Life processes

The expression of protoplasm is called life. Protoplasm in a cell is composed of cytoplasm and
nucleus. Normal characteristics of living things are referred to as life processes. There are eight
life processes which take place in most living things or organisms. These are:

• Movement
• Respiration
• Sensitivity
• Growth
• Reproduction
• Excretion
• Nutrition
• Control

Movement: Animal can move from one place to the next to protect them from hazard or in
search of better survival. They move by the action of muscles. But, plants move to the direction
of stimulus, such as light, gravity, water etc.. Their growth to stimulus is called tropism.
Respiration: It is the break down of food to release energy. Respiration is of two types- aerobic
and anaerobic. A sugar called glucose is used as a respiratory substrate.
Aerobic Respiration: Oxygen is involved in breaking down food to release a huge amount of
energy. It occurs in the mitochondria of a cell.
Word equation:

Glucose + oxygen Carbon dioxide + water + Energy

Chemical equation:

C6H12O6 + 6O2 6CO2 + 6 H2O + Energy

Energy thus released in respiration is temporarily stored in the mitochondria in the form of ATP
( Adenosine Triphosphate).

ATP is composed of an organic molecule called adenosine attached to three phosphate groups. In
a cell, ATP can be broken down losing one phosphate group and forming adenosine diphosphate
or ADP.

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When energy is needed ATP is broken down into ADP and phosphate(P):

During respiration ATP is made from ADP and phosphate:

When this reaction takes place, chemical energy is released and this energy can be used in the
following areas:

• To keep the body warmer

• For the contraction of muscle cells to move
• In active transport of molecules and ions
• For the synthesis of protoplasm
• In cell division

Anaerobic Respiration: It occurs in absence of oxygen.

In lower organism,e.g., yeast:
Word equation:
Glucose Ethanol + carbon dioxide + Energy
Chemical equation:
C6H12O6 2C2H5OH + 2CO2 + Energy
Knowledge about anaerobic respiration can be used in different commercial processes such as, in
making wine, beer and baking bread etc. The ethanol from this type of respiration is the alcohol
formed in wine and beer-making. The carbon dioxide is the gas that makes bread dough rise.

In higher organism, e.g., human-

Word equation:
Glucose Lactic acid + Energy
Chemical equation:
C6H12O6 2CH3CH(OH)COOH + Energy

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Anaerobic respiration provides enough energy to keep the overworked muscles going for a short
period. During the exercise, the level of lactate produced in anaerobic respiration rises in the
muscle cells and blood stream. Thus, blood pH decreases which as a result affects the central
nervous system. This may reduce nervous stimulation from the brain to the muscle. Thus, it may
reduce or stop muscle contraction.

After the exercise, the lactate is respired aerobically in the mitochondria. The volume of oxygen
needed to completely oxidise the lactate that builds up in the body during anaerobic respiration is
called oxygen debt.

Sensitivity: It is the ability of an organism to respond to the changes in their surroundings. For
example, withdrawn of hand from hot objects, Blinking if an object approaches the eyes,
contracting and dilating of the pupils in response to changing light levels etc.

Growth: Permanent increase in the number and size of the cells and complexity of the
organisms, using materials from their food. This is brought about by cell division and the
utilisation of new materials within the cells and cell expansion.

Reproduction: It is the process through which offspring is produced. For example, fusion of
male and female gametes to form zygote during fertilization. This zygote grows and develop into
a multicellular organism. Organisms may also carry out asexual reproduction which involves
cutting, bulbs, tuber, budding etc.

Excretion: The removal of metabolic wastes from the body is called excretion. For example,
carbon dioxide produced in the mitochondria during respiration is excreted throgh the lungs, urea
produced in the liver is excreted through the kidney and sweat produced by sweat gland is
excreted through the skin.

Excretory products Site of production Site of destination (Excretory organ)

Carbon dioxide Mitochondria Lungs
Urea Liver Kidneys
Sweat Sweat gland Skin

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Nutrition: It is the process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.
For example, plants make their own food by photosynthesis and animals eat other organisms for
nutrition. It is of two types- autotrophic and heterotrophic.

In autotrophic nutrition, an organism can produce its own food. For example, a plant is an
autotroph. It can produce its own food by photosynthesis.

In heterotrophic nutrition, an organism can feed on other organisms. Heterotrophic nutrition may
be of the following types:

Saprotrophic nutrition: When an organism feeds on dead and decayed organic material and
digestion takes place outside of the organism, then it is termed as saprotrophic nutrition. For
example, fungi, bacteria, earthworm etc are group of decomposers and carry out saprotrophic
nutrition.

Parasitic nutrition: Parasitic nutrition is a mode of heterotrophic nutrition where an organism

lives on the body surface or inside the body of another type of organism .The parasite obtains
nutrition directly from the body of the host. In turns, the host is affected. Hence, parasites are
dependent on their host for survival; host provides nutrition such as glucose, amino acids, fatty
acids etc and protection for the parasite.

For example, head lice obtain nutrients such as glucose from the blood of human host. Likewise,
round worm and tapeworm are parasites in human.

Holozoic nutrition: It involves ingestion, digestion, absorption, assimilation and egestion. It is

observed in higher organisms like human.

Control of internal conditions: Organisms can maintain a steady state inside the body through
negative feedback. Example of some internal conditions are- body temperature, water contents of
the body, blood glucose concentration, carbon dioxide concentration in blood etc.

“GOOD LUCK”

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 Cell Structure

Cells are a fundamental unit of structure, function and organisation in all living organisms. The
cells structure of higher organisms such as animals, plants and fungi are given below.

Cell wall: Plant cell wall is a layer of non-living material found outside the cell membrane. It is
made of a carbohydrate called cellulose.

Function:

• Cellulose is a tough material helping the cell keep its shape

• It provides support and prevent the plant cell from bursting
• It allows movement of water through and along it
• It acts as a waterproofing layer when impregnated with other substances such as lignin

Cell membrane: All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane. It is made of lipid and protein.

Function:

• It acts as a selectively or partially permeable membrane. Because it allows selective

substances such as water, mineral etc. to pass across.
• Osmosis, diffusion and active transport occur through cell membrane
• It acts as a sac-like structure holding cytoplasm and organelles inside it

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Cytoplasm: It is jelly-like structure and contains all living materials making up a cell. For
example, proteins such as enzymes, glucose, water and different ions such as Na+, K+, Cl-etc.

Functions:

• It provides a basis for chemical reaction to occur

• Organelles are suspended in it
• It regulates osmotic potential of the cell

Mitochondria: All living cells contain mitochondria which are rod-like structure having outer
and inner membrane. These membranes seperate its contents from the rest of the cytoplasm. Its
inner membrane is folded to form cristae which increases the surface area for more chemical
reactions to occur. Matrix inside mitochondria contains the enzymes needed for different
chemical reactions involved in the respiration. Cells with a high demand of energy contain more
mitochondria, for example, liver cells, muscle cells nerve cells etc.

Functions:

• Aerobic respiration occurs here

• Energy released in respiration is used to make ATP which is temporarily stored here
• It is called the power house of the cell.

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Nucleus: It is the largest organelle in the cell. Nearly all cells have a nucleus excepting few types
such as red blood cells in animals and cells in the xylem vessel in plant. It is bounded by double
membrane-inner and outer membrane.

Functions:

• It controls the activity of the cell

• Chromosome in nucleus contains the genetic material of the cell
• Nucleolus in the nucleus is made of pure DNA. It produces ribosomes
• Nuclear pore controls the entry and exit of substances into and out of the nucleus

Chloroplast: It is also double membrane bounded organelle. It is present in the cells of the
green parts of the plant, such as leaves. Cells from the parts of a plant that are not green, such as
the flowers, roots and woody stems, have no chloroplasts.

Functions:

• Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll which absorbs light energy and converts this light
energy into chemical energy for using in the photosynthesis.
Endoplasmic Reticulum: It is an extension of the outer nuclear membrane. It is of two types-
rough endoplasmic reticulum and smooth endoplasmic reticulum.

Functions:

• It forms a transport network throughout the cell

• It provides a large surface area for chemical reactions
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum is involved in protein synthesis
• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum produce lipids and steroids

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Golgi apparatus: Golgi apparatus is composed of membrane bound flattened sacs piled up in
stacks.

Functions:

• It is involved in modifying chemicals such as protein produced by endoplasmic reticulum

to make it functional. For example, iron is added to protein to make haemoglobin etc.
• It also produces lysosome.

Lysosome: It is produced by the Golgi apparatus.

Function:

• It releases enzyme outside the cell to digest external material

• It destroys damaged or unwanted cell organelles
• It digests engulfed material by a cell, for example, bacteria engulfed by white blood cells

Ribosome : It is made of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) and proteins.

Function:

• It is here protein synthesis occurs

Centriole: It is made of proteins. There are two centrioles near the nucleus in each cell.

Function:

• It is involved in cell division

Vacuole: It is a fluid-filled sac surrounded by a membrane called tonoplast in plant cell. It is a

permanent feature in plant cell but temporary in animal cell. The fluid inside the vacuole is
called cell sap which is a store of dissolved sugars, mineral ions and other solutes.

Function:

• It regulates osmotic potential of the cell

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Similarities and differences between a plant and an animal cell
Similarities:

Both plant and animal cells contain-

• Cell membrane
• Cytoplasm
• Mitochondria
• Nucleas
• Ribosome
• Endoplasmic reticulum ( Rough and smooth)
• Golgi apparatus
• Lysosome

Differences:

Features Plant Cell Animal Cell

Presence of cell wall Present Absent
Presence of large permanent vacuole Present Absent
Presence of chloroplast Present Absent
Presence of centriole Absent Present
Energy store Starch Glycogen

Types of cell : Fundamentally there are two different types of cells. These are-

• Prokaryotic cell
• Eukaryotic cell

Prokaryotic cell- Cells lacking organised nucleus and other membrane-bounded organelles such
as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc. are reffered to as prokaryotic cells. Its DNA is
circular. It has 70S ribosome. It has cell wall which is made of carbohydrate and protein.

Eukaryotic cell- Cells having organised nucleus and membrane bounded-organelles such as
mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc. are referred to as eukaryotic cells. Hence, organised
nucleus means- nucleus is bounded by nuclear membrane and chromosome is located inside the
nucleus. Its DNA is not circular. It has 80S ribosome. It may contain cell wall which is either
cellulose as in plants or chitin, as in fungus.

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 The variety of living organisms

There are more than ten million species of organisms on the today’s Earth and many more that
once lived on the Earth but are now extinct. Many scientists classified the organisms into
different groups based on the similarities and differences they possess. According to them,
members of each group are descended from a common ancestor by the process of evolution. The
major groups of living organisms scientists proposed are-

• Plants
• Animals
• Fungi
• Protoctists
• Bacteria
• Virus

Virus

A virus is not a cell. It is a particle. It has no nucleus or cytoplasm. It is between 0.01 and 0.1 µm
in diameter which is smaller than a bacterial cell.
A virus can be considered either as living or as a chemical. It does not have any of the normal
characteristics of living things, such as feeding, respiration, excretion,movement, growth or
sensitivity except that it is able to reproduce.
Viruses can reproduce only inside a host cell, by taking over the cell’s genetic machinery to
make more virus particles. So viruses are all parasites.
Structure of a virus:
Virus is composed of a core genetic material surrounded by a protein coat called capsid. The
capsid is made of small unit called capsomere. The genetic material can either be DNA or RNA.
In either case, the genetic material makes up just a few genes which are needed for the virus to
reproduce inside its host cell. Sometimes, a membrane called an envelope stolen from host cell
membrane may surround a virus particle, as in flu virus. In addition to these, some viruses may
contain an enzyme called reverse transcriptase which convert RNA into DNA.

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Types of virus:
Based on the type of nucleic acids they possess, virus may be classified as DNA virus and RNA
virus. A DNA virus contains DNA(Deoxyribonucleic acid) as its genetic material. Examples of
DNA virus are -
• T2 bacteriophage
• Smallpox virus
• Adenoviruses
• Herpes simplex virus
• Hepatitis B virus
RNA virus contains RNA (Ribonucleic acid) as its genetic material.Examples of RNA virus are-
• TMV(Tobacco masaic virus)
• Polio virus
• Influenza virus
• HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus)
• Hepatitis C virus

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Reproduction in virus:
Virus such as T2 bacteriophage may attack host cell, such as, bacterial cell and multiply its
number inside the host.
It involves the following steps:
• It attaches to the host cell, i.e., the cell wall of the bacterium
• It injects its nucleic acid, i.e., DNA into the bacterial cell
• This DNA becomes incorporated into the DNA of the host cell
• It takes over the host’s genetic machinery to make more virus particles.
• After many virus particles have been made, the host cell dies and the particles are
released from the host cell by lysis to infect more cells

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Importance of virus:

Beneficial aspect:
• Virus can be used in making vaccine, e.g., inactivated polio virus is used to make
polio vaccine
• Virus, such as myxomatosis, can be used as a biological control agent in controlling
the number of rabbits to increase crop production

Harmful aspect:

• Some viruses can cause disease in animals. For example, HIV causing AIDS in
human, influenza virus causes influenza in human etc.
• Virus also cause disease in plants and thus reduce the yield of crops. For example,
TMV infects tobacco leaves. It interferes with the ability of the tobacco plant to make
chloroplasts, causing mottled patches to develop on the leaves.

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 Bacteria

Bacteria are unicellular organisms. They might be from 1 to 5 µm in length. These are smaller
than animal cells. Bacteria are prokaryotes. This means, they have no nucleus and other
membrane bounded organelles such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc. Their genetic
material-nucleoid loose in the cytoplasm.
Some bacteria contain a form of chlorophyll in their cytoplasm, and thus, they can carry out
photosynthesis. Others are decomposers carrying out saprophytic nutrition. Structures and
functions of different parts of a typical bacterium are given below:

Figure: Structure of a typical bacterium

Slime layer or Capsule: It may be produced from glycolipid.

Function:

• It protects the bacterium from phagocytosis by white blood cells

• It protects the bacterial cell from being desicated
Cell wall: It is made of carbohydrate and protein.
Function:
• It prevents the cell swelling and bursting
• It maintains the shape of the bacterium, and gives support and protection to the contents
of the cell

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Cell membrane: It is made of lipid and protein.
Function:
• It acts as selectively permeable
• It holds the cellular contents such as cytoplasm, chromosome, ribosome etc inside it.
Messosome: It is infolding of cell membrane.
Function:
• It is here aerobic respiration occurs in bacterium
Photosynthetic membranes:
Function :
• It holds chlorophyll which is involved in the process of photosynthesis
Cytoplasm: It contains water, mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc. and organic substances such
as proteins, glycogen granule and lipid droplets etc.
Function:
• It provides a basis for chemical reactions to occur
• It maintains osmotic properties of the cell
• Organalles such as ribosome, chromosome, plasmids etc. are suspended in it.
Chromosome or Nucleoid: It contains genetic material. The DNA in its circular chromosome is
folded and coiled to fit into the bacterium.
Plasmids: These are small circular rings of DNA.
Functions:
• It carries some of the bacterium’s genes which can code for the production of a
particular toxin or resistance to a particular antibiotic
• It acts as a vector to transfer desired gene and thus is used in biotechnology.
Flagella: These are made of protein called flagellin.
Function:
• It moves the bacterium through aquatic environment.
Ribosome: It is made of RNA and protein. It is smaller (70S) than those in animal.
Function: It is here protein synthesis occurs in bacteria.

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 Classification of bacteria

Bacteria can be classified on the basis of the followings:

 Shapes:
-Spheres: These may either singles, pairs, chains or groups.
For example, Cocci:
Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Micrococcus etc.

-Rod: These may be either singles, chains with or without flagella.

For example, Bacilli:
Lactobacillus bulgaricus
Salmonella , Shigella etc.

-Spirals: These are either twisted(e.g., Spirilla) or comma-shaped (e.g., Vibrio comma)

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  Respiratory requirements:
- Obligate aerobes: These bacteria need oxygen for respiration
For example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Nocardia asteroides
- Facultative anaerobes: These bacteria use oxygen if it is available, but can manage
without it
For example, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, E.coli etc
- Obligate anaerobe: These bacteria can only respire in absence of oxygen.
For example, Actinomyces, Bacteroides, Clostridium etc

Importance of bacteria

Beneficial aspect:

• Bacteria cause the breakdown and recycling plant and animal remains. They are also used
in treating sewage
• They are involved in food production, e.g., yoghurt, some cheeses, vinegar etc.
• They are a source of antibiotics, e.g. Streptomycin
• They play an important role in manufacturing processes such as tanning leather, retting
flax, making soap powders etc.
• They synthesise some of the vitamin B complex in the human gut

Harmful aspect:

• Some bacteria cause disease in animals, e.g. Tuberculosis by Micobacterium

tuberculosis and typhoid by Salmonella typhi
• Some bacteria infect plants, e.g. Xanthomonas phaseolus causes common blight of beans
• Some bacteria reduces soil fertility, e.g. denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate in the soil
into nitrogen which is released into the air

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 Fungi

Fungi may either be unicellular, e.g. Yeasts or multicellular, e.g. Bread mould. Their cells do not
have chloroplasts. Thus, they can not photosynthesise. Their cells have cell walls made of
chitin. They produce spore which, after being released, will germinate to form hyphae in the soil.
Hyphae are fine thread-like filaments produced due to the germination of fungal spores. Many
hyphae join to form mycelium.

Nutrition:

Fungi feed on dead and decayed organic material and carry out saprotrophic nutrition. After
settling on food, fungal spores germinate to form hyphae. These hyphae are projected into the
food. The tips of hyphae release enzymes depending on type of food, for example, carbohydrase
for carbohydrate, protease for protein, and lipase for fats. These enzymes then digest the food
extracellularly. The digested foods, such as glucose, amino acids and fatty acids and glycerol are
then absorbed into fungal body through hyphae by diffusion.

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Reproduction:

Fungi generally reproduce asexually through either budding, as in the yeasts or spore formation,
as in the bread mould. The spores are produced in the spore case or sporangium. On maturation,
the wall of spore case bursts open releasing spores into the air. Air carries these spores to
different areas where it becomes settled on the soil. The spores are then germinated to form
hyphae. Then the aerial part of hyphae is formed. Spore case is formed in the aerial part. Then
the process continues.

Importance of fungi:

Beneficial aspect:

• They help to maintain soil fertility by recycling many important minerals and
decomposing the organic matter of both plants and animals
• Industrial uses of fungi include-
- In the extraction of enzymes such as invertases and drugs such as antibiotics, steroids
etc.
- in making cheese
- in baking and brewing
- as salad, e.g. mushrooms
- as single cell proteins, e.g. fuserium

Harmful aspect:

• It causes diseases in animals, e.g. athlete’s foot by Taenia pedis

• It causes disease in plants, e.g. Puccinia graminis causes rust of wheat and Phytophthora
infestans causes late blight of potatoes
• Stored food can be damaged by moulds
• Dry rots attack buildings and mildews affect cotton, wool and manufactured goods.

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 Protoctists
Protoctists are mixed group of eukaryotic organisms that don’t fit into the plants, animals or
fungi. Most protoctists are microscopic single-celled organisms. Some look like animal cells,
such as amoeba. These are protozoans. Other protoctists have chloroplasts and carry out
photosynthesis, so are more like plants. These are called algae. Most algae are unicellular,e.g.
chlamydomonas, but some species such as seaweeds, ecklonia are multicellular. Some protoctists
are the agents of diseases, such as Plasmodium, the organism causing malaria.

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 Plants
 Members of this group are multicellular
 Their cells are made of cellulose
 Their cells contain chloroplasts
 Thus, they carry out photosynthesis
 Their stored energy is starch and transportable sugar is sucrose
 Their transporting vessels are xylem and phloem

Animals

• Members of this group are multicellular

• This group includes invertebrates, such as sponges, molluscs, worms, starfish, insects and
crustaceans etc. and vertebrates, such as fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
An invertebrate is an organism having no vertebral collumn or backbone.
• Their cells never contain chloroplasts, thus they are not able to carry out photosynthesis
• Animal cells lack cell walls
• They can move from one place to the next
• Their stored energy is glycogen

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 Specialised cells

These are cells performing special functions. Examples of some specialised cells that have a
structure adapted for a particular function are given below:
• Muscle cell: These are elongated. These can contract to move, for example, food through
the gut

• Leaf palisade cell-These are packed full of chloroplast for photosynthesis

• Sperm cell- It has a tail for swimming and head containing genes from the father.

• Guard cell- It is of bean shape. Two guard cells form a pore called stoma which is
involved in gaseous exchange in the leaves

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 • Nerve cell: Its elongated part carries nerve impulses. Dotted lines indicate that axon is
very long compared with the rest of the cell

• Xylem vessel- Cells in the xylem vessels are dead and hollow with strengthening rings. It
is involved in carrying water and minerals from the root to the stem.

• Red blood cell: It is of biconcave disc shape with no nucleus and contains haemoglobin
to carry oxygen from the lungs to the respiring cells

• White blood cell: It can change its shape and engulfs foreign particles to destroy it by
phagocytosis.

• Ciliated epithelium cell- It contains cilia which constantly beat back and forth to move,
for example, mucus from the trachea to the throat.

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 Cells, Tissues and Organs

Cells with a similar function are grouped together as tissues. For example, the muscle tissue of
the arm contains millions of similar muscle cells, all are specialised for one function which is the
contraction to move the arm bones. A nervous tissue consists of sensory, relay and motor
neurones which are involved in conduction nerve impulses.

A collection of several tissues carrying out a particular function is called an organ. For example,
a leaf is an organ containing xylem tissue, phloem tissue, mesophyll tissue conisiting of spongy
mesophyll and palisade cells all of which are involved in photosynthesis. A heart is an organ
consisting of different tissues such as cardiac muscle tissue, epithelial tissue, connective tissue
and nervous tissue, all of which are involved in pumping blood.
Several different organs working together form organ system. Examples of different organ
systems are-

Figure: The main organs of the human body

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 • Digestive system- It consists of the gut, along with glands such as the pancreas, gall
bladder and liver. It is involved in the digestion of food and the absorption of digested
food into the blood.
• Gas exchange system including the lungs, is involved in exchanging oxygen and carbon
dioxide
• Circulating system including the heart and blood vessels transport materials aroun the
body
• Excretory system including kidneys, which filter toxic waste materials from the blood
• Nervous system consisting of brain, spinal cord and nerves, which coordinate the body’s
actions
• Endocrine system including glands secreting hormones, which act as chemical messenger
• Reproductive system is involved in the production of sperm in males and eggs in female.
It also allows the development of embryo.

Stem cell
A stem cell is undifferentiated and unspecialised. It has ability to divide by mitosis and
convert into other cell types in the body. There are two main types of stem cells:
• Embryonic stem cells- These are the cells found in the early stage of development
of the embryo. These cells have ability to be converted into any type of cells in the
body.
• Adult stem cells- These cells are found in certain adult tissues such as bone marrow,
skin, the lining of the intestine and muscles. These cells have lost the ability to
differentiate into any type of cell but can form a number of specialised tissue. For
example, bone marrow cells can divide many times but are only able to produce
different types of red and white blood cells.
Stem cell therapy: The use of stem cells to treat or prevent a disease, or to repair damaged
tissues is called stem cell therapy. Stem cell therapy can be applied in the following areas:
• The use of bone marrow transplant to treat patients with leukaemia. It also supplies stem
cells that can divide and differentiate to replace cells lost from the body during
chemotherapy.
• To treat diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and to repair damaged nerve tissues
Ethical objection of the use of stem cells:
Embryonic stem cell is a potential life. Use of embryonic stem cell in treatment means killing of
embryo or future baby. This is thus unacceptable by many people.

