Protozoa

         Protozoas are ingestive, animal-like protists and is introduced in chapter 28: "The Origins of Eukaryotic Diversity".  Below are some examples of each phyla of protozoa.

Flagellate

Giardia lamblia 

       This type of protist has one or more flagellas and moved with the help of the flagellas.  While other types of protists may not have flagellas.

Amoeboid

Ammonia Tepida

They are mainly distinctive due to their irregular shapes.  They usually live underwater and they use their entire membrane to breathe.

 Apicomplexa

Malaria (Plasmodium)

The characteristic that allows this protist to be distinct is that it has a dapicoplast and an apical complex structure that involves penetrating their host's cell. They are also unicellular, parasites to animals, and spore-forming.

The Cell Wordle (Tour of the Cell, Cell Membrane, Cell Communication)

      The basic concepts of cells can be summarized with chapters 7, 8, and 11.  The words above were therefore chosen from those following chapters.  They were "The Tour of the Cell", "Cell Membrane", and "Cell Communication".  In the first chapter gave us a general tour into the cell and it's many characteristics and organelles, which are represented by the vocabulary chosen above.  The cell membrane chapter was about the properties and functions of the cell's membrane.  Starting with its structure the book moved on to its job in regulating the different substances that enter and exit the cell, these words are also present in the wordle.  The last chapter, chapter 11 of "Cell Communication" describes how cells work and interact with each other, therefore those words also appear on the wordle above.  

Prokaryote and Eukaryotes unit (bacteria, viruses, fungi and protista)

 

The Prokaryote and Eukaryote Units included the topics of bacteria, virus, fungi, and protist. Protists are a type of eukaryote; early eukaryotes were protist before they evolved into plants, fungi, and animals.  Fungi is represented here, since fungi are also eukaryotic organism that have their own kingdom. They are decomposers and symbionts that absorbs nutrition for survival. Viruses are infectious particles and bacteria have circular chromosome and may have additionl genes carried on plasmids.  This wordle consists of words that represents the main ideas of viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protist.

Cellular Metabolism Wordle: Energy Unit (Photosynthesis and Cell Metabolism)

The words above are from Chapters 6: An Introduction to Metabolism and Chapter 10: Photosynthesis.  In Chapter 6 of metabolism is about the totality of the chemical reactions that take place in living organisms. "Cold chemistry" and energy transformation are the main topics of this chapter and is summarized by the words chosen above. In Chapter 10 of photosynthesis, photosynthesis is described to be the process where light energy from the sun is converted into chemical energy to be stored in organic molecules.  The basic ideas and main topics of the process of photosynthesis is represented above on the wordle.  The wordle ultimately summarizes the basic ideas of the energy unit that is made up of Chapters 6 and 10.

Comparing a Bacteria to a Virus to a Prion to a Protist

Bacteria

Escherichia coli

Bacteria has a short generation span of bacteria that helps them adapt to changing environments.  The genetic recombination help produce new bacterial strains, processes such as transformation and transduction are involved in bacteria. Individual bacteria can adjust their metabolism to environmental change with the help of the control of gene expression. 






Virus

Rotavirus

Viruses are genomes enclosed in a protective coat. Its structures consists of the capsid, viral envelopes, and are found in bacteriophages/ phages.  They can reproduce, but only in a host cell.  Lytic or lysogenic cycles are used by phages to reproduce. In different modes, such as infection and  replication, animal viruses are diverse.  Vaccines are used to react against disease agents.  For evolution, scientist believe that they may have evolved from other mobile genetic elements. 


Prion 

Prion-Affected Tissue

Prions are infectious agents that are simpler than viruses.  They are protein infectious agents that may have been linked to degenerative brain diseases.  Some of these diseases may have been Creutzfedt- Jacob and the "Mad Cow Disease.  These proteins cannot reproduce, but they spread disease when they convert normal cellular proteins into a defective form of the prion.  

Protist

Plasmodium Falciparum 

Protist are eukaryotic microorganisms that belong in the Protista kingdom that includes unicellular organisms.  They may act as pathogens of animals and plants.  They reproduce using gametes or with binary fission. They control metabolism by using filter feeding, their cell membrane, and food vacuoles. 

