C4 VS CAM Plants

Both C4 plants and CAM plants are for hot and dry environments, except CAM plants are plants that exist where it is impossible to collect carbon dioxide during the day because it'll lose too much water.

C4 plants collect carbon dioxide in the mesophyll cell, circulate it until it becomes oxaloacetate, and then it brings the carbon dioxide into the bundle-sheath cell to start the Calvin cycle.

In CAM plants, the stomata is closed during the day, meaning all the CO2 will have to be collected and stored inside the mesophyll cell, since photosynthesis can only happen during the day.  When the day approaches, the stomata closes again, and photosynthesis can start with the carbon dioxide that was stored during the night.

Review for Macromolecules

Guys, check it:  http://bilingualbiology11a.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html.  a bio teacher's blog.


Carbohydrates
-Carbs are made of a series of carbon chains with many hydroxyl bonds
-Four types:  monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
-Two types of monosaccharides:  aldose and ketose.  aldose comes from aldehyde end, and ketose has a ketose group, usually on second carbon of the carbohydrate chain.
-Carbohydrates can be in cyclical structures, for alpha, both hydroxyl ends are pointing down, while for beta, at least one hydroxyl end is pointing up.

-Amylose are fats inside plants that have alpha 1-4 bonds, which results in a linear shape
-Amylopectin are fats inside plants also, that have mainly alpha 1-4 bonds, but sometimes have alpha 1-6 bonds, which results in branches
-Glycogen are fats stored by animals.  They are similar in structure to Amylopectin, but have more alpha 1-6 bonds.
-Cellulose is made of glucose with beta 1-4 bonds.  Cellulose found in plant cell walls.
-Carbohydrate monosaccharides use glycosidic bonds to combine with each other (bonding between hydroxyl groups).  this results in production of H20, which is why glycosidic bonds are condensation.
-Glucose + Glucose = Maltose.  Condensation
-Glucose + Galactose = Lactose.  Condensation
-Sucrose = Fructose + Glucose.  Hydrolysis (requires water to break down bonds)

Proteins
-protein structure:  one carboxyl end and one amino end
-proteins made of amino acids linked by peptide bonds, a condensation reaction
-shape most important for proteins, four types:  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary
-Primary is just a straight chain
-Secondary is either alpha helix, or beta pleated sheet
-Tertiary is a combination of primary and secondary
-Quaternary is a combination of different primary, secondaries, and Tertiaries.
-Essential proteins are the ones humans need to eat; non-essential are the ones automatically produced by the human body

Lipids
-lipids are stored in animal body as triglycerides in adipose cells/fat cells
-triglycerides are made up of three fatty acids and a glycerol.
-saturated acids are linear because they only have single bonds
-unsaturated acids have double bonds, which creates the possibility of bending in the fats.
-unsaturated fats are healthier, as less can be stored, and they can be broken more easily because of their irregular shape.
-glycerol is hydrophilic and fatty acid is hydrophobic.
-a phospholipid is two fatty acids joined by a glycerol
-brown fat is baby fat, used for protection
-steroids are also a lipid
-excess carbs turn into lipids
-USES OF LIPIDS:  digestion, insulation, food storage (energy source), hormones (control), structure of cells, and vitamins to regulate body processes

Results: pH and Liver Catalyst

20% HCl
Start gas volume: 75 mL
Stop gas volume: 85 mL
Time: 1:58
* this was our first trial so we did it again because we thought we had made errors.

20% HCl (trial 2)
Start gas volume: 50 mL
Stop gas volume: 105 mL
Time: 0:22

40% HCl
Start gas volume: 85 mