THE CELL

The Discovery of Cells

Most cells are too small to be observed with the naked eye. For this reason, even the existence of
cells escaped notice ntil scientists first learned to harness the ma!nifyin! power of lenses in the
second half of the seventeenth centry. "t that time a #tch clothin! dealer named Antonie van
Leeuwenhoek $%&'()%*('+ fashioned extraordinarily accrate sin!le,lens microscopes. -a.in!
into the lens of these microscopes, he discovered sin!le,celled or!anisms, which he called
/animalcles0 and which, today, we call bacteria and protists.
En!lishman 1obert Hooke $%&'2)%*3'+ expanded on Leewenhoek4s observations with the newly
developed compond microscope, which ses two or more ali!ned lenses to increase
ma!nification while redcin! blrrin!. 5hen Hooke trned the microscope on a piece of cork, he
noticed that the tiny, boxlike compartments of the wood resembled the cells of a monastery. The
term /cell0 was born.
Cell Theory Emerges
"s microscope technolo!y improved, scientists were able to stdy cells in ever,!reater detail.
Hooke had no way to tell if cells were livin! thin!s, bt later researchers who cold see the
ncles and the swirlin! motion of the cytoplasm were convinced that cells were indeed alive. 6y
%7'8, eno!h evidence had accmlated for -erman biolo!ists Matthias 9chleiden and Theodore
9chwann to proclaim that cells are /the elementary particles of or!anisms.0 6t many researchers
still did not believe that cells arose from other cells ntil %722, when famos -erman patholo!ist
1dolph :irchow prononced, /"ll cells come from cells.0 ;early (33 years after the discovery
of cells, the observations of :irchow, 9chleiden, and 9chwann established the cell theory<
"ll livin! thin!s are made of cells.
"ll cells arise from preexistin! cells.
These two tenets made clear that the cell is the fndamental nit of life.
Cell Size
Cells cold not be stdied ntil the microscope was developed becase they are very small. This
fact raises two =estions< why are cells so small, and why are livin! thin!s made p of millions of
tiny cells>
Cells are small becase their srface area and volme mst be balanced. ?n order to stay alive,
cells with a lar!er volme need to carry ot more chemical activity than smaller cells do.
However, for metabolic activity to take place, the cell mst also have eno!h srface area to allow
an ade=ate spply of ntrients and waste prodcts to move in and ot of the cell. 6ecase srface
area increases at a slower rate than volme as ob@ects !et bi!!er, the srface area,to,volme ratio
in a cell decreases dramatically as the cell !ets lar!er. ?t trns ot that a si.e of %3A provides the
srface area,to,volme ratio necessary for the srvival of most cells. $A the micrometer, is one
thosandth of a millimeter.+
Microscopes
Two ma@or types of microscopes allow scientists to stdy the miniatre world of the cell.
The Light Microscope
Li!ht microscopes se li!ht and lenses to ma!nify their sb@ects. The most common of these sed
in the laboratory is the compond microscope, which creates hi!h ma!nification by combinin!
two relatively low,power lenses. The total power of a compond microscope is the power of the
oclar lens, located in the eyepiece, mltiplied by the power of the ob@ective lens, located near the
slide. For example, an oclar lens of %3x and an ob@ective lens of %%x yield a total ma!nification
of %%3x. Typical hi!h school microscopes offer ma!nifications of p to abot B'3x.
From time to time the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y tests yor knowled!e of the varios parts of the compond
microscope, sally by showin! yo an ima!e and askin! yo to identify the parts.
Many parts of the cell are hard to see nder microscopes becase they are colorless. ?n order to
view them, scientists sometimes employ stains that mark varios cell parts differently. Cne
alternative to stainin! is a techni=e called phase contrast microscopy, which ses filters to
emphasi.e the contrast between different parts of the cell.
The Electron Microscope
"t hi!h ma!nifications, li!ht microscopes prodce blrry ima!es. ?n the %823s, scientists invented
a new type of microscope called the electron microscope, which offers increased ima!e clarity, or
resolvin! power. Electron microscopes are powerfl eno!h to resolve individal fats and
proteins. Li!ht microscopes are still widely sed, however, becase electron microscopes are
expensive and can only be sed to view matter that is not livin!.
Types of Cells
There are two ma@or types of cells< prokaryotes and ekaryotes. Ekaryotic cells, whose name
derives from the -reek eu, meanin! /!ood,0 and karyon, /kernel0 or /ncles,0 have a ncles
and membrane,bond or!anelles. Drokaryotic cells, whose name derives from the -reek pro,
meanin! /before,0 contain neither ncles nor or!anelles. "s the names imply, prokaryotic cells
are less evoltionarily advanced than ekaryotic cells.
Prokaryotes
Drokaryotes inclde some of the most primitive forms of life< bacteria and ble,!reen al!ae $also
known as cyanobacteria+. Drokaryotic or!anisms are !enerally sin!le,celled.
Drokaryotes have a cell membrane, and they are made p of !enerally ndifferentiated flid, called
the cytoplasm, in which floats a circlar rin! of #;" that controls the fnctionin! of the cell.
Drokaryotes maintain their shape thro!h a cytoskeleton and have ribosomes that float in the
cytoplasm. ?n addition, some prokaryotes have a special type of cell wall made of a protein,s!ar
combination called peptido!lycan. " few prokaryotes possess whiplike tails called flagella that
help propel the cells thro!h water.
Tho!h less complex and less efficient than ekaryotes, prokaryotes are hardy becase of their
simplicity. They are able to srvive environmental extremes that wold kill hi!her life forms.
Eukaryotes
"ll livin! thin!s besides bacteria and cyanobacteria consist of ekaryotic cells, which are lar!er
and strctrally more complex than prokaryotic cells. Like prokaryotes, ekaryotes are srronded
by a lipid bilayer cell membrane and have cytoplasm and ribosomes. However, nlike
prokaryotes, ekaryotes also contain organelles and a defined nucleus containin! #;".
Ekaryotes benefit enormosly from the presence of membrane,bond or!anelles. Each or!anelle
creates an additional compartment in the cell that can speciali.e in particlar activities or
processes, increasin! prodctivity as a reslt. The strctre of ekaryotic cells and the specific
fnctions of the varios or!anelles are often tested by the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y.
Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm refers to the entire area of the cell otside of the ncles. The cytoplasm has two
parts, the or!anelles and the cytosol, a !rayish !el,like li=id that fills the interior of the cell. The
cytosol provides a home for the ncles and or!anelles as well as a location for protein synthesis
and other fndamental chemical reactions.
Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a protein strctre that maintains cell shape and helps move or!anelles arond
the cell. There are two types of cytoskeleton proteins< microtubules and microfilaments.
Microtbles are thick, hollow rods that provide a stron! scaffold for the cell. The smaller
microfilaments are thin rods made of a protein called actinE they are strn! arond the perimeter of
the cell to help it withstand strain. ?n some or!anisms, the microtbles power limbs called cilia
and fla!ella, creatin! movement. Contraction of the microfilaments powers mscle movement in
animals and facilitates the creepin! motion of creatres like amoebas. The microtbles also form
protein tracks on which or!anelles can slide arond the cell.
The rganelles
Floatin! in the cytoplasm are the many membrane,bond or!anelles, each with a distinct strctre
and an important fnction in the processes of the cell.
NUCLEUS!
stores the cell4s !enetic material in strands of "#A and choreo!raphs life fnctions by sendin!
detailed messa!es to the rest of the cell. The interior of the ncles is separated from the cytosol
by a membrane called the nuclear envelope, which lets only select molecles in and ot. The
#;" itself is wrapped arond proteins known as histones in an entan!led fibros network
called chromatin. 5hen the ncles is abot to split in two, this amorphos mass coils more
ti!htly, formin! distinct strctres called chromosomes. The ncles also hoses a small, dark
strctre called the nucleolus, which helps manfactre ribosomes.
RIBOSOMES!
synthesi.e proteins for the cell. 9ome ribosomes are monted on the srface of the endoplasmic
reticlm $see below+, and others float freely in the cytoplasm. "ll ribosomes have two ne=ally
si.ed sbnits made of proteins and a sbstance called 1;". "ll livin! cells, prokaryotic and
ekaryotic alike, have ribosomes. 1ibosomes are explained in more detail in the chapter on Cell
Drocesses as part of the lar!er discssion abot the way the cell manfactres proteins.
MITOCHONDRIA!
prodces ener!y for the cell thro!h a process called celllar respiration $see the chapter on Cell
Drocesses+. The mitochondria has two membranesE the inside membrane has many folds, called
cristae. Many of the key cell,respiration en.ymes are embedded in this second membrane. The
chemical reactions of respiration take place in the compartment formed by the second membrane,
a re!ion called the mitochon$rial matri%.
ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM!
an extensive network of flattened membrane sacs that manfactres proteins. These proteins are
transferred to the -ol!i apparats, from which they will be exported from the cell. There are two
types of endoplasmic reticlm< ro!h and smooth. 1o!h endoplasmic reticlm is stdded by
ribosomes coverin! its exterior. These ribosomes make the ro!h endoplasmic reticlm a prime
location for protein synthesis. The smooth endoplasmic reticlm moves the proteins arond the
cell and then packa!es them into small containers called vesicles that travel to the -ol!i apparats.
The smooth endoplasmic reticlm also fnctions in the synthesis of fats and lipids.
OLI APPARATUS!
a complex of membrane,bond sacs that packa!e proteins for export from the cell. Droteins enter
the -ol!i complex from the endoplasmic reticlm and proceed thro!h the stacks, where they are
modified and stored before secretion. 5hen proteins are ready for export, pieces of the -ol!i
membrane bd off, formin! vesicles that send them to the cell membrane.
L!SOSOMES!
small membrane,bond packa!es of acidic en.ymes that di!est componds and worn,ot celllar
components that the cell no lon!er needs.
Cell rganelles
rganelle &unction &oun$ in which Type of Cell
Cytoplasm Home for the or!anelles Drokaryotes and ekaryotes
Cytoskeleton Maintains cell shape, moves
or!anelles, moves cell
Ekaryotes
#ucleus Contains the !enetic material Ekaryotes
Mitochon$ria Drodce ener!y for the cell Ekaryotes
'ibosomes 9ynthesi.e proteins Drokaryotes and ekaryotes
En$oplasmic
'eticulum
Manfactres and transports
proteins, manfactres fats
Ekaryotes
(olgi Comple% Dacka!es proteins for secretion Ekaryotes
Lysosomes #i!est wastes Ekaryotes
Chloroplasts Make food Dlant ekaryotes
)acuoles 9tora!e Dlant ekaryotes $contractile vacoles
are fond in some animal cells+
Cell *all 9tability and protection Dlant ekaryotesE some prokaryotes
have a cell wall made of
peptido!lycan
Plant Cell rganelles
The or!anelles described above are fond in both animal and plant ekaryotic cells. 6t plants
have additional or!anellesFchloroplasts, vacoles, and cell wallsFthat spport their ni=e life
cycles.
CHLOROPLASTS!
"nimal cells break down the food that they in!est to prodce ener!y. Dlants do not need to in!est
foodE they manfactre their own from snli!ht, sin! the process of photosynthesis $covered in
the chapter on Dlant 9trctre and Fnction+. Chloroplasts are the or!anelles in
which photosynthesis takes place. They are lar!e oval,shaped strctres containin! a !reen
pi!ment called chlorophyll that absorbs snli!ht. Chloroplasts, like mitochondria, are bilt from
two membranes< an external membrane formin! the bondary of the or!anelle and a stacked inner
membrane within the or!anelle.
"ACUOLES!
lar!e li=id,filled stora!e containers fond in plant cells. Dlant cells can pt virtally anythin! in
their vacoles, from ntrients to wastes to water to pi!ments. :acoles can be =ite lar!e,
allowin! plant cells to !row to sbstantial ,volmes withot makin! new cytoplasm. 9ome animal
cells in freshwater microor!anisms have speciali.ed contractile vacoles that pmp water ot of
the cell to prevent brstin!.
CELL #ALL!
Dlant cells have a ri!id cell wall srrondin! their cell membrane. This wall is made of a
compond called celllose. The to!h wall !ives the plant cell added stability and protection from
harm.
The Cell Membrane
The cells of all or!anisms, prokaryotic and ekaryotic alike, are srronded by a thin sheet called
the cell membrane. This barrier keeps celllar materials in and forei!n ob@ects ot. The membrane
is key to the life of the cell. 6y re!latin! what !ets into and ot of the cell, the membrane
maintains the proper chemical composition, which is crcial to the life processes the cell carries
ot.
Str$ct$re o% the Cell Me&'r(ne
The cell membrane is made p of two sheets of special fat molecles called phospholipi$s, placed
on top of each other.
This arran!ement is known as a phospholipi$ bilayer. Dhospholipid molecles natrally arran!e
in bilayers becase they have a ni=e strctre. The lon! chains of carbon and hydro!en that
form the tail of this molecle do not dissolve in waterE they are said to be hydrophobic or /water
fearin!.0 The hydrophilic phosphoros heads are attracted to water. Formin! a bilayer satisfies the
water preferences of both the /heads0 and /tails0 of phospholipids< the hydrophilic heads face the
watery re!ions inside and otside the cell, and the hydrophobic tails face each other in a water,
free @nction. The bilayer forms spontaneosly becase this sitation is so favorable.
The )l$i* Mos(ic Mo*el
Dhospholipids form the fndamental strctre of the cell membrane, bt they are not the only
sbstance fond there. "ccordin! to the flid,mosaic model of the cell membrane, special proteins
called membrane proteins float in the phospholipid bilayer like iceber!s in a sea.
The sea of phospholipid molecles and !atekeeper membrane proteins is in constant motion. The
membrane4s flidity keeps the cell from fractrin! when placed nder strain.
Transport Through the Cell Membrane
The most important property of the cell membrane is its selective permeability< some sbstances
can pass thro!h it freely, bt others cannot. 9mall and nonpolar $hydrophobic+ molecles can
freely pass thro!h the membrane, bt char!ed ions and lar!e molecles sch as proteins and
s!ars are barred passa!e. The selective permeability of the cell membrane allows a cell to
maintain its internal composition at necessary levels.
Molecles that can pass freely thro!h the membrane follow concentration !radients, movin!
from the hi!her concentration area to the re!ion of lower concentration. These processes take no
ener!y and are called passive transport. The molecles that cannot pass freely across the
phospholipid bilayer can be carried across the membrane in varios processes that re=ire ener!y
and are therefore called active transport.
P(ssi+e Tr(nsport
There are three main types of passive transport< diffsion, facilitated diffsion, and osmosis. ?n
fact, osmosis is simply the term !iven to the diffsion of water.
DI))USION
?n the absence of other forces, sbstances dissolved in water move natrally from areas where they
are abndant to areas where they are scarceFa process known as diffsion. ?f there is a hi!her
concentration of carbon dioxide !as dissolved in the water inside the cell than in the water otside
the cell, carbon dioxide will natrally flow ot from the cell ntil its distribtion is balanced,
withot any ener!y re=ired from the cell.
;onpolar and small polar molecles can pass thro!h the cell membrane, so they diffse across it
in response to concentration !radients. Carbon dioxide and oxy!en are two molecles that nder!o
this simple diffsion thro!h the membrane.
The simple diffsion of water is known as osmosis. 6ecase water is a small polar molecle, it
nder!oes simple diffsion. 9"T ?? 6iolo!y problems on osmosis can be tricky< water moves
from areas where it is in hi!h concentration to areas where it is in low concentration. 1emember,
however, that water is fond in low concentrations in places where there are many dissolved
sbstances, called soltes. Therefore, water moves from places where there are few dissolved
sbstances $known as hypotonic soltions+ to places where there are many dissolved sbstances
$hypertonic soltions+. "n isotonic soltion is one in which the concentration is the same as that
fond inside a cell, meanin! osmotic pressre in both sides is e=al.
?mmersin! cells in nsally hypotonic or hypertonic soltions can be disastros< water can rsh
into cells in hypotonic conditions, casin! them to fill p so fast that they brst. To combat this
possibility, many cells that need to srvive in freshwater environments possess contractile
vacoles to pmp ot excess water.
)ACILITATED DI))USION
Certain componds important to the fnctionin! of the cell, sch as ions, cannot enter the cell
thro!h simple diffsion becase they cannot pass thro!h the cell membrane. "s with water,
these sbstances /want0 to enter the cell if the concentration !radient demands it. For that reason,
cells have developed a way for sch componds to bypass the cell membrane and flow into the
cell on the basis of concentration. The cell has protein channels thro!h the phospholipid
membrane. The channels can open and close based on protein membranes. 5hen closed, nothin!
can !et thro!h. 5hen open, the protein channels allow componds to pass thro!h alon! the
concentration !radient, which is diffsion.
Acti+e Tr(nsport
Gite often, cells have to transport a sbstance across the cell membrane against the normal
concentration !radient. ?n these cases, cells se another class of membrane proteins. ?nstead of
relyin! on diffsion, these proteins actively pmp componds in the direction the cell wants them
to !o, a process that re=ires ener!y. Cells can trn active transport on and off as needed.
En*ocytosis (n* E,ocytosis
Cells se yet another type of transport to move lar!e particles thro!h the cell membrane. ?n
exocytosis, waste prodcts that need to be removed from the cell are placed in vesicles that then
fse with the cell membrane, releasin! their contents into the space otside the cell. Endocytosis is
the opposite of exocytosis< the cell membrane en!lfs a sbstance the cell needs to import and
then pinches off into a vesicle that is inside the cell.
There are two kinds of endocytosis< in phagocytosis the cell takes in lar!e solid food particles that
it then di!ests. ?n pinocytosis, the cell takes in drops of celllar flid containin! dissolved
ntrients.
C1-";?C ";# 6?CCHEM?9T1H
The Building Blocks of Matter
"ll matter, from a rock to an animal to the ma!ma at the center of the Earth, is made from
different combinations of 8( natrally occrrin! sbstances known as elements. The smallest
=antity of an element that still exhibits the characteristics of that element is known as an atom.
Cne atom of carbon, for example, is the smallest piece of matter that still retains the chemical and
physical characteristics of carbon.
"toms are made p of even smaller particles called electrons, protons, and neutrons. Each of
these particles has a different electrical char!e. Drotons are positively char!ed, netrons have no
char!e, and electrons are ne!atively char!ed. The protons and netrons of an atom reside in a
central body called a ncles. Electrons appear arond the ncles within orbitals of varyin!
ener!y. Cverall, the atom is netrally char!ed with e=al nmbers of positively char!ed protons
and ne!atively char!ed electrons.
Elements are distin!ished by the nmber of protons in their nclei. "ll atoms containin! six
protons are called carbon. "ny element with one proton is called hydro!en. Cnly the nmber of
protonsFand not the nmber of netrons or electronsFdistin!ishes elements from each other.
+sotopes an$ +ons
Tho!h the nmber of netrons and electrons in an atom won4t chan!e the atom4s stats as a
particlar element, it can affect the properties of an element in sbtle ways. "n atom that contains
a lar!er or smaller nmber of netrons than sal is called an isotope. Carbon sally has six
protons and six netrons and can be called carbon,%( becase the nmber of its protons and
netrons add p to %(. 6t some carbon atoms have seven or even ei!ht netrons. These two
isotopes are called carbon,%' and carbon,%B. ?sotopes do not have char!e, becase the nmbers of
positive and ne!ative particles remain balanced. Even tho!h they have different masses, isotopes
of the same element all have similar chemical properties, becase the nmber of electrons $not the
nmber of netrons or protons+ determines the way an atom will interact with other atoms.
?ons are atoms that either lack or have extra electrons. 6ecase these atoms have ne=al nmbers
of electrons and protons, they are char!ed particles and are often =ite chemically interactive with
other atoms. Tho!h the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y Test rarely asks direct =estions abot ions, ions do play
an important role in many biolo!ical processes and phenomena, so nderstandin! the basics of
ions can help yo nderstand the processes that the test covers.
Molecules an$ Compoun$s
"toms combine with each other in chemical reactions to create molecles, ni=e sbstances with
physical and chemical properties distinct from those of their constitent elements. Combinin! two
hydro!en atoms with one oxy!en atom creates water, which has very different characteristics than
hydro!en or oxy!en do alone. Molecles sch as water containin! more than one type of element
can also be called componds. " water molecle made p of oxy!en and hydro!en can be called a
compondE a hydro!en molecle, which contains only two hydro!en atoms, cannot be called a
compond.
Ho may have heard water referred to as H(C. This notation is the standard way of representin!
molecles and componds by shorthand. The /H0 and /C0 stand for the elements hydro!en and
oxy!en, and the sbscript indicates that water contains two parts hydro!en for every one part
oxy!en. Ho can create the formla for any compond by writin! down the letter symbol of each
of its constitent elements and sin! sbscripted nmbers to indicate how many atoms of each
element are present.
Chemical Bonds
The connections between the atoms in a compond are called chemical bonds. "toms form bonds
by sharin! their electrons with each other, relyin! on the power of electric char!e to keep
themselves attached. Molecles and componds can also bond with each other. ?mportant bonds
between atoms are covalent and ionic bonds. 6onds between molecles or componds are called
dipole,dipole bonds.
Covalent bon$s
6onds formed thro!h the more or less e=al sharin! of electrons between atoms are known as
covalent bonds.
?f the electrons in a covalent bond are shared e=ally, the resltin! bond is called a
nonpolar covalent bon$. 5hen one atom plls the shared electrons toward itself a little more
ti!htly than the other, the resltin! covalent bond is said to be a polar bon$. ?n a polar bond, the
atom that plls electrons toward itself !ains a sli!ht ne!ative char!e $becase electrons have a
ne!ative char!e+. 9ince the other atom partially loses an electron, it !ains a sli!ht positive char!e.
For example, the atoms in water form polar bonds becase oxy!en, which has ei!ht protons in its
ncles, has a !reater pll on electrons than hydro!en, which has only one proton.
+onic ,on$s
Dolar covalent bonds involve the ne=al sharin! of electrons. This ine=ality is bro!ht to an
extreme in a bondin! arran!ement called an ionic bond. ?n an ionic bond, one atom plls the
shared electrons away from the other atom entirely. ?onic bonds are stron!er than polar bonds.
Cne example of ionic bondin! is the reaction between sodim $;a+ and chlorine $Cl+ to form table
salt $;aCl+. The chlorine atom steals an electron from the sodim atom. 6ecase it loses an
electron, the sodim atom develops a char!e of I%. The chlorine atom has a char!e of )%, since it
!ained an electron.
"ipole-"ipole ,on$s
"s seen in polar covalent componds, de to the ne=al sharin! of electrons, some molecles
have a sli!htly positive and a sli!htly ne!ative end to them, or a dipole $di,pole J two ma!netic
poles+. These componds can form weak bonds with one another withot combinin! to!ether
completely to create new componds. This type of bondin!, known as dipole,dipole interaction,
takes places when the positively char!ed end of one polar covalent compond $dI+ comes in
contact with the ne!atively char!ed end of another polar covalent compond $d)+<
#ipole,dipole interactions are mch weaker than the bonds within molecles, bt they play a very
important role in the chemistry of life. Derhaps the most important dipole,dipole bond in
biochemistry $and on the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y+ is the dipole,dipole interaction between positively
char!ed hydro!en molecles and ne!atively char!ed oxy!en molecles. This reaction is so
important, it !ets its own special name< hy$rogen bon$. These bonds accont for many of the
exceptional properties of water and have important effects on the strctre of proteins and #;".
Acids and Bases
9ometimes atoms !ive their electrons p alto!ether instead of sharin! them in a chemical bond.
This process is known as disassociation. 5ater, for instance, dissociates by the followin! formla<
H(C H
I
I CH
)
The hydro!en atom !ives p a ne!atively char!ed electron, !ainin! a positive char!e, and the CH
compond !ains a ne!atively char!ed electron, takin! on a ne!ative char!e. The H
I
is known as
a hy$rogen ion and CH
)
ion is known as a hy$ro%i$e ion.
The disassociation of water prodces e=al amonts of hydro!en and hydroxide ions. However,
the disassociation of some componds prodces soltions with hi!h proportions of either
hydro!en or hydroxide ions. 9oltions hi!h in hydro!en ions are known as aci$s, while soltions
hi!h in hydroxide ions are known as bases. 6oth types of soltion are extremely reactiveFlikely
to form bondsFbecase they contain so many char!ed particles.
The technical definition of an acid is that it is a hydro!en ion donor, or a proton donor, as
hydro!en ions are consist of only a sin!le proton. "cids pt H
I
ions into soltion. The definition of
a base is a little more complicated< they are H
I
ion or proton acceptors, which means that they
remove H
I
ions from soltion. 9ome bases can directly prodce CH
)
ions that will take H
I
ot of
soltion. ;aCH is an example of this type of base<
;aCH ;a
I
I CH
)
" second type of base can directly take H
I
ot of an H(C soltion. "mmonia $;H'+ is a common
example of this sort of base<
;H' I H(C ;HB
I
I CH
)
From time to time, the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y has been known to ask whether ammonia is a base.
The p. Scale
The pH scale, which ran!es from 3 to %B, measres the de!ree to which a soltion is acidic or
basic. ?f the proportion of hydro!en ions in a soltion is the same as the proportion of hydroxide
ions or e=ivalent, the soltion has a pH of *, which is netral. The most acidic soltions $those
with a hi!h proportion of H
I
+ have pHs approachin! 3, while the most basic soltions $those with
a hi!h proportion of CH
)
or e=ivalent+ have pHs closer to %B.
5ater has a pH of * becase it has e=al proportions of H
I
and CH
)
ions. ?n contrast, when a
compond called hydro!en floride $HF+ disassociates, it forms only hydroxide ions. HF is
therefore =ite acidic and has a pH well below *. 9ome acids are more acidic than others becase
they pt more H
I
ions into soltion. 9tomach flid, for example, is more acidic than saliva.
5hen sodim hydroxide $;aCH+ disassociates, it forms only hydroxide ions, makin! it a base and
!ivin! it a pH above *. Like acids, bases can be stron! or weak dependin! on how many
hydroxide ions they pt in soltion or how many hydro!en ions they take ot of soltion.
,uffers
9ome sbstances resist chan!es in pH even when acids or bases are added to them. These
sbstances are known as bffers. The cell contains many bffers becase wide swin!s in pH can
ne!atively impact the chemical reactions of cell processes.
The Chemistry of Life
Cf the 8( natrally existin! elements on the Earth, only (2 play a role in the chemical processes of
life. Cf these (2, for elements constitte more than 87 percent of all biolo!ical matter< carbon
$C+, oxy!en $C+, hydro!en $H+, and nitro!en $;+. :irtally every important or!anic compond is
made p of these for elements. The 6i! B of or!anic elements can be ct down even frther to a
9preme %< carbon is the most important biolo!ical molecle, both for life as we know it and on
the 9"T ??.
Carbon
Carbon is the central element of life. ?ts important role stems from its ability to form for chemical
bonds with other elements at the same time<
Carbons often attach to other carbon atoms, formin! lon! chains called hydrocarbons. These
molecles !et their name becase the central carbons also bond to hydro!en<
?n addition to makin! a connection to for other atoms, carbon also has the ability to make two or
three separate connections with the same sin!le partner $and make its remainin! one or two bonds
with other sbstances+. These bonds, which are stron!er than sin!le bonds, are known as doble or
triple bonds, respectively.
Monomers an$ Polymers
Many biolo!ical molecles consist of basic nits that are strn! to!ether to form lon! chains,
mch like beads are placed on a strin! to make a necklace. There can be some variation in these
basic nits, which are known as monomers. Two monomers connected to each other are known as
a dimerE a chain of monomers is called a polymer.
Dolymers can be formed by many different types of chemical reactions. Cne special reaction,
however, is particlarly important in prodcin! the polymers fond in the chemistry of life. This
reaction involves a carbon that has a hydro!en atom attached and a carbon that has an CH
)
!rop
attached. 5hen the carbons bond to each other, they release a water molecle formed from the
oxy!en atom and the two hydro!en atoms.
6ecase a water molecle is created in order to @oin the two monomers, this reaction is known
as $ehy$ration synthesis. The reverse of dehydration synthesis, when a water molecle is
inserted into a polymer to break off a monomer, is called hy$rolysis.
The Molecules of Life
The elements involved in life processes can, and do, form millions of different componds.
Thankflly, these millions of componds fall into for ma@or !rops< carbohydrates, proteins,
lipids, and ncleic acids. Tho!h all of these !rops are or!ani.ed arond carbon, each !rop has
its own special strctre and fnction.
Carbohy$rates
Carbohydrates are componds that have carbon, hydro!en, and oxy!en atoms in a ratio of abot
%<(<%. ?f yo4re stck on an 9"T ?? 6iolo!y =estion abot whether a compond is a carbohydrate,
@st cont p the atoms and see if they fit this ratio. Carbohydrates are often s!ars, which provide
ener!y for celllar processes.
Like all of the biolo!ically important classes of componds, carbohydrates can be monomers,
dimers, or polymers. The names of most carbohydrates end in /,ose0<glucose, frctose, scrose,
and maltose are some common examples.
Monos(cch(ri*es
Carbohydrate monomers are known as monosaccharides. This !rop incldes !lcose,C&H%(C&,
which is a key sbstance in biochemistry. 9!ars that an animal eats are converted into !lcose,
which is then converted into ener!y to fel the animal4s activities by respiration $see Cell
Drocesses+.
-lcose has a cosin called frctose with the same chemical formla. 6t these two componds
have different strctres<
-lcose and frctose differ in one important way< !lcose has a doble,bonded oxy!en on the top
carbon, while frctose has its doble,bonded carbon on the second carbon. This difference is most
apparent when the two monosaccharides are in their rin! forms. -lcose !enerally forms a
hexa!onal rin! $six sided+, while frctose forms a penta!onal rin! $five sided+. 5hereas frctose
is the s!ar most often fond in frits, !lcose is most often sed as the ma@or sorce of ener!y for
celllar activities.
Dis(cch(ri*es
#isaccharides are carbohydrate dimers. These dimers are formed from two monomers by
dehydration synthesis. "ny two monosaccharides can form a disaccharide. For example, maltose
is formed by the dehydration synthesis of two !lcose molecles. 9crose, common table s!ar,
comes from the linka!e of one molecle of !lcose and one of frctose.
Polys(cch(ri*es
Dolysaccharides can consist of as few as three and as many as several thosand monosaccharides.
#ependin! on their strctre and the monosaccharides they contain, polysaccharides can fnction
as a means of storin! excess ener!y or provide strctral spport.
5hen cells in!est more carbohydrates than they need for fel, they link the s!ars to!ether to
form polysaccharides. The strctre of these polysaccharides is different in plants and animals< in
plants, polysaccharides take the form of starch, whereas in animals, they are linked in a strctre
called glycogen.
Dolysaccharides can also have strctral roles in plants and animals. Celllose, which forms the
cell walls of plant cells, is a strctral polysaccharide. ?n animals, the polysaccharide chitin forms
the hard oter armor of insects, crabs, spiders, and other arthropods. Many fn!i also se chitin as
a strctral carbohydrate.
Proteins
More than half of the or!anic componds in cells are proteins, which play an important fnction in
almost every celllar process. Droteins, for example, provide strctral spport to the cell in the
cytoskeleton and make p many of the hormones that send messa!es arond the body. Enzymes,
which re!late chemical reactions in the cell, are also proteins.
A&ino Aci*s
Droteins are made p of monomers called amino acids. The names of many, bt not all, amino
acids end in ,ine< methionine, lysine, serine, etc. Each amino acid consists of a central carbon
atom attached to a set of three desi!nated !rops< an atom of hydro!en $)H+, an amino !rop $)
;H(+, and a carboxyl !rop $)CCCH+. The final !rop, desi!nated $)1+ in the dia!ram below,
varies between different amino acids.
?t is possible to make an infinite nmber of amino acids by attachin! different componds to
the 1 position of the central carbon. However, only (3 types of 1!rops exist in natre, so there
are only (3 natrally occrrin! amino acids.
Polypepti*es
"ll proteins are made of chains of some or all of these (3 amino acids. The bond formed between
two amino acids by dehydration synthesis is known as a pepti$e bon$.
" particlar protein has a specific se=ence of amino acids, which is known as itsprimary
structure. Every protein also winds, coils, and folds in three,dimensional space in specific and
predetermined ways, takin! on a ni=e secondary $initial windin! and coilin!+ and tertiary
strctre $overall foldin!+. ?n harsh conditions, sch as hi!h temperatre or extreme pH, proteins
can lose their normal tertiary shape and cease to fnction properly. 5hen a protein nfolds in
harsh conditions, it has been /denatred.0
Lipi$s
Lipids are carbon componds that do not dissolve in water. They are distin!ished from other
macromolecles by characteristic hy$rocarbon chainsFlon! strin!s of carbon molecles with
hydro!ens attached. 9ch chains do not dissolve well in water becase they are nonpolar.
Triglyceri*es
Tri!lycerides consist of three lon! hydrocarbon chains known as fatty aci$s attached to each other
by a molecle called !lycerol.
6ecase they inclde three fatty acids, fats and oils are also known as tri!lycerides. "s yo mi!ht
expect by this point, !lycerol and each fatty acid chain are @oined to each other by dehydration
synthesis.
9ome fats are satrated, while others are nsatrated. These terms refer to the presence or absence
of doble bonds in the fatty acids of fats. 9atrated fats have no doble bonds, whereas
nsatrated fats contain one or more sch bonds. ?n !eneral, plant fats are nsatrated and animal
fats are satrated. 9atrated fats are !enerally solid at room temperatre, while nsatrated fats are
typically li=id.
Phospholipi$s
Dhospholipids, which are important components of cell membranes, consist of a !lycerol molecle
attached to two fatty acid chains and one phosphate !rop $DCB
)(
+<
Like all fats, the hydrocarbon tails of phospholipids do not dissolve in water. However, phosphate
!rops do dissolve in water becase they are polar. The different solbilities of the two ends of
phospholipid molecles allow them to form the bilayers that make p the cell membrane.
Steroi$s
9teroids are the primary strctre in hormones, sbstances that play important si!nalin! roles in
the body. 9trctrally, steroids are made p of for fsed carbon rin!s attached to a hydrocarbon
chain.
The linked rin!s indicate that each carbon atom is attached to other carbon atoms that form
mltiple loops. Cholesterol, the steroid in the ima!e above, is the central steroid from which other
steroids, sch as the sex hormones, are synthesi.ed. Cholesterol is only fond in animal cells.
#ucleic Aci$s
Cells se a class of componds called ncleic acids to store and se hereditary information.
?ndividal ncleic acid monomers, known as nucleoti$es, consist of three main nits<
a nitrogenous base $a compond made with nitro!en+, a phosphate !rop, and a s!ar<
There are two main types of ncleotides, differentiated by their s!ars< $eo%yribonucleic aci$
/"#A0 and ribonucleic aci$ /'#A0. #;" ncleotides have one less oxy!en than 1;"
ncleotides. The /deoxy0 in deoxyriboncleic acid refers to the missin! oxy!en molecle. ?n
terms of fnction, #;" molecles store !enetic information for the cell, while 1;" molecles
carry !enetic messa!es from the #;" in the ncles to the cytoplasm for se in protein synthesis
and other processes.