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 Movement of substances into and out of cells

Cells need a supply of vital substances such as glucose, oxygen etc. for processes such as
respiration and need to remove metabolic wastes such as co2. Cell membrane plays an important
role in controlling the entry and exit of selective substances into and out of the cells. There are
three main ways that molecules and ions can move through the membrane. These are osmosis,
diffusion and active transport.

Osmosis – Osmosis happens when the total concentrations of all the dissolve substances inside
and outside the cell are different.
Hence, ‘Osmosis is the net movement of water molecules from a solution with a high water
potential to a solution with a low water potential through a partially permeable membrane.
Osmosis is important for moving water from cell to cell, for example in plant roots, for using it
in metabolic processes such as, in photosynthesis in plants.

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The partially permeable membrane in the above experiment allows water molecules to pass
through freely but not solute molecules.

Diffusion- Diffusion happens when a substance is more concentrated in one place tha another.
than

Diffusion is the net movement of particles or molecules or ions from a region of high
concentration to a region of low concentration, i.e. down a concentration gradient. The molecules
of substances move around because of its kinetic energy.

For example, carbon dioxide is produced by respiration, so its concentration builds up inside the
cell. Although the carbon dioxide molecules diffuse in both direction across the cell membrane,
the net movement is out of the cell, down the concentration gradient.

If a beaker containing water and potassium manganate(VII) is left to stand, the random motion of
both the water and the purple manganate(VII) ions will ensure that they are eventually evenly
mixed due to diffution.

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The rate of diffusion is affected by the following factors:

 Temperature- Increase in temperature increases the rate of diffusion. This is because, a

high temperature provides the particles with more kinetic energy.
 Diffusion distance- The rate is decreased if the distance over which diffusion has to take
place is greater.
 Surface area to volume ratio- A larger surface area in proportion to the volume will
increase the rate.
 Concentration gradient- Diffusion occurs more quickly when there is a steep
concentration gradient i.e. a big difference in concentrations between two areas.
 Stirring- It increases the kinetic energy of the molecules. Thus, the rate of diffusion
increases.
 Surface area- The larger the surface area the greater the rate of diffusion.

Active transport- It is the movement of molecules or ions against a concentration gradient,

using energy from respiration. Some examples include-

• Absorption of glucose from the gut into the cells lining the intestine.
• Absorption of minerals from the soil into the plant through the root hair cells
• Selective reabsorption of glucose and mineral ions from the kidney tubules into the
blood.

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Osmotic concentrations and type of sollutions

During osmotic experiments, cells are often immersed in solutions of different osmotic
concentration. The osmotic concentration of a solution is a measure of only those dissolved
substances that have an osmotic effect. Based on the osmotic concentration, the following types
of solutions are available:

Isotonic solutions- The osmotic concentration of the solute in the solution is the same as that in
the cells.

Hypotonic solution- The osmotic concentration of solute in the solution is lower than that in the
cytoplasm of the cells.

Hypertonic solution- The osmotic concentration of solutes in the solution is higher than that in
the cytoplasm.

Effect of osmosis in living cells:

 When an animal cell is placed in different solutions, the following events occur:
- In hypotonic solution- There is a net flow of water into the cell from the surroundings
by osmosis. The cell swells and eventually bursts due to the lack of cell wall.
- In hypertonic solution- There is a net flow of water out of the cell into the surroundings
by osmosis. Thus, the cell shrinks.
- In isotonic solution- There is no net movement of water in and out of the cell. The cell
remains unaffected. This means, the appearance of the cell does not change.

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  When a plant cell is placed in different solutions, the following events occur:

- In hypotonic solution- Water flows into the vacuole of the cell by osmosis causing the

cell to swell. The cell wall prevents the cell from bursting and exert an opposing pressure

that prevents net water flow into the cell. The cell in this state becomes rigid or turgid.

- In hypertonic solution- Water flows out of the cell by osmosis causing the cell and its

vacuole to become flaccid. The cell membrane is peeled away from the cell wall,

cytoplasm becomes constricted and the vacuole becomes reduced in size. The cell in this

state is said to be plasmolysed.

- In isotonic solution- There is no net movement of water in and out of the cell. The cell

remains unaffected. This means, the appearance of the cell does not change.

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Investigation into the effect of osmosis on a named plant tissue, such as potato
tissue

To carry out the investigation, the following procedure was adopted.

1. Cylinders of potato tissue were obtained from the same potato using a cork borer and
each was cut to a length of 5 cm.
2. Each was dried and then weighed.
3. Five potato cylinders were placed in each of seven different concentrations of solution
such as distilled water 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% sucrose solution and left for two hours.
4. The cylinders were then removed from the solutions, dried and reweighed.
5. The change in mass(+ or -) of each cylinder was calculated, and the percentage change in
mass for each was calculated as follows:
𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂𝐂 𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦
% 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 = 𝑿𝑿 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒𝐒 𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦𝐦
6. The experiment is repeated at each concentration then an average percentage change in
mass calculated for each solution.
7. During repeat, all other factors, such as temperature, age and species of potato, time
volume and concentration of the solution etc should be kept constant.
8. Plot the values in the graph-concentrations at X axis and percentage change in mass at Y
axis to find out the water potential of potato cells.

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 Food and Digestion

Food is essential for life. The nutrients in food are used in many different ways by the body-
• to supply us with a fuel for energy
• to provide materials for growth and repair of tissues
• to help fight disease and keep our bodies healthy
The food that we eat is called diet. To keep our body healthy and functional, the following five
groups of food substances are necessary-
 Carbohydrates
 Lipids
 Proteins
 Minerals
 Vitamins – along with dietary fibers and water
Carbohydrates-
Carbohydrates contain the elements carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The ratio of hydrogen to
oxygen in carbohydrate is 2:1. The general formula for carbohydrate is (CH2O)n.
If n=3, then it is a triose-C3H6O3, if n=5, then it is a pentose-C5H10O5. A pentose may either be a
ribose or deoxyribose, if n=6, then it is a hexose-C6H12O6. A hexose may either be a glucose,
galactose or fructose.
Based on the type of sugars present, carbohydrates may be classified as follows:
Monosaccharides: These are simple sugars. Examples of monosaccharides are-
 Triose sugars, C3H6O3 is important in mitochondria for cellular respiration.
 Pentose sugars, C5H10O5 , e.g. ribose and deoxyribose sugars are important in nucleic
acids which make up the genetic material.
 Hexose sugars, C6H12O6 are the best known monosaccharides which taste sweet and
include glucose, fructose and galactose. Glucose is found in sweet tasting- foods, such as
fruits and vegetables. Fructose is found in ripen fruits, such as banana, mango etc and
galactose is found in milk sugar, lactose. These monosaccharides are important
respiratory substrates in respiration.

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  Disaccharides- These are made of two monosaccharides joined together. These
monosaccharides may be of same or different types. Examples of disaccharides are-
- Sucrose- These molecules are made of two monosaccharides-glucose and fructose. It
is found in sugar cane. Sucrose is the main sugar that is transported through plant
stems. These are sweet in taste and soluble in water.
- Maltose- These are disaccharides made of two glucose molecules joint together. It is
found in germinating seeds, such as barley.
- Lactose- These are disaccharides made of monosaccharides-glucose and galactose
joined together. It is fond in milk.

 Polysaccharides- These are polymers of sugars. This means, many monosaccharides,

e.g. glucose are joined to form polysaccharides. For example, starch, glycogen and
cellulose.
Starch is a large, insoluble molecule. It is found as a storage carbohydrate in many plants,
such as potato, rice wheat and millet. The ‘staple diets’of people from around the world are
starchy foods like rice, potato, bread and pasta. It is made of long chains of hundreds of
glucose molecules joined together.
Glycogen is also a polymer of glucose and it is found in tissues such as liver and muscle,
where it acts as a store of energy for these organs.
Large carbohydrates like starch and glycogen have to be broken down into simple sugars
during digestion, so that they can be absorbed into the blood.
Cellulose is a polymer of glucose. It is found in plant cell walls. Humans are not able to
digest cellulose, because our gut doesn’t make the enzyme needed to break down the
cellulose molecule. Thus, we are not able to use cellulose as a source of energy. But,
cellulose has the following functions in the human body-
• It helps in peristalsis in the gut to move food along it
• It absorbs toxic substances from the gut wall and thus, it prevents bowel cancer
• It holds water in the faeces to soften it, so it prevents constipation.

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Functions of carbohydrates:
• Carbohydrates such as glucose acts as respiratory substrate in respiration
• Starch and glycogen act as energy store in plants and animal cells respectively
• Cellulose is a component in cell wall in plants
• It is an important constituent of protoplasm, e.g. DNA contains deoxyribose sugar.
• It can be converted into other chemicals such as proteins.
Test for starch-
A little starch is placed on a spotting tile. A drop of yellow-brown iodine solution is added to the
starch. The iodine reacts with starch, forming a very dark blue or blue-black colour.
Test for glucose-
Benedict’s solution can be used for testing reducing sugar. All monosaccharides such as glucose,
fructose and galactose are reducing sugars. Take a small sample of glucose into a test tube
containing a little water. Shake the test tube to dissolve the glucose. Add equal volume of
Benedict’s solution to the sample solution. Heat the test tube containing the sample and reagent
mixture in a thermostatically controlled water bath set at temperature between 80-95oC. After a
few seconds the clear blue solution gradually changes colour, forming a cloudy orange or ‘brick-
red’ precipitate of copper(I) oxide.

Lipids(Fats and oils)- Lipids contain three elements – carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The
proportion of oxygen in a lipid is much lower than in a carbohydrate. On the other hand, lipids
contain many carbon-hydrogen bonds. On oxidation, lipids provide twice more energy than the
same amount of either protein or carbohydrate.
Oils and fats are important groups of lipid. Fat is solid at room temperature and generally animal
in origin. But, oil is liquid in room temperature and generally plants in origin. Lipid is composed
of two types of molecules-Fatty acids and glycerol. Glycerol is an oily liquid. Fatty acids may
either be saturated or unsaturated. Saturated fatty acids contain only carbon-carbon single bond
but unsaturated fatty acids contain not only carbon-carbon single bond but also carbon-carbon
double bond. Thus, fats may either be saturated or unsaturated.

Examples of saturated fatty acids are- palmitic acid, stearic acids etc.

Figure: Palmitic acid

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 Figure: Stearic acid
Examples of unsaturated fatty acids are- Oleic acid, linoleic acid etc.

Figure: Oleic acid

Figure: Linoleic acid

In lipids, a molecule of glycerol is joined to three fatty acids molecules in the following way:

The many different fatty acids form the variable part of the molecule. Cholesterol is also another
lipid. It is found in egg and meat. But it is also made in our liver.
Sources of lipids- Butter, oil, red meat, margarine, egg, milk etc.
Importance of lipids:

• It is an energy store in animal. It is stored in the adipose tissue, around the heart, in the
mesentery and around the kidney.
• It insulates the body and protects the internal organs such as kidneys, heart etc. from
external injury.
• It is an important constituent of protoplasm. Cell membrane contains lipid.
• It acts as a solvent for vitamins A, D, E and K
• It is a metabolic source of water in many organisms such as the desert kangaroo rat.

Test for lipids-

Take a drop of olive oil(lipid) into a test tube. Add 5cm3 of absolute etanol to the sample and
shake it to dissolve the oil. The solution is poured into a test tube that is about three-quarters full
with cold water. A white cloudy emulsion forms on the top of the water.

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Proteins- Proteins are polymers of amino acids which contain elements- carbon, hydrogen,
oxygen and nitrogen. Some amino acids also contain sulfur.
The amino acids are linked together in long chains, which are usually folded up or twisted into
spirals, with cross-links holding the chains together.

The shape of a protein is very important in allowing it to carry out its function, and the order of
amino acids in the protein decides its shape. Because there twenty different amino acids, and
they can be arranged in any order, the number of different protein structures that can be made is
enormous. As a result, there are thousands od different kinds of proteins in organisms, from
structural proteins such as collagen and keratin in skin and nails, to proteins with more specific
functions, such as enzymes and haemoglobin.
Sources of proteins-
Fish, meat, milk and milk products such as cheese , egg, pulses and peas etc.
Functions of proteins-
• Many proteins have a structural role- for example, cell membrane and membrane of
organelles contains protein.
• Certain membrane proteins are involved in bulk transport of essential resources
• Some proteins help in blood clotting, e.g. fibrinogen and in transporting oxygen, e.g.
haemoglobin
• Some proteins make antibodies that protect us from diseases
• Some proteins are hormones controlling the different body systems
• Some proteins are enzymes needed for metabolism and digestion.
• Due to lack of protein, children may suffer from a disease called ‘kwashiorkor’.
Testing for protein-Add few drops of Biuret reagent ( It is a mixture of 5% (w/v) sodium
hydroxide solution and 1% (w/v) copper sulfate solution) to the sample solution in a test tube. A
purple colour indicates the presence of protein.

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Minerals- These are elements needed by the body and gained from food but are not present in
carbohydrates, lipids or proteins. Examples of some minerals needed by the body are given
bellow:

Name of the Sources Location or Deficiency

mineral functions in the body symptoms
Calcium Dairy products, fish, bread, Making teeth and Rickets
vegetables bones
Phosphate Most foods including small Making bones and Rickets
fish teeth, part of many
chemicals, e.g. DNA,
RNA, ATP
Magnesium Green vegetables Making bones, found Tetany, increased
inside cells irritability of the
nervous system
Iron Red meat, liver, eggs, spinach Part of haemoglobin Anaemia
in RBC, helps carry
oxygen
Sodium Common salts, most food In body fluid, e.g. Homeostasis is
blood, helps in hampered and death
conducting nerve may occur
impulse
Chloride Common salt, most food In body fluid, e.g. Homeostasis is
blood hampered
Iodine Marine salt, NaI, marine Making thyroxine Goitre
algae

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Vitamins- These are group of chemicals that are obtained from the diet and needed in small
amounts to maintain health. Two categories of vitamins- fat soluble and water soluble vitamins
are available. Fat soluble vitamins include- Vitamins A, D, E and K. Water soluble vitamins
include-vitamin B and C. Examples of some vitamins needed for the body are given below:

Name of the Sources Use in the body Effect of

vitamins deficiency
Vitamin-A / Fish liver oil, liver, butter, Making a chemical called Night
Retinol margarine, carrots rodopsin in the retina, it also blindness,
protects the surface of the eye damaged
cornea of eye
Vitamin-B (B1, Yeast extract, cereal, green Helps with cell respiration Beri-beri, dry
B2, B3) vegetables, eggs, fish, meat skin, pellagra
Vitamin-C/ All citrus fruits such as It helps in the formation of Scurvy
Ascorbic acid orange and vegetables connective tissue in the body, e.g.
skin and many internal body
surfaces including the endothelial
lining of blood vessels
Vitamin-D/ Fish liver oil, Liver, Egg Helps bones absorb calcium and Rickets, poor
Cholecalciferol and also made in skin in phosphate from the gut into the teeth
sunlight blood

Roughages or dietary fibres-

Fibre is a part of the food we cannot digest.
Sources- Fresh fruits and vegetables, bran and cereal
Functions-
• It provides bulk to the intestinal contents and helps in peristalsis
• It holds water in the faeces to soften and thus helps to prevent constipation
• It absorbs toxic substances from the gut and prevents bowel cancer
Importance of water-
• It essential constituent of protoplasm
• It acts as a solvent and a means of transport for substances in the body such as oxygen,
digested food, wastes, hormones etc.
• It acts as a medium for chemical reactions to occur
• It helps to control body temperature, e.g. sweating removes heat from the body
• It is a constituent of synovial fluid in the joint
• Plants use it in photosynthesis.

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Measuring the energy content of a food-
Energy content of a food can be measured using a calorimeter. For this, the following materials
are needed:
• Food(biscuit)
• Mounted needle
• Test tube
• Thermometer
• Clamp stand
All of these equipments can be assembled to form the following set-up to measure energy
content in food.

The process involves the following steps:

1. The mass of the food sample, e.g. biscuit is found, by weighing it on a balance
2. A measured volume of water (e.g. 20 cm3) is placed in a boiling tube
3. The tube is supported in a clamp on a stand
4. The temperature of the water is recorded
5. The food is speared on the end of a mounted needle
6. It is then held in a bunsen burner flame until it catches fire
7. When the food is alight, the mounted needle is used to hold the burning food underneath
the boiling tube of water so that the flame heats up the water
8. This is continued until the food is completely burnt
9. The final temperature of the water is measured, using the thermometer to stirr the water
gently, to make sure that the heat is evenly distributed
10. The energy content in the food can be measured by using the following formula:

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The correct figure for energy content of food may be lower than expected result due to the
following reasons:

• some of the energy from the burning pasta is used to heat the test tube, thermometer, etc
• much energy will be lost when heating up the air near the tube, or when transferring the
pasta
• not all the energy in the pasta will be released when it burns
• some energy will be lost when evaporating the water from the tube
• measurement errors such as measurement of the volume of water and temperatures
(although these are probably small compared with the other reasons).

Ways the apparatus could be modified to improve the results:

• To shield the tube inside (for example) a metal can, to reduce heat losses to the air (or
use a calorimeter).
• Use stirrer to distribute the heat uniformly
• Use coil to transfer heat to the water

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 Enzymes

Enzymes:
- Are proteins
- Are biological catalysts (Catalyst speeds up chemical reactions)
- Are specific to one particular ‘Substrate’ (The molecule that an enzyme
acts on is called substrate)
- Are affected by temperature and pH
- Are not used up in the reaction they catalyze
Mode of action of enzyme-
Each enzyme has its own active site. The substrate attaches to the active site like lock and key to
form enzyme-substrate complex to produce products by lowering the energy needed for the
reaction to start. It is the reason why enzymes are specific, i.e. an enzyme will only catalyse one
reaction.

Enzymes also catalyse reactions where large molecules are built up from smaller ones. In this
case, several substrate molecules attach to the active site, the reaction takes place and the larger
product molecules are formed. The product then leaves the active site and the enzyme is free to
act on more substrate molecules.

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Enzymes may work either extracellularly or intracellularly. Extracellular enzymes catalyse
reaction outside the cell. For example, trypsin, amylase and lipase. Intracellular enzymes catalyse
the reactions inside the cells. For example, DNA helicase, DNA polymerase, ligase etc.
Factors affecting the rate of enzymatic actions:
• Temperature
• pH
• Substrate concentration
Temperature-
With the increase in temperature the rate of enzymatic action increases. Every 10 degrees
increase in temperature the rate increases twice. This continues upto optimum temperature. After
optimum temperature, the rate of enzymatic action does not increase although temperature
increases. At very high temperature after optimim, the enzymatic action stops.

Explanation- Higher temperatures give the molecules of the enzyme and the substrate more
kinetic energy, so they collide more often. More collisions mean that the reaction will take place
more freequently to form more enzyme-substrate complex. At very high temperature after
optimum, the enzymes get denatured and their active sites are altered. Thus, the substrates no
longer fit with the active site. As a result, very few or no enzyme-substrate complex is formed.

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pH-
Initially, increasing the pH increases the rate of reaction. However, after the optimum pH is
reached the enzyme begins to change shape and the active site stops being able to bind to the
substrate.
The enzyme becomes denatured and stops working (the rate of reaction is zero at this point).

Substrate concentration-
When there is a low concentration of substrate, the active sites of some enzyme molecules will
be empty, so the rate of reaction will be low. If the concentration of substrate is increased, there
will be more collisions between enzyme and substrate molecules and more active sites will be
filled. As a result, the rate of reaction will increase.
This increase in rate wiil be continued for a limited period. Then the enzyme become saturated-
all of the active sites are occupied by substrate molecules- and a further increase in substrate
concentration will not increase the rate of reaction further. At this point, only an increase in
enzyme concentration will increase the rate of reaction.

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Describe an Investigation to see the effect of temperature on the activity of amylase.
To carry out the investigation, I need the following steps to follow:
• I will select five different temperature such as 10, 20, 30, 40 and 500C using either
thermostically controlled water bath or thermostatically controlled room or incubators.
• I will prepare amylase enzyme solution of a particular concentration (e.g. 1%).
• I will also prepare 1% starch suspension.
• A graduated syringe is used to place 10 cm3 of 1% amylase in a boiling tube.
• Another syringe is used to place 10 cm3 of 1% starch suspension in another test tube.
• These two test tubes are then placed in a thermostatically controlled room set at 300C and
allow them to stay there for five minutes for eqilibration.
• Then, I will mix contents of two test tubes and time how long it takes for the amylase to
digest the starch.
• To tell when the starch has been digested, I will remove a sample of the mixture at 30
seconds intervals and add one drop of iodine solution to it. The iodine solution will start
off blue-black when the starch is present, but change colour to yellow when the starch has
been digested, so I will time how long it takes for this to happen.
• I can then calculate the rate of digestion using the following formula:
Volume of starch solution in cm3
𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅𝑅 =
Time needed to digest in mins
• To ensure reliability, I will repeat the experiment three times and calculate an average.
• I will repeat the whole experiment at other temperature keeping all other factors such as
volume and concentration of enzymes and starch suspension, source of enzymes, length
of time of experiment etc. same.
• I will then plot the values in the graph, temperature at ‘X’ axis and rate at ‘Y’ axis for
easy comparison.

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An investigation into the effect of pH on the activity of catalase.

Buffer solutions resist changes in pH. Different buffer solution can be prepared to maintain
different values of pH and are useful for finding the effect of pH on enzyme activity. Potato cells
contain a high concentration of enzyme catalase. To carry out this investigation, I need to follow
the following steps:
• I need to prepare a range of pH such as pH-6, pH-7 and pH-8 using buffer
• I need to obtain potato extract as a source of catalase
• A graduated syringe is used to place 5 cm3 of potato extract in a boiling tube
• Another syringe is used to add 5 cm3 of pH-7 buffer solution to the same boiling tube
• The tube is shaken gently to mix the buffer with the potato extract
• The mixture is left at room temperature for five minutes for eqilibration
• Then 5 cm3 of 5% hydrogen peroxide solution kept at room temperature is added to the
tube from a third syringe
• A bung and delivery tube are quickly inserted into the boiling tube and the end of the
delivery tube is placed in a beaker of water as follows:

• The bubbles of oxygen gas produced in the first minute after the hydrogen peroxide is
added are counted
• The number of bubbles per minute is a measure of the initial reaction rate
• The experiment is repeated, using different buffers for pH-6 and pH-8 and their initial
reaction rate is calculated.
• During repeat, I will keep all other factors such as temperature, volume of potato extract
and volume and concentration of hydrogen peroxide etc. same.
• I will polt a bar chart of the results. Hence, pH is placed at ‘X’ axis and number of
bubbles per minute or initial reaction rate at ‘Y’ axis for easy comparison.

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 Digestion

Some important definitions:

Ingestion- It is a process through which intake of food and drinks occurs into the body. It occurs
through mouth in the mammals.

Digestion- It is a hydrolysis process through which large insoluble food molecules are broken
down mechanically and chemically through enzymatic action into small soluble molecules,
which can be absorbrd into the blood. For example, starch is digested into glucose in the gut.

