BIOLOGY 2

Definition of Terms:

Plant Morphology refers to the study of the plant structure

Plant Anatomy is the phase of morphology dealing with the minute internal structure of
plants, with special reference to their tissue
Plant physiology is the study of chemicals, physical processes and behavior of plants
Plant genetics is the study of inheritance and breeding of plants
Plant pathology is the study of the causes, control and other features of plant diseases

What Distinguishes Most Plants from Animals

Most plants are able to manufacture their own foods from raw materials from the air and soil,
while animals lack this ability and depend upon plants for their food
Most plants have green pigments chlorophylls which are lacking in most animals
Most plants contain cellulose in their structural framework, a substance lacking in all but a few
species of animals
Most plants are stationary, whereas most animals are capable of locomotion
Most plants have an unlimited scheme of growth, as contrasted with the limit scheme of most
animals
Most plants produce spores, non sexual reproductive cells, which are generally lacking in
animals

Main Organ of Plants

Roots

Absorption of water and dissolved materials

The anchorage of plant
The conduction of water and dissolved substance from the root up into the stems and of food
from the stem down to the root
The storage of food and water
Reproduction
Photosynthesis in a few species

Stem

The conduction of materials from roots to leaves and from leaves to roots
The storage of foods and other substances
The production and support of leaves and flowers or cones
Reproduction
Photosynthesis

Leaves

Chiefly in manufacture of foods from water and mineral salts absorbed from the soil and from
the carbon dioxide of the air

Cones and Flowers

For reproduction

Why water is Important to Plants

It is a constituent of living protoplasm

It is a raw material used in food manufacture
It is the medium of absorption and of transportation of solid materials in plants
It is the medium in which most of the chemical reactions in protoplasm takes place.
It provides the pressure which if necessary for the maintenance of form, for support of the
growth
It helps regulate temperature

Important Plant Processes

Imbibition process entails the absorption of water by deep or partly dry colloidal materials
Osmosis diffusion of a liquid thorugh a differentially permeable membrane
Diffusion the tendency of the molecules of a substance to move from a region of greater
abundance to a region of lesser abundance
Plasmolysis outward diffusion of water causes a shrinkage of the protoplasm away from the
cell wall
Osmotic pressure the maximum pressure which water by a rigid membrane permeable only to
water

Specialized Roots

Aerial roots ivy

Prop roots corn
Storage roots carrots
Contractile roots bulbs and other underground stems
Photosynthetic roots orchids

Difference of Herbaceous Stems and Woody Stems

Herbaceous Stems
Soft and green
Little growth in diameter
Tissue chiefly primary
Chiefly annual

Woody Stems
Tough and not green
Considerable growth in diameter
Tissue chiefly secondary
Chiefly perennial

 Covered by an epidermis
Buds mostly naked
Difference of Photosynthesis and Respiration
Photosynthesis
Takes in carbon dioxide
Released oxygen
Synthesized sugars and other organic
compounds
Result in increase in dry weight
Occurs only in the presence of chlorophyll
Stores energy
Occurs only when light energy is available

Covered by corky bark

Buds chiefly covered by scales

Respiration
Release carbon dioxide
Binds oxygen
Degrades sugar and other organic
compounds
Results in decrease in dry weight
Occurs in all living cells
Release energy
Occur throughout entire life of any cell

Zoology
Important Terms and Definitions

Zoology is the study of animals

Biology zoology and botany together
Cystology study of cells
Hypothesis the scientist analysis available date and from these develops a scientific guess as
to the cause of the observed phenomenon
Theory application of hypothesis
Scientific law when the theory proves to have a wide application
Ecology the study of relations between organism and environment
Genetics - the study of the similarities and differences existing between parents and offsprings,
and the factors which control the same
Is the term applied to the progressive development of more complex forms of life from simpler
one
Embryology is the study of development

Chemicals and Elements that are most characteristics of protoplasm

Elements: Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, sulphur

o Sodium, magnesium, chlorine, potassium, calcium, iron usually present but not
invariably
Compounds
o Carbohydrates
o Lipids
o Protein
o Nucleic acids
o Hormones and vitamins

o Enzymes
o Inorganic constituents
Biological Characteristics of protoplasm
o Metabolism
Digestion
Respiration
Assimilation
o Growth
o Irritability
o Organization

Cells

Minute protoplasm exists in the form of masses, consist of a central differentiated portion. The
nucleus and a surrounding portion, the cytosome.
Cell membrane the outside boundary of all cells is determined by a thin but definite
membrane
Cytosome is the part of the cell lying outside the nucleus
Nucleus is a specialized mass of protoplasm usually spherical, near the center of the cell

Major Characteristics of a typical Cell

Cell membrane
Cytosome
o Cytoplasm fills most of the space between nucleus and cell membrane
o Vacuoles are relatively large liquid globules suspended in the cytoplasm
o Central bodies they are division centers from which radiate during cell divisions,
cytoplasmic strands
o Mitochondria - are granules of small size but of various shape suspended in the
cytoplasm. They are the centers of enzyme activity
o Golgi apparatus
o Plastids centers of chemical activity
Nucleus
o Is a protoplasmic membrane surrounding the nucleus, similar in constitution to the cell
membrane
o Nucleosome consist of everything enclosed by the nuclear membrane

Mitosis

Indirect cell division

Phases or Steps
o Prophase all the changes in the cell from the beginning of division to the
establishment of the chromosome on the equator of the spindle

o
o

Metaphase - the division and separation of the daughter chromosome on the spindle
Anaphase the changes associated with the migration of chromosome to the poles of
the spindle, the position of the new nuclei
o Telophase the processes of reorganization of the 2 daughter cells
Amitosis is a direct nuclear division, the nucleus fragmenting or pinching in 2, usually not
followed by division of the cytosomes

Meiosis

is a special type of cell divisionnecessary for sexual reproduction in eukaryotes. The cells produced by
meiosis are gametes or spores.