3 Beneficial Bacteria

1. Bifidobacterium 

This probiotic is commonly found in yogurt, animals, mammals; such as, the human intestines.  It importance is reflected in this ability to regulate intestinal microbial homeostasis, inhibit pathogens and harmful bacteria that tends to infect the gut mucosa, modulate local and systemic immune responses,  repress procarcinogenic enzymatic activities within the microbiota, produce vitamins, and  bioconvert dietary compounds into bioactive molecules.  Bifidobacteria are also used to prevent diarrhea, and to restore probiotics that were removed by radiation, chemotherapy, diarrhea, antibiotics, etc.

2. Lactobacillus Rhamnosus

This bacterium was once thought to be a part of the species L. casei, but later it was considered to be its own specie.  Lactobacillus rhamnosus is also found in yogurt and many other dairy or dairy related products.  It is beneficial, because it can inhibit the adhesion and growth of pathogens, by releasing acids, bacteriocins, and hydrogen peroxide.  It also leads to the prevention of diarrhea and is used for probiotic therapy. 

3. Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Subsp. Bulgaricus

This type of bacteria was known as Lactobacillus bulgaricus before 1984, but is now known as Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Subsp. Bulgaricus .  It is used to produce yogurt and is naturally and usually found in fermented products.  It is used to preserve milk since it produces lactic acid when it feeds on lactose.  It is beneficial, because helps people that are lactose intolerant, since their digestive systems lack enzymes to break down lactose into simple sugars. 

Bacterial Transformation and Transduction

Bacterial transformation is when the genes of a cell is altered by a direct uptake, as shown in Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer's experiment.  Bacterial transduction is another process where DNA is transferred from one bacterium to another bacterium by a virus.  They showed bacterial transformation, and later bacterial transduction, by inserting the recombinant DNA they made into the E. coli bacteria by the process of plasmid.  Through that they were able to induce the uptake and show the expression of a new DNA sequence, showing the process of bacterial transformation.  

(The above post is based on the following link: http://www.dnalc.org/view/15916DNAtransformation.html.

The pictures above are taken directly from the link; not all of the steps are shown in the pictures above.)

Comparing Cell Respiration and Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis

6CO₂ + 6H₂O + energy -> 6O₂+ C₆H₁₂O₆

The first image above, briefly describes the process of photosynthesis. 

Photosynthesis is the process where the light energy of the sun is converted into chemical energy stored in organic molecules. With autotrophic and heterotrophic nutrition, organisms obtain the organic molecules they require for energy and carbon skeletons.  Autotrophs make their own food and "feed themselves", while heterotrophs are consumers and they do no make their own food or "feed themselves".  This process involves the Calvin cycle, the electron transport chain, chemiosmosis, photophosphorylation, water and more.

Cellular Respiration 

6O₂ + C₆H₁₂O₆ --> 6H₂O + 6CO₂ + energy

The second image above represents the process of cellular respiration
It is the most common catabolic pathway that uses oxygen in the breakdown of glucose or other energy-rich organic compounds to gain energy in the form of ATP. This type of process is an exergonic process where there  is a free energy change of -686 kcal/mol of glucose.  This process involves fermentation, glycolysis, the Kreb cycle, electron transport chain, chemiosmosis, and more

5. C3, C4, Cam Plants

C3 Plants

In order for C3 plants to limit their lost of water on hot and dry days, they close their stomata.  Consequently, this begins the process of photorespiration where the Calvin cycle is slowed down as the concentration in the leaf air space decreases.  O2 and CO2 would begin to accumulate, and enables rubisco to add O2 in place of CO2 to RuBP.  Lastly, the produce would split while a two-carbon compound departs from the chloroplast, in order to release more CO2.   

C4 Plants

CO2 is added to PEP (3-carbon compound) with the help of the enzyme, PEP carboxylase, since it tends to have a high affinity for CO2.  In the mesophyll cells of the leaf a four-carbon compound is then formed and moved to the bundle-sheath cells of the leaf where it is tightly packed at the leaves' veins.  Like C3 plants, C4 plants also breaks down the compound to release CO2.  The Calvin cycle is then initiated as the CO2 concentration is high enough for rubisco to accept CO2.  

