BIOLOGY MOST

IMPORTANT TOPICS

NUTRITION IN ORGANISM
Digestion in Humans
The food components pass through a
continuous canal and get digested in
each compartment. This is called an
alimentary canal, it is ‘the tract or canal
running from mouth to anus of human
being where digestion and absorption
of food take place.’
The alimentary canal can be divided
into various compartments:

•The buccal cavity

•Food pipe or oesophagus
•Stomach
•Small intestine
•Large intestine ending in the rectum
•The anus
The main digestive glands which
secrete digestive juices are

•salivary gland
•liver
•pancreas

Various processes involved in

utilisation of food in humans are:-
•The process of taking food into the
body is called ingestion.
•The process by which the food
containing large insoluble substances
is broken down into small
water-soluble substances is called
digestion. •There are two methods of
digesting food, i.e. physical method
(including chewing and grinding of food
in mouth) and chemical method
(addition of digestive juices to the food
by the body itself).

•The process by which the digested

food passes through the intestinal wall
into the bloodstream is called
absorption.
•The process by which the absorbed
food is taken in body cells and used for
energy, growth and repair is called
assimilation.
•The process by which the undigested
food is removed from the body is
called egestion

Teeth
The food is cut by the teeth inside the
mouth. Teeth mechanically break the
food into small pieces. These teeth
vary in appearance. Each tooth is
rooted in a separate socket in the
gums.
There are four types of teeth:

•Incisors These are four chisel-shaped

incisors at centre of each jaw for biting
and cutting the food.
•Canines These are two large pointed
teeth just behind incisors in each jaw,
for piercing and tearing the food.
•Premolars These are four (two on
each side) large premolars with the flat
surface behind the canines in each
jaw, for grinding and chewing.
•Molars In an adult, these are six
(three on each side) large molars with
the flat surface behind the premolars in
each jaw, for grinding.
VEGETARIVE PROPAGATION
IN PLANTS

This occurs when plants grow and

develop naturally without any human
interference. Natural vegetative
propagation can be enabled by the
development of adventitious roots.
Thus, new plants may emerge from the
roots, stem and leaves of the parent
plant.

The vegetative plant structures arising

from the stem are known as rhizomes,
bulbs, runners, tubers, etc. The plants
propagated vegetatively are given
below:

Stem
Runners grow horizontally above the
ground. The buds are formed at the
nodes of the runners.

Roots
New plants emerge out of swollen,
modified roots known as tubers. Buds
are formed at the base of the stem.
Leaves
Leaves of a few plants get detached
from the parent plant and develop into
new plants.

Bulbs
Bulbs have an underground stem to
which the leaves are attached. These
leaves are capable of storing food. The
centre of the bulb contains an apical
bud that produces leaves and flowers.
Shoots are developed from the lateral
buds.

Artificial Vegetative Propagation

This is a type of vegetative
reproduction carried out by humans in
the fields and laboratories. The most
common types of vegetative
reproduction occurring artificially
include:

Cutting
In this, a part of a plant, specifically a
stem or leaf is cut and planted in the
soil. These cuttings are sometimes
treated with hormones to induce root
development. The new plant is formed
from the adventitious roots developing
from the cutting.

Grafting
In this, the cutting from some other
plant is attached to the stem of a plant
rooted in the ground. The tissues of
the graft become integrated with the
tissues of the rooted plant and develop
as a single plant over time.
Layering
In this, the stem of the plant is bent to
the ground and covered with soil.
Adventitious roots emerge from the
plant parts covered with the soil. This
attached stem with developing roots is
known as a layer.

Tissue Culture
In this, the plant cells from different
parts of a plant are cultured in the
laboratory to develop a new plant. This
technique is helpful in increasing the
number of rare and endangered plant
species that are unable to grow under
natural conditions.
SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN
PLANTS

Flowers are the reproductive parts of a

plant. Male and female gametes are
produced in the flower.
The flower consists of four main parts-

Sepals: They are the green leaf-like

structures which protect the flower in
the bud stage.
Petals: They are the coloured
structures. They are the most beautiful
part of the flower that attracts the birds
and insects for pollination
Stamens: They are the male
reproductive parts. Stamens consist of
two parts – anther and filament. Anther
is a swollen part of the stamen. The
filament is a long, slender stalk which
attaches the stamen to the flower.
Pollen grains are formed inside the
anther which produces the male
gametes.
Pistil or Carpel: It is the female
reproductive part of the flower. It
consists of three parts – stigma, style
and the ovary. The stigma is at the top
of the pistil. It receives the pollen
grains during pollination. The style is a
long, tube-like structure which passes
the pollen grains to the ovary. The
ovary is the swollen part present at the
basal part of the pistil. The ovary
consists of the ovule which bears the
female gamete.

Flowers can be of two types depending

upon whether both the sexual parts –
male and female are present in the
same flower or different flower.
TYPES OF FLOWER:-
Bisexual flowers: Flowers which
contain both the stamens and the pistil
are known as bisexual flowers. For
example- Rose, Hibiscus, Gulmohar,
Mustard etc.
Uni-sexual flowers: The flowers
which contain either the stamens or
the pistil are known as unisexual
flowers. For example- Maize, Papaya,
Cucumber etc.