Absorption- It is the process through which digested food molecules, such as glucose, amino
acids, and fatty acids and glycerols are taken into blood. It occurs in the villi of the small
intestine. water is absorbed by osmosis, digested products such as glucose, amino acids and
mineral ions such as Na+, Cl-, K+ etc are absorbed by active transport against the concentration
gradient using energy from respiration.

Assimilation- The transport and utilization of absorbed food is known as assimilation. Hence,
new substances are manufactured in the cells using the products of digestion.

For example,

• glucose is used as a respiratory substrate in respiration

• glucose is converted into glycogen which can be treated as energy store in animal
• glucose can be converted into other chemicals such as protein
• amino acids are used in making enzyme, hormones, haemoglobin and antibodies
• Amino acids are also used to make structural proteins such as tendon, ligament, keratin in
hairs and nails etc.
• lipids are used in making cell membrane, steroid hormones such as testosterone,
oestrogen and progesterone

Egestion- It is the process through which undigested food is removed from the body in the form
of faeces through anus.

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 Human digestive system and digestion
The human digestive system includes the following parts:
• Mouth
• Oesophagus
• Stomach
• Small intestine
• Large intestine including caecum, colon and rectum
• Anus
• And associated digestive glands such as salivary glands, the liver and pancreas

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Digestion in the mouth-

Food is digested in the mouth by both mechanically and chemically.

Mechanical digestion- It involves in cutting and crushing of solid food into small pieces by
chewing. Food is broken down into small pieces thus providing a large surface area which is
essential for effective chemical digestion.

Chemical digestion- Enzyme-salivary amylase is involved in chemical digestion of food in

mouth. Saliva released from the mouth contains water, enzyme and mucus. Water moisten the
food, mucus makes the food slippery and salivary amylase digests boiled starch into maltose.
Tongue rolls the food into bolus and pushes it downward to the stomach through oesophagus.

In the oesophagus- Oesophagus is a narrow muscular tube stretching from mouth to stomach.
Cells lining its wall secrete mucus. No digestion occurs here. Food from mouth moves to
stomach through peristalsis.

Peristalsis is a wave-like movement in which the rhythmic alternate contraction and relaxation
of circular and longitudinal muscle in the wall of the oesophagus push food along it to proceed
forward to the stomach.

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Digestion of food in the stomach-

Food is digested in the stomach by both mechanically and chemically.

Mechanical digestion involves peristalsis in which food is churned up and liquified to from
chyme. Due to peristalsis, food molecules are further broken down into smaller size to increase
its surface area to volume ratio for better action of enzyme.

Chemical digestion involves enzymes which breakdown larger food into simpler ones. These
enzymes work best in acidic medium which is ensured by HCl released from the stomach wall.
This acid not only ensures acidic pH but also activates the enzymes in the stomach. It also kills
microbes in food coming from outside.

Two enzymes are released from the stomach wall. These are-pepsin and renin. Pepsin converts
protein into polypeptides. Renin curdles milk protein. Protein in the curd is converted into casein
and paracasein. Mucus in the stomach prevents the stomach wall from the action of HCl.

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Digestion in the small intestine-
Acidic food from the stomach enters the small intestine through pyloric sphincter. Food is
digested in the small intestine in alkaline medium which is ensured by alkaline bile which is
produced in the liver and stored in the gall bladder.
Bile neutralizes acids in food and makes the food alkaline. It also emulsifies fats into droplets to
increase its surface area and reduce its surface tension for better action of enzyme.
Three enzymes-trypsin, amylase and lipase are released from pancreas onto the food in the
duodenum. Trypsin digests protein into amino acids, amylase digests starch into glucose and
lipase digests lipids into fatty acids and glycerol.
The rest of the digestion is completed by the enzymes released from the wall of small intestine.
Hence, maltase converts maltose into glucose, lactase converts lactose into glucose and
galactose, sucrase converts sucrose into glucose and fructose and peptidases convert peptides
into amino acids.
Absorption of digested food-
It takes place in the villi projected from the wall of ileum. The lining of the ileum has a very
large surface area, which means that it can quickly and efficiently absorbs the soluble products of
digestion into the blood. The length of the intestine helps to provide a large surface area, and this
is aided by folds in its lining. The villi also increase the surface area further and are adapted to
carry out its function in the following ways:

Figure : The internal structure of a villus

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 • The wall of the villi is of one cell thick to ensure short diffusion distance
• Continuous blood flow through the capillary in the villi maintains steep concentration
gradient for faster absorption of digested food
• Many villi increase total surface area and the surface cells of each villus have hundreds of
minute projections which further increase total surface area
• Lacteal in the villi is involved in the absorption of the products of fat digestion
• Muscle fibers in the villi contract to move the villi in constant motion to keep them in
contact with the contents of the ileum and maintain a steep concentration gradient for
diffusion of the products of digestion
Assimilation-
Absorbed food is utilized in the cell by this process. For example, protein is used to make cell
membrane, hormones, enzymes etc.
Glucose is used in respiration, lipid is used in making steroid hormones etc.
In the large intestine-
Water and mineral ions are absorbed from the undigested food in the colon of the large intestine.
Here no digestion occurs. It holds the waste material which contains mainly cellulose fibres and
other indigestible remains, water, dead and living bacteria and cells lost from the lining of the
gut. The semi-solid waste material is temporarily stored in the rectum, until expelled out of the
body through anus.
Egestion-
Undigested food remains is removed from the body in the form of faeces through anus.
Functions of the liver-
Liver is located just beneath the diaphragm and above the stomach in the abdominal cavity. It
has the following functions:

• It produces bile
• Excess blood glucose is converted into glycogen and stored in the liver and glycogen is
also converted into glucose here
• It is involved in the process of deamination of protein. Hence, the amino group, which is
poisonous for the body, is removed from the protein and this amino group reacts with
carbon dioxide to form urea which is excreted through the kidney
• Vitamin A, D and iron are stored here
• Detoxification is also carried out here
• Fibrinogen and globulin are produced here

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 Breathing and Gas Exchange
Components of breathing system-

• Nose and nasal cavity

• Pharynx
• Larynx
• Trachea
• Bronchi and bronchioles
• Lungs
• Muscles involved in breathing in and out
- Intercostal muscles
- Diaphragm
Structure and functions of different parts of breathing system-
The whole breathing system has evolved to make sure rapid exchange of gases.
Nasal cavity- It is the main route by which air enters the gas exchange system.
Mouth- Air can enter the respiratory system here, but without filtration, warming and
moistening effects.
Pharynx- It is a muscular funnel that extends from the posterior end of the nasal cavity to the
superior end of the oesophagus and larynx. Inhaled air from the nasal cavity passes in the larynx
through the pharynx.
Epiglottis- It closes over the glottis in a reflex action during swallowing food and prevents the
entry of food into the gas exchange system.
Larynx- It is the voice box, which uses the flow of air across it to produce sound
Trachea- It is major airway to the bronchi, lined with mucus-secreting goblet cells and ciliated
epithelium cells. Mucus traps dust and microbes from the inhaled air and cilia in the ciliated
epithelium constantly beat back and forth to move mucus with trapped dust and microbes from
the trachea to the throat. Thus, it prevents lung infection.
Incomplete rings of cartilage- These prevent the trachea and bronchi from collapsing but allow
food to be swallowed and moved down the oesophagus by peristalsis.

Figure: C-shaped cartilage rings in the trachea

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Left and right bronchi- These tubes lead to the lungs and divide to form bronchioles.
Bronchioles- These are small tubes spreading through the lungs and end in alveoli. It acts as an
airway.
Alveoli- It is the main site of gas exchange in the lungs.
Ribs- It is protective bony cage around the gas exchange system.
Intercostal muscles- These are important in breathing, which moves air into and out of the lungs
to maintain a steep concentration gradient for rapid gas exchange.
Pleural membrane- It surrounds the lungs and line the chest cavity forming a sterile, sealed
unit. It produces pleural fluid.
Pleural cavity- It is a space between the pleural membranes, usually filled with lubricating fluid
that allows the membrane to slide easily with breathing movements.
Diaphragm- It forms the floor of the chest cavity and important in breathing movements.When
the muscles in the diaphragm contract, it moves downward to increase the volume of air and
decrese the pressure of air in the thoracic cavity more than the outside air. Thus, air from outside
moves into the lungs to inflate it. Relaxation of the diaphragm allows air to flow back out the
lungs during exhalation.

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Conditioning of the gases entering the gas exchange system-
 The passages of the nasal cavity have a good blood supply, and the lining secretes mucus
and is covered in hairs. Warmth in blood makes the inhaled air warmer
 The hair and mucus filter out and remove much of the dust, small particles and pathogens
such as bacteria breathed in. This protects the lungs from damage and infection
 The moist surfaces increase the level of water vapor in the air.
Gas exchange in the alveoli-
An alveolus is a gas exchange surface in the lungs. Alveoli are adapted to exchange gas in the
following ways:
• An alveolus is made of single layer of flattened epithelium cells to ensure short diffusion
distance
• Short diffusion distance between the alveoli and the capillary ensures faster exchange of
gases
• The capillaries running close to the alveoli have a wall that is only one cell thick
• Continuous blood flow through blood vessels surrounding the alveoli maintain steep
concentration gradient for faster exchange of gases.
• Moisture in the alveoli allows gases to be dissolved to diffuse into the blood
• Many alveoli increase total surface area for more exchange of gases
• The elastic tissue helps to force air out of the lungs, which are stretched during breathing
in

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 Difference between atmospheric or inhaled air and exhaled air:

Percentage in
Inhaled or atmospheric air Exhaled air
Compositional Nitrogen 78 79
difference Oxygen 21 16
Carbon dioxide 0.04 4
Other gases 1 1
(mainly argon)
Non- Temperature Atmospheric Body temperature
compositional Moisture Unsaturated Saturated
difference Dust Present Absent
Breathing or ventilation- There are two parts to the process of breathing- inhalation and
exhalation. Inhalation involves in taking air into the chest and exhalation involves in breathing
air out of the body.
Inhalation- It is an active, energy-using process. The external intercostal muscle contracts and
the internal intercostal muscles relax. The rib cage is raised upwards and outwards. The muscles
around the diaphragm contract and moves downward. These movements result in the volume of
the chest cavity increasing, which reduces the pressure in the thoracic cavity. The pressure within
the thoracic cavity is now lower than the pressure of the atmospheric air outside. So, air from
outside moves into the lungs to equalise the pressure inside and outside.

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Exhalation- Normal exhalation is a passive process. The external intercostal muscles relax and
the internal intercostal muscles contract. The muscles surrounding the diaphragm relax to move
up into its resting domed shape. The rib cage moves down and in and the elastic fibers around
the alveoli of the lungs return to their normal length. As a result, the volume of the thoracic
cavity decreases, causing an increase in pressure. The pressure in the thoracic cavity is now
greater than those of the outside air. So, air moves out of the lungs to the outside air down the
pressure gradient by diffusion.
Protecting the lungs- To protect the lungs, the following adaptations are important:
• Mucus secreting cells or goblet cells in the trachea produce mucus which traps dusts and
microbes from the inhalled air.
• Cilia in the ciliated epithelium lining the trachea constantly beat back and forth to sweep
mucus with trapped dusts and microbes upwards to the back of the throat. Here, most of
the mucus is swallowed or coughed out. Acid and digestive enzymes in the stomach
digest mucus and everything carried with it. Thus lung infection is prevented.
The effect of smoking-
For efficient exchange of gases in the lungs-
• The air passages need to be clear
• The alveoli need to be free from dirt particles and bacteria
• They must have large surface area to compensate for the relatively small surface area:
volume ratio of the whole organism
• Thin layers to minimize the diffusion distances from one side to the other
• A rich blood supply to the respiratory surface to help to maintain a steep concentration
gradient in animal
• Moist surfaces because diffusion takes place with the gases in solution

Smoking can upset all of the above conditions. It contains carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar etc.
which are associated with lung cancer, bronchitis and emphysema. It is also a major
contributing factor to other conditions such as coronary heart disease and ulcers of the stomach
and intestine.

Carbon monoxide-
It is poisonous gas for the body. When this gas is breathed in with the smoke, it enters the
bloodstream and interferes with the ability of the blood to carry oxygen. Carbon monoxide can
combine with the haemoglobin much more tightly than oxygen can, forming a stable compound
called carboxyhaemoglobin. The haemoglobin will combine with carbon monoxide in preference
to oxygen. Thus, the blood carries much less oxygen to the respiring cells around the body. So,
less respiration will be carried out and the person becomes fainted. In severe case, it may lead to
the death in a person.
It causes damage to the lining of blood vessel. Thus, atheroslerosclerosis- a type of
cardiovascular disease may occur.
If a pregnant women smokes, she will be depriving her unborn fetus of oxygen. This has an
effect on its growth and development, and leads to mass of the baby at birth being lower.

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Nicotine-
Nicotine is a dangerous and highly addictive chemical. It can cause an increase in blood
pressure, heart rate, flow of blood to the heart and a narrowing of the arteries. Nicotine may also
contribute to the hardening of the arterial walls, which in turn, may lead to a heart attack.
This reduces the amount of nutrients that reach the fetus and thus, hampers the development of
baby in the pregnant women.
Other chemicals including tar-
Chemicals in cigarette smoke destroy the cilia in the trachea and bronchi. The reduced number of
cilia mean that the mucus is not swept away from the lungs, but remains to block the air
passages. Moreover, the smoke irritates the lining of the airways, stimulating the cells to secrete
more mucus which block the airways. Irritation of the bronchial trees, along with infections from
bacteria in the mucus, can cause bronchitis. Bronchitis blocks normal air flow, so the sufferer
has difficulty breathing properly.
Tar in cigarette smoke damages the walls of the alveoli, which break down and fuse together
again, forming enlarged, irregular air space. This greatly reduces the surface area for gas
exchange, which becomes very inefficient. This lung disease is called emphysema.
Tar in cigarette smoke paralyses cilia in ciliated epithelium lining the trachea. Thus, the cilia can
not beat back and forth to move mucus with trapped dust and microbes from the trachea to the
throat. This increases the risk of lung infection.
Tar in cigarette smoke also contains carcinogens which cause mutation in the lung cells. Thus,
those cells start to divide uncontrollably to form a mass of tissue called tumour which may
cause cancer.
Giving up smoking-
Nicotine in tobacco is a very addictive drug and causes withdrawal symptoms when people stop
smoking. Withdrawal symptoms include-
• Cravings for a cigarette
• Restlessness
• A tendency to put on weight.
To overcome the above problems, there are various ways that smokers can be helped to give up
their habit:
• Vaping- It involves inhaling a vapour containing nicotine from an electronic cigarette or
e-cigarette
• Use of nicotine patches or nicotine chewing gum- These will provide the smoker with a
source of nicotine without the harmful tar from cigarettes. The nicotine is absorbed by the
body and reduces the craving for a cigarette. Gradually, the patient reduces the dose until
the habit is given off.
• Use of drugs and acupuncture to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

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Activity-1:
Comparing the carbon dioxide content of inhaled and exhaled air.
For this experiment, we make use of the fact that lime water and hydrogen carbonate indicator
solution absorb carbon dioxide. Limewater will turn cloudy and hydrogen carbonate indicator
solution will change its colour from red to yellow in the presence of carbon dioxide.
To carry out the investigation, the following materials are needed:
• Test tubes
• Indicator solution
• Cork
• Delivery tubes
• Rubber tubes
• T-tube to place in mouth
All the above instruments are assembled to carry out this investigation in the following ways:
1. Fit two test tubes containing the same volume of indicator solution as shown.

2. Place the open end of the T-tube in the mouth

3. Breathe air in and out through the mouth very gently. As air is breathed in, atmospheric
air (inspired air) is drawn into tube C. It bubbles through the indicator solution in test
tube A and up through tube D into the mouth. Any carbon dioxide present in the inspired
air will be absorbed by the indicator solution.
4. The air is then breathed out and the expired air is passed through the tube E into the
indicator solution in test tube B and out into the atmosphere through tube F. The indicator
solution in test tube B will absorb carbon dioxide present in the expired air.
5. After few minutes, observe the colour of the indicator solution in the two test tubes. It
will be seen that the indicator solution in test tube B will change its colour faster than
those in the test tube A. Because expired air contains more carbon dioxide and passed
through the test tube B.
Precaution-
• The delivery tubes entering the test tube are longer and must have to be dipped into the
indicator solution
• The volume of air breathed in and out must have to be equal for comparing
• Indicator solution may cause irritation in the skin, so use hand gloves during handling.

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Activity-2:
An investigation into the effect of exercise on breathing rate.
To carry out this investigation I need to select a subject of particular age, gender and good
physical state. I will select exercise of different intensities such as walking, jogging and running.
At the start of exercise, I will measure the number of breaths at rest and keep of record of those.
Then I will ask the subject to walk for ten minutes. During walking, I will take a reading of the
number of breaths per minute when the breathing rate is stable. Then I will ask the subject to
take a rest for thirty minutes so that the breathing rate comes to normal. Then I will repeat this
for jogging and running and keep a record of breathing rate for those intensity of exercises.
During repeat, I will keep all other factors such as temperature, moisture, oxygen availability,
period of exercise etc. constant for each intensity of exercise. I will then plot the values in the
graph- intensity of exercise at ‘X’ axis and breathing rate at ‘Y’ axis for easy comparison. The
more the intensity of exercise, the more will be the breathing rate.

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 Blood and Circulation
The need for transport-
Single-celled organisms like amoeba and small multicellular organisms including marine larvae
are very smaller in size with greater surface area to volume ratio. The diffusion distance from the
outside to the innermost areas of the cells are very small and the metabollic demands are very
low. Thus, diffusion alone can meet their requirements, i.e. to deliver glucose and oxygen to the
cell and remove metabolic wastes such as carbon dioxide from the cells to the surroundings.
On the other hand, larger organisms like human have smaller surface area to volume ratio. They
are metabolically very active. Metabolically active cells deep inside the body need instant supply
of nutrients and oxygen. As diffusion is very slow process and the diffusion distance from the
outside to the innermost cells is more, multicellular organisms need mass transport system to
supply the cells with nutrients such as glucose and oxygen and remove metabolic wastes such
carbon dioxide and heat produced in respiration from the cells.
The circulatory systems of different animals-
One of the main functions of a circulatory system in animals is to transport oxygen. Blood is
pumped to a gas exchange organ to load oxygen. It is then pumped to other parts of the body
where it unloads the oxygen. The types of circulation in different animals are illustrated below:

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Open circulation:
Blood is pumped forwards in the tubular heart, and then passes in the sinuses (open spaces)
where it bathes the body organs directly, but under very low pressure. From the body organs, the
blood re-enter the heart through openings controlled by valves, and it is re-circulated. At the
same time, in many insects, air is delivered directly to the respiring tissues using a system of
tiny, branching tubes called tracheae.
Closed circulation:
Blood is pumped by a powerful, muscular heart and circulated in a continuous system of tubes.
Advantages of closed circulation:
• the pressure can be increased to make the blood flow more quickly
• the flow can be directed more precisely to the organs that need more oxygen and
nutrients.

Closed circulation includes single and double circulation.

Single circulation:
In single circulation, blood flows only once through the heart in every circulation of the body. It
is found in fish.
The heart pumps deoxygenated blood to the gills where the blood takes in oxygen and gives up
carbon dioxide at the same time. The blood then travels on around the rest of the body, giving up
oxygen to the body cells before returning to the heart.

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Double circulation:
Hence, the blood passes twice through the heart in every single circulation of the body. It is
composed of - systemic and pulmonary circulation.
The systemic circulation carries oxygenated blood from the heart to the cells of the body where
the oxygen is used. It also carries the deoxygenated blood back to the heart.
The pulmonary circulation carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs to be
oxygenated and then carries the oxygenated blood back to the heart.
Advantages of double circulation:

• It prevents the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood

• The fully oxygenated blood can be delivered quickly to the body tissues at high pressure.
• It ensures low pressure to pump blood to the lungs for efficient exchange of gases and
prevent the delicate tissues of the lungs.

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 Figure: The main components of human circulatory system

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 The composition of blood
The blood carries out the following functions:

• It delivers the materials such as glucose and oxygen etc. needed by the cells of the body
• It carries away the metabolic waste products such urea from the body
• It carries hormones such as insulin from one part of the body to another
• It forms part of the defence system of the body
• It helps to distribute heat throughout the body
• It contains plasma which acts as a buffer to regulate pH changes
The components of the blood and their main functions:
Blood contains 55% plasma and 45% corpuscles.
Plasma-
It is the fluid part of the mass transport system in the body. It plays an important role in the
transport of the followings:

• Nutrients such as glucose, amino acids etc from the gut or liver to all cells
• Excretory products such as urea from the liver to the kidneys
• Hormones from the endocrine glands to all tissues and organs
• Dissolved proteins that have the roles including regulating the osmotic concentration or
water potential of the blood
• It contains mineral ions such as Na+, Cl-, K+ etc which are important electrolytes
• Dissolved proteins that are antibodies
• Distributes heat to all tissues

Figure: Light micrograph showing erythrocytes, leucocyte and platelets in plasma

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Corpuscles-
Erythrocytes or red blood cells:
These are made in the bone marrow. There are aproximately 5 million erythrocytes per mm3 of
blood. They have a limited life of about 120 days.
The main function of erythrocytes is to carry oxygen from the lungs to the respiring cells. It also
carries carbon dioxide from the respiring cells to the lungs.
To carry out the functions properly, erythrocyte is adapted in the following ways:
• Erythrocyte is of biconcave disc shape to increase its surface area to volume ratio so that
oxygen can difuse into and out of them rapidly
• They contain a pigment called haemoglobin which carries oxygen to the respiring cells in
the form of oxyhaemoglobin
• They do not have nucleus to leave much more space inside the cells for accommodating
more haemoglobin molecules that carry oxygen
• Short diffusion distance between the cell membrane and haemoglobin ensures faster
exchange of oxygen with the fluid outside the cell
• These are very small to pass through the capillaries easily

Figure: Healthy erythrocytes

Leucocyte or white blood cell:
These are made in the bone marrow, although some mature in the thymus gland. These are much
larger than erythrocyte. There are around 4000-11000 per mm3 of blood.
They can change their shape. Thus, they can squeeze through tiny blood vessels easily. They
have nucleus and colourless cytoplasm. There are two different types of leucocytes- phagocyte
and lymphocytes.
Phagocytes contain granular cytoplasm and lobed nucleus. They engulf the foreign particals,
such as bacteria, and destroy them by phagocytosis.

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 Lymphocytes contain smooth cytoplasm and rounded nucleus. They produce and release
antibodies to kill the germs.

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Antibodies are soluble proteins that pass into the plasma. Pathogens such as bacteria and viruses
have chemical 'markers' called antigens on their surfaces, which the antibodies recognise. The
antibodies stick to the surface antigens and destroy the pathogen. They do this by the following
ways:
• Agglutination- It causes bacteria to stick together and agglutinate them to stop
movement. As a result, phagocytes can ingest them more easily.
• Lysis- It sticks to the bacterial cells and causes them to burst open
• Anti-toxin- It neutralises toxins produced by pathogens.
• Opsonisation-It acts as a ‘label’ on the pathogen, so that it is more easily recognised by a
phagocyte.
The production of antibodies following the first exposure to a foreign antigen is called the
primary immune response.

