Cellular Biology and Biochemistry: Essential Concepts
Affinity
An attraction. What has the highest affinity for electrons? Electron carrier, then protein, then oxygen.
Capsule
Found on some bacteria that can live out in nature.
Autotrophs
Make their own food.
CO2 Sink
Plants are considered this because they use CO2 and turn it into sugar.
What Makes up Hydrogen?
1 proton and 1 electron.
Fluorescent Microscope
Specimen stained with auramine O.
Why Would You Use a Fluorescent Microscope?
To tag a particular part of the cytoskeleton.
Scanning Microscope
Shows an image when electrons bounce back.
Transmission Microscope
Transmits a beam of electrons through a specimen.
Atmospheric Protection
What types of protection does the atmosphere provide us with? The ozone layer protects us from the effects of UV light; greenhouse gasses help trap some of the heat from the sun so that the planet is warmed.
Kinetic Energy
Involves building something (anabolic reaction).
Potential Energy
Involves breaking something (catabolic reaction).
Second Law of Thermodynamics
Over time, things will become more disordered without energy.
Sun Energy Does What?
Takes the electron away from the H2O.
Active Transport
Energy-requiring process that moves things from a low to a high concentration gradient.
Passive Transport
Doesn’t use energy: High to low concentration.
Electron Carriers Cause Proteins to Be?
Tasered.
What is in ATP?
Base, sugar, 3 phosphates (triphosphate).
Compare Enzymes to ATP
Enzymes are the machines, ATP is the fuel.
Is Glucose the Only Thing that Can Create ATP?
No; can generate from fats, carbohydrates, proteins.
ATP Synthase
Serves as a turbine for ATP production in the mitochondria.
ATP Production
Quite a bit of ATP is produced from each molecule of glucose.
Electron Transport Chain
Electrons serve as a source of energy that allows protons to be pumped out of the matrix against their concentration gradient. Most of the ATP comes from the ETC.
Can ATP Do Work by Itself?
Enzymes are involved with doing much of the work – they act as a catalyst (lower the activation energy).
ATP Reservoir
The reservoir used to make ATP holds what? Protons.
ATP from Mitochondrial Entry
How much ATP does the entry to mitochondria step produce? 0 ATP.
ATP from Glycolysis
How much ATP does glycolysis produce? 2 ATP.
ATP from Citric Acid Cycle
How much ATP does the citric acid cycle produce? 2 ATP.
ATP from Electron Transport Chain
How much ATP does the electron transport chain produce? 34 ATP.
ATP from Cellular Respiration
How much ATP does cellular respiration produce? 38 ATP.
Thylakoid Space
Where the reservoir of protons forms, leading to ATP production in the light reactions.
Granum
Stack of thylakoids.
What Do Light Reactions Produce?
Electron carriers and ATP.
Are Enzymes Always On?
No, they can be turned off when you don’t need them (breaking down food, copying DNA). An enzyme can be turned off because there is an E-shaped hole in the enzyme and the shape is changed.
Enzyme in Dark Reactions
What enzyme is used in dark reactions? RuBisCO (most abundant enzyme).
Enzyme Activity Regulation
How is enzyme activity regulated? Inhibitors or activators, gene regulation.
Enzyme Function
What determines what enzymes do? The shape/structure.
Poisons and Pesticides
What are poisons and pesticides? Inhibitors (enzymes).
Sucrose
Made of 2 particles; part of the enzyme that does the work; grabs hold of the sugar and snaps them apart (left with 2 sugars) and releases it as a product.
Coupled Reaction
Energy builds whatever is needed; add the energies needed and provided; the universe is greedy and wants its energy “tax”; need more than enough work to make extra energy available for the universe.
Nucleic Acids
Not a source of energy for cells.
When Do You Have Nucleic Acids?
When you eat unprocessed foods.
How Do You Move a Molecule?
Requires energy (tight to more spread out, or spread out to tighter).
Citric Acid Cycle
Occurs in the mitochondrial matrix; takes acetyl CoA to create 2 ATP, we exhale our food (sugars and carbohydrates).
What Do Cells Do?
Spend most of their time staying alive, make or look for food, replace worn-out parts, battle elements of nature.
Cellular Work
What else helps the cell to work? Energy (ATP), enzymes, consistent work environment (cell membrane, organelles…each job can happen in its own environment).
Why Aren’t We One Giant Cell?
As an object increases in size, the volume grows at a faster rate than the object.
Prokaryote vs. Eukaryote
Difference between Prokaryote and Eukaryote: Eukaryote has enclosed organelles. Eukaryotic cell is much bigger. Prokaryotic cells have one chromosome.
Prokaryotic Cells
All prokaryotes have… DNA, ribosomes, plasma membrane, 1 chromosome, divide by fission. SOME prokaryotes have… flagella, pili, capsule, cell wall (different from plants).
Plant Cells
2 major things that set plants apart: cell wall, chloroplast.
Hydrophobic Molecules
Can hydrophobic molecules pass through the membrane? Anything that is hydrophobic can.
Nucleus
Stores the DNA, is where replication and transcription take place.
Translocation
Pieces of chromosome switches with another; causes mutation.
Mitosis
Division of the nucleus.
Plasma Membrane
Phospholipid bilayer.
Thick Cell Wall
Still has a membrane, but the wall made of cellulose gives it structure.