5ithin both #;" and 1;", there are frther sbdivisions of ncleotides by nitro!enos bases.
For #;", there are for kinds of nitro!enos bases<
%. adenine $"+
(. !anine $-+
'. cytosine $C+
B. thymine $T+
The nitro!enos base of a ncleotide provides it with its chemical identity, so the ncleotides are
called by the name of their nitro!enos base. 1;" also has for nitro!enos bases. ThreeF
adenine, !anine, and cytosineFare identical to those fond in #;". The forth, racil, replaces
thymine.
"#A an$ '#A
?n %82', Kames 5atson and Francis Crick pblished the discovery of the three,dimensional
strctre of #;". 5atson and Crick hypothesi.ed that #;" ncleotides are or!ani.ed into a
polymer that looks like a ladder twisted into a coil. They called this strctre the $ouble heli%.
Two separate #;" polymers make p each side of the ladder. The s!ar and phosphate molecles
of the #;" form the vertical spports, while the nitro!enos bases stick ot to form the rn!s.
The rn!s attach to each other by hydro!en bondin!.
The nitro!en bases attach to each other accordin! to two simple rles< adenine $"+ pairs with
thymine $T+, and !anine $-+ pairs with cytosine $C+. The exclsivity of the attachments between
nitro!en bases is known as base pairing.
The rles of base pairin! are fre=ently tested on the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y. " test =estion mi!ht ask,
/5hat is the complementary #;" strand to LC"T4>0 Followin! the rles of #;" base pairin!,
yo can dedce that the answer is /C"T.0 $/#C-0 is the wron! answer, smart !y.+
'#A Structure
Mnlike the doble,stranded #;", 1;" is sin!le stranded. ?t looks like a ladder ct down the
middle. "s yo will see when we discss protein synthesis in the chapter on Cell Drocesses, this
strctre of 1;" is very important to its fnctions as a messen!er from the #;" in the ncles to
the cytoplasm.
"#A '#A
,ases "denine, !anine, cytosine, thymine "denine, !anine, cytosine, racil
Structure #oble helix 9in!le helix
&unction 9tores !enetic material and passes it from
!eneration to !eneration
Carries messa!es from the ncles
to the cytoplasm
Summary of the Molecules of Life
Proteins Lipi$s #ucleic Aci$s Carbohy$rates
&unction 9trctre,
si!nalin!,
catalysis
Ener!y stora!e,
si!nalin!, membrane
constitents
9tore !enetic
material
Ener!y sorce, ener!y
stora!e, strctral
Monomer "mino acid ;cleotide Monosaccharide
Polymer Dolypeptide,
protein
1;", #;" Dolysaccharide
E%ample ?nslin,
transcriptase $an
en.yme+
Corn oil " chromosome -lcose
Enzymes
9ome chemical reactions simply happen when the two reactants come into contact. For example,
yo may be familiar with the bbbly /volcano0 that forms when bakin! soda and vine!ar are
placed to!ether in a !lass. This reaction is spontaneos becase it does not re=ire otside ener!y
to force it to occr.
Most reactions, however, re=ire ener!y. For example, the chemical reactions that prodce a cake
do not take place when bakin! soda, flor, and the other in!redients of a cake are simply left in a
pan on the kitchen conter. Heat is re=ired to break the existin! chemical bonds in the
in!redients so that they can nder!o chemical reactions and combine with each other in new ways.
?n the laboratory, chemists se heat to create the activation ener!y needed to !et nonspontaneos
reactions started. "nimals, however, can4t rely on internal 6nsen brners to !et their chemical
reactions cookin!. ?n order to perform chemical reactions at low temperatres, the body ses
special proteins called en.ymes, which lower the activation ener!y necessary for chemical
reactions to achievable levels. En.ymes lower the activation ener!y by interactin! with
the substrates, the primary molecles or componds involved in the reaction. ?f yo think of the
activation ener!y needed for a chemical reaction as a montain that the reactants have to climb,
think of an en.yme as openin! p a tnnel thro!h the montain. Less ener!y is re=ired to !o
thro!h the tnnel than to climb all the way p the montain.
En.ymes are not themselves altered when they help reactions alon!. Conse=ently, a sin!le
en.yme can be sed repeatedly in many reactions. 6ecase en.ymes can be sed over and over
a!ain and becase they can act very =ickly, a relatively small amont of en.yme is needed to
facilitate reactions involvin! relatively lar!e amonts of material.
Each en.yme is desi!ned to fit only the sbstrates in the reaction that the en.yme is meant to
control. The one,to,one correspondence between en.yme and sbstrate is referred to
as specificity. "n analo!y to a lock an$ key is sefl for nderstandin! the specificity of
en.ymes. Each en.yme can be tho!ht of as a lock that can interact only with the appropriate key,
or sbstrate. The re!ion of the en.yme that interacts with the sbstrate is known as the active site.
En.ymes help form bonds by holdin! two sbstrates near each other in the active site. Componds
can form bonds with each other more easily when they are ad@acent than when they are floatin!
arond the cell randomly.
Cften, en.ymes are named for their sbstrate. The name of the en.yme is the name of the startin!
material followed by the /,ase.0 For example, maltase is an en.yme that breaks down maltose, a
common s!ar. $6e carefl not to confse s!ars, which end in /,ose,0 with en.ymes, which end
in /,ase.0+
&actors Affecting Enzymes
Like all proteins, en.ymes have a ni=e three,dimensional strctre that chan!es nder nsal
environmental conditions. En.ymes do not fnction well when their strctre is altered.
Te&per(t$re (n* pH
#ependin! on where it is normally located in the body, an en.yme will have different temperatre
and pH vales at which its strctre is most stable. "s conditions deviate from this point, the
en.yme4s ability to help alon! reactions decreases.
Most en.ymes work best near a pH of *, bt some en.ymes operate most effectively in a
particlarly acidic environment, sch as the stomachE a netral environment impairs their fnction.
Likewise, the en.ymes of creatres that live at hi!h temperatres, sch as bacteria that live in hot
sprin!s, do not fnction properly at hman body temperatre.
Co%(ctors (n* Inhi'itors
?n order to control en.yme activity more precisely, the body has developed a nmber of
componds that trn en.ymes on or off and make them work faster or slower. 9ometimes these
componds attach to the active site alon! with the sbstrate, and sometimes they bind to another
site on the en.yme. "ctivators of en.ymes are known as cofactors or coenzymes. Many vitamins
are coen.ymes. Molecles that prevent en.ymes from fnctionin! properly are known as
inhibitors.
CELL D1CCE99E9
Cell espiration
1espiration is the process by which or!anisms brn food to prodce ener!y. The startin! material
of celllar respiration is the s!ar glucose, which has ener!y stored in its chemical bonds. Ho can
think of !lcose as a kind of celllar piece of coal< chock,fll of ener!y, bt seless when yo
want to power a stereo. Kst as brnin! coal prodces heat and ener!y in the form of electricity,
the chemical processes of respiration convert the ener!y in !lcose into sable form.
A$enosine triphosphate /ATP0 is the sable form of ener!y prodced by respiration. "TD is like
electricity< it contains the same ener!y as coal, bt it4s easier to transport and is @st what4s needed
when the cell needs some power to carry ot a task.
ATP
"TD is a ncleic acid similar to 1;". ?t has a ribose s!ar attached to the nitro!enos base
adenine. However, instead of the sin!le phosphate !rop typical of 1;" ncleotides, "TD has
three phosphate !rops. Each of the "TD phosphate !rops carries a ne!ative char!e. ?n order to
hold the three ne!ative char!es in sch proximity, the bonds holdin! the phosphate !rops have to
be =ite powerfl. ?f one or two of the bonds are broken and the additional phosphates are freed,
the ener!y stored in the bonds is released and can be sed to fel other chemical reactions. 5hen
the cell needs ener!y, it removes phosphates from "TD by hydrolysis, creatin! ener!y and either
adenosine diphosphate $"#D+, which has two phosphates, or adenosine monophosphate $"MD+,
which has one phosphate.
1espiration is the process of makin! "TD rather than breakin! it down. To make "TD, the cell
brns !lcose and adds new phosphate !rops to "MD or "#D, creatin! new power molecles.
There are actally two !eneral types of respiration, aerobic and anaerobic. "erobic respiration
occrs in the presence of oxy!en, while anaerobic respiration does not se oxy!en. 6oth types of
cell respiration be!in with the process of !lycolysis, after which the two diver!e. 5e4ll first
discss aerobic respiration and then move to anaerobic.
Aerobic Cell 'espiration
"erobic respiration is more efficient and more complicated than anaerobic respiration. "erobic
respiration ses oxy!en and !lcose to prodce carbon dioxide, water, and "TD. More precisely,
this process involves six oxy!en molecles for every s!ar molecle<
&C( I C&H%(C& &CC( I &H(C I "TD ener!y
This !eneral e=ation for aerobic respiration $which yo shold know for the test+ is actally the
prodct of three separate sta!es< !lycolysis, the Nrebs cycle, and the electron transport chain.
Typically, the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y only asks =estions abot the startin! and endin! prodcts of each
sta!e and the location where each takes place. Mnderstandin! the internal details of sta!es will
help yo remember these key facts and prepare yo in case the testers throw in a more difficlt
=estion, bt the details of all the complex reactions will probably not be tested by the 9"T ??.
(lycolysis
-lycolysis is the first sta!e of aerobic $and anaerobic+ respiration. ?t takes place in the cytoplasm
of the cell. ?n !lycolysis $/!lcose breakin!0+, "TD is sed to split !lcose molecles into a three,
carbon compond called pyruvate. This splittin! prodces ener!y that is stored in "TD and a
molecle called #A".. The chemical formla for !lycolysis is<
C&H%(C& I ("TD I (;"#
I
(pyrvate I B"TD I (;"#H
"s the formla indicates, the cell mst invest ( "TD molecles in order to !et !lycolysis !oin!.
6t by the time !lycolysis is complete, the cell has prodced B new "TD, creatin! a net !ain
of ( "TD. The ( ;"#H molecles travel to the mitochondria, where, in the next two sta!es of
aerobic respiration, the ener!y stored in them is converted to "TD.
The most important thin!s to remember abot !lycolysis are<
-lycolysis is part of both aerobic and anaerobic respiration.
-lycolysis splits !lcose, a six,carbon compond, into two pyrvate molecles, each of
which has three carbons.
?n !lycolysis, a ( "TD investment reslts in a B "TD payoff.
Mnlike the rest of aerobic respiration, which takes place in the mitochondria, !lycolysis
takes place in the cytoplasm of the cell.
Mnlike the rest of aerobic respiration, !lycolysis does not re=ire oxy!en.
The 1rebs Cycle
"fter !lycolysis, the pyrvate s!ars are transported to the mitochondria. #rin! this transport, the
three,carbon pyrvate is converted into the two,carbon molecle called acetate. The extra carbon
from the pyrvate is released as carbon dioxide, prodcin! another ;"#H molecle that heads off
to the electron transport chain to help create more "TD. The acetate attaches to a coen.yme called
coen.yme " to form the compond acetyl-CoA. The acetyl,Co" then enters the Nrebs cycle. The
Nrebs cycle is called a cycle becase one of the molecles it starts with, the for,carbon
oxaloacetate, is re!enerated by the end of the cycle to start the cycle over a!ain.
The Nrebs cycle be!ins when acetyl,Co" and oxaloacetate interact to form the six,carbon
compond citric acid. $The Nrebs cycle is also sometimes called the citric aci$ cycle.+ This citric
acid molecle then nder!oes a series of ei!ht chemical reactions that strip carbons to prodce a
new oxaloacetate molecle. The extra carbon atoms are expelled as CC( $the Nrebs cycle is the
sorce of the carbon dioxide yo exhale+. ?n the process of breakin! p citric acid, ener!y is
prodced. ?t is stored in "TD, ;"#H, and F"#H(. The ;"#H and F"#H( proceed on to the
electron transport chain.
The entire Nrebs cycle is shown in the fi!re below. For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, yo don4t have to
know the intricacies of this fi!re, bt yo shold be able to reco!ni.e that it shows the Nrebs
cycle.
?t is also important to remember that each !lcose molecle that enters !lycolysis is split into two
pyrvate molecles, which are then converted into the acetyl,Co" that moves thro!h the Nrebs
cycle. This means that for every !lcose molecle that enters !lycolysis, the Nrebs cycle rns
twice. Therefore, for one !lcose molecle rnnin! thro!h aerobic cell respiration, the e=ation
for the Nrebs cycle is<
(acetyl,Co" I (oxaloacetate BCC( I &;"#H I (F"#H( I ("TD I (oxaloacetate
For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, the most important thin!s to remember abot the Nrebs cycle are<
The Nrebs cycle reslts in ( "TD molecles for each !lcose molecle rn thro!h
!lycolysis.
The Nrebs cycle sends ener!y,laden ;"#H and F"#H( molecles on to the next step in
respiration, the electron transport chain. ?t does not export carbon molecles for frther
processin!.
The Nrebs cycle takes place in the mitochondrial matrix, the innermost compartment of
the mitochondria.
Tho!h the Nrebs cycle does not directly re=ire oxy!en, it can only take place when
oxy!en is present becase it relies on by,prodcts from the electron transport chain, which
re=ires oxy!en. The Nrebs cycle is therefore an aerobic process.
The Electron Transport Chain
" !reat deal of ener!y is stored in the ;"#H and F"#H( molecles formed in !lycolysis and the
Nrebs cycle. This ener!y is converted to "TD in the final phase of respiration, the electron
transport chain<
%3;"#H I (F"#H( 'B"TD
The electron transport chain consists of a set of three protein pmps embedded in the inner
membrane of the mitochondria. F"#H( and ;"#H are sed to power these pmps. Msin! the
ener!y in ;"#H and F"#H(, these pmps move positive hydro!en ions $H
I
+ from the
mitochondrial matrix to the inter,membrane space. This creates a concentration !radient over the
membrane.
?n a process called o%i$ative phosphorylation, H
I
ions flow back into the matrix thro!h a
membrane protein called an "TD synthase. This channel is the opposite of the standard membrane
pmps that brns "TD to transport molecles a!ainst their concentration !radient< "TD synthase
ses the natral movement of ions alon! their concentration !radient to make "TD. "ll told, the
flow of ions thro!h this channel prodces 'B "TD molecles. The waste prodcts from the
powerin! of the electron transport chain protein pmps combine with oxy!en to prodce water
molecles. 6y acceptin! these waste prodcts, oxy!en frees ;"#
I
and F"# to play their roles in
the Nrebs cycle and the electron transport chain. 5ithot oxy!en, these vital ener!y carrier
molecles wold not perform their roles and the processes of aerobic respiration cold not occr.
For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, the most important thin!s to remember abot the electron transport chain
and oxidative phosphorylation are<
For "TD molecles are prodced by !lycolysis and the Nrebs cycle combined. The
electron transport chain prodces 'B "TD.
The electron transport chain occrs across the inner membrane of the mitochondria.
The electron transport chain re=ires oxy!en.
Anaerobic 'espiration
"erobic respiration re=ires oxy!en. However, some or!anisms live in places where oxy!en is not
always present. 9imilarly, nder extreme exertion, mscle cells may rn ot of oxy!en. "naerobic
respiration is a form of respiration that can fnction withot oxy!en.
?n the absence of oxy!en, or!anisms contine to carry ot !lycolysis, since !lycolysis does not se
oxy!en in its chemical process. 6t !lycolysis does re=ire ;"#
I
. ?n aerobic respiration, the
electron transport chain trns ;"#H back to ;"#
I
with the aid of oxy!en, thereby avertin!
any ;"#
I
shorta!e and allowin! !lycolysis to take place. ?n anaerobic respiration, cells mst find
another way to trn ;"#H back to ;"#
I
.
This /other way0 is called fermentation. Fermentation4s !oal is not to prodce additional ener!y,
bt merely to replenish ;"#
I
spplies so that !lycolysis can contine chrnin! ot its slow bt
steady stream of "TD. 6ecase pyrvates are not needed in anaerobic respiration, fermentation
ses them to help re!enerate ;"#
I
. 5hile employin! the pyrvates in this way does allow
!lycolysis to contine, it also reslts in the loss of the considerable ener!y contained in the
pyrvate s!ars.
There are two principle forms of fermentation, lactic aci$ fermentation and alcoholic
fermentation. For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, remember that no matter what kind of fermentation
occrs, anaerobic respiration only prodces ( net "TD in !lycolysis.
Lactic Aci$ &ermentation
?n lactic acid fermentation, pyrvate is converted to a three,carbon compond called lactic acid<
pyrvate I ;"#H lactic acid I ;"#
I
?n this reaction, the hydro!en from the ;"#H molecle is transferred to the pyrvate molecle.
Lactic acid fermentation is common in fn!i and bacteria. Lactic acid fermentation also takes
place in hman mscle cells when strenos exercise cases temporary oxy!en shorta!es. 9ince
lactic acid is a toxic sbstance, its bildp in the mscles prodces fati!e and soreness.
Alcoholic &ermentation
"nother rote to ;"#
I
prodces alcohol $ethanol+ as a by,prodct<
pyrvate I ;"#H ethyl alcohol I ;"#
I
I CC(
"lcoholic fermentation is the sorce of ethyl alcohol present in wines and li=ors. ?t also acconts
for the bbbles in bread. 5hen yeast in bread do!h rns ot of oxy!en, it !oes thro!h alcoholic
fermentation, prodcin! carbon dioxide. These carbon dioxide bbbles create spaces in the do!h
and case it to rise.
Like lactic acid, the ethanol prodced by alcoholic fermentation is toxic. 5hen ethanol levels rise
to abot %( percent, the yeast dies.
!rom D"A to #rotein
#;" directs the cell4s activities by tellin! it what proteins to make and when. These proteins form
strctral elements in the cell and re!late the prodction of other cell prodcts. 6y controllin!
protein synthesis, #;" is h!ely important in directin! life.
Drotein synthesis is a two,step process. #;" resides in the ncles, bt proteins are made in the
cytoplasm. The cell copies the information held in #;" onto 1;" molecles in a process called
transcription. Droteins are synthesi.ed at the ribosomes from the codes in 1;" in a process called
translation.
6efore !ettin! into the way that the information on #;" can be transcribed and then translated
into protein, we have to spend some time stdyin! the ma@or players in the process< #;" and
1;".
"#A an$ the (enetic Co$e
The se=ence of ncleotides in #;" makes p a code that controls the fnctions of the cell by
tellin! it what proteins to prodce. Cells need to be able to prodce (3 different amino acids in
order to prodce all the proteins necessary to fnction. #;", however, has only for nitro!en
bases. How can these for bases code for the (3 amino acids> ?f adenine, thymine, !anine, and
cytosine each coded for one particlar amino acid, #;" wold only be able to code for for
amino acids. ?f two bases were sed to specify an amino acid, there wold only be room to code
for %& $ + different amino acids.
?n order to be able to code for (3 amino acids, it is necessary to se three bases $which offer a total
of &B codin! combinations+ to code for each amino acid. These triplets of ncleotides that make p
a sin!le codin! !rop are called co$ons or genes. Two examples of codons are C"-, which codes
for the amino acid !ltamine, and C-", which codes for ar!inine.
Codons are always read in a non,overlappin! se=ence. This means that any one ncleotide can
only be a part of one codon. -iven the code "M-C", "M- cold be a codon for the amino acid
methionine, with C" startin! a new codon. "lternatively, -C" cold be a codon specifyin!
alanine, while the initial "M was the last two letters of a previos codon. 6t "M- and -C"
cannot both be codons at the same time.
"egeneracy of the (enetic Co$e
There are &B codons bt only (3 amino acids. 5hat happens to the other BB codin! possibilities> ?t
happens that some of the different codons call for the same amino acid. The !enetic code is said to
be $egenerate becase of its redndancy.
Experiments have shown that there are also three stop co$ons2 which si!nal when a protein is
flly formed, and one start codon, which si!nals the be!innin! of an amino acid se=ence.
Mutations of the (enetic Co$e
9ince the se=ence of ncleotides in #;" determines the order of amino acids in proteins, a
chan!e or error in the #;" se=ence can affect a protein4s fnction. These errors or chan!es in
the #;" se=ence are called mtations.
There are two basic types of mtations< sbstittion mtations and frameshift mtations.
S$'stit$tion M$t(tion
" sbstittion mtation occrs when a sin!le ncleotide is replaced by a different ncleotide. The
effects of sbstittion mtations can vary. Certain mtations mi!ht have no effect at all< these are
called silent mtations. For instance, becase the !enetic code is de!enerate, if the particlar
codon -"" becomes -"-, it will still code for the amino acid !ltamate and the fnction of the
cell will not chan!e. Cther sbstittion mtations can drastically affect celllar and or!anismal
fnction. 9ickle,cell anemia, which cripples hman red blood cells, is cased by a sbstittion
mtation. " person will sffer from sickle,cell anemia if he has the amino acid valine in his
hemo!lobin rather than !ltamic acid. The codon for valine is -M" or -M-, while the codon for
!ltamic acid is -"" or -"-. " simple sbstittion of " for M reslts in the disease.
)r(&eshi%t M$t(tion
" frameshift mtation occrs when a ncleotide is wron!ly inserted or deleted from a codon. 6oth
types of frameshifts sally have debilitatin! or lethal effects. "n insertion or deletion will
affect every codon in a particlar !enetic se=ence by throwin! the entire three,by,three codon
strctre ot of whack. For example, if the " in the -"M were to be deleted, the code<
-"M -"C MCC -CM "--
wold become<
-M- "CM CC- CM" --
and code for an entirely different set of amino acids in translation. The reslts of sch mtations
on an or!anism are sally catastrophic.
The only sort of frameshift mtation that mi!ht not have dire effects is one in which an entire
codon is inserted or deleted. This will reslt in the !ain or loss of one amino acid bt will not
affect srrondin! codons.
Chromosomes
Even the tiniest cells contain meters pon meters of #;". 5ith the aid of special proteins called
histones, this #;" is coiled into an entan!led fibros mass called chromatin. 5hen it comes time
for the cell to replicate $a process covered later in this chapter+, these masses !ather into a nmber
of discrete compact strctres called chromosomes.
?n ekaryotes, the chromosomes are located in the ncles of the cell. Drokaryotes don4t have a
ncles< their #;" is located in a sin!le chromosome that is @oined to!ether in a rin!. This rin!
chromosome is fond in the cytoplasm. ?n this chapter, when we talk abot chromosomes, we will
be referrin! to ekaryotic chromosomes.
#ifferent ekaryotes have varyin! nmbers of chromosomes. Hmans, for example, have B&
chromosomes arran!ed in (' pairs. $#o!s have *7 chromosomes in '8 pairs. " lar!er nmber of
chromosomes is not a si!n of !reater biolo!ical sophistication.+ The total nmber of distinct
chromosomes in a cell is the cell4s $iploi$ number.
The cells in a hman body that are not passed down to offsprin!, called somatic cells, contain
chromosomes in two closely related setsFone set of (' each from a person4s mother and fatherF
makin! p a total of B& chromosomes. These sets pair p, and the pairs are known as homologous
chromosomes. Each homolo!os pair consists of one maternal and one paternal chromosome.
The haploi$ number of a cell refers to half of the total nmber of chromosomes in a cell $half the
diploid nmber+, or the nmber of homolo!os pairs in somatic cells.
?n hmans and other hi!her animals, only the sex cells that are passed on to offsprin! have the
haploid nmber of chromosomes. These sex cells are also called gametes.
'#A
1iboncleic acid $1;"+ helps #;" trn stored !enetic messa!es into proteins. "s discssed in
the 6iochemistry chapter, 1;" monomers $ncleotides+ are similar to those of #;", bt with
three crcial differences<
#;"4s five,carbon s!ar is deoxyribose. 1;" ncleotides contain a sli!htly different
s!ar, called ribose.
1;" ses the nitro!enos base racil in place of #;"4s thymine.
The 1;" molecle takes the form of a sin!le helixFhalf a spiral ladderFas compared
with the doble helix strctre of #;".
Two different types of 1;" play important roles in protein synthesis. #rin! transcription, #;"
is copied to make messenger '#A /m'#A0, which then leaves the ncles to brin! its still
encoded information to the ribosomes in the cytoplasm. ?n order to se the information contained
in the transcribed m1;" to make a protein, a second type of 1;" is sed. Transfer '#A
/t'#A0 moves amino acids to the site of protein synthesis at the ribosome accordin! to the code
specified by the m1;" strand. There are many different t1;"s, each of which bond to a different
amino acid and the m1;" se=ence correspondin! to that amino acid.
#rotein $ynthesis
;ow that we4ve described #;" and 1;", it4s time to take a look at the process of protein
synthesis. The synthesis of proteins takes two steps< transcription and translation. Transcription
takes the information encoded in #;" and encodes it into m1;", which heads ot of the cell4s
ncles and into the cytoplasm. #rin! translation, the m1;" works with a ribosome and t1;"
to synthesi.e proteins.
Transcription
The first step in transcription is the partial nwindin! of the #;" molecle so that the portion of
#;" that codes for the needed protein can be transcribed. Cnce the #;" molecle is nwond at
the correct location, an en.yme called 1;" polymerase helps line p ncleotides to create
a complementary stran$ of m1;". 9ince m1;" is a sin!le,stranded molecle, only one of the
two strands of #;" is sed as a template for the new 1;" strand.
The new strand of 1;" is made accordin! to the rles of base pairin!<
#;" cytosine pairs with 1;" !anine
#;" !anine pairs with 1;" cytosine
#;" thymine pairs with 1;" adenine
#;" adenine pairs with 1;" racil
For example, the m1;" complement to the #;" se=ence TT-C"C is ""C-M-. The 9"T ??
6iolo!y fre=ently asks abot the se=ence of m1;" that will be prodced from a !iven
se=ence of #;". For these =estions, don4t for!et that 1;" ses racil in place of thymine.
"fter transcription, the new 1;" strand is released and the two n.ipped #;" strands bind
to!ether a!ain to form the doble helix. 6ecase the #;" template remains nchan!ed after
transcription, it is possible to transcribe another identical molecle of 1;" immediately after the
first one is complete. " sin!le !ene on a #;" strand can prodce eno!h 1;" to make thosands
of copies of the same protein in a very short time.
Translation
?n translation, m1;" is sent to the cytoplasm, where it bonds with ribosomes, the sites of protein
synthesis. 1ibosomes have three important bindin! sites< one for m1;" and two for t1;". The
two t1;" sites are labeled the " site and D site.
Cnce the m1;" is in place, t1;" molecles, each associated with specific amino acids, bind to
the ribosome in a se=ence defined by the m1;" code. t1;" molecles can perform this
fnction becase of their special strctre. t1;" is made p of many ncleotides that bend into
the shape of a cloverleaf. "t its tail end, t1;" has an acceptor stem that attaches to a specific
amino acid. "t its head, t1;" has three ncleotides that make p an antico$on.
"n anticodon pairs complementary nitro!enos bases with m1;". For example if m1;" has a
codon "MC, it will pair with t1;"4s anticodon se=ence M"-. t1;" molecles with the same
anticodon se=ence will always carry the same amino acids, ensrin! the consistency of the
proteins coded for in #;".
The Process of Translation
Translation be!ins with the bindin! of the m1;" chain to the ribosome. The first codon, which is
always the start codon methionine, fills the D site and the second codon fills the " site. The t1;"
molecle whose anticodon is complementary to the m1;" forms a temporary base pair with the
m1;" in the " site. " peptide bond is formed between the amino acid attached to the t1;" in
the " site and the methionine in the D site.
The ribosome now slides down the m1;", so that the t1;" in the " site moves over to the D site,
and a new codon fills the " site. $Cne way to remember this is that the " site brin!s new amino
acids to the !rowin! polypeptide at the D site.+ The appropriate t1;" carryin! the appropriate
amino acid pairs bases with this new codon in the " site. " peptide bond is formed between the
two ad@acent amino acids held by t1;" molecles, formin! the first two links of a chain.
The ribosome slides a!ain. The t1;" that was in the D site is let !o into the cytoplasm, where it
will eventally bind with another amino acid. "nother t1;" comes to bind with the new codon in
the " site, and a peptide bond is formed between the new amino acid to the !rowin! peptide chain.
The process contines ntil one of the three stop codons enters the " site. "t that point, the protein
chain connected to the t1;" in the D site is released. Translation is complete.
Cell eplication
Ekaryotic cell replication is a process by which cells dplicate their !enetic material and then
divide to yield two da!hter cells. ?n this section, we will discss one type of cell reprodction
called mitosis that prodces an exact copy of the ori!inal cell, incldin! an exact replication of
#;". ?n the next chapter, we will move on to discss meiosis, a different form of cell replication
that leads to the creation of sex cells. Millions of ronds of mitosis take place drin! the
development of lar!e mlticelllar or!anisms. Three separate tasks mst be completed for a
sccessfl rond of mitosis<
%. #;" packa!ed into chromosomes mst replicate.
(. Copies of the chromosomes and or!anelles mst mi!rate to opposite ends of the cell.
'. The cell mst physically split into two separate cells.
The cell cycle is the recrrin! se=ence of events that incldes the dplication of a cell4s contents
and its sbse=ent division. The cell cycle is divided into two phases< interphase and mitosis
proper. #rin! interphase, the cell copies its #;" and prepares for division. The cell splits into
two da!hters in the sta!es of mitosis.
+nterphase
#rin! interphase, the cell prepares for the division it will nder!o drin! mitosis. 9ch
preparation involves maintainin! its normal activities, !rowin! to a si.e that can spport cell
division, and replicatin! its #;".
DNA Replic(tion
#;" replicates so that from one helix of #;" emer!e two /da!hter0 helices. These da!hter
helices are exact copies of the parental helix. #;" creates da!hter helices by sin! the parental
strands of #;" as a template.
The first step in #;" replication is the separation of the two #;" strands that make p the helix
that is to be copied. "n en.yme called #;" helicase ntwists the helix to form a H shape called a
replication fork. The replication fork moves down the #;" strand, splittin! it into two sin!le
strands. ;ext, an en.yme called #;" polymerase helps new ncleotides line p next to the two
separated strands, accordin! to the rles of base pairin!< adenine and thymine pair with each other,
and !anine and cytosine pair with each other.
"s new ncleotides line p at the appropriate spots alon! the ori!inal strand, they form the
/rn!s0 on the new #;" molecle. Mltimately replication prodces two new #;" molecles that
are identical to the ori!inal molecle. 1eplication is complete when both of the new strands have
formed and rewond into their characteristic doble helix shape.
The Pro*$cts o% Replic(tion
#rin! interphase, every chromosome is replicated. ?n a hman cell, for example, all B&
chromosomes are replicated. 6t that doesn4t doble those B& chromosomes into 8( chromosomes
like yo mi!ht think. ?nstead, after replication, each of the two new chromosomes are @oined
to!ether at their middle by a re!ion called a centromere. The reslt is an O,shaped strctre.
The two halves of the strctre are called chromati$s. The entire strctre, even tho!h it has
dobled in si.e, is still called a chromosome. 9ince we call each doble,chromatid strctre a
chromosome, a cell that has replicated all of its #;" to prepare for division is still said to contain
the diploid nmber of chromosomes, which is B& in hmans.
Mitosis
#rin! mitosis, the cell divides into two da!hter cells. Mitosis can be divided into for
sbphases< prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
Proph(se
Drophase be!ins when the doble,chromatid chromosomes are flly formed and can be seen
clearly nder a microscope. "fter the chromosomes have formed, microtble strctres
called centrioles move to opposite ends of the cell. "s the centrioles separate, a fanlike array
called the mitotic spin$le forms between them. ?n later phases of mitosis, the spindle will
fnction as a !ide to help the replicated chromosomes divide neatly into two !rops of complete
!enetic material.
?n prophase, the nclear membrane dissolves and the chromosomes attach to the spindle at their
centromere. 5ith chromosomes secred on the spindle, the cell is ready to enter the next phase of
mitosis, metaphase.
Met(ph(se
Metaphase be!ins when the spindle is completely formed. The phase is marked by the ali!nment
of chromosomes at the middle of the cell, halfway between each of the mitotic spindle poles alon!
a plane called the metaphase plate.
Cnce the chromosomes are ali!ned correctly, the cell enters anaphase, the third sta!e of mitosis.
An(ph(se
#rin! anaphase, the pairs of chromosomes at the center of the cell separate into individal
chromosomes, which move to opposite sides of the cell. The microtble and spindle fibers
facilitate this motion. The cell also be!ins to elon!ate in preparation for splittin!.
5hen the chromosomes reach their destination at the opposite poles of the cell, anaphase !ives
way to telophase, the forth and final sta!e of mitosis.
Teloph(se
Telophase be!ins when the chromosomes reach opposite poles. 9mall pieces of nclear membrane
in the cell be!in to re,form arond the !rop of chromosomes at each end, creatin! two nclei in
one cell. 5hen the chromosomes are once a!ain srronded by a protective envelope, they relax
and resme their interphase appearance as a strin!y tan!le. ;o lon!er needed, the spindles fall
apart drin! this sta!e, and a ncleols re,forms inside each ncles.
Cytokinesis
"ltho!h mitosis officially ends with telophase, at this point, the cell is not yet actally split into
two new cells. The final cleava!e is not exactly its own sta!e, bt it does have its own name<
cytokinesis, literally /cell division.0
5hen the two nclei reach opposite poles of the cell, the cell pinches in the middle, ltimately
leadin! to cleava!e.
ME;#EL?"; ";# MCLECML"1 -E;ET?C9
Basis of %nheritance& Meiosis
Mitosis takes a diploid cell and creates a nearly exact copy. Mitosis has two main fnctions< $%+ it
leads to the creation of all of the somatic $body+ cells in hmans and other livin! or!anismsE $(+ in
or!anisms that nder!o ase%ual repro$uction, diploid parent cells nder!o mitosis to create
identical da!hter copies of themselves. Mitosis creates a da!hter cell with chromosomes that are
identical to the chromosomes in its parent cell.
6t hmans and most other complex plants and animals each have a ni=e set of chromosomes.
This diversity of chromosomes is the reslt of se%ual repro$uction, which involves the
contribtion of the !enetic material from not one, bt two parents. #rin! sexal reprodction the
father4s haploid sperm cell and the mother4s haploid ovm $e!!+ cell fse to form a sin!le,celled
diploid zygote that then divides billions of times to form a whole individal.
?n order for sexal reprodction to take place, however, the parents first need to have haploid
sperm or ova, also called se% cells, germ cells, or gametes. Meiosis is the name for the special
type of cell division that prodces !ametes.
Process of Meiosis
Mnlike the sin!le,cell division of mitosis, meiosis involves two celllar divisions< meiosis ? and
meiosis ??. Each sta!e of meiosis rns thro!h the same five sta!es as discssed in mitosis. #rin!
the first rond of division, two intermediate da!hter cells are prodced. 6y the end of the second
rond of meiotic division $meiosis ??+, the ori!inal diploid $(n+ cell has become for haploid $n+
da!hter cells.
