AS Biology Revision

Prokaryotic Cell
Eukaryotic cell
 Prokaryote vs. Eukaryote
• Eukaryotic cells are larger and more complex than
prokaryotic cells. They are adapted to preform a wide
variety of specialist roles so have varied morphology
(e.g. neurone, red blood cell) and organelle
composition (what's inside them). Some eukaryotic
cells have cell walls (plants, fungi) while others don’t
(animal)
• Prokaryotic cells are smaller and much more simpler
than eukaryotes. There are 3 main cell shapes (rods,
cocci and spirals), they lack the structure and
organisation of eukaryotic cells. Prokaryotes have cell
walls but their composition differs from the cell walls
of eukaryotic cells.
 Differences cont.
Eukaryotic Prokaryotic

Large cells Small cells

DNA is linear DNA is circular

Nucleus present (DNA inside) No nucleus (dna in cytoplasm)

No cell wall for animals, cellulose wall in plants and Cell wall of polysaccharide (not chitin or cellulose)
chitin wall in fungi

Many organelles, mitochondrion Few organelles, no mitochondrion

Big ribosomes Small Ribosomes

Example = skin cell Example = E coli bacterium

 Cellular organisation
• All cells of multi cellular organisms are eukaryotic.
Palisade cell and liver cell are examples.
• Tissues consist of one or a few different types of cells
that work together to form a function. Epidermal tissue
and muscle tissue are examples
• Organs are made up of various tissues grouped to work
together and perform their function efficiently. Leaf
and heart are examples.
• Systems comprise various organs that work together to
perform a large-scale function. Many people believe
that there are no systems in plants. The digestive
system in humans is an example
 Cell cycle and Mitosis
• The cell cycle and mitosis allow asexual reproduction as well as growth in multi
cellular organisms. Once cell undergoes division to form two cells, these divide to
form four cells and so on. This is exponential growth. All these cells have the same
amount of DNA and there is no genetic variation

During mitosis:
4 phases occur:
Prophase
Metaphase
During interphase: Anaphase
• Newly formed cell grows Telophase
• cell undertakes its normal (see videos on next 2 slides)
function
• Cell prepares to divide by:
Replicating its chromosomes
Chromosomes start to
condense
Some organelles increase in
number
Prophase and Prometaphase are just called Prophase in AS Biology (well
Edexcell SNAB)
 The root tip squash
Cut final 5mm of a This is where mitosis
root tip from a plant occurs in the root Careful when
such as an onion cutting

Stain to ‘highlight’
chromosomes.
Add stain and acidify Eye and skin care with
Acid is to soften the
acid and stain
tissues

Gently creak open on

a microscope slide To spread out the cells so Careful not to
and squash carefully the layer is only once cell break glass slide
thick for ease of viewing

Add more stain and Warm to intensify the Eye and skin care
warm, then look at stain. Use a microscope with stain and
slide on a because the cells and potential burning
microscope chromosomes are small due to heat
 Production of Gametes
• Meiosis is a form of nuclear division whose functions are:
• Production of gametes (sex cells such as sperm and ovum in animals); each gamete is has a haploid (half)
nucleus compared to normal body cells
• They allow genetic variation to occur.
 How genetic variation is achieved
1) Crossing over
During the first division in meiosis, pairs of chromosomes, known as homologous chromosomes, line up and
may swap part of their genetic material

Homologous pair of Homologous pair after crossing over. All

chromosomes before four chromosomes are now different
crossing over from each other as two have swapped
some alleles

2) Independent assortment
during the first division of meiosis, each homologous pair of
chromosome can line up as shown
Since each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in
humans can line up either way round, it is highly
likely that daughter cells will end up with
different chromosome combinations when the
homologous chromosomes separate
Fertilisation in Flowers
 Stem cells
• Stem cells are:
• 1) undifferentiated (unspecialised) cells
• 2) which can keep dividing
• 3) and that can give rise to other cell types.

