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Basis of Life
DAT Study Material
60
Biology
Graduate
06/04/2009

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Term
"primordial soup"
Definition
simple sugars, amino acids, purines and pyrimidines that were synthesized from the primitive seas (methane, ammonia, hydrogen water and salts) and energy (heat, electricity, solar radiation, x-rays, cosmic rays, UV light and radioactivity)that preceded the first life forms
Term
Heterotrophs
Definition
organisms that depend on outside sources for food
Term
Stanley L. Miller
Definition
Demonstrated in 1953 that the application of UV radiation and heat plus the mixture of methane, ammonia, water and hydrogen could result in formation of complex organic compounds. He set up an apparatus in which the four gases were circulated past electrical discharges from tungsten electrodes
Term
urea
Definition
mammals convert ammonia (result of oxidative deamination) to urea for excretion
Term
coacervate droplets
Definition
a cluster of colloidal protein molecules surrounded by a shell of water
Term
nucleic acid polymers (+who discovered)
Definition
a macromolecule composed of chains of monomeric nucleotides (most common types are DNA and RNA); they carry genetic info or form structures in cells(Friedrich Miescher in 1871)
Term
anaerobic respiratory processes
Definition
the process of synthesizing ATP using the electron transport chain, with inorganic molecules other than oxygen used as a final electron acceptor.
Term
autotrophic nutrition
Definition
involves the use of an external energy source to make the complex organic molecules that we call food.
Term
autotrophic anaerobes
Definition
include chemosynthetic bacteria
Term
autotrophic aerobes
Definition
green plants and phytoplankton
Term
heterotrophic anaerobes
Definition
yeast
Term
heterotrophic aerobes: examples
Definition
amoebas, earthworms, humans
Term
inorganic compounds
Definition
compounds that do not comntain the element carbon including salts and HCL
Term
organic compounds
Definition
made by living systems and contain carbon
Term
protoplasm
Definition
that substance of life;the living contents of a cell that are surrounded by a plasma membrane; Protoplasm is composed of a mixture of small molecules such as ions, amino acids, monosaccharides and water, and macromolecules such as nucleic acids, proteins, lipids and polysaccharides
Term
atom
Definition
the unit of an element
Term
molecule
Definition
the unit of a compound
Term
compound
Definition
atoms join by chemical bonds to form compounds
Term
DNA
Definition
deoxyribonucleic acid
Term
diaphragm (microscope)
Definition
controls the amount of light passing through the specimen in a compound light microscope
Term
fluid mosaic model
Definition
the cell membrane consists of a phospholipid bilayer with various (mosaic)proteins embedded throughout. The lipids and many of the proteins can move freely within the membrane (fluid).
Term
carrier proteins
Definition
A protein that transports specific substance through intracellular compartments, into the extracellular fluid, or across the cell membrane;Carrier proteins can be involved in facilitated diffusion or active transport
Term
histones
Definition
proteins that dna tightly coils around to form chromosomes.
Term
chromosomes
Definition
A structure within the cell that bears the genetic material as a threadlike linear strand of DNA bonded to various proteins in the nucleus of eukaryotic cells, or as a circular strand of DNA (or RNA in some viruses) in the cytoplasm of prokaryotes and in the mitochondrion and chloroplast of certain eukaryotes.
Term
nucleolus
Definition
dense structure in the nucleus where ribosomal RNA synthesis occurs
Term
rRNA
Definition
ribosomal RNA
Term
cyclosis
Definition
streaming movement within the cell (transport within the cytoplasm)
Term
microtubule
Definition
thin tubes made up of protein that are used to make structures involved in cellular movement such as flagella.
Term
hydrolytic enzymes
Definition
involved in intracellular digestion; found in lysosomes (act/behave as hydrolases)
Term
autolysis
Definition
injured or dying tissues do this by rupturing the lysosome membrane and releasing the hydrolytic enzymes
Term
osmosis
Definition
simple diffusion of WATER
Term
hypertonic
Definition
when a medium has a higher concentration of solutes (less water)
Term
plasmolysis
Definition
when water flows out of the cell; the cell shrivels; happens when cell is in a hypertonic solution
Term
hypotonic
Definition
when a medium has a lower concentration of solutes (more water)
Term
lyse
Definition
water flows into a cell in a hypotonic solution and the cell bursts
Term
proteins
Definition
organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain polymer and joined together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues
Term
coenzyme
Definition
loosely bound organic cofactor
Term
substrate
Definition
molecule upon which an enzyme acts
Term
pepsin
Definition
is an enzyme that is released by the chief cells in the stomach and that degrades food proteins into peptides
Term
lactase
Definition
hydrolyzes lactose to the monosaccharides glucose and galactose
Term
protease
Definition
degrades proteins to amino acids
Term
lipase
Definition
break down lipids to fatty acids and glycerol
Term
cofactor
Definition
a non-protein chemical compound that is bound (either tightly or loosely) to a protein and is required for the protein's biological activity.
Term
photosynthesis
Definition
converts the energy of the sun into the chemical energy of bonds in compounds such as glucose
Term
respiration
Definition
involves the conversion of the chemical energy in bonds into the usable energy needed to drive the processes of living cells; it has 3 stages: pyruvate decarboxylation, CAC, and the ETC
Term
dehydrogenation
Definition
is a chemical reaction that involves the elimination of hydrogen (H2)
Term
glycolysis
Definition
a series of reactions that lead to the oxidative breakdown of glucose into two molecules of pyruvate, the production of ATP and the reduction of NAD+ to NADH; happens in the cytoplasm
Term
cytoplasm
Definition
Term
PGAL
Definition
Term
substrate level phosphorylation
Definition
Term
anaerobic
Definition
Term
aerobic
Definition
Term
Krebs Cycle
Definition
Term
cytochromes
Definition
Term
fatty acid
Definition
Term
glycerol
Definition
Term
transamination reaction
Definition
Term
oxidative deamination
Definition
Term
ammonia
Definition
Term
chemosynthesis
Definition
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