Meiosis I
Meiosis ? is =ite similar to mitosis. However, there are a nmber of crcial differences between
meiosis ? and mitosis, all of which will be otlined in the discssion of each individal sta!e
below.
INTERPHASE I
Kst as in mitosis, the cell nder!oes #;" replication drin! this intermediate phase. "fter
replication, the cell has a total of B& chromosomes, each made p of two sister chromatids @oined
by a centromere.
PROPHASE I
The ma@or distinction between mitosis and meiosis occrs drin! this phase. ?n mitotic prophase,
the doble,stranded chromosomes line p individally alon! the spindle. 6t in meiotic prophase
?, chromosomes line p alon! the spindle in homolo!os pairs. Then, in a process called synapsis,
the homolo!os pairs actally @oin to!ether and intertwine, formin! a tetra$ $two chromosomes
of two chromatids each, or for total chromatids+. Cften this intertwinin! leads the chromatids of
homolo!os chromosomes to actally exchan!e correspondin! pieces of #;", a process
called crossing-over or !enetic reassortment. Thro!hot prophase ?, sister chromatids behave as
a nit and are identical except for the re!ion where crossover occrred.
METAPHASE I
"fter prophase ?, the meiotic cell enters metaphase ?. #rin! this phase, the nclear membrane
breaks down, allowin! microtbles access to the chromosomes. 9till @oined at their crossover
re!ions in tetrads, the homolo!os pairs of chromosomes, with one maternal and one paternal
chromosome in each pair, ali!n at the center of the cell via microtbles, as in mitotic metaphase.
The pairs ali!n in random order.
ANAPHASE I
"naphase ? differs sli!htly from its mitotic conterpart. ?n mitotic anaphase, sister chromatids split
at their centromeres and are plled apart toward opposite poles. ?n contrast, drin! anaphase ?, the
centromeres do not split< the entire maternal chromosome of a homolo!os pair is plled to one
end, and the paternal chromosome is plled to the other end.
TELOPHASE I
#rin! telophase ?, the chromosomes arrive at separate poles and decondense. ;clear membranes
re,form arond them. The cell physically divides, as in mitotic cytokinesis.
THE PRODUCT O) MEIOSIS I
Meiosis ? reslts in two independent cells. Cne cell contains the maternal homolo!os pair, with a
small se!ment of the paternal chromosome from crossover. The other cell contains the paternal
homolo!os pair, likewise with a small se!ment of the maternal chromosome. #espite the small
re!ion of crossover in the chromosomes of each cell, the maternal sister chromati$s are still =ite
similar, as are the paternal sister chromatids. 6oth cells formed by meiosis ? contain a haploid
amont of #;".
The cells prodced in meiosis ? are different from those prodced in mitosis becase both haploid
members of the meiotic pair derive from random assortments of either the maternal or paternal
chromosomes from each homolo!os pair $with the exception of the small crossover sections+. ?n
mitosis, the celllar division separates sister chromatids and reslts in diploid cells containin! one
maternal and one paternal copy in each diploid pair.
Meiosis II
The cells prodced by meiosis ? =ickly enter meiosis ??. These cells do not nder!o #;"
replication before enterin! meiosis ??. The two cells that move from meiosis ? into meiosis ?? are
haploidFeach have (' replicated chromosomes, rather than the B& that exist in cells enterin! both
mitosis and meiosis ?.
Meiotic division ?? occrs thro!h the familiar phases from meiosis ? and mitosis. To distin!ish
the phases, they are called prophase ??, metaphase ??, anaphase ??, and telophase ??. Cne important
difference between the events of meiosis ? and ?? is that no frther !enetic reassortment takes place
drin! prophase ??. "s a reslt, prophase ?? is mch shorter than prophase ?. ?n fact, all of the
phases of meiosis ?? proceed rapidly.
#rin! meiosis ??, chromosomes ali!n at the center of the cell in metaphase ?? exactly the way
they do in mitotic metaphase. ?n anaphase ??, the sister chromatids separate, once a!ain in the
same fashion as occrs in mitotic anaphase. The only difference is that since there was no second
rond of #;" replicationE only one set of chromosomes exists. 5hen the two cells split at the end
of meioisis ??, the reslt is for haploid cells.
Cf the for haploid cells, one cell is composed completely of a maternal homolo!e, another of a
maternal homolo!e with a small se!ment of paternal #;" from crossover in meiosis ?, another
complete paternal homolo!e, and a final paternal homolo!e with a small se!ment of maternal
#;" from crossover in meiosis ?. These for haploid cells are the !ametes, the sperm or e!! cells,
that fse to!ether in sexal reprodction to create new individals.
$permatogenesis and 'ogenesis
Meiosis, the process by which !ametes are formed, can also be called gametogenesis, literally
/creation of !ametes.0 The specific type of meiosis that forms sperm is called spermato!enesis,
while the formation of e!! cells, or ova, is called oo!enesis. The most important thin! yo need to
remember abot both processes is that they occr thro!h meiosis, bt there are a few specific
distinctions between them.
Spermatogenesis
The male testes have tiny tbles containin! diploid cells called spermato!onim that matre to
become sperm. The basic fnction of spermato!enesis is to trn each one of the diploid
spermato!onim into for haploid sperm cells. This =adrplin! is accomplished thro!h the
meiotic cell division detailed in the last section. #rin! interphase before meiosis ?, the
spermato!onim4s B& sin!le chromosomes are replicated to form B& pairs of sister chromatids,
which then exchan!e !enetic material thro!h synapsis before the first meiotic division. ?n
meiosis ??, the two da!hter cells !o thro!h a second division to yield for cells containin! a
ni=e set of (' sin!le chromosomes that ltimately matre into for sperm cells. 9tartin! at
pberty, a male will prodce literally millions of sperm every sin!le day for the rest of his life.
ogenesis
Kst like spermato!enesis, oo!enesis involves the formation of haploid cells from an ori!inal
diploid cell, called a primary oocyte, thro!h meiosis. The female ovaries contain the primary
oocytes. There are two ma@or differences between the male and female prodction of !ametes.
First of all, oo!enesis only leads to the prodction of one final ovm, or e!! cell, from each
primary oocyte $in contrast to the for sperm that are !enerated from every spermato!onim+. Cf
the for da!hter cells that are prodced when the primary oocyte divides meiotically, three come
ot mch smaller than the forth. These smaller cells, called polar bodies, eventally disinte!rate,
leavin! only the lar!er ovm as the final prodct of oo!enesis. The prodction of one e!! cell via
oo!enesis normally occrs only once a month, from pberty to menopase.
Mendel(s E)periments
-re!or Mendel lived in an "strian monastery and tended the monastery !arden. ?n %7&2, thro!h
his observations of the !arden pea plants that !rew there, Mendel developed three basic principles
thatFaltho!h i!nored at the time by his scientific collea!esFwold later become the
fondation for the new science of !enetics.
Every pea plant contains both male and female reprodctive parts and will normally reprodce
thro!h self,pollination. Mendel noticed that the self,pollinatin! pea plants in his !arden were tre
breedin!< they all prodced offsprin! with characteristics identical to their own. Mendel looked at
seven different characteristics, or traits, that showed p in all of the plants. Each of these traits
had two contrastin! natres, only one of which wold show p in a !iven tre,breedin! plant. For
example, plant hei!ht cold be either short or tall< short, tre,breedin! plants wold only prodce
short offsprin!, and tall plants wold only prodce tall offsprin!. "t some point, Mendel
wondered what wold happen if he manally mated these tre,breedin! plants with each otherF
wold a tall plant mated with a short plant prodce a tall, medim, or short offsprin!> Focsin! on
only one trait at a time, Mendel cross,pollinated plants with each of the seven contrastin! traits
and examined their offsprin!. He called the ori!inal tre,breedin! parents the D $for parental+
!eneration and called their first set of offsprin! the F% $for /first filial,0 from the Latin word filius*
meanin! son+. The F% offsprin! that reslt from two parents with different characteristics are also
called hybri$s.
Law of "ominance
5hen Mendel crossed a prebred tall plant with a prebred short plant, all of the offsprin! in the
first !eneration $the F% !eneration+ were tall. The same thin! happened with the other pairs of
contrastin! traits he stdied< hybrid offsprin! in the first !eneration always showed @st one of the
two forms.
Mendel sed the word $ominant to describe the form that dominated the phenotype, or physical
appearance, in the F% !eneration. The other form he called recessive, becase the characteristic
receded into the back!rond in the F% !eneration. Mendel was the first to reali.e that hereditary
information for two different forms of a trait can coexist in a sin!le individal, with one form
maskin! the expression of the other form. This principle, referred to as the law of dominance,
provided the basis for Mendel4s sbse=ent work.
Law of Segregation
Mendel discovered that matin! a tall pea and a short pea wold prodce an F%!eneration of only
tall pea plants. 6t, he wondered, were these offsprin! tall pea plants really identical to their tall
parents, or mi!ht they still contain some element of their short parents> To answer this =estion,
Mendel let all seven types of hybrid F%!eneration plant self,pollinate, prodcin! what he called
the F( $second filial+ !eneration.
Lo and behold, in each F( !eneration some of the recessive forms of the traitsFwhich had visibly
disappeared in the F% !enerationFreappearedP "pproximately one forth of the F( plants exhibited
the recessive characteristic, and three forths contined to exhibit the dominant form of the trait,
like their F% parents. This '<% ratio of dominant to recessive remained consistent in all of
the F( offsprin!.
Mendel came p with a simple bt revoltionary explanation for the reslts he saw in
the F( !eneration. He conclded that within an individal, hereditary information came in paired
nits, with one nit derived from each parent. Each simple physical trait, sch as stem hei!ht, was
determined by the combined action of a sin!le pair of nits. Each nit cold come in either a
dominant form, which he denoted with a capital letter /",0 or a recessive form, which he denoted
with a lowercase /a.0 Two nits with two possible forms !ave for possible combinations< "",
"a, a", and aaE since "a and a" were e=ivalent, there were really only three fnctional
combinations. 6ecase /"0 is dominant over /a,0 both "" and "a prodced plants with the same
physical characteristics. Cnly /aa0 prodced a plant that showed the recessive characteristic.
Mendel reali.ed that the reslts he saw in the F( !eneration cold only be explained if, drin! the
formation of reprodctive cells, paired nits are separated at random so that each !amete contains
only one of the two nits. This postlate is now known as the law of se!re!ation.
Modern E)planation of Mendel(s esults
5ith or modern nderstandin! of !enes, chromosomes, and celllar reprodction, we can explain
the biolo!ical basis of Mendel4s observations and make pretty accrate predictions abot the
offsprin! that any !iven cross $short for crossbreedin!+ will prodce.
Alleles
Each of the traits that Mendel observed in his pea plants came in one of two varietiesE modern
science calls any !ene that !ives rise to more than one version of the same trait an allele. 9o, for
example, the tall !ene and the short !ene are different alleles $variations+ of the hei!ht !ene.
Every somatic cell contains two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent. ;ow yo
can nderstand why homolo!os chromosomes are similar, bt not identical< altho!h they
contain the same !enes, they may not contain the same alleles for these !enes.
.omozygous an$ .eterozygous
-oin! back to Mendel4s plants, we can now say that all of his tre,breedin! plants contained two
of the same alleles for each of the observed !enes. Tall plants in this D !eneration had two alleles
for tallness $TT+, and short D !eneration plants had two alleles for shortness $tt+. "nytime an
or!anism4s two alleles for a specific trait are identical, that the individal is said to
be homozygous $/homo0 means same+ for that trait.
Cn the other hand, crossin! the tall and short plants to prodce F% hybrids created a !eneration of
plants with one tall allele and one short allele $Tt+. "n or!anism with two opposin! alleles for a
sin!le !ene is said to be heterozygous for that trait.
(enotype an$ Phenotype
"ltho!h the D !eneration of pre,breedin! tall plants looked the same as their hybridF% offsprin!,
the D and F% !enerations did not have identical !enetic makeps. The !enetic makep of a certain
trait $e.!., TT, Tt, or tt+ is called its !enotype, while the physical expression of these traits $e.!.,
short or tall+ is called a phenotype.
For any !iven trait, an or!anism4s !enotype will indicate alleles from both parents, while the
phenotype only indicates the allelic form that is physically expressed in that individal. This
distinction between !enetic makep and physical appearance explains the apparent
/disappearance0 of the recessive alleles in the F% !eneration. Mendel4s reslts for the F( !eneration
can also be reinterpreted in li!ht of these new distinctions. Mendel4s reslts showed
that *2 percent of the F( offsprin! exhibited the dominant phenotype, a ratio of '<% dominant to
recessive. 6t from a !enetic perspective, the breakdown wold actally be arond (2 percent
homo.y!os dominant $TT+, 23 percent hetero.y!os with a dominant phenotype $Tt+,
and (2percent homo.y!os recessive $tt+Fa ratio of %<(<%.
Punnett S3uares
The Dnnett s=are is a convenient !raphical method for representin! the !enotypes of the
parental !ametes and all the possible offsprin! they prodce. The Dnnett s=are below shows the
matin! of two F% hybrids $"a !enotype+. 5e call this matin! amonohybri$ cross, becase it
involves only one !ene. "ccordin! to the law of se!re!ation, two possible !ametes are formed< "
and a. The paternal !ametes are listed as colmns across the top of the s=are, and maternal
!ametes are listed as rows down the left side of the s=are. Combinin! the !ametes in the
intersectin! boxes provides the !enotypes of all possible offsprin!.
?n this case, (2 percent of the F( offsprin! will be "", 23 percent will be "a, and (2percent will
be aa. 6oth "" and "a will have the dominant phenotype, !ivin! the '<%ratio $*2 percent
to (2 percent+ of dominant to recessive phenotypes that Mendel observed.
For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, if yo are !iven the !enotypes of two parents, yo shold be able to
predict the !enotypes and phenotypes of their offsprin! by sin! a Dnnett s=are.
The Law of +n$epen$ent Assortment
"fter finishin! his monohybrid crosses, Mendel moved on to $ihybri$ crosses, in which he bred
pre, parental varieties that had two traits distin!ishin! them from each other. He wanted to
determine whether the inheritance of one trait was connected in any way to the inheritance of the
other.
The color and shape of the pea seeds provided two convenient traits to stdy. The seeds were
either yellow or !reen, with yellow dominantE in shape, they were either rond or wrinkled, with
rond dominant. Mendel crossed doble dominant $phenotype yellow and rond, !enotype
11HH+ plants with doble recessive $phenotype !reen and wrinkled, !enotype rryy+ plants. "s
expected, the F% !eneration consisted of hybrid offsprin! all with the doble dominant $rond
yellow+ phenotype and a hetero.y!os !enotype $1rHy+. The key test came in the proportions of
different phenotypes in the F( !eneration. ?f the inheritance of one trait did not inflence the
inheritance of the other, then each parent shold make e=al nmbers of the for possible
!ametes, and sixteen different !enotypes wold be e=ally represented in the offsprin!. "s seen in
the Dnnett s=are below, there shold be for different phenotypes $yellow and rond, !reen and
rond, yellow and wrinkled, !reen and wrinkled+ occrrin! in the proportions 8<'<'<%.
Mendel4s phenotype conts of F( seeds did indeed show the 8<'<'<% proportions anticipated in the
Dnnett s=are for the dihybrid cross. From these reslts, he conclded that the inheritance of one
trait was nrelated to the inheritance of a second trait. The nits from any one hereditary pair
se!re!ate into the !ametes independently of the se!re!ation of the nits from any other pair. This
principle is known as the law of independent assortment.
Calculating Probabilities
#rawin! Dnnett s=ares is a helpfl way to visali.e simple !enetics problems, bt with
problems involvin! several different !enes, it is often easier to se the rles of probability. $"
Dnnett s=are for a three,!ene hybrid cross wold have &B s=aresP+ There are two rles of
probability that yo will need to solve !enetics problems. First, the probability of an otcome that
depends on the occrrence of two or more independent events is obtained by mltiplyin! to!ether
the probability of each necessary independent event. This is the and rle of probability<
?f " and 6 mst occr in order to brin! abot otcome C, then the probability
of
?n contrast, if an otcome depends on the occrrence of any one of several mtally exclsive
alternatives, then the probability of the otcome is obtained by addin! to!ether the probabilities of
the alternatives. This is the or rle of probability<
?f " or 6 mst occr to !et otcome C, then the probability of
"s an example, we can calclate the probability of !ettin! an %% when rollin! two dice, die " and
die 6. ?n order to roll an %%, we need a 2 and a &. The probability of rollin! a 2on die " and a & on
die 6 is 6t we can also roll an %% with a & on die " and a 2 on die 6.
This is a mtally exclsive alternative to the first roll we consideredE its probability is also
%
Q
'&
.
9ince either "2, 6& or "&, 62 !ives s a total of%%, the final probability of rollin! an %% sin! two
dice is
%
Q'& I
%
Q'& J
(
Q'& J
%
Q%7.
Movin! from !amblin! to !enetics, we can calclate the probability that a cross between
!enotypes ""66Cc and aa6bCc will prodce an offsprin! with !enotype "a6bcc. Takin! one
!ene at a time, the probability of the "a combination is a perfect %, since an "" and aa cross can
prodce only "a offsprin!.
The probability of the 6b combination is
%
Q
(
, becase the 66 and 6b cross will prodce 6b
offsprin! 23 percent of the time.
The probability of the cc combination is
%
Q
B
, becase the Cc and Cc cross !ives cc
offsprin! (2 percent of the time.
9ince "a and 6b and cc mst occr to prodce or desired otcome, the probability
is
Test Crossing /,ack Crossing0
" test cross is the means by which a scientist can determine whether an individal with a
dominant phenotype has a homo.y!os $""+ or hetero.y!os $"a+ dominant !enotype. The test
cross involves matin! the individal with the dominant phenotype to an individal with a
recessive $aa+ phenotype and observin! the offsprin! prodced. ?f the individal bein! tested is
homo.y!os dominant, then all offsprin! will have a dominant phenotype, since all the offsprin!
will have at least one " allele and the " is dominant.
?f the tested individal is hetero.y!os dominant, then half of the offsprin! will show the
dominant phenotype, while the other half show the recessive phenotype.
+ncomplete "ominance an$ Co$ominance
Mendel4s law of dominance is !enerally tre, bt there are many exceptions to the law. ?n some
instances, instead of a hetero.y!ote expressin! only one of two alleles, both alleles cold be
partially expressed. For example, the flower color of the for o4clock plant is determined by a
sin!le !ene with two alleles< plants homo.y!os for the 1%allele have red flowers, while plants
homo.y!os for the 1( allele have white flowers. ?f interbred, the hetero.y!os 1%1( plants have
pink flowers. ?ncomplete dominanceis the term sed to describe the sitation in which the
hetero.y!ote phenotype is intermediate between the two homo.y!os phenotypes.
?f the hetero.y!ote form simltaneosly expresses both alleles flly, then the relationship between
the two alleles is called codominance. "n example of codominance appears in hman blood type.
6lood type is determined by two alleles, " and 6, that code for the presence of anti!en " and
anti!en 6 on the srface of red blood cells. "llele " and 6 are codominant. ?f only the allele " is
present, then only anti!en " exists on the blood cell. ?f only allele 6 is present, then only anti!en
6 exists on the blood cell. ?f both alleles " and 6 are present, neither dominates the other and both
anti!ens appear on the red blood cell. " third allele, i, is recessive< if only it appears, then the
blood is of type C. The followin! is a smmary of the !enotypes that reslt in the for different
blood types<
"" and "i type " blood
66 and 6i type 6 blood
"6 and 6" type "6 blood
ii type C blood
Linkage an$ Crossing-ver
Fortnately for Mendel, the !enes encodin! his selected traits did not reside close to!ether on the
same chromosome. ?f they had, his dihybrid cross reslts wold have been mch more confsin!,
and he mi!ht not have discovered the law of independent assortment. The law of independent
assortment holds tre as lon! as two different !enes are on separate chromosomes. 5hen the
!enes are on separate chromosomes, the two alleles of one !ene $" and a+ will se!re!ate into
!ametes independently of the two alleles of the other !ene $6 and b+. E=al nmbers of for
different !ametes will reslt< "6, a6, "b, ab. 6t if the two !enes are on the same chromosome,
then they will be linked and will se!re!ate to!ether drin! meoisis, prodcin! only two kinds of
!ametes.
For instance, if the !enes for seed shape and seed color were on the same chromosome and a
homo.y!os doble dominant $yellow and rond, 11HH+ plant was crossed with a homo.y!os
doble recessive $!reen and wrinkled, rryy+, the F%hybrid offsprin!, as sal, wold be doble
hetero.y!os dominant $yellow and rond, 1rHy+. However, since in this example the 1 and H
are linked to!ether on the chromosome inherited from the dominant parent, with r and y linked
to!ether on the other chromosome, only two different !ametes can be formed< 1H and ry.
Therefore, instead of %& different !enotypes in the F( offsprin!, only three are possible< 11HH,
1rHy, rryy. "nd instead of for different phenotypes, only the ori!inal two will exist. ;otice that
the inheritance pattern now resembles that seen in a monohybrid cross, with a '<% phenotypic
ratio, rather than the 8<'<'<% ratio expected from the dihybrid cross. ?f physically linked on a sin!le
chromosome, the rond and yellow alleles wold se!re!ate to!ether, and the wrinkled and !reen
alleles wold se!re!ate to!ether< no rond !reen seeds or wrinkled yellow seeds wold ever
appear.
The above explanation, however, ne!lects the inflence of the crossin! over of !enetic material
that occrs drin! meiosis. The farther away two !enes are from one another, the more likely an
exchan!e point for crossin! over will form between them. "t these exchan!e points, the alleles of
one !ene switch to the opposite homolo!os chromosome, while the other !ene alleles remain
with their ori!inal chromosomes. 5hen alleles switch places like this, the resltin! !ametes are
called recombinant. ?n the example above, the ori!inal parental !ametes wold be 1H and ry,
while the recombinant !ametes wold be 1y and rH. Ths for different kinds of !ametes will be
formed, instead of only two formed when the !enes were linked.
?f two !enes are extremely close to!ether, crossin! over will almost never occr between them,
and recombinant !ametes will almost never form. ?f they are very far apart on the chromosome,
crossin! over will almost certainly occr between them, and recombinant !ametes will form @st
as often as if the !enes were on different chromosomes $23 percent of the time+. ?f the !enes are at
an intermediate distance from each other, crossin! over may sometimes occr between them and
sometimes not. Therefore, the percenta!e of recombinant !ametes $reflected in the percenta!e of
recombinant offsprin!+ correlates with the distance between two !enes on a chromosome. 6y
comparin! the recombination rates of mltiple different pairs of !enes on the same chromosome,
the relative position of each !ene alon! the chromosome can be determined. This method of
orderin! !enes on a chromosome is called a linka!e map.
Mutations
Mtations are errors in the !enotype that create new alleles and can reslt in a variety of !enetic
disorders. ?n order for a mtation to be inherited from one !eneration to another, it mst occr in
sex cells, sch as e!!s and sperm, rather than in somatic cells. The best way to detect whether a
!enetic disorder exists is to se a karyotype, a photo!raph of the chromosomes from an individal
cell, sally lined p in homolo!os pairs, accordin! to si.e.
Autosomal Mutations
9ome hman !enetic illnesses are inherited in a Mendelian fashion. The disease phenotype will
have either a clearly dominant or clearly recessive pattern of inheritance, similar to the traits in
Mendel4s peas. 9ch a pattern will sally only occr if the disease is cased by an abnormality in
a sin!le !ene. The mtations that case these diseases occr in !enes on the autosomal
chromosomes, as opposed to sex,linked diseases, which we cover later in this chapter. $6e carefl
not to confse atosomal chromosomes with somatic cellsE atosomal chromosomes are the
chromosomes that determine bodily characteristics and exist in all cells, both sex and somatic.+
'ecessive "isor$ers
" Mendelian !enetic illness initially arises as a new mtation that chan!es a sin!le !ene so that it
no lon!er prodces a protein that fnctions normally. 9ome mtations, however, reslt in an allele
that prodces a nonfnctional protein. " disease resltin! from this sort of mtation will be
inherited in a recessive fashion< the disease phenotype will only appear when both copies of the
!ene carry the mtation, resltin! in a total absence of the necessary protein. ?f only one copy of
the mtated allele is present, the individal is a hetero.y!os carrier, showin! no si!ns of the
disease bt able to transmit the disease !ene to the next !eneration. "lbinism is an example of a
recessive illness, resltin! from a mtation in a !ene that normally encodes a protein needed for
pi!ment prodction in the skin and eyes. The pe$igree shown below dia!rams three !enerations
of a hypothetical family affected by albinism.
The pedi!ree demonstrates the characteristic featres of atosomal recessive inheritance. The
parents of an affected individal sally show no si!ns of disease, bt both mst at least be
hetero.y!os carriers of the disease !ene. "mon! the offsprin! of two carriers, (2 percent will
have the disease, 23 percent will be carriers, and (2 percent will be noncarriers. ;o offsprin!
prodced by a carrier and a noncarrier will have the disease, bt 23 percent will be carriers.
"ltho!h not shown in this pedi!ree, offsprin! prodced by two individals who have the disease
in their phenotype, which means both parents are recessive homo.y!os, will all develop the
disease.
Many recessive illnesses occr with mch !reater fre=ency in particlar racial or ethnic !rops
that have a history of intermarryin! within their own commnity. For example, Tay,9achs disease
is especially common amon! people of Eastern Eropean Kewish descent. Cther well,known
atosomal recessive disorders inclde sickle,cell anemia and cystic fibrosis.
"ominant "isor$ers
Msally, a dominant phenotype reslts from the presence of at least one normal allele prodcin! a
protein that fnctions normally. ?n the case of a dominant !enetic ,illness, there is a mtation that
reslts in the prodction of a protein with an abnormal and harmfl action. Cnly one copy of sch
an allele is needed to prodce disease, becase the presence of the normal allele and protein
cannot prevent the harmfl action of the mtant protein. ?f a recessive mtation is like a car with
an en!ine that cannot start, a dominant mtation is like a car with an en!ine that explodes. " spare
car will solve the problem in the first case, bt will do nothin! to protect the !ara!e in the second
case.
Hntin!ton4s disease, which killed folksin!er 5oody -thrie, is a dominant !enetic illness. "
sin!le mtant allele prodces an abnormal version of the Hntin!ton proteinE this abnormal
protein accmlates in particlar re!ions of the brain and !radally kills the brain cells. 6y middle
a!e, this pro!ressive brain dama!e prodces severely distrbed physical movements, loss of
intellectal fnctions, and personality chan!es. The pedi!ree shown below dia!rams three
!enerations of a hypothetical family with Hntin!ton4s disease.
This pedi!ree demonstrates the characteristic featres of atosomal dominant inheritance. ;otice
that all affected individals have at least one parent with the disease. Mnlike recessive inheritance,
there is no sch thin! as a carrier< the disease will affect all hetero.y!os individals. "mon! the
offsprin! of an affected hetero.y!ote and an naffected person, 23 percent will be affected and 23
percent will be naffected. ;one of the children born to two naffected individals will have the
disease. $"ltho!h not shown in this pedi!ree, homo.y!os dominant mtations often prodce
very severe cases of the disease, becase the amont of the abnormal protein is dobled and the
normal protein is entirely absent.+
Chromosomal "isor$ers
1ecessive and dominant characteristics reslt from the mtation of a sin!le !ene. 9ome !enetic
disorders reslt from the !ain or loss of an entire chromosome. ;ormally, paired homolo!os
chromosomes separate from each other drin! the first division of meiosis. ?f one pair fails to
separate, an event called non$is4unction, then one da!hter cell will receive both chromosomes
and the other da!hter cell will receive none. 5hen one of these !ametes @oins with a normal
!amete from the other parent, the resltin! offsprin! will have either one or three copies of the
affected chromosome, rather than the sal two.
Trisomy
" sin!le chromosome contains hndreds to thosands of !enes. " .y!ote with three copies of a
chromosome $trisomy+, instead of the sal two, !enerally cannot srvive embryonic
development. Chromosome (% is a ma@or exception to this rleE individals with three copies of
this small chromosome $trisomy (%+ develop the !enetic disorder called #own syndrome. Deople
with #own syndrome show at least mild mental disabilities and have nsal physical featres
incldin! a flat face, lar!e ton!e, and distinctive creases on their palms. They are also at a mch
!reater risk for varios health problems sch as heart defects and early "l.heimer4s disease.
Monosomy
The absence of one copy of a chromosome $monosomy+ cases even more problems than the
presence of an extra copy. Cnly monosomy of the O chromosome $discssed below+ is compatible
with life.
Polyploi$y
Dolyploidy occrs when a failre occrs drin! the formation of the !ametes drin! meiosis. The
!ametes prodced in this instance are diploid rather than haploid. ?f fertili.ation occrs with these
!ametes, the offsprin! receive an entire extra set of chromosomes. ?n hmans, polyploidy is
always fatal, tho!h in many plants and fish it is not.
Se% Chromosomes an$ Se%-Linke$ Traits
#ominant and recessive illnesses occr with e=al fre=ency in males and females. This is
becase the !enes involved are located on atosomes, which are the same in both !enders. Many
physical traits, however, obviosly do differ between the two !enders. ?n addition, !ender
dramatically affects the inheritance of certain traits and illnesses that have no obvios connection
to sexal characteristics.
These sex,linked traits are controlled by !enes located on the sex chromosomes. Hmans have B&
chromosomes, incldin! BB atosomes $nonsex chromosomes+ and the two sex chromosomes,
which can be either O or H. The atosomes come in (( homolo!os pairs, present in both males
and females. Females also possess a homolo!os pair of O chromosomes, while males have one O
chromosome and one H chromosome $the master !ene for /maleness0 is located on the H
chromosome+. "ll e!!s have an O chromosome, so the sex of a child is determined at the time of
fertili.ation by the type of sperm. ?f the fertili.in! sperm carries an O chromosome, the child will
be femaleE if it carries a H chromosome, the child will be male. The O chromosome is mch lar!er
than the tiny H chromosome, and most of the !enes on the O chromosome do not have a
homolo!os conterpart on the H.
-enes on atosomes will always be present in two copies< one inherited from the maternal parent,
the other from the paternal parent. The traits controlled by sch atosomal !enes will be !enerally
naffected by !ender and will follow Mendelian patterns of inheritance $with the exceptions noted
in previos sections+. ?n contrast, !enes on the O chromosome $O,linked !enes+ are present in two
copies in females bt only one copy in males. Female offsprin! will inherit one copy of an O,
linked !ene from each parent, bt male offsprin! mst inherit the H chromosome from their father
and therefore always inherit only the maternal allele of any O,linked !ene. For example, color
blindness and hemophilia are sex,linked disorders. The mtated !ene that cases these disorders is
recessive and exists on the O chromosome. ?n order for a female, who is OO, to have a phenotype
that is color blind or hemophiliac, both of her parents have to have the recessive !ene. 6t since
males have only one O chromosome inherited from their mother, if their mother expresses the
recessive mtation, that trait will automatically be expressed in the male child4s phenotype, since
the male has no other !ene to assert dominance over the recessive mtation.
The pedi!ree shown below dia!rams three !enerations of a hypothetical family affected by
hemophilia ".
This pedi!ree demonstrates many of the characteristic featres of O,linked recessive inheritance.
Hetero.y!os females are carriers who do not express the disease. ?n contrast, all males with the
mtated allele will express the diseaseE there are no male carriers. "ffected males will transmit the
mtated allele to none of their sons bt to all of their da!hters, who will then all be carriers.
Hetero.y!os females will transmit the disease to one,half of their sons, and one,half of their
da!hters will be carriers. "ffected males !enerally have an naffected father and a mother who is
a carrierE 23 percent of their maternal ncles will have the disease.
E:CLMT?C; ";# #?:E19?TH
'rigin of Life& The +eterotroph +ypothesis
Life on Earth be!an abot '.2 billion years a!o. "t that point in the development of the Earth, the
atmosphere was very different from what it is today. "s opposed to the crrent atmosphere, which
is mostly nitro!en and oxy!en, the early Earth atmosphere contained mostly hydro!en, water,
ammonia, and methane.
?n experiments, scientists have showed that the electrical dischar!es of li!htnin!, radioactivity,
and ltraviolet li!ht cased the elements in the early Earth atmosphere to form the basic molecles
of biolo!ical chemistry, sch as ncleotides, simple proteins, and "TD. ?t seems likely, then, that
the Earth was covered in a hot, thin sop of water and or!anic materials. Cver time, the molecles
became more complex and be!an to collaborate to rn metabolic processes. Eventally, the first
cells came into bein!. These cells were heterotrophs, which cold not prodce their own food
and instead fed on the or!anic material from the primordial sop. $These heterotrophs !ive this
theory its name.+
The anaerobic metabolic processes of the heterotrophs released carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere, which allowed for the evoltion of photosynthetic autotrophs, which cold se li!ht
and CC( to prodce their own food. The atotrophs released oxy!en into the atmosphere. For most
of the ori!inal anaerobic heterotrophs, oxy!en proved poisonos. The few heterotrophs that
srvived the chan!e in environment !enerally evolved the capacity to carry ot aerobic
respiration. Cver the sbse=ent billions of years, the aerobic atotrophs and heterotrophs became
the dominant life,forms on the planet and evolved into all of the diversity of life now visible on
Earth.
Evi$ence of Evolution
Hmankind has always wondered abot its ori!ins and the ori!ins of the life arond it. Many
cltres have ancient creation myths that explain the ori!in of the Earth and its life. ?n 5estern
cltres, ideas abot evoltion were ori!inally based on the 6ible. The book of -enesis relates
how -od created all life on Earth abot &,333 years a!o in a mass creation event. Droponents of
creationism spport the -enesis accont and state that species were created exactly as they are
crrently fond in natre. This oldest formal conception of the ori!in of life still has proponents
today.
However, abot (33 years a!o, scientific evidence be!an to cast dobt on creationism. This
evidence comes in a variety of forms.
'ock an$ &ossil &ormation
Fossils provide the only direct evidence of the history of evoltion. Fossil formation occrs when
sediment covers some material or fills an impression. :ery !radally, heat and pressre harden the
sediment and srrondin! minerals replace it, creatin! fossils. Fossils of prehistoric life can be
bones, shells, or teeth that are bried in rock, and they can also be traces of leaves or footprints left
behind by or!anisms.
To!ether, fossils can be sed to constrct a fossil recor$ that offers a timeline of fossils reachin!
back thro!h history. To p..le to!ether the fossil record, scientists have to be able to date the
fossils to a certain time period. The strata of rock in which fossils are fond !ive cles abot their
relative a!es. ?f two fossils are fond in the same !eo!raphic location, bt one is fond in a layer
of sediment that is beneath the other layer, it is likely that the fossil in the lower layer is from an
earlier era. "fter all, the first layer of sediment had to already be on the !rond in order for the
second layer to be!in to bild p on top of it. ?n addition to sediment layers, new techni=es sch
as radioactive decay or carbon datin! can also help determine a fossil4s a!e.
