Cell Biology, Transport, Cellular Respiration, and Photosynthesis

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering cellular organelles, membrane transport, cellular respiration, and photosynthetic pathways.

Ribosomes

Cellular sites of protein synthesis that assist in assembling amino acids into proteins.

Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (Rough ER)

Endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes that produces glycoproteins.

Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (Smooth ER)

Endoplasmic reticulum without ribosomes where lipids are synthesized.

Nucleus

The organelle surrounded by the nuclear envelope that houses the cell's DNA.

Nucleolus

A region located inside the nucleus where ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is transcribed and assembled.

Chloroplast

An organelle found mainly in plants that converts sunlight into chemical energy via photosynthesis.

Golgi Apparatus

An organelle that modifies and packages proteins and lipids into vesicles that merge with the plasma membrane to release their contents.

Peroxisomes

Organelles commonly found in liver and kidney cells that break down fatty acids, amino acids, and toxic hydrogen peroxide into $H_2O$ and $O_2$.

Mitochondria

Organelles that carry out aerobic respiration, obtaining energy ($\text{ATP}$) from carbohydrates.

Lysosomes

Organelles containing digestive enzymes that break down food, cellular debris, and foreign invaders such as bacteria.

Prokaryotes

Single-celled organisms, such as bacteria, that lack a nucleus.

Eukaryotes

Organisms such as plants, animals, fungi, and protists whose cells contain a nucleus and more DNA.

Selectively Permeable

A property of the plasma membrane that allows only certain substances to enter or leave the cell.

Bulk Flow

The collective movement of substances in the same direction in response to a force or pressure.

Passive Transport

The movement of substances down a concentration gradient from higher to lower concentrations without requiring energy.

Diffusion

The random movement of substances from high to lower concentrations until equilibrium is reached.

Facilitated Diffusion

The passive movement of particles or water from high to lower concentrations through channel proteins in the plasma membrane.

Osmosis

The movement of water molecules from regions of higher concentration to regions of lower concentration.

Plasmolysis

The osmotic movement of water out of a cell that results in the collapse of the cell.

Dialysis

The diffusion of solutes across a selectively permeable membrane.

Countercurrent Exchange

The diffusion of substances between two regions where substances are moving by bulk flow in opposite directions.

Active Transport

The movement of solutes against a concentration gradient (low to higher concentration) requiring energy, usually in the form of $\text{ATP}$.

Exocytosis

Vesicular transport where vesicles fuse with the plasma membrane to release their contents outside the cell.

Endocytosis

Vesicular transport involving the capture of substances outside the cell as the plasma membrane merges with or engulfs them.

Hypertonic Solution

A solution with a higher concentration of solute than the cell, causing cells to shrink or shrivel due to water loss.

Hypotonic Solution

A solution with a lower concentration of solute than the cell, causing cells to swell or burst due to water intake.

Isotonic Solution

A solution where solute and water concentrations inside and outside the cell are equal.

Water Potential

The tendency of water to leave one place in favor of another, calculated as solute potential plus pressure potential ($\Psi = \Psi_s + \Psi_p$).

Solute Potential ($\Psi_s$)

A component of water potential calculated by $\Psi_s = -iCRT$ that is always negative, directing water to move toward the most negative value.

Cellular Respiration Reaction

The metabolic process summarized by $C_6H_{12}O_6 + 6O_2 \rightarrow 6CO_2 + 6H_2O + \text{ATP}$.

Aerobic Respiration

A cellular respiration pathway requiring oxygen ($O_2$) that yields $36\text{ to }38\,\text{ATP}$.

Glycolysis

The metabolic conversion of glucose into pyruvate in the cytoplasm, generating $\text{ATP}$ and $\text{NADH}$.

Krebs Cycle

The mitochondrial matrix pathway that consumes Acetyl-CoA and generates $\text{ATP}$, $\text{NADH}$, and $\text{FADH}_2$.

Electron Transport Chain (ETC)

A series of carrier proteins (e.g., cytochrome c) in the inner mitochondrial membrane that transfers electrons to oxygen as the final electron acceptor.

Oxidative Phosphorylation

The process occurring in the inner mitochondrial membrane that generates $\text{ATP}$ ($3\,\text{ATP}$ per $\text{NADH}$, $2\,\text{ATP}$ per $\text{FADH}_2$) using electron flow and ATP synthase.

Fermentation

An anaerobic pathway occurring in the cytoplasm in the absence of oxygen, categorized into alcohol fermentation and lactic acid fermentation.

Chlorophyll

A plant pigment located in the chloroplast that absorbs solar energy for photosynthesis.

Llanito

A linguistic variety native to the people of the Rock of Gibraltar combining elements of Spanish and English.

Light-Dependent Reactions

Photosynthetic reactions occurring across the thylakoid membrane that split water and produce $\text{ATP}$, $\text{NADPH}$, and $O_2$.

Calvin Cycle

Light-independent reactions occurring in the stroma where $CO_2$ is reduced into carbohydrates using $\text{ATP}$ and $\text{NADPH}$.

Photophosphorylation

The light-driven production of $\text{ATP}$ from $\text{ADP}$ and inorganic phosphate ($P_i$).

CAM Photosynthesis

An adaptation to hot, dry climates where plants open stomata at night to absorb and store $CO_2$ for use during daylight.