Chapter 1 Bio: Principles of Life

BSC2010

Living organisms share common aspects of ___, ___, and ____

structure, function, energy flow

Living organisms are composed of a common set of chemical parts: ___ and ____

nucleic acids and amino acids

What do nucleic acids do? (CH 1 specific)

specialized for the storage, transmission, and expression of genetic information

What do amino acids do? (CH 1 specific)

chemical building blocks that make up proteins

All life has ____ ____

common ancestry

What are nucleic acids made up of?

nucleotides

Two major nucleic acids are…

DNA and RNA

Definition of a cell

simplest structural unit of a living organism

Cells serve as building blocks of ___ and ____

tissues, organs

What are prokaryotes?

unicellular organisms that do not have a nucleus; single cell containing genetic material and other biochemical structures enclosed in a membrane

What were the first organisms?

prokaryotes

What does photosynthesis do?

chemical rxns that transform the energy of the sunlight into the chemical bond energy of the sugar glucose

What is aerobic metabolism?

presence of oxygen/requiring or using oxygen

What is anaerobic metabolism?

extracts energy without using oxygen

Which is more efficient: anaerobic or aerobic metabolism?

aerobic (with oxygen)

What are organelles?

any of the membrane-enclosed structures within a eukaryotic cell

What is a nucleus?

centrally located compartment of eukaryotic cells; enclosed by a double membrane; contains chromosomes

What do mitochondria contain?

is in eukaryotic cells; contains enzymes

Function of chloroplasts

bound by a double membrane; contains enzymes and pigments that perform photosynthesis

What are eukaryotes?

organisms made up of one or more complex cells in which the genetic material is contained in the nuclei (important!!)

What is cellular specialization?

In multicellular organisms, the division of labor is such that different cell types become responsible for different functions within the organisms

What enables eukaryotes to increase in size and become more efficient at gathering resources?

cellular specialization

How does an organism reproduce?

it replicates its genome

What is a genome?

complete DNA sequence for a particular organism or individual

What are mutations?

change in the genetic material that is not caused by recombination

What are the two major branches of life?

Bacteria and Archaea

Describe bacteria

unicellular; lacking a nucleus; possessing distinctive ribosomes and interior tRNA

Describe archaea

unicellular; lacking a nucleus; lack peptidoglycan in the cell wall

What are the three domains of life?

bacteria, archaea, and eukarya

What are tissues?

a group of similar cells organized into a functional unit

What are organs?

a body part composed of two or more tissues integrates to perform a distinct function

What are organ systems?

interrelated and integrated groups of tissues and organs that work together in a physiological function

Organization of atoms to organisms

atoms —> small molecules —> large molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids —> cells —> cell specialization —> tissues —> organs —> organ systems —> multicellular organism

Organization of organisms to ecosystems

population —> community —> landscape —> biosphere

What are ecological systems?

one or more organisms and the abiotic and biotic factors with which they interact

What are populations?

A group of individuals of the same species that live, interact, and reproduce together in a particular geographic area

What are communities?

assemblage of interacting individuals of different species within a geographic area

What are landscapes?

An ecological area consisting of multiple ecological communities within a geographic area larger than the area occupied by the community

What is a biosphere?

region that supports living organisms on earth

What is a system?

set of interacting parts in which neither the parts nor the whole can be fully understood without taking into account the interactions

What is feedback?

in regulatory systems, information about the relationship between the set point of the system and its current state

What is positive feedback?

when a product of a system speeds up an earlier process; causes the product to be produced faster and faster

What us negative feedback?

when a product of a system slows down an earlier process in the system; product increases in amount or concentration and exerts more and more of a slowing effect

What is the regulatory system?

uses feedback information to maintain a physiological function or parameter at an optimal level; negative feedback is very common

What are controlled experiments?

deliberately changes one or more of the factors being tested

What are comparative experiments?

compared unmanipulated data gathered from different sources

What is an independent variable?

variable being manipulated

What is a dependent variable?

the response that is measured

The aspects that all living organisms share:

1. composed of a common set of chemical parts

2. composed at a microscopic level of a similar structure

3. depends on intricate interactions

4. convert molecules obtained from their environment into new biological molecules

5. extract energy from the environment

6. contain genetic information

7. reproduce their genetic information in the same manner when reproducing themselves

8. evolve through gradual changes

Not all living organisms are ____

composed of more than one cell

What is required to maintain organization?

energy

Each level of biological organization consists of ___

systems

What is feedforward?

skips some of the processes and goes to the next level; aka anticipatory action; goes from component A to component B, skipping C

Predictions are made based on ____

observations