There are, however, limitations to the information fossils can spply. First of all, fossili.ation is an
improbable event. Most often, remains and other traces of or!anisms are crshed or consmed
before they can be fossili.ed. "dditionally, fossils can only form in areas with sedimentary rock,
sch as ocean floors. Cr!anisms that live in these environments are therefore more likely to
become fossils. Finally, erosion of exposed srfaces or !eolo!ical movements sch as earth=akes
can destroy already formed fossils. "ll of these conditions lead to lar!e and nmeros !aps in the
fossil record.
Comparative Anatomy
9cientists often try to determine the relatedness of two or!anisms by comparin! external and
internal strctres. The stdy of comparative anatomy is an extension of the lo!ical reasonin! that
or!anisms with similar strctres mst have ac=ired these traits from a common ancestor. For
example, the flipper of a whale and a hman arm seem to be =ite different when looked at on the
otside. 6t the bone strctre of each is srprisin!ly similar, s!!estin! that whales and hmans
have a common ancestor way back in prehistory. "natomical featres in different species that
point to a common ancestor are called homologous structures.
However, comparative anatomists cannot @st assme that every similar strctre points to a
common evoltionary ori!in. " hasty and reckless comparative anatomist mi!ht assme that bats
and insects share a common ancestor, since both have win!s. 6t a closer look at the strctre of
the win!s shows that there is very little in common between them besides their fnction. ?n fact,
the bat win! is mch closer in strctre to the arm of a man and the fin of a whale than it is to the
win!s of an insect. ?n other words, bats and insects evolved their ability to fly alon! two very
separate evoltionary paths. These sorts of strctres, which have sperficial similarities becase
of similarity of fnction bt do not reslt from a common ancestor, are called analogous
structures.
?n addition to homolo!os and analo!os strctres, vestigial structures, which serve no apparent
modern fnction, can help determine how an or!anism may have evolved over time. ?n hmans
the appendix is seless, bt in cows and other mammalian herbivores a similar strctre is sed to
di!est celllose. The existence of the appendix s!!ests that hmans share a common evoltionary
ancestry with other mammalian herbivores. The fact that the appendix now serves no prpose in
hmans demonstrates that hmans and mammalian herbivores lon! a!o diver!ed in their
evoltionary paths.
Comparative Embryology
Homolo!os strctres not present in adlt or!anisms often do appear in some form drin!
embryonic development. 9pecies that bear little resemblance to each other in their adlt forms
may have strikin!ly similar embryonic sta!es. ?n some ways, it is almost as if the embryo passes
thro!h many evoltionary sta!es to prodce the matre or!anism. For example, for a lar!e
portion of its development, the hman embryo possesses a tail, mch like those of or close
primate relatives. This tail is sally reabsorbed before birth, bt occasionally children are born
with the ancestral strctre intact. Even tho!h they are not !enerally present in the adlt
or!anism, tails cold be considered homolo!os traits between hmans and primates.
?n !eneral, the more closely related two species are, the more their embryolo!ical processes of
development resemble each other.
Molecular Evolution
Kst as comparative anatomy is sed to determine the anatomical relatedness of species, moleclar
biolo!y can be sed to determine evoltionary relationships at the moleclar level. Two species
that are closely related will have fewer !enetic or protein differences between them than two
species that are distantly related and split in evoltionary development lon! in the past.
Certain !enes or proteins in or!anisms chan!e at a constant rate over time. These !enes and
proteins, called molecular clocks becase they are so constant in their rate of chan!e, are
especially sefl in comparin! the moleclar evoltion of different species. 9cientists can se the
rate of chan!e in the !ene or protein to calclate the point at which two species last shared a
common ancestor. For example, ribosomal 1;" has a very slow rate of chan!e, so it is commonly
sed as a moleclar clock to determine relationships between extremely ancient species.
Cytochrome c, a protein that plays an important role in aerobic respiration, is an example of a
protein commonly sed as a moleclar clock.
Theories of Evolution
?n the nineteenth centry, as increasin! evidence s!!ested that species chan!ed over time,
scientists be!an to develop theories to explain how these chan!es arise. #rin! this time, there
were two notable theories of evoltion. The first, proposed by Lamarck, trned ot to be incorrect.
The second, developed by #arwin, is the basis of all evoltionary theory.
Lamarck! 5se an$ "isuse
The first notable theory of evoltion was proposed by Kean,6aptiste Lamarck $%*BB)%7(8+. He
described a two,part mechanism by which evoltionary chan!e was !radally introdced into the
species and passed down thro!h !enerations. His theory is referred to as the theory of
transformation or Lamarckism.
The classic example sed to explain Lamarckism is the elon!ated neck of the !iraffe. "ccordin! to
Lamarck4s theory, a !iven !iraffe cold, over a lifetime of strainin! to reach hi!h branches,
develop an elon!ated neck. This vividly illstrates Lamarck4s belief that use cold amplify or
enhance a trait. 9imilarly, he believed that disuse wold case a trait to become redced.
"ccordin! to Lamarck4s theory, the win!s of pen!ins, for example, were nderstandably smaller
than the win!s of other birds becase pen!ins did not se their win!s to fly.
The second part of Lamarck4s mechanism for evoltion involved the inheritance of ac3uire$
traits. He believed that if an or!anism4s traits chan!ed over the corse of its lifetime, the
or!anism wold pass these traits alon! to its offsprin!.
Lamarck4s theory has been proven wron! in both of its basic premises. First, an or!anism cannot
fndamentally chan!e its strctre thro!h se or disse. " !iraffe4s neck will not become lon!er
or shorter by stretchin! for leaves. 9econd, modern !enetics shows that it is impossible to pass on
ac=ired traitsE the traits that an or!anism can pass on are determined by the !enotype of its sex
cells, which does not chan!e accordin! to chan!es in phenotype.
"arwin! #atural Selection
5hile sailin! aboard the HM9 Beagle, the En!lishman Charles #arwin had the opportnity to
stdy the wildlife of the -alRpa!os ?slands. Cn the islands, he was ama.ed by the !reat diversity
of life. Most particlarly, he took interest in the islands4 varios finches, whose beaks were all
hi!hly adapted to their particlar lifestyles. He hypothesi.ed that there mst be some process that
created sch diversity and adaptation, and he spent mch of his time tryin! to p..le ot @st what
the process mi!ht be. ?n %728, he pblished his theory of natral selection and the evoltion it
prodced. #arwin explained his theory thro!h for basic points<
Each species prodces more offsprin! than can srvive.
The individal or!anisms that make p a lar!er poplation are born with certain
variations.
The overabndance of offsprin! creates a competition for srvival amon! individal
or!anisms. The individals that have the most favorable variations will srvive and reprodce,
while those with less favorable variations are less likely to srvive and reprodce.
:ariations are passed down from parent to offsprin!.
;atral selection creates chan!e within a species thro!h competition, or the str!!le for life.
Members of a species compete with each other and with other species for resorces. ?n this
competition, the individals that are the most fitFthe individals that have certain variations that
make them better adapted to their environmentsFare the most able to srvive, reprodce, and pass
their traits on to their offsprin!. The competition that #arwin4s theory describes is sometimes
called the survival of the fittest.
#atural Selection in Action
Cne of the best examples of natral selection is a tre story that took place in En!land arond the
trn of the centry. ;ear an a!ricltral town lived a species of moth. The moth spent mch of its
time perched on the lichen,covered bark of trees of the area. Most of the moths were of a pepper
color, tho!h a few were black. 5hen the pepper,color moths were attached to the lichen,covered
bark of the trees in the re!ion, it was =ite difficlt for predators to see them. The black moths
were easy to spot a!ainst the black,and,white speckled trnks.
The nearby city, however, slowly became indstriali.ed. 9mokestacks and fondries in the town
pffed ot soot and smoke into the air. ?n a fairly short time, the soot settled on everythin!,
incldin! the trees, and killed mch of the lichen. "s a reslt, the appearance of the trees became
nearly black in color. 9ddenly the pepper,color moths were obvios a!ainst the dark tree trnks,
while the black moths that had been easy to spot now blended in a!ainst the trees. Cver the corse
of years, residents of the town noticed that the poplation of the moths chan!ed. 5hereas abot 83
percent of the moths sed to be li!ht, after the trees became black, the moth poplation became
increasin!ly black.
5hen the trees were li!hter in color, natral selection favored the pepper,color moths becase
those moths were more difficlt for predators to spot. "s a reslt, the pepper,color moths lived to
reprodce and had pepper,color offsprin!, while far fewer of the black moths lived to prodce
black offsprin!. 5hen the indstry in the town killed off the lichen and covered the trees in soot,
however, the selection pressre switched. 9ddenly the black moths were more likely to srvive
and have offsprin!. ?n each !eneration, more black moths srvived and had offsprin!, while fewer
li!hter moths srvived to have offsprin!. Cver time, the poplation as a whole evolved from
mostly white in color to mostly black in color.
Types of #atural Selection
?n a normal poplation withot selection pressre, individal traits, sch as hei!ht, vary in the
poplation. Most individals are of an avera!e hei!ht, while fewer are extremely short or
extremely tall. The distribtion of hei!ht falls into a bell crve.
;atral selection can operate on this poplation in three basic ways. Stabilizing
selection eliminates extreme individals. " plant that is too short may not be able to compete with
other plants for snli!ht. However, extremely tall plants may be more ssceptible to wind dama!e.
Combined, these two selection pressres act to favor plants of medim hei!ht.
"irectional selection selects a!ainst one extreme. ?n the familiar example of !iraffe necks, there
was a selection pressre a!ainst short necks, since individals with short necks cold not reach as
many leaves on which to feed. "s a reslt, the distribtion of neck len!th shifted to favor
individals with lon! necks.
"isruptive selection eliminates intermediate individals. For example, ima!ine a plant of
extremely variable hei!ht that is pollinated by three different pollinator insects< one that was
attracted to short plants, another that preferred plants of medim hei!ht, and a third that visited
only the tallest plants. ?f the pollinator that preferred plants of medim hei!ht disappeared from an
area, medim hei!ht plants wold be selected a!ainst, and the poplation wold tend toward both
short and tall plants, bt not plants of medim hei!ht.
The (enetic ,asis for Evolution
#arwin4s theory of natral selection and evoltion rests on two crcial ideas<
%. :ariations exist in the individals within a poplation.
(. Those variations are passed down from one !eneration to the next.
6t #arwin had no idea how those variations came to be or how they were passed down from one
!eneration to the next. Mendel4s experiments and the development of the science of !enetics
provided answers. -enetics explains that the phenotypeFthe physical attribtes of an or!anismF
is prodced by an or!anism4s !enotype. Thro!h the mechanism of mtations, !enetics explains
how variations arose amon! individals in the form of different alleles of !enes. Meiosis, sexal
reprodction, and the inheritance of alleles explain how the variations between or!anisms are
passed down from parent to offsprin!.
5ith the modern nderstandin! of !enes and inheritance, it is possible to redefine natral
selection and evoltion in !enetic terms. The particlar alleles that an or!anism inherits from its
parents determine that or!anism4s physical attribtes and therefore its fitness for srvival. 5hen
the forces of natral selection reslt in the srvival of the fittest, what those forces are really doin!
is selectin! which alleles will be passed on from one !eneration to the next.
Cnce yo see that natral selection is actally a selection of the passa!e of alleles from !eneration
to !eneration, yo can frther see that the forces of natral selection can chan!e the fre=ency of
each particlar allele within a poplation4s gene pool, which is the sm total of all the alleles
within a particlar poplation. Msin! !enetics, one can create a new definition of evoltion as the
chan!e in the allele fre3uencies in the !ene pool of a poplation over time. For example, in the
poplation of moths we discssed earlier, after the trees darkened, the fre=ency of the alleles for
black coloration increased in the !ene pool, while the fre=ency of alleles for li!ht coloration
decreased.
.ar$y-*einberg E3uilibrium
The Hardy,5einber! principle states that a sexally reprodcin! poplation will have stable
allelic fre=encies and therefore will not nder!o evoltion, !iven the followin! five conditions<
lar!e poplation si.e
no immi!ration or emi!ration
random matin!
random reprodctive sccess
no mtation
The Hardy,5einber! principle proves that variability and inheritance alone are not eno!h to
case evoltionE natral selection mst drive evoltion. " poplation that meets all of these
conditions is said to be in .ar$y-*einberg e3uilibrium. Few natral poplations ever
experience Hardy,5einber! e=ilibrim, tho!h, since lar!e poplations are rarely fond in
isolation, all poplations experience some level of mtation, and natral selection simply cannot
be avoided.
"evelopment of #ew Species
The scientific definition of a species is a discrete !rop of or!anisms that can only breed within its
own confines. ?n other words, the members of one species cannot interbreed with the members of
another species. Each species is said to experience repro$uctive isolation. ?f yo think abot
evoltion in terms of !enetics, this definition of species makes a !reat deal of sense< if species
cold interbreed, they cold share !ene flow, and their evoltion wold not be separate. 6t since
species cannot interbreed, each species exists on its own individal path.
"s poplations chan!e, new species evolve. This process is known as speciation. Thro!h
speciation, the earliest simple or!anisms were able to branch ot and poplate the world with
millions of different species. 9peciation is also called $ivergent evolution, since when a new
species develops, it diver!es from a previos form. "ll homolo!os traits are prodced by
diver!ent evoltion. 5hales and hmans share a distant common ancestor. Thro!h speciation,
that ancestor nderwent diver!ent evoltion and !ave rise to new species, which in trn !ave rise
to new species, which over the corse of millions of years reslted in whales and hmans. The
ori!inal ancestor had a limb strctre that, over millions of years and sccessive occrrences of
diver!ent evoltion, evolved into the fin of the whale and the arm of the hman.
9peciation occrs when two poplations become reprodctively isolated. Cnce reprodctive
isolation occrs for a new species, it will be!in to evolve independently. There are two main ways
in which speciation mi!ht occr. Allopatric speciation occrs when poplations of a species
become !eo!raphically isolated so that they cannot interbreed. Cver time, the poplations may
become !enetically different in response to the ni=e selection pressres operatin! in their
different environments. Eventally the !enetic differences between the two poplations will
become so extreme that the two poplations wold be nable to interbreed even if the !eo!raphic
barrier disappeared.
" second, more common form of speciation is a$aptive ra$iation, which is the creation of
several new species from a sin!le parent species. Think of a poplation of a !iven species, which
we4ll ima!inatively name poplation %. The poplation moves into a new habitat and establishes
itself in a niche, or role, in the habitat $we discss niches in more detail in the chapter on
Ecolo!y+. ?n so doin!, it adapts to its new environment and becomes different from the parent
species. ?f a new poplation of the parent species, poplation (, moves into the area, it too will try
to occpy the same niche as poplation %. Competition between poplation % and poplation (
enses, placin! pressre on both !rops to adapt to separate niches, frther distin!ishin! them
from each other and the parent species. "s this happens many times in a !iven habitat, several new
species may be formed from a sin!le parent species in a relatively short time. The immense
diversity of finches that #arwin observed on the -alRpa!os ?slands is an excellent example of the
prodcts of adaptive radiation.
Convergent Evolution
5hen different species inhabit similar environments, they face similar selection pressres, or se
parts of their bodies to perform similar fnctions. These similarities can case the species to
evolve similar traits, in a process called conver!ent evoltion. From livin! in the cold, watery,
arctic re!ions, where most of the food exists nderwater, pen!ins and killer whales have evolved
some similar characteristics< both are streamlined to help them swim more =ickly nderwater,
both have layers of fat to keep them warm, both have similar white,and,black coloration that helps
them to avoid detection, and both have developed fins $or flippers+ to propel them thro!h the
water. "ll of these similar traits are examples of analo!os traits, which are the prodct of
conver!ent evoltion.
Conver!ent evoltion sonds as if it is the opposite of diver!ent evoltion, bt that isn4t actally
tre. Conver!ent evoltion is only sperficial. From the otside, the fin of a whale may look like
the flipper of a pen!in, bt the bone strctre of a whale fin is still more similar to the limbs of
other mammals than it is to the strctre of pen!in flippers. More importantly, conver!ent
evoltion never reslts in two species !ainin! the ability to interbreedE conver!ent evoltion can4t
take two species and trn them into one.
Classifying Life
The diversity of life on Earth is sta!!erin!. The science of identifyin!, describin!, namin!, and
classifyin! all of these or!anisms is called ta%onomy. Carols Linnaes, an ei!hteenth,centry
9wedish botanist, is considered the father of modern taxonomy. He careflly observed and
compared different species, !ropin! them accordin! to the similarities and differences he fond.
Taxonomists today still se his system of or!ani.ation, tho!h they classify or!anisms based on
their evoltionary relationships, or phylogeny, rather than on simple physical characteristics. The
classification system sed in taxonomy is hierarchical and contains seven levels. The seven levels
of taxonomic classification, from broadest to most specific, are<
Nin!dom Dhylm Class Crder Family -ens 9pecies
" !ood way to remember the se=ence of taxonomic cate!ories is to se a mnemonic<
Nin! Dhilip Came Cver From -erman 9hores
Each kin!dom contains nmeros phylaE each phylm contains nmeros classesE each class
contains nmeros ordersE etc. ?t is more accrate to draw the dia!ram of the taxonomic cate!ories
in a tree strctre, with each level of the hierarchy branchin! into the next<
"s one moves thro!h the hierarchy from species to kin!dom, the common ancestor of all the
species at a certain level dates frther back in evoltionary history than the common ancestor of
or!anisms in more specific levels. For example, the common ancestor of hmans and chimpan.ees
$which are both in the order Drimates+ was alive more recently than the common ancestor of
hmans and do!s $which are both in the class Mammalia+. Mch in the same way, members of the
same !ens are more closely related than members of the same familyE members of the same
family are more closely related than members of the same order.
Each species is placed into the classification system with a two,part name. The first half of the
name is the species4 !ens, while the second is the species4 own specific name. The !ens name is
capitali.ed, and the species name is lowercase. Hmans belon! to the !ens +omo and the
species sapiens* so the name for hmans is +omo sapiens.
The &ive 1ing$oms
Taxonomy splits all livin! thin!s into five kin!doms< Monera, Drotista, Fn!i, Dlantae, and
"nimalia. For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, yo shold know the basic characteristics of the or!anisms that
belon! in each of these kin!doms, and yo shold also be familiar with the names and featres of
the ma@or phyla within each kin!dom.
-ing*o& Moner(
Monerans are prokaryotic< they are sin!le,celled or!anisms that lack a ncles and membrane,
bond or!anelles. Cf the for kin!doms, monerans are the simplest, and they !enerally evolved
the earliest. Cf all the kin!doms, only monerans are prokaryotic.
Monerans are characteri.ed by a sin!le circlar chromosome of #;", a sin!le cell membrane that
controls the transport of sbstances into and ot of the cell, and a process of asexal reprodction
called binary fission that involves dividin! into two identical clones. 9ome monerans have a cell
wall made of a s!ar,protein complex called peptido!lycan, which can be determined by -ram
stainin!. " -ram,positive moneran has a thick peptido!lycan cell wall, while a -ram,ne!ative
moneran has a mch thinner one. Monerans are broken down into phyla accordin! to their means
of procrin! food.
5e cover the strctre and fnction of monerans in more detail in the section on microor!anisms
in the Cr!anismal 6iolo!y chapter.
PH!LUM BACTERIA
6acteria are heterotrophic and can act as symbionts, parasites, or decomposers.
PH!LUM C!ANOBACTERIA .BLUE/REEN ALAE0
Cyanobacteria are atotrophs that can perform photosynthesis.
-ing*o& Protist(
Drotists are ekaryotic. ?n !eneral, protists are less complex than the other ekaryotes and
ori!inated earlier in evoltionary history. Most are nicelllar, tho!h some are or!ani.ed in
colonies and some others are mlticelllar. The kin!dom Drotista can be separated into three
primary divisions< animal,like, plantlike, and fn!s like.
The animal,like protists are heterotrophic and motile. The most important proto.oa for the 9"T ??
6iolo!y are the amoebas, sporo.oa, and ciliates<
PH!LUM RHI1OPODA
The members of phylm 1hi.opoda are amoebas, known for their constantly chan!in! body
strctre. "moebas se membrane extensions called psedopods $/false feet0+ to move and to
srrond food particles, which they then en!lf into their cytoplasm via pha!ocytosis. "moebas
!enerally live in fresh water, bt some are fond in soil or salt water. ?f an amoeba finds its way
inside a hman thro!h contaminated drinkin! water, it can case severe dysentery.
PH!LUM APICOMPLE2A
The phylm "picomplexa consists of spore,formin! parasitic or!anisms, also known as sporozoa.
The adlt form lives inside the cells of animals. The spores are transmitted to other host animals,
sally by a carrier animal. For example, a mos=ito bite transmits plasmodim, an apicomplexan
that lives in red blood cells and cases malaria.
PH!LUM CILIOPHORA
"ll members of the phylm Ciliophora propel themselves by wavin! many short, hairlike
strctres called cilia in a coordinated fashionE cilia also help draw food particles into the oral
!roove. Mnlike other proto.oa, ciliates have two nclei< the smaller microncles is involved in
reprodction, while the macroncles controls the or!anism4s metabolic processes.
" paramecium is the classic example of a ciliate proto.oan.
The plantlike protists inclde e!lenoids and varios kinds of al!ae. They are all photo,synthetic
atotrophs, transformin! li!ht ener!y into food. 9ome are nicelllar, bt many are mlticelllar,
formin! fibros seaweed strctres.
PH!LUM EULENOPH!TA
E!lenoids are classified with the plantlike protists becase many of them photosynthesi.e. 6t
these nicelllar or!anisms have fla!ella that allow them to move.
PH!LUM PHAEOPH!TA
6rown al!ae of phylm Dhaeophyta are all mlticelllar seaweeds, ran!in! in si.e from an inch to
almost the len!th of a football field $the lar!e varieties are called kelp+. 6rown al!ae provide both
food and shelter to many animals in the coastal marine ecosystem.
PH!LUM CHLOROPH!TA
-reen al!ae of phylm Chlorophyta have the same photosynthetic pi!ments and the same cell wall
strctre as plants. ?n fact, they are believed to be the ancestors of modern plants. 9ome are
nicelllar, and some are mlticelllarE however, none have speciali.ed tisses like plants, and
therefore they remain classified with the simpler or!anisms in kin!dom Drotista.
The fn!s like protists are called slime molds, which belon! to the phyla Myxomycota and
"crasiomycota. "ll slime molds are heterotrophs.
PH!LUM M!2OM!COTA
This phylm incldes the plasmodial $acelllar+ slime molds. " plasmodim consists of a sin!le
cell with mltiple nclei. Dlasmodial slime molds creep slowly alon! the decayin! ve!etation they
di!estE when food or water is scarce, they prodce small to!h spores that !erminate when
environmental conditions improve.
PH!LUM ACRASIOM!COTA
The celllar slime molds belon! to. The mold is really a lar!e collection of individal amoebalike
protists, which con!re!ate into a /psedo,plasmodim0 or /sl!0 only when food is scarce. ?n this
cooperative form, they prodce a sin!le stalk that releases spores.
-ing*o& )$ngi
Fn!i are typically non motile and, like plants, have cell walls. Mnlike plants, fn!i are
heterotrophic and have cell walls made of chitin rather than celllose. Fn!i secrete en.ymes to
di!est their food externally and then absorb the ntrients. They sally live as decomposers, livin!
off dead and decayin! or!anisms, or as parasites, !rowin! on or in other livin! or!anisms. 5ith
the exception of yeast, most fn!i are mlticelllar. 9trctrally, mlticelllar fn!i are composed
of filaments called hyphaeE some have hyphae that are se!mented by divisions called septa, while
others have a continos cytoplasm with many nclei in each hyphae. Many fn!i exist as a tan!le
of hyphae, called a mycelim. Examples of fn!i are yeast and mshrooms.
Most fn!i can also exist in the form of a spore, a microscopic reprodctive strctre that is mch
more resistant to lack of food or water. Mnlike most plants and animals, which exist
predominantly in a diploid state, fn!i spend most of their time in a haploid state, with only a brief
diploid phase drin! the reprodctive cycle.
9ome fn!i !row in a mtally beneficial relationship with a photosynthetic al!ae or plant. Lichen
is an example of sch a partnership between a fn!s and an al!ae. The benefits of the mer!er are
apparent< lichen can !row in a wider ran!e of temperatres than any individal plant or fn!s,
and lichen can often coloni.e rocks that will not spport any other mlticelllar life forms.
-ing*o& Pl(nt(e
Dlants are complex mlticelllar photosynthetic atotrophs, with celllose in their cell walls and a
waxy cticle coverin! their above!rond parts. They are easily distin!ishable from members of
all other kin!doms, with the possible exception of their simpler ancestors in the Drotista kin!dom,
the !reen al!ae. Cver evoltionary time, plants improved their ability to live on land by
developin! a variety of important featres. Dlants can be divided into for ma@or !rops,
displayin! a pro!ressively !reater de!ree of adaptation to the terrestrial environment.
NON"ASCULAR PLANTS3BR!OPH!TES
6ryophyta is the only phylm in the !rop of nonvasclar seedless plants. These mosses and worts
are the most primitive tre plants. 6ecase they lack a vasclar system $vasclar systems are
discssed in mch more detail in the section on 9trctre and Fnction of Dlants, which is part of
the Cr!anismal 6iolo!y chapter+, bryophytes do not have a stem, leaves, or rootsE they mst
distribte water and ntrients thro!hot their bodies by absorption and diffsion. "s a reslt, they
cannot !row beyond a small si.e and mst keep their bodies close to moist earth. 6ryophytes
reprodce by spores and need water in order to brin! abot fertili.ation. 6ecase the male !amete
is a fla!ellated sperm, reprodction re=ires water in which the sperm can swim. Mnlike all other
plants, which have a diploid adlt sta!e, adlt bryophytes are haploid, passin! only briefly thro!h
a diploid phase drin! the reprodctive cycle.
SEEDLESS "ASCULAR PLANTS
There are three phyla of seedless vasclar plants< Lycophyta $clb mosses+, 9phenophyta
$horsetails+, and, most likely to appear on the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, Dterophyta $ferns+. :asclar plants
have a dal flid transport system< xylem transports water and inor!anic minerals from the roots
pward, and phloem transports s!ars and other or!anic ntrients p and down. This vasclar
system represents a ma@or evoltionary step in the adaptation to life on land. The ability to
transport water and ntrients across lon! distances allows plants to !row mch lar!er, sendin!
speciali.ed photosynthetic strctres $leaves+ pward toward snli!ht and speciali.ed root
strctres downward toward the water and minerals in the !rond. Like bryophytes, seedless
vasclar phyla reprodce by spores and have fla!ellated sperm that re=ire water in which to
swim, limitin! these plants to relatively moist environments.
)LO#ERLESS SEED PLANTS3!MNOSPERMS
The evoltion of seeds provided plants with another advanta!e in their prolon!ed pil!rima!e onto
land. Mnlike the spores of more primitive plants, seeds are mlticelllar, containin! both a
complete diploid embryo and a food spply. Havin! a food spply inside the seed provides the
newborn plant with a period of !rowth that is independent of food resorces in the environment.
This independence allows seed plants to !row in a !reater variety of environments. Frther freein!
seed plants, the male !ametes of the seed plants take the form of pollen, makin! reprodction
independent of water.
The seed plants that evolved first, called !ymnosperms $/naked seeds0+, do not prodce flowers.
Their seeds are exposed directly to the air, withot any capsle or frit enclosin! them. The most
important !rop of !ymnosperms is phylm ConiferophytaE these plants, commonly called
conifers, prodce cones that carry seeds on their scales. Examples of !ymnosperms are pines, firs,
cedars, and se=oias.
)LO#ERIN SEED PLANTS3ANIOSPERMS
Flowerin! plants, called an!iosperms $/covered seeds0+, are vasclar seed plants with speciali.ed
reprodctive strctres, which inclde both flowers and frit. ?nstead of dependin! on crrents of
wind or water for the dispersal of their !ametes and seeds, plants with flowers and frit provide
protection and attract animals that then serve as the means of fertili.ation.
Flowerin! plants are divided into two classes, monocots and dicots. Monocot seeds have a sin!le
cotyledon, while dicots have two cotyledons in each seed. Monocots and dicots are covered in
more detail in the section on the 9trctre and Fnction of Dlants.
-ing*o& Ani&(li(
"nimals are ekaryotic, mlticelllar, and heterotrophic. "nimals also have speciali.ed tisses to
perform varios fnctions. Most animals are motile, at least drin! part of their life cycle,
reprodce sexally, and have nervos systems that allow them to respond rapidly to chan!es in
their environment.
Taxonomists se several observable featres to classify animals into !rops accordin! to their
evoltionary relationships. Cne of the most important of these featres is body symmetry.
?n bilateral symmetry, the left half of the or!anism is the mirror ima!e of the ri!ht half, bt the
top does not resemble the bottom, and the front is dissimilar to the back. ?n ra$ial symmetry, the
or!anism has a circlar body plan, with similar strctres arran!ed like spokes on a wheel, sch as
a starfish. Most animals have three layers of cells< the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.
"lmost all animals have a hollow tbe inside, which acts as a di!estive tractE the openin! where
food enters is called the moth, and the openin! where di!ested material exists is called the ans.
"nimals are the most diverse of the kin!doms. "ny of their varios phyla may come p on the
9"T ?? 6iolo!y, tho!h the vertebrates come p most often.
PH!LUM PORI)ERA .SPONES0
9pon!es are sessile $nonmovin!+, complex colonies of fla!ellated nicelllar proto.oalike
or!anisms. They do not exhibit any clear symmetry, and they are the only animal phylm that
does not possess at least two distinct embryonic tisse layers. Their ni=e lack of tisse
or!ani.ation has prompted taxonomists to classify spon!es as para.oa $/next to animals0+.
;onetheless, some spon!e cells are speciali.ed for reprodctive or ntritional prposes, and this
sli!ht or!ani.ational complexity !ives them a toehold on the ed!e of the animal kin!dom.
"ltho!h spon!es do have a hollow space inside, they do not have a di!estive !t like other
animals. 5ater flows into the central space thro!h the many pores in the spon!e4s oter srface
and flows ot thro!h the lar!e openin! at the top of the spon!e. The flow of water brin!s food
and oxy!en and carries away waste and carbon dioxide. "ll spon!es secrete a skeleton that
maintains their shape $yo mi!ht se these skeletal remains as /natral spon!es0 in bathin!+.
PH!LUM CNIDARIA
Dhylm Cnidaria incldes all stin!in! marine or!anisms that exhibit radial symmetry, sch as
@ellyfish, hydras, sea anemones, and coral. Cnidarians have a tre di!estive !t like other animals,
bt one openin! serves as both the moth and ans. "dditionally, their body walls are made p of
only two layers of cells< endoderm and ectoderm.
PH!LUM PLAT!HELMINTHES .)LAT#ORMS0
Flatworms are bilaterally symmetric and are the most primitive animals to possess all three
embryonic tisse layers. Like cnidarians, most flatworms have a di!estive !t with only a sin!le
openin!. Flatworms are also the most primitive animals to exhibit discernable or!ans, internal
strctres with at least two tisse layers and a speciali.ed fnction. There are three main kinds of
flatworms< free,livin! carnivoros planarians, parasitic flkes that feed off the blood of other
animals, and parasitic tapeworms that live inside the di!estive tracts of other animals.
PH!LUM NEMATODA .ROUND#ORMS0
Most nematodes, also called rondworms, are free,livin!E however, some live as parasites in the
di!estive tracts of hmans and other animals. 9oil,dwellin! rondworms play an important
ecolo!ical role by helpin! to decompose and recycle or!anic debris. 1ondworms are bilaterally
symmetric, have a complete !t tbe with two openin!s, and possess all three embryonic tisse
layers with a cavity in between the mesodermal and endodermal tisses. The rondworm
species Caenorhabditis elegans was the first animal to have its entire !enome se=ence
determined.
PH!LUM MOLLUSCA
Dhylm Mollsca incldes many familiar animals sch as snails, sl!s, s=id, octopses, and
shellfish sch as clams and oysters. Mollsks are bilaterally symmetric and have a complete
di!estive tract and a circlatory system with a simple heart. They move by means of a msclar
strctre called a foot, and they have a raspin! ton!e called a radla and a mantle that secretes a
hard shell. Mollsks !enerally live in a=atic re!ions.
PH!LUM ANNELIDA .SEMENTED #ORMS0
"nnelida means /rin!ed0 and refers to the repeated rin!like se!ments that make p the bodies of
annelids sch as earthworms and leeches. "nnelids exhibit bilateral symmetry have a complete
di!estive tract with two excretory or!ans called nephri$ia in each se!ment and a closed
circlatory system. Their nervos system consists of a simple brain in front and a ventral $near the
belly+ nerve cord connectin! smaller clsters of nerve cells, or ganglia, within each se!ment.
Earthworms live freely within the soil, while most leeches, on the other hand, are bloodsckin!
parasites. "ll annelids mst live in moist environments. Havin! not yet developed more
sophisticated respiratory systems, they exchan!e !ases directly with their srrondin!s.
PH!LUM ARTHROPODA
"rthropoda is the most diverse and nmeros animal phylm. ?nsects, spiders, and crstaceansF
which inclde lobsters, shrimp, and crabsFconstitte the ma@or arthropod !rops. The name
"rthropoda means /@ointed feet0E arthropods have @ointed appenda!es and, like annelids, exhibit
se!mentation. ?nsects and crstaceans have three body se!ments consistin! of the head, thorax,
and abdomen, while arachnids only have two body se!ments. "rthropods are ni=e amon!
animals in havin! a hard exoskeleton made of chitin. The arthropod nervos system resembles the
annelid nervos system, with a simple brain, a ventral nerve cord, and smaller !an!lia within the
varios body se!ments. However, many arthropods have very hi!hly developed sensory
perception, incldin! hearin! or!ans, antennae, and compond eyes. "rthropods have an open
circlatory system, a fll di!estive tract, and strctres called Malphigian tubules to eliminate
waste.
PH!LUM ECHINODERMATA
The name Echinodermata means /spiny skin,0 and this phylm incldes spiny marine animals
sch as starfish, sea rchins, and sand dollars, all of which exhibit radial symmetry. Echinoderms
have several characteristic featres, incldin! an endoskeleton that secretes a spiny skin and an
nsal vasclar system of water,filled vessels that re!lates the movement of their many tube
feet and also permits the exchan!e of carbon dioxide for oxy!en. Echinoderms have a very simple
nervos system, with a rin! of nerves arond their moth and no brain. 9ome echinoderms filter
food ot of the water, while others, like starfish, are carnivoros predators or scaven!ers. #espite
their primitive appearance, patterns in early embryonic development stron!ly s!!est that
echinoderms are most closely related to the chordates, the animal phylm that developed most
recently in evoltionary time.
