Katja Turcios-Wiswe

10/22/10
Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

Chapter 9

1. There are several differences between fermentation and cellular respiration. Primarily
fermentation allows cells to produce ATP without using oxygen while cellular respiration
uses oxygen to produce ATP. In direct connection with this lies another major
difference; the different mechanisms that each process uses in order to oxidize NADH
back to NAD+. Fermentation uses an organic molecule like pyruvate or acetaldehyde as
its final electron acceptor. Cellular respiration uses oxygen. Also, because fermentation
does not use oxygen, the energy within pyruvate cannot be used by the cell, and
therefore, the process of fermentation produces much less ATP than cellular respiration
does.
2. Redox reactions are chemical reactions in which there is a transfer of at least one electron
from one reactant to another. Redox reactions are involved in cellular respiration in that
cellular respiration is a series of redox reactions. In the summary equation for cellular
respiration, glycogen is oxidized, and oxygen is reduced. The electrons in the reaction
lose potential energy, and in turn energy is released.
3. As nutrient molecules are broken down in cellular respiration, electrons are taken away
from them. These electrons travel with protons, therefore they are hydrogen atoms.
They are then passed to the coenzyme NAD+ which is an electron carrier. A pair of
hydrogen atoms are removed from nutrient molecule by enzymes called dehydrogenases.
The NAD+ is receiving two electrons and one proton because the other proton is released
as a hydrogen ion. Because of this, NAD+ becomes NADH when it is neutralized. The
electrons are then carried by the NADH to the top of an electron transport chain. As the
electrons “fall” down the chain, they release energy in steps. This energy is used to make
ATP in ATP synthase.
4. Redox reactions are the foundation for the electron transport chain because the electron
carriers along the chain alternate between oxidized and reduced states as they give away
and receive electrons. Each part of the chain is reduced when it gets electrons from its
uphill neighbor, and oxidized again when it passes the electrons to its downhill neighbor.
In this way, redox reactions are integral and essential to the function of the electron
transport chain.
5. Oxidative phosphorylation and substrate-level phosphorylation are similar in that they
both produce ATP. However, oxidative phosphorylation is powered by redox reactions
within an electron transport chain while substrate-level phosphorylation happens when an
enzyme transfers a phosphate group from a substrate molecule to ADP. In oxidative
phosphorylation, an inorganic phosphate is added to ADP. Oxidative phosphorylation
also makes much more ATP than substrate-level phosphorylation.
6. During the process of glycolysis, glucose which is a six-carbon sugar is broken down into
two three-carbon sugars. The smaller three-carbon sugars are then oxidized and
rearranged to form two molecules of pyruvate. Glycolysis consists of both an energy
investment phase, and an energy pay off phase. Glucose and ATP go into the process,
and pyruvate, ATP, and NADH are produced by the process.
7. The differences between the energy investment phase and the energy pay off phase of
glycolysis, is that in the energy investment phase the cell actually uses ATP to drive the

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Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

process forward, while in the energy pay off phase, ATP is produced by substrate-level
phosphorylation and when NAD+ is reduced to NADH.
8. The three components of cellular respiration are glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and
oxidative phosphorylation. Glycolysis occurs in the cytosol. The citric acid cycle takes
place in the mitochondrial matrix, and oxidative phosphorylation takes place in the inner
membrane of the mitochondrion.
9. Pyruvate oxidation occurs when, first, pyruvate’s fully oxidized carboxyl group is given
off as CO2. Then the left over two-carbon fragment is oxidized. In doing so, the
compound acetate is formed. The electrons that were removed from the two-carbon
fragment are transferred to NAD+, storing energy in NADH form. Then coenzyme A is
attached to the acetate with an unstable bond, making the attached acetate very reactive.
Because of this, acetyl CoA has a very high potential energy. The primary products of
pyruvate oxidation are CO2, NADH, and acetyl CoA. Acetyl CoA is necessary to start the
Krebs cycle.
10. The Krebs cycle begins when acetyl CoA adds a two-carbon group to oxaloacetate,
thereby producing citrate. Citrate is then converted to isocitrate when one H2O molecule
is removed and another is added. The isocitrate is then oxidized which reduces NAD+ to
NADH. The resulting compound loses a CO2 molecule. Then another CO2 molecule is
lost and the compound is oxidized, once again reducing NAD+ to NADH. The left over
molecule is attached to coenzyme A by an unstable bond. CoA is displaced by the
addition of a phosphate group which is then transferred to GDP which then forms GTP.
GTP can be used to make ATP. Next two hydrogens are transferred to FAD which then
forms FADH2. Succinate is also oxidized. The bonds in the substrate are then rearranged
by the addition of a water molecule. This substrate is then oxidized which reduces NAD+
to NADH and regenerates oxaloacetate so that the cycle can begin again. The products
that are formed by the Krebs cycle are ATP, NADH, and FADH2.
11. During the electron transport chain, electron carriers alternate between oxidized and
reduced states as they give away and accept electrons. As electrons “fall” down this
chain towards oxygen, energy is released. It occurs when electrons are obtained from
NADH and FADH2. The energy that is released is then used to make ATP.
12. Chemiosmosis is the process in which energy stored in the form of a hydrogen ion
gradient across a membrane is used to drive cellular work like the synthesis of ATP. This
process is driven by the flow of hydrogen ions. It occurs when H+ ions flow down their
gradient and enter a half channel in a stator that is anchored in the cell membrane. The
H+ ions enter binding sites within a rotor, which changes the shape of each subunit so that
the rotor actually spins within the membrane. Each H+ makes one full turn before leaving
the rotor and then passing through a second half channel in the stator into the
mitochondrial matrix. The spinning of this rotor also causes the spinning of an internal
rod. The rod extends into the knob below it which is held stationary by a part of the
stator. The turning of the rod activates various catalytic sites in the knob that produce
ATP from ADP and Pi.
13. For each single molecule of glucose that is broken down in cellular respiration a total of
about 36 or 38 ATP are produced. In glycolysis, two ATP are produced. The citric acid

