Biology Terms 2
Terms
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- Homologous
- Structures in different species that are similar because of common ancestry.
- Analagous
- Stuctures in different species with the same purpose.
- Cation
- A positive ion.
- Specific Heat
- The amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1 gram of a substance to change its temperature by 1 degree Celcius
- Heat of Vaporization
- The quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1 gram of it to be converted from the liquid to the gaseous state.
- Hydration Cell
- The sphere of water molecules around each dissolved ion.
- Hydroxide Ion
- A water molecule that lost a proton
- Buffer
- A substance that consists of acid and base forms in a solution and that minimizes changes in pH when extraneous acids or bases are added to the solution.
- Peptide Bond
- The covalent bond between two amino acid units, formed by a dehydration reaction.
- Denaturation
- For proteins, a process in which a protein unravels and loses its native conformation, thereby becoming biologically inactive. For DNA, the separation of the two strands of the double helix. Denaturation occurs under extreme conditions of pH, salt concentration, and temperature.
- Glycerol
- A three-carbon alcohol with a hydroxyl group on each carbon.
- Steriod
- A type of lipid characterized by a carbon skeleton consisting of four rings with various functional groups attached.
- Monosacharrides
- The simplest carbohydrate, active alone or serving as a monomer for disaccharides and polysaccharides. Also known as simple sugars, the molecular formulas of monosaccharides are generally some multiple of CH2O.
- Isomer
- One of several organic compounds with the same molecular formula but different structures and therefore different properties. The three types of isomers are structural isomers, geometric isomers, and enantiomers.
- Stereoisomer
- Any of a group of isomers in which atoms are linked in the same order but differ in their spatial arrangement
- Cellulose
- A structural polysaccharide of cell walls, consisting of glucose monomers joined by b-1, 4-glycosidic linkages.
- Chitin
- A structural polysaccharide of an amino sugar found in many fungi and in the exoskeletons of all arthropods.
- Methanogen
- Microorganisms that obtain energy by using carbon dioxide to oxidize hydrogen, producing methane as a waste product.
- Anaerobic Respiration
- The use of inorganic molecules other than oxygen to accept electrons at the "downhill" end of electron transport chains.
- Extreme Halophile
- Microorganisms that live in unusually highly saline environments such as the Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea.
- Nucleoid
- A dense region of DNA in a prokaryotic cell.
- Gram Positive
- The group of bacteria with simpler cell walls with a relatively large amount of peptidoglycan. Gram-positive bacteria are usually less toxic than gram-negative bacteria.
- Gram Negative
- The group of bacteria with a structurally more complex cell wall made of less peptidoglycan. Gram-negative bacteria are often more toxic than gram-positive bacteria.
- Vesicle
- A sac made of membrane inside of cells.
- Histone
- A small protein with a high proportion of positively charged amino acids that binds to the negatively charged DNA and plays a key role in its chromatin structure.
- Nucleosome
- The basic, beadlike unit of DNA packaging in eukaryotes, consisting of a segment of DNA wound around a protein core composed of two copies of each of four types of histone.
- Cytosol
- The semifluid portion of the cytoplasm.
- Peroxisome
- A microbody containing enzymes that transfer hydrogen from various substrates to oxygen, producing and then degrading hydrogen peroxide
- Cristae
- An infolding of the inner membrane of a mitochondrion that houses the electron transport chain and the enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of ATP.
- Matrix
- The nonliving component of connective tissue, consisting of a web of fibers embedded in homogeneous ground substance that may be liquid, jellylike, or solid.
- Grana
- A stacked portion of the thylakoid membrane in the chloroplast. Grana function in the light reactions of photosynthesis.
- Thylakoid
- A flattened membrane sac inside the chloroplast, used to convert light energy to chemical energy.
- Actin
- A globular protein that links into chains, two of which twist helically about each other, forming microfilaments in muscle and other contractile elements in cells.
- Intermediate Filament
- A component of the cytoskeleton that includes all filaments intermediate in size between microtubules and microfilaments.
- Basal Body
- A eukaryotic cell organelle consisting of a 9 + 0 arrangement of microtubule triplets; may organize the microtubule assembly of a cilium or flagellum; structurally identical to a centriole.