Immunity-
Immunity is the ability of the body to fight against diseases. Body’s natural immunity involves
lymphocytes which are of two types- T lymphocytes and B lymphocytes. Foreign antigen present
on the surface of pathogen entered the body stimulates T lymphocytes to produce T helper cells
and T killer cells. T helper cells release cytokine to stimulate B cells to divide by mitosis to
produce B memory cells and B plasma cells. Plasma cells produce antibody to kill the pathogen.
This is called the primary immune response.
If the same microorganism re-infects a person, the memory cells start to reproduce and produce
antibodies, so that the pathogen can be quickly dealt with. This is called the secondary immune
response. The secondary immune response is much faster and more effective than the primary
response. The number of antibodies in the blood quickly rises to a high level, killing the
microorganisms before they have time to multiply to a point where they would cause disease.

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Artificial immunity to a disease-causing organism can be given without having the disease by
vaccination. A person is injected with an ‘agent’ that carries the same antigens as a specific
pathogen. Lymphocytes recognize the antigens and multiply exactly as if that microorganism had
entered the blood stream. They produce memory cells and make the person immune to the
disease. If the person now comes into contact with the ‘real’ pathogen, they will experience a
secondary immune response. Antibody production will be sooner, faster and in greater quantity
than if they had not been vaccinated, and may be enough to prevent the pathogen reproducing in
the body and causing the disease.
Some agents used as vaccine are-
• A weakened strain of the actual microorganism, e.g., vaccines against polio, tuberculosis
(TB) and measles
• Dead microorganisms, e.g., typhoid and whooping cough vaccines
• Modified toxins of bacteria, e.g., tetanus and diphtheria vaccines
• Just the antigens themselves, e.g., influenza vaccine
• Harmless bacteria, genetically engineered to carry the antigens of a different, disease-
causing microorganism, e.g., the vaccine against hepatitis B.
Platelets or thrombocytes:
These are tiny fragments of large cells called megakaryocytes, which are found in the bone
marrow. There are about 150000-400000 platelets per mm3 of blood. They are involved in blood
clotting.
The clotting of the blood:
It involves the following steps:
 Plasma, blood cells and platelets flow from a cut vessel.
 Contact between the platelets and component of the tissue, such as collagen fibers in the
skin, causes the platelets to break open in large numbers
 Thus, these broken platelets release substances such as thromboplastin.
Thromboplastin catalyses the conversion of an inactive large soluble protein called
prothrombin into active thrombin in blood in the presence of calcium ions.
 Thrombin converts the soluble plasma protein fibrinogen into insoluble fibrin.
 The fibrin forms a mesh of fibres to cover the wound
 More platelets and RBC pouring the wound get trapped in the fibrin mesh to form a clot
 Special proteins in the structure of the platelets contract, making the clot tighter and
tougher to form a scab that protects the skin and vessels underneath as they heal.
Importance of clotting:
• It prevents the excessive loss of blood from the body
• It prevents the entry of mictobes into the body through the cut or an open wound
The blood vessels-
There are three types of vessels such as arteries, veins and capillaries which are interlinked
within the whole circulatory system.
Arteries-
Arteries carry blood away from the heart towards the cells of the body. Almost all arteries carry
oxygenated blood at high pressure except the pulmonary artery and umbilical artery.
The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs.
The umbilical artery carries carries deoxygenated blood from the fetus to the placenta in
pregnant women.

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External layer of an artery contains thick layer of collagen to withstand the high pressure. Middle
layer of artery contains muscle tissue and elastic fibres. The role of the elastic fibres in artery
walls is to return to their original length to help maintain the pressure. This is called recoil. The
endothelium forms a smooth lining which reduces friction against blood flow and allows the
easiest possible flow of blood. Lumen is small when artery is unstretched by flow of blood from
heart.

The arteries leaving the heart branch off in every direction, and the diameter of the lumen gets
smaller the further away it is from the heart. The smallest branches of the arterial system, furthest
from the heart, are the arterioles.
The blood pressure in all arteries is relatively high, but is falls in arteries further away from the
heart. These are known as peripheral arteries. The role of the muscles in the wall of these
arterioles is to reduce the size of the lumen to increase resistance. This can reduce blood flow to
the areas that do not need so much blood and will cause the oxygenated blood to flow to other
tissue.
Capillaries-
These are very small vessels that spread through the tissue. The capillary network links the
arterioles and the venules. It has the following adaptations to carry out its functions effectively:
• Their walls are very thin and contain no elastic fibres, smooth muscles and collagen. This
helps them fit between individual cells and allows rapid diffusion of substances between
the blood and the cells.
• The walls consist of just one very thin cell to ensure short diffusion dictance. Thus,
oxygen and other molecules, such as digested food molecules and hormones, quickly
diffuse out of the blood in the capillaries into the nearby body cells, and carbon dioxide
and other waste molecules diffuse into the capillaries.
• The lumen of each capillary is small. Thus, the blood travels relatively slowly through
them to give more opportunity for diffusion to occur
• Capillaries branch between the cells- no cell is far from a capillary, so substances can
diffuse between cells and the blood quickly.
• Many capillaries increase total surface area for more exchange of substances.

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Veins-
Veins carry blood back towards the heart at low pressure and do not need a thick wall. Most
veins carry deoxygenated blood except pulmonary vein and umbilical vein. The pulmonary vein
carries oxygen-rich blood from the lungs back to the heart for circulation around the body. The
umbilical vein carries oxygenated blood from the placenta into the fetus.
Two larger veins-inferior venacava and superior venacava carry the blood from the body tissue
back to the heart.
Veins contain very large lumen for which it acts as a reservoir. The pressure in the vein is
relatively low because the pressure surges from the heart are eliminated before the blood reaches
the capillary system. Veins also have semilunar valves, which prevent backflow of blood. Veins
pass through the large block of muscles which contract and relax to squeeze veins to open and
close valves respectively. The action of these valve is explained below:

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The structure of the heart-

The heart pumps the blood around the body. The right side of the heart receives deoxygenated
blood from the body and pumps it to the lungs. The left side of the heart receives oxygenated
blood from the lungs and pumps it to the whole body. These two sides are separated from each
other by a thick, muscular septum to prevent the mixing of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.
The heart is made of cardiac muscles which are branched, involuntary and can contract and relax
rhythmically withiut getting fatigue. Cardiac muscle is supplied with glucose and oxygen by
coronary artery branching from the aorta. It also contains a lot of myoglobin which has a
stronger affinity for oxygen than haemoglobin. Myoglobin stores oxygen for the respiration
needed to keep the heart contracting regularly.

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Mode of action of the heart:
 The atria receive the blood from the vein at low pressure. Right atrium receives the
deoxygenated blood from the inferior venacava and superior venacava. At the same time
left atrium receives the oxygenated blood from the pulmonary vein. As they fill with
blood, the presure builds up and open the atrioventricular valves (bicuspid and
tricuspid valves). So, the ventricles (the left ventricle and the right ventricle) start to
fill with blood. When the atria are full they contract, forcing blood into the ventricles.
The atria have thin muscular walls because they receive blood at low pressure from the
veins and they need to exert relatively little pressure to move the blood into the
ventricles. Semilunar valves at the entrance to the atria stop a backflow of the blood into
the veins.
 The bicuspid valve contains two flaps of muscle and separates left atrium from left
ventricle and tricuspid valve contains three flaps of muscle and separate the right atrium
from right ventricle. The tough valve tendons prevent the valves form turning inside out
during ventricular contraction. Bicuspid valve opens during the contraction of the wall of
left atrium and tricuspid valve opens due to the contraction of the wall of the right
atrium.They also ensure flow of blood in one direction.
 The ventricles are filled with blood under some pressure. When the atria contract, then
the ventricles contract. Their muscular walls produce the pressure needed to force blood
out of the heart into the arteries- pulmonary arteries and aorta by the right and the left
ventricles respectively. Pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the capillaries in
the lungs. Aorta carries oxygenated blood throughout the whole body at high pressure. As
the ventricles start to contract, the atriventricular valves- bicuspid and tricuspid valves
close to prevent blood flowing into the atria. Semilunar valves prevent the blood flowing
back from the arteries into the ventricles.
 The muscular wall of the left ventricle of the heart is much thicker than those of the right
ventricle. The right ventricle pumps blood to the lungs, which are relatively close to the
heart. The delicate capillaries of the lungs need blood delivered at relatively low pressure.
The left ventricle must produce sufficient force to move the blood under pressure to all
the extremities of the body and overcome the elastic recoil of the arteries. Semilunar
valves prevent the blood flowing back from the aorta into the ventricle.
The cardiac cycle-
It is the cycle of contraction or systole and relaxation or diastole of the muscles in the walls of
the four chambers of the heart.
Systole can be divided into atrial systole when the atria contract together forcing blood into the
ventricles, and ventricular systole when the ventricles contract.
Between contractions the heart relaxes and fills with blood. This relaxation stage is called
diastole.

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Events taking place during cardiac cycle-

1. Ventricular diastole and atrial systole- The ventricles are relaxed and the atria contract,
decreasing the volume of the chamber and increasing the pressure inside the chamber.
This forces the atrioventricular valves to open to push the blood into the ventricles.
2. Ventricular systole and atrial diastole- The atria relax and the ventricles contract,
increasing their pressure. The pressures become higher in the ventricles than the atria,
which force the atrioventricular valves shut to prevent backflow. The pressure in the
ventricles is also higher than in the aorta and pulmonary artery, which forces open the
semilunar valves and blood is forced out into these arteries.
3. Ventricular diastole and atrial systole- The ventricles and the atria both relax. The
higher pressure in the pulmonary artery and aorta closes the semilunar valves to prevent
backflow into the ventricles. Blood return to the heart and the atria fill again due to the
higher pressure in the venacava and pulmonary vein. In turn this starts to increase the
pressure of the atria. As the ventricles continue to relax, their pressures fall below the
pressure of the atria and so the atrioventricular valves open. This allow blood to flow
pasively into the ventricles from the atria. The atria contract, and the whole process
begins again.
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Heart rate-
An average adult heart rate is about 70 beat per minute. The heart responds to the needs of the
body. During physical exercise when the tissues need more oxygen, heart beats faster to supply
more oxygenated, glucose carrying blood to the tissues for respiration and to remove the
increased metabolic waste products and excess heat.
In addition to exercise, other factors affecting heart rate include-
• Stress or excitement- Stress hormone- adrenaline released during stress can raise heart
rate
• Rest and relaxation- It can lower heart rate. Because all our organs work more slowly
during resting period. Thus, they need to release less energy and so need less oxygen.
• Permissible drugs, such as caffeine and nicotine- It increases heart rate
Control of heart rate-
Heart rate is controlled by the cardiovascular centre in the medulla in the brain. During exercise,
our muscles produce more carbon dioxide in aerobic respiration. Increase in the concentration of
carbon dioxide in the blood will be detected by the receptors in the aorta and the carotid artery.
These receptors then send impulse through the sensory nerve to the medulla. The medulla then
sends this impulse along the accelerator nerve to the heart to increase the heart rate. Thus the
heart beats faster with more force and so increases blood pressure.
When carbon dioxide production returns to normal, the medulla receives fewer impulses. It
responds by sending nerve impulse along a decelerator nerves which decreases the heart rate. As
a result, force of contraction is reduced and blood pressure returns to normal.

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Coronary Heart Disease-
The coronary arteries are originated from the aorta and supplies the heart muscles with oxygen
and nutrients such as glucose. These arteries are among the narrowest in the body. They are
easily blocked by a build up of fatty substances including cholesterol in their walls. This can cut
off the blood supply to an area of cardiac muscle. The affected muscle can no longer receive
oxygen and glucose, so it cannot respire and release energy. This means it is unable to contract,
resulting in a heart attack which is called coronary heart disease (CHD). It can lead to severe
health problems and is often fatal.

Factors making coronary heart disease:

• Age- With the increase in age decreases the elasticity of the artery. This increases blood
pressure which is a factor to cause cardiovascular disease (CVD)
• Heredity- Some people inherit a tendency to develop coronary heart disease
• Smoking- It raises blood pressure and makes blood clots more likely to form
• Physical inactivity- Regular exercise helps to reduce blood pressure and strengthens the
heart
• Stress- It stimulates to release adrenaline from adrenal gland. Adrenaline increases heart
rate and raises blood pressure.
• High blood pressure- It puts more strain on the heart
• Diet- Intake of large amounts of saturated fat is likely to raise cholesterol levels.

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 Ecosystem

Some important definition:

Habitat: It is a place where an organism lives. For example, water is a habitat for fish.
Population: All the organisms of one species living in a particular habitat at a certain time form
a population. For example, total number of foxes in a forest form a population of foxes.
Community: All organisms of all species found in a particular area at a certain time form a
community. For example, tigers, foxes, monkeys, birds etc. together form a community in a
forest.
Ecological niche: The role of an organism in a community is called its ecological niche. For
example, plants carry out photosynthesis to produce food for themselves as well as for other
organisms, like humans.
Abiotic factors: These are non-living features or physical or chemical factors affecting an
ecosystem, for example, light intensity, temperature, water, edaphic factors such, humus etc.
Biotic factors: These are biological factors affecting an ecosystem, for example, food supply,
predation, pathogens or microbes, plants, animals etc.
Ecosystem: Interaction between the community of living organisms together with their non-
living environment forms an ecosystem. Two types of ecosystems are available- land ecosystem
and aquatic ecosystem. A forest like the Amazon forest is a land ecosystem. Aquatic ecosystem
may be of – fresh water ecosystem, e.g., a pond and marine ecosystem, e.g., ocean

Functions of ecosystem:
• It regulates the essential ecological processes, support life system and renders the
stability
• It is also responsible for the cycling of nutrients between biotic and abiotic
components
• It maintains a balance among the various trophic levels in the ecosystem
• It cycles the minerals through the biosphere (It is all of the areas of the surface of
the earth where living organisms survive)
• The abiotic components help in the synthesis of organic components that involve the
exchange of energy.

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Components of an ecosystem:
Producers: These are the organisms which can produce their own food by photosynthesis. These
organisms are also called autotrophs. For example, large terrestrial plants such as mango
tree and aquatic organisms such as algae etc. are producers.
Consumers: These organisms basically feed on plants or other organisms. Consumers may be of
the following types:
Primary consumers: These organisms feed on the producers. For example, caterpillars
feed on the leaves of mango tree and aquatic insects such as cyclops, daphnia etc. feed on
the algae.
Secondary consumers: These organisms feed on the primary consumers. For example,
small birds feed on caterpillars and small fish feed on the aquatic insects such as cyclops,
daphnia etc.
Tertiary consumers: These organisms feed on the secondary consumers. For example,
snakes feed on the small birds and large fish feed on small fish.
Quaternary consumers: These organisms feed on the tertiary consumers. For example,
Eagle feeds on the snake and humans feed on large fish.
Decomposers: These are the organisms feeding on dead and decayed matters. For example,
bacteria, fungi, earthworm etc.
Factors affecting the distribution of the organisms:
Biotic factors:
• Availability of food and competition for food resources
• Predation
• Parasitism
• Disease
• Presence of pollinating insects
• Availability of nest sites
• Territory
• To find a mate
Abiotic factors:
• Climate, such as light intensity, temperature and water availability
• Hours of daylight
• Soil conditions, such as clay content, nitrate level, particle size, water content and pH
• Other factors specially in the rivers:
- Depth of water
- Flow rate
- Type of material at the bottom of the stream, such as, stones, sands, mud etc.
- Concentration of minerals in the water
- pH
- Oxygen concentration
- Cloudiness of the water
- Presence of any pollution and
- Salinity in an estuary

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Interactions in ecosystems:
• Feeding among the organisms – the plants, animals and decomposers are continually
recycling the same nutrients through the ecosystem.
• Competition among the organisms – animals compete for food, shelter, mates, nesting
sites and plants compete for carbon dioxide, mineral ions, light and water
• Interactions between organisms and the environment- plants absorb mineral ions,
carbon dioxide and water from the environment and give off water vapor and oxygen into
the environment and animals use materials from the environment to build shelters etc.

Estimation of the number of organisms of a particular species, e.g.,

grasshopper in a given field:
Either transact method or quadrat method can be used to count the number of organisms of a
particular species, e.g., grasshopper in a field. Hence, the quadrat method is described below. It
involves the following steps:
• Measure the length and breadth of the given field where the number of organisms or the
total number of grasshoppers will be calculated.
• Calculate the area of the field by multiplying the length with the breadth
• Take a quadrat of a particular length and find out its area by using the formula, (length)2
• Divide the area of the field by the area of the quadrat to find out the total number of
quadrat present in that field
• Carry out random sampling using the same quadrat throughout the whole field 4 to 5
times using a coordinate and calculate the total number of the grasshopper collected
• Divide the total number of the grasshopper collected by the number of sampling to find
out the average number of the grasshopper obtained in one quadrat.
• Multiply the number of the grasshopper obtained in one quadrat by the total number of
quadrats to find out the total number of grasshoppers in that field.

Biodiversity:
Biodiversity is the amount of variation shown by organisms in an ecosystem. It is a measure of
both numbers of different species present and abundance of each species.
Examples have been shown in the table below:
Species Number of individuals of each Number of individuals of each
species in community -1 species in community -2
A 10 1
B 10 1
C 10 1
D 10 1
E 10 46
Total = 5 50 50

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In the above table, it is seen that both communities contain the same number of species (5) and
same number of organisms (50). But, community 2 is dominated by one species (E). Community
1 contains an even number of species, so it has a higher biodiversity.
Tropical rain forest has higher biodiversity and pine forest has a lower biodiversity. Pine forest is
dominated by one species of tree. The trees produce a very dense cover, or canopy. Lack of light
severely restricts the growth of other tree species and ground layer plants. Pine forests provide a
limited variety of habitats for animals.

Figure: A pine forest

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 Figure: A tropical rain forest
Ecosystems with a high biodiversity are often more stable than ones with a low biodiversity. This
is because an ecosystem that is dominated by one or few species is more likely to be affected by
any sort of ecological disaster. For example, if a new disease arose that wiped out the dominant
tree species, this would have an impact on other species that relied on the tree for food and
shelter. In a more diverse ecosystem other tree species might supply these resources.

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Feeding Relationship:
The simplest way of showing feeding relationships within an ecosystem is a food chain. The
food chain shows how energy is moved from one organism to another as a result of feeding. The
arrows (→) show the direction of energy flow.

Figure: A food chain

In the above food chain, the grass is the producer. It is a plant so it can photosynthesize and
produce food materials. The grasshopper is the primary consumer. It is an animal which eats the
producer and is also a herbivore. The blue bird is the secondary consumer. It eats the primary
consumer and is also a carnivore. The snake is the tertiary consumer as it feeds on the secondary
consumer. It is also a carnivore. The owl is the quaternary consumer as it feeds on the tertiary
consumer.

The different stages in the food chain-producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary
consumer and quaternary consumer are called trophic levels.

The ecosystem is easily disrupted in situations involving a single food chain. A change in any
one component can potentially affect the balance of the ecosystem.

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Food web: A food web is a diagram that shows the way in which several food chains are linked
together in an ecosystem.
A major drawback of food webs is that they do not tell us how many living organisms are
involved. Many food webs are just too complex to complete.

Figure: A typical food web for a terrestrial ecosystem

We can predict how changes in the numbers of organisms in one food chain in the food web
might affect those in another food chain. For example, if the squirrel’s population were to
decline through disease, there could be several possible consequences:
• Seed-eating birds’ population could decrease due to the reduction of the availability of
food for owls and foxes.
• Rabbit population may increase due to the availability of more food or their population
may decrease due to over predation by foxes and owls.

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Ecological pyramid: Ecological pyramids are diagrams that represent the relative amount of
organisms at each trophic level in a food chain. There are two main types:
• Pyramids of numbers- These represent the numbers of organisms in each
trophic level in a food chain, irrespective of their mass.
Pyramids of number are better than those of food chain and food web. Because they give
quantitative information. Their major drawback is that they do not take into account the
relative mass of the organisms at each trophic level.
• Pyramids of biomass- These show the total mass of the organisms in each trophic level,
irrespective of their numbers. Its unit can be expressed as tonnes/area/year.
Biomass pyramids give no indication of the rate at which organisms grow. Biomass can
also vary with the season.
Consider the following food chains:
(1) Grass Grasshoppers Frog Bird

(2) Oak tree Aphids Ladybird Bird

(3) Oak tree Aphids Ladybird Bird Nematode worm

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Reasons for diagrams of feeding relationship to be of a pyramid shape:
• Not all of the materials in the producer plant was consumed
• The part of the materials in the producer plant eaten was not digested properly
• Some of the materials absorbed form excretory products
• Many of the materials are respired to release energy, with the loss of CO2 and H2O
• Some energy was used in active transport and in the contraction of the muscle during
movement.
• Some energy might not have passed to the next trophic level due to the death of the
organisms
• Some energy released in nrespiration is used to make protoplasm

Nutrient Cycling

Carbon Cycle:
Carbon is a component of all major biological molecules. Carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, DNA,
vitamins and many other molecules all contains carbon. The following processes are important in
cycling carbon through ecosystems:

• Photosynthesis fixes carbon atoms from carbon dioxide in the air into organic
compounds
• Feeding and assimilation pass carbon atoms already present in the organic compounds
along food chains
• respiration produces inorganic carbon dioxide from organic compounds, mainly
carbohydrates as they are broken down to release energy
• Fossilization-sometimes living things do not decay fully when they die due to the
conditionsin the soil( decay is prevented if it is too acidic) and fossil fuels such as coal,
oil, natural gas and peat are formed
• Combustion releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are buened
• Deforestation also increases carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere
• Dead organic matter, for example, in the soil after sedimentation is converted into
carbonate rocks. These carbonate rocks through weathering and due to volcanic activity
release carbon dioxide to the atmosphere

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 Figure: A Carbon Cycle

Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is an element that is present in many biological compounds including proteins, amino
acids, most vitamins, DNA and ATP. The nitrogen cycle involves feeding , assimilation, death
and decay. The following processes are important in cycling nitrogen through ecosystems:

1. Lightning converts nitrogen gas in the air into oxides of nitrogen. These oxides dissolve
in rainwater, enter the soil and are converted into nitrates by nitrifying bacteria.
2. Humans make nitrates industrially from nitrogen gas. These nitrates are mainly used as
fertilizers because they increase the rate of growth of crops.
3. Free living nitrogen fixing bacteria in the soil convert nitrogen gas into ammonia which is
used by bacteria to make amino acids and proteins. when the bacteria die , their proteins
decompose, releasing ammonia back to the soil.

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 4. Nitrogen fixing bacteria in root nodules also make ammonia which is converted by the
plant into amino acids and other organic nitrogen compounds. Death and decomposition
of the plant returns the nitrogen to the soil as ammonia.
5. Feeding and assimilation pass nitrogen atoms already in organic compounds along food
chains.
6. Decomposition by fungi and bacteria produces ammonia from the nitrogen in compounds
like proteins,DNA and Vitamins.
7. The ammonia is oxidized first to nitrite and then to nitrate by nitrifying bacteria by a
process called nitrification.
8. Plant roots can absorb the nitrates by active transport. These nitrates are combined with
carbohydrates to form amino acids and then proteins, as well as other nitrogen-containing
compounds.
9. Denitrifying bacteria convert nitrate in the soil into nitrogen which is released to
the air.