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Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

cycle produces two ATP as well, and oxidative phosphorylation produces about 32 or 34
ATP.
14. Fermentation is a way of attaining chemical energy without the use of oxygen or an
electron transport chain. It gets chemical energy without cellular respiration.
15. Alcohol fermentation is when pyruvate is converted into ethanol in two steps. In the first
step carbon dioxide is released from the pyruvate. The pyruvate is then converted to the
compound acetaldehyde. The second steps consists of acetaldehyde being reduced by
NADH to ethanol. Lactic acid fermentation is different from alcohol fermentation in that
pyruvate is reduced directly to NADH to form lactate as an end product with no release
of CO2.
16. What is meant by the phrase “versatility of catabolism” is that the process of cellular
respiration and its components are very flexible in what they use for catabolism. For
instance, glycolysis can use many different types of carbohydrates for its catabolism.
Glycogen can be hydrolyzed between meals as fuel for respiration. Even proteins can be
used for fuel after they have been broken down into amino acids and deaminated.
Catabolism can also use the energy stored in fats. The processes of catabolism are
incredibly versatile in the sense that they function with many different types of fuels.
17. The fact that glycolysis is the most widespread metabolic pathway among the organism’s
of Earth, as well as the location of glycolysis in the cytosol is evidence that glycolysis
evolved very early on in the earth’s history. The location of glycolysis in the cytosol
suggests that long ago the pathway did not require any of the membrane bound organelles
that eukaryotic cells developed a billion years after the evolution of the prokaryotic cell.
This shows that glycolysis occurred in these early prokaryotic cells.
18. Feedback mechanisms control cellular respiration. When a cell is working very hard
and its ATP level begins dropping, respiration is sped up by feedback mechanisms.
When there is more than enough ATP to meet the demand for it, respiration is slowed
down by feedback mechanisms in order to spare the cell from unnecessary exertion.

Chapter 10

1. Heterotrophs are organisms that are unable to make their own food and live on
compounds produced by other organisms. Examples of heterotrophs are animals,
humans, most fungi and some prokaryotes. Autotrophs are organisms that sustain
themselves without consuming anything that was derived from other organisms. They
produce their own sustenance. Examples of autotrophs are plants, algae, some protists, as
well as some prokaryotes.
2. A leaf’s structure consists of the epidermis, the outer layer, and then the mesophyll, the
inner layer. Within the mesophyll are the chloroplasts and veins. There are also
microscopic pores on the outside of the leaf called stomata. Chloroplasts are located in
the middle layer, the mesophyll of a leaf.
3. It was discovered that oxygen gas produced during photosynthesis arose due to the
splitting of water when a scientist name C.B. van Niel who was investigating
photosynthesis in a type of bacteria that does not release O2 but does make its
carbohydrates from CO2. Van Niel discovered that as far as these bacteria at least were

