Unit 8: Ecology
Shows how each living thing gets food, and how nutrients and energy are passed from creature to creature.
What is a food chain?
Communication within or between cells mediated by signaling molecules and membrane receptors
What is Cell signaling?
Primary energy carrier in cells, storing energy in phosphate bonds.
What is ATP?
The molecule carrying genetic information.
What is DNA?
An organism’s ability to survive and produce viable offspring.
What is Fitness?
a species that is in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range
What is an endangered species?
signaling between long distance cells within an organism or between organisms (pheromones, hormones, endocrine signaling)
What is long distance signaling?
Protein catalyst that speeds up reactions by lowering activation energy.
What is an Enzyme?
Enzyme that builds new DNA strands by adding nucleotides.
What is DNA Polymerase?
Genetic drift resulting from a drastic reduction in population size.
What is bottleneck effect?
symbiotic relationship in which both participants benefit
What is Mutualism?
incoming molecule that signals a cell; typically just binds to proteins and doesn't go through the membrane
What is a ligand?
Specific region on an enzyme where the substrate binds.
What is Active Site?
Short fragments of DNA on the lagging strand.
What is Okazaki Fragments?
Structures in different species that are similar due to common ancestry.
What is Homologous Structures?
species that is not necessarily abundant in a community yet exerts strong control on a community structure by the nature of its ecological role or niche.
What is an Keystone Species?
one molecule activates many other molecules which amplifies the initial signal
What is amplification?
Loss of enzyme shape and function due to high temperatures or pH changes.
What is Denature?
Synthesis of a polypeptide using mRNA code.
What is Translation?
Formation of new species due to geographic isolation.
What is Allopatric Speciation?
population growth that levels off as population size approaches carrying capacity
What is Logistic Population Growth
A type of regulation that responds to a change in conditions by initiating responses that will amplify the change. Takes organism away from a steady state.
What is positive feedback?
First stage of photosynthesis, splitting water to produce O2, ATP, and NADPH.
What are Light-Dependent Reactions?
Protein that binds to the operator to block transcription.
What is a Repressor?
A model describing a non-evolving population where allele frequencies remain constant.
What is Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium?