Saturday, January 21, 2012

Plant Division

The four major groups of plants are mosses, ferns, conifers and flowering plants.

Mosses are land plants but they do not have seeds like flower plants. Mosses reproduce with spores and lack vessels which restricts them to be a smaller size. They are found in moist environments.






Ferns are made up of vascular systems. Ferns do not have flowers and reproduce with spores, each spore grows into a new plant called gametophyte.The gametophyte produces gametes (eggs and sperm), which unite to produce the fern plant.






Conifers produce seeds not spores. Conifers produce pollen cones, in which develop microsporangia, which undergo meiosis, producing pollen grains, which are immature male gametophytes. The pollen is blown by the wind onto female cones.





Flowering Plants also known as angiosperms. The flower attracts many animals that help in pollination. The seed develops in a ovary which turns into a fruit. Many animals will eat the fruit and the seed with be passed along through the digestive system, unharmed and then will be deposited into the ground.






Beneficial Bacteria

Not all bacteria are bad. In fact, most bacteria are harmless, and some are even beneficial. There are certain fungi, particularly yeasts, that are useful to people and can help promote good health. Many of these good bacteria and fungi aid in digestion. Others are used in food and medicine.

 


CELL WORDLE

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flaggellum- locomotion organelle present in some animal cells.
centrosome- region where the cell's microtubules are initiated; in animal cell, contains a pair of centrioles.
chromatin- material consisting of DNA and proteins.
nucleolus- nonmembanous organelle involved in production of ribosomes.
lysosome- digestive organelle.
plasma membrane- membrane enclosing the cell.
ribosome- nonmembranous organelles that make proteins.
cytoskeleton- holds the cell's shape. it is made of protein
mitochondrion- organelle where cellular respiration occurs and most ATP is generated.
chloroplast- photosynthetic organelle that converts energy of sunlight to chemical energy.
cell wall- holds cell shape and protects the cell.
golgi apparatus- organelle active in synthesis, sorting, and secretion of cell products.
endoplasmic reticulum- network of membranous sacs and tubes; active in membranous synthesis and other synthetic and metabolic processes.
tonoplast- membrane enclosing the central vacuole.
central vacuole- prominent organelle in older plant cells; functions include breakdown of waste, storage and enlargement of vacuole.

* not in animal cells: chloroplasts, central vacuole and tonoplast, cell wall and plasmodesmata.
* not in plant cells: lysosomes,centrioles, and flagella.

Bacteria vs Prion vs Virus

Bacteria: One of two prokaryotic domains, the other being archaea.
Bacteria are microscopic organisms whose single cells have neither a membrane-enclosed nucleus or other membrane-enclosed organelles like mitochondria.They do not go through meiosis/mitosis for reproduction.The Gram Positive plasma membrane and both membranes in Gram negative bacteria are phospholipid bilayers but contain no cholesterol. 



Prion: A infectious form of protein that may increase in number by converting related proteins to more prions.
When a prion enters a healthy organism, it controls proteins to convert into the disease-associated, prion form. Then the prion acts as a template to guide the misfolding of more protein into prion form. These newly formed prions can then go on to convert more proteins themselves, this triggers a chain reaction that produces large amounts of the prion form.




Virus: A small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms.
 Virus particles are made of genetic material composed of  DNA or RNA, a protein coat that protects these genes, and in some cases an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat when they are outside a cell.

Bacterial Transformation




Bacterial Transformation is the alteration of a bacterial cell's genotype by the uptake of naked foreign DNA from the surrounding environment.
Researchers found that many bacterial species have proteins that on the surface of the protein they are specialized to uptake naked DNA from the surrounding solution. These proteins specifically recognize and transport only DNA from closely related species of bacteria.


compare photosynthesis and cellular respiration

Photosynthesis: The conversion of light and energy to chemical energy that is stored in glucose or other organic compounds. It occurs in plants,algae, and certain prokaryotes.
Cellular Respiration: The most prevalent and efficient catabolic pathway for the production of ATP, in which oxygen is consumed as a reactant along with the organic fuel.
What are the similarities?: They both take place within an organelle. They both involve electron transport chains. They also utilize ATP for energy. Most importantly they provide power for cellular activity.

Differences?: In cellular respiration it depends on oxygen as a substrate. In Photosynthesis it uses 2 electron transport chains. In Photo, energy is provided by photons whereas in cellular respiration the energy is provided by a catabolic process. Photosynthesis produces NADPH and Cellular respiration involves NADH and FADH2.