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Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

concerned, the CO2 was not split into carbon and oxygen. He then proposed the idea that
plants split H2O in order to use the electrons from the hydrogen atoms, and thereby
release O2. This theory was later proven to be accurate.
4. Redox reactions are important for photosynthesis because, like cellular respiration,
photosynthesis involves redox reaction. In cellular respiration energy is released from
sugar and water is formed as a byproduct. The potential energy of the electrons is loast
as the fall down the electron transport chain towards oxygen and this energy that is is
given off is used to make ATP. Photosynthesis essentially reverses this flow of electrons.
Water is split, and the electrons are transferred with hydrogen ions to CO2, reducing it to
sugar. The electrons are in fact increasing in potential energy as the move from water to
sugar. The concept of redox reactions are integral and essential to the functioning of
photosynthesis.
5. The light reactions of photosynthesis and the dark reactions of photosynthesis are bound
together by electrons. The electrons result from the reaction of the light reaction and are
then used to power the dark reactions. Together these two types of reactions create the
entire process of photosynthesis.
6. Chlorophyll a is significant in the process of photosynthesis in that participates directly in
the light reactions which ultimately drive the entire process. Chlorophyll a absorbs
certain wavelengths of light, called its absorption spectrum. Its spectrum suggests that
violet-blue and red light work best for photosynthesis because they are absorbed, while
the color green is the least effective.
7. During photoexcitation chlorophyll and other pigments absorb light. The colors that
match the wavelengths that are absorbed, disappear from the spectrum of transmitted and
reflected light. When a photon of light is absorbed by a molecule, one of the molecule’s
electrons gets elevated to an orbital where it can have a higher level of potential energy.
The absorbing of the photon causes the electron to be in an orbital of higher energy.
When this happens, the molecule of chlorophyll or other pigment is in an “excited” state.
8. A photosystem consists of a protein complex called a reaction-center complex
surrounded by light-harvesting complexes. The reaction-center complex contains a pair
of chlorophyll a molecules, and each light-harvesting complex consists of various
pigment molecules bound to proteins.
9. Noncyclic photophosphorylation occurs in 8 steps. First, a photon strikes a pigment
molecule which boosts one of its electrons to a higher energy level. As this electron falls
back to its ground state a nearby electron is being raised to an excited state at the same
time. This continues, with the energy being relayed to other pigment molecules until it
reaches the P680 pair of chlorophyll a molecules, where it excites an electron within this
pair to a higher energy state. In step two the electron is transferred from P680 to the
primary electron acceptor. P680 is now P680+. In step three an enzyme catalyzes the
splitting of a water molecule into two electrons, two hydrogen ions, and an oxygen atom.
These electrons are then given to the P680+ pair. The electrons replace the ones that were
transferred to the primary electron acceptor. The oxygen atom combines with an oxygen
atom that results from the splitting of another water molecule, therefore forming O2. In
step four the photoexcited electrons pass from the primary electron acceptor photosystem
II to photosystem I through an electron transport chain. In step five the fall of electrons

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Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

to a lower energy lever provides energy for making ATP. When the electrons go through
the cytochrome complex the pumping of protons builds a proton gradient that is then used
in chemiosmosis. In step six, the light energy that was transferred to the photosystem I
reaction-center complex excites an electron from the P700 pair of chlorophyll a
molecules there. The then photoexcited electron was then given to photosystem I’s
primary electron acceptor which created an electron “hole” in the P700, which is now
called P700+. P700+ can now act as an electron acceptor in accepting electrons that reach
the bottom of the electron transport chain from photosystem two. In step seven, the
photoexcited electrons are given in a chain of redox reactions from the primary electron
acceptor of photosystem I to a second electron transport chain through the protein
ferredoxin. However, since this chain does not create a proton gradient, it does not
produce ATP. In step eight, NADP+ reductase catalyzes the transfer of electrons from
ferredoxin to NADP+. In order for NADP+ to be reduced to NADPH it needs two
electrons. The products of noncyclic photophosphorylation are NADPH and ATP.
10. In cyclic photophosphorylation photoexcited electrons from photosystem I are brought
back from ferredoxin to chlorophyll by the cytochrome complex and plastocyanin. This
produces ATP but makes no NADPH.
11. The primary differences between noncyclic and cyclic photophosphorylation are that
cyclic photophosphorylation does not produce NADPH and releases no oxygen. It also
does not use photosystem II. Noncyclic photophosphorylation does release oxygen and
does produced NADPH. It also uses both photosystem I and photosystem II.
12. Most plants perform both types of photophosphorylation because if they only performed
noncyclic photophosphorylation they would not be able to grow well in different
intensities of light.
13. The primary similarities are that both processes occur in similar location of each type of
cell and that both processes derive energy from a concentration gradient. The primary
differences are that, in the chemiosmosis that occurs in the mitochondria, the electrons
that go down the transport chain are extracted from organic molecules that are oxidized.
In chemiosmosis in the chloroplasts, the source of electrons is water.
14. The Calvin cycle consists of three phases. The first is carbon fixation. In carbon fixation
each CO2 molecule is attached to a five carbon sugar called ribulose bisphosphate. The
name of the enzyme that catalyzes this initial step is called rubisco. Because this product
of a six carbon molecule is very unstable it splits in two and forms two molecules of 3-
phosphoglycerate. The second phase is reduction. In this phase each molecule of 3-
phosphoglycerate receives a phosphate group from ATP and in doing so becoming 1,3-
biphosphoglycerate. Then an electron pair coming from NADPH reduces 1,3-
biphosphoglycerate, which also loses a phosphate group, and it becomes G3P. The final
phase is called regeneration of the CO2 acceptor (RuBP). In this phase, the carbon
skeletons of five G3P molecules are rearranged into three molecules of RuBP. This
RuBP is now prepared to receive CO2 again. In order to accomplish this, the Calvin cycle
uses up nine molecules of ATP and six molecules of NADPH. The products are ATP and
RuBP.
15. Photorespiration is when CO2 becomes scarce within the leaf, and the rubisco adds the O2
to the Krebs cycle instead of CO2. The product is split, and a two carbon compound