PH!LUM CHORDATA
Hman bein!s belon! to Chordata, the phylm that evolved most recently in the animal kin!dom.
Chordates have three embryonic tisses, a complete di!estive tract, and well,developed
circlatory, respiratory, and nervos systems. 9everal featres distin!ish chordates from all other
animal phyla. The primary featre, for which chordates are named, is the notochor$, a tblar rod
of tisse that rns lon!itdinally down the back. Kst above the notochord rns a sin!le, hollow
nerve cord, the center of the nervos system. Cther animals, sch as earthworms, also have nerve
cordsE however, these rn in ventral pairs alon! the belly and are not hollow. Two other featres,
!ill slits and tails, are present in all chordates drin! embryonic development bt disappear by
adlthood in many members of the phylm.
There are two !rops of chordates, sbphylm Mrochordata and sbphylm :ertebrata. The
former sbphylm incldes invertebrate marine animals sch as tnicates and lancelets, and
almost never appears on the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y. Mch more important for the test are the vertebrates.
9bphylm :ertebrata contains those chordates that have replaced the simple notochord with a
se!mented skeletal rod that wraps arond and protects the brain and nerve cord. The skeletal
se!ments, called vertebrae, are made of bone or cartila!e, and the entire series of se!ments is
called the vertebral colmn. The portion encasin! the brain is called the skll. There are seven
main classes of vertebrates.
6A*LESS &+S.!
These fish are bottom,dwellin! filter feeders withot @aws. They breathe thro!h !ills and lay
e!!s. Examples are lampreys and ha!fish.
CA'T+LA(+#5S &+S.!
5ith a flexible endoskeleton made of cartila!e, these fish have well,developed @aws and fins, and
they breathe thro!h !ills. Their yon! hatch from e!!s. Examples are sharks, eels, and rays.
,#7 &+S.!
6ony fish mark an advance since they have mch stron!er skeletons made of bone rather than
cartila!e. 6ony fish are fond in both salt water and fresh water. They breathe thro!h !ills and
lay soft e!!s. "lmost every fish yo can think of is a bony fish, from !oldfish to trot.
AMP.+,+A#S!
"mphibians sch as fro!s and salamanders embody the transition from a=atic to terrestrial livin!.
6orn initially as fishlike tadpoles livin! in the water, they nder!o a metamorphosis and develop
le!s and move onto land as adlts. Most adlt amphibians breathe thro!h ln!s that develop
drin! their metamorphosis, tho!h some can breathe thro!h their skin. Their e!!s lack shells,
mst be laid in water, and receive little parental care.
'EPT+LES!
5ith the development of the flid,filled amniotic sac, reptiles, incldin! dinosars, were the first
animals to be able to hatch their e!!s on land and make the fll transition to terrestrial life.
1eptiles lay few e!!s and provide some parental care. 1eptiles also have thick, scaly skin that
resists water loss and efficient ln!s.
"ll classes of vertebrates that evolved before birds are col$-bloo$e$ $ectothermic+. The
metabolism of these earlier classes is dependent on the environment. 5hen the temperatre drops,
their metabolism slows and speeds p as the temperatre rises. 6irds and mammals, in contrast,
are warm-bloo$e$ $endothermic+. They have developed strctres sch as feathers, hair, and fr
to help them maintain body temperatre. The metabolism of birds and mammals stays constant
thro!h far lar!er extremes of temperatre, makin! these two classes mch more versatile.
,+'"S!
6irds have specially evolved strctres sch as win!s, feathers, and li!ht bones that allow for
fli!ht. ?n addition, birds have for,chambered hearts and powerfl ln!s that can withstand the
extreme metabolic demands of fli!ht. 6irds lay hard e!!s bt provide a !reat deal of care for their
e!!s and developin! yon!.
MAMMALS!
Mammals have a nmber of ni=e featres that have allowed them to adapt sccessflly to many
different environments. They have the most hi!hly developed nervos systems in the animal
kin!dom, providin! them with complex and adaptable behaviors. 5ith the exception of a few
species sch as the platyps, mammals do not lay e!!s like other vertebratesE instead, mammalian
embryos develop inside the mother and are not released ntil nearly or flly developed and
e=ipped for srvival. Mammals are also ni=e in havin! milk !lands that provide norishment
for their infants. ?n this way, the protection and feedin! of their yon! is bilt directly into
mammalian bodies, dramatically increasin! the ability of these animals to raise srvivin!
offsprin! in diverse environments. Examples of mammals are whales, cows, mice, monkeys, and
hmans.
Living or "ot, -iruses
:irses are extremely small infectios a!ents that invade cells of all types. Cnce inside another
cell, virses become hi@ackers, sin! the cells4 machinery to prodce more virses. 5hether
virses constitte livin! or!anisms or notFthey can only reprodce by means of sin! another
cell4s machineryFhas been a sorce of debate for many years. 6ecase of their in,between stats,
virses do not fit into the taxonomic systemE neither do they commonly appear on the 9"T ??. "ll
yo need to know abot virses appears below.
Structure
"ll virses have a protein capsid or head re!ion that contains !enetic material. The !enetic
material can be either #;", 1;", or even in some cases a limited nmber of en.ymes. 9ome
virses also have an elaborate protein tail re!ion. The tail aids in bindin! to the srface of the host
cell and penetratin! the srface of the host so that the virs4s !enetic material can be introdced.
)irus 8Life Cycle9
Tho!h the details of virs infection and replication vary !reatly with the type of host a particlar
virs attacks, all virses share for basic steps in their replication cycles<
%. Attachment! Msin! speciali.ed protein strctres located on the exterior of the capsid or
tail, the virs latches onto the cell it will attack and hi@ack. The protein strctres are specific to
specific cells. " virs that can attach to a bacterim is nlikely to be able to attack animal cells.
(. Penetration! The virs breaks thro!h the cell wall and cell membrane, releasin! its
!enetic material into the host cell.
'. 'eplication an$ assembly! The viral !enetic material hi@acks the cell machinery. Host
ribosomes be!in to prodce viral proteins and ncleic acids. The virs ses the host cell to
assemble many new virses.
B. 'elease! :irses are bad !ests. ?n addition to the prodction of new virses, the viral
!enetic material sally forces the host cell to prodce an en.yme that kills, or lyses, the host and
breaks it open, freein! the many new virses to !o and hnt new host cells to attack. "lmost
always, the host cell is killed when it is invaded by a virs.
C1-";?9M"L 6?CLC-H
$tructure and !unction of Animals
?n order to srvive, animals mst be able to coordinate the fnctions of their many speciali.ed
cells, take in and di!est food, pll oxy!en from the air, circlate ntrients and oxy!en to their
cells, eliminate wastes, move, maintain body temperatre, and reprodce. "nimals have also
developed varios behaviors that help them to srvive.
Control Systems
Hmans and other hi!hly evolved animals have developed two main systems for coordinatin! and
synchroni.in! the fnctions of their millions of individal cells. The nervos system works rapidly
by transmittin! electrochemical implses. The endocrine system is a slower system of controlE it
works by releasin! chemical si!nals into the circlation. ?n addition to coordinatin! essential
bodily fnctions, these two control systems allow the animal to react to both its external and
internal environments.
The #ervous System
The nervos system fnctions by the almost instantaneos transmission of electrochemical si!nals.
The means of transmission are hi!hly speciali.ed cells known as neurons, which are the
fnctional nit of the nervos system.
The neron is an elon!ated cell that sally consists of three main parts< the $en$rites, the cell
bo$y, and the a%on. The typical neron contains many dendrites, which have the appearance of
thin branches extendin! from the cell body. The cell body of the neron contains the ncles and
or!anelles of the cell. The axon, which can sometimes be thosands of times lon!er than the rest
of the neron, is a sin!le, lon! pro@ection extendin! from the cell body. The axon sally ends in
several small branches known as the axon terminals. ;erons are often connected in chains and
networks, yet they never actally come in contact with one another. The axon terminals of one
neron is separated from the dendrites of an ad@acent neron by a small !ap known as a synapse.
The electrical implse movin! thro!h a neron be!ins in the dendrites. From there, it passes
thro!h the cell body and then travels alon! the axon. The implse always follows the same path
from dendrite to cell body to axon. 5hen the electrical implse reaches the synapse at the end of
the axon, it cases the release of speciali.ed chemicals known as neurotransmitters. These
nerotransmitters carry the si!nal across the synapse to the dendrites of the next neron, startin!
the process a!ain in the next cell.
THE RESTIN POTENTIAL
To nderstand the natre of the electrical implse that travels alon! the neron, it is necessary to
look at the chan!es that occr in a neron between when it is at rest and when it is carryin! an
implse. 5hen there is no implse travelin! thro!h a neron, the cell is at its restin! potential
and the inside of the cell contains a ne!ative char!e in relation to the otside.
Maintainin! a ne!ative char!e inside the cell is an active process that re=ires ener!y. The cell
membrane of the neron contains a protein called ;a
I
QN
I
"TDase that ses the ener!y provided by
one molecle of "TD to pmp three positively char!ed sodim atoms $;a
I
+ ot of the cell, while
simltaneosly takin! into the cell two positively char!ed potassim ions $N
I
+. The sodim,
potassim pmp bilds p a hi!h concentration of sodim ions otside the cell and an excess of
potassim ions inside the cell. These ions natrally want to diffse across the membrane to
re!lari.e the distribtion. However, one of the special properties of phospholipid cell membranes
is that they bar passa!e to ions nless there is a special protein channel that allows a particlar ion
in or ot. ;o sch channel exists for the sodim that is bilt p otside the cell, tho!h there are
potassim leak channels that allow some of the potassim ions to flow ot of the cell. The
difference in ion concentrations creates a net potential difference across the cell membrane of
approximately )*3 m: $millivolts+, which is the vale of the restin! potential.
THE ACTION POTENTIAL
5hile most cells have some sort of restin! potential from the movement of ions across their
membranes, nerons are amon! only a few types of cells that can also form an action potential.
The action potential is the electrochemical implse that can travel alon! the neron. ?n addition to
the ;a
I
QN
I
"TDase and potassim leak channel proteins, the neron membrane contains voltage-
gate$ proteins. These proteins respond to chan!es in the membrane potential by openin! to allow
certain ions to cross that wold not normally be able to do so. The neron contains both volta!e,
!ated sodim channels and volta!e,!ated potassim channels, which open nder different
circmstances.
The action potential be!ins when chemical si!nals from another neron mana!e to depolari.e, or
make less ne!ative, the potential of the cell membrane in one locali.ed area of the neron cell
membrane, sally in the dendrites. ?f the neron is stimlated eno!h so that the cell membrane
potential in that area mana!es to reach as hi!h as )23 m: $from the restin! potential of )*3 m:+,
the volta!e,!ated sodim channels in that re!ion of the membrane open p. The volta!e at which
the volta!e,!ated channels open is called the threshol$ potential, so the threshold potential in this
case is )23 m:. 9ince there is a lar!e concentration of positive sodim ions @st otside the cell
membrane that have been pmped ot by ;a
I
QN
I
"TDase, when the volta!e,!ated channels open,
these sodim ions follow the concentration !radient and rsh into the cell. 5ith the flood of
positive ions, the cell contines to depolari.e. Eventally the membrane potential !ets as hi!h
as I'2 m:, at which point the volta!e,!ated sodim channels close a!ain and volta!e,!ated
potassim channels reach their threshold and open p. The positive potassim ions concentrated in
the cell now rsh ot of the neron, repolari.in! the cell membrane to its ne!ative restin!
potential. The membrane potential contines to drop, even beyond )*3 m:, ntil the volta!e,!ated
potassim channels close once a!ain at arond )83 m:. 5ith the volta!e,!ated proteins closed,
the ;a
I
QN
I
"TDase and the potassim leak channels work to restore the membrane potential to its
ori!inal polari.ed state of )*3 m:. The whole process takes approximately one millisecond to
occr.
The action potential does not occr in one locali.ed area of the neron and then stop< it travels
down the len!th of the neron. 5hen one portion of the neron4s cell membrane nder!oes an
action potential, the enterin! sodim atoms not only diffse into and ot of the neron, they also
diffse alon! the neron4s len!th. These sodim ions depolari.e the srrondin! areas of the
neron4s cell membrane to the threshold potential, at which point the volta!e,!ated sodim
channels in those re!ions open, creatin! an action potential. This cycle contines to occr alon!
the entire len!th of the neron in a chain reaction.
#rin! the time it takes the neron to repolari.e back from I'2 m: to )*3 m:, the volta!e,!ated
sodim channels will not reopen. This la! prevents the action potential from movin! backward to
re!ions of the cell membrane that have already experienced an action potential.
SPEEDIN UP THE ACTION POTENTIAL
"xons of many nerons are srronded by a strctre known as the myelin sheath, a strctre
that helps to speed p the movement of action potentials alon! the axon. The sheath is bilt of
9chwann cells, which wrap themselves arond the axon of the neron, leavin! small !aps in
between known as the no$es of 'anvier.
The sodim and potassim ions that case the action potential are only able to cross the cell
membrane at the nodes of 1anvier, so the action potential does not have to occr alon! the entire
len!th of the axon. ?nstead, when the action potential is tri!!ered at one node, the sodim ions that
enter the neron will tri!!er an action potential at the next node. This cases the action potential to
@mp from node to node, !reatly increasin! its speed. This @mpin! of the action potential is called
saltatory condction. 9ome diseases sch as mltiple sclerosis can dama!e the myelin sheaths,
!reatly impedin! condction of implses alon! the nerons.
STRENTH O) THE SINAL
There is no sch thin! as a stron!er or weaker action potential. ?f a neron reaches the threshold to
tri!!er an action potential, then the entire se=ence of events, from depolari.ation to
repolari.ation, will occr, and the same threshold potentials will be reached. 6t it4s obvios that
every si!nal can4t tri!!er an identical response, or else nerons wold never be able to convey any
sefl information. For example, if the feel of lkewarm water and the brn of a hot iron tri!!ered
the same response, or sense of toch wold be rather seless.
The body commnicates a stron!er messa!e not by creatin! a lar!er action potential, bt by firin!
action potentials more rapidly. The brn of an iron may case the heat receptors in or skin to fire
action potentials at a rate of p to one hndred action potentials per second, while lkewarm water
mi!ht tri!!er action potentials at less than half that rate.
TRANSMITTIN AN IMPULSE BET#EEN NEURONS
;erons cannot directly pass an action potential from one to the next becase of the synapses
between them. ?nstead, nerons commnicate across the synaptic clefts by the means of chemical
si!nals known as nerotransmitters. 5hen an action potential reaches the synapse, it cases the
release of vesicles of these nerotransmitters, which diffse across the !ap and bind to receptors in
the dendrites of the ad@acent neron. The nerotransmitters can be excitatory, casin! an action
potential in the next neron, or inhibitory, preventin! one. Excitatory nerotransmitters case the
tar!et neron to allow positive ions to enter it, which may or may not be eno!h to case the
membrane to reach the threshold potential of )23 m: that is needed to open the ,volta!e,!ated
sodim channels and initiate an action potential. ?nhibitory nerotransmitters case the tar!et
neron to allow entrance to ne!ative ions, carryin! the neron frther from threshold and
preventin! it from firin! an action potential.
To form the nervos system, nerons are or!ani.ed in a dense network. Each neron shares a
synapse with many other nerons, exposin! each neron to excitatory and inhibitory
nerotransmitters simltaneosly. The effects of all of the nerotransmitters workin! on a neron
at a !iven time are added p to determine whether or not an action potential will be fired. "fter a
nerotransmitter has its effect on the tar!et neron, it sally either diffses away from the
synapse, is deactivated by en.ymes in the synapse, or is absorbed by srrondin! cells.
NER"OUS S!STEM ORANI1ATION
"s animals became more complex, their nervos systems evolved from the simple, nor!ani.ed
networks of nerves that are fond in cnidarians, sch as @ellyfish, and became more complicated
and coordinated by a central control. "nnelids and mollsks have simple, or!ani.ed clsters of
nerons known as ganglia. Many !an!lia fse in the head re!ion of these or!anisms to form a
primitive brain. "rthropods exhibit a more complex nervos system that incldes many sensory
or!ans sch as antennae and compond eyes. :ertebrates mark the clmination of nervos system
evoltion. The vertebrate system is hi!hly centrali.ed, with a lar!e brain that can process complex
information and nmeros speciali.ed sensory or!ans.
THE "ERTEBRATE NER"OUS S!STEM
The vertebrate nervos system contains billions of individal nerons bt can be divided into two
main parts< the central nervos system $C;9+ and the peripheral nervos system $D;9+. The
central nervos system, as its name implies, acts as central command. ?t receives sensory inpt
from all re!ions of the body, inte!rates this information, and creates a response. The central
nervos system controls the most basic fnctions essential for srvival, sch as breathin! and
di!estion, and it is responsible for complex behavior and, in hmans, consciosness. The
peripheral nervos system refers to the pathways thro!h which the central nervos system
commnicates with the rest of the or!anism.
?n hi!hly evolved systems, sch as the hman nervos system, there are actally three types of
neral bildin! blocks< sensory, motor, and internerons.
SENSOR! NEURONS4
"fter an or!anism4s sense or!ans receive a stimls from the environment, sensory nerons send
that information back to the central nervos system. "lso called afferent nerons.
MOTOR NEURONS4
?n response to some stimls or as a volntary action, motor nerons carry information away from
the central nervos system to an or!an or mscle. "lso called efferent nerons.
INTERNEURONS4
Drovide the connection between sensory nerons and motor nerons.
THE CENTRAL NER"OUS S!STEM
The central nervos system consists of the brain and the spinal cor$. The spinal cord is a lon!
cylinder of nervos tisse that extends alon! the vertebral colmn from the head to the lower
back.
Composed of many distinct strctres workin! to!ether to coordinate the body, the brain is a
hi!hly complex $and poorly nderstood+ or!an. Lckily, yo don4t have to /nderstand0 the brain
for the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y. Ho @st need to know its basic strctres and their fnctions. The brain is
made p almost entirely of internerons.
The cerebrum is the lar!est portion of the brain and the seat of consciosness. The
cerebrm controls all volntary movement, sensory perception, speech, memory, and creative
tho!ht.
The cerebellum does not initiate volntary movement, bt it helps fine,tne it. The
cerebellm makes sre that movements are coordinated and balanced.
The brainstem, specifically a portion of it known as the me$ulla oblongata, is
responsible for the control of involntary fnctions sch as breathin!, cardiovasclar re!lation,
and swallowin!. The medlla oblon!ata is absoltely essential for life and processes a !reat deal
of information. The medlla also helps maintain alertness.
The hypothalamus is responsible for the maintenance of homeostasis. ?t re!lates
temperatre, controls hn!er and thirst, and mana!es water balance. ?t also helps !enerate
emotion.
The spinal cord contains all three types of nerons. "xons of motor nerons extend from the
spinal colmn into the peripheral nervos system, while the fibers of sensory nerons mer!e into
the colmn from the D;9. ?nternerons link the motor and sensory nerons, and they make p the
ma@ority of the nerons in the spinal colmn. ?n addition to the nerons, cells called !lial cells are
present to provide physical and metabolic spport for nerons. The spinal cord serves as a link
between the body and the brain, and it can also re!late simple reflexes.
The brain and spinal cord are bathed in a flid called the cerebrospinal flid, which helps to
cshion these delicate or!ans a!ainst dama!e. The cerebrospinal flid is maintained by the !lial
cells.
T.E PE'+P.E'AL #E')5S S7STEM
The peripheral nervos system consists of a sensory system that carries information from the
senses into the central nervos system from the body and a motor system that branches ot from
the C;9 to tar!eted or!ans or mscles. The motor division can be divided into the somatic
system and the autonomic system.
The somatic nervos system is responsible for volntary, or conscios, movement. The nerons
only tar!et the skeletal mscles responsible for body movement. "ll of the nerons in the somatic
system release acetylcholine, an excitatory nerotransmitter that cases skeletal mscles to
contract. ;one of the nerons in the somatic nervos system has an inhibitory effect.
The atonomic system controls tisses other than skeletal mscles, incldin! smooth and cardiac
mscle, !lands, and or!ans. The system controls processes that an animal does not have volntary
control over, sch as the heartbeat, the movements of the di!estive tract, and the contraction of the
bladder. "tonomic nerons can either excite or inhibit their tar!et mscles or or!ans. The
atonomic nervos system can itself be sbdivided into the sympathetic division and
parasympathetic division. These two systems act anta!onistically and often have opposite effects.
The sympathetic $ivision prepares the body for emer!ency sitations. ?t increases the
heart rate, dilates the ppils, increases the breathin! rate, and diverts blood from the di!estive
system so that it can be sed to oxy!enate skeletal mscles that may be needed for action. The
sympathetic division also stimlates the medlla of the adrenal !lands to release epinephrine and
norepinephrine into the bloodstream, hormones that help to reinforce the direct effects of the
nerons. To!ether, the actions of the sympathetic nervos system are often called the /fi!ht or
fli!ht0 response. The nerotransmitter most often released by sympathetic nerons is
norepinephrine.
The parasympathetic $ivision is most active when the body is at rest. ?t slows the heart
rate, increases di!estion, and slows breathin!. The effects of the parasympathetic division are
sometimes called the /rest and di!est0 response. The nerotransmitter most often associated with
the parasympathetic division of the atonomic nervos system is acetylcholine.
THE SENSES
The sensory or!ans provide information abot the environment thro!h the peripheral nervos
system to the central nervos system. Complex or!ans like the eyes and ears, as well as more
simple sensory receptors, sch as those fond in the skin and @oints, provide raw information
abot the environment by firin! action potentials nder special circmstances. The modified
nerons of the eye fire when exposed to li!ht, while those of the ear respond to vibration. This
sensory information is processed and perceived by the brain.
"ISION4
The eyes can determine the intensity of the li!ht as well as its color, or fre=ency. The retina of
the eye contains speciali.ed photoreceptors called rods and cones, which can sense the different
properties of the li!ht that hits them. 1ods are very sensitive and respond to low levels of
illmination, a property that is important for ni!ht vision. Cones respond to bri!hter li!ht and are
responsible for color vision. Di!ments in the photoreceptor cells chan!e their moleclar shapes
when stimlated by li!ht, leadin! to the firin! of an action potential from nerons in the eye. The
implse passes alon! the optic nerve to the occipital lobe of the brain, where the visal
information is processed. Li!ht is focsed onto the retina by the lens of the eye, which can chan!e
shape in order to maintain a focsed ima!e. The ppil is the hole in the eye that re!lates how
mch li!ht can pass thro!h to the lensE the diameter of the ppil is ad@sted by the msclar iris.
The cornea is the clear, oter layer of the eye and helps to bend li!ht thro!h the ppil toward the
lens.
HEARIN4
?n the ears, sond ener!y cases the eardrm, or tympanic membrane, to vibrate at the same
fre=ency as the sond. The vibration is condcted thro!h three small bones, the aditory
ossicles, which amplify the vibration and direct it to the cochlea. Hair cells in the cochlea convert
the vibrations of the cochlea into action potentials. The fre=ency and amplitde of the vibration
affect which hair cells are stimlated and how often they fire. The action potentials are transmitted
down the aditory nerve to the brain.
BALANCE4
Everyone knows the ear is involved in hearin!, bt few know that the ear also helps maintain
balance. Three semicircular canals in each ear contain speciali.ed hair cells that detect the
movement of a flid that fills the canals. 5hen the position of the head chan!es, the flid inside
the canals moves. The chan!in! pressre on the hair cells affects the rate at which they fire action
potentials. This information is transmitted to the brain alon! the vestiblar nerve.
TASTE AND SMELL4
Taste and smell detect the presence of chemical sbstances, either dissolved in the saliva in the
case of taste or dissolved in the mcs of the nose in the case of smell. Chemoreceptors that
respond to taste are concentrated in strctres known as taste bu$s present on the srface of the
ton!e. The taste bds respond to the for main taste sensationsFsor, salty, bitter, and sweetF
creatin! action potentials that travel to the brain alon! the facial and !lossopharyn!eal nerves.
9mell ori!inates when molecles of a sbstance pass alon! the olfactory epithelium, a re!ion
near the top of the nasal cavity. The molecles dissolve in the mcs that coats the olfactory
epithelim and bind to srface receptors. ?t is believed that there are approximately one thosand
different receptor types in the nose, each respondin! to a different chemical si!nal. 5hen these
receptors are activated, they transmit their si!nals to the brain thro!h the olfactory nerve.
SOMATIC SENSES4
?n addition to the special senses discssed above, there are many sensory nerve endin!s
thro!hot the body< in the skin, on the body wall, in the mscles, tendons, and @oints, in the
bones, and in certain or!ans. These senses are often called the somatic senses, and they inclde
senses of toch, pressre, the senses of postre and movement, temperatre, and pain. The
specifics of these senses are not tested on the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, bt it is important to know that the
senses arise when receptor cells are stimlated to prodce action potentials, which are interpreted
in the brain.
The En$ocrine System
The endocrine system works in concert with the nervos system to control and coordinate the
fnctions of the other or!an systems. The endocrine system, however, fnctions on a slower time
scale than the nervos system does. The or!ans that make p the endocrine system are called the
endocrine !lands, and they commnicate with the body by releasin! chemical messen!ers known
as hormones into the bloodstream.
The hormones released by the endocrine !lands sally tar!et specific or!ans in an entirely
different part of the body. The cells of the tar!et or!an for a specific hormone will have receptors
to which only that hormone can bind. Cr!ans withot those particlar receptors will remain
naffected. " hormone can affect tar!eted cells for a matter of mintes, sch as the re!lation of
blood s!ar, or over several days, months, or even years, as happens in pberty.
Two ma@or classes of hormones exist< peptide hormones and steroid hormones. Deptide hormones
are composed of amino acids and can ran!e in si.e from a short chain of only three or for amino
acids to small polypeptides. Examples of peptide hormones inclde inslin and antidiretic
hormone $"#H+. 6ecase amino acids cannot freely cross cell membranes, peptide hormones
mst be secreted thro!h special vesicles and also mst convey their information by bindin! to
receptors that exist on the otside of a tar!eted cell. 6y bindin! with the receptor, the hormone
!enerates a chain reaction of si!nals into the cell that eventally cases chan!es in specific
en.ymes within the cell itself. Deptide hormones !enerally work rather =ickly, on the order of
mintes and hors rather than days and months.
9teroid hormones are rin!,shaped lipids made from cholesterol. 6ecase they are hydrophobic,
steroid hormones can easily pass into the bloodstream from the endocrine cells that prodce themE
they can also pass directly into their tar!et cells. The receptors for steroid hormones are located on
the interior of the tar!et cells. 5hen hormone and receptor bind, they enter the ncles of the cell
and can activate or deactivate !enes codin! for specific proteins. 9ince steroid hormones exert
their inflence by chan!in! the rates of protein synthesis, steroid hormones act more slowly than
peptide hormones do. Examples of steroid hormones are testosterone, estro!en, and cortisol.
ENDOCRINE LANDS
The endocrine system contains a !reat variety of !lands, all of which prodce different hormones
and re!late different processes or areas of the body. The 9"T ?? 6iolo!y does occasionally ask
=estions abot the ma@or endocrine !lands.
THE PITUITAR! LAND4
The pititary !land is a tiny !land located at the base of the brain in the center of the head. ?t is
made p of two separate lobes, the anterior pititary and the posterior pititary, each of which is
responsible for the secretion of a different set of hormones.
The pititary is a very important part of the endocrine system becase the hormones it prodces
control the secretions of many of the other endocrine or!ans. The pititary itself is controlled by
the hypothalams. For each of the six hormones prodced by the anterior pititary !land, the
hypothalams prodces a specific hormone,like sbstance known as a releasin! factor that
stimlates the anterior pititary to release that particlar hormone. The two hormones released by
the posterior pititary are prodced directly in the hypothalams and merely stored in the pititary
!land ntil they are secreted into the blood. The six hormones released by the anterior pititary
are<
(rowth hormone /(.0 stimlates !rowth in many body tisses. The hormone is
particlarly important for !rowin! children. ?n adlts, it affects the rate at which older cells are
replaced by new ones.
&ollicle-stimulating hormone /&S.0 stimlates the matration of ova in the ovaries and
sperm in the testes and can case the !onads to release sex hormones.
Luteinizing hormone /L.0 tri!!ers ovlation and the development of a strctre known
as the corps ltem in females. ?n males it stimlates the release of testosterone by the testes.
Prolactin is released after pre!nancy and stimlates milk prodction in the female
mammary !lands.
Thyroi$-stimulating hormone /TS.0 stimlates the thyroid, another endocrine !land, to
release its hormone, thyroxine.
A$renocorticotrophic hormone /ACT.0 stimlates the adrenal cortex to release its
hormones, the corticoids.
The two hormones made in the hypothalams and released by the stora!e facility in the posterior
pititary are<
Anti$iuretic hormone /A".0 re!lates the kidneys to redce water loss in the rine.
%ytocin stimlates terine contraction drin! childbirth.
THE TH!ROID LAND4
Located in the back of the neck, the thyroid !land prodces the hormone thyroxine, which
increases the metabolism of most of the cells in the body. ?odine is needed to prodce thyroxine,
so iodine deficiencies can !reatly affect the fnctionin! of the ,thyroid !land. ?f the thyroid !land
prodces too little thyroxine, a condition known as hypothyroidism develops. " person who
sffers from hypothyroidism has a lower metabolic rate, which can case obesity and
sl!!ishness. The opposite condition, known as hyperthyroidism, occrs when the thyroid
prodces too mch thyroxine. ?t can lead to excessive perspiration, hi!h body temperatre, loss of
wei!ht, and a faster heart rate.
PARATH!ROID LANDS4
For small bt important !lands known as the parathyroid !lands are embedded on the posterior
srface of the thyroid !land. The parathyroid !lands prodce a hormone appropriately named
parathyroid hormone, or parathormone, which re!lates the level of calcim in the bloodstream.
5hen parathyroid hormone is released, it stimlates the bones to secrete extra calcim into the
bloodstream, raisin! the levels of calcim ions in the blood plasma and decreasin! them in the
bone tisse. Calcim is important for many reasons, incldin! the fnctionin! of mscles and
nerons and the blood,clottin! process.
PANCREAS4
The pancreas is a lar!e or!an located behind the stomach. ?t serves two ma@or fnctions. First, it is
a di!estive or!an, releasin! di!estive en.ymes into the small intestine by means of the pancreatic
dct. 6t it also fnctions as an endocrine or!an, releasin! the
hormones insulin and glucagon directly into the bloodstream from speciali.ed cells known as
the islets of Langerhans.
?nslin stimlates cells to absorb !lcose from the bloodstream when !lcose levels are hi!h, sch
as after a meal. The hormone also stimlates the liver to remove !lcose from the blood and store
it as !lyco!en, decreasin! blood s!ar levels. -lca!on has the opposite effect. 1eleased when
blood !lcose levels are low, !lca!on stimlates the liver to break down !lyco!en into !lcose
and to release it into the bloodstream, raisin! blood s!ar levels.
ADRENAL LANDS4
The adrenal !lands are located on the kidneys. They consist of two distinct parts< the a$renal
corte%, the external portion of the !land, and the a$renal me$ulla, the interior portion.
The sympathetic nervos system stimlates the adrenal medlla to release its hormones,
norepinephrine and epinephrine, into the bloodstream. Like the sympathetic nervos system, these
two hormones ready the body for stress< they increase heart rate and breathin! rate, they divert
blood from the di!estive system to the skeletal mscles, and they dilate the ppils. $The
similarities between the effects of the sympathetic nervos system and adrenal medlla hormones
are easy to nderstand, considerin! norepinephrine is the nerotransmitter that is released by the
sympathetic nerons.+ The only difference between the effects of the adrenal medlla and the
sympathetic nervos system is that hormones released by the adrenal medlla remain in the
bloodstream for a lon! time, sally several mintes and sometimes more, while the effects of the
sympathetic nervos system are short,lived.
The adrenal cortex releases three types of steroid hormones. The !lcocorticoids affect !lcose
levels in the blood. Mineralocorticoids affect the rate at which the kidneys absorb certain minerals
from the blood. 9ex steroids have some effect on sexal characteristics and processes bt are
!enerally overshadowed by the hormones prodced by the !onads.
THE ONADS4
The !onadsFthe testes in the male and the ovaries in the femaleFare the sex or!ans that prodce
!ametes. ?n addition, the !onads prodce steroid sex hormones. ?n males the primary sex hormone
is testosterone, which is necessary for sperm prodction. ?n addition to facilitatin! the prodction
of sperm, testosterone is responsible for developin! and maintainin! the secondary sex
characteristics of males, startin! at pberty. These characteristics inclde a deeper voice, facial
and body hair, and broad sholders. ?n females, the ovaries prodce estrogen and progesterone.
Estro!en helps to develop and maintain the female secondary sex characteristics, sch as the
development of mammary !lands, a narrower waist and wider hips, axillary and pbic hair, and a
hi!her,pitched voice. Estro!en also stimlates !rowth of the terine linin! for pre!nancy, while
pro!esterone prepares the ters for embryo implantation and helps to maintain pre!nancy.
The Circulatory System
?n the simplest mlticelllar animals sch as the cnidarians, almost all cells are in contact with the
external environment, so there is little need to transport materials internally. "ny cell can !et its
ntrients from the srrondin! water and can expel its waste directly back from where it came. "s
animal body plans evolved to frther complexity, however, a need developed for a circlatory
system that cold transport materials sch as ntrients, oxy!en, and waste prodcts thro!hot the
body. "nnelids have a simple closed circit of blood vessels with five small hearts, which are
really @st plsatin! vessels themselves. ?nsects and other arthropods have an open circlatory
system that bathes their internal or!ans. The open circlatory system consists of one dorsal vessel
that plsates, keepin! the blood movin! thro!hot the body of the insect.
)ertebrate Circulatory Systems
:ertebrates have evolved an intricate closed circlatory system that consist of a heart and three
principal types of blood vessels< arteries, capillaries, and veins.
"rteries carry blood away from the heart and have thick, elastic, msclar walls that can dilate or
contract to control blood pressre within the vessels. 6ecase blood in the arteries has been
relatively recently pmped ot of the heart, arterial blood pressre tends to be hi!h. The blood in
arteries is sally rich in oxy!en, since it is bein! pmped ot to the body to provide oxy!en and
other ntrients to the cells. The only exceptions are the plmonary arteries, which carry blood to
the ln!s to pick p its spply of oxy!en. 9ince blood in the plmonary arteries hasn4t yet reached
the ln!s, it is oxy!en poor.
"rteries are too lar!e to service every little cell in the body. "s arteries !et farther from the heart,
they be!in to branch into smaller and smaller vessels, which eventally branch into thosands of
capillaries. The walls of the smallest capillaries are only one cell thick, allowin! ntrients, waste
prodcts, oxy!en, and carbon dioxide to diffse between the blood and the srrondin! tisses.
"fter providin! ntrients and oxy!en and pickin! p waste, capillaries be!in to mer!e into lar!er
and lar!er vessels, eventally conver!in! into veins.