Totipotent stem cells Can give rise to all cell types

(from early embryos) including embryonic cells

Pluripotent stem cells Can give rise to most cell

(from older embryos) types but not embryonic
cells

How to demonstrate totipotency:

• Take a few plant cells of one type, called an explant
• Place on agar which has certain growth regulators (growth hormones) added.
• Cells divide by mitosis to form a cluster of cells.
• Divide cluster and then place in containers with agar
• Add different growth regulators to above agar which stimulate plant cells to differentiate into roots, stem
and leaves, etc.
 Sources of stem cells
Advantages
Embryonic stem cells • Easy to extract and grow
Adult stem cells • Fewer ethical issues
• Rejection risk avoided if
stem cells are taken from
the patient
Fused cells • Rejection risk avoided if
nucleus is taken from
patient
• Potential for treating
genetic disorders
Disadvantages
• Ethical issues
• Possible rejection by
patients body
• Risk of infection when cells
received
• Risk of stem cells becoming
cancerous in the body
• Difficult to extract
• More difficult to produce
different cell types
• Risk of infection
• Ethical issues with source of
embryonic nuclei
• Risk of infection when cells
received
• Risk of stem cells becoming
cancerous in the body
 Species and Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the variety of organisms within a habitat. Two aspects to consider are:
• Species richness – the number of different species within an area of known size at a
particular time. A species is a group of organisms with so many features in common that they
can mate and produce sexually viable offspring
• Genetic Diversity – the genetic variation within a species

• Endemism
• This describes the situation where a species is found in only one particular area. The ring-tail
lemur is restricted to the island of Madagascar and so is considered to be endemic to
Madagascar.
 Classification
• Taxonomy is the science of classification. There are seven groups in
classification. These are, in order, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, and Species. A way to remember it:
• Kings Play Chess On Fine Grain Sand
• There are five kingdoms:
• Prokaryote, such as bacteria. Protoctista, such as algae. Fungi, such as
yeast. Plantae, such as flowering plants. Animalia, such as mammals.

• Similar organisms are placed in a kingdom, such as the animal kingdom.

Similar organisms from the kingdom are then placed in a phylum. Similar
from a phylum are then in a class and so on. You then end up at species
which is one type of organism. The definition of a species is a group of
similar organisms who are able to reproduce to give fertile offspring.
Organisms in the same genus are very similar but cannot produce fertile
offspring, such as lions and tigers.
 Types of adaption
Types of Adaption Description Examples

Anatomical A physical/structural • Cacti have highly modified leaves called

adaptation – it may be spines. The reduction in size decreases
external or internal the number of pores through which
water can be lost to the air

Behavioural A change in behaviour of • A single celled organism reverses its

an organism to increase its direction if it accidentally moves into
survival chances unfavourable conditions from favourable
conditions.
Physiological These tend to be changes • People who move from sea level to high
in the internal biochemical up a mountain slowly increase their
functioning of the organism oxygen-carrying capacity by producing
in response to an altered more red blood cells.
environmental stimulus. • Formation of heard skin on hands due to
repeated pressure.
 The role of zoos in conserving endangered animals
1) Education
Informing all age groups who visit zoos of various conservation issues including:
• The illegal in certain animal products e.g. Ivory
• The need to maintain biodiversity
• Captive-breeding programs including success stories.

2) Scientific Research
Zoos, university's, etc. can work together on projects that are of benefit to the conservation of animals, including:
• Control of diseases that are reducing populations
• Behavioural studies to further appreciate the needs of animals in captivity
• Development of techniques to further improve breeding success

3) captive breeding programs

These are schemes designed to encourage endangered species to breed so that:
• Their numbers increase
• Subsequently some individuals can be released into the wild or protected areas such as national parks

4) Reintroduction Programs
These programs endeavour to release captive-bred individuals back into the wild so that natural breeding
populations can be maintained or re-established.
Plant cell structure
Chloroplasts (in some cells e.g. palisade cells)

• Structural features:
• Double membrane present
• Many internal (thylakoids) membranes;
some are arranged as stacks called grana
• Chlorophyll found on the thylakoid
membranes
• Fluid filled Interior called the Stroma
• A loop of DNA is found in the Stroma
• Starch grains may also be present in the
Stroma
Plant stem structure and function
Sclerenchyma fibre Xylem vessel

Short structures with tapered ends Long cylinders (made up of a column of cells
whose end walls have broken down)
Ends closed Ends open

Tough lignin present in walls Tough lignin present in walls

Mineral Ion Importance What will happen without
it
Nitrate To supply nitrogen for Stunted growth
making proteins, DNA,
RNA and certain plant
hormones