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10/22/10
Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

leaves. This compound is rearranged and split, and this in turn releases CO2. In short
photorespiration consumes O2 while producing CO2. Photorespiration makes no ATP,
rather it consumes it. It also produces no sugar, in fact it decreases the overall output of
photosynthesis.
16. C4 photosynthesis the type of photosynthesis that C4 plants undergo. In C4 photosynthesis
the plants undergo a different mode of carbon fixation that forms a four-carbon
compound as its first product, before entering the citric acid cycle. CO2 is incorporated
into organic compounds in the cells of the mesophyll.
17. CAM metabolism is specific type of carbon fixation that certain types of plants living in
arid conditions undergo. These plants open their stoma at night and close them during
the day to avoid the loss of water. At night, when their stomata are open, the plants take
up CO2 and incorporate it into many different organic acids. The mesophyll cells of
CAM plants hold on to these acids made during the night until the day time when light
reactions can supply the ATP and NADPH needed for the Calvin cycle. Then CO2 is
released to be incorporated into sugar within the chloroplasts.

Chapter 11

1. Cell signaling evolved first in ancient prokaryotes and single-celled eukaryotes, and then
was
adopted and adapted for different uses and purposes by the multicellular organisms that
came later.
2. A signal transduction pathway is the series of steps in which a signal on a cell’s surface is
converted to a specific cellular response.
3. Local cell regulators influence cells in the near vicinity, while, long distance cell
regulators can influence cells in many, distant parts of an organism.
4. The primary mechanisms for local cell regulation are growth factors, paracrine signaling,
and synaptic signaling. Local cell regulation consists of direct route communication and
mechanisms like cell junctions. The distances the messages travel are short. The primary
mechanisms for long distance regulation mechanisms like hormones. Hormones work to
send messages throughout our body. Target cells are located in locations that are not
close to where the hormone signal originates.
5. The three stages of cell signaling are reception, transduction, and response. During
reception a target cell detects a signaling molecule that is coming from the outside of the
cell. The signal is detected when the signaling molecule binds to the receptor protein that
is located on the surface of the cell or on the inside of the cell. Transduction begins after
the binding of the signaling molecule changes the receptor protein. During transduction,
the signal is converted to a form that can elicit a certain cellular response. Transduction
is more often than not a multi-step process, and this is called a signal transduction
pathway. In response, the signal that has been transduced triggers a specific cellular
response. The signaling molecule binds to a receptor protein, and in doing so changes its
shape, which produces the cellular response.
6. A ligand is a molecule that specifically binds to another molecule. Its role in signal
transduction is to bind to receptor proteins, and in doing so change their shape. For a lot