Golgi Apparatus
Sorts proteins for their final destination.
Endoplasmic Reticulum
Covered with ribosomes, has something to do with translation/making proteins.
Secretory Pathway
Nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus.
Microtubules
“Railroad tracks”, vesicles follow this track to get where they need to go.
Vesicle
Forms a “bubble” and are driven by a “railroad system” (locomotives) from one location to another, can hold anything and are sent out to microtubules.
Central Vacuole
Takes place of lysosome in plants; helps deal with water.
Chloroplast
An organelle found in plant and algae cells where photosynthesis occurs.
Mitochondria
Uses food and molecules/glucose to make ATP.
Mitochondria’s Inter-membrane Space
Serves as the reservoir.
Meristematic Tissue
Where is meristematic tissue found? Root Cap, Terminal Buds.
Matrix
The inner filling, middle of mitochondria.
Hypertonic
Shriveling (more salt outside).
Hypotonic
Water rushing into the cell.
Cytoskeleton
Combination of microtubules, actin, intermediate filaments all working for the benefit of the cell and its environment, fluorescent, moving vesicles, action of flagella and cilia, holding cells together, communication between cells.
Inner Membrane Folds
Why is the inner membrane folded? To increase the surface area.
Gene Transcription
What looks at transcription of all the genes at once? Microarray.
Cytoskeleton Rails
What are the “rails” made of? Cytoskeleton, they don’t load randomly, but they go to the Golgi apparatus.
Intermediate Filaments
Responsible for the breakdown of the nucleus at prophase and the reassembly of the nucleus at telophase; shepherd of the nucleus.
Stem Cells
What cells replace dead cells in your body? Stem cells.
Embryonic Stem Cell Source
What is the source of embryonic stem cells? ICM (inner cell mass).
Embryonic Stem Cell Controversy
Why is the use of embryonic stem cells controversial? It dismantles the human embryo.
Signal Transduction
An idea is generated by one cell and sent out to other cells; receptor receives the info and goes through a large series of steps to understand the implement, messengers tell cells what to become.
Post-Transcription
What happens after transcription happens? Ribosomes attach to make RNA; protein snakes its way to the inside the ER, folds into the shape, gets coated in sugar.
Actin
Closes the noose during cytokinesis; central protein in muscle contractions; what the contracting proteins contract against, separating the 2 in cell division.
Cell Division
What must happen when cells divide? Every chromosome must be copied (end up with 92 until the new cell forms); when the 46 divide, they must get the correct ones (ex. if you dump marbles out, your sister wants to sort them strategically and evenly, not randomly).
Cloning
What is cloning? Production of genetically identical cells/organisms by asexual reproduction.
Genetic Mapping
Who used to cross over to make a genetic map? Morgan.
Male Dominant Genes
What genes are dominant in males? Those with an x-linked pattern.
Endocytosis
Process of bringing things into the cell.
Human Cloning
Who wanted to clone the first human? Richard Seed and Rael.
Karyotyping
Looking at most basic form of DNA for overt problems.
Exocytosis
Process of putting things/signals outside of the cell (using vesicles).
Exons
Protein coding sections of DNA.
Introns
Non-protein coding sections of DNA.
Splicing
Removal of introns and connection of exons.
Pili
Little straws that allow bacteria to exchange information with each other.
Human Genetics Testing
Human genetics cannot be tested by what? Dihybrid crosses.
Cellular Recycling Center
What is the recycling center of the cell? Lysosomes.
Entry into Mitochondria
Turns pyruvate into acetyl CoA by adding two carbons to CoA.
Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
Has ribosomes, uses the proteins to make RNA (translation).
ER and Protein Sorting
Some proteins are sent out of the cell or to the lysosome.
Rough ER
What makes the rough E.R. rough? Ribosomes.
Dark Reactions
Where do dark reactions happen? In the stroma, sun energy is not required (also called Calvin cycle, second step of photosynthesis where chemical energy is used to make sugar); assembling the materials together.
Catalysts
Make things happen that wouldn’t usually happen as quickly; facilitate chemical reactions.
Recombinant Proteins
What do recombinant proteins do? 1. Pest resistance 2. Make snow 3. Clean up toxic waste.
Secretory Pathway Proteins
What happens to proteins in the secretory pathway? Proteins are broken down into amino acids; lysosomes break things down to individual parts and make proteins with them.
Rubisco
Catches carbon dioxide to fix it.
Steps of Respiration
Breaks down sugar to produce ATP and release CO2 and H2O. It happens in the Mitochondria.
- Glycolysis: Breaking of sugar into smaller particles. Start with glucose end with 2 pyruvates. Glucose breaks down into pyruvate, occurs in the cytoplasm.
- Entry into the Mitochondria: Pyruvate is changed and attached to Co enzyme.
- Citric Acid Cycle: A set of chemical reactions that take Acetyl CoA and slowly breaks down to CO2. Remaining carbons are released as CO2.
Glucose and Oxygen
Water, light, and carbon dioxide yields.
Sugar Function
What does the sugar do? Helps protect them in the outside world.
Protein Coating
What sugar coats protein? Lyc sugar.
Glucose and Oxygen Function
What do glucose and oxygen do? Capture sun in the form of ATP and release CO2 and H20.
Blood Clotting Proteins
Where are blood clotting proteins? Liver.