:eins carry blood toward the heart. The blood in veins is not pshed by pmpin! of the heart, so
the blood pressre and forward momentm of the blood in veins is lower than in arteries. 6lood in
veins is lar!ely pshed alon! by the contractions of the skeletal mscles as the or!anism moves
arond. To ensre that the blood in veins flows toward the heart, veins contain nidirectional
valves. :enos blood has already provided ntrients to cells, so it is sally deoxy!enated, !ivin!
it a characteristic ble color. The lone exception, once a!ain, is the plmonary veins. 9ince this
blood is flowin! back to the heart from the ln!s, it is flly oxy!enated and bri!ht red.
PATTERNS O) CIRCULATION IN "ERTEBRATES
"s vertebrates have evolved, they have developed increasin!ly efficient circlatory systems. The
circlatory system in fish is one closed loop< blood is pmped from the heart to the !ill capillaries,
where oxy!en is picked p from the srrondin! water. The blood then contines on to the body
tisses, and the vessels eventally become capillaries a!ain to allow for ntrient and !as exchan!e
in the tisses. Then the deoxy!enated blood is retrned to the heart and pmped to the !ills once
more. This system is inefficient becase the blood loses a lot of momentm in the !ill capillaries.
"fter leavin! the !ill capillaries, it travels slowly and with a lower pressre, affectin! the delivery
of oxy!en to the body tisses.
"mphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals have overcome this problem by evolvin! two circits
within the circlatory system< the pulmonary circuit and the systemic circuit. "fter the blood is
pmped from the heart to the ln!s to be oxy!enated, it is retrned to the heart before it is pmped
ot to the rest of the body.
THE HEART
"mphibian and reptile hearts are inefficient becase they make no distinction between oxy!enated
and deoxy!enated blood. Their hearts have only two chambers< one chamber for receivin! blood
from the ln!s and the body, and another for pmpin! that blood back ot. These two,chambered
hearts allow oxy!en,rich blood retrnin! from the ln!s to mix with oxy!en,poor blood retrnin!
from the systemic circit. The blood pmped to the body never contains as mch oxy!en as it
cold.
The avian $bird+ and mammalian heart is four,chambered. ?t consists of two halves, one for
oxy!enated blood and the other for deoxy!enated blood. Each half has one atrium and
one ventricle, separated by one,way atrioventriclar valves. The atrim is the chamber where
blood retrns to the heart, while the ventricle is the chamber where blood is pmped ot of the
heart. Cxy!en,poor blood retrnin! from the body enters the ri!ht atrim and then moves into the
ri!ht ventricle, which pmps the blood thro!h the plmonary artery to the ln!s, where it picks
p oxy!en and releases carbon dioxide. This newly oxy!enated blood retrns to the left atrim of
the heart thro!h the plmonary veins. 6lood in the left atrim moves into the left ventricle, from
where it is pmped ot thro!h the aorta, the lar!est artery, into other arteries, arterioles, and
capillaries. The blood provides oxy!en to the cells, picks p carbon dioxide, and !athers back into
veins. Eventally the deoxy!enated blood flows thro!h the sperior vena cava and inferior vena
cava back into the ri!ht atrim, startin! the process over a!ain.
The vertebrate heart is composed of special mscle tisse called cardiac mscle. These mscles
are stimlated to contract in a re!lar and controlled rhythm by an electric plse !enerated in a
re!ion of the heart called the sinoatrial node, or pacemaker. The pacemaker cells fire implses
spontaneosly, withot any stimlation from the nervos system. This implse spreads amon! the
heart cells, stimlatin! the atria to contract, forcin! blood into the ventricles. "t the @nction of the
atria and the ventricles, the implse reaches another node, called the atrioventriclar node. The
atrioventriclar node sends an implse that cases the ventriclar walls to contract, forcin! blood
ot of the heart and into the aorta and plmonary arteries. "ltho!h the heartbeat can be
maintained withot external stimlation by the nervos system, the atonomic nervos system can
re!late the heart rate by speedin! it p or slowin! it down.
THE BLOOD
The entire prpose of the circlatory system is to move oxy!en and ntrient,rich blood to where it
needs to !o. 6lood is a li=id tisse that is composed of a flid called plasma and three types of
speciali.ed cells< re$ bloo$ cells, white bloo$ cells, and platelets.
The plasma of the blood is composed mainly of water, allowin! it to contain many dissolved
sbstances, sch as the !lcose that provides cells with ener!yE carbon dioxide in the form of
carbonic acidE hormones that carry important chemical si!nals to their tar!et or!ansE salts sch as
calcim, potassim, and sodimE lipidsE and nitro!enos waste. The plasma also contains proteins
that assist in blood clottin!, in the immne response, and in preventin! the loss of too mch blood
flid from the capillaries.
1ed blood cells are biconcave disks with no ncles and no ma@or or!anelles $if yo took a ball of
ptty and s=ashed it between two fin!ers, it wold look like a red blood cell+. 1ed blood cells are
the most abndant cell type in the blood. Their primary fnction is to transport oxy!en thro!h the
blood. 1ed blood cells are filled with hemoglobin, an iron,containin! protein that can bind to
oxy!en molecles. 5hen the concentration of oxy!en is hi!h, as it is in the ln!s, one molecle of
hemo!lobin can bind p to for molecles of oxy!en. 5hen the concentration of oxy!en is very
low, as it is in the capillaries of oxy!en,poor tisse, the hemo!lobin !ives p its oxy!en, releasin!
it into the tisses where it is needed.
5hite blood cells are important in fi!htin! off infectios disease. There are two !eneral classes of
white blood cells< pha!ocytes and lymphocytes. These cells will be explained more flly drin!
the discssion of the immne system later in this chapter.
The third type of blood cell is the platelet. Dlatelets are not really cells at allE they are packets of
cytoplasm that release the en.yme thromboplastin when they come into contact with a forei!n
sbstance within the blood or the ro!h ed!es of an open wond. Thromboplastin sets off a chain
reaction that converts fibrino!en, a solble protein fond in the blood plasma, into fibrin, a to!h,
insolble fibros protein that traps red blood cells and thereby forms blood clots that stop blood
loss from an open wond.
BLOOD T!PES
1ed blood cells manfactre proteins called antigens that coat the cell srface. These proteins
help the immne system to determine if a cell is a forei!n invader or part of the body4s normal
tisses. ?n the case of hman red blood cells, there are two ma@or types of anti!ens that can be
formed< anti!en " and anti!en 6. "ccordin! to !enotype, an individal mi!ht have one or both of
these anti!ens expressed, or she may have neither. ?f a person4s red blood cells contain only
anti!en ", she is said to have type " blood. ?f only anti!en 6 is present, the blood is type 6. Type
"6 blood contains both anti!ens, and type C blood contains neither anti!en " nor 6.
?n order to combat forei!n cells, the blood plasma contains antibodies for all anti!ens that
are not expressed on its own red blood cells. These antibodies wold case any forei!n blood cells
to clmp to!ether, formin! a dan!eros clot. " person with type " blood has anti,6 antibodies in
the plasma, a person with type 6 blood has anti," antibodies in the plasma, a person with type "6
blood has no antibodies in the plasma, and a person with type C blood has both anti," and anti,6
antibodies. " person with type "6 blood can therefore receive a blood transfsion of any type
becase his or her blood contains no antibodies that wold clmp p the forei!n cells. For this
reason, "6 blood is often called the niversal recipient. ?n contrast, a person with type C blood
can receive only type C blood in a transfsion becase she has both anti," and anti,6 antibodies
in the plasma, which wold immediately clmp any blood that contained anti!ens " or 6. 6t
since type C blood has no anti!ens, it cold be !iven to a person of any type blood in a transfsion
withot clmpin!. Type C blood is called the niversal donor.
6lood type is a codominant traitE we explained the inheritance patterns of blood type in the
codominance section of the chapter on !enetics.
THE L!MPHATIC S!STEM
6ecase the capillaries are so small, the pressre inside them is often hi!h eno!h to force some
of the plasma ot of the blood and the capillary and into the srrondin! tisse. ?f the flid
remained in the tisse, it wold case swellin!. The lymphatic system is responsible for retrnin!
this flid to the circlatory system. The flid, known as lymph, collects in small lymph
capillaries, which contain valves similar to veins. These lymph capillaries conver!e into lar!er
lymph vessels, and they eventally drain into the sbclavian vein.
The lymph is a poplar rote for invadin! microor!anisms that are tryin! to enter the bloodstream,
so it mst be well defended. Lymph no$es contain white blood cells that can destroy bacteria or
virses that are present in the lymph. "dditional or!ans sch as the spleen and tonsils are
considered part of the lymphatic system becase they aid in filterin! the blood to remove forei!n
invaders.
The +mmune System
The immne system is responsible for keepin! forei!n invaders ot of the body and destroyin!
those entities that do mana!e to invade the tisses. ?mmne system defenses can be either passive
or active. Dassive defenses are physical barriers that prevent microor!anisms from enterin! the
body. 9kin is the most obvios example. The sticky mcs linin! the respiratory tract and stomach
acid, which kills many microor!anisms that mi!ht otherwise enter thro!h the di!estive system,
are other examples of passive defenses.
The active defenses of the immne system are primarily made p of white blood cells. There are
two classes of white blood cells< phagocytes and lymphocytes. Dha!ocytes resemble amoebas
and can crawl thro!h the body4s tisses in!estin! any forei!n invaders they come pon.
Lymphocytes are more specific in the invaders they tar!et. There are three !eneral types of
lymphocytes. 6 cells identify patho!ens by prodcin! antibo$ies that reco!ni.e the protein coats
of specific virses or bacteria. Helper T cells coordinate the immne response by activatin! other
immne system cells. Niller T cells kill infected cells.
The 'espiratory System
"ll aerobic or!anisms need a way to exchan!e !ases with their srrondin! environment. Cxy!en
mst be bro!ht to the cells in order for aerobic respiration to take place, and the carbon dioxide
created as a by,prodct of respiration mst be removed. The ac=isition of oxy!en and
simltaneos elimination of carbon dioxide is called !as exchan!e. "s animals have evolved, they
have developed increasin!ly efficient methods of !as exchan!e.
?n the simplest mlticelllar animals, the cnidarians, !as exchan!e occrs by simple diffsion.
9ince almost all of a @ellyfish or hydra4s cells are in contact with its water environment, each cell
has direct access to otside water as both a sorce of oxy!en and dmpin! !rond for carbon
dioxide. "nnelids also exchan!e !ases by diffsion. ?n an earthworm, for example, the circlatory
system comes very close to the srface skin, allowin! oxy!en and carbon dioxide to diffse across
the worm4s skin. To make !as diffsion possible, the worm4s skin mst remain moist at all times.
?nsects and other arthropods have a system of tracheae for !as exchan!e. Tracheae are hollow,
branched tbes that penetrate the arthropod4s deep tisses. "ir flows into the tracheae and oxy!en
and carbon dioxide diffse into and ot of the body tisses thro!h the trachea walls. The insect
does not actively draw air into the tracheaeE respiration is a passive process in arthropods.
)ertebrate 'espiratory Systems
:ertebrates sch as fish, birds, and mammals have evolved speciali.ed strctres for !as
exchan!e. Fish !ills are made of a delicate tisse with many fine filaments that maximi.e srface
area. The fish pmps water across the !ills, and oxy!en and carbon dioxide are exchan!ed across
the filament walls. Fish !ills are made especially efficient becase blood flows thro!h the !ills
a!ainst the crrent of the water. ?n this way, the water is always more oxy!en rich than the blood
in the !ills, and the concentration !radient always moves from the water to the blood.
Terrestrial vertebrates have evolved internal strctres for !as exchan!e known as ln!s. Ln!s
are basically inverted !ills. Ln!s are internal becase a !as exchan!e srface wold =ickly dry
p if exposed to air, a problem that fish need not deal with. The amphibian ln! is often shaped
like one lar!e sac. ?n hi!her vertebrates, sch as mammals, the ln!s divide into millions of tiny
sacs known as alveoli2 which !reatly increases srface area and oxy!en absorptive power. "fter
air is scked into the ln!s, !as exchan!e takes place across the srfaces of the alveoli, which are
dense with capillaries. "fter the blood in the capillaries has !iven off its carbon dioxide and taken
in oxy!en, air is once a!ain released from the ln!s. 6irds have evolved an even more efficient
breathin! system that ses air sacs to maintain a constant, contercrrent, nidirectional flow of
air across the ln! srfaces. 6ird ln!s do not contain dead,end sacs like the alveoli of
mammalian ln!s, bt rather contain millions of tiny tbes known as parabronchi, thro!h which
air is constantly flowin! in one direction.
RESPIRATION IN HUMANS
The hman respiratory system has two parts< the pper portion channels air to the lower portion,
the ln!s, where the respiration takes place.
"ir enters the respiratory system either thro!h the nose or moth. The nose contains many tiny
hairs and sticky mcs that traps airborne particles and prevents them from enterin! the ln!s. "ir
is also moistened and warmed in the nasal and oral passa!es. From the nose and moth, air flows
down the pharyn%, thro!h the laryn%, and into the trachea. The larynx is a strctre made of
cartila!e that contains the vocal cords. 5hen air passes ot of the larynx, the vocal cords can be
tensed and made to vibrate, prodcin! sond, which, when shaped by the moth, prodces speech.
The trachea is a cartila!inos tbe that branches into two bronchi, which in trn branch into
smaller and smaller bronchioles within the ln!.
Eventally the air reaches the ln!s and the clsters of alveoli. The blood is low in oxy!en and the
inhaled air is rich with it, while the blood contains a hi!her concentration of carbon dioxide than
air does. These two !ases passively diffse across the thin srface of the alveoli, followin! the
concentration !radients. "fter !as exchan!e takes place, the oxy!en,poor air is expelled from the
ln!s. Most of the srfaces of the respiratory system, incldin! the srfaces of the bronchioles,
bronchi, trachea, and pharynx, are coated with epithelial cells that are capable of prodcin!
mcs. This mcs traps particles of dst, bacteria, and virses that may be enterin! the
respiratory systemE cilia on these cells help to sweep this mcs p away from the ln!s and
eventally ot of the body.
The ln!s sck in air by sin! ne!ative pressre. The $iaphragm is a lar!e, flat mscle at the base
of the thoracic $chest+ cavity. 5hen it contracts drin! inhalation, it moves downward, expandin!
the volme of the thorax and ln!s. "ir rshes into the ln!s to balance the drop in pressre
cased by this expansion. To exhale, the diaphra!m relaxes to its ori!inal position, increasin! air
pressre and forcin! the air back ot of the chest cavity. 6reathin! is only possible if the thoracic
cavity remains airti!ht. 5hen an accident cases any sort of pnctre in the chest cavity, one or
both of the ln!s can collapse.
BLOOD PH REULATION
?n addition to its obvios fnction of !as exchan!e, the respiratory system also helps maintain the
pH of the blood at a constant level of abot *.B. 6ecase carbon dioxide is transported thro!h the
blood plasma as carbonic acid, the rate of carbon dioxide exhalation can affect the pH level of the
blood. 6reathin! faster will increase blood pH by !ettin! rid of more carbon dioxide and carbonic
acid. 6reathin! slower will have the opposite effect. " small receptor in the carotid artery
measres blood pH and transmits this information to the medlla oblon!ata of the brain. The
medlla then ad@sts the breathin! rate in order to correct for any flctations in blood pH. 5hen
we feel ot of breath, it is not becase or body is sensin! that we need more oxy!enE it is actally
tellin! s that we need to !et rid of more carbon dioxide.
The "igestive System
Mnlike plants, animals cannot synthesi.e the ma@ority of their own or!anic bildin! blocks, sch
as fatty acids, s!ars, and most amino acids. ?nstead, animals mst in!est other or!anisms and
di!est them into the essential molecles that they need. "nimals !et their ener!y from s!ars, fats,
and proteins, and they se them to constrct more complex molecles sch as en.ymes. The
di!estive system has evolved to process the food that animals in!est by breakin! it down, or
di!estin! it, into simple bildin! blocks that can be sed by cells.
#i!estion consists of two main processes< mechanical di!estion and chemical di!estion.
Mechanical di!estion refers to the physical breakin! down of food into smaller particles withot
chan!in! the food4s chemical natre. Chewin! food is an example of mechanical di!estion, as is
the chrnin! of food that takes place in the stomach. Chemical di!estion, which occrs thro!h
the action of special di!estive en.ymes, breaks the chemical bonds in food and hydroly.es lar!er
molecles into simpler components.
Simple "igestive Systems
?n the simplest of animals and in animal,like protists, mch of the di!estion process takes place
within each individal cell. "n amoeba en!lfs its food by pha!ocytosis, and a lysosome fses
with the food vacole and chemically di!ests its contents. Daramecia have a ciliated oral !roove
that facilitates the creation of the food vacole. Cnidarians di!est some of their food
extracelllarly by releasin! en.ymes into their water,filled !astrovasclar cavity, bt a lar!e
portion of their food is di!ested intracelllarly as well. Flatworms, sch as planarians, take food in
thro!h their moth and into the !astrovasclar cavity. The food is di!ested intracelllarly by the
cells that line the cavity and is absorbed into the tisses. 5aste prodcts are expelled back ot of
the moth, which also serves as an ans in this case.
Most hi!her animals, sch as annelids, arthropods, and vertebrates, possess a complete di!estive
tract, with a moth that is separate from the ans. Food is moved in one direction thro!h a
tblar system that contains many speciali.ed parts that perform different fnctions. ?n the
earthworm, for example, food passes thro!h the moth, down a tbe called the esopha!s, and
into a chamber known as the crop, which acts as a stora!e chamber. ;ext it enters the !i..ard,
which has thick, msclar walls that mechanically !rind the food. The plveri.ed food passes into
the intestine, where en.ymes chemically break it down into simpler molecles. These molecles
are absorbed into the circlatory system. ?n the last portion of the intestine, some water is
absorbed from the food, and the indi!estible portions of the food are expelled thro!h the ans.
The .uman "igestive System
The hman di!estive system is somewhat similar to the earthworm4s in basic desi!n, tho!h it is
more complicated and efficient. The hman di!estive system is composed of the alimentary
canal, which is the actal tbe thro!h which the food travels, and the !lands that aid in di!estion
by releasin! en.ymes and other secretions into the alimentary canal.
THE MOUTH
The alimentary canal be!ins with the moth, where teeth and the ton!e plveri.e food thro!h
mechanical di!estion into what is called a bols. The ton!e also tastes the food, which helps to
determine if it is fit to be in!ested. 9ix salivary glan$s release saliva into the moth cavity
thro!h dcts that open nder the ton!e and on the roof of the moth. 9aliva is composed mainly
of water, bt it incldes mcs and an en.yme called salivary amylase. The water and mcs in
the saliva help to dissolve and lbricate the food in preparation for swallowin!. 9alivary amylase
starts the process of chemical di!estion of starches by breakin! down complex polysaccharides
into the disaccharide maltose. 5hen the food is sfficiently chewed, it is swallowed. The food
moves thro!h the pharynx, or throat, to the esopha!s.
THE ESOPHAUS
The esopha!s is a lon! tbe that connects the moth and the stomach. Food in the esopha!s is
propelled downward by waves of msclar contraction known as peristalsis. 6etween the
stomach and the esopha!s is a ti!ht rin! of mscle known as the cardiac sphincter. This
sphincter, which is normally closed, acts as a valve to prevent stomach contents from movin!
pward into the esopha!s. #rin! peristalsis the sphincter opens to allow the food to pass into
the stomach.
THE STOMACH
The stomach has thick, msclar walls that contract to chrn and mix the food, continin! the
process of mechanical di!estion. ?n addition, the walls of the stomach secrete hydrochloric acid
and the en.yme pepsin. The hydrochloric acid !ives the stomach a pH of less than (, and this
extremely acidic environment serves to kill many microor!anisms that mi!ht be in!ested alon!
with the food. Depsin is prodced by the stomach in an inactive form known as pepsino!en.
Depsino!en is only activated into pepsin in a very low pH environment, so when it comes into
contact with the hydrochloric acid, it becomes pepsin. Depsin be!ins the di!estion of protein by
cleavin! lon! chains of amino acids into shorter chains. ?n addition to its roles in mechanical and
chemical di!estion, the stomach temporarily stores food.
The walls of the stomach are protected from the hydrochloric acid by a thick layer of mcs. ?f
this mcosal linin! wears away, an lcer can develop.
THE SMALL INTESTINE
The small intestine is the ma@or site of food breakdown, chemical di!estion, and celllar
absorption of food. Chemical di!estion is carried ot by secretions from the liver and pancreas.
5hen the stomach empties, the partially di!ested food, now called chyme, passes thro!h the
pyloric sphincter into the $uo$enum, the pper portion of the small intestine. "t this point the
chyme enconters bile. 6ile is a complex soltion of salts, pi!ments, and cholesterol that is
prodced in the liver and stored and concentrated in a small sac called the gallbla$$er before
enterin! the dodenm. 6ile does not actally chan!e the chemical natre of the chymeE instead it
emlsifiesFbreaks downFfats. 6ecase fats and oils are not solble in water, the fat content in
chyme tends to separate and collect into lar!e !lobles. 6ile breaks these lar!e fat !lobles into
tiny droplets. The srface area of many droplets of fat is mch !reater than the srface area of a
few lar!e !lobles, and so by increasin! the srface area of these fat droplets, bile exposes more
fat to the en.ymes that will eventally di!est it.
The pancreas is a lar!e !land that sits behind the stomach. "s mentioned in the section on the
endocrine system, the pancreas plays an important role in re!latin! blood s!ar levels by
prodcin! the hormones inslin and !lca!on. 6t it plays @st as vital a role in the di!estive
system. The pancreas prodces a basic secretion that helps to netrali.e the stomach acid. ?t also
prodces many di!estive en.ymes. Lipase di!ests fats into !lycerol and fatty acids, while trypsin
and chymotrypsin contine the breakdown of amino acid chains into shorter ones. 6oth trypsin
and chymotrypsin are prodced in inactive forms in the pancreas and are not activated ntil they
reach the small intestineE if this were not the case, the pancreas wold di!est itselfP The pancreas
also secretes pancreatic amylase, which, like salivary amylase, breaks down polysaccharides into
disaccharides, bt on a mch lar!er scale.
The walls of the small intestine secrete the remainin! few en.ymes necessary for di!estion.
Maltase, lactase, and scrase break down the disaccharides maltose, lactose, and scrose into
monosaccharides. "minopeptidases cleave off individal amino acids from the short chains that
are left after the action of trypsin and chymotrypsin from the pancreas. "t this point, di!estion is
completed. "s the di!ested food travels thro!h the lon!, convolted small intestine, it is absorbed
thro!h its walls into the bloodstream. The walls of the small intestine contain millions of tiny,
fin!erlike pro@ections known as villi that increase the srface area of the intestinal wall,
maximi.in! absorption of ntrients. The villi contain capillaries into which the di!ested amino
acids and monosaccharides pass. Fats are processed in the cells of the intestinal linin! and enter
the lymphatic system before reachin! the bloodstream. The blood leavin! the intestines flows
directly to the liver, where it enters the capillaries of the hepatic portal system for processin!.
THE LARE INTESTINE AND RECTUM
The ndi!ested food that is not absorbed in the small intestine is waste. ?t eventally passes into
the lar!e intestine, or colon, where its water content is reabsorbed into the body. " mtally
symbiotic bacteria named E. coli lives in the lar!e intestine, feedin! on waste and prodcin!
vitamin N, which is absorbed by the intestine into the body. The final se!ment of the lar!e
intestine is the rectm, a sac that stores feces temporarily before they are eliminated thro!h the
ans, another sphincter mscle.
Minerals an$ )itamins
?n addition to the ntrients that form the bildin! blocks of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, the
body also absorbs important minerals and vitamins drin! di!estion. Minerals are inor!anic
molecles that are re=ired by the body. ?mportant minerals are iron, a necessary component of
hemo!lobinE iodine, which is essential for makin! thyroid hormoneE and calcim, which is
re=ired by the bones and for many celllar processes. 9odim, chlorine, and potassim are
important components of body flids, and phosphors is an important in!redient of ncleic acids.
:itamins are more complex molecles that sally serve as coen.ymes, assistin! in physiolo!ical
processes. :itamin " is necessary to make retinal, an important chemical for vision. :itamin 6
complex contains many molecles essential for celllar respiration and #;" replication. :itamin
C is important for makin! colla!en, a to!h material that is fond in the body4s connective tisse.
:itamin " allows the body to absorb calcim, essential for the teeth and bones. :itamin E helps
prevent the rptre of red blood cells, and it also helps maintain healthy liver and nerve fnction.
:itamin N is important in the blood,clottin! process. :itamins ", #, E, and N are the fat,solble
vitamins, while the vitamins of the 6 complex and vitamin C are water,solble vitamins.
The E%cretory System
5hile carryin! ot the physiolo!ical processes that are necessary for life, animal cells prodce
waste that mst be eliminated. Carbon dioxide and water, two of the main waste prodcts, are
removed from the body by the respiratory system. The third type of waste prodced by metabolic
processes is the nitro!enos wastes rea and ric acid, which are created when amino and ncleic
acids are broken down. "nimals have developed a variety of systems to excrete nitro!enos waste.
?n many animals these excretory systems also play important roles in re!latin! water and salt
balance.
E,cretion in In+erte'r(tes
"s in respiration, cnidarians rely on simple diffsion to solve the problem of nitro!enos waste.
9ince most cells of a cnidarian are in contact with the external environment, nitro!enos wastes
can diffse across the cell membranes and into the srrondin! water. "nnelids have a more
complex system for excretion. Two small tbes called nephri$ia exist in each of the annelid4s
body se!ments. These tbes are srronded by capillaries. ;itro!enos waste in the form of rea
is passed from the blood into the nephridia. The waste collected in the nephridia eventally exits
the worm thro!h pores in the skin. "rthropods have their own speciali.ed means of excretin!
waste< a system of strctres known as the Malpighian tubules that are bathed in the flid of the
arthropod4s open circlatory system. ;itro!enos waste in the form of ric acid collects in the
tbles. From there the waste empties into the di!estive tract, which reabsorbs all of the water that
was lost in the excretory process. 5ithot water, rea converts to solid crystals of ric acid, which
are excreted alon! with the solid waste prodced by di!estion.
E,cretion in H$&(ns
:ertebrates have evolved a different answer to the problem of water balance and nitro!enos
waste excretion< the ki$neys. The two kidneys filter blood, removin! rea in the form of rine,
while also re!latin! the levels of water and salt present in the blood plasma. From each kidney,
rine travels thro!h a lar!e dct called the ureter and empties into the urinary bla$$er. The
bladder is a msclar or!an that expands to store rine. 5hen the bladder contracts, rine is
pshed thro!h another dct called the urethra and ot of the body.
THE NEPHRON
The basic fnctional nit of the kidney is the nephron, a tiny tble whose special strctre
makes it ideal for its blood,filterin! task. Each nephron consists of a clster of capillaries called
the !lomerls, which is srronded by a hollow blb known as 6owman4s capsle. The
6owman4s capsle leads into a lon!, convolted tble that has for sections< the proximal tble,
the loop of Henle, the distal tble, and the collectin! dct. The collectin! dcts empty into the
central cavity of the kidney, the renal pelvis, which connects to the reter, which carries rine to
the bladder. " kidney is made p of millions of nephrons.
HO# A NEPHRON )ILTERS BLOOD
6lood enters the kidney thro!h renal arteries, which =ickly split into smaller vessels and then
branch frther into the very narrow clsters of capillaries that make p the !lomerls of the
nephron. 6ecase the !lomerls4s capillaries are so narrow, blood pressre is hi!h. The hi!h
pressre s=ee.es the li=id portion of blood thro!h a sieve strctre and into the 6owman4s
capsle, leavin! the blood cells, platelets, and lar!e protein molecles behind. This process is
called filtration, and the li=id blood that is pshed thro!h the sieve strctre is called filtrate.
The filtrate contains lar!e amonts of water, !lcose, salts, and amino acids in addition to the rea
that is to be excreted.
From 6owman4s capsle the filtrate enters the proximal tble of the nephron. ?n the proximal
tble, important molecles for life, sch as sodim, water, amino acids, and !lcose, are pmped
ot of the proximal tble to be reabsorbed by the blood, as they are too valable to be excreted.
The retrn of these molecles to the blood is called reabsorption. "fter reabsorption, the filtrate is
called rine.
6y the time rine enters the next portion of the nephron, the loop of Henle, it has already lost
approximately *2 percent of its initial water content and volme. The loop of Henle descends from
the oter re!ion of the kidney, the cortex, into the medlla. The walls of the descendin! loop are
permeable to water bt not to salt. ?n addition, the medlla of the kidney contains a hi!h salt
concentration, creatin! a concentration !radient< water is drawn ot of the descendin! loop and
into the medlla, leavin! the salts behind. 6y the time the rine reaches the ascendin! part of the
loop of Henle, only & percent of the ori!inal water content remains. The ascendin! loop of Henle
is impermeable to water, bt it is permeable to salt. 6ecase the rine lost so mch water content
in the descendin! loop, the salt content at this point is very hi!h. 9alt now diffses from the
ascendin! loop into the medlla of the kidney $helpin! to maintain the hi!h salt content of
medlla+. 5hen it is finished travelin! thro!h the ascendin! loop of Henle, only abot B percent
of the ori!inal salt content of the filtrate remains. 5ith mch of the water !one as well, the rine
consists mainly of rea and other waste prodcts at this point.
The rine then enters the distal tble, which operates very similarly to the proximal tbleFsalt
is pmped ot of the rine, and water follows osmotically. 6y the end of the distal tble, only '
percent of the ori!inal water content remains in the rine, and the salt content is ne!li!ible. ?n the
distal tbles, a third process, in addition to filtration and reabsorption, takes place< secretion.
5hile the salts and water are leavin! the tbles, some sbstances, sch as hydro!en and
potassim ions, are actively transported from the blood into the rine of the tble so that they can
be excreted from the body.
From the distal tble, the rine enters the collectin! dct. Like the loop of Henle, the collectin!
dct extends deep into the medlla portion of the kidney. 6ecase the medlla has a hi!h salt
content, as mch as three,forths of the remainin! water canbe reabsorbed as the rine travels
thro!h the collectin! dct. The actal amont of water that is reabsorbed is dependent on the
permeability of the walls of the dct, which is re!lated by the antidiretic hormone $"#H+
secreted by the posterior pititary !land. "#H acts on the walls of the collectin! dcts to make
them more permeable to water, bt if "#H levels are low, less water will be reabsorbed. ?f a
person is dehydrated and needs to conserve water, his or her levels of "#H will rise. ?n contrast, a
person with sfficient levels of water in the blood will have low "#H levels, resltin! in less
reabsorbed water and more dilte rine. ?n addition to bein! permeable to water, the lower
portions of the collectin! dct are permeable to rea, allowin! some of it to enter the medlla of
the kidney. This release of rea allows the medlla to maintain its hi!h ion concentration, an
important factor in the fnctionin! of the nephron.
"nother hormone that has an effect on the nephron in addition to "#H is aldosterone, which is
prodced in the adrenal cortex. "ldosterone increases the sodim and water reabsorption in the
distal tble.
THE -IDNE!S AND BLOOD PRESSURE
?n addition to controllin! the amont of water that is reabsorbed from the filtrate, which has an
effect on blood volme and blood pressre, the kidneys release an en.yme, renin, into the blood.
1enin sets off a series of reactions in the blood that reslts in the prodction of another en.yme,
an!iotensin ??. "n!iotensin ?? constricts blood vessels, casin! a rise in blood pressre. ?t also
cases the adrenal cortex to release more aldosterone, which raises blood volme and blood
pressre.
Support an$ Locomotion
Cne of the bi!!est differences between animals and plants is also one of the simplest< animals
move, plants don4t. 5hile the simplest animals are propelled by cilia on their cell srfaces, most
animals are too lar!e for sch tiny strctres to have a si!nificant effect on their locomotion.
Many cnidarians have primitive contractile fibers that allow them to propel themselves thro!h
water. " nmber of invertebrates, sch as earthworms, possess what is known as a hy$rostatic
skeleton, in which mscles are arran!ed lon!itdinally down the len!th of the body and in circlar
rin!s arond the body. 5hen either of these types of mscle contract, an incompressible flid
maintains the body at a constant volme bt allows the worm to chan!e shape. Contraction of the
circlar mscles len!thens the body, while lon!itdinal mscle contraction shortens the body.
Earthworms are se!mented and can control the mscles within each se!ment independently. 6y
contractin! the mscles in waves alon! its body, the earthworm can propel itself thro!h the soil.
Tiny hairs called setae on the worm4s srface provide traction a!ainst the soil.
"rthropod mscles connect to a ri!id e%oskeleton that encloses the body and is made of chitin.
5hen arthropod mscles contract, they pll on inward extensions of the exoskeleton, casin! it to
move. 1an!e of motion is provided by @oints connectin! different sections of the exoskeleton.
5hile the exoskeleton works well for animals as small as insects, it wold be too heavy and
impractical for lar!er animals.
The )ertebrate Skeletal System
?n direct contrast to arthropods, which live inside an exoskeleton, vertebrates have evolved a hard
internal skeleton, or en$oskeleton. The skeleton is made of two tisses< bone and cartilage.
6ones are ri!id strctres composed of livin! cells rooted in a matrix of calcim, phosphate salts,
and colla!en fibers. 6lood vessels and nerves pass thro!h a central canal in the boneE blood
makes its way to embedded cells thro!h tiny pores. 6ones form the ma@ority of the endoskeleton
in hi!her vertebrates, incldin! hmans, and provide strctral spport to all the other tisses in
the body. ?n addition, bones<
Drotect the soft, delicate or!ans and strctres within the body. The skll and rib ca!e are
examples of hard bone protectin! the vital or!ans in the head and chest.
9tore minerals sch as calcim. 5hen the calcim spply in the blood is hi!h, it is stored
in bones. 5hen the spply is low, bones !ive off calcim.
Have marrow, fond in cavities at the centers of bones, that prodces blood cells.
6ones meet each other at @oints that are held to!ether by ligaments and are often bathed in a
lbricatin! and cshionin! flid called synovial flid. Koints allow bones to meet and bind
to!ether withot actally !rindin! to!ether. ?n this way, @oints allow for smooth skeletal
movement.
Cartila!e is firm bt somewhat flexible. ?t will bend nder strain and sprin! back to its ori!inal
shape when the force is removed. The skeletons of sharks and rays are composed entirely of
cartila!e, as are the skeletons of developin! embryos. ?n hi!her vertebrates, cartila!e is retained in
portions of the skeleton that need to remain flexible, sch as in the rib ca!e, which needs to
expand drin! inhalation, the tip of the nose and ears, at the end of bones, and in @oints. Cartila!e
contains no blood vessels or nerves, and it takes a very lon! time to heal when dama!ed.