CAM Plants

Similar to C3 plants, CAM plants or Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, also close its stomata to save water.  it closes its stomata during the daytime and opens its stomata at nighttime, in order to save water and to take up CO2 and to use CO2 by putting it into several organic acids.  In the daytime, CO2 is released as compounds are being broken.  However, CAM plants differ from C4 plants; CAM plants' pathways do no structurally separate carbon fixation from the Calvin cycle.  In CAM plants, carbon fixation and the Calvin cycle are separated in time.    

References:http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/biology/calvin.html
                     http://legacy.earlham.edu/~vandeel/notes.htm
                     Student Study Guide for Biology 6th Edition by Campbell and Reece

4. I learned About Macromolecules

After visiting http://biomodel.uah.es/en/model3/index.htm I have learned about macromolecules organized into five basic topics. 


1. Carbohydrates:
    As a part of carbohydrates there a few types of monosaccharides such as glucose and frutose.  Glucose(A) is a hexose and a aldohxose. The diagram shows a glucopyranose in a form of a pyranose.  Fructose(B) is also a hexose of the ketose type, this diagram shows a fructofuranose.  Disaccharides (C) can be represented by sucrose, that is combined by glucose and frutose, called a glycsidic bond. Polysaccharides (D)can be represented by cellulose, starch, amylose, amylopectin, and others of its type.  They are the biggest of the three, and they are all a part of carbohydrates.

2. Lipids
   Lipids can be described and demonstrated through fatty acids, triacylglcerols, phospholipids, steroids, and lipid bilayer. Fatty acids(F) may be saturated [single bonds between carbons] or unsaturated [double bonds with bending chains]. Triacylglcerols or triglycerides are formed when glycerin and three fatty acid molecules are linked.  Phospholipids  are also a linkage, this time it is glycerin with two fatty acids, one being a phosphate.  Steroids (E), such as cholerterol, are made of a hydrophobic and a hydrophylic parts that relates to its membrances.  Lastly, the structure of lipids are represented by lipid bilayers(G) in the diagram. 

3. Vitamins

   Vitamins can be represented but VitaminA/ Retinol [H, a terpene lipid] and Vitamin B2/ Riboflavin [I, one that shows double bonds].

4. Proteins
    Proteins are made up of several types and levels of structures.  The primary structure of a protein is made of amino acids and peptides.  The secondary structure is made of alpha helix(J), and beta strands.  The tertiary structure can be represented by a lysozyme, while the quaternary structure can be represented by hempglobin(K). 

5. Nucleic Acids:
   Nitrogenous bases, nucleosides, nucleotides, DNA, and RNA represents the structure of nucleic acids.  Nitrogenous bases in include adenine [L, made of purine] and are used to form nucleosides, while nucleosides make up nucleotides.  Nucleotides, when formed with other particles, make up RNA(M) and DNA(N).

photos were taken from http://biomodel.uah.es/en/model3/index.htm

3. Biochemistry Wordle

Biochemistry involves organic chemistry and different functional groups, such as the hydroxyl group, carbonyl group, carboxyl group, amino group, sulfhydrl group, and phosphate group, along with the properties of water (some include, being the universal solvent, having adhesion and cohesion) make up the basics.  The other words are used to describe and explain the properties and structures of the groups.  Those words include isomers, geometric isomers, macromolecules, carbohydrates, and nucleotides (make nucleic acids), in which all together makes up parts of biochemistry. 

2. Ecology Unit Wordle

The vocabulary words chosen for the Wordle are important to the Ecology Unit, because they represent the ideas discussed in the five chapters.  They help define the concept of ecology and they appear in the text the most often.  In chapter 50, biomes were introduced and the words ecosystem, organisms, and population explained the processes within each biome.  In chapter 51, behavior was discussed and words such as interaction and taxis were introduced to define it.  In chapter 52, population was a main idea, so words like community, and ecosystems came along to compare the 3 together. In chapter 53, interspecific interactions were discussed as a main idea and that included biotic and abiotic factors that effect the interactions.  Lastly, in chapter 54 and 55 mentioned ecosystems and conversation biology, all of the words together defines ecology.

1. Word Cloud

Here are a the 15 words that describe who I am.  I feel that they represent my daily life and things I enjoy.