Chapter 11: Cell Growth and Development

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering cell growth, limits on cell size, asexual and sexual reproduction, chromosome architecture, karyotypes, the eukaryotic cell cycle, and the stages of mitosis and cytokinesis based on Chapter 11 notes.

Cell Division

The biological process by which a cell divides into two new daughter cells.

Surface Area to Volume Ratio

A key constraint limiting cell size, because as a cell grows, its volume expands faster than its surface area, restricting the cell's ability to efficiently move materials in and out across its membrane.

DNA Overload

A critical limit on cell size that occurs when a cell grows too large for its genetic material to fulfill all the informational demands of the cell.

Asexual Reproduction

The production of genetically identical offspring from a single parent cell, characterized by being relatively simple, efficient, and effective.

Sexual Reproduction

The reproductive process involving the fusion (combining) of two reproductive cells formed from two different parents, producing genetic diversity.

Binary Fission

A form of asexual reproduction in prokaryotes in which the circular chromosome replicates and the cell splits into two identical daughter cells.

Budding

A method of asexual reproduction (observed in hydras) where an offspring begins as a lump on the parent, develops tentacles, grows, and eventually separates.

Vegetative Propagation

A type of asexual reproduction in plants, such as kalanchoe, where plantlets form along leaf edges and eventually drop off to grow independently.

Chromosomes

Rod-shaped structures made of DNA and proteins that store all genetic information and carry DNA bundled inside cells.

Histones

Specific proteins around which eukaryotic DNA is tightly wrapped within chromosomes.

Chromatids

The two identical halves of a duplicated chromosome.

Centromere

The constricted region of a chromosome that holds two sister chromatids together and serves as an attachment site for spindle fibers.

Chromatin

The less tightly coiled complex of DNA and protein present when the cell is not dividing, allowing its genetic instructions to be read.

Sex Chromosomes

Chromosomes that determine the sex of an organism; humans possess two sex chromosomes (either X or Y, where females are XX and males are XY).

Autosomes

All chromosomes in an organism other than sex chromosomes; humans have 44 autosomes, organized into 22 pairs.

Homologous Chromosomes

Pairs of matching chromosomes carrying genes for the same traits, with every diploid body cell containing two copies.

Karyotype

A photomicrograph showing the complete diploid set of chromosomes grouped together in homologous pairs.

Diploid Cells

Cells containing two complete sets of chromosomes (pairs), abbreviated as $2n$, which includes all normal human body cells except reproductive cells.

Haploid Cells

Cells containing only one single set of chromosomes, abbreviated as $1n$, exemplified by human sperm and egg cells.

Cell Cycle

The regular sequence of growth, DNA replication, preparation, and cell division that a cell undergoes to produce two daughter cells.

Interphase

The prolonged period between cell divisions comprising the $G_1$ phase, S phase, and $G_2$ phase.

$G_1$ Phase

The first growth phase of the eukaryotic cell cycle, during which the cell increases in size and synthesizes new proteins and organelles.

S Phase

The synthesis phase of interphase during which the cell replicates its DNA, resulting in double the initial amount of DNA.

$G_2$ Phase

The stage of interphase where the cell prepares for mitosis by reproducing additional organelles and molecules needed for division.

Mitosis

The division of the eukaryotic cell nucleus, resulting in two new cells with genetic material identical to the original parent cell.

Meiosis

A specialized type of eukaryotic cell division that results in daughter cells containing half the original chromosome number.

Prophase

The first phase of mitosis in which the nuclear membrane disappears, chromosomes condense, chromatids become visible, centrioles migrate to opposite poles, and spindle fibers attach to centromeres.

Metaphase

The second phase of mitosis during which duplicated chromosomes line up across the center (equator) of the cell.

Anaphase

The third phase of mitosis in which sister chromatids separate at their centromeres and are pulled toward opposite sides of the cell as individual chromosomes.

Telophase

The final stage of mitosis during which chromosomes uncoil and spread out, and nuclear envelopes reform around each cluster of chromosomes.

Cytokinesis

The division of the cell's cytoplasm that completes cell division by dividing one cell into two distinct daughter cells.

Cell Plate

A structure that forms during plant cell cytokinesis along the midpoint of the dividing cell, developing into a separating membrane and cell wall.