ZOOLOGY (Lecture Notes for chapter 2)

Spontaneous generation

The belief that living organisms can arise spontaneously from nonliving matter.

Last universal common ancestor (LUCA)

The population of microorganisms that lived almost 4 billion years ago and is believed to be the common ancestor of all living organisms on Earth.

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction in which a compound is split into smaller pieces by the addition of a molecule of water.

Buffer

A dissolved substance that helps resist changes in pH by removing added H+ and OH- ions from a solution.

Condensation reactions

The reverse of hydrolysis, where larger compounds are synthesized from smaller components by removing a molecule of water.

Organic compounds

Compounds that contain carbon.

Glucose

The most important energy-storing carbohydrate.

Photosynthesis

The process by which green plants synthesize carbohydrates from water and carbon dioxide using solar energy.

Monosaccharides

Simple sugars, the building blocks of carbohydrates.

Polysaccharides

Complex sugars, such as cellulose and glycogen.

Chitin

An important structural polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of insects and other arthropods.

Triglycerides

Major fuels of animals, also known as "true" fats.

Phospholipids

Important components of cell membranes, similar in structure to triglycerides but with one fatty acid replaced by phosphoric acid and an organic base.

Steroids

Complex alcohols with fat-like properties.

Peptide bond

The bond that links amino acids together to form proteins.

Primary structure

The sequence of amino acids in a protein.

Secondary structure

The regular repeating patterns, such as alpha-helix, formed by the folding of a protein chain.

Enzymes

Biological catalysts that lower the activation energy required for specific