Pollination
Transfer of pollen grains from the
anthers to the receptive stigma is
known as pollination. Pollination is of
two types:

Self-pollination: In this process pollen

grains from the anthers pollinate the
stigma of the same flower.
Cross-pollination: In this case pollen
grains of one flower fall on a different
flower of either the same plant or
another plant.
SEX DETERMINATION

Human beings exhibit male

heterogamy. In humans, males (XY)
produce two different types of
gametes, X and Y. The human female
(XX) produces only one type of
gametes containing X chromosomes.
The sex of the baby is determined by
the type of male gamete that fuses
with the female gamete. If the fertilizing
sperm contains X chromosome, then
the baby produced will be a girl and if
the fertilizing sperm contains Y
chromosome, then the baby produced
will be a boy. Hence, it is a matter of
chance that determines the sex of a
baby. There is an equal probability of
the fertilizing sperm haveup an X or Y
chromosome. Thus, it is the genetic
make up of the sperm that determines
the sex of the baby.

MENDEL’S PEA
EXPERIMENT
Gregor Johann Mendel is known as
the Father of Genetics.
He conducted hybridization
experiments on garden peas for seven
years (1856-1863) and proposed the
laws of inheritance.
Mendel conducted artificial
pollination/cross pollination
experiments using several
true-breeding pea lines (plants that
show the stable trait inheritance and
expression for several generations).
Reasons that Mendel chose the pea
plant:

The pea plant can be easily grown and

maintained.
They are naturally self-pollinating but
can also be cross-pollinated.
It is an annual plant, therefore, many
generations can be studied within a
short period of time.
It has several contrasting characters.
Mendel’s laws:

Law of Dominance: According to this,

hybrid offspring will only inherit the
dominant trait in the phenotype. The
alleles that are suppressed are called
the recessive traits while the alleles
that determine the trait are known as
the dominant traits.
Law of Independent Assortment: It
states that a pair of traits segregates
independently of another pair during
gamete formation. As the individual
heredity factors assort independently,
different traits get equal opportunity to
occur together.
Law of Segregation: It states that
during the production of gametes, two
copies of each hereditary factor
segregate so that offspring acquire one
factor from each parent. In other
words, allele (alternative form of the
gene) pairs segregate during the
formation of gamete and re-unite
randomly during fertilization.
ECOSYSTEM

An ecosystem is a biological
community where the living and
non-living components interact with
each other and their physical
environment. It is the functional unit of
nature and varies greatly in size. Let
us have a look at the structure,
function and components of an
ecosystem.
Structure of Ecosystem
The structure of the ecosystem
comprises two different components:

Biotic (plants, animals and humans)

Abiotic(light, air, soil etc)

Ecosystem Types
There are three main types of
ecosystems.

Terrestrial Ecosystem
These are the ecosystem found only
on land. The terrestrial ecosystems
include,

Forest ecosystem
Grassland ecosystem
Desert ecosystem
Mountain ecosystem
Aquatic Ecosystem
The aquatic ecosystem is the
ecosystem in the water body. It
includes oceanic ecosystem,
pondwater ecosystem.

OZONE DEPLETION

Ozone layer depletion is the thinning of

the ozone layer present in the upper
atmosphere. This happens when the
chlorine and bromine atoms in the
atmosphere come in contact with
ozone and destroy the ozone
molecules. One chlorine can destroy
100,000 molecules of ozone. It is
destroyed more quickly than it is
created.
Some compounds release chlorine and
bromine on exposure to high ultraviolet
light, which then contributes to ozone
layer depletion. Such compounds are
known as Ozone Depleting
Substances (ODS).
Causes of Ozone Layer Depletion
Ozone layer depletion is a major
concern and is associated with a
number of factors.
The main causes responsible for the
depletion of the ozone layer are listed
below:

Chlorofluorocarbons
Chlorofluorocarbons or CFCs are the
main cause of ozone layer depletion.
These are released by solvents, spray
aerosols, refrigerators,
air-conditioners, etc.

The molecules of chlorofluorocarbons

in the stratosphere are broken down by
ultraviolet radiations and release
chlorine atoms. These atoms react
with ozone and destroy it.

Unregulated Rocket Launches

Researches say that the unregulated
launching of rockets results in much
more depletion of the ozone layer than
the CFCs do. If not controlled, this
might result in a huge loss of the
ozone layer by the year 2050.

Nitrogenous Compounds
The nitrogenous compounds such as
NO2, NO, N2O are highly responsible
for the depletion of the ozone layer.

Natural Causes
The ozone layer has been found to be
depleted by certain natural processes
such as Sun-spots and stratospheric
winds. But it does not cause more than
1-2% of the ozone layer depletion.
BIOMAGNIFICATION

Biomagnification is any concentration

of a toxin, such as pesticides, in the
tissues of tolerant species at
increasingly higher levels in a food
chain.
The buildup of the insecticide DDT in
zooplankton is one instance of
biomagnification in action.
Substances responsible for
biomagnification:

•Pesticides and chemicals like DDT

and mercury that are dumped into
lakes and rivers are consumed by
aquatic species.
These build up in their body tissues
and are passed on to other creatures
that feed on them.
•The mining operation releases a
considerable amount of selenium and
sulfide into the environment,
destroying the oceans and coastal
regions.
•Heavy metals like mercury and
arsenic as well as pesticides like
polychlorinated biphenyls and DDT are
examples of possible contaminants.