Figure: Nitrogen Cycle

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 Human influences on the environment
Major human activities are:
(1) Agricultural practices: It is needed to produce more food to sustain an ever-
increasing population. The ways are-
• Monoculture
• Use of fertilizers
• Use of chemicals such as, pesticide, insecticide,
weedkillers, fungicides and molluscicide
(2) Industrialization: It is needed to creat employment and to produce food and
commodities
(3) Deforestation: It is needed for the following reasons:
• to creat space for making roads and highways to bring crops or
vegetables from the rural area to the urban area
• to creat space for making cultivable land to produce more crops
• to provide wood as materials to build homes, schools and industries
• to provide wood for fuel to heat homes and power vehicles
• to make space for building homes, schools and factories as well as
for leisure facilities
• to make space to dump our waste materials

Figure: A food web on a farm

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 Agricultural practices
Monoculture: It involves giving over vast areas of land to a single crop.

Advantages:

• This makes for efficient harvesting as huge machinery can harvest large amounts of crop
in a short period of time

Disadvantage:

• It makes for very efficient spread of pests

• If the same crop is grown year after year in the same field, all minerals but some will not
be used.

To overcome the above problems, crop rotation can be introduced.

Crop rotation:

It involves planting different crops in fields on a rotation basis. Usually, a new crop is grown
in each field each year.
It reduces the chances of spreading pests by breaking pests cycle. It also help to manage
minerals in the crop field.

Figure: A four year crop rotation

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 Cycling nutrients on a farm:
Nitrates from the soil supply nitrogen that is needed to make proteins in plants. Some of
these plants are crops that will be sold,others are used as food for the stock animals as fodder.
When the crops are sold, the nitrogen in the proteins goes with them and is lost from the farm
ecosystem. Similarly, when livestock is sold, the nitrogen in their proteins gained from the
fodder goes with rhem and is lost from the farm ecosystem. To replace the lost nitrogen, a
farmer usually adds some kind of fertilizer. The amount of fertilizer added must be carefully
monitored to ensure the maximum growth and yield of the crop.

Figure: The nitrogen cycle on a farm

Use of fertilisers:
Farmers apply fertilisers in the field to increase crop production. Organic or inorganic
fertilisers farmers use add minerals such as nitrate, phosphate, magnesium etc. to the field to
replace the loss. Crop plants absorb those minerals by active transport and use them for their
growth and development. For example, nitrate ion is used to make amino acids or proteins
which may be enzyme or part of their cell membrane. Enzymes catalyses the chemical
reactions needed for metabolism. Phosphate ions are used in making DNA, ATP etc. DNA
controls the synthesis of proteins and ATP provides energy needed for different cellular
activities, such as the synthesis of protoplasm etc. Magnesium ions are needed to make
chlorophyll in plants. Chlorophyll traps light energy and converts it into chemical energy for
using in photosynthesis to produce their food.

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 Many organic fertilizers such as farnyard manure are made from the faeces of farm animals
mixed with straw. Adding farmyard manure returns some nitrogen to the soil. But, as
farmyard manure is made from livestock faeces and indigestible fodder, it can only replace a
portion of the lost nitrogen. Inspite of having limitation, farmyard organic manure improve
soil structure because it contains decaying matter that is essential part of the soil.
On the other hand, inorganic fertilizers are simply inorganic compounds such as potassium
nitrate or ammonium nitrate, carefully formulated to provide a specific amount of nitrate or
some other ions when applied according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Thus, most
farmers apply inorganic fertilizers to replace the nitrates and other mineral ions lost.
Inorganic fertilisers can not improve soil structure because of lack of any decaying matter in
it. Moreover, inorganic fertilisers can also lead to pollution problems.
Another way to replace lost nitrates is to grow a legume crop, such as, clover in a field one
year in four. Legumes have nitrogen-fixing bacteria in nodules on their roots. These bacteria
convert nitrogen gas in the soil air to ammonium ions. Some of this is passed to the plants,
which use it to make proteins. At the end of the season, the crop is ploughed back into the
soil, and decomposers convert the nitrogen in the proteins to ammonia. This ammonia is then
oxidised to nitrate by nitryfying bacteria and made available for next year’s crop.
Eutrophication:
Eutrophication is a process where an aquatic habitat receives large amounts of minerals,
either naturally or as a result of pollution by sewage or fertilisers.
The sequence of events to occur eutrophication and its effect:

Eutrophication:

• The excess mineral ions, such as, nitrates and phosphates in inorganic fertilisers
applied to the field are washed out of the soil to the neighbouring water bodies such
as pond by rain through a process called leaching
• The excess mineral ions such as nitrate and phosphate are treated as nutrient for the
algae in those aquatic body.
• These minerals thus stimulate the aquatic plants like algae to grow at a faster rate to
form a thick algal bloom on the surface of the water
Effect:
• The algae soon start to die, and are decomposed by aerobic bacteria using dissolved
oxygen in water
• The algae block the light from reaching other rooted plants, further decreasing the
oxygen produced by photosynthesis
• The low oxygen levels can result in all aerobic organisms like fish dying
• In severe cases, the water becomes anoxic and smelly from gases like hydrogen
sulfide and methane from bacteria. In such situation, only anaerobic bacteria can
survive.

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Solution:
Use organic manure instead of inorganic fertilisers in the field. The organic nitrogen containing
compounds in manure are less soluble and so are leached less quickly from the soil.Thus, rapid
eutrophication is less likely to occur.

Use of chemicals:
Different chemicals are used in the field to control pest, insects or weeds. Some of them are:

• Pesticides are used to kill pests

• Insecticides are used to kill insects
• Fungicides kill fungus
• Molluscicides kill molluscs such as snails and slugs
• Herbicides kill weeds or plant pest

Pests are organisms that reduce the yield of crop plants or stock animals. A pest can harm this in
two ways:

1. lowering the amount by reducing growth, e.g., by damaging leaves and reducing
photosynthesis
2. affecting the appearance or quality of crop, making it unsuitable for sale
By using pesticides or insecticides, a farmer can kill pests or insects and thus improve the yield
from the crops or livestock.
On the other hand, weeds compete with crop plants for space, light, water, and minerals such as
nitrate, phosphates etc. Thus, plant growth is hampered i.e., less photosynthesis will occur. By
using weedkillers, a farmer can thus kill weeds and increase the yield of crop.

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Disadvantages of using pesticide or insecticides:

• They may be slow to decompose

• They build up in the tissues of organisms through bioaccumulation
• They build up and become more concentrated along food chains through
biomagnification
• They kill other beneficial insects such as honey bees which are good pollinators
• Excessive use of these chemicals may cause resistance against these chemicals to gain in
the organisms

To overcome the above problems, biological control methods can be used. Biological control
is the use of another organism to control the numbers of a pest.
Some examples of biological control:

1. Introducing a natural predator- ladybirds can be used to control the populations of

aphids in orange groves
2. Introducing a parasite- the wasp Encarsia is used to control whitefly populations in
glasshouse tomato crops
3. Introducing a pathogenic microorganism- the myxomatosis virus was deliberately
released in Australia to control the rabbit population
4. Introducing sterile males- these mate with the females but no offspring are produced
from these matings, so numbers fall
5. Using pheromones- these are natural chemicals produced by insects to attract a mate.
Hence, they are used to attract pests which are then killed.

Advantages and disadvantages of using biological control:

Advantages:
• It is specific
• Resistance against it does not grow in organisms
• It does not need to repeat every year
Disadvantages:
• It is very slow in action
• It is not 100% efficient
• Due to lack of food, a biological control agent may turn into a pest

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Deforestation:
Deforestation means clearing of forest or cut down trees. It is a consequence of the enormous
growth of the human population. It has the following disadvantages:
• It adds to the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming.
• It causes destruction of habitats for many organisms and reduced biodiversity
• It reduces soil quality. Hence, there will be no trees and other plants to return minerals to
the soil when they die, and no tree roots to hold the soil together
• The soil is exposed due to lack of tree cover, and is blown or washed away into rivers,
causing rising water levels and flooding of lowland areas
• Deforestation may produce climate change through upsetting water cycle.
• Many undiscovered drugs and crop plants that will be lost with the deforestation

Industrialisation:
Different chemical effluents and inorganic gases are released from industry. These subtances are
called pollutants and cause pollution.
Pollution is the contamination of the environment by harmful substances that are produced by the
activities of humans.
Human activities pollute the air with many gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
methane and sulfur dioxide.
Carbon monoxide:
Source:
• Incomplete combustion of carbon containing substances such as petrol diesel etc.
• Car exhausts
Effect:
It is a dangerous pollutant as it is colourless, odourless and tasteless and can be fatal.
Haemoglobin binds more strongly with carbon monoxide than with oxygen to form a stable
compound carboxyhaemoglobin. Thus, haemoglobin carries a very less oxygen to the respiring
cells. So, the rate of respiration becomes very less. Thus the person may lose consciousness and
eventually die, as a result of a lack of oxygen reaching the cells, so that organs such as the heart
and brain stop working. Moreover, it damages the lining of the artery and causes a
cardiovascular disease called the atherosclerosis. It also hampers the development of baby in
pregnant women.
Solution: Burning carbon containing substances in the presence of sufficient oxygen.

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Carbon dioxide:
Source:
• Burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, as well as petrol and diesel in
vehicle engines
• deforestation increases carbon dioxide level in the air

Effect:
Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gass as it reduces heat loss from the earth surface.Thus, it causes
global warming. Other greenhouse gases include- water vapour (H2O), methane (CH4),
nitrous oxide (N2O) and Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC).

The normal greenhouse effect is shown below:

Short-wavelength infrared(IR) radiation from the Sun reaches the Earth. Some is absorbed by the
Earth’s surface and emitted again as longer-wavelength IR radiation. The greenhouse gases
absorb and then re-emit some of this long-wavelength IR radiation, which would otherwise
escape into space. This then heats up the surface of the Earth. A rise in the Earth’s temperature of
only a few degrees would have many effects as follows:

• Polar ice caps would melt and sea levels would rise
• A change in the major ocean currents would result in warm water flowing into previously
cooler areas
• a change in the global rainfall patterns could result. As a result, more rainfall occur in
some areas and other areas could experience a decrease in rainfall.
• It could change the nature of many ecosystem. If species could not migrate quickly
enough to a new, appropriate habitat, or adapt quickly enough to the changed conditions
in their original habitat, they could become extinct.
• Changes in farming practices would be necessary as some pests become more abundant.
Higher temperatures might allow some pests to complete their life cycles more quickly.

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Solution:

• Plant more trees

• Reduce the use of fossil fuel and increase the use of renewable sources of energy such as
solar energy, wind enegy etc.
• Share public transport instead of using private car
• Legislation

Methane:
Sources:
• Decomposition of waste burried in the ground by microorganisms
• Fermentation by microorganisms in the rumen or stomach of cattle and other ruminants
• Fermentation by bacteria in rice field
Effect:
Methane is a greenhouse gas which has much bigger effect than those of carbon dioxide.
Solution:
-Proper waste management
-Plant genetically modified crop plants which are easily decomposed by bacteria
-Use genetically modified easily digestible grass as fodder for the cattle

Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides:

Sources:
• Burning fossil fuel containing sulfur impurities
• Volcanic eruptions and lightning

Effect:
Sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released from burning of fossil fuel combine with water
droplets in the air to form acid, such as , sulfuric acid and nitric acid. These acids fall on the
Earth along with rain water in the form of acid rain. This acid rain makes the soil acidic and
causes the death of conifers. Leaves and stem of plants are destroyed.Root hairs are less effective
at absorbing minerals, so tree growth is slowed. Invertebrates, such as earthworm, living in those
acidic soil will die. Leaching of some ions into lakes kills fish. Moreover, acidification of lakes
may cause death of bacteria, algae, fish and amphibian eggs and causes change in ecosystem.
Due to acid rain, building made of marble stone corrodes away.

Acid forms blister on the skin and causes irritation in the eyes and bronchitis in human body.

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Solution:
For nitrogen oxides:
Use catalytic converter, for example, in the car. Catalytic converter splits nitrogen oxides into
nitrogen and oxygen which are the components of the atmospheric air.

For sulfur dioxide:

Use lime water,Ca(OH)2 at the base of the chimney. Sulfur dioxide reacts with lime water to
form calcium sulphate. This reduces the concentration of sulfur dioxide in the air.

Indicators of sulfur dioxide pollution:

Lichens are small moss-like organisms. Some lichens are more tolerant of sulfur dioxide than
others. So, patterns of lichen growth can be used to monitor the level of pollution by sulfur
dioxide. The different lichens are called indicator species as they indicate different levels of
sulfur dioxide pollution.

Water pollution:
Water is polluted by sewage and minerals from fertiliser. Sewage is wet waste from houses,
factories and farms. Household sewage consists of waste water from kitchens and bathrooms
and contains human urine and faeces, as well as dissolved organic and inorganic chemicals such
as soaps and detergents. It is carried away in pipes called sewers, to be treated before it enters
waterways such as rivers or the sea.
Untreated sewage can produce two major problems:
• Aerobic bacteria in the water polluted by the sewage use up the dissolved oxygen in the
water as they break down the organic materials. The reduction in the level of oxygen kills
larger animals such as freshwater insects and fish
• Untreated sewage contains pathogenic bacteria, which are a danger to human health.
Where untreated or raw sewage enters a river, the level of oxygen in the water becomes very low
as the aerobic bacteria and other microorganisms from the sewage decompose the organic matter.
Only species that are adapted to live in low-oxygen conditions, such as anaerobic bacteria, can
survive. As the water moves away from the outlet, it becomes oxygenated again as it mixes with
clean water and absorbs oxygen from the air. The increase in dissolved oxygen levels allows
more clean water species to survive.
The aim of sewage treatment is to remove solid and suspended organic matter and pathogenic
microorganisms, so that cleaner waste can be discharged into waterways.

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 Coordination

Some important definitions-

Stimulus- It is a change in the surroundings of an organism that produces a response.

Receptor- It is a cell or organ that detects a stimulus by changing its energy into the electrical
energy of the nerve impulses.

Receptor Type of energy received

Eye (Retina) Light
Ear (Organ of hearing) Sound
Ear (Organ of balance) Mechanical (Kinetic)
Tongue (Taste buds) Chemical
Nose (Organ of smell) Chemical
Skin (Touch/Pressure/Pain receptor) Mechanical (Kinetic)
Skin (Temperature receptor) Heat
Muscle (Stretch receptor) Mechanical (Kinetic)

Nerve impulse- It is tiny electrical signal that passes down a nerve cell. It is caused by
movements of ions in and out of the axon

Sensory neurone- It is a nerve cell which carries impulses from a receptor to into the CNS
Synapse- It is a junction between two neurone

Functions of synapse- It acts as a resistor, junction box and ensures nerve impulse to flow in one
direction
Relay neurone- It is a short neurone that connects a sensory neurone with a motor neurone in
the CNS

Coordination- Coordination means making things happen at the right time by linking up
different body activities
Motor neurone- It is a nerve cell that transmits impulses from the central nervous system to an
effector organ

Effector- It is an organ that brings about a response. For example, muscle or gland
Response- It is a reaction by an organism to a change in its surroundings

Reflex arc- It is a nerve pathway of a reflex action

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Reflex action- It is rapid, automatic, involuntary response to a stimulus

Accommodation- It is a change that takes place in the eye which allow it to focus on objects at
different distances

The structure and function of neurones:

Neurones are the basic unit of a nervous system. Neurones are cells which are specialised in the
transmission of electrical signals called nerve impulses. There are three different types of
neurones-

• Sensory neurones
• Motor neurones
• Relay or connector neurones which convey nerve impulse from the sensory neurone to
the motor neurone. This means, it connects motor and sensory neurones

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All of these neurones have the following structures:
Cell body: It contains the cell nucleus, mitochondria, othe organelles, and the rough
endoplasmic reticulum and ribosomes needed for the synthesis of the neurotransmitter
molecules.

Dendrites: These are thin extensions from the cell body. These connet to neighbouring nerve
cells.
Nerve fibre: It is extremely long and thin, carries the nerve impulse.

Axons: These are fibres that carry impulses away from the nerve cell body.
Dendrons: These are fibres that transmit impulses towards the cell body. Dendrons are present
in the sensory neurones.

Myelin sheath: Some nerve fibres are surrounded by thick dark rings called myelin which is
made of lipid together with some protein. It is an insulating layer and speeds up nerve impulses
and protects the axon from external injury.

Nodes of Ranvier- It is the small, uncovered area in the axon. Nerve impulse jumps from node to
node.

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Structure of mammalian,e.g., human brain:
The mammalian brain is a combination of grey matter, made up of neurone cell bodies, and
white matter, consisting of nerve fibres. There are areas of the human brain with very specific
functions concerned with the major senses and control of basic bodily functions. There are
around a hundred thousand million neurones working together in the human brain and that each
neurone synapses with up to 10 000 other neurones. The brain contains centres or nuclei made up
of cell bodies that make intercommunication between millions of cells possible. The great nerve
tracts from the spinal cord cross over as they enter and leave the brain, so that the left-hand side
of the brain receives information from and controls the right-hand side of the body and vice
versa.
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Human brain has the following regions:

Cerebrum:

It is the largest part of the brain. It is made up of two cerebral hemispheres. The outer layer of the
cerebral hemispheres is made up of grey matter. It is deeply folded to give a huge surface area
and to fit into the skull. Cerebrum is involved in vision, learning, thinking, emotions, memory
and control personality and all our conscious movement.

Figure: Human brain-side view

Cerebellum- It coordinates smooth movements. It uses information from the muscles and the
ears to control balance and maintain posture.
Hypothalamus- It is located just beneath the middle part of the brain. It is involved in
thermoregulation, osmoregulation, and also involved in thirst, hunger, aggression etc. It also
produces chemicals which stimulates or inhibits the release of hormones from the pituitary gland.
Pituitary gland- It is located adjacent to the hypothalamus. It produces growth hormone which
controls the growth of an individual. It also releases other hormones to regulate the functions of
other endocrine glands. For example, FSH released from the pituitary gland stimulates follicles
in the ovary to develop into matured egg.

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Medulla oblongata- It is at the base of the brain and at the top of the spinal cord. It controls
functions such as breathing rate, heart rate, blood pressure, coughing, sneezing, swallowing,
saliva production and peristalsis.
Structure and functions of the spinal cord:
The spinal cord is a tube made up of a core of grey matter surrounded by white matter which
runs out from the base of the brain (the medulla oblongata) through the vertebrae. It is
approximately 43–45 cm long. Impulses from receptors travel along sensory nerve fibres into the
spinal cord, through the dorsal roots, and then travel in sensory fibres up the cord to the brain.
Instructions from the brain travel as impulses down motor fibres in the spinal cord and out in
motor neurones through the ventral roots to the effector organs. The spinal cord acts as a
coordination centre for reflex action that takes place without conscious thought.

The sequence of events happening at a synapse-

1. Impulses arrive down axon of the first neurone

2. Neurotransmitter diffuses across synapse
3. Neurotransmitter attaches to the membrane of second neurone
4. Impulse starts at the second neurone
5. Neurotransmitter is broken down by enzymes released from the second neurone
6. The components of the neurotransmitter are reabsorbed back into the first neurone by
diffusion for the synthesis of new neurotransmitter to allow more nerve impulse to pass

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The structure and functions of different parts of eye:
Conjunctiva: It is the mucous membrane that covers the front of the eye and lines the inside of
the eyelids.
Cornea: It is the transparent window of the sclera at the front of the eye. It plays a part in
focusing light and protecting the eye.
Aqueous humour: It is liguid involved in focusing light
Pupil: It is the circular hole in the iris through which light enters the eye
Iris: It is a circular sheet of muscle that controls the amount of light entering the eye.
The iris has both circular and radial muscles that work antagonistically. In the bright light and
the low light level, circular and radial muscles work in the following ways.
In bright light-
• The circular muscle is contracted
• The radial muscle is relaxed
• The pupil is reduced to a narrow aperture
• This reduces the amount of light entering the eye to avoid damage to the delicate rods and
cones by overstimulating them.
In low light levels:
• The circular muscle relax
• The radial muscles contract
• The pupil is widen to allow more light to fall on the rods to maximize the ability to see.

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 Figure: The alteration of the size of the pupil at bright and dim light

Lens: It is important for the fine focusing of light onto the retina
Suspensory ligaments: These are fibres between the lens and the ciliary body of the eye that
hold the lens in position
Ciliary muscle: It changes the shape of the lens
Vitreous humour: It is clear jelly that maintains the shape of the eye
Sclera: It is the tough outer membrane of the eye. It is the visible, white part of the eye
Choroid: It is a dark layer underneath the sclera. It contains pigmented cells that prevent internal
reflection of light. It also contains blood vessels to nourish the retinal cells

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Retina: It is a layer of light-sensitive cells (the rods and cones) and the neurones leading from
these photoreceptors to the optic nerve.
The human eye has two types of photoreceptor cells- rods and cones.

Rods are spread evenly across the retina except at the fovea where there are none. They contain a
pigment called rhodopsin and provide a black and white vision only and they are very sensitive
to light. They are used mainly for seeing in low light intensities or at night.
Cones are found tightly packed together in the fovea. They are used mainly for vison in bright
light and they also provide colour vision. There are three types of cones- red-sensitive, green-
sensitive and blue-sensitive.
Fovea: It is the area of the retina containing only cones. It is the region of the highest visual
acuity
Blind spot: It is the point where the optic nerve leaves the eye. There is no photoreceptor cells,
so no vision here.
Optic nerve: It is a bundle of nerve fibres carrying impulses from the retina to the brain

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Accommodation of the eye:
It is a change that takes place in the eye which allow it to focus on objects at different distances.
Accommodation of an eye at different distance is shown below:

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 Chemical coordination

Hormones are organic chemicals, which are produced in endocrine glands, are released into the
blood and travel through the transport system to parts of the body where the cause changes,
which may be extensive or very targeted.
The shape of hormone molecule complements the shape of the specific receptor molecule on the
surface of the cell. Other hormones have receptors in the cytoplasm, and some in the nucleus. If
the cell surface membrane contains the correct molecule, the cell can respond.
Hormones are usually either proteins, parts of proteins such as polypeptides, or steroids.
A gland is an organ that releases or secretes a substance. This means that cells in the gland make
a chemical which passes out of the cells and travels somewhere else in the body to perform its
functions. There are two types of glands-exocrine and endocrine glands.
Exocrine glands secrete their products through a tube or duct. For example, salivary glands in
the mouth secrete saliva down salivary ducts, and tear glands secrete tears through ducts that lead
to the surface of the eye. The pancreas is both an exocrine gland which produces digestive
enzymes such as trypsin, amylase and lipase and an endocrine gland which produces the
hormones insulin and glucagon.
Endocrine glands are glands without ducts or ductless glands that produce hormones and
release them directly into the blood stream. They include-
• The pituitary gland: It is located at the base of the brain. It releases growth hormone
which stimulates the growth of body cells and increases the build-up of proteins. Excess
secretion of growth hormone may lead to giantism and less secretion of this hormone
may lead to dwarfism. Pituitary gland also releases the following hormones:
- Thyroid stimulating hormone(TSH): It controls the secretion of thyroxin and
triiodothyronine from the thyroid gland. Thyroxin controls the metabolic reactions in
the body.
- Follicle stimulating hormone(FSH): It stimulates the ovaries to produce oestrogen
and the development of ova in the menstrual cycle in woman. It stimulates the testes
to produce sperm in male
- Luteinising hormone(LH): It stimulates ovulation and the formation of the corpus
luteum in females. It prepares the uterus for implantation. In males, it stimulates the
testes to produce testosterone
- Prolactin: It stimulates and maintains the production of milk by the mammary glands
- Oxytocin: It stimulates the muscles of the uterus to contract during labour and also
stimulates the contraction of cells in the mammary tissue so that milk is squeezed out
when an infant suckles

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 - Antidiuretic hormone(ADH): It decreases the urine volume by affecting the tubules
of the kidney, and also causes the arteries to constrict after haemorrhage, preventing
excess blood loss and raising blood pressure.