Interphase

Growth 1 (G1) phase - G1 stage each of the chromosomes consists of a single (very long)
molecule of DNA. In humans, at this point cells are 46 chromosomes, 2N, identical to somatic
cells
Synthesis (S) phase - The genetic material is replicated: each of its chromosomes duplicates, so
that each of the 46 chromosomes becomes a complex of two identical sister chromatids. The
cell is still considered diploid because it still contains the same number of centromeres. The
identical sister chromatids have not yet condensed into the densely packaged chromosomes
visible with the light microscope. This will take place during prophase I in meiosis
Growth 2 (G2) phase- G2 phase as seen before mitosis is not present in Meiosis. Actually, the
first four stages of prophase I in many respects correspond to the G2 phase of mitotic cell cycle.

Meiosis I

consists of separating the pairs of homologous chromosome; each made up of two sister
chromatids, into two cells.

Meiosis II

consists of decoupling each chromosome's sister strands (chromatids), and segregating the
individual chromatids into haploid daughter cells. The two cells resulting from meiosis I divide
during meiosis II, creating 4 haploid daughter cells. Meiosis I and II are each divided into
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase stages, similar in purpose to their analogous
subphases in the mitotic cell cycle.

EVOLUTION
Heredity

Genotype - Inherited traits are controlled by genes and the complete set of genes within an
organism's genome

Phenotype - The complete set of observable traits that make up the structure and behaviour of an
organism

Variation

Hardy-Weinberg principle - provides the solution to how variation is maintained in a

population with Mendelian inheritance. The frequencies of alleles (variations in a gene) will
remain constant in the absence of selection, mutation, migration and genetic drift.

Gene Flow

is the exchange of genes between populations and between species. It can therefore be a source
of variation that is new to a population or to a species.

can be caused by the movement of individuals between separate populations of organisms, as

might be caused by the movement of mice between inland and coastal populations, or the
movement of pollen between heavy metal tolerant and heavy metal sensitive populations of
grasses.

Natural Selection

is the process by which genetic mutations that enhance reproduction become and remain, more
common in successive generations of a population.

ECOLOGY
Biomes - are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as
communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems.
A fundamental classification of biomes is:

Terrestrial (land) biomes

Aquatic biomes (including freshwater biomes and marine biomes)

8 Classification of Biomes

tundra
taiga
temperate deciduous forest
scrub forest (called chaparral in California)
grassland
desert
tropical rain forest
temperate rain forest

Tropical Rainforest

The trees are very tall and of a great variety of species.

One rarely finds two trees of the same species growing close to one another.

The vegetation is so dense that little light reaches the forest floor.
Most of the plants are evergreen, not deciduous.
The branches of the trees are festooned with vines and epiphytes (see the photo taken in the
Luquillo National Forest of Puerto Rico).
Epiphytes are plants that live perched on sturdier plants. They do not take nourishment from
their host as parasitic plants do. Because their roots do not reach the ground, they depend on
the air to bring them moisture and inorganic nutrients. Many orchids and many bromeliads
(members of the pineapple family like "Spanish moss") are epiphytes.

Temperate Deciduous Forest

hardwood trees (e.g., beech, maple, oak, hickory) which

are deciduous; that is, shed their leaves in the autumn.
The number of different species is far more limited than in the jungle.
Large stands dominated by a single species are common.
Deer, raccoons, and salamanders are characteristic inhabitants.
During the growing season, this biome can be quite productive in both natural and agricultural
ecosystems.

Taiga

The taiga is named after the biome in Russia.

It is a land dominated by conifers, especially spruces and firs.

Tundra

The climate is so cold in winter that even the long days of summer are unable to thaw the
permafrost beneath the surface layers of soil.
Sphagnum moss, a wide variety of lichens, and some grasses and fast-growing annuals dominate
the landscape during the short growing season.

Chaparral

The annual rainfall in the chaparral biome may reach 2030 inches (6476 cm), but in contrast
to the grasslands, almost all of this falls in winter. Summers are very dry and all the plants
trees, shrubs, and grasses are more or less dormant then.

Marine Ecosystem

All life in the ocean is divided into three main groups.

o Plankton
o Nekton
o Benthos

Freshwater Ecosystem

Freshwater ecosystems can be divided into lentic ecosystems (still water) and lotic ecosystems
(flowing water).
Limnology (and its branch freshwater biology) is a study about freshwater ecosystems.

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

Is the phenomenon or process by which an ecological community undergoes more or less

orderly and predictable changes following disturbance or initial colonization of new habitat
Primary Succession - is one of two types of biological and ecological succession of plant life,
occurring in an environment in which new substrate devoid of vegetation and usually lacking
soil, such as a lava flow or area left from retreated glacier, is deposited. In other words, it is the
gradual growth of an ecosystem over a longer period.
Secondary Succession - occurs on substrate that previously supported vegetation before an
ecological disturbance from smaller things like floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and volcanic
eruptions which destroyed the plant life.
Community Founds in a Climax Community
o

Hydrosere - Community in freshwater

Lithosere - Community on rock

Psammosere - Community on sand

Xerosere - Community in dry area

Halosere - Community in saline body (e.g. a marsh)