The Muscular System
Koints allow a skeleton to move. Mscles actally make it move. 6ones interface with mscles by
way of ten$ons. Movement is achieved when mscles contract, pllin! on the bones to which
they are attached, bendin! the @oints. "n extensor mscle strai!htens the bones in a @oint. "n
example is the triceps mscle in yor pper arm, which strai!htens ot the elbow @oint. " flexor
mscle bends a @oint. The bicep mscle, which bends yor elbow, is a flexor. $;ote that both
extensors and flexors perform their fnctions by contractin!E when an extensor contracts, it
strai!htens a @oint, and when a flexor contracts, it bends a @oint.+ Mscles also help the skeleton
spport and protect the body. :ertebrates have three classes of mscles<
Skeletal muscles, also called striated mscles, are associated with the skeletal system and
are primarily involved in volntary movement. " vertebrate !enerally has conscios control over
its skeletal mscles. Each skeletal mscle cell contains many nclei.
Smooth muscle is fond in the walls of the internal or!ans sch as the stomach,
intestines, and rinary bladder and is an involntary mscle and not nder volntary control.
Car$iac muscle makes p the heart. Cardiac mscles are involntary and can contract
withot stimlation from the nervos system.
Mscles can be tho!ht of as the enactors of the nervos system. Thro!h volntary implse or
involntary instinct, nerves send messa!es to mscles. Mscles trn these messa!es into
movement and action by contractin! or relaxin!.
M5SCLE C#T'ACT+#
The interaction between two proteins, actin and myosin, is responsible for msclar contraction.
?n skeletal mscles, actin and myosin are arran!ed into nits known as sarcomeres.
Lon! filaments of actin extend from each end of the sarcomere toward the middle, almost
meetin!, bt not actally tochin!. ?n between these actin filaments are short, fat filaments of
myosin that are arran!ed lon!itdinally. The myosin does not connect to the ends of the
sarcomere. The ends of the sarcomere to which the actin filaments are attached are called the S
lines. 5hen the mscle is stimlated to contract by a neron, an inflx of calcim ions $Ca
II
+
cases the myosin to pll on the actin filaments by means of tiny connections known as cross
brid!es. ;either the myosin nor the actin filaments chan!e in len!th, bt when the myosin plls
the actin to!ether, the actin plls the S lines to!ether and the whole sarcomere contracts.
9arcomeres are arran!ed end to end into lon! fibers known as myofibrils, which bndle to form
the primary mscle fibers that make p the mscle. Contractin! sarcomeres case mscle fibers to
contract, which, in trn, case the whole mscle to contract.
The Skin
?t4s easy to think of the skin as @st a thin coverin! for the important internal or!ans. 6t skin itself
is an or!an, with a mltitde of fnctions<
Drotects a!ainst infection, abrasion, and water loss
Contains nerve endin!s vital for sensation, sch as toch, pain, heat, and cold
Excretes water to maintain water and salt balance in the body
Drodces vitamin " on exposre to the M: rays in snli!ht
1e!lates body temperatre $thermore!lation+
9kin has three layers< the epi$ermis, the $ermis, and the hypo$ermis. The epidermis is the
topmost layer, which toches the otside environment. "ctive cell division occrs in the lower
re!ion of the epidermis. "s new cells are created, old cells are pshed toward the srface, where
they form a hardened, dead layer that is constantly shed. The dermis is livin! tisse that contains
many blood vessels, sweat !lands, and sebaceos !lands, which prodce oils that keep the skin
from dryin! ot. The dermis also contains nerve endin!s that are responsive to toch, pressre,
heat, cold, and pain. Hair follicles ori!inate in the inner portions of the dermis as well. The
hypodermis, or sbctaneos layer of the skin, is mainly composed of loose connective tisse and
fat cells.
Skin an$ Thermoregulation
The skin helps warm,blooded animals maintain constant body temperatre in varyin!
environments. 5hen the body becomes too warm, blood vessels in the skin dilate, allowin! heat to
escape thro!h the srface of the skin. 9pecial !lands called sweat !lands prodce a salty
secretion called perspiration that evaporates off the srface of the skin, takin! heat with it. 5hen
the body becomes too cold, the opposite processes occr. 9weat !lands are sht down, and blood
vessels in the skin constrict, keepin! the blood away from the srface of the body, where heat
cold be lost. ?n addition, the mscles be!in to contract rapidly and shiver, which !enerates
si!nificant heat.
The 'epro$uctive System
"s dictated by evoltion, an or!anism4s prpose is to reprodce and ensre the srvival of the
species. "ll of the other or!an systems exist @st to keep the animal alive lon! eno!h to mate and
pass its !enetic makep down to its pro!eny.
"nimals can reprodce either asexally or sexally. "sexal reprodction sally occrs amon!
less hi!hly evolved animals. ,u$$ing, which can occr in certain cnidarians like the hydra, is a
process by which the offsprin! literally !row off the side of the parent, prodcin! a miniatre,
!enetically identical copy. 'egeneration occrs when animals sch as earthworms, planarians, or
starfish are broken apart and each piece then !rows into a separate
or!anism. Parthenogenesis occrs when an animal4s e!! cell be!ins to divide mitotically withot
bein! fertili.ed by a sperm. The embryo that develops from this nfertili.ed e!! will be
!enetically identical to the parent. Doplations of animals that reprodce partheno!enically are
sally entirely female. "nimals ran!in! from rotifers to some amphibians reprodce thro!h
partheno!enesis.
9exal reprodction is when two haploid !ametes, one from each parent, fse to form a .y!ote,
which develops into an offsprin! !enetically different from the parents. This fertili.ation can take
place externally, as is the case for many a=atic or!anisms that release their nfertili.ed !ametes
into the water, or internally. "s animals have evolved, they have developed special strctres for
the prodction of !ametes, for the fertili.ation process, and, in the case of viviparos animals that
!ive birth to live yon!, for the spport and norishment of the developin! yon!. Collectively,
these strctres are known as the reprodctive system. ?n most species, incldin! hmans, the
anatomy of the male and the female reprodctive system is si!nificantly different.
The Male 'epro$uctive System
The male reprodctive system has two ma@or fnctions<
?t prodces sperm cells, the male !ametes, thro!h the process of spermato!enesis.
$9permato!enesis is covered in the chapter on !enetics.+
?t prodces semen, a flid that acts as a vehicle and norishment for sperm as they make
their way thro!h the female reprodctive system on their way to fertili.e the e!!.
The testes are the male !onads< they prodce the sperm, which is the male !amete. More
specifically, sperm cells are prodced in the seminiferos tbles of the testes. $?n addition to
prodcin! sperm, the testes also prodce the hormone testosterone.+ 9ince sperm can only develop
at a temperatre sli!htly lower than the normal mammalian body temperatre, evoltion has
provided the needed lower temperatre by placin! the testes otside the body in a sac called the
scrotm.
The seminiferos tbles empty into a lon! tbe called the vas deferens, which @oins the rethra
@st below the bladder and thereby provides a means of exit from the body thro!h the penis. The
penis is a spon!y or!an that can become erect drin! periods of sexal excitement. #rin!
erection, arteries in the penis dilate, en!or!in! the erectile tisse with blood. This simltaneosly
compresses the veins that drain blood from the penis, trappin! blood in the spon!y tisse, casin!
it to become ri!id.
The &emale 'epro$uctive System
5hile the male reprodctive system is desi!ned to prodce and deposit sperm in the female, the
female reprodctive system has the more formidable task of receivin! the male !ametes,
prodcin! the female !ametes, and, in the event of fertili.ation, maintainin! and spportin! a
pre!nancy.
The female reprodctive system consists of the external !enitalia, known as the vlva and va!ina,
the uterus, which spports the developin! fets, the &allopian tubes, which connect the ters
with the two ovaries, and the ovaries, which prodce the ova, or e!! cells, in addition to the
female sex hormones. "lso inclded are the mammary !lands, which prodce milk to norish the
yon!.
THE MENSTRUAL C!CLE
The fnctionin! of the reprodctive system in hman females is dependent on cyclical flctation
of hormone levels that repeats re!larly every (7 days. This cycle, known as the menstrual
cycle2 primarily affects the ovaries and the ters. The effects of the menstral cycle on the
ovaries are called the ovarian cycle2 while the effects on the ters are called the uterine
cycle: The entire menstral cycle is re!lated by a hormonal feedback loop involvin! the
hypothalams, anterior pititary !land, and the ovaries.
The ovarian cycle is sally divided into two sta!es< the follicular stage and the luteal stage.
#rin! the folliclar sta!e, which lasts abot %B days, follicle,stimlatin! hormone $F9H+ from
the anterior pititary !land stimlates a follicle in the ovary to matre. " follicle is an ovm and
the cells that encapslate it. "s the ovm matres, the srrondin! cells of the follicle be!in to
prodce estro!en. "fter abot %B days of increasin! estro!en levels, the estro!en in the blood
reaches a concentration that sets in motion a series of events resltin! in the release of lteini.in!
hormone $LH+ from the anterior pititary !land. Lteini.in! hormone cases the matre follicle to
release the now matre ovm into the Fallopian tbe. This is called ovulation.
The second %B days of the ovarian cycle are called the lteal phase. "fter ovlation, the remnants
of the follicle form into a strctre called the corpus luteum. Kst as F9H from the anterior
pititary stimlated the follicle to matre, LH affects the corps ltem and cases it to release
pro!esterone and some estro!en. "fter abot %B days, if the ovm is not fertili.ed, the corps
ltem de!enerates, pro!esterone and estro!en levels fall, and the cycle starts a!ain with the
folliclar phase.
The estro!en secreted by the follicle and the pro!esterone and estro!en secreted by the corps
ltem affect the linin! of the ters. The cycle of hormones in the ovarian cycle psh the ters
thro!h a (7,day cycle as well. The terine cycle contains three phases< menstruation,
the proliferative phase, and the secretory phase:
?n the first few days of the folliclar phase, after the corps ltem has disinte!rated and the
follicle is in the earliest sta!es of matration, estro!en and pro!esterone levels are relatively low.
The low levels of these hormones cases the cells of the terine linin! to slo!h off, releasin! a
bloody dischar!e commonly referred to as menstration, or a woman4s period. The onset of
menstration marks the first day of the (7,day menstral cycle and sally lasts abot for to five
days. The nine,day,lon! proliferative phase be!ins as the follicle contines to matre, estro!en
levels rise, and a new terine linin! be!ins to bild p alon! the terine walls. 5ere fertili.ation
to occr, the linin! wold spport the development of an embryo. This lasts abot nine days. "fter
ovlation, the secretory phase be!ins as the corps ltem develops and prodces pro!esterone.
Dro!esterone cases new blood vessels to !row within the terine linin!. ?f fertili.ation does not
occr, the corps ltem de!enerates, hormone levels fall, and the terine linin! once a!ain
slo!hs off drin! menstration.
)ERTILI1ATION AND DE"ELOPMENT O) THE EMBR!O
"s the e!! is swept alon! the Fallopian tbes on its way to the ters, it may enconter sperm
deposited by the male. Fertili.ation occrs if one of these sperm cells is sccessfl in penetratin!
the e!!. The sperm ncles fses with the ncles of the e!! cell and a diploid zygote is formed.
5ithin (B hors, the .y!ote be!ins to divide by mitosis. First it divides into two cells, then for,
then ei!ht, ntil a solid ball of cells known as the morula forms. The morla eventally
enconters and implants itself in the linin! of the ters.
"t this point, the menstral cycle halts. From its place in the terine linin!, the dividin! embryo
releases a hormone known as hman chorionic !onadotropin $HC-+. This hormone prevents the
corps ltem from disinte!ratin!, prolon!in! the prodction of pro!esterone and estro!en.
1ather than slo!h off, the terine linin! frther thickens. The corps ltem contines to prodce
estro!en and pro!esterone ntil the placenta takes over this fnction abot three months into the
pre!nancy.
"fter it implants in the terine linin!, the solid ball of cells that is the morla be!ins to hollow ot
into a spherical ball of cells known as the blastula. The blastla has a rond cell wall called the
trophoblast, which encloses a hollow space known as the blastocoel and a small clster of cells
known as the inner cell mass.
6efore the formation of the blastla, all cells were identical, or ndifferentiated. The cells of the
inner cell mass and the trophoblast are the first si!n of cell differentiation. 9oon, the cells of the
inner cell mass be!in to divide more rapidly than the rest of the cells in the blastocyst. "s
development contines, the cells of the inner cell mass will !o on to form the embryo, and the
cells of the trophoblast will form the membranes that srrond the developin! hman.
"s the cells of the inner cell mass rapidly divide, a small pocket be!ins to form on one end of the
blastocyst. This new strctre is called the gastrula. "t first the !astrla consists of two cell
layers< an oter layer known as the ectoderm and an inner layer known as the endoderm. 9oon, a
third layer, called the mesoderm, be!ins to form between the ectoderm and endoderm. These three
cell layers, or !erm layers, !o on to form the varios or!ans and strctre of the hman as they
differentiate. Cver the corse of abot ei!ht weeks, the !erm layer cells bild all of the or!ans,
and the embryo is now classified as a fetus. ?n hmans, the fets contines to !row and matre in
the womb for an additional seven months, ntil birth.
REPRODUCTI"E SUPPORT STRUCTURES
;meros strctres within the womb spport the embryo as it develops. The lar!est and most
important is the placenta. The blood vessels of the placenta come in close proximity with the
blood vessels of the mother so that ntrients and oxy!en can diffse from the mother4s
bloodstream into the bloodstream of the developin! embryo or fets. There is no direct blood
contact thro!h the placentaE the mother and fets have completely separate blood circlation. The
placenta is connected to the circlatory system of the embryo or fets thro!h the mbilical cord.
For membranes srrond, norish, and protect the embryo. The first membrane is the yolk sac,
which provides stored ntrients to the developin! embryo. The yolk sac is very small in placental
mammals, which !et their ntrients thro!h the placenta, bt in animals that develop in e!!s, sch
as birds and reptiles, the yolk will be the sole sorce of ntrients thro!hot the entire corse of
development. The second membrane is the amnion, which is filled with a clear flid known as the
amniotic flid. This flid provides a cshion for the embryo so that bmps and @olts within the
womb or in the external e!! do not case dama!e. The third membrane is the allantois. ?n
placental mammals, the allantois develops into the mbilical cord, bt in vertebrates that develop
externally, the allantois is the site of waste disposal for the developin! embryo. The forth
membrane is the chorion, which in hmans forms the placenta. ?n vertebrates that develop in e!!s,
the chorion lines the inside of the shell and allows for !as exchan!e with the environment.
Animal ,ehavior
"nimals4 abilities to move create the possibility for copios interactions between or!anisms,
!ivin! rise to =ite complex patterns of behavior. "nimal behavior can come in the form of
instincts and learned behavior. ?nstincts are inheritable, !enetically coded behavior patterns that an
animal possesses at birth. Learned behaviors are established and maintained as an animal responds
to new sitations. Learned behaviors are not passed down from parent to offsprin! !enetically, bt
they can be ta!ht.
+nstinctual ,ehavior
?nstinctal behavior can take the form of simple refle%es or fi%e$-action patterns. 9imple
reflexes are atomatic responses to specific stimli. 1eflex behaviors do not ori!inate from the
brain in vertebrates. ?nstead, they are processed in the spinal cord. For example, if yo toch a hot
iron, the pain and heat receptors in yor fin!ers send si!nals down a sensory neron to yor spinal
cord, where a motor neron is immediately stimlated to case yo to pll back yor arm. The
si!nal is actally sent to the brain after it has been acted on by the spinal cordFyo do not
perceive pain ntil the brain processes the information.
Fixed,action patterns are complex behaviors that, like reflexes, are tri!!ered by a specific
stimls. The stimli that case fixed,action behavior are often more complex than the stimls
behind simple reflex behavior. Cnce tri!!ered, fixed,action patterns often proceed to completion,
even if the stimls is removed. For example, female !eese demonstrate a fixed,action pattern
called e!! rollin!. ?f a female !oose spots an e!! otside of her nest, the mother !oose will se her
beak to roll the e!! back into the nest. ?f the e!! is taken away in the middle of this process, she
will contine to move her neck and beak as if she were rollin! an e!!, even tho!h the e!! is no
lon!er there. Fixed,action patterns do not need to be learnedE they are present in an individal
from birth.
Many animals, most notably birds, exhibit a special type of learned behavior called imprinting.
?mprintin! occrs when an animal =ickly learns, drin! a short critical period, to reco!ni.e an
individal, ob@ect, or location. The most common example of imprintin! is the case of birds that
can walk soon after hatchin!. ;ewly hatched infant birds mst follow their mother to srvive.
9oon after they hatch, these birds !o thro!h a critical period drin! which they treat the first
movin! ob@ect they see as their mother. ?f the first or!anism a yon! bird sees is a pi!, it will
imprint the pi! as its mother. ?mprintin! is nearly impossible to reverse.
Learne$ ,ehavior
Mnlike instincts, which are present at birth, an individal or!anism learns some behavior over the
corse of its life. The simplest form of learnin! is known as habituation. Habitation occrs
when a non harmfl stimls that wold normally case an animal to respond is repeated over and
over a!ain ntil the animal learns to i!nore it. The classic example of habitation is seen in the
common !arden snail. 5hen its body is poked, a snail will withdraw into its shell. However, if it
is poked repeatedly withot any real harm done, the snail i!nores the stimls and ceases to retreat
into its shell.
Con$itioning, or associative learning, occrs when an animal learns to associate a specific
stimls with a set behavior. There are two types of conditionin!< classical conditionin! and
operant conditionin!. Classical conditionin! is merely the association of a new stimls with a
stimls that is reco!ni.ed by instinct. The most famos example of classical conditionin! is
Davlov4s do!. ?n an experiment, 1ssian scientist ?van Davlov wold rin! a bell a few moments
before feedin! a do!. Every time he fed the do!, he wold first rin! the bell. The si!ht and smell
of food cases a do! to salivate instinctally. 6t after rin!in! the bell before feedin! the do! a
nmber of times, Davlov discovered that the do! wold salivate whether or not food was present.
The do!s associated the sond of the bell with the stimls of food.
Cperant conditionin! is sometimes called trial,and,error learnin!. ?t involves the establishment of
a new behavior or the avoidance of an old behavior becase of the association of a reward or
pnishment. For example, a rat will learn to press a lever in order to release its food. ?t learns a
new behavior, the pressin! of the lever, becase it associates this behavior with a reward.
9imilarly, the rat can be trained to avoid a certain colored spot in its ca!e if standin! in that spot
becomes associated with a mild electrical shock. ;ormally the rat wold have no reason to avoid
sch a spot, bt becase of the association of a pnishment with this behavior, it stays away.
6oth classical and operant conditionin! can be ndone if the association between stimls and
behavior or behavior and pnishmentQreward does not last. For example, if the rat presses the lever
and no food comes ot for several tries, it will cease to press the lever. This nlearnin! is called
extinction.
Circa$ian 'hythms
Many animal behaviors, sch as sleep and wakeflness, fora!in! times, and metabolic rate,
operate accordin! to daily cycles known as circadian rhythms. These rhythms can be traced to the
periods of li!ht and dark in the day, bt the rhythms remain even if for a short time an animal
cannot see the chan!in! of the li!ht. ?n other words, animals have a sort of internal clock that
re!lates their behavior.
$tructure and !unction of #lants
Dlants are as intricate and complicated as animals. 6t yo woldn4t know that from lookin! at the
9"T ?? 6iolo!y. Tho!h the test covers almost all aspects of animal or!anismal biolo!y, it covers
plants in mch less detail. This is not to say that yo can i!nore plants completely while stdyin!
for the test, @st that yo need to stdy the ri!ht thin!s.
To be!in with, yo need to know what plants are, how plants differ from animals on both the
celllar and or!anismal level, and the different cate!ories of plants that exist. Ho shold also
know abot the strctre and fnction of the three most important parts of vasclar plants< leaves,
stems, and roots. ?n addition, it4s a !ood idea to have a basic knowled!e of how plants !row.
Dlants also have varios and ni=e means of reprodcin! themselves that the 9"T ?? may test.
"nd finally, yo shold have some sense of plant /behaviors,0 which are called tropisms.
The (eneral Plant Cell
5e covered plant cells back in the chapter on Cell Drocesses, bt we4ll provide a smmary here.
Plants have all the organelles animal cells have: ;cles, ribosomes, mitochondria,
endoplasmic reticlm, -ol!i apparats, etc.
Plants have chloroplasts: Chloroplasts are special or!anelles that contain chlorophyll
and allow plants to carry ot photosynthesis.
Plant cells can sometimes have big vacuoles for storage:
Plants are surroun$e$ by a rigi$ cell wall ma$e of cellulose2 in addition to the cell
membrane that srronds animal cells. These walls provide spport.
Types of Plants
Kst as there are many different kinds of animals, there are also many different kinds of plants.
The earliest plants had no special vasclar tisses devoted to transport, meanin! they cold not
!row to !reat hei!hts becase they coldn4t transport necessary li=ids and minerals over lon!
distances. These plants are called nonvascular or nontracheophyte. Tracheophytes, also called
vasclar plants, do have special vasclar tisses for transport.
)ascular Tissues
:asclar tisses are composed of speciali.ed cells that create /tbes0 thro!h which materials can
flow thro!hot the plant body. These vessels are continos thro!hot the plant, allowin! for
the efficient and controlled distribtion of water and ntrients. ?n addition to this transport
fnction, vasclar tisses also spport the plant. The two types of vasclar tisse are xylem and
phloem.
2!LEM
Oylem consists of a /pipeline0 of dead cells arran!ed end to end for water and mineral transport.
5hen the cells that form xylem die at matrity, the ncles and cytoplasm disinte!rate, leavin! a
hollow tnnel thro!h which flids can move. The xylem carries water and dissolved minerals
pward from the roots thro!h the stem and leaves of the plant. ?n lar!er seed plants, xylem cells
are speciali.ed into tracheids and vessel elements. :essels are wider and better at condctin!
water than the tracheids.
?n addition to distribtin! ntrients, xylem provides strctral spport. ?n fact, the material
commonly known as /wood0 is actally xylem. "fter a time, the xylem at the center of older trees
$woody dicots+ ceases to fnction in transport and takes on a prely spportive role.
PHLOEM
Mnlike xylem, the cells that make p phloem are livin! at matrity and can carry materials both
p and down the plant body. Dhloem consists of sieve elements, which are arran!ed end to end to
form passa!eways, and companion cells, which are closely associated with the sieve elements,
even tho!h their exact fnction is nknown. Matre companion cells have both a ncles and
cytoplasm, while the matre sieve elements contain only cytoplasmE for this reason it is tho!ht
that the nclei of companion cells may control the activities of nei!hborin! sieve elements.
Dhloem is responsible for distribtin! the prodcts of photosynthesis, sch as amino acids and
carbohydrates, from the leaves to the rest of the plant.
Types of Tracheophytes
There are also distinctions amon! the tracheophytes. Ferns were the first tracheophytes to evolve.
Ferns are notable becase they reprodce thro!h the se of spores and do not se seeds.
Ctherwise, in 9"T ?? 6iolo!y world, yo don4t really have to worry abot them. The two
tracheophytes that are more important are !ymnosperms and an!iosperms.
!MNOSPERMS
-ymnosperms were the first tracheophytes to se seeds for reprodction. The seeds develop in
protective strctres called cones. " !ymnosperm will contain some cones that are female and
some that are male. Female cones prodce spores that, after fertili.ation, become e!!s enclosed in
seeds that fall to the !rond. Male cones prodce pollen, which is taken by the wind and fertili.es
female e!!s by that means. Coniferos trees sch as pines and firs are !ood examples of
!ymnosperms.
ANIOSPERMS
"n!iosperms, the flowerin! plants, are the most hi!hly evolved plants and the most dominant in
present times. "n!iosperms are also the type of plant that the 9"T ?? mainly focses on. ?n fact,
yo don4t really need to know anythin! abot nontracheophytes, ferns, and !ymnosperms beyond
what we4ve already told yo. The frther discssions of plant biolo!y in this chapter will focs on
an!iosperms $tho!h what is tre for an!iosperms is also often tre for the other types of plants+.
"s for an!iosperms, there are actally two kinds< monocots and $icots. Monocots inclde !rasses,
!rains, and other narrow,leaved an!iosperms. Monocots are named for the presence of a sin!le
cotyledon $seed leaf+ drin! embryonic development. ?n !eneral, the veins of monocot leaves are
parallel, the flower parts occr in mltiples of three, and a fibros root system is present. 6ndles
of vasclar tisse are scattered thro!hot the stem instead of appearin! in a sin!le rin!. #icots,
sch as maples, oaks, elms, snflowers, and roses, ori!inate from embryos with two cotyledons.
They are frther distin!ished from monocots by the branched network of veins in their leaves,
the occrrence of their flower parts in !rops of for or five, and the presence of a taproot, which
is a sin!le main root with tribtaries off it. The vasclar bndles of dicots are arran!ed in a tblar
pattern in the stem.
Leaves
Leaves are the sites of photosynthesis in plants. The leaves4 broad, flattened srfaces !ather
ener!y from snli!ht, while apertres on their ndersides brin! in carbon dioxide and release
oxy!en. Cn its two exteriors, the leaf has layers of epidermal cells that secrete a waxy, nearly
impermeable cuticle to protect a!ainst water loss and fn!al or bacterial attack. The only way
!ases can diffse in or ot of the leaf is tho!h stomata, small openin!s on the nderside of the
leaf. The openin! or closin! of the stomata occrs thro!h the swellin! or relaxin! of guar$ cells.
?f the plant wants to limit the diffsion of !ases and the transpiration of water, the !ard cells
swell to!ether and close the stomata.
The tisses between the epidermal cells are called mesophyll. The mesophyll can be frther
broken down into two layers, the palisa$e layer and the spongy layer. 6oth layers are packed
with chloroplasts, the factories of photosynthesis. ?n the palisade layer, chloroplasts are lined in
colmns @st below the epidermal cells to facilitate the captre of li!ht. ?n the spon!y layer, cells
are less ordered and more diffse, leavin! lar!e intracelllar spaces that facilitate the exchan!e of
carbon dioxide and oxy!en.
Cverall, it is to the plant4s advanta!e to maximi.e the !as exchan!e and snli!ht trappin! srface
area while keepin! leaf thickness to a minimm so that once !ases enter the leaf thro!h the
stomata, they can diffse easily thro!hot the leaf cells.
The Chloroplast
Like mitochondria, chloroplasts consist of a doble membrane layer with an intermembrane space
between. The inner membrane is folded into mltiple stacks of flattened, disk,shaped
compartments. Each sch compartment is called a thylakoi$, and a stack of thylakoids is called
a granum. The thylakoid membrane separates the chloroplast interior into two very different
compartments< the thylakoid space inside the thykaloids where the
photosynthetic chlorophyll resides and the stroma, a flid that lies otside the stacked disks and
takes p the rest of the or!anelle.
Photosynthesis
?n photosynthesis, plants $and other photosynthetic atotrophs+ se the ener!y from snli!ht to
create the carbohydrates necessary for cell respiration. More specifically, plants take water and
carbon dioxide and transform them into !lcose and oxy!en<
&CC( I &H(C I li!ht ener!y C&H%(C& I &C(
This !eneral e=ation of photosynthesis represents the combined effects of two different sta!es.
The first sta!e is called the li!ht reaction, since it is dependent on li!ht. The dark reaction, the
second sta!e, does not need li!ht.
THE LIHT REACTION
The li!ht reaction, also called the li!ht,dependent reaction, takes place within the thylakoid spaces
of the !rana in the chloroplast. 5hen snli!ht strikes the chlorophyll contained within the
thylakoid spaces, electrons become excited and infsed with ener!y, and they are transferred
down an electron transport chain similar to the one fond in aerobic respiration. The ener!y in the
electrons is sed to set p a proton !radient across the membrane of the thylakoid spaces. Drotons
flowin! back across the thylakoid membrane accordin! to the concentration !radient are harnessed
to prodce "TD and ;"#DH $the redced form of ;"#D+. "s a by,prodct of this process,
molecles of water are split into moleclar hydro!en and oxy!en. The plant needs the hydro!en to
prodce "TD. The oxy!en yo4re breathin! ri!ht now is some of that waste prodct.
The prpose of the li!ht reaction is to make the sable ener!y necessary to rn the dark reaction.
THE DAR- REACTION
The dark reaction is also referred to as the li!ht,independent reaction, the Calvin cycle, or carbon
fixation. The reaction takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast.
?n the dark reaction, the carbon from carbon dioxide is added to the five,carbon s!ar riblose
bisphosphate $16D+ to prodce a six,carbon compond. This six,carbon s!ar is immediately
split into two three,carbon molecles, which in a chain reaction sin! the "TD and ;"#DH from
the li!ht reaction are modified to form !lyceraldehyde ',phosphate. The !lyceraldehyde ',
phosphate can be synthesi.ed into carbohydrates sch as !lcose, and it can also be synthesi.ed
back into riblose biphosphate. Cne of the !lyceraldehyde ',phosphate molecles is made into
carbohydrates, while the other molecles remain in the Calvin cycle to serve as raw materials for
the next rond of prodction.
'oots
The roots of a plant draw water and minerals from the soil and pass them pward thro!h xylem
and phloem to the stem and leaves. 1oots are also responsible for storin! the plant4s or!anic
ntrients, which are passed downward from the leaves thro!h the phloem. 1adiatin! from the
roots is a system of root hairs, which vastly increase the absorptive srface area of the roots. 1oots
also anchor the plant in the soil.
(rowth in )ascular Plants
:asclar plants nder!o two kinds of !rowth, primary !rowth and secondary !rowth. Drimary
!rowth occrs in the apical meristems, located at the tip of both root and shoot, and is mainly a
!rowth of vertical len!th. The meristems are re!ions of rapid mitotic division, chrnin! ot cells
like a factory. 5hen a cell divides, one of its offsprin! moves down into the plant body, where it
elon!ates, and the other remains in the meristem to divide a!ain.
9econdary !rowth is a !rowth of thickness. 9econdary !rowth is a prodct of two different,
tho!h related, tisses, which both fall nder the mbrella,term lateral meristems. )ascular
cambium exists between xylem and phloem< on its inside the cambim prodces what is known
as secondary xylemE on its otside it forms secondary phloem. The primary xylem and phloem are
pshed farther inward and otward. The vasclar cambim is more prodctive drin! the !rowin!
seasons. #rin! the rest of the year it creates little !rowth. This phenomenon creates distinct rin!s
of !rowth, each rin! representin! a sin!le !rowin! season. 6y stdyin! these rin!s, it is possible
to calclate the a!e of a plant, and it4s even possible to determine the specific conditions of a
particlar !rowin! season. The second lateral meristem is called cork cambim and is responsible
for the formation of cork $bark+, which replaces the epidermis to form the protective coverin! of
shoot and root.
Controlling (rowth! Plant .ormones
Dlant !rowth is controlled by plant hormones, which inflence cell differentiation, elon!ation, and
division. 9ome plant hormones also affect the timin! of reprodction and !ermination.
Au%ins: The primary fnction of the axin hormones is to elon!ate plant cells in the stem.
"xins are also responsible for root development, secondary !rowth in the vasclar cambim,
inhibition of lateral branchin!, and frit development.
1inins promote cell division and tisse !rowth in leaf, stem, and root. Ninins are also
involved in the development of chloroplasts, frits, and flowers. ?n addition, they have been
shown to delay senescence $a!in!+, especially in leaves, which is one reason that florists se
cytokinins on freshly ct flowers.
(ibberellins stimlate !rowth, especially elon!ation of the stem, and can also end the
dormancy period of seeds and bds by encora!in! !ermination. "dditionally, !ibberellins play a
role in root !rowth and differentiation.
Ethylene controls the ripenin! of frits. ?t also contribtes to the senescence of plants by
promotin! leaf loss and other chan!es. Ethylene can brin! bds and seeds ot of dormancy,
initiate flower development, and promote radial $hori.ontal+ !rowth in roots and stems.
+nhibitors restrain !rowth and maintain the period of dormancy in seeds and bds.
Plant ,ehavior! Tropisms
5hen people think abot plants !rowin!, they !enerally think of them !rowin! strai!ht p or
!rowin! wider. 6t plants also display other types of !rowth in response to the stimli within their
environment. These responses to stimli are called tropisms and are controlled by plant hormones.
There are three main tropisms<
Phototropism is the tendency of a plant to move toward li!ht. Dhototropism reslts from
the rapid elon!ation of cells on the dark side of the plant, which cases the plant to bend in the
opposite direction.
(ravitropism refers to a plant4s tendency to !row toward or a!ainst !ravity. " plant that
displays positive !ravitropism will !row downward, toward the earth. " plant that displays
ne!ative !ravitropism will !row pward, away from the earth. Most plants are ne!atively
!ravitropic. -ravitropism is also controlled by axin. ?n a hori.ontal root or stem, axin is
concentrated in the lower half, plled by !ravity. ?n a positively !ravitropic plant, this axin
concentration will inhibit cell !rowth on that lower side, casin! the stem to bend downward. ?n a
ne!atively !ravitropic plant, this axin concentration will inspire cell !rowth on that lower side,
casin! the stem to bend pward.
Thigmotropism, a reaction to toch, cases parts of the plant to thicken or coil as they
toch or are toched by environmental entities. Tree trnks, for instance, !row thicker when
exposed to stron! winds and vines tend to !row strai!ht ntil they enconter a sbstrate to wrap
arond.
Photoperio$ism
Dlants have a wide variety of flowerin! strate!ies involvin! what time of year they will flower
and, conse=ently, reprodce. ?n many plants, flowerin! is dependent on the dration of day and
ni!htE this is called photoperiodism.
"ll flowerin! plants have been placed in one of three cate!ories with respect to photoperiodism<
short,day plants, lon!,day plants, and day,netral plants. #espite their names, however, scientists
have discovered that it is the ninterrpted len!th ofnight rather than len!th of day that is the most
important factor in determinin! when and whether plants will bloom. 9hort,day plants be!in to
bloom when the hors of darkness in a (B,hor period rise above a critical level, as when days
shorten in the atmn. These plants inclde poinsettias, chrysanthemms, !oldenrod, and asters.
Lon!,day plants be!in to flower when the dration of ni!ht decreases past a critical point, as when
days len!then in the sprin! and smmer. 9pinach, lettce, and most !rains are lon!,day plants.
Finally, many plants are day netral, which means that the onset of flowerin! is not controlled by
photoperiod at all. These plants, which are independent both of ni!ht len!th and day len!th,
inclde tomatoes, snflowers, dandelions, rice, and corn.
Plant 'epro$uction
Dlants can reprodce both asexally and sexally. Each type of reprodction has its benefits and
disadvanta!es.
Ase,$(l Repro*$ction
Thro!h asexal reprodction, many plants can prodce !enetically identical offshoots $clones+ of
themselves, which then develop into independent plants. This process is also called vegetative
propagation. The many modes of ve!etative propa!ation inclde the prodction of speciali.ed
strctres sch as tbers, rnners, and blbs. -raftin! is an artificial form of ve!etative
propa!ation. The advanta!es to this kind of asexal reprodction, which can occr either natrally
or artificially, stem from the fact that it can occr more rapidly than seed propa!ation and can
allow a !enetically sperior plant to prodce nlimited copies of itself withot variation.
