Biomolecules: The Building Blocks of Life
Bio elements: C, N, O, H
Fundamental unit of life: cell
Biomolecules: lipids
Nucleic acids: C, H, O, N, P
Peptidic bond: it is established between the amino group (-NH2) and carboxy group (-COOH) of two amino acids.
Polysaccharide: many sugar molecules linked together
Nucleotide: the basic building block of nucleic acids (RNA and DNA).
Wax: a type of long chain non-polar lipid.
Protein: proteins are the building materials for the body.
Cell: basic unit of life
| Organic Compound | Monomer | Example | Function |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbohydrates | monosaccharide | bread | store energy |
| Lipids | butter | make a membrane resistan to any change in the organism | |
| Proteins | amino acids | meat | make muscles grow |
| Nucleic Acids | nucleotides | DNA | store genetic info available in the nucleus of the cell. |
Virus
– STRUCTURE
A tiny particle of genetic material (RNA and DNA) with an outer coat of protein
Not living UNTIL they inject themselves into a host (living) cell
May or may not have an outer spiky layer called the envelope
Can attack animals, plants, and humans
Biggest viruses are only as large as the smallest bacteria
By direct contact with infected individuals;
By contact with contaminated objects
By inhalation of virus-laden aerosols
By animals that act as hosts
DISEASES: Flu, colds, Covid 19, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, west nile, measles, herpes, shingles, chicken pox, monkeypox, polio, smallpox, ebola, and some cancers (epstein-barr).
*Tobacco mosaic and cauliflower mosaic are viruses that affect plants
HELPFUL
– Transfer genetic material from species to species (allows for evolution)
– Destroy harmful algal blooms
– Infect and destroy bacteria
– Reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
HARMFUL
– Cause disease and death
– Affect plant yields
– Infect animals such as birds and cows so they cannot be used for food.
TREATMENT
– Vaccines which prevent the host from contracting the virus
– Antiviral drugs which treat the virus once contracted
Autotrophic = makes own food through photosynthesis
If heterotrophic they will be either parasites or saprophytes
Parasites = feed on living material
Saprophytes = feed on dead material
SHAPE
– Cocci = sphere shape
– Bacilli = rod shape
– Spirella = spiral shape
REPRODUCTION
Through binary fission, they split into two cells.
TRANSMISSION: t
Direct contact with an infected person
Contaminated food or water (Salmonella, E.coli)
Dirty objects (tetanus)
Infected animals (rabies)
HARMFUL
– Disease
– Tooth decay
– Food spoilage
HELPFUL
– Antibiotics
– Nitrogen fixing
– Food
– Tanning leather
– Breaking down waste products.
– Digestion
Diseases: cholera, tuberculosis, lyme disease, pertussus, salmonella, staph infections, strep throat, leprosy, tetanus, diptheria, E.coli, flesh eating (necrotizing fascitis) and ricketts.
TREATMENT
– Antibiotic: A chemical substance that stops the growth of some microorganisms such as bacteria within the body.
– Sterilization (heat), Disinfectants and bleach to kill bacteria before they can infect
Taxonomy & Classification
– Classification: the grouping of information or objects based on similarities
– Taxonomy: the science of grouping and naming organisms
Why Classify Organisms?
To represent relationships among organisms
To makes things easier to find, identify, and study
To understand our own evolution
Levels of Classification
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
– As one goes from the Kingdom to the Species (DOWNWARD)…An increase in the similarity between organisms occur
– There are fewer numbers of different kinds of organisms
Kingdoms are divided into groups called phyla
Phyla are subdivided into classes
Classes are subdivided into orders
Orders are subdivided into families
Families are divided into genera
Genera contain closely related species
Species is unique
Humans:
Kingdom : Animalia (animal in Latin)
Phylum : Chordata (spinal cord)
Class : Mammalia (mammary glands)
Order : Primates (two mammary glands)
Family : Hominidae (bipedalism)
Genus : Homo
Species : sapiens
Classifying organisms:
– Phylogenetics – based on common evolutionary descent. Based on a combination of these lines of evidence (Fossil record, Morphology, Embryological patterns of development, Chromosomes and DNA)- Phylogeny – a representation of organisms based on and describing evolutionary relationships. It is the cornerstone of a branch of biology called systematic taxonomy.
