Plant Biology Final -- Vocabulary Terms

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Botany

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The study of plants

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Botanists

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Someone who studies or specializes in botany

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Science

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Branch of study involved with the systematic observation, recording, organization, and classification of facts from which natural leaves are derived and used predictively

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Hypothesis

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A postulated explanation for some observed facts that must be tested experimentally before it can be accepted as valid or discarded if it proves to be incorrect

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Plant Anatomy

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The botanical discipline that pertains to the internal structure of plants

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Plant Physiology

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The botanical discipline that pertains to the metabolic activities and processes of plants

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Plant Taxonomy

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The botanical discipline that pertains to the classification, naming and identification of plants

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Plant Systematics

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The study of the diversity of organisms and the relationships among them

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Plant Geography

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The botanical discipline that pertains to the broader aspects of the space relations of plants and their distribution over the surface of the earth

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Plant Ecology

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The science that deals with the relationships and interactions between plants and their environments

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Plant Morphology

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The botanical discipline that pertains to plant form and development

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Genetics

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The biological discipline involving the study of heredity

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Cell Biology

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The biological discipline involving the study of cells and their functions

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Economic Botany

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Study of commercial uses of plants

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Ethnobotany

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Study of relationships between plants and people

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Growth

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Progressive increase in size and volume through natural development

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Reproduction

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The development of new individual organisms through either sexual or asexual means

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Callose

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A complex carbohydrate that develops in sieve tubes following an injury; it is commonly associated with the sieve areas in sieve tube members

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Callus

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Undifferentiated tissue that develops around injured areas of stems and roots; also the undifferentiated tissue that develops during tissue culture

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Respiration

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The cellular breakdown of sugar and other foods, accompanied by release of energy; in aerobic respiration, oxygen is utilized

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Photosynthesis

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The conversion of light energy to chemical energy; water, carbon dioxide, and chlorophyll are all essential to the process, which ultimately produces carbohydrate, with oxygen being release as a by-product

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Digestion

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An enzyme-controlled conversion of complex, usually insoluble substances to simpler, usually soluble substances

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Assimilation

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Cellular conversion of raw materials into protoplasm and cell walls

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Molecule

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The smallest unit of an element or compound retaining its own identity; consists of two or more atoms

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Element

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One of more than 100 types of matter. most existing naturally but some human-made, each of which is composed of one kind of atom

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Atom

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The smallest individual unit of an element that retains the properties of the element

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Nucleus

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The organelle of a living cell that contains chromosomes and is essential to the regulation and control of all the cell's functions; also, the core of an atom

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Protons

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A positively charged particle in the nucleus of an atom

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Neutron

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An uncharged particle in the nucleus of an atom

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Electron

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A negatively charged particle of an atom

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Orbital

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A volume of space in which a given electron occurs 90% of the time

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Isotopes

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One of the two or more forms of an element that have the same chemical properties but differ in the number of neutrons in the nuclei of their atoms

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Compound

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A substance whose molecules are composed of two or more elements

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Valence

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Combining capacity of an atom or ion based on electron number

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Covalent Bond

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A force provided by pairs of electrons that ravel between two or more atomic nuclei, holding atoms together and keeping them at a stable distance from each other

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Ionic Bond

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Attraction between oppositely charged ions

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Hydrogen Bond

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Attraction between a positively charged hydrogen atom and a negatively charged atom in polar molecules

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Acids

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A substance that dissociates in water, releasing hydrogen ions

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Bases

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A substance that dissociates in water, releasing hydroxyl ions

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pH

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A symbol of hydrogen ion concentration indicating the degree of acidity or alkalinity

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Polymers

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A large molecule composed of many monomers

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Monomer

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A simple individual molecular unit of a polymer

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Sucrose

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A disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose; the primary form in which sugar produced by photosynthesis is transported throughout a plant

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Fats

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An organic compound containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen but with proportionately much less oxygen than is present in a carbohydrate molecule

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Oils

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Fat in a liquid state

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Protein

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A polymer composed of many amino acids linked together by peptide bonds

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Polypeptide

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A chain of amino acids

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Amino Acids

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One of the organic nitrogen-containing units from which proteins are synthesized; there are about 20 in all proteins

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Peptide Bonds

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The type of chemical bond formed when two amino acids link together in the synthesis of proteins

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Nucleotide

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The structural unit of DNA and RNA

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Genes

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A unit of heredity; part of a linear sequence of such units occurring in the DNA of chromosomes

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Prokaryotic

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Having a cell or cells that lack a distinct nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles

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Eukaryotic

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Pertaining to cells having distinct membrane-bound organelles, including a nucleus with chromosomes

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Cell Wall

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The relatively rigid boundary of cells of plants and certain other organisms

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Organelle

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A membrane-bound body in the cytoplasm of a cell; there are several kinds, each with a specific function

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Protoplasm

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Living part of a cell

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Cytoplasm

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The protoplasm of a cell exclusive of the nucleus

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Middle Lamella

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A layer of material, rich in pectin, that cements two adjacent cell walls together

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Plasmodesma

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Minute strands of cytoplasm that extend between adjacent cells through pores in the walls

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Plasma Membrane

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The outer boundary of the protoplasm of a cell

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Nuclear Envelope

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A porous double membrane enclosing a nucleus

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Nucleoli

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A somewhat spherical body within a nucleus; containing primarily RNA and protein; there may be ore than one nucleolus per nucleus

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Chromatin

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A readily staining complex of DNA and proteins found in chromosomes

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Chromosome

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A body consisting of a linear sequence of genes and composed of DNA and proteins; chromosomes are found in cell nuclei and appear in contracted from during mitosis and meiosis

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Endoplasmic Reticulum

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A complex system of interlinked, double-membrane channels subdividing the cytoplasm of a cell into compartments; parts of it are lined with ribosomes

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Ribosome

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A granular particle composed of two subunits consisting of RNA and proteins; ribosomes lack membranes, are the sites of protein synthesis, and are very numerous in living cells

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Dictysome

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An organelle consisting of disc-shaped, often branching hollow tubules that function in accumulating and packaging substances used in the synthesis of materials by the cell

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Chloroplast

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An organelle containing chlorophyll, found in cells of most photosynthetic organisms

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Plastid

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An organelle associated primarily with the storage or manufacture of carbohydrates

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Granum

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A series of stacked thylakoids within a chloroplast

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Thylakoid

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Coin-shaped membranes whose contents include chlorophyll; they are arranged in stacks that form the grana of chloroplasts

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Chlorophyll

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Green pigments that are essential to photosynthesis

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Stroma

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A region constituting the bulk of the volume of a chloroplast or other plastid; it contains enzymes that in chloroplasts play a key role in carbon fixation, carbohydrate synthesis and other photosynthetic reactions