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Definitions Flashcards

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1
Q

biological species

A

a group of organisms with similar morphology and physiology, which can breed to produce fertile offspring and are reproductively isolated from other organisms

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2
Q

population

A

all of the organisms of the same species present in the same place and at the same time that can interbreed with each other

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3
Q

domain

A

the highest taxonomic rank

eukarya, prokaryotes (archaea, bacteria)

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4
Q

kingdom

A

plantae, animalia etc.

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5
Q

phylum

A

chordata, angiosperm etc.

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6
Q

class

A

mammalia, dicotyledonae etc.

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7
Q

order

A

proboscidea, malvales etc.

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8
Q

family

A

elephantidae, malvaceae etc.

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9
Q

genus

A

Capital letter, italics

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10
Q

species

A

lowercase italics

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11
Q

taxonomic order

A

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

Dear King Phillip Came Over For Good Soup

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12
Q

protoctista

A

eukaryotic single-celled organisms (any eukaryote that is not a fungi, animal, or plant)

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13
Q

fungi

A

eukaryotes that do not photosynthesise, and have cell walls without cellulose

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14
Q

plantae

A

eukaryotes that are multicellular, photosynthesise, and have cell walls that contain cellulose

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15
Q

animalia

A

eukaryotes that are multicellular, heterotrophic, and have a nervous system

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16
Q

biodiversity

A

the variety of ecosystems and species in an area, the genetic diversity within species

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17
Q

endemic species

A

a species that is only found in a certain area

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18
Q

extinction causes

A

habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, resource competition

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19
Q

reasons for maintaining biodiversity

A

moral/ethical, ecological, medicine, aesthetic, agricultural, environmental services

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20
Q

ways to protect endangered species

A

national parks, zoos, breeding programmes, assisted reproduction, seed banks, botanic gardens

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21
Q

assisted reproduction

A

any technique that is involved in treating infertility, or protecting a female mammal from the health risks of pregnancy

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22
Q

artificial insemination (AI)

A

injection of male semen into the uterus, may follow hormone treatment, resulting embryos may be transferred to other females

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23
Q

embryo transfer

A

embryos are removed from the uterus and transferred to surrogates to bring to full term

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24
Q

in vitro fertilisation (IVF)

A

the fertilisation of an egg that occurs outside the body (eg in a Petri dish)