Figure: The main endocrine glands of the body

• The hypothalamus: It is located at the base of the brain adjacent to the pituitary gland. It
regulates body temperature and maintains ionic balance in the body. It also controls the
activity of the pituitary gland.
• The thyroid glands: These release thyroid hormones-thyroxine which are involved in
controlling growth and metabolism

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 • The pancreas: The pancreas is an organ located in the abdomen adjacent to the
duodenum. This gland releases hormones such as insulin and glucagon which are
involved in the homeostatic control of blood sugar. Hence, insulin converts excess
glucose in blood into glycogen in the liver. Thus, it reduces blood glucose concentration.
Excess secretion of insulin may reduce blood glucose concentration drastically below
normal level. Thus, brain cells does not get glucose for respiration. As a result, the person
may go to coma. Less secretion of insulin may lead to a condition called diabetes.
Glucagon converts glycogen into glucose in the liver. This glucose is then released into
the blood to raise its concentration.
• The adrenal glands: These are located on the top of kidneys. It release hormones
adrenaline. Adrenaline is involved in the fight or flight response.
• The ovaries: They are located in the pelvis, one on each side of the uterus. They produce
egg and the female sex hormones-oestrogen and progesterone. Oestrogen controls the
secondary sexual characteristics in the women. Progesterone maintain the uterus lining
• The testis: These are present in a skin pouch called the scrotum located between the upper
thighs. These release male hormone testosterone which controls the secondary sexual
characteristics in male.
Effect of adrenaline in the body-
Adrenal glands secrete the hormone adrenaline. Adrenaline acts at a number of target organs and
tissues to prepare the body for fight or flight. It produces the following changes in the body:
• The breathing rate increases and breaths become deeper, taking more oxygen into the
body
• The heart beat faster to send more blood to the muscles so that they receive more glucose
and oxygen for respiration
• Blood is diverted away from the gut into the muscle
• Adrenaline convert glycogen into glucose in the liver. This glucose is released into the
blood so that muscle cells can absorb more glucose for respiration
• The pupils dilate to increase visual sensitivity to movement
• Body hairs stand upright to make the animal look larger to an enemy
• Mental awareness is increased, so reactions are faster.

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Comparing the mechanisms of nervous and hormonal coordination:

Features Nervous Endocrine

Nature of message electrochemical impulses chemicalcompound (Hormone)
Route of transmission specific nerve cells general blood system
Type of effects rapid, but usually short-term, e.g. usually slower, but generally
blinking longer lasting, e.g. growth
Destination of effects localised response-impulse to widespread response- target
specific cells cells can be all over the body.
Diabetes-
It is disease where the blood glucose concentration can not be properly controlled. It is caused by
a lack of insulin.
There are two types of diabetes- type 1 and type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs due to lack of insulin
in the body. In case of type 2 diabetes, the pancreas produces insulin but the body shows insulin
resistance, where insulin has less effect than it should do. It occurs in the people who are
overweight and eat a poor diet that is high in sugar and other carbohydrates.
Symptoms:
• Presence of glucose in the blood
• Constant thirst
• In severe case, the sufferer loses weight and becomes weak and eventually falls into a
coma and dies.
Detection of diabetes-
People with diabetes can check their blood glucose using a special sensor in the following ways:
• They prick their finger and place a drop of blood on a test strip.
• The strip is then put into the sensor, which gives them an accurate reading of how much
glucose is in their blood.
• They can then tell when to inject insulin and how much to inject.
Prevention and treatment:
• Take a balanced diet and avoid the intake of excess sugary food
• Take a regular exercise
• Inject insulin into the blood in appropriate dose.

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 Homeostasis and Excretion

Some Important Terms:

Excretion: It is the process through which metabolic waste products are removed from the body.

Homeostasis: It is the process through which the conditions in the internal environment of the
body is kept relatively constant through negative feedback.

Examples of the internal conditions are:

• Temperature
• Water contents
• Carbon dioxide concentration in the blood
• Blood glucose concentration
• pH of the tissue fluid

Tissue fluid is a watery solution of salts, glucose and other solutes. It surrounds all the cells of
the body, forming a pathway for the transfer of nutrients between the blood and the cells. Tissue
fluid is formed by leakage from blood capillaries. It is similar in composition to blood plasma,
but lacks the plasma proteins such as prothrombin, fibrinogen etc.

If the tissue fluid contains too many solutes, the cells will lose water by osmosis, and become
dehydrated. If tissue fluid is too dilute, the cells will swell up with water. Both conditions will
prevent them working efficiently and might cause permanent damage.

If the pH of the tissue fluid is not correct, it will affect the activity of the cell’s enzymes. Proteins
in the cell membrane will be denatured and selectively permeability of the cell membrane will be
lost.

If the body temperature is much different from 370C, the activity of the enzymes and membrane
protein will be affected.

The excretory products need to be removed. Substances such as urea must be prevented from
building up in the blood and tissue fluid, where they would be toxic to cells. Thus, homeostasis is
very important for the body.

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Osmoregulation: It is the maintenance of the water and salt content of the internal environment.

Negative feedback: It is the process where a change in the body is detected and brings about
events that return conditions to normal.

Ultrafiltration: It is the filtration of the blood taking place in the Bowman’s capsule of a kidney
tubule, where the filter separates different-sized molecules under high pressure. Hence, smaller
sized molecules which are equal to or smaller than the pore size on the filter are filtered off. For
example, glucose, water, urea, uric acid, mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc. are filtered off
from the blood to form glomerular filtrate in the Bowman’s capsule. Larger substances such as
RBC, fibrinogen, platelets etc. stay in the blood.

Selective reabsorption: It is a process taking place in a kidney tubule whereby different

amounts of substances are absorbed from the filtrate into the blood. For example, water is
reabsorbed from the filtrate in the kidney tubule into the bood by osmosis, and glucose and
minerals such as Na+, K+,Cl- etc. by active transport. The remaining fluid after selective
reabsorption forms urine which includes the followings:

• Water
• Urea
• Uric acid
• Mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc.

Thermostat: A thermostat is a switch that is turned on or off by a change in temperature. In

human, thermostat or thermoregulatory centre is the hypothalamus in the brain.

Endotherms/ Homeotherms: Animals that maintain a constant body temperatures by

physiological means are said to be endotherms or homeotherms. It uses heat from the chemical
reactions in its cells to warm its body. It then controls its heat loss by regulating processes like
sweating and blood flow through the skin. They use behavioral ways to control their temperature
too. For example, penguins huddle together in groups to keep warm, and humans put on extra
clothes in winter.

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 The skin and temperature control

Human skin has a number of functions which include:

• It forms a tough outer layer which resists mechanical damage

• It acts as a barrier to the entry of pathogens
• It forms an impearmeable surface, preventing loss of water
• It acts as a sense organ for touch and temperature changes
• It helps in controlling the loss of heat through the body surface

The structure of human skin is described below:

Figure: A section through human skin

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The outer cornified layer of epidermis contains dead cells that stop water loss and protect the
body against invasion by microorganisms such as bacteria. It also forms a protective covering
over the body surface, preventing mechanical injury.
The granular layer of epidermis consists of living cells, which, as they move upwards, become
dry and horny, giving rise to the cornified layer.
The innermost Malpighian layer of epidermis contains living cells which are usually pigmented.
The pigment produced by these cells protects the skin against the harmful ultraviolet light of the
sun. The cells in this layer are the only cells in the epidermis that undergo cell division. The new
cells formed are pushed outwards.
The hypodermis contains fatty tissue, which insulates the body against heat loss and is a store of
energy.
The middle layer dermis, contains many sensory receptors. Sweat glands, many blood vessels
and hair follicles are also located in dermis.
Sweat glands produce greater amounts of sweat which is secreted on to the surface of the skin.
When sweat evaporates using body’s latent heat of vaporisation, the body gets a cooling effect.
Hairs on the surface of the skin lie flat against the skin surface due to the relaxation of hair
erector muscles attached to the base of each hair. As a result, the layer of air on the skin
becomes very thin to allow heat loss out of the body. In cold conditions, the hair erector muscles
contract to rise hair on the skin. This creates an insulating layer of air on the skin surface to
reduce heat loss out of the body.

Figure: Controlling blood through the skin surface by vasodilation and vasoconstriction

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There are tiny blood vessels called capillary loops in the dermis. Blood flows through these
loops, radiating heat to the outside, and cooling the body down. If the body is too hot,
vasodilation occurs to increase the blood flow to the skin’s surface to radiate heat out of the
body.
In cold conditions, vasoconstriction occurs to reduce blood flow to the surface of the skin. Thus,
less heat is radiated out of the body. Moreover, shivering takes place, where the muscles contract
and relax rapidly. This generates a large amount of heat which can be used to keep the body
warmer.
Pressure receptors sense change in pressure, pain receptors sense pain and temperature
receptors sense the change in temperature in the body and the surroundings.

Temperature control:
For thermoregulation the following changes occur in the body-
In warm conditions:
• Sweat glands become activated to produce more sweat which on evaporation using
body’s latent heat of vaporisation, provides the body with a cooling effect
• Hair erector muscles relax to allow hair to lie flat on the skin. This reduces the thickness
of insulating layer of air on the skin to allow more heat to be radiated out of the body.
• Vasodilation occurs to increase the blood flow to the skin’s surface to allow more heat to
lose from the body by radiation, conduction and convection.
• The body’s metabolism slows down.
In cold conditions:
• Sweat glands become inactivated to produce very less or no sweat to conserve heat in the
body.
• Hair erector muscles contract to rise hair on the skin. This creates an insulating layer of
air on the skin surface to reduce heat loss out of the body by radiation, conduction and
convection.
• Shunt blood vessels activated to cut blood flow from the skin.
• Shivering takes place, where the muscles contract and relax rapidly. This generates a
large amount of heat which can be used to keep the body warmer.
• The body’s metabolism speeds up to generate more heat to keep the body warmer

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Control of carbon dioxide concentration in blood:
Presence of more carbon dioxide in blood is identified by chemoreceptors in the carotid arteries.
These chemoreceptors then send impulse to the breathing centre in the medulla. Medulla then
sends impulse back to the breathing muscles such as intercostal muscles and diaphragm muscles
to change the breathing rate to remove CO2 from the blood and to add O2 to the blood. Thus,
CO2 concentration decreases in the blood through negative feedback.
Control of blood glucose concentration:
An increase in blood glucose concentration is identified by the receptors in β cells in the
pancreas. This will trigger pancreas to release more insulin in the blood. This insulin is carried to
all parts of the body, in the blood. Insulin will bind to the receptors on the cells in the liver and
muscles.Insulin will stimuolate those cells in the liver to increase the rate at which they absorb
glucose from the blood and convert it into glycogen and use it in respiration. This results in a
decrease in the concentration of glucose in the blood through negative feedback.
A decrease in blood glucose concentation is detected by the receptors on the α cells in the
pancreas. This will trigger pancreas to release glucagon in the blood. Glucagon binds to the
receptors on the cells in the liver. It will stimulate the cells in the liver to convert glycogen in the
liver into glucose which is then released into the blood. Thus, concentration of glucose in the
blood increases to normal through negative feedback.

The Urinary System:

It is composed of-
• Two kidneys
• Two ureters
• And a bladder

Figure: Human urinary system

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The kidneys are bean shapped and of dark reddish brown organs attached to the back of the
abdominal cavity. Each kidney receives blood from a renal artery, and returns blood via a renal
vein.
The darker outer region of kidney is called cortex. It contains many tiny blood vessels that
branch from the renal artery. It also contains filtering unit of kidney called nephron.
The middle layer of kidney is called medulla which has bulges called pyramids pointing inwards
towards the concave side of the kidney.The tubules or nephrons run down through the medulla.
These tubules in the medulla then join up and lead to the pelvis. The pelvis connects with the
ureters, carrying the urine to the bladder which is a muscular bag to store urine.
The bladder has a tube leading to the outside called the urethra. The wall of the urethra contains
two ring-shaped muscles called sphincter muscles. They can contract to close the urethra and
hold back the urine. The lower sphincter muscle is voluntary, while the upper one is involuntary.
It automatically relaxes when the bladder is full.
Structure of a kidney and kidney tubule or nephron:

Functions of the kidneys:

The kidney has two roles in the body:
• Excretion- the removal of urea from the body
• Osmoregulation- the maintanance of the water and salt content of the internal
envoronment.

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To carry out the above roles, a kidney tubule performs ultrafiltration and selective reabsorption.
Ultrafiltration:

It is the filtration of the blood taking place in the Bowman’s capsule of a kidney tubule, where
the filter separates different-sized molecules under high pressure. Hence, smaller sized molecules
which are equal to or smaller than the pore size on the filter are filtered off. For example,
glucose, water, urea, uric acid, mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc. are filtered off from the
blood to form glomerular filtrate in the Bowman’s capsule. Larger substances such as RBC,
fibrinogen, platelets etc. stay in the blood. The filtrate thus formed is called glomerular filtrate.

Figure: The blood supply associated with a nephron

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 Figure: A Bowman’s capsule and glomerulus
Blood in the glomerulus and the space in the Bowman’s capsule are separated by two layers of
cells, the capillary wall and the wall of the capsule. Between the two cell layers is a third layer
called the basement membrane, which is not made of cells. It is made of proten fibre and acts
as a filter, allowing water, ions, and small molecules such as glucose, urea etc. to pass through
but holding back blood cells such as RBC and large molecules such as proteins.
Selective Reabsorption:
It is a process taking place in a kidney tubule whereby different amounts of substances are
absorbed from the filtrate into the blood. For example, water is reabsorbed from the filtrate in the
kidney tubule into the bood by osmosis, and glucose and minerals such as Na+, K+,Cl- etc. by
active transport. The remaining fluid after selective reabsorption forms urine which includes the
followings:

• Water
• Urea
• Uric acid
• Mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc.

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Figure: A nephron with blood supply showing what is happening to the fluid as it travels along
the nephron

From the above diagram it can be seen that part of the plasma leaves the blood in the Bowman’s
capsule and enters the nephron. The filtrate consists of water and small molecules such as
glucose, urea, mineral ions such as Na+, K+, Cl- etc. As the fluid passes along the nephrone, all
the glucose is reabsorbed back into the blood in the proximal convoluted or first coiled tubule,
along with most of the sodium and chloride ions. In the rest of the tubule, more water and ions
are reabsorbed, and some solutes like ammonium ions are secreted into the tubule. The final
urine contains urea at a much higher concentration than in the blood. It also contains controlled
quantities of water and ions.

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Control of the body’s water content:

Increase in the concentration of blood or decrease in water potential in blood is detected by

receptor cells in the hypothalamus. This causes the pituitary gland to release more ADH. The
ADH travels in the bloodstream to the kidney. At the kidney tubules it causes the collecting
ducts to become more permeable to water, so that more water is reabsorbed back into the blood.
This makes the urine more concentrated, so that the body loses less water and the blood becomes
more dilute.

When a person drinks a large volume of water, the blood will become too dilute. Receptor cells
in the hypothalamus will detect more water in the blood. This leads to lower levels of ADH
secretion. Thus, the kidney tubules become less permeable to water, and thus more water passes
out of the body in the urine. In this way, through the action of ADH, the level of water in the
internal environment is kept constant through negative feedback.

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 Chromosomes, genes and DNA
Chromosome is located in the nucleas of a cell in the eukaryotes and in the cytoplasm of a
prokaryotic cell. Chromosome in the eukaryotes contains two chromatids joined to a centromere.
The chromosome is made of DNA and histone. Histone is a type of protein and DNA is made of
deoxyribose sugar, nitrogenous bases such as Adenine(A), Thymine(T), Guanine(G) and
Cytosine(C) and phosphate.

A small section of DNA that determines a particular feature is called a gene. Genes determine
features by instructing cells to produce particular proteins which then lead to the development of
the feature.
There are two types of cells based on the mode of action- body cell and reproductive cells or
gametes. Body cells in human contain diploid number of chromosomes which is 23 pairs. This
diploid number refers to the full sets of chromosome and can be symbolised as ‘2n’. On the
other hand, a gamete contains a haploid number of chromosomes found in a body cell. This
haploid number in human gamete is 23 and it is symbolised as ‘n’. This haploid and diploid
number may vary from species to species.
In a human male, body cells contains 22 pairs of ‘X’ chromosomes and two that do not form a
pair- the X and Y chromosomes. A body cell from a female has 23 matching pairs including a
pair of X chromosomes.
Pairs of matching chromosomes are called homologous pairs.
The entire DNA of an organism or the amount present in a diploid cell is called its genome. The
human genome contains about 20,000-25,000 genes coding for proteins, which is about 1.5% of
the total DNA. The rest have other functions, such as, in identifying the species etc.

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 The structure of DNA
• DNA is double stranded.
• Each strand of DNA contains phosphate-deoxyribose sugar backbone.
• To each deoxyribose sugar molecule, either of the four nitrogenous bases- Adenine(A),
Thymine(T), Guanine(G), or Cytosine(C) is attached.
• Base, sugar and phosphate together forms a nucleotide.

Figure: A nucleotide
• Thus, a DNA strand contains many nucleotides which are joined to each other by
phosphodiester bond.
• Two strands of DNA runs anti-parallely.
• The exposed bases in nucleotides of one DNA strand bind with the complementary bases
in the nucleotides in other strand according to the complementary base-pairing rule.
• Hence, Adenine binds with its complementary base Thymine and Guanine binds with its
complementary base Cytosine and vice-versa by two and three hydrogen bonds
respectively.
• Due to the presence of many hydrogen bonds, a DNA molecule becomes twisted to be
double helix.

Importance of hydrogen bonds-

• Hydrogen bonds hold the two DNA strands together firmly to give it a 3-D structure
• It is easily breakable. Thus, it plays an important role in replication and in protein
synthesis

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 DNA Replication

Replication is process through which a DNA molecule can produce an exact copy of its own. It
occurs in the nucleus of a cell. It involves the following steps:

• Double stranded DNA unwinds and is unzipped

• Hydrogen bonds between two polynucleotide chains are broken down by the enzyme,
DNA helicase
• The polynucleotide strands of DNA are separated
• Each of the separated strand acts as a template for the formation of a new strand of DNA
• The exposed bases in each polynucleotide chain bind with the complementary bases in
nucleotides directed by DNA polymerase according to the complementary base paring
rule
• Hence, Adenine binds with Thymine and Guanine binds with Cytosine and vice-versa by
two and three hydrogen bonds respectively
• The newly assembled nucleotides are joined to each other by phosphodiester bond. This
reaction is catalysed by ligase and polymerised by DNA polymerase
• Thus, two identical DNA molecules are produced. Each contains a strand from the parent
DNA and other strand has been synthesised.

Importance of Replication:

• Due to replication, chromosome number is doubled prior to mitosis cell division so that
each newly formed daughter cell can receive exactly the same amount and type of DNA
• It is important in the protein synthesis in the cell.

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 The Genetic Code

One of the two strands of DNA molecule is template strand which codes for the manufacture of
proteins in a cell. The other strand is non-template strand. Proteins are made of chains of amino
acids. This protein may be enzyme, hormones, antibodies, or structural protein such as keratin
etc. A sequence of three bases in the template strand of DNA codes for one amino acid.
Thus, the DNA code is a triplet code. It is a universal code. The following diagram shows the
triplets in one gene coding for different amino acids in a protein.

The gene in the above diagram codes for the following protein :

Methionine-arginine-isoleucine-proline-histidine-lysine-cysteine-phenylalanine-glutamic acid.

This protein may be enzyme, hormone or part of cell membrane etc.

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 Gene mutation

A mutation is a change in the base sequence of DNA, gene or in whole chromosome. This can
lead to the gene coding for the wrong amino acids and therefore, the wrong protein.
The factors that increase the rate of mutation, are referred to as mutagens. For example, ionising
radiation such as X-rays, ultra violet light, gamma rays, and certain chemicals present in
cigarette smoke and tar etc. and chemicals including mustard gas and nitrous oxide. There are
several ways in which gene mutations can occur. Some of them are given below:
• Substitution- This occurs when one base substitutes for another. Hence, the triplet of
bases in which the mutation occurs is changed and it may code for a different amino acid.
As a result, the structure of the protein molecule will be different and its function may be
affected. Sometimes, the new triplet may not code for different amino acid as most amino
acids have more than one genetic code.

• Insertion- It occurs when an extra base is added, which may be a repetition of one og the
bases already there or a different base entirely. Hence, each triplet after the point where
the mutation occurs is changed. As a result, the whole gene is different and will now code
for an entirely different protein.

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 • Deletion- It occurs when a base is completely lost from the sequence. As a result, the
entire base sequence is altered. Each triplet after the mutation is changed and the whole
gene is different and this gene will code for an entirely different protein.

• Inversion- It occurs when the sequence of bases in a triplet is reversed. Hence, only one
triplet is affected and this may or may not result in a different amino acid and altered
protein structure.

Importance of mutation:
1. Most mutation may have no observable effects on the organism. This may be because of
the followings:
• The mutations occur in part of the non-coding DNA which does not affect the way the
genetic code is read
• One small change in the code may not alter the amino acid codded for as most amino
acids have more than one genetic code.
2. Random mutation in the genetic material of the gametes are the cause of many human
genetic diseases, such as-
• Thalassaemia in which the blood proteins are not manufactured correctly
• Cystic fibrosis in which a membrane protein does not function properly
3. Mutation in the body cells as they divide results in many different types of cancer, e.g.,
skin cancer.
4. Sometimes a gene mutation can be an advantage to an individual. For example, as a result
of random mutation, insects can become resistant to insecticides.

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 The stages of protein synthesis

DNA is presen in the nucleus, protein synthesis occurs in the ribosome in cytoplasm. So, the

genetic code involving in protein synthesis must have to come out of nucleus into the cytoplasm.

This is carried out by RNA. There are three main differences between RNA and DNA:

• DNA is double stranded, RNA is a single strand

• DNA contains the sugar deoxyribose, RNA contains ribose

• RNA contains the base uracil(U) instead of thymine(T)

• DNA is larger than RNA

• There are three types of RNA- mRNA, tRNA and rRNA, but DNA has no types.

Messenger RNA (mRNA): It forms a copy of the DNA code. It is produced in the nucleus by

transcription. It is linear. After production, it comes out of the nucleus through nuclear pore to

the cytoplasm where it becomes associated with the ribosome. Information on mRNA is

translated into protein there.

Transfer RNA (tRNA): It is found in the cytoplasm. It is clover leaf shaped. Each tRNA

molecule has a unit of three bases at one end of the molecule which is known as anticodon. It has

an amino acid binding site at its other end. tRNA carries amino acids to the ribosomes to make

the protein.

Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): It makes up the bulk of the ribosomes themselves.

