AP Biology Exam Review Flashcards

Flashcards covering the topics of the AP Biology exam, focusing on key vocabulary and concepts related to molecular biology, genetics, and evolution.

Hydrogen Bond

A weak bond that forms between a partially negative oxygen and partially positive hydrogen atoms.

Cohesion

Refers to hydrogen bonds between water molecules.

Adhesion

Is water sticking to other substances.

Surface Tension

The force exerted by water molecules on the surface of a body of water.

Acidic Solutions

Solutions that have more hydrogen ions (H⁺) than hydroxide ions (OH⁻).

Basic Solutions

Solutions that have more hydroxide ions (OH⁻) than hydrogen ions (H⁺).

CHNOPS

Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur - the elements of life.

Monomers

Smaller building blocks from which three of the four groups of biomolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids) are built.

Dehydration Synthesis

Synthesis is how you build things, and dehydration means you lack water.

Hydrolysis

An enzyme inserts a water molecule in between the two monomers making up the polymer, which breaks them apart.

Phosphate Groups

Key for energy exchange (ATP, adenosine triphosphate). Also found in DNA, and they're what energize DNA monomers as they're put together.

Methyl Group

Used to silence DNA; it makes molecules nonpolar or hydrophobic.

Hydroxy group

Make molecules hydrophilic or water-soluble.

Carbonyl Group

Make molecules hydrophilic or water-soluble.

Carboxy Group

Essential in amino acids.

Amino Group

Essential in amino acids.

Sulfhydryl Group

Very important in terms of protein structure; it creates a stabilizing bond that holds proteins in a specific three-dimensional shape.

Acetyl Group

Used to activate DNA through a process called acetylation.

Carbohydrates

Simple sugars; the monomer, or monosaccharides, are simple sugars, and some of those are all important in biology, like for example glucose, which is essentially the fuel of life.

Lipids

Molecules that are wholly or partly nonpolar.

Phospholipids

A hydrophobic nonpolar tail and they have a hydrophilic or polar head.

Proteins

The monomer is an amino acid, and it has a central carbon over here.

Nucleic Acids

The molecules of genetic information.

Glutamic acid

Acidic amino acid

Valine

Nonpolar amino acid

DNA

The molecule of heredity; it's what passes from generation to generation.

RNA

Key role is information transfer, as in messenger RNA.

Cells

The basic unit of life; they're the basic unit of structure and function in every organism.

Prokaryotic Cells

Small and relatively simple; they have no nucleus.

Eukaryotic Cells

Larger and more complex; they're found in the domain that has their name, the Eukarya.

Cell Compartmentalization

Internal division of a space into sections.

Endomembrane System

A dynamic, connected system of internal membranes and compartments.

Symbiosis

Means living together—two species living closely associated with one another.

Endosymbiosis

Is when one of those species lives inside the other.

Nucleus

Stores and protects genetic information in the form of DNA.

Ribosomes

Particles composed of ribosomal RNA and protein.

Mitochondria

Converting food energy into ATP; that's the molecule that cells use to get work done.

Adrenaline

Epinephrine.

Homeostasis

The tendency of a living system to maintain its internal conditions at a relatively constant optimal level.

Feedback

When the output of a system is also an input.

Cell Cycle Checkpoints

Moments when the cell checks its internal conditions and decides whether to progress to the next phase of the cell cycle.

Apoptosis

Programmed cell death.

Cyclins

Molecules whose concentration rises and falls throughout the cell cycle.

Cyclin-Dependent Kinases

Kinases that respond to rising and falling levels of cyclin levels.

Cancer

A disease of unregulated cell division.

Mitosis

Mitosis duplicates the chromosomes of a eukaryotic cell, transmitting that cell's entire genome to its daughter cell.

Meiosis

Cell division that reduces chromosome number

Gametes

Haploid gametes, the chromosomes aren't paired anymore, so there are just 23 chromosomes in the sperm and 23 in the egg.

Somatic Cells

Cells of the body, the diploid cells that make up the body tissues.

Synapsis

Pairing chromosomes

Chiasma

Locus of crossing over

Genetic Recombination

That genetic material is recombined.

Nondisjunction

When the homologous pairs or the sister chromatids don't separate during meiosis.

Trisomy

Has an extra chromosome.

Monosomy

Has a missing chromosome.

principle of segregation

States that parents have two alleles for each trait but pass on only one to their offspring, which inherit their two alleles from two separate parents.

principle of independent assortment

States that what happens to one gene pair is independent of every other gene pair, at least in the ones that Mendel studied.

rule of multiplication

States that the probability of independent events occurring together is the product of their individual probabilities.

Recombinant DNA

DNA has been combined from more than one source.

founder effect

the tendency of a small group of founders to establish a colony that reflects only a small portion of the genetic diversity of the original population

genetic drift

The random changes in allele frequencies in a population from generation to generation.

gene flow

Movement of genes from one population to another

Pseudogenes

Molecular Homologies.

natural evolution

All species are in constant dynamic with each other, and these leads to increased fitness for the organism and ultimately can cause a shift of diversity within an environment.

co-evolution

When traits within the two organisms shift because of the interaction to continue survival.

Pseudogene

A non-functional gene that's a variant of a functional gene in a related species.

DNA

A double-stranded helical molecule composed of nucleotide monomers.

Point Mutation

A change in a single nucleotide.

Amino Acid

The combination of molecules for protein structure.

Small RNA

Codes which can specify codons for one amino acid.

transduction cell signaling

Three Phases. In this molecular level with a cellular repsonse

Silent mutations

Mutations that result in the same amino acid being coded for.

Nonsense Mutation

A mutation that inserts a stop codon instead of an amino acid.

Missense Mutation

Changes the amino acid from one to another.

Frameshift Mutation

A mutation where the reading frame is changed.

Germline Mutations

Mutations in the cells that make gametes, and all other cells.

Somatic Mutation

Emerges in some tissue during the course of development or during the course of adult life.

Horizontal Gene Transfer

One organism transfers genes to another organism that is not its offspring.

Number

Cell division that reduces chromosome

quorum sensing

Cell communication.

R group

Can be polar, nonpolar, acidic, or basic.

Plant cell wall

Composed primarily of cellulose, which is a polysaccharide.