LIFE SCIENCE

I. INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SCIENCE

* urea
* alanine
A. SOURCES OF LIFE’S FIST BUILDING BLOCKS
1. LIGHTNING-FUELED ATMOSPHERE
- (1953) Stanley Miller & Harold Urey
2. REACTIONS AT HYDROTHERMAL VENTS
- deep-see hydrothermal vents
3. DELIVERY FROM SPACE
- meteors containing: amino acid, sugar and nucleotide
B. LIFE’S EARLY EVOLUTION
- anaerobic cell: ancestral cell; able to live without oxygen
1. EVIDENCE OF EARLY LIFE
a. OLDEST FOSSIL
* filaments- 3.5 Billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia
- stromatolite- mounded, layered structure that forms in shallow sunlit water when a mat of
photosynthetic bacteria traps minerals and sediments.
* 3.4 billion years (Western Australia)- presence of pyrite
b. CHANGES IN THE AIR
* cyanobacteria- oxygen-producing pathway bacteria
- 2.5 B years ago, it began accumulating the Earth
c. RISE OF THE EUKARYOTES
c.1. ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF EUKARYOTES
c.1.a. ORIGIN OF THE NUCLEUS
- prokaryotes: DNA lies enclosed in the cell’s cytoplasm
- eukaryotes: DNA is enclosed within a nucleus and is associated with an
endomembrane system.
- internal membrane: protects a genome from physical or biological threats
Ex: obscuriglobus
c.1.b. ORIGIN OF THE MITOCHONDRIA AND CHLOROPLASTS
- mitochondria and chloroplasts resemble bacteria in their size and shape and replicate
independently
- have their own DNA and two outer membranes
* two bacteria relatives of mitochondria:
1. rickettsias- invades a eukaryote and duplicate themselves
2. marine bacteria-
* endosymbiont hypothesis: mitochondria and chloroplasts evolved from bacteria
: cells can enter inside other cells
c.1.c. EUKARYOTIC DIVERGENCE
* eukaryotic cells had nucleus, endomembrane system, mitochondria, and chloroplasts

II. BIOGENETICS
1. the cell as the basic unit of life
2. how photosynthetic organisms capture light energy to form sugar molecules
3. how organisms obtain and utilize energy

CELL THEORY
1665- Antoni van Leeuwenhoek: first microscope
Robert Hooke- coined the word “cell”
CELL- carries out metabolism and homeostasis and produces either on its own or part of a larger organism.

A. CELL COMPONENTS:
1. PLASMA MEMBRANE/ CELL MEMBRANE
Structure- a bilipid membranous layer composed of proteins and carbohydrates. It is fluid like.
Function - the cell membrane separates the cell from its external environment, and is selectively permeable (controls what
gets in and out). It protects the cell and provides stability.
Proteins are found embedded within the plasma membrane, with some extending all the way through to transport materials.
Carbohydrates are attached to proteins and lipids on the outer lipid layer.

2. CYTOPLASM
Structure - The jelly-like substance composed of mainly water and found between the cell membrane and nucleus. The
cytoplasm makes up most of the "body" of a cell and is constantly streaming.
Function - Organelles are found here and substances like salts may be dissolved in the cytoplasm.
3. DNA deoxyribonucleic acid, is the hereditary material in humans and almost all other organisms

B. CONSTRAINTS ON CELL SIZE

1. NUCLEUS
Structure - The largest organelle in the cell. It is dark and round, and is surrounded by a double membrane called the nuclear
envelope/membrane. In spots, the nuclear envelope fuses to form pores which are selectively
COMPONENTS:
a. CHROMATIN- viscous fluid like cytoplasm that contains the DNA together with associated proteins.
b. NUCLEAR ENVELOPE- special membrane that encloses the nucleus
*nuclear pores
c. NUCLEOLUS- dense region of proteins and nucleic acid where ribosomal subunits are being produced
d. NUCLEOPLASM- semifluid portion of the nucleus

2. ENDOMEMBRANE SYSTEM- make lipid, enzymes and protein foe insertion and secretion the external environment
- destroys toxins, recycles wastes.
COMPONENTS:
a. VESICLES- membrane-enclosed sacs
- a bit like trach can that collect and dispose of waste
- peroxisomes- break down fatty acid, amino acid and poison
b. VACUOLES- sacs formed by fusion of multiple vesicles
- break down waste, debris and toxins or food
- in plants: keeps plant cell plump
c. ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER)- interconnected tubes and flattened sacs
- extension of the nuclear membrane
- functions as a manufacturing and packaging system.
d. GOLGI BODY- enzymes that put finishing touches on proteins and lipids that have been delivered from the ER.

