Biological Energy Processes and Genetic Variation
Biological Processes that Generate Energy
1. Photosynthesis: The process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria capture and utilize light energy to convert inorganic matter from their external environment into organic matter used for growth and development.
2. Chemosynthesis: The biological production of organic matter from molecules of carbon and other nutrients, using the oxidation of inorganic molecules.
3. Anaerobic Respiration: A biological process of oxidation-reduction of sugars and other compounds where the terminal electron acceptor is a molecule, generally inorganic, other than oxygen.
4. Aerobic Respiration: A type of energy metabolism in which living organisms extract energy from organic molecules, such as glucose, by a complex process in which carbon is oxidized and oxygen from the air is the oxidizer used.
5. Fermentation: A catabolic process of incomplete oxidation, completely anaerobic, the end product being an organic compound.
Gene and Chromosome Function
A gene is the set of a particular sequence of nucleotides on one side of the staircase of chromosomes. The gene’s function is to determine which proteins are synthesized to give a certain shape, structure, and form to the organism.
A chromosome is each of the small rod-shaped bodies into which the chromatin of the cell nucleus is organized during cell division. Your features (eyes, hair color), your physical characteristics, your gender, disease predisposition, and your “history” are found in genetic regions in your cells.
Changes, Recombination, and Chromosome Mutations
Mutations are alterations or changes in the genetic information of a living being and, therefore, will produce a change in characteristics, which occurs suddenly and spontaneously, and that can be transmitted to offspring through inheritance.
Types of Mutations:
- Somatic Mutation: Affects the somatic cells of the individual. As a result, individuals are mosaics that have two different cell lines with different genotypes.
- Germline Mutation: Affects gamete-producing cells, thus, gametes with mutations appear. These mutations are passed on to the next generation and have greater significance from an evolutionary standpoint.
- Morphological Mutation: Affects the morphology of the individual, their body distribution. Changes the color or shape of any part of the body of an animal or plant.
- Lethal and Deleterious Mutations: Affect the survival of individuals, causing their death before reaching sexual maturity.
- Chromosome Mutations: Changes in the total number of chromosomes, the duplication or deletion of genes or segments of a chromosome, and rearrangement of genetic material within or between chromosomes.
Importance of Genotypic and Phenotypic Variation
The genotype is the totality of genetic information that an individual possesses and which has been inherited from their parents.
Phenotypic variation refers to the changes caused by the genotype, environment, and interaction between genotype and environment.