AP BIOLOGY STUDY GUIDE

THE BIOLOGY OF THE CELL

1. Create a diagram or flow chart to trace the development of a secretory product (such as a digestive enzyme) from the DNA code to its export from the cell.

2. List the six major kinds of functions that membrane proteins may perform.

3. Why is facilitated diffusion considered passive transport?

4. Which will have the higher osmotic pressure, a 1-molar solution of glucose or a 1-molar solution of salt? Why?

5. What would happen if:

a. red blood cells, plant cells, and an amoeba were placed in distilled water? Explain.

b. red blood cells, and plant cells, were placed in seawater? Explain.

6. What would happen if an amoeba were placed in an isotonic solution?

7. If a mole (28g) of nitrogen molecules (N₂) and a mole (28g) of ethylene molecules (CH₂CH₂) were released on opposite sides of a partition that divided a room into equal volumes and then the partition were removed, do you think diffusion of the molecules would occur? Explain.

8. Do plant cells communicate using hormones? If so, how do those hormones travel between secreting cells and target cells?

9. What determines whether a signal molecule binds to a membrane-surface receptor or an intracellular receptor?

10. How do the following mechanisms or molecules maintain a cell’s ability to respond to fresh signals?

a. Reversible binding of signal molecules

b. GTPase activity of G protein

c. phosphodiesterase

d. protein phosphatases

11. Why is cell signaling such an important component of a cell’s life?

12. Briefly describe the three stages of cell signaling.

13. Some signal pathways alter a protein’s activity; others may result in the production of new proteins. Explain the mechanisms for these two different responses.

14. How does an enzyme cascade produce an amplified response to a signal molecule?

15. A cell’s complete complement of DNA is called its ___________.

16. How many chromosomes do you have in your somatic cells?

17. How many chromosomes do you have in your gametes?

18. How are the three subphases of interphase alike?

19. What key event happens during the S phase?

20. What is MPF?

21. Describe the life of one chromosome as it proceeds through the entire cell cycle, starting with interphase and ending with telophase of mitosis.

22 & 23. Draw a sketch of mitosis in an animal cell. Identify each stage, the participitants, and write a brief description of what happens at each stage.

24 & 25. Draw a sketch of mitosis in a plant cell. Identify each stage, the participitants, and write a brief description of what happens at each stage.