3.MITOCHONDRIA
*aerobic respiration- a series of oxygen- requiring reactions that harvests the energy in sugars by breaking their
bonds

4. CHLOROPLASTS AND OTHER PLASTIDS- double-membrane organelles that function in photosynthesis, storage or
pigmentation in plant and algal cells.
* ribosome is responsible for translating encoded messages from messenger RNA molecules to synthesize proteins
from amino acids.
*centriole is a small set of microtubules arranged in a specific way. They are put to work in both the process
of mitosis and the process of meiosis.
*Lysosomes hold enzymes that were created by the cell. The purpose of the lysosome is to digest things. They
might be used to digest food or break down the cell when it dies.

5. CYTOSKELETON
- system of interconnected protein filaments

CYTOSKELETAL ELEMENTS:
a. MICROTUBLES- long, hollow cylinders that consist of subunits of the protein tubulin. They form dynamic scaffolding for
many cellular processes. Assembles and disassembles if needed.
b. MICROFILAMENTS (muscles)- consist of subunit of a protein called actin
- strengthens or changes the shape of a eukaryotic cell
- functions in cell migration, movement and contraction.
- connects the plasma membrane to other protein
c. INTERMEDIATE FILAMENTS
- most stable element that forms a framework that lends structure and resilience to cells and tissues.
- assembled from protein; ex: hair- keratin
d. MOTOR PROTEINS- move cell parts when energized by a phosphate-group transfer

6. CELL SURFACE SPECIALIZATION

a. CELL MATRICES- The ECM is a network of extracellular molecules which are secreted locally to ensure cell and
tissue cohesion. The ECM also serves as a reservoir for extracellular signaling molecules that control cell growth,
migration, and differentiation.
b. CELL JUNCTIONS- connect a cell directly to other cells or to its environment
1. tight junction- prevent body fluids from slipping between the cells. Ex: gastric fluid
2. adhering junction- fastens cells to one another. Connects cytoskeletal elements inside the cell.
3. gap junction- connect the cytoplasm to adjoining animal cell. Permits water, ions and small molecules to
pass
 4. plasmodesmata (plants)- connect the cytoplasm to adjoining animal cell. Permits water, ions and small
molecules to pass
Plant cells
Function of cells which animal and plant cells have in common

Part Function

Nucleus Contains genetic material, which controls the activities of the cell

Cytoplasm Most chemical processes take place here, controlled by enzymes

Cell membrane Controls the movement of substances into and out of the cell

Mitochondria Most energy is released by respiration here

Ribosomes Protein synthesis happens here

Plant cells also have extra parts:
Extra parts of plant cells
Part Function

Cell wall Strengthens the cell

Chloroplasts Contain chlorophyll, which absorbs light energy for photosynthesis

Permanent vacuole Filled with cell sap to help keep the cell turgid

ENERGY IN THE WORLD OF LIFE

Energy- capacity to do work
1. ENERGY DISPERSES
Thermodynamics- study of heat and other forms of energy
Entropy- measure of how much energy of a system has become dispersed
2. ENERGY’S ONE-WAY FLOW

ENERGY IN THE MOLECULES OF LIFE

1. CHEMICAL BOND ENERGY
2. WHY EARTH DOES NOT GO UP IN FLAMES
3. ENERGY IN, ENERGY OUT
* ENDERGONIC REACTIONS- build compounds
*EXERGONIC REACTIONS- harvest energy by breaking bonds of organic compound

SUNLIGHT AS AN ENERGY SOURCE

1. PROPERTIES OF LIGHT
* light- electromagnetic radiation that moves through space in waves
* visible light travels in wavelength between 380 and 750 nm (main form of energy that drives photosynthesis
2. PIGMENTS: THE RAINBOW CATCHERS
PIGMENT: an organic molecule that selectively captures light of specific wavelength
color Wavelength interval Frequency interval
Red ~ 700–635 nm ~ 430–480 THz
Orange ~ 635–590 nm ~ 480–510 THz
Yellow ~ 590–560 nm ~ 510–540 THz
Green ~ 560–520 nm ~ 540–580 THz
Cyan ~ 520–490 nm ~ 580–610 THz
Blue ~ 490–450 nm ~ 610–670 THz
Violet ~ 450–400 nm ~ 670–750 THz

CHROLOPHYLL: most common photosynthetic pigment in plants and photosynthetic protists

: absorbs violet, red, orange and reflects it as green
: sometimes called accessory pigment
PIGMENT MOLECULES: an antenna like which specializes for receiving light that absorbs an exact amount of
photon to boost electron
 Excited electron

PHOTOSYNTHESIS- converts the energy light into energy of chemical bonds

PHOTO: conversion of light energy to chemical bond energy of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate a nucleotide that performs
many essential roles in the cell)
SYNTHESIS: sugar-building reactions run in the stomata

1. LIGHT-DEPENDENT REACTIONS- chlorophyll and other accessory pigment absorbs light

PHOTOSYSTEM: group of hundreds of chlorophylls, accessory pigments and other molecules that work as a unit
to begin the reactions of photosynthesis
2. THE LIGHT-INDEPENDENT REACTIONS- carbon fixation (calvin-benson cycle)