– Systematics – the study of the evolution of biological diversity
Autotrophs: Make own food by photosynthesis
Heterotrophs: Organisms that use organic materials for every and growth
Chemotrophs: Get food by breaking down inorganic matter
Prokaryotic: Unicellular, No nucleus, No membrane-bound organelles
Eukaryotic: Contain nucleus, Contain membrane-bound organelles, Most multicellular
Classification Systems
-Aristotle: Plants (Herbs, Trees, Bushes), animals (land, Water, Air)
–Carolus Linnaeus: 2 kindoms (Plantae and Animalia)
–Robert Whittaker: 5 kindoms
– Plantae: plants, eukaryotes, produce their own food, cells encased in cellulose cell walls.
– Animalia: animals, multicellular, heterophobic, cells lacking of cell walls.
– Fungi: eukaryotic, heterotrophic, usually multicellular group, energy by descomposing dead and dying organisms and absorbing theri nutrients.
-Protista: many eukariotic forms
-Monera: only prokaryotic organisms, cell wall
–Carl Woese: group of prokaryotic microorganisms called archaebacteria are separate from other monerans.
+ Archaebacteria: Unicellular, Prokaryotic, Exist in extreme environments – they do not need oxygen or light to live
+ Eubacteria: Unicellular, Prokaryotic, Heterotrophic, autotrophic, and chemotrophic
Cellular Respiration: the process of obtaining usable energy (ATP) from food.
Chemical reaction:
C6H12O6 + O2 —–> CO2 + H20 + energy (the same as photosynthesis… but backwards)
Glucose (C6H12O6): animals (food) plants (photosyntesis)
Oxygen (O2): animals (air into lungs) plants (entres the leaf through the stomata)
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): expelled when an animal exhales
Water (H2O): reabsorbed by the body
—Autotrophs make carbohydrates like glucose using photosynthesis.
—Glucose contains energy stored in its bonds.
—Cellular Respiration breaks these bonds to release this stored energy.
—The released energy is transferred to ATP.
Anaerobic Respiration:
Lack of oxygen. This process still breaks down the pyruvates but does not make as much ATP as aerobic respiration.
– Lactic Acid Fermentation: muscle cells. When exersise, the body instead of making lots of ATP, your muscles make lactic acid.
– Alcoholic Fermentation:
Alcoholic fermentation takes place in yeasts and some bacteria. When deprived of oxygen, the cells begin to make ethanol, a type of alcohol. Yeasts break down sugars anaerobically to meet their ATP needs. This also produces ethanol and CO2.
Aerobic Respiration:
If oxygen is present, aerobic respiration will occur and the pyruvates will go to the mitochondria to be made into ATP.
Powers your muscles and creates all of the energy your cells need. When you use more energy, such as exercising, you breathe harder to get more oxygen so your body can make more ATP
1. Glycolysis:
Occurs in the cytoplasm of the cell. During glycolysis, the glucose is taken and broken down into 2 pyruvates. 2 ATP molecules are produced. These pyruvates will be broken down in the following steps to make ATP.
2. Krebs cycle (citric acid):
Occurs in the mitochondria. The pyruvates are broken down even more. The carbon molecules in the pyruvate are “unfixed” and the gas CO2 (carbon dioxide) is produced as a waste product. Oxygen
3. The Electron Transport Chain
Oxygen is taken in and the majority of the 38 ATP is made. A by-product of water is also produced during the ETC.