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25
frozen zoo
a facility where genetic materials taken from animals are stored at very low temperatures (-196°C) eg sperm, eggs, embryos, tissue samples
26
seed bank
facility where seeds are dried and kept in cold storage
27
alien/invasive species
a species that has moved into a new ecosystem where it was previously unknown
28
international conservation organisations
CITES (convention on international trade in endangered species), IUCN (international union for conservation of nature), WWF (world wildlife fund)
29
genetic engineering
any procedure in which the genetic information in an organism is changed by altering the base sequence of a gene or by introducing a gene from another organism
30
recombinant DNA (rDNA)
DNA made by artificially joining together pieces of DNA from two or more different species
31
transgenic organism
any organism that contains DNA from another source
32
genetically modified organism (GMO)
any organism that has had its DNA changed in a way that does not occur naturally or by selective breeding
33
general steps of gene transfer
1. Gene identification 2. PCR 3. Insertion into a vector 4. Vector takes the gene into the cells 5. Cells possessing the new gene are identified and cloned
34
restriction endonucleases
an enzyme derived from bacteria that cuts DNA molecules, each type cuts only at a particular sequence of bases
35
bacteriophage
a type of virus that infects bacteria
36
gene probe
a length of DNA that has a complementary base sequence to another piece of DNA that you are trying to detect
37
sticky ends
short lengths of unpaired bases at the ends of sequences
38
reverse transcriptase
enzyme that synthesises single-stranded DNA from single-stranded mRNA and free DNA nucleotides
39
process of reverse transcription
1. add DNA primer, free nucleotides (dNTPs), incubate with reverse transcriptase 2. cDNA is synthesised by reverse transcriptase 3. mRNA template is removed by digestion with RNA-ase 4. add DNA polymerase and dNTPs 5. new strand of DNA is synthesised by DNA polymerase 6. sticky ends added for insertion into vector
40
dNTPs
free nucleotides, deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates
41
genome
the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism
42
process of gene insertion into a vector (plasmid)
1. the selected gene is treated with restriction endonucleases, leaving sticky ends 2. the plasmid is also treated with the SAME restriction enzyme, leaving the same sticky ends 3. the DNA pairs with complementary bases in the plasmid 4. the plasmid is treated with ligase
43
promoter
a length of DNA that includes the binding site for RNA polymerase where transcription of a gene/genes begins
44
gene editing
where the genome of an organism can be changed by deleting, inserting, or replacing a length of DNA (eg. CRISPR)
45
polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
a process that amplifies selected regions of DNA using polynucleotide separation and DNA synthesis
46
stages of one PCR cycle
1. DNA heated briefly to denature the DNA, separating the double helix 2. primer added after cooling, complementary base pairing occurs 3. DNA polymerase uses dNTPs to synthesise complementary strands of DNA 4. repeat
47
each PCR tube contains
sample of DNA, short lengths of single-stranded DNA to act as primers for DNA polymerase, free dNTPs, buffer solution (pH 7,8), solution of thermostable DNA polymerase
48
PCR stage 1
denaturation DNA is heated to about 95ºC, breaking hydrogen bonds between base pairs and separating the two strands
49
PCR stage 2
annealing the primers bind to the base sequences on each strand, at about 60ºC
50
PCR stage 3
extension the DNA polymerase enzyme then uses dNTPs to build new strands of DNA, at about 72ºC
51
gel electrophoresis
the separation of charged molecules by movement through gel in an electric field, dependent on mass of molecules
52
gel electrophoresis process
1. gel is prepared while fluid, a 'comb' is placed at one end and removed after the gel solidifies to create wells 2. once set, buffer solution is poured into the tank to cover the gel and give a constant pH 3. a micropipette is used to transfer samples of DNA to the wells, samples contain tracking dye 4. a reference sample with DNA fragments of known lengths is placed into a well also 5. a battery pack is connected to the electrodes, negative at the same end as the wells 6. battery is disconnected once the dye has moved across most of the gel 7. the buffer solution is removed and a stain added to the gel
53
VNTRs
variable number tandem repeats, or minisatellites, have base sequences of between 10 to 100 base pairs which are repeated 5-50 times, allows the length of fragments to be determined
54
STRs
short tandem repeats, or microsatellites, made of 2 to 5 nucleotides that are repeated 10 to 30 times
55
microarrays
slides with thousands of tiny spots in defined positions, each containing a known DNA sequence, which detect lengths of DNA or RNA with complementary sequences
56
DNA hybridisation
the binding together of two molecules of single-stranded DNA by complementary base pairing
57
microarray process for comparing genes of two different species
1. DNA of both species is collected, cut into fragments, and denatured to give single-stranded DNA 2. the DNA is labelled with fluorescent tags (eg. red for one species, green for the other) 3. labelled DNA is mixed together and allowed to hybridise with the probes on the microarray 4. any DNA that does not bind to probes is washed away 5. the array is inspected with UV light 6. green or red spots indicate that only one species has hybridised, yellow indicates that both have, and no colour indicates the gene is not present in either species
58
genetic screening
testing of an embryo, fetus, or adult to find out whether a particular allele is present
59
gene therapy
treatment of a genetic disorder by inserting genetically corrected cells into the body or introducing functioning genes directly into affected cells
60
anabolic
a chemical reaction in which small molecules are built up into larger ones
61
respiration
the enzymatic release of energy from organic compounds in living cells
62
IVF process
1. oocytes are collected via a needle 2. oocytes are kept in a culture medium, then mixed with semen 3. resulting zygotes form embryos 4. embryos are cultured and then placed into the mother or surrogates

AL Biology (2 decks)

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