TUBERS4
"s seen in potatoes, tbers are fleshy nder!rond stora!e strctres composed of enlar!ed parts
of the stem. " tber fnctions in asexal propa!ation as a reslt of the tiny scale leaves e=ipped
with bds that !row on its srface. Each of these bds can form a new plant that is !enetically
identical to the parent.
RUNNERS4
1nners are slender, hori.ontal stems that spread otward from the main plant, sch as those
fond on strawberry plants. Entirely new plants can develop from nodes located at intervals on the
rnnersE each node can !ive rise to new roots and shoots.
BULBS4
6lbs sch as onions and tlips are ro!hly spherical nder!rond bds with fleshy leaves
extendin! from their short stems. Each blb contains several other bds that can !ive rise to new
plants.
RA)TIN4
?n !raftin!, two yon! plants are @oined, first by artificial means and then by tisse re!eneration.
Typically, a twi! or bd is ct from one plant and @oined to a rooted plant of a related species or
variety. The twi! or bd is called the scion, and the plant onto which is it !rafted $and that
provides the roots+ is called the stock. The scion eventally develops into an entire shoot system.
-raftin! often allows horticltralists to combine the best featres of two different plants into one
plant. 9ometimes the stock and scion retain independent characteristics, and sometimes the stock
alters the characteristics of the scion in some desirable way.
Se,$(l Repro*$ction in Pl(nts
"ll plants nder!o a life cycle that takes them thro!h both haploid and diploid !enerations. The
mlticelllar diploid plant strctre is called the sporophyte, which prodces spores thro!h
meiotic division. The mlticelllar haploid plant strctre is called the !ametophyte, which is
formed from the spore and !ives rise to the haploid !ametes. The flctation between these
diploid and haploid sta!es that occrs in plants is called the alternation of generations. The way
in which the alternation of !enerations occrs in plants depends on the type of plant. ?n
nonvasclar plants, the dominant !eneration is haploid, so that the !ametophyte constittes what
we think of as the main plant. The opposite is tre for tracheophytes, in which the diploid
!eneration is dominant and the sporophyte constittes the main plant. The 9"T ?? 6iolo!y only
deals with the specifics of the tracheophyte alternation of !enerations, tho!h nonvasclar plants
have a similar life cycle.
The dominant phase in the tracheophyte life cycle is the diploid $sporophyte+ sta!e. The
!ametophytes are very small and cannot exist independent of the parent plant. The reprodctive
strctres of the sporophyte $cones in !ymnosperms and flowers in an!iosperms+ prodce male
and female haploid spores< microspores $male+ and me!aspores $female+. These spores !ive rise to
similarly sexally differentiated !ametophytes, which in trn prodce !ametes. Fertili.ation
occrs when a male and female !amete @oin to form a .y!ote. The resltin! embryo, encased in a
seed coatin!, will eventally become a new sporophyte.
REPRODUCTION IN )LO#ERIN PLANTS
"n!iosperms are special becase they have developed special reprodctive systems, which are
none other than the flowers yo shold always take time to stop and smell. To nderstand
an!iosperm reprodction, then, the first thin! yo have to do is know the strctre of the flower.
THE )LO#ER
Flowers, the reprodctive strctres of an!iosperms, are adaptations desi!ned to attract insects and
other pollen,bearin! animals to the plant to aid in pollen dispersal. For this reason, flowers are
most often colorfl and showyE not srprisin!ly, plants that rely on wind $instead of insects+ for
pollen dispersal have flowers that are more likely to be small and drab.
The flower is composed of for or!ans< the sepal, petal, stamen, and pistil. 9epals and petals are
not directly involved in reprodction, while the stamen and pistil are the male and female
reprodctive or!ans. The stamen holds pollen, which is the male !amete, and the sti!ma is the site
where a pollen !rain mst land in order to fertili.e the female ovules that are located in
the ovary at the base of the pistil. This ovary, an exclsive featre of an!iosperms, encloses the
ovles and develops into a frit after fertili.ation.
ANIOSPERM )ERTILI1ATION
The female reprodctive or!an of an!iosperms is the pistil, located in the middle of the flower. "s
in !ymnosperms, the male !ametophyte is the pollen !rain. ?n order for fertili.ation to occr in
most flowerin! plants, insects or other animals mst transport the pollen to the pistil. " ma@or
distin!ishin! featre of an!iosperms is the process of $ouble fertilization, in which an
an!iosperm ovle contains an e!! cell and a diploid fsion ncles, which is created thro!h the
@oinin! of two polar nclei within the ovle.
5hen a pollen !rain comes into contact with the sti!ma, or top of the pistil, it sends a pollen tbe
down into the ovary at the pistil4s base. "s the pollen tbe penetrates the ovle, it releases two
sperm cells. Cne fses with the e!! to create a diploid .y!ote, while the other @oins with the fsion
ncles to form a triploid ncles. This triploid ncles trns into an endosperm, which norishes
the developin! embryo $fillin! the role of !ametophyte tisse in the !ymnosperm seed+. "s in
!ymnosperms, the ovle becomes a seed, encasin! the embryo and endosperm in a seed coat. 6t
nlike !ymnosperms, in an!iosperms, the ovary containin! the ovles develops into a frit after
fertili.ation. The frit !ives the embryos the doble benefit of added protection a!ainst desiccation
and increased dispersal, since it is eaten by far,ran!in! animals that then excrete the seeds.
"n!iosperms either self,pollinate, in which a particlar plant fertili.es itself, or cross,pollinate, in
which one plant is fertili.ed by another of the same species. Cross,pollination !enerally prodces
far more vi!oros plants and is encora!ed thro!h differential development of the male and
female !ametophytes on a flower or thro!h the positionin! of these !ametophytes so that self,
pollination is difficlt.
ECCLC-H
#opulations
Ecolo!ists are interested in the interactions between or!anisms. 9ince it takes more than one
or!anism to have an interaction, the basic nit of ecolo!y is the poplation. " poplation is a
!rop of individals that interbreed and share the same !ene pool. 5hile every individal in a
species has the capacity to interbreed with any other individal, a poplation is a !rop of
or!anisms that exist in the same specific !eo!raphic locale and actally are interbreedin!. "ll the
killer whales in the ocean make p a species, bt only the killer whales that actally live and
mi!rate to!etherFonly the killer whales that actally interbreedFmake p a specific poplation.
Doplations are mch more than the sm of their parts< a poplation displays patterns and
concerns that are not applicable to an individal or!anism. 5hereas an individal is concerned
with livin! for as lon! as possible and havin! as many offsprin! as it can, a poplation is
concerned with maintainin! its nmber !iven the resorces at hand.
Population (rowth
" vital characteristic of a poplation is the rate at which it !rows. The rate of poplation !rowth
depends on a variety of factors, incldin! birth rate, death rate, initial poplation si.e, and
resorces. 5ith nlimited resorces, a poplation can expand very rapidly. Two rabbits that live
in 1abbit Mtopia and have five male and five female offsprin! every for months will prodce a
poplation of %( rabbits after for months and *( rabbits after ei!ht months. 9onds like nothin!,
ri!ht> "fter one year, the poplation will be B'( rabbits. "fter two years, there will be 8','%(
rabbits. "nd after three years, the poplation will be more than (3 million rabbits. This rabbit
poplation is followin! the trend of e%ponential population growth, in which there is nothin! to
limit the !rowth of a poplation and that poplation correspondin!ly !rows by exponential factors.
" !raph of exponential !rowth looks like this<
Derhaps 1abbit Mtopia can !row eno!h lettce to spport (3 million rabbits, bt normal natre
cannot. ?n natre, when a poplation is small, the resorces srrondin! it are relatively lar!e and
the poplation will !row at near exponential levels. 6t as poplations !row lar!er, they need
more food and take p more space, and resorces become ti!ht. 5ithin the poplation,
competition for food and space !rows fierce, predators move in to sample some of the bonty, and
disease increases. These factors slow the !rowth of the poplation well before it reaches
stratospheric levels. Eventally, the rate of poplation !rowth approaches .ero, and the poplation
comes to rest at a maximm nmber of individals that can be maintained within a !iven
environment. This vale is the carrying capacity of the poplation, the point at which birth and
death rates are e=al.
The carryin! capacity of an environment will shift as an environment chan!es. 5hen there is a
dro!ht and less ve!etation, the carryin! capacity of rabbits in a poplation will decrease since the
environment will not be able to prodce eno!h food. 5hen there is a lot of rain and lsh
ve!etation, the carryin! capacity will increase.
Population (rowth an$ Types of 'epro$uction
Doplation !rowth is affected by species4 methods of reprodction. The two most important types
of reprodction are asexal and sexal reprodction. Each type of reprodction has benefits and
costs.
Ase%ual repro$uctionFsch as that fond in plants that reprodce by shoots or or!anisms that
reprodce thro!h partheno!enesisFre=ires less ener!y than its sexal conterpart. 6ecase it
re=ires less time and effort, asexal prodction allows a poplation to !row very =ickly. For
example, partheno!enesis occrs when an nfertili.ed e!! develops offsprin!. Dartheno!enesis
creates female or!anisms that are identical to their mothersE the e!!s of these female or!anisms
nder!o partheno!enesis and prodce more females. 6y eliminatin! the necessity of males from
the reprodctive e=ation, partheno!enesis dobles the rate at which a poplation can !row.
However, by eliminatin! males and sexal reprodction, poplations that employ asexal
reprodction limit their !ene pool and the resltin! diversity amon! members. ?n times when an
environment is chan!in! or competitive, the lack of variation dama!es these poplations4 ability
to srvive.
Se%ual repro$uction exhasts more ener!y and therefore pro!resses slowly. " poplation that
reprodces thro!h sexal reprodction will not !row as rapidly as an asexally reprodcin!
poplation, bt the sexal poplation will maintain the diversity of its !ene pool. " sexally
reprodcin! poplation is therefore more fit to srvive in a chan!in! or competitive environment.
9exally reprodcin! or!anisms have two reprodctive sbstrate!ies. Cr!anisms sch as insects
have many small offsprin! that receive very little or no parental care, reach sexal matrity at a
yon! a!e, and reprodce only one or a few times. ?n an environment with abndant resorces,
this life,history strate!y allows species to =ickly reprodce and exploit opportnities for
poplation !rowth. The disadvanta!e of this strate!y is that it prodces hi!h mortality and !reat
instability when resorces dwindle. The alternative strate!y is to bear fewer and lar!er offsprin!
that receive intensive parental attention, matre !radally, and reprodce several times. Hmans
employ this strate!y and are better sited to thrive in a competitive environment, exhibitin! lower
mortality rates and lon!er life spans. The disadvanta!e here is that the concerted investment of
time and ener!y into a few individals makes it difficlt for a poplation to srmont lar!e
decreases in poplation si.e de to disasters or disease.
Communities
Kst as individals live within a poplation, poplations exist within commnities. " commnity
refers to all the poplations that interact with each other in a !iven environment and !eo!raphical
area. The specific role and way of life of each poplation is called a niche. 5hen poplations
have overlappin! niches, a variety of types of interaction may occr, incldin! competition,
symbiosis, predation, and other food relationships. Commnities are shaped over time by
ecolo!ical sccession.
The #iche
Each poplation in a commnity plays a ni=e role in the commnity. This role, the poplation4s
niche, ran!es from where the members of a poplation live, what they eat, when they sleep, how
they reprodce, and every other characteristic that defines a poplation4s lifestyle within a
commnity. Ho can think of the niche as a sort of node in the network of interactions that make
p a commnity. 5herever the niches of two poplations overlap, interaction follows.
Competition
5hen two poplations share some aspect of a niche, sch as a nestin! site or a food sorce,
competition reslts. There are two basic otcomes of competition between poplations<
ne population will be a more effective competitor: The poplation that is more
effective will eventally /win0 and drive the second, less effective poplation from their niche.
5ith the niche freed, the winnin! poplation will !row to the carryin! capacity of the niche.
The two populations will evolve into less competitive niches: ?f two poplations
compete on even terms, it may be beneficial for both poplations to modify their niches so that the
poplations4 niches overlap less or not at all. ?n these cases, natral selection will favor
individals in both poplations that have non,overlappin! niches, and over time the two
poplations will evolve into different niches.
Symbiosis
9ymbiosis refers to an intimate association between or!anisms called symbionts. The symbiotic
relationship may or may not be beneficial to the or!anisms involved. There are three kinds of
symbiosis< parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism. Each type of symbiosis describes a
different relationship of benefits between the two symbionts. " tapeworm is a parasite that lacks a
di!estive tract and therefore infects a host and steals predi!ested foodE parasites benefit while their
hosts sffer. ?n commensalism, one species benefits and the other remains naffected. 6arnacles
and whales live in a commensal relationship. Finally, in mtalism, both species benefit from the
presence of and interactions with each other. Lichens, which consist of a fn!s and al!a that
provide for each other, respectively, moistre and food thro!h photosynthesis, are a !ood
example of a mtalist relationship.
Pre$ation
Dredation refers to one or!anism eatin! another. Dredation does not only refer to carnivores. Kst
as an ea!le eatin! a rodent is a form of predation, so is a rodent mnchin! on some !rass. ?n fact,
predation doesn4t always reslt in the death of the prey. "n antelope that !ets eaten by a lion will
die, bt a tree that loses a few leaves to a hn!ry !iraffe will !o ri!ht on livin!.
Carryin! capacity shifts in a periodic manner based on the cycles of predation. 5hen the
poplation of rabbits increases, the poplation of coyotes that eat the rabbits will also increase, as
there4s more food for the coyotes. However, at some point, there will be so many coyotes eatin!
so many rabbits that the rabbit poplation will fall in nmber. The coyotes4 !reat sccess in eatin!
rabbits has eliminated their food sorce, and as the rabbit poplation declines, so will the coyote
poplation. 6t as the coyote poplation dwindles, the lack of predators allows the rabbit
poplation to !row a!ain, and so the cycle contines.
Evolution Cause$ by Pre$ation
The chan!e in a poplation de to a shift in environment is one of the en!ines of evoltion.
?ma!ine the rabbits and their predators, the coyotes. "s the coyotes increase in nmber, the rabbit
poplation ceases to !row, and many rabbits are ca!ht and eaten. "s the coyotes increase in
nmber, the carryin! capacity of the rabbit poplation shrinks. 6t it is important to notice that
not all rabbits are ca!ht by the coyotes. The faster rabbits escape captre by the coyotes far more
often than the slower rabbits. Fast rabbits srvive and breed and have offsprin!, while slower
rabbits !et eaten. The next !eneration of rabbits will therefore be faster becase they are
descended from faster parentsFthis is directional selection in action. The poplation of
increasin!ly fast rabbits means that the coyotes mst be faster in order to catch the rabbits. More
fast coyotes catch rabbits and live to reprodce, creatin! a next !eneration of faster coyotes. 5hen
two poplations affect their mtal evoltion in this manner it is called coevolution.
?t is ar!able that predation is actally helpfl to the prey poplation. 9ince predators want to
captre prey with the least possible effort, the weakest members of the prey poplation are sally
tar!eted. ?n this way, the predators often remove from the !ene pool of a poplation those prey
animals that have the weakest and least fit alleles.
!ood elationships
Every or!anism needs food in order to live and has to !et that food from somewhere. Every
or!anism can be classified by where it fits into the food chain. Most broadly, all or!anisms fit into
one of three camps< prodcers, consmers, and decomposers.
Pro$ucers
Drodcers are able to prodce carbohydrates from the ener!y of the sn thro!h photosynthesis or,
in some instances, from inor!anic molecles thro!h chemosynthesis. 6ecase they can prodce
their own food, prodcers are also called autotrophs. Drodcers form the fondation of every
food chain becase only they can transform inor!anic ener!y into ener!y that all other or!anisms
can se. Cn land, plants and photosynthetic bacteria are the main prodcers. ?n marine
environments, !reen plants and al!ae are the main prodcers. ?n deep water environments near
!eothermal vents, chemosynthetic or!anisms are the main prodcers.
Consumers
Consmers cannot prodce the ener!y and or!anic molecles necessary for lifeE instead,
consmers mst in!est other or!anisms in order to !et these materials. Consmers are also
called heterotrophs becase they mst consme other or!anisms in order to !et the ener!y
necessary for life. There are three types of consmersE the cate!ories of consmers are based on
which or!anisms a particlar consmer preys on. Primary consumers, sch as sheep,
!rasshoppers, and rabbits, feed on prodcers. 9ince all prodcers are plants or plantlike, all
primary consmers are herbivores, which is the name for a plant,eatin! animal. Secon$ary
consumers eat primary consmers, makin! them carnivoresFanimals that eat other animals.
Foxes and insect,eatin! birds are examples of secondary consmers. Tertiary consumers eat
secondary consmers and are therefore carnivores. Dolar bears that eat sea lions are tertiary
consmers. Consmers that eat both prodcers and other consmers are called omnivores.
"ecomposers
"lso called saprophytes, decomposers feed on waste or dead material. 9ince they mst in!est
or!anic molecles in order to srvive, decomposers are heterotrophs. ?n the process of !ettin! the
ener!y they need, decomposers break down complex or!anic molecles into their inor!anic parts
Fcarbon dioxide, nitro!en, phosphors, etc.
&oo$ Chains an$ &oo$ *ebs
"ll predatory interactions between prodcers and consmers in a commnity can be or!ani.ed in
food chains or more complex and realistic food webs. " food chain ima!ines a strictly linear
interaction between the levels of prodcers and consmers we described above. "n abstract food
chain appears below on the left, with examples of animals that fit each cate!ory appearin! on the
ri!ht<
Each step in the food chain is referred to as a trophic level.
Food chains are simple and help s to nderstand the predation interactions between or!anisms,
bt becase they are so simple, they aren4t really accrate. For instance, while sparrows do eat
insects, they also eat !rass. ?n addition, the food chain makes it seem as if there are only for
poplations in a commnity, when most commnities contain far more. Most or!anisms in a
commnity hnt more than one kind of prey and are hnted by more than one predator. These
nmeros predation interactions are best shown by a food web<
?n fact, the more diverse and complicated the food relationships are in a commnity, the more
stable that commnity will be. ?ma!ine a commnity that was correctly described by the food
chain !rass insects sparrows hawks. ?f some bli!ht strck the !rass
poplation, the insect poplation wold be decimated, which wold destroy the sparrow
poplation, and so on, ntil the very top of the food chain. " more complex food web is able to
absorb and withstand sch disasters. ?f somethin! were to happen to the !rass in the food web, the
primary consmers wold all have some other food sorce to tide them over ntil the !rass
recovered.
&oo$ *ebs an$ Energy &low
Each trophic level in a food web consmes the lower trophic level in order to obtain ener!y. 6t
not all of the ener!y from one trophic level is transferred to the next. "t each trophic level, most
of the ener!y is sed p in rnnin! body processes sch as respiration. Typically, @st %3 percent
of the ener!y present in one trophic level is passed alon! to the next. ?f the ener!y present in the
prodcer trophic level of a food web is kcal, yo cold draw an energy pyrami$ to show
the transfer of ener!y from one trophic level to the next<
The ener!y lost between each trophic level affects the nmber of or!anisms that can occpy each
trophic level. ?f the secondary consmer trophic level contains %3 percent of the ener!y present in
the primary consmer level, it follows that there can only be abot %3 percent as many secondary
consmers as there are primary consmers. The ener!y pyramid is therefore also a biomass
pyrami$ that shows the nmber of individals in each trophic level.
,iological Magnification
6ecase biomass drops so dramatically from one trophic level to the next, any chemical present in
a lower trophic level becomes heavily concentrated in hi!her trophic levels. 6e!innin! in the
%8B3s, a pesticide called ##T was sprayed on crops to stop invadin! insects. The concentration of
##T in any local area was eno!h to kill insects, bt not eno!h to hrt any of the lar!er
or!anisms. 6t as each predator ate its prey, the ##T became concentrated in sccessive trophic
levels. The small levels of ##T fond in the insects became mch more concentrated as it was
swallowed and di!ested by predators. Ea!les, sittin! at the top of the food web, took in massive
amonts of ##T in the corse of eatin! their prey. The ##T cased the ea!les to lay soft e!!s
that cold not protect the developin! embryos inside, which led to a severe poplation decline.
Ecological $uccession
Kst as the people livin! in yor nei!hborhood can come and !o, ecolo!ical commnities chan!e
over time. Cne way a commnity can chan!e is if external conditions shift. ?f the weather in a
certain !eo!raphical area sddenly !ets colder, certain poplations will be better off and will
thrive, while others will shrink and disappear.
However, chan!e in commnities is not always cased by external factors< poplations can chan!e
environments simply by livin! in them. The sccess of a particlar poplation in a particlar area
will chan!e the environment to the advanta!e of other poplations. ?n fact, the ori!inally
sccessfl poplation often chan!es the environment to its own detriment. ?n this way, the
poplations within a commnity chan!e over time, often in predictable ways. The chan!e in a
commnity cased by the effects of the poplations within it is called ecolo!ical sccession.
The first poplation to move into a !eo!raphical area is referred to as a pioneer organism. ?f this
pioneer poplation is sccessfl in its new location, it will chan!e the environment in sch a way
that new poplations can move in. "s poplations are replaced, chan!in! plant forms brin! with
them different types of animals. Typically, as a commnity moves thro!h the sta!es of
sccession, it is characteri.ed by an increase in total biomass, a !reater capacity to retain ntrients
within the system, increasin! species diversity, and increasin! si.e and life spans of or!anisms.
Eventally, the commnity will reach a point where the mixtre of poplations creates no new
chan!es in the environment. "t this point, the specific poplations in the stable commnity are
said to make p a clima% community. 5hile individals within a climax commnity will come
and !o, the essential makep of the poplations within the climax commnity will stay constant.
5hich species are dominant in a particlar climax commnity is determined by ni=e factors of
that !eo!raphical area, sch as temperatre, rainfall, and soil acidity. 9ince a climax commnity
does not chan!e the environment, it also does not affect its own dominanceE a climax commnity
will remain dominant nless destroyed by a si!nificant chan!e in climate or some catastrophic
event sch as a fire or volcanic erption.
Succession in Action
?ma!ine a catastrophic event< a forest fire ra!es thro!h the -reen Montains of :ermont. The
fires brn everythin! and leave behind a barren, rocky expanse.
The poplation of trees that once lived in this area can4t !row back becase the fire has chan!ed
the !rond composition. 5ithot tree roots to act as anchors, rain washes away the soil and the
!rond becomes rocky and barren. This rocky !rond, however, proves ideal to lichens, the
pioneer poplation. The lichens coloni.e the rocks and thrive. "s part of their life process, lichens
prodce acids that break down rock into soil. Lichens need solid places to srvive< they are
victims of their own sccess. Mosses and herbs are well sited to livin! in the shallow soil
environment created by the lichen, and they replace the lichen as the dominant poplation.
The mosses and herbs contine to bild p the soil. "s the soil deepens, the conditions favor
plants with lon!er roots, sch as !rasses. Eventally the land becomes sitable for shrbs and then
for trees. The early dominant trees in the commnity will be species like poplar, which thrive in
bri!ht, snlit conditions. "s more trees !row in the area, however, there is less snli!ht, and
maples, which !row in shade, spplant the sn,starved poplars. The maples eventally dominate
the commnity, becase they don4t chan!e the soil composition and thrive in their own shade. The
commnity has reached its climax commnity, with maple as the dominant species. #on4t for!et
that drin! all this, the chan!in! ve!etation has bro!ht with it varios chan!es in animal
poplations.
The 9"T ?? 6iolo!y is most likely to test yor knowled!e of ecolo!ical sccession in an ori!inally
rocky area, as we @st covered, or in a pond. 9ccession in a pond follows a similar pattern.
Cri!inally, the pond will contain proto.oa, some small fish, and al!ae. "s individal or!anisms
die and water rns into the pond, sediment bilds p at the bottom and the pond !rows shallower.
The shallower pond becomes marshlike and fills with reeds and cattails. The standin! water
eventally disappears, and the land is merely moist< !rasses and shrbs dominate. "s the land
!rows even less moist, it becomes woodland. "nd as trees come to dominate, the climax
commnity will arise from a species that can !row in the shade of its nei!hbors.
Ecological Succession vs: Evolution
For the 9"T ?? 6iolo!y, do not !et confsed between ecolo!ical sccession and evoltion. ?n
ecolo!ical sccession, the poplations that make p a commnity chan!e, bt the characteristics
of the individals within the poplation will not chan!e over time. Ecolo!ical sccession is
somethin! that happens to commnities, while evoltion happens to poplations. "ltho!h
sccession has different rates, it is mch faster overall than evoltion.
Ecosystems
The dominant species in a climax commnity interact with and depend on nonlivin! $abiotic+
factors in that environment. The most important abiotic factors in an environment, and on the 9"T
?? 6iolo!y, are the chemical cycles, the availability of snli!ht and oxy!en, the character of the
soil, and the re!lation of these varios phenomena. These abiotic elements, alon! with livin!
matter, make p an ecosystem.
Chemical Cycles
?nor!anic elements sch as carbon, nitro!en, and water pass thro!h the environment in varios
forms. These elements are vital to life< they are consmed, excreted, respired, and otherwise
tili.ed by livin! thin!s. The passa!es of these elements between or!anisms and the abiotic
environment are called the chemical cycles.
The Carbon Cycle
The carbon cycle be!ins when plants se CC( from the air to prodce !lcose, which both animals
and plants se in respiration and other life processes. "nimals consme some of these plants as a
sorce of food. "nimals se what they can of the carbon matter and excrete the rest as waste that
decays into CC(. Dlant and animal respiration releases !aseos CC(. The carbon that plants and
animals do se remains in their bodies ntil death. "fter death, decay sends the or!anic
componds back into the Earth and CC( back into the atmosphere.
The #itrogen Cycle
;itro!en is a vital component of amino acids and ncleic acids, which are the fndamental nits
of proteins and #;". The nitro!en cycle be!ins with inert atmospheric nitro!en $;(+, which is
!enerally nsable by livin! or!anisms. ;itro!en,fixin! bacteria in the soil or on the roots of
le!mes transform the inert nitro!en into nitrates $;C'
)
+ and ammonim $;HB
)
+. Dlants take p
these componds, synthesi.e the (3 amino acids fond in natre, and transform them into plant
proteinsE animals, typically only able to synthesi.e ei!ht of the (3 amino acids, eat the plants and
prodce protein sin! the plant4s materials. Dlants and animals !ive off nitro!en waste and death
prodcts in the form of ammonia $;H'+. Cne of two thin!s can happen to the ammonia< $%+
nitrifyin! bacteria transform the ammonia into nitrites $;C(+ and then to nitrates $;C'
)
+, which
reenter the cycle when they are taken p by plantsE $(+ denitrifyin! bacteria break down the
ammonia to prodce inert nitro!en $;(+.
The cyclin! of water and phosphors are also important, as these sbstances are limited and vital
to the life processes of most or!anisms.
The *ater Cycle
The ma@ority of the Earth4s water resides in the oceans and lakes, which act as water stora!e
depots. This water escapes into the atmosphere thro!h evaporation and condenses into clods.
Drecipitation in the form of rain, snow, hail, etc., retrns water to the ocean and lakes and also
brin!s water to dry land. 5ater on land may either retrn to the oceans and lakes as rnoff or
penetrate into the soil and seep ot as !rondwater.
%ygen2 Sunlight2 an$ Competition
Cxy!en and snli!ht are both vital to most forms of life. The relative abndance or lack of oxy!en
in a particlar !eo!raphic or physical locale will create competition amon! or!anisms and drive
evoltion. Cxy!en is abndant in the atmosphere and is therefore readily available to terrestrial
species. 6t in order to penetrate a=atic environments, oxy!en mst be dissolved in water, where
it exists in smaller concentration.
Like oxy!en, snli!ht is necessary to life for most or!anisms. ?n terrestrial species, competition
for snli!ht has pshed evoltion of plants, with some plants !rowin! broader leaves and
branchin! to captre more rays. 9nli!ht cannot travel thro!h water as easily as it can travel
thro!h air, so at !reat ocean depths, li!ht is scarce. "t these sorts of depths, atotrophic
or!anisms have to find some way to prodce ener!y that does not se li!ht, sch as
chemosynthesis.
The Soil
The natre of soil determines which poplations can be sstained in a !iven ecosystem. Hi!h
acidity inhibits most plant !rowth bt may be ideal for some plants that are better adapted to
acidic soil. The textre of the soil and amont of clay it contains affect its ability to retain water,
while the presence of minerals and decayin! or!anic matter inflences the types of plant life that
can be spported.
Biomes
#ifferent climatic conditions are prodced by the !eo!raphy and neven heatin! of the Earth.
Dlant and animal forms that are characteristic of a particlar !eo!raphic area with a common
climate constitte biomes. Each biome is characteri.ed by specific climax commnities. "ll the
biomes to!ether form the biosphere.
Terrestrial ,iomes
The varios biotic and abiotic factors at play on Earth reslt in six ma@or terrestrial biomes.
Terrestrial biomes are cate!ori.ed accordin! to the types of plants they spport. The fndamental
characteristics of each type are described in the list below.
TROPICAL RAIN )OREST
1ain forests have the hi!hest rainfall of all biomes $%33)%73 inches per year+, which reslts in the
!reatest animal and plant diversity. Trees form canopies that block snli!ht from reachin! the
!rond. Most animal species live in the canopy, while the forest floor is inhabited predominantly
by insects and saprophytes and consists of soil low in ntrients. #ecomposed prodcts on the
forest floor are washed away or =ickly reabsorbed by plants. Tropical rain forests can be fond in
Central "merica, the "ma.on basin in 9oth "merica, Central "frica, and 9otheast "sia.
SA"ANNA
This biome is characteri.ed by !rassland with sparse trees, with extended dry periods or dro!hts.
Tropical savannas !enerally border rain forests and receive a yearly total of B3 to &3 inches of
rainfall. They spport lar!e herbivores, sch as antelope, .ebra, elephants, and !iraffe. Most
tropical savannas exist in "frica. Temperate savannas, sch as the Dampas in "r!entina and the
prairies east of the 1ocky Montains in the Mnited 9tates, receive only abot %3 to '3 inches of
rain a year. -rasses and shrbs dominate the landscape and spport insects, birds, smaller
brrowin! animals, and lar!er, hoofed animals sch as bison.
DESERT
#eserts are the driest biome, receivin! less than %3 inches of rain per year. They exhibit radical
temperatre chan!es between day and ni!ht. "nimals of the desert sch as li.ards, snakes, birds,
and insects are typically small and have adapted to the dry, hot climate by bein! noctrnally
active. Dlants, sch as cacts, have evolved waxy cticles, fewer stomata, spiky leaves, and seeds
capable of remainin! dormant ntil sfficient resorces are available. #eserts exist in "sia, "frica,
and ;orth "merica.
TEMPERATE DECIDUOUS )OREST
1ainfall in temperate decidos forests is evenly distribted thro!hot the year. The biome has
distinct smmer and winter seasons. ?t has lon! !rowin! seasons drin! the smmer. ?n winter, the
decidos plants drop their leaves and enter a period of dormancy. 6eech and maple dominate in
colder variations of this biome, while oak and hickory are more prevalent where temperatres are
warmer. "nimals in decidos forests are both herbivoros and carnivoros, sch as deer, fox,
owl, and s=irrel. The forest floor is fertile and contains fn!i and worms. Temperate decidos
forests exist mainly on the east coast of ;orth "merica and in central Erope.
TAIA
The tai!a is a forest biome bt is colder and receives less rainfall than decidos forests.
Coniferos $cone,bearin!+ trees, especially sprce, dominate the tai!a. The trees also have needle,
shaped leaves that help conserve water. Tai!a forests sstain birds, small mammals sch as
s=irrels, lar!e herbivoros mammals sch as moose and elk, and lar!e carnivoros mammals
sch as wolves and !ri..ly bears. Tai!a exist mainly in 1ssian and northern Canada.
TUNDRA
This biome is located in the far north and is covered by ice sheets for the ma@ority of the year. The
soil, down to a few feet, remains permanently fro.en, tho!h in the smmer, the topsoil can melt
and spport a short !rowin! season. :ery few plants !row in the northernmost parts of the tndra,
bt lichens, mosses, and !rasses occpy some more sothern areas. "nimals mst be well sited
for extreme cold or mst mi!rate. The tndra spports lar!e herbivores sch as reindeer and
caribo, lar!e predators sch as bear, and some birds.
A3uatic ,iomes
"=atic biomes accont for *3 percent of the Earth4s srface and contain the ma@ority of plant and
animal life. "=atic biomes also accont for a vast portion of the photosynthesis, and therefore
oxy!en prodction, that occrs on Earth. There are two types of a=atic biomes, based on the type
of water fond in each< marine and freshwater.
MARINE
Marine biomes refer to the oceans that all connect to form a sin!le, !reat body of water. 9ince
water has an immense capacity to absorb heat with little temperatre increase, conditions remain
niform over these lar!e a=atic bodies. Marine biomes are divided into three
.ones< interti$al;littoral2 neritic, and pelagic.
The intertidal .one, also called the littoral .one, is the re!ion where land and water meet. ?t
experiences periodic dryness with chan!in! tides and is inhabited by al!ae, spon!es, varios
mollsks, starfish, and crabs.
The neritic .one extends to &33 feet beneath the water4s srface and sits on the continental shelf,
hndreds of miles from shores. "l!ae, crstaceans, and nmeros fish inhabit this re!ion.
The pela!ic .one consists of a photic zone $reachin! &33 feet below sea level+ and below that
an aphotic zone. Li!ht penetrates the photic .one, which is why it contains photosynthetic
plankton. The photic .one also is home to heterotrophs sch as bony fish, sharks, and whales that
prey on these prodcers as well as on each other. ;o li!ht penetrates the aphotic .one, which is a
kind of watery circs of the bi.arre, where extreme cold water, darkness, and hi!h pressre have
sprred stran!e evoltionary paths. The re!ion is home to some chemosynthetic atotrophs. Cther
deni.ens of the deep are scaven!ers that feed on dead or!anic matter fallin! from the hi!her
realms and predators who feed on each other.
)RESH#ATER
Freshwater biomes inclde rivers, lakes, and marshes. Life here is affected by temperatre, salt
concentration, li!ht penetration, depth, and availability of dissolvedCC( and C(. Freshwater
biomes are mch smaller than marine biomes, so conditions are less stable. Cr!anisms that live in
these re!ions mst be able to handle the !reater extremes. The very natre of freshwater also
demands special characteristics of the or!anisms that live within it. ?n freshwater environments,
the salt concentration within the cell of an or!anism is hi!her than the salt concentration in the
water. " concentration exists between the interior of cells and the exterior environment< water
from the environment is constantly diffsin! into the or!anism. Cr!anisms in freshwater need
homeostatic systems to maintain proper water balance.