BIOL 1009 (001) Exam I Practice Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic chemistry, cell biology, metabolism, and genetics from the BIOL 1009 Exam I review notes.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation for a natural phenomenon based on previous observations and testable.

Theories

Explanations that are well supported over massive amounts of evidence.

Population

A group of organisms of the same species that occupy the same environment.

Community

Populations of different species in the same environment.

Ecosystems

Living organisms and their physical environment.

Biosphere

All places on Earth where living organisms exist.

Vertical Descent and Horizontal Gene Transfer

The two primary mechanisms of evolutionary change.

Cell Wall Composition of Bacteria

Includes peptidoglycan, protein, and sugar.

Archaea

Unicellular prokaryotes with linear chromosomes that reproduce via fission and have cell walls made of polysaccharides.

Taxonomy

The field of biology that groups and classifies species.

Binomial nomenclature

A two-part scientific naming system structured as [Genus] [species], for example, Ursus americanus.

Valence electrons

Electrons in the outer electron shell that are involved in binding.

Octet rule

The principle that an outer shell needs to be filled with $8$ electrons to be stable, except for Hydrogen, which is stable with $2$.

Ionic Bond

A bond formed by the transfer of electrons between a metal and a nonmetal.

Covalent Bond

A bond formed by the sharing of electrons between nonmetals or metalloids.

Hydrogen Bond

A weak bond between a molecule containing hydrogen and a molecule containing a lone pair.

Bronsted-Lowry Acid

A substance that donates protons ($H^+$).

Bronsted-Lowry Base

A substance that accepts protons ($H^+$).

Equilibrium constant of pure water ($K_w$)

$$K_w = [H^+][OH^-] = [10^{-7}M][10^{-7}M] = 10^{-14}M^2$$

pH Formula

$$pH = -\log[H^+]$$

Monosaccharide

The basic monomer unit of carbohydrates.

Triglyceride

A lipid composed of glycerol and three fatty acid chains.

Amino Acids

The monomers of proteins.

Nucleolus

A structure within the nucleus that assembles ribosomes.

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (Rough ER)

The site of protein assembly and processing that ships proteins to the Golgi apparatus.

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (Smooth ER)

The organelle that forms helpful lipids like cholesterol and phospholipids and helps detoxify harmful substances.

Golgi Apparatus

The organelle that modifies proteins after translation and delivers them to the plasma membrane or organelles, moving cis to trans.

Lysosomes

Organelles found only in animal cells that digest molecules in the cytosol using enzymes under acidic conditions.

Peroxisomes

Centers for redox reactions that convert the cellular byproduct $H_2O_2$ into $H_2$ and $O_2$.

Endosymbiotic theory

The theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts originated from a symbiotic relationship where a proto-eukaryotic cell engulfed a smaller prokaryotic cell.

Amphipathic

A molecule having both a hydrophilic layer on its outward-facing region and a hydrophobic layer on its interior, such as a cell membrane phospholipid.

Osmosis

The flow of water from areas of lowest solute concentration to areas of highest solute concentration when solutes are blocked by a membrane.

Hypertonic

A high concentration of solute relative to the outside.

Hypotonic

A low concentration of solute relative to the outside.

Isotonic

An equal concentration of solute inside and outside.

Active Transport

Movement of a molecule against a concentration gradient requiring energy, often from $ATP$.

First law of thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed.

Entropy

A measure of the randomness of molecules in a system.

Enthalpy

The total energy of a system.

Gibbs Free Energy Equation

$$\Delta G = \Delta H - T\Delta S$$

Exergonic reaction

A spontaneous reaction where energy is being released (\Delta G < 0).

Endergonic reaction

A non-spontaneous reaction where energy is being put in (\Delta G > 0).

ATP hydrolysis ΔG value

$$\Delta G = -7.3\,kcal/mol$$

Catabolic pathways

Exergonic pathways that break down molecules to make energy and recycle cellular components.

Anabolic pathways

Endergonic pathways that promote synthesis and use chemical or light energy to make carbohydrates and proteins.

Activation energy

The energy required to reach the transition state.

Oxidation

The loss of electrons from a molecule.

Reduction

The gaining of electrons by a molecule.

Substrate-level phosphorylation

A process where an enzyme directly transfers a phosphate from one molecule to another to make $ATP$.

Chemiosmosis

The use of energy stored in an electrochemical gradient to make $ATP$ from $ADP$ and $P_i$.

ATP Synthase

A pump that uses the movement of $H^+$ ions across a membrane to produce $ATP$.

Fermentation

Producing $ATP$ via substrate-level phosphorylation without net oxygen, often resulting in the reduction of pyruvate to lactate.

Calvin Cycle Energy Requirement

Requires $9\,ATP$ and $6\,NADPH$ to produce one $G3P$.

Rubisco

The enzyme in the Calvin cycle that binds $CO_2$ to $RuBP$ but can mistakenly bind $O_2$ when oxygen levels are high.

C4 Plants

Plants that fix carbon into a $4$ carbon molecule using $phosphoenolpyruvate\,\text{(PEP)}\,carboxylase$ to avoid binding $O_2$.

DNA polymerase

The enzyme that synthesizes DNA always in the $5'$ to $3'$ direction.

Okazaki fragments

Segments of DNA formed on the lagging strand during discontinuous replication.