Mitosis: division of somatic (body) cells
1. Interphase (Cell preparing to divide and )Genetic material doubles
2. Prophase: Chromosome pair up
Chromosomes thicken and shorten -become visible//2 chromatids joined by a centromere
Centrioles move to the opposite sides of the nucleus
Nucleolus disappears
Nuclear membrane disintegrate
Spindle fibers start to form from centrioles
3. Metaphase: Chromosomes meet in the middle
Chromosomes arrange at equator of cell
Become attached to spindle fibres by centromeres
4. Anaphase: Chromosomes get pulled apart
Spindle fibres contract pulling chromatids to the opposite poles of the cell
5. Telophase: Now there are two
Chromosomes uncoil
Spindle fibers disintegrate
Centrioles replicate
Nucleus membrane forms
Cell divides
Meiosis: division of gametes (sex cells)
– necessary to halve the number of chromosomes going into the sex cells
-sexual reproduction
-Occurs only in gonads (testes or ovaries).
Male: spermatogenesis
Female: oogenesis
=4 gametes
1. Interphase: chromosomes replicate. Each duplicated chromosome consist of two identical sister chromatids attached at their centromeres. Centriole pairs also replicate.
2. Meiosis I: Cell division that combines the genetic information.
1. Prophase I:
Chromosomes condense.
Synapsis occurs: homologous chromosomes come together to form a tetrad.
Tetrad is two chromosomes or four chromatids (sister and nonsister chromatids).
2. metaphase I
3. anaphase I
4. telophase I
Identical to mitosis
3. Meiosis II: Cell division that divides the information in half.
1.prophase II
2. metaphase II
3. anaphase II
4. telophase II
At the end: four cells with half the genetic information.
Anaerobica cellular respiration fermentation
Anaerobic cellular respiration, also known as fermentation, is a metabolic process that occurs in the absence of oxygen. It involves the breakdown of organic compounds, such as glucose, to produce energy in the form of ATP. Unlike aerobic respiration, which occurs in the presence of oxygen and produces significantly more ATP, fermentation is less efficient and produces only a small amount of ATP.
Organisms resort to fermentation when oxygen is not easily available or during intense activity bursts in which the demand for oxygen exceeds the supply. For example, microorganisms such as yeast resort to fermentation in the absence of oxygen to produce energy for growing and surviving. In animals, fermentation occurs in muscle cells during exercise when oxygen supply is insufficient to provide the energy demand.
The waste products of fermentation vary depending on the organism.
In yeast, the main waste product of fermentation is ethanol, along with carbon dioxide. This process is used in the breeding and baking processes, where yeast ferments sugars to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide, resulting in the fermentation of dough and the production of alcoholic drinks. In animals, especially in muscles, the waste product of fermentation is lactic acid. This accumulation of lactic acid contributes to fatigue and muscle pain during intense physical activity. In general, fermentation allows organisms to generate energy in the absence of oxygen, although less efficiently, allowing them to survive in low oxygen conditions.
Aerobic multicellular organisms need oxygen in order to live.
Aerobic multicellular organisms are highly dependent on oxygen for their survival because of its crucial role in cellular respiration, the process by which cells generate energy. In aerobic respiration, oxygen plays an essential role in a series of reactions within mitochondria, allowing a more efficient production of ATP.
When an aerobic organism experiences a lack of oxygen, several physiological consequences occur. First, without oxygen, aerobic respiration cannot take place efficiently, resulting in a decrease in ATP production. ATP is essential for various cellular processes, such as metabolism or muscle contraction. Therefore, a decrease in ATP levels can impair cell function and ultimately lead to cell death.
Furthermore, in the absence of oxygen, aerobic organisms can resort to anaerobic metabolism, such as fermentation, to generate some ATP. However, anaerobic metabolism is significantly less efficient than aerobic respiration.
In general, the absence of oxygen deprives aerobic organisms of the substrate necessary for efficient energy production, which alters cellular function.