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 Figure: A tRNA

Protein synthesis takes place in two stages called transcription and translation.
Transcription occurs in the nucleus and translation occurs at the ribosome.

Transcription:

It involves the following steps:

• In a chromosome, part of the DNA double helix containing desired gene unwinds and
unzips.
• The breakdown of hydrogen bonds between the bases making up the two strands of DNA
is catalysed by RNA polymerase.
• The two strands are now separated, exposing the bases along the template strand.
• RNA nucleotides directed by RNA polymerase align along the exposed sequence of DNA
bases according to the complementary base pairing rule.
• The RNA nucleotides link up to form an mRNA molecule and this reaction is catalysed
by RNA polymerase.
• These RNA nucleotides form bonds between their ribose and phosphate groups, joining
together to make the sugar-phosphate backbone of the molecule.
• After production, mRNA is detached from the DNA template, allowing the DNA chains
of the double helix to re-join.

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Translation:

It involves the following steps:

• The completed mRNA strand leaves the nucleus through the nuclear pore and moves to a
ribosome in the cytoplasm
• Ribosome moves from the left to the right along the length of mRNA, starting from the
start codon and ending at stop codon.
• tRNA carries amino acids to ribosome
• The first tRNA binds at the mRNA at the start codon, which is always ‘AUG’. This codes
for the amino acid methionine.
• Another tRNA brings along a second amino acid. The anticodon of the second tRNA
binds to the next codon on the mRNA
• A bond forms between the methionine and the second amino acid
• The first tRNA molecule is released and goes off to collect another amino acid
• More tRNA molecules arrive at the mRNA and add their amino acids to the growing
chain, forming a protein
• When the ribosome reaches at the stop codon, the synthesis of a polypeptide chain is
completed.

Difference between DNA and RNA:

DNA
DNA is double stranded
DNA contains deoxyribose sugar
DNA contains base thymine
DNA does not have any type
DNA is larger than RNA
RNA
RNA is single stranded
RNA contains ribose sugar
RNA contains base uracil instead of thymine
RNA is of three types- tRNA, mRNA and rRNA
RNA is smaller than DNA

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 Mitosis
Multicellular organisms like animals and plants begin life as zygote. This divides into two cells,
then four, then eight and so on until the adult body contains countless millions of cells. This type
of cell division is called mitosis and is under the control of the genes.
Mitosis occurs in the following phases:
• Prophase
• Metaphase
• Anaphase
• Telophase
Before a cell undergoes mitosis division, it must undergo interphase. During interphase the
following events occur:
• The normal metabollic processes of the cell continues and new DNA is produced as the
chromosomes replicate
• New proteins, cytoplasm and cell organelles are also made so that the cell is prepared to
produce two new cells.
• ATP production is stepped up at times to provide the extra energy needed as the cell
divides

Prophase:

The following events occur:

• The chromosomes coil up and can take up stains to become visible.
• At this point, each chromosome consists of two daughter chromatids attached to a
centromere
• The nucleolus breaks down
• The centrioles begin to pull appart to form spindle

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Metaphase:
The events:
• The nuclear membrane has broken down
• The centrioles have moved to opposite poles of the cell and formed the spindle
• The chromosomes line up at the ‘equator’ of the spindle, attached to it by their
centromeres

Anaphase:
The events:
• The spindle fibres shorten and pull the chromatids to the opposite ends of the cell
• The centromeres divide
• The chromatids separate and start moving to the opposite pole

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Telophase:
The events:
• A nuclear membrane re-forms around both groups of chromosomes at opposite ends of
the cell
• The chromosomes decondense by uncoiling, becoming chromatin again
• The nucleolus re-formes in each nucleus
• Interphase follows division of cytoplasm

The importance of mitosis:

• It helps organisms to grow and replace old cells
• It is the basis for asexual reproduction to occur
• Cloning can be carried out through mitosis

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 Meiosis

Asexual reproduction is advantageous in producing genetically identical new organisms

successfully. Its disadvantage is that no variety is produced and the organisms produced may be
vulnerable to the changing environment. Only mutation can bring about a little variation in the
organisms produced asexually.
On the other hand, sexual reproduction brings about genetic variation in the organisms. These
types of organisms are stable in changing environment. Its disadvantage is that it relies on two
gametes meeting and fusing. It is not easy to find a mate. It is also expensive because it involves
the use of body resources such as special sexual organ.
Gametes are haploid sex cells that fuse to form a new diploid cell or zygote in sexual
reproduction. The nucleus of a cell contains the chromosomes. A cell containing two full sets of
chromosomes is called diploid (2n). It is the characteristic for that species. If two diploid cells
fuse to form a new individual, then the offspring would have four sets of chromosomes. As a
result, that species will lose its characteristic number and the cells will be broken down due to
the genetic overloading. To avoid this, haploid cells are formed with one set of chromosomes.
On fusion of two haploid nuclei, a zygote is formed during fertilization.

Gametes are formed in special sex organs or gonad by gametogenesis. In animal, male gametes-
sperms are produced in testes and female gamete-ovum is produced in the ovaries.
In flowering plants, the male gametes are produced in the anther and female gametes-ovules are
produced in the ovaries.
The first stage in the formation of gametes is meiosis. Meiosis is a form of cell division in which
the chromosome number of the original cell is halved, leading to the formation of the gametes.
Meiosis occurs in two phases- Meiosis I and Meiosis II. Each phase has four stages- Prophase,
Metaphase, Anaphase and Telophase. Before a cell enters stages in meiosis, it undergoes
interphase. Although meiosis has two phases but interphase occurs once.
Interphase: It is the period between active cell divisions when cells increase their size and mass,
replicate their DNA and carry out normal metabolic activities.

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 Meiosis - I
Prophase - I:
Events:
• Chromosome condensed and each chromosome will possess two chromatids joined to a
centromere
• Centrioles duplicate and move to the pole.
• Nucleolus is disintegrated
• Homologous pair of chromosome associate with each other by synapsis
• Chiasmata formation or crossing over occurs.

Early Prophase- I Late Prophase- I

Metaphase – I:
Events:
• Nuclear membrane completely breaks down
• Centrioles reach the pole
• Spindle is completely formed
• The pairs of chromosome line up on the metaphase plate
• Microtubules of spindle attach to the centromere

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Anaphase-I

Events:

• The centromere does not divide

• Homologous chromosome separates
• Chromosomes are pulled apart by the microtubules of spindles attached to their
centromeres.

Telophase – I
Events:
• Chromosomes reach the opposite poles
• Chromosome number has now been halved in each cell
• Spindle fibres break down and chromosomes decondensed.
• The nuclear membrane reforms and the cells begin to divide due to cytokinesis.

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 Meiosis – II
Prophase – II
Events:
• Chromosomes condense
• Centrioles move toward the poles
• Spindle begins to form

Metaphase- II
Events:
• Nuclear membrane breaks down
• Spindle is completely formed
• The chromosomes line up on the metaphase plate
• Centromeres are attached to the spindle fibres , which moves the chromosomes to the
metaphase plate.

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 Anaphase-II
Events:
• The centromere divides
• The chromatids move to the opposite ends as their centromeres are pulled by their
microtubules

Telophase – II
Events:
• Nuclear membrane reforms
• The chromosomes decondense
• Cytokinesis occurs to divide the cells to produce four non- identical haploid
daughter cells

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Importance of meiosis:
1. Haploid gametes are produced. Hence, the chromosome number in the cells produced
becomes halved. These haploid gametes fuse to form a diploid zygote to maintain
chromosome number in the body.
2. It is the main way in which genetic variation is introduced to a species through crossing
over and random assortment of chromosome

Difference between mitosis and meiosis:

Mitosis Meiosis
It occurs in the body cell It occurs in the gonad
Two identical daughter cells are produced Four non identical daughter cells are produced
Cells produced are diploid Cells produced are haploid
No crossing over occurs Crossing over occurs
No synapsis occurs Synapsis occurs

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 Genes and inheritance

Some important definitions:

Gene- It is a part of chromosome, which is the unit of inheritance. A length of DNA that controls
a characteristic of an organism by coding for the production of a specific protein.

Allele- It is the alternative form of a gene.

Locus- It is the position of a gene on the chromosome

Homozygous- It is a genotype with the same alleles of a gene, e.g. TT or tt

Heterozugous- It is a genotype with different alleles of a gene, e.g. Tt

Dominant allele- It is an allele of a gene that is expressed in the heterozugote

Recessive allele- It is an allele that is not expressed in the phenotype when a dominant alleleof
the gene is present (i.e. in the heterozygote)

Genotype- Genetic make-up of an organism is called its genotype. This means, alleles an
organism has for a certain characteristics. It is not affected by the environmental changes.

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Phenotype- It is the ‘appearance’ or the expressed characteristics of an organism resulting from
its genotype. It is affected by the environmental changes. It is difficult to identify the nature of
genotype- either homozygous dominant or heterozygous by looking into the phenotype only.

F1 generation- Offspring formed from breeding the parent organisms

F2 generation- Offsprings formed from breeding individuals from the F1 generation

Multiple allele- When a gene has more than two alleles, their inheritance is said to be of
multiple allele, e.g. ABO blood groupings.

Codominance- It is a pattern of inheritance where neither allele of a gene is dominant over the
other so that both alleles are expressed in the phenotype.

Test cross- It is a cross of an organism showing the dominant phenotype with one showing the
recessive phenotype. The F1 from the cross shows whether the parent is homozygous dominant
or heterozygous

Pedigree - It is diagram showing a family tree for an inherited characteristic.

Polygenic inheritance - It is inheritance in which characteristics are controlled by two or more

genes working together.

Genetic cross
Monohybrid cross- It is a cross involving single genes such as the gene for height, the gene for
flower colour etc.
There are two copies of each chromosome and each gene.
The gametes have only one copy of each chromosome and gene, i.e. one allele.
There are two alleles of each gene. One allele is dominant over the other allele, which is
recessive. When two different alleles (one dominant and one recessive) are in the same cell, only
the dominant allele is expressed.
An individual can have two dominant alleles, two recessive alleles or a dominant allele and a
recessive allele in each cell.
We can use the cross between tall and dwarf pea plants as an example. In pea plants, there are
tall and dwarf alleles of the gene for height. We will use the symbol ‘T’ for the tall allele and ‘t’
for the dwarf allele.
The genotype for the tall pea plant may be either TT or Tt and the genotype for dwarf pea plant
is tt.

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A cross between a pure bred tall and a pure bred dwarf pea plant is given below:
Phenotype: Tall male X Dwarf female
Genotype: TT X tt
Gametes: , ,
T T t t
Gametes
t t

T Tt Tt

T Tt Tt

Offsprings in F1 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: Tt, Tt, Tt, Tt
Offspring’s phenotype: Tall, Tall , Tall , Tall

If the pea plants obtained in F1 generation are allowed to cross further, the following
offsprings are obtained in the F2 generation.
Phenotype: Tall male X Tall female
Genotype: Tt X Tt
Gametes: , ,
T t T t
Gametes
T t

T TT Tt

t Tt tt

Offsprings in F2 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: TT, Tt, Tt, tt
Offspring’s phenotype: Tall, Tall , Tall , Dwarf
Ratio of tall to dwarf offsprings : 3 tall : 1 dwarf
Probability of an offspring to be dwarf : ¼ or 0.25 or 25%

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Working out genotypes- The test cross:

Test cross is a cross of an organism showing the dominant phenotype with one showing the
recessive phenotype. The F1 from the cross shows whether the parent is homozygous dominant
or heterozygous.
In this cross, an unknown tall pea plant (TT or Tt) can be breed with a dwarf pea plant.
Phenotype: Tall male X Dwarf female
Genotype: TT X tt
Gametes: , , t
T T t
Gametes
t t

T Tt Tt

T Tt Tt

Offsprings in F1 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: Tt, Tt, Tt, Tt
Offspring’s phenotype: Tall, Tall , Tall , Tall
OR

Phenotype: Tall male X Dwarf female

Genotype: Tt X tt
Gametes: , ,
T t t t
Gametes
t t

T Tt Tt

t tt tt

Offsprings in F1 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: Tt, Tt, tt, tt
Offspring’s phenotype: Tall, Tall , Dwarf , Dwarf
From our crosses we would expect:
• All the offspring to be tall if the tall parent was homozygous (TT)
• Half the offspring to be tall and half to be dwarf if the tall parent was heterozygous (Tt)

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Codominance-

It is a pattern of inheritance where neither allele of a gene is dominant over the other so that both

alleles are expressed in the phenotype.

For example, snapdragon plants have red, white or pink flowers.

If a plant with red flowers is crossed with one that has white flowers, all the plants resulting from

the cross will have pink flowrs. The appearance of a third phenotype shows that there is

codominance. We can represent the alleles for red and white flower colour with symbols:

R = Allele for red flower

W = Allele for white flower

The follwing is a cross between the red and white flower producing snapdragon plants:

Phenotype: Red (male) X White( female)

Genotype: RR X WW

Gametes: R , R W , W

Gametes
W W

R RW RW

R RW RW

Offsprings in F1 generation:

Offspring’s genotype: RW, RW, RW, RW

Offspring’s phenotype: Pink, Pink , Pink , Pink

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When pink-flowered plants are crossed together, all three phenotypes reappear, in the ratio
1 red : 2 pink : 1 white as follows:
Phenotype: Pink male X Pink female
Genotype: RW X RW
Gametes: , ,
R W R W
Gametes
R W

R RR RW

W RW WW

Offsprings in F2 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: RR, RW, RW, WW
Offspring’s phenotype: Red, Pink, Pink , White
Ratio : 1 red : 2 pink : 1 white

Sex Determination

Phenotype: Male X Female

Genotype: XY X XX
Gametes: , ,
X Y X X

Gametes
X X

X XX XX

Y XY XY

Offsprings in F2 generation:
Offspring’s genotype: XX, XX, XY, XY
Offspring’s phenotype: Female, Female, Male , Male
Ratio of phenotype: 50% male : 50% female

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Ways of presenting genetic information-Pedigree

Pedigree is a diagram showing a family tree for an inherited characteristic.

For example, polydactyly is a inherited condition in which a person develops an extra digit on
the hands and feet. It is determined by dominant allele. The recessive allele causes the normal
number of digits to develop.
We can use the symbol ‘D’ for the polydactyly allele and ‘d’ for the normal-number allele. So,
the possible genotype and phenotypes are-
DD/Dd = Person has polydactyly
dd = Person has the normal number of digits
The pedigree for polydactyly can be shown as follows:

Information extracted from the above pedigree are:

 There are four generations shown

 Individuals 4, 5 and 6 are children of individuals 1 and 2.
 Individual 4 is the first-born child of 1 and 2.
 Individuals 3 and 7 are not children of 1 and 2
 Individuals 3 and 4 are father and mother of the same children-as are 1 and 2,6 and 7, 8
and 9, 12 and 13, 14 and 15

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 It is usually possible to work out which allele is dominant from a pedigree. We can look for a
situation where two parents show the same feature and at least one child shows the
contrasting feature. In the above diagram, individuals 1 and 2 both have polydactyly, but
children 4 and 6 do not. There is only one way to explain this:
• The normal alleles in 4 and 6 can only have come from their parents(1 and 2), so 1
and 2 must both carry normal alleles.
• 1 and 2 show polydactyly, so they must have polydactyly alleles as well.
• If they have both polydactyly alleles and normal alleles but show polydactyly, the
polydactyly allele must be the dominant allele.
All the people with the normal number of digits must have the genotype dd. All the people with
polydactyly must have atleast one polydactyly allele.
People with the normal number of digits must inherit one normal allele from each parent, and
also that people with the normal number of digits will pass on one normal allele to each of their
children.
Any person with polydactyly who has children with the normal number of digits must be
heterozygous and also that any person with polydactyly who has one parent with the normal
number of digits must also be heterozygous. Individuals 1, 2, 3, 16, 17 and 18 fall into one or
other of these categories and must be heterozygous.

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We are still uncertain about individuals 5, 8 and 12. They could be homozygous or heterozygous.
For example, individuals 1 and 2 are both heterozygous. The following cross shows the possible
outcomes. Individual 5 could be any of the outcomes indicated by the shading. It is imposible to
distinguish between DD and Dd.

Genotype: Dd X Dd
Gametes: D , d D , d

Gametes
D d

D
DD Dd

d Dd dd

Offspring’s genotype: DD, Dd, Dd, dd

Offspring’s phenotype: Affacted, Affacted, Affacted , Normal

Polygenic inheritance:

Polygenic inheritance is inheritance in which characteristics are controlled by two or more

genes working together.

For example, human skin colour. darker skins contain greater amount of a black pigment called
melanin. This is controlled by several genes, which act together to determine the amount of
melanin in the skin. Each gene has alleles that promote melanin production and alleles which do
not. This produces a wide range of phenotypes.

Other human characteristics determined by several genes are height and body mass.

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 Biological Resources

Fish farming:
Advantages:
• To increase the production of fish as a major source of high-quality protein
• To earn foreign exchange through the export of fish and fish products
• To create employment

Disadvantages:
• To produce odd odor
• Nitrogenous waste and other wastes such as fish faeces and unused food can contaminate
the waters outside the fish farm and cause eutrophication of the water
• Pesticides used to kill fish parasites may be highly toxic to other non-harmful species of
invertebrates
• Antibiotics used to treat fish disease may make some bacteria resistant to it
• The use of wild fish in making fish meal for carnivorous species such as salmon, sea bass
etc. may cause the reduction in the biodiversity.

The ways of fish farming to provide animal protein:

Fish farming can be carried out in tanks, lake, or in the cases in the river or ocean etc.
Fish farming in the pond involves the following steps:
1. Select a suitable pond and prepare it as follows-
- Remove large plants from its bank to allow free air flow and light. It helps in
increasing natural productivity
- Remove the predator fish from the pond
- Treat pond water to maintain its pH suitable for fish culture
2. Release of fish fry into pond water according to the size of the pond
3. Provide a balanced fish meal and regulate it periodically
4. The water quality can be monitored, for example the temperature, oxygen levels, water
clarity and amount of chlorophyll to prevent eutrophication. Aerator can be used at the
bottom of the pond to add oxygen to water
5. The water is pump through filtration units to remove the waste products of the fish
6. Use nets of different mesh size to remove small fish and diseased fish. Small fish may be
eaten by larger members of their own species. So, these are separated to culture
separately in different tank.
7. Selective breeding program can be used to improve the quality of fish. For example, they
are bred to produce faster growth and to lees aggressive than wild fish.
Disadvantage of fish farming in pond:
• Fish remain in close proximity in pond. It increases the chances of transmitting pathogen
form an infected fish to a healthy fish
• It is not economically beneficial for large scale fish farming
• It may produce eutrophication rapidly

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Advantage and disadvantage of farming fish in cages in either river or ocean:
Advantages:
• Easy to catch whenever it is needed
• Fish in cage is protected from predator
• Fish in cage is healthier than those in the nature. This is because they do not need to
waste energy by running for food or for competition for food.
Disadvantages:
• Risk of transmitting pathogen from diseased fish to a healthy fish in a cage, as they are in
close association in the cage
• Unused fish feed and fish wastes cause eutrophication.
Hydroponics:
It is a culture method in which crops are grown with their roots in a solution of mineral ions
rather than in soil. Some commercial crops such as lettuce, tomatoes etc. can be grown in
hydroponics. Hence, the plants’ roots grow in a long plastic tube that has culture solution passing
through it. The composition of the solution can be carefully adjusted to ensure the plants grow
well. Pests such as insects, which might live in the soil, are also less of a problem.

Food production in glasshouse:

By controlling different factors for photosynthesis, the yield from crops can be improved.
Factor controlled How it is controlled
Light By using nets of different mesh
size over the glasshouse
Carbon dioxide By burning fossil fuel or paraffin
inside the glasshouse
Heat By using roof top window or
exhaust fan
Soil ions Adding fertilizers to the soil or
growing in a hydroponic culture
Soil pH Adding lime to acidic soils.
Alkaline soils need to be treated
Soil structure Ploughing fields to break up
compacted soil; adding manure to
improve drainage and aeration of
heavy, clay soils
In Polytunnels:
Polytunnel possesses transparent polythene which allows light easily. It prevents heats from
escaping. Its mode of action is like those of glasshouse.
Reasons for controlling the factors
Light is a limiting factor for photosynthesis
It is a limiting factor for photosynthesis
At low temperature less photosynthesis, at
optimum temperature more photosynthesis,
at very high temperature enzymes denature
and photosynthesis stops
Extra mineral ions can be taken up and
used to make proteins and other
compounds for growth
Soil pH can affect crop growth as an
unsuitable pH reduces uptake of mineral
ions
Good aeration and drainage allow better
uptake of mineral ions and water.

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 Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a process involving the use of microorganisms to make useful products. A
fermenter is a vessel used to grow microorganisms. Fermentation involves using the respiration
of microorganisms to produce useful products. Structure and functions of different parts of a
fermenter is given below.

Fermenter: It is a giant stainless-steel cylindrical tank closed at both ends and designed to keep
its inside environment favorable for the desired biological process to operate

Motor: It is used to turn the paddles and mix the contents.

Stirring Paddles:

• To keep the microorganism in suspension for better exposer to the nutrients

• To maintain an even temperature throughout the medium
• To distribute oxygen uniformly

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Probes: For monitoring pH, temperature and oxygen.

The pH of the contents can be adjusted by acid or alkali or buffer to keep it constant.

Fermentation produces heat, so to prevent the contents from overheating, the fermenter is

surrounded by a water jacket through which cold water circulates, keeping the

temperature at the best level for growth.

Water jacket: To remove the heat produced by the fermenting microorganism.

Steam inlet: To add steam for sterilization.

Inlet: At the start of the process, nutrients are fed in through pipes which can be opened and

closed using valves.

Air inlet: To provide oxygen for the microorganisms to respire aerobically.

Filter: Air supplied through the air inlet is filtered to prevent contamination.

Traditional Biotechnology- Making Food and Drinks

Making Bread:
It involves the following steps:

• Flour, sugar, yeast and water are mixed to form a dough

• The dough is left in a warm place to allow the yeast to respire anaerobically to produce
carbon dioxide and ethanol
• The carbon dioxide bubbles produced are trapped in the dough, making it rise
• The dough is baked. This kills the yeast and evaporates off the alcohol

Yeast

Glucose Ethanol + carbon dioxide

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 Alcoholic drinks

Beer making:

Beer is made from barley which contains starch rather than sugars. Hence, the source of energy
for yeast is carbohydrate found in barley seeds. Beer production involves the following steps:

• Barley seeds are soaked in water and allowed to start germinating. These seeds make
amylase to digest starch.
• Seeds are killed by heating at about 80oc and dried to make malt
• Malt is ground up and mixed with water in a mash tun. Amylase breaks down starch to
maltose
• Mash is boiled (to stop the enzymes working) and filtered (to remove the remains of
barley)
• Hops are added for taste (it also has anti-microbial effect) and yeast is added to ferment
sugars, making beer
• Beer is centrifuged, filtered (to remove hops and yeasts) and sometimes pasteurized (to
kill germs, if any)
• Beer is put into casks or barrels.

Wine-making:

In wine-making, the natural sugars in the grapes are used by the yeast as its energy source.

It involves the following steps:

• Fresh grapes are crushed to release their sugary juices known as ‘must’
• Yeast is added to the ‘must’ to start the fermentation process. During this process,
ethanol and carbon dioxide are produced by anaerobic respiration
• Fermentation stops when, either all sugars have been converted to ethanol and carbon
dioxide, or the concentration of ethanol reaches too high a level for the yeast to
tolerate
• The ‘must’ is now wine.