Calcium To form calcium pectate in No growth

plant cell walls; to be
involved in membrane
permeability

Magnesium As a component of Yellow in colour

chlorophyll; to help in the
formation of DNA; as an
activator of certain plant
membranes
 Mineral deficiency practical

Practical approach 1 – effect of the
absence of each mineral ion
Set up tubes with all mineral ions
present except that each tube lacks a
different mineral ion. Also have a
control with all mineral ions present
Practical approach 2 – effect of varying the mineral ion
concentration
Set up tubes with all mineral ions present. Each tube
however, has a different concentration of one mineral ion
whilst mineral ions are kept constant. Also have a control
that has all mineral ions present except it lacks the mineral
ion being investigates
 Starch cellulose and fibres
Structural features Starch Cellulose
Made up of many: α (alpha) glucose units β (beta) glucose units

Glycosidic bonds yes Yes

Branched molecules Yes (as in amylopectin) never

• Starch is the energy storage molecule. It is made up of many α-glucose units which can be used in
respiration.
• Cellulose is a major component of plant cell walls formed of many β-glucose units.
• Cellulose microfibrils have many hydrogen bonds that together make it strong. In addition, the arrangement
of cellulose microfibrils and the glue that binds them give strength and flexibility to plant cell walls whilst
allowing them to be fully permeable to water
• Fibres (Sclerenchyma and Xylem) give support and some allow the transport of water and mineral ions (due
to lignin being strong and waterproof).
How to determine the tensile strength of plant fibres

This core practical requires you to find the mass hat causes a particular fibre to break.
A typical set of equipment is shown in the diagram above.
 Drugs from plants
Add agar with bacteria
suspended in it to a petri dish
and allow to cool
Add plant material to agar plate;
replace lid and seal such that gases
can still enter and leave
Incubate at 25°C
Observe without
removing lid
A number of plants have antimicrobial properties. This
means that they are able to combat bacteria and may be
of use to humans.
• The bacteria used must not be harmful to humans
• Cooling allows the agar to set firmly.
Ways to add plant materials include:
• Filter paper soaked in plant extract
• Plant extract paced in a hole cut in the agar
• Plant material laid on surface.
Seal Petri dish and lid so cannot be opened but air can
still get in to stop the development of anaerobic
conditions, which encourage harmful bacteria to grow
Incubate at this temp because:
• Bacteria grow well
• Higher temps, particularly body temp (37°C),
encourages growth of harmful bacteria
Removal of lid may allow entry/exit of bacteria, including
potentially harmful ones.
Drug testing Process Assess the safety
Pre- clinical
and effectiveness of
testing
a new medication or
device on a specific
kind of patient by
testing on animals
and isolated cells
and tissue cultures.
Clinical
A small group of healthy
trials
volunteers are told about the drug
-Phase I
and given different doses.

Clinical A small group of people are tested

trials on (100-300 people with the
-Phase II disease) are treated to look at the
drug’s effectiveness

A large group (1000-3000 people)

are selected at random and Clinical
divided into 2 groups; one group is trials
given the drug whereas another is -Phase III
given a placebo, only the people
doing the trial know who has the
drug and who has the placebo.
Trials continue to
collect data on the
effectiveness and
After safety of a new drug
licensing after the drug has
been licensed
 Drug testing and drugs from plants
• Drug testing used to be poor and was just trial and error. Now drug testing is more
controlled and follows some protocols.
• Before it is tested on any live subject, computers model any potential side effects. Tests
are then carried out on human tissues and then live animals before it moves onto the
clinical trials.
• There are three phases:
• Phase 1 is testing on a small group of healthy humans to see if there are any side effects
and work out the safe dose.
• Phase 2 is testing on a small group of patients to see how the drug actually works.
• Phase 3 is comparing to existing to existing treatments. Patients split into 2 groups, one
gets the new treatment and one gets the old treatment to see if here are any
improvements in the drug.
• If the drug passes all three stages it is considered for clinical use.
• Usually phase 2 and 3 will be a double blind trial (doctors nor patients know who is
receiving what treatment to reduce bias).
• Phase 2 tests for the placebo effect, where one group is given a placebo and the other
is given the real drug to see if the drug actually does anything.