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Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

of receptors, this changing of shape directly activates the receptor, which allows it to then
interact with other molecules. In binding to a receptor, a ligand changes the ability that
the receptor has to transmit a signal.
7. The three types of signal receptors are G protein-coupled receptors, receptor tyrosine
kinases, and ligand-gated ion channel receptors. In G protein-coupled receptors a G
protein is loosely attached to the cytoplasmic side of a cell membrane. It functions as a
molecular switch that is either on or off depending on whether GTP or GDP is attached to
it. When it is bound to GDP it is inactive. When an appropriate signaling molecule binds
to the extracellular side of the receptor, the receptor is activated and changes the shape of
its cytoplasmic side. It then binds an inactive G protein which causes a GTP to displace
the GDP. This in turn makes the G protein active. The active G protein then dissociates
from the receptor and diffuses along the cell membrane. It then binds to an enzyme
which alters the shape and activity of the enzyme. Once the enzyme is activated, it can
trigger the next step in the pathway leading to a cellular response. Receptor tyrosine
kinases are characterized by having enzymatic activity. These receptors exist as
individual polypeptides before a signaling molecules binds to it. Then, when a signaling
molecule binds, it causes the two receptor polypeptides to become closely associated with
one another which forms a dimer. This process is called dimerization. The dimerization
activates the tyrosine kinase region of each polypeptide and each tyrosine kinase adds a
phosphate from a ATP molecule to a tyrosine on the tail of the other polypeptide. The
receptor protein is fully activated and it is recognized by specific relay proteins that are
within the cell. Each of these proteins binds to a specific phosphorylated tyrosine while
undergoing a structural change that activates the protein that is bound. Each of these
activated proteins triggers a transduction pathway which ultimately leads to a cellular
response. Ligand-gated ion channel receptors are membrane receptors that contain a
region that acts as a gate when the receptor changes shape. The gate allows only specific
ions to pass through under certain circumstances. For instance, the “gate” will remain
closed until a ligand binds to the receptor. After this, when the gate opens, specific ions
can flow through this channel and quickly change the concentration of that particular ion
inside the cell. This change in concentration can affect the activity of the cell. When the
ligand dissociates, the gate closes, and the ions can no longer enter the cell.
8. Protein phosphorylation is involved in signal transduction. Protein kinases, which are
enzymes that transfer phosphate groups from ATP to a protein, are very often the relay
molecules in signal transduction pathways. They also often act on other protein kinases
in the pathway. This pathway made of protein kinases creates a phosphorylation cascade.
The signal gets transmitted/transduced by the cascade of protein phsphorylations, each
bringing a new shape change with it.
9. Protein kinases are enzymes that transfer phosphate groups from ATP to proteins.
Protein phosphatases are enzymes that can rapidly remove phosphate groups from
proteins.
10. Second messengers are involved in signal transduction. They can rapidly spread through
a cell by diffusion due to their small, water-soluble nature, while they do so, they carry
signals. Some common second messengers are cyclic AMP and calcium ions (Ca2+).
cAMP is involved in signal transduction because it broadcasts the cellular signal to the

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Biology Reading Guide
Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

cytoplasm of a cell during transduction. Calcium ions are involved because an increase
in their concentration in the cytosol causes responses in animal cells.
11. A cell signal leads to a cellular response in that the signal that travels through a signal
transduction pathway may either regulate the activity or the synthesis of proteins, and in
doing so illicit a cellular response. A signal may cause the opening or closing of an ion
channel, or cause a change in cell metabolism. This resulting action is the cellular
response. However, the resulting response of a cell to a signal is a dependent on a very
specific combination of signal receptor proteins, relay proteins, and proteins that are
needed to carry out the response.
12. The major benefits of having elaborate cell signaling pathways are that they amplify the
signal and therefore the response, and they also provide several points at which the cell
response can be regulated.
13. As enzymes cascade, they amplify a cell’s response to a signal. During each progressive
step in the cascade, the number of activated products is much greater than in the last step.
the actual amplification is the fact that these proteins of the pathway exist in their active
form long enough that they produce many molecules of substrate before once again
becoming inactive. This production of multiple substrate molecules is the amplification
of signals with cell signaling.
14. Apoptosis is a program of controlled cell suicide. Its cellular role is to protect nearby
cells from damage by eliminating dying, damaged, or infected cells that would otherwise
leak out their contents and in doing so possibly cause harm to other cells.

