissue.
NADPH
NADPH is also known as nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. NADPH is an important electron donor found in all living organisms. NADPH is essential for nucleic acid and lipid production.
Granum
A granum is a coin-shaped stack of thylakoids, which are the membrane-like structures found inside the chloroplasts of plant cells
Stomata
Stomata are the tiny openings present on the epidermis of leaves. Stomata play an important role in gaseous exchange and photosynthesis.
Carbon Fixation
Carbon fixation is the process by which plants and algae convert the carbon found in inorganic molecules in the atmosphere into organic matter to produce biological building blocks and fuel for cellular respiration.
Heterotroph
A heterotroph is an organism that eats other plants or animals for energy and nutrients.
Thylakoids
Thylakoids are tiny compartments found inside of chloroplasts. Their role is to help absorb sunlight in order for photosynthesis to occur. They contain all of the chlorophyll that the plant has which, in turn, allows for the absorption of sunlight.
Cartenoids
Carotenoids are pigments in plants, algae, and photosynthetic bacteria. These pigments produce the bright yellow, red, and orange colors in plants, vegetables, and fruits. Carotenoids act as a type of antioxidant for humans. There are more than 600 different types of carotenoids.
Mitochondrial Matrix
The mitochondrial matrix is the inner space surrounded by the mitochondrial inner membrane, which contains several proteins, such as enzymes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle, fatty acid oxidation, amino acid degradation, and other biochemical reactions.
Aerobic Respiration
A chemical process in which oxygen is used to make energy from carbohydrates (sugars).
Fermentation
Fermentation is the process in which a substance breaks down into a simpler substance. Microorganisms like yeast and bacteria usually play a role in the fermentation process, creating beer, wine, bread, kimchi, yogurt and other foods.
NAD+
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is a coenzyme central to metabolism. Found in all living cells, NAD is called a dinucleotide because it consists of two nucleotides joined through their phosphate groups. One nucleotide contains an adenine nucleobase and the other, nicotinamide.
Alcoholic Fermentation
Ethanol fermentation, also called alcoholic fermentation, is a biological process which converts sugars such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose into cellular energy, producing ethanol and carbon dioxide as by-products.
Glycolysis
Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate and, in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.
NADH
NADH is a coenzyme found in all living cells; consists of two nucleotides joined through their 5’-phosphate groups, with one nucleotide containing an adenine base and the other containing nicotinamide. It has a role as a fundamental metabolite and a cofactor. It is a NAD(P)H and a NAD.
Anaerobic Respiration
Anaerobic respiration is respiration using electron acceptors other than molecular oxygen (O2)
Cellular Respiration
Cellular respiration is a series of chemical reactions that break down glucose to produce ATP, which may be used as energy to power many reactions throughout the body. There are three main steps of cellular respiration: glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation.
Krebs Cycle
The Krebs cycle summarizes a circular series of reactions in the mitochondria to metabolize AcCoA to two molecules of CO2 with resultant generation of one molecule of GTP, three molecules of NADH, and one molecule of FADH2. GTP is equivalent to ATP in terms of energy charge.