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 Milk Products

Yoghurt making:

It involves the following steps:

• Milk is pasteurized at 85-95oc for 15-30 mins (to kill bacteria and destroy their spores)

• Milk is homogenized (to disperse the fat globules)

• Milk is then cooled to 40-45oc and inoculated with a starter culture of lactic acid bacteria

• Mixture is incubated at this temperature for several hours, while bacteria digest milk

proteins and ferment lactose into lactic acid. Hence, lactic acid curdles milk protein

• Thickened yoghurt is stirred and cooled to 5oc (to reduce the reproduction of lactic

acid bacteria and prevent the growth of other microorganisms and preserve the

nutrients in the milk)

• Flavorings, colorants and fruits may be added before packaging

{Cheese making (Extra)}

It involves the following steps:

• A starter culture of bacteria is added to warm milk.

• An enzyme called rennin is added to make the milk curdle faster

• Curds are produced that are more solid than those of yoghurt

• The cards are separated from the remaining liquid part of the milk (known as whey)

• Bacteria and moulds are added to the curds to slowly ripen or mature the cheese.

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 Selective breeding

Selective breeding is a process where human cross-breed individual animals or plants that have
been chosen because the show certain characteristics used to produce domestic animals and crop
plants. It also known as artificial selection.
Selective breeding in plants:
It involves the following steps:
• Identify parent plants with desired characteristics that will be available in the offspring,
e.g. short stem maize plant with large corn cobs
• Cross parent parents to produce more offspring
• Select offspring with desired characteristics
• Repeat crosses for several generations until desired quality is achieved, i.e, all maize
plants will be of short stem with large corn cob.

Selective breeding programs can be carried out to produce strains that-

1. Give higher yields
2. Are resistant to certain diseases reducing the yields
3. Are resistant to certain insect pest damage reducing the yields
4. Are harder so that they survive in harsher climates or are productive for longer
periods of the year
5. Have a better balance of nutrients in the crop

Selective breeding in animals:

It involves the following steps:
• Humans or farmers select organisms with desired characteristics e.g., cow with high milk
yield and
• Bull or Ox with high milk yield mother
• Allow them to crossbreed to produce offspring
• Repeat this process with high milk yield offspring for few generations until offspring
with desired quality is achieved

Alternately, Artificial insemination process can be carried out to serve the same
purpose. It involves the following steps:
• Collect semen from bull with desired features
• Insert the semen is transferred into the uterus of cows using a syringe
• Sperm in the semen the fertilize the cow’s egg and offspring (calf) is produced.
• This can be repeated for few generations to obtain offspring with desired fetures
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Artificial Insemination is important because-
• Semen obtained from bull with desired features can be stored in freeze for later use
• Semen from one bull can fertilize many cows
• It is cost effective
• The semen is available even after the death of bull
Farmers carry out selective breeding to produce animals that-
1. Produce more meat, milk or eggs
2. Produce more fur or better-quality fur
3. Produce more offspring
4. Show increased resistance to diseases and parasites

Cloning
A clone is a group of cells, or organisms, that are genetically identical resulting from asexual
reproduction in a single parent.
Cloning in plants:
It involves the following steps:
• Tear off a side shoot from a plant to be cloned with a sharp knife
• Dip the side shoot in rooting powder to encourage root formation
• Plant this in compost and allowed it to stay in such condition for some days
• Place this under glass where a warm environment is ensured to speed up growth and a
humid one to reduce water loss from the leaves of the cuttings.

Micropropagation or tissue culture- a type of cloning:

It involves the following steps:
• The tips of the stems and side shoots are removed from the plant to be cloned. These
parts are called ‘explants’
• The ‘explants’ are trimmed to a size of about 0.5-1 mm and its surfaces are sterilized to
kill any microorganisms
• These ‘explants’ are then placed in a sterile agar medium that contains nutrients such as
glucose, amino acids, water etc. and minerals such as mg2+, k+ etc. and plant hormones to
encourage growth
• This can be repeated until there are enough to supply the demand
• These ‘explants’ with shoots are transferred to another culture medium containing a
different balance of plant hormones to induce root formation
• When the explants have grown roots, they are transferred to greenhouses ensuring
appropriate conditions such as light, co2, temperature, moisture etc. and transplanted into
composed for their proper growth and development.

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 Advantages and disadvantages to propagating plants:
Advantages:
• Large numbers of genetically identical plants can be produced rapidly
• Species that are difficult to grow from seeds or from cuttings can be propagated by
this method
• Plants can be produced at any time of the year
• Large numbers of plants can be stored easily e.g., many can be kept in cold storage at
the early stages of production and then developed as required
• Genetic modifications can be introduced into thousands of plants quickly after
modifying only a few plants
Disadvantages:
• There is no variety
• Organisms produced by this way are vulnerable to the environmental changes

Cloning in animals:
It involves the following steps:

• Select a parent sheep e.g., Dolly’s genetic mother and mammary gland cells are removed
and cultured them in a special solution that keeps them alive but stop them growing
• Take out the nucleus from the mammary gland cell
• Select an egg donor sheep and obtain an unfertilized egg
• Remove the nucleus from the egg to make it enucleated
• Nucleus from the mammary gland cell is transferred to the enucleated egg cell using an
electric current
• The cell is then allowed to divide by mitosis to develop into an embryo
• This embryo is then transferred into the womb of a surrogate mother
• Lamb born is genetically identical to the ‘parent’ sheep.

Advantages of cloning animals:

• Large number of genetically identical animals can be produced within shorter period of
time
• The cloned animals can be used for the production of high-quality fur, more milk and
meat
• The cloned animals can be used for the production of human proteins such as alpha-1-
antitrypsin (AAT) which is involved in the immune response e.g., in treating conditions
such as emphysema and cystic fibrosis. They secrete this protein in their milk.

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Producing genetically modified (Transgenic) bacteria:
It involves the following steps:

• Identify a bacterium and its plasmid is taken out

• The plasmid is cut open with a specific restriction endonuclease enzyme
• Select an animal cell and its DNA is taken out
• The gene to be transferred is cut from the donor DNA using the same restriction enzyme
(because, different restriction enzymes cut DNA at different places)
• The opened-up plasmid and the isolated gene are mixed with a DNA ligase enzyme to
create recombinant plasmid
• This recombinant plasmid is then inserted into the bacterium again to make this
bacterium transgenic.

Uses of genetically modified or transgenic bacteria:

Transgenic bacteria contain gene from other species. Different genetically modified bacteria
manufacture a range of products. Once the are modified genetically, they are cultured in
fermenters to produce large amounts of products as follows:

• Human insulin
• Enzymes for washing powders, e.g., proteases to remove blood stains etc.
• Enzymes in the food industry, e.g., catalase, glucose isomerase etc.
• Human Growth Hormone
• Bovine Somatotropin-a growth hormone in cattle
• Human vaccines., vaccine against hepatitis-B

Reasons for selecting bacteria to modify genetically:

• They have a very rapid rate of growth
• They can be grown continuously on a large scale
• Their cells have a very high protein content
• The can utilized waste products as substrates, for example agricultural waste
• They usually produce products that are non-toxic
• Because they are living organisms, their chemical reactions are controlled by
enzymes

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 Producing Genetically Modified Plants
To produce a genetically modified plant, the following two stages need to follow:
• Introducing the new gene or genes into plant cells
• Producing whole plants from just a few cells
To fulfil the above procedure, the following stages are involved:
1. Identify the DNA containing desired gene in a cell of different organism of different
species and this DNA is cut with restriction enzyme to isolate desired gene
2. Identify an agrobacterium and its plasmid is isolated
3. This plasmid is cut open with the same restriction enzyme
4. Cut plasmid is joined to desired gene using ligase
5. Leaf discs obtained from plant to be modified are allowed to float on calcium salt
solution and plasmid is also added to this solution
6. Heat and cool this solution alternately to allow leaf discs to take up this plasmid
7. Leaf discs containing plasmid are cultivated on nutrient medium using micropropagation
technique
8. Plantlets grown into whole plants possess cells in which the foreign gene is present.

Advantages and disadvantages of genetically modified (GM) plants:

Advantages:
Genetic modification provides plants with-
• Increased resistance to a range of pests and pathogens
• Increased heat and drought resistance
• Increased salt tolerance
• A better balance of proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins and minerals e.g., genetically
modified golden rice contains genes allowing the rice to make beta- carotene. This beta-
carotene is converted into vitamin A when eaten
• Some genetically modified oilseed rape plants are used in large scale production of
biodegradable plastics and anti-coagulants
• It allows nodules of nitrogen fixing bacteria to form on their roots. The bacteria in the
root nodules would obtain nitrogen from the air in the soil and fix it in a more usable
form e.g., usually ammonia
• GM plants are used in making vaccine e.g., GM tobacco and soybeans plants produce the
hepatitis B antigens that could be used as a basis for a vaccine

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Disadvantages:
• Environmental safety- GM plants will transfer their new genes to wild relatives and that
those with insect resistant genes will lead to make resistant population of pests
• Food safety – Foreign genes in crops may produce proteins which may have allergic
reactions in the body.
• Changing in farming structure – Due to more yields in GM crops, farmers will be
inclined to larger farms and more capital-intensive systems. Poor farmers will not exist in
competition.
• Biodiversity – Fewer companies will control plant breeding, reducing the number of
plant varieties available to farmers and this leads to a reduction in the use of old varieties
and wild relatives. Thus, biodiversity will decline
• Animal health- Due to genetic modification, animal lives may be vulnerable due to the
action of new genes introduced

Producing Genetically Modified animals

To produce genetically modified animals, the following steps are involved:
1. DNA containing desired gene in the cell of different organism is taken out and the
required gene is cut out using a restriction enzyme
2. The gene is injected into the fertilized egg from a donor animal e.g., mouse
3. This fertilized egg containing desired gene is allowed to divide by mitosis to form an
embryo
4. This embryo is the put into the womb of a surrogate mother
5. Baby mouse born contains the gene inserted.
Advantages of using GM animals:
• Increased production of a particular product, e.g. higher milk yield
• Increased resistance to disease and other parasites
• Manufacture of human antibodies
• Manufacture of specific medicinal products, e.g. alpha-1- antitrypsin
• Production of low cholesterol milk
• Production of organs for transplantation
Disadvantage:
• To modify animal genetically is ethically wrong
• Due to genetic modification, an organism may die. All organisms have right to survive
• Transplanted organ may be rejected by the body or during transplanting pathogens may
be transferred the patient’s body or some viruses may be hidden in the DNA of the
transplanted organ

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 Evolution and Natural Selection

Evolution is the change in form of organisms over the course of time. It is the process by which
species develop from earlier forms during the history of the earth.

Natural selection is a process where certain individuals in a population survive because they are
better adapted to their environment. They are more likely to pass on their genes to their
offspring. It is basically the mechanism of evolution.

Charles Darwin- an English naturalist visited different areas and collected a lot of different types
of samples. He observed the samples collected and made the following deduction from those
observations:

• Organisms generally produce more offspring than are needed to replace them
• Despite this over-reproduction, stable, established populations of organism generally
remain the same size
• Members of the same species are not identical-they show variation.

Darwin made two important deductions from the above three observations.

1. From the first two observations he deduced that there is a ‘struggle for existance’.
Explanation-Many offspring are produced,yet the population stays the same size. There
must be competition for resources and many individuals must die.
2. From the third observation he deduced the phrase, ‘Survival of the fittest’.
Explanation- if some offspring survive whilst others die, those organisms best suited to
their environment would survive to reproduce. Those less suited will die.

Darwin’s findings were supported by other naturalists such as Alfred Russel Wallace who also
studied life forms in the South America and Indonesia. On the basis of his findings, Darwin
published his famous book,’The origin of species’.

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Theory of natural selection proposes that some factors in the environment select which forms of
a species will survive to reproduce. Forms that are not well adapted will not survive.

The following is a summary of how natural selection works:

• There is a variation within a species

• Changing conditions in the environment called a selection pressure favours one particular
form of the species which has a selective advantage
• The frequency of the favoured form increases under this conditions
• The frequency of the less well adapted form decreases under these conditions

Examples of selective pressure:

• Over predation/ over fishing

• Excessive use of antibiotics/ Pesticides
• Lack of food
• Advarse temperature/ Abnormal pH/ Lack of water
• Disease
• Pollution

Some examples of how natural selection might have worked:

The Hoverfly and Wasp:

Wasps have sting with which they can defend themselves from predator. Wasps also have a body
with yellow and black stripes. Predators learn that these colours mean that wasps have a sting,
and they avoid attacking them.

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Hoverflies do not have a sting but their body colours are similar to those of wasps.

This mimicking a wasp is an advantage to the hoverfly and we can explain how it could
have happened by natural selection in the following ways:

• The selection pressure was predation by birds and other animals.

• There would have been variation in colours among the hoverflies.
• As a result of mutations, some hoverflies gained genes that produced stripes on their
bodies
• These insects were less likely to be eaten by predators than other hoverflies without the
stripes due to the selective advantage.
• The hoverflies with stripes were more likely to survive and reproduce to pass on the
genes for stripes to their offspring.
• This process continued over many generations.
• Gradually more mutations and selections for better stripes took place, untill the hoverflies
evolved this present yellow and black stripes.

The polar bear:

Polar bear lives in the arctic zone and it is a large predatory carnivore. Polar bears have the
following adaptations that suit them to their habitat:

• A thick layer of white fur, which reduces heat loss and acts as camouflage in the snow
• Wide and large paws help polar bear with walking in the snow and are used for
swimming
• Strong muscular legs help bear to swim continuously in cold Arctic waters for days
• A large body mass decreases total surface area to volume ratio which reduces heat loss
• A thick layer of fat under the skin insulates the body
• A well developed sense of smell is used to detect the bear’s prey
• Bumps on the pads of the paws are used to provide grip on the ice
• Short, powerful claws also provide grip and are needed for holding the heavy prey

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Evolution of polar bear by natural selection can be explained in the following ways:

• Among the anchestor brown bear of polar bear there would have been variations in fur
length and colour
• When some of these bears came to live in colder habitats, those individuals with longer
and paler fur would have had a selective advantage over others with shorter, darkerfur
• Any gene mutation that produced long, pale fur increased this advantage
• Bears with these genes were less likely to die from the cold, or from the lack of food
• As a result, well-adapted bears were more likely to reproduce and pass on their genes to
the offsprings in the next generation
• Over many years more mutations and selections for long, white fur produced the
adaptation in present day polar bear through natural selection.

Evolution of peacock’s tail through natural selection:

The peacock is a bird found in the jungle in India. The male has a large, colorful tail that he
displays during courtship to attract a female to mate with. Evolution of peacock’s tail through
natural selection can be explained in the frollowing ways:

There is a variation in the length and colour in tails among peacock. This variation is caused due
to mutation. Competition for finding a mate is important driving force.

Peacock with long and colourful tail is attractive to female and they will reproduce and pass this
advantageous allele for long and colourfull tail to the offsprings in the next generation. This
process will continue for many generation so that offsprings will have long and colourful tail for
reproduction to prevent their extinction.

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Pesticide Resistance in insects:

Evolution of pesticide resistance insects by natural selection can be explained in the following
steps:

• Excessive use of powerful insecticides is a selective pressure

• This selective pressure causes gene mutation in some insects to provide a selective
advantage
• Thus, those insects with selective advantage will survive
• While this powerful insecticide continued to be used, the resistant insects had a selective
advantage over the non-resistance ones
• They survived to breed, so that with each generation the numbers of resistant insects in
the population increased through natural selection.

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria:

Excessive use of antibiotic is a selective pressure which causes mutation in bacteria. Thus, those
mutated bacteria will have a selective advantage over non-mutated bacteria of same type. The
resistant strain of bacteria will survive and multiply in greater numbers than the non-resistant
type. If this vary antibiotic is continued to apply then, the non- resistant bacteria will die and
resistant bacteria wiil srrvive to reproduce to pass this resistant allele to the offsprings in the next
generation. Over time, after many generation the number of this resistant allele will be increased
in the offsprings through natural selection.

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 Reproduction in Human
Reproduction is an important life process. There are two main types of reproduction- asexual and
sexual. In asexual reproduction, only one parent is involved, no fertilization occurs and
genetically identical offspring are produced. Its disadvantage is that no variety is produced and
organisms survive in stable environment.
On the other hand, sexual reproduction involves two parents. Gametes are involved and
fertilization occurs. Variation in the offspring is observed and the organism produced are able to
survive in changing environment. Its disadvantage is that it is expensive because of the use of
body resource and it is time consuming.
There are four stages in the method of sexual reproduction:
• Gametes – sperms and egg cells must have to be produced. Male gamete-sperm is
produced in the testis and female gamete-egg cell is produced in the ovaries through
meiosis division. During sexual intercourse, sperm come out of epididymis through
sperm duct where it mixes with the fluid from seminal vesicles and prostate glands to
form semen.
• The male gamete- sperm is transferred to the female gamete- egg cell. Sperm have a tail-
like structure called flagellum that moves them through a fluid from the vagina to the
oviduct
• Fertilization or fusion of male gamete-sperm and female gamete-egg cell occurs. It
occurs in the oviduct. After fertilization, zygote is formed. Zygote is diploid.
• The zygote thus formed develops into a new individual. The zygote divides repeatedly by
mitosis to form a ball of cells which is implanted to the uterus wall for development. All
these cells must have the full number of chromosomes.

Figure: Human egg or ovum Figure: Human sperm

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Ovulation is the release of ovum from the ovary into the oviduct. It occurs on the day-14 of the
menstruation cycle. Ovum is not motile. It moves through the oviduct to the uterus by the
following ways:

• Peristalsis- The rhythmic alternate contraction and relaxation of circular and longitudinal
muscles on the wall of oviduct push the egg or ovum to proceed forward.
• Action of cilia- Cilia in the ciliated epithelium cells lining the inner wall of the oviduct
constantly beat back and forth to move the egg or ovum to proceed forward to the uterus.

Figure: The ovary, showing the stages leading up to and following the ovulation

Ovum or the egg after ovulation stays in the oviduct up to four days. But it remains alive up two
days after ovulation. If it is not fertilized, then the lining of the uterus is lost from the woman’s
body as the flow of the menstrual blood and cells of the lining. It is called a period.

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 Figure: The menstrual Cycle

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This menstrual cycle controls the development of the lining of the uterus, so that if the egg is
fertilized, the lining will be ready to receive the fertilized egg.

A cycle is a continuous process, so it doesn’t really have a beginning, but the first day of
menstruation is usually called day 1. This cycle is controlled by the following hormones:

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) – It is released from the anterior pituitary gland.

• It stimulates primary follicles in the ovary to develop. It also stimulates testis to make
sperms.
• It stimulates the tissues of the ovary to produce estrogen

Luteinizing Hormone (LH): It is released from the anterior pituitary gland.

• It brings about ovulation

• It causes follicle to develop into a corpus luteum which produces progesterone
• It also stimulates testis to make testosterone.

Oestrogen: It is produced from the ovary.

• It promotes repair of the uterine wall following menstruation

• It controls the development of the female secondary sexual characteristics
• It also helps to regulate the development of further follicles.

Progesterone: It is produced from the ovary.

• It prepares the lining of the uterus for implantation by increasing the thickness of the
lining and number of blood vessels
• It helps to inhibit the growth of further follicles by inhibiting pituitary gland not to
release FSH
• It begins to promote growth of mammary glands

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 Figure: Changes taking place during menstrual cycle

On attaining puberty, both male and female show the expression of secondary sexual
characteristics. Puberty is the time when developmental changes take place in boys and girls
that lead to sexual maturity. The following changes occur in boys and girls at puberty.

In boys In girls
Sperm production starts The menstrual cycle begins, and eggs
are released by the ovaries every month
Growth and development of male sexual organs Growth and development of female
sexual organs
Growth of armpit and pubic hair, and chest and facial Growth of armpit and pubic hair
hair or beard
Growth of muscles., chest and increase in body mass Increase in body mass and broaden hip
Voice breaks Voice deepens without sudden
breaking
Sexual drive develops Sexual drive develops
No remarkable changes in breast Breast develops

The age of puberty in female is between 11 and 13 years and in male it is between 13 and 16
years.

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Structures and functions of different parts of male and female reproductive system are
given below.

Figure: Male reproductive system

Figure: Female reproductive system

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After fertilization, the zygote formed will begin to develop into an embryo, which will implant in
the lining of the uterus. Here, the embryo will develop a placenta.
Functions of placenta:
• It allows the embryo to obtain materials such as oxygen and nutrients such as glucose
from the mother’s blood
• It also allows the embryo to get rid of waste products such as urea and carbon dioxide
• It anchors the embryo in the uterus
• It secretes female hormone, progesterone which maintains the pregnancy and prevents the
embryo from aborting.
• The mixing of fetal and maternal blood is prevented by placenta
• It allows maternal and fetal blood pressure to differ from one another.

Structure of a placenta adapted to carry out its functions:

• Chorionic villi contain thin membrane to ensure short diffusion distance for faster
exchange
• Many chorionic villi increase total surface area for more exchange of substance
• Presence of blood vessel maintain steep concentration gradient. Hence, umbilical vein
carries oxygenated blood containing nutrients from placenta to the fetus and umbilical
artery carries deoxygenated blood containing waste products such as co2, urea etc. from
fetus to the placenta.
• Membranes on the chorionic villi separates blood of mother and the baby

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Amnion is an extra-embryonic membrane which surrounds the umbilical cord and encloses the
amniotic fluid to form the amniotic sac. Amniotic fluid has the following functions:
• It supports the embryo and protects it against mechanical damage done due to sudden
movements and bumps
• It also provides samples of embryonic cells via the technique of amniocentesis.
Stages to the birth of a child:
Hormones Oxytocin and Relaxin play and important role in child birth. Relaxin widens the
cervix and softens the cartilage of the pubic symphysis to ease the passage of the head of the
baby. Oxytocin released from the posterior pituitary gland constricts the uterus muscle to
facilitate child birth. It also stimulates milk release from the mammary gland.

Figure: A human fetus just before the birth

There are three stages to the birth of a child:
• Dilation of the cervix- The cervix gets wider to allow the baby to pass through. The
muscles of the uterus contract quite strongly and tear the amnion, allowing the amniotic
fluid to escape. Baby’s head pushes the cervix and mucous plug dislodges
• Delivery of the baby- Strong contractions of the muscles of the uterus push the baby’s
head through the cervix and then through the vagina to the outside world.
• Delivery of the afterbirth- After the baby has been born, the uterus continues to contract.
As a result, the placenta becomes detached from the wall of the uterus and is expelled
through the vagina as the afterbirth.

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Importance of breast feeding:

Prolactin hormone is released from the anterior pituitary gland. It stimulates milk formation.

Breast feeding has the following advantages:

• It forms a strong emotional bondage between a mother and a baby

• Breast milk contains antibodies to protect the baby from diseases
• Breast milk contains a balanced mixture of nutrients. It has less protein, sodium and
calcium than cow’s milk, but more vitamin – C and vitamin – D
• It also has right temperature, is cheap and is available on demand.

Disadvantage:
• Baby may bite during breast feeding. Biting is painful for mother.
• Some women think that breast feeding may hamper their personality.

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