Chapter 12

1. The primary functions of cell division are reproduction, growth and development, and
tissue renewal. Cell division helps with reproduction in that when it occurs it produces
an entire organism. Also, it allows for the development of sexually reproducing
organisms from a single cell. It helps with tissue renewal in that it replaces cells that
have died, and helps with growth and development in that it forms two identical daughter
cells with every cycle, allowing the organism to develop and grow at a reasonably fast
rate.
2. The structure of chromatin before cell division is different from that during division.
Before division, chromatin is in the form of long, thin fibers, which makes up each
chromosome. During division, the chromatin fibers become condensed and coiled,
making the chromosome much shorter and thicker than it was before.
3. The major events of the cell cycle are the interphase, the mitotic phase, and cytokinesis.
Interphase consists of the G1 phase, in which the cell grows, the S phase in which the
cell’s chromosomes are copied, and the G2 phase in which the cell continues to grow and
make final preparations for cell division. The mitotic phase consists of the prophase,
prometaphase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase. Cytokinesis is the physical splitting
of the one cell into two identical daughter cells. During each cell cycle, the cell goes
through interphase, mitosis, and cytokinesis.
4. The five stages of mitosis are the prophase, the prometaphase, the metaphase, the
anaphase, and the telophase. In the prophase, the chromatin fibers become more tightly

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Chapters: 9, 10, 11, 12

coiled, forming discrete chromosomes and the nucleoli disappears. The copied
chromosomes appear as two sister chromatids joined by centromeres and cohesins. The
mitotic spindle starts to form and the centrosomes begin to move away from each other.
In the prometaphase, the nuclear envelope is fragmented and the chromosomes become
even more condensed. Each chromatid now has a kinetochore. Some of these
kinetochores become attached to the microtubules which in turn jerks the chromosomes
back and forth. In the metaphase, the centrosomes move to opposite poles of the cell, and
the chromosomes convene on the metaphase plate. The centromeres of the chromosomes
lie on the plate. The kinetochores of the sister chromatids attach to the kinetochore
microtubules emanating from the poles. In the anaphase, the cohesin proteins are cut.
The two sister chromatids part from each other; each becoming a chromosome. The two
chromosomes move towards opposite ends of the cell and the cell gets longer. By the
end of this phase, the two ends of the cell have identical and complete sets of
chromosomes.
5. Cytokinesis is different from nuclear division because cytokinesis is the division of the
cytoplasm of a cell while nuclear division is the process of mitosis, in which the nucleus
of a cell is replicated and then divided.
6. During cytokinesis in an animal cell a cleavage furrow forms. On the cytoplasmic side
cleavage furrow is a ring of actin microfilaments that are associated with the protein
myosin. Actin interacts with myosin, and the ring contracts. The furrow deepens until
the cell is split into two separate cells. During cytokinesis in a plant cell there is no
cleavage furrow. Instead, a cell plate is produced from the coalescence of vesicles that
gather in the middle of the cell by moving along microtubules. Material that makes up
cell walls collects in the cell plate as it grows. It grows until its membrane fuses with the
membrane that is along the perimeter of the cell. There is now a new cell wall between
the two daughter cells, each with its own plasma membrane.
7. Evidence that supports the idea that eukaryotic mitosis may have evolved from binary
fission in prokaryotes is the fact that the movement of chromosomes within bacteria is
very much like the movement of the centromere regions of eukaryotic chromosomes
during the anaphase of mitosis towards the poles. Also, some of the proteins that
function in bacterial binary fission are related to proteins in eukaryotic cells that function
in mitosis.
8. Cell cycle checkpoints are control points in the cell cycle where stop and go-ahead
signals can regulate the cycle. These checkpoints help to regulate the cell cycle in that
they let the cell know whether or not the cell should and/or is able to continue with the
cell cycle. These checkpoints register signals that report whether or not crucial cellular
processes that should have occurred by that time have in fact been completed properly,
and in doing so, whether or not the cell cycle should go on.
9. Cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases are involved in regulating the cell cycle. Kinases
that drive the cell cycle are often inactive. In order to become active, the kinases must be
attached to cyclin. The activity of these cyclin dependent kinases depends on the
concentration of cyclin. When there is a high concentration of cyclin mitosis is initiated,
and when there is a low concentration, the m-phase promoting factor is switching itself
off.

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10. Some internal and external clues that help regulate the cell cycle are growth factors,
density-dependent factors, and anchorage dependence. Growth factors are involved in
regulation because they stimulate other cells to divide. Density-dependent factors cause
crowded cells to stop dividing, and anchorage dependence ensures that a cell that is not
attached to a substratum will not divide.
11. Cells become cancer cells when they undergo transformation and lose cell cycle control.
Cancer cells are cells that lack density-dependent inhibition and anchorage dependence.
They also do not stop dividing when the growth factors of a cell have been depleted.
Cancer cells may have an unusual number of chromosomes as well or have a disabled
metabolism. The process of transformation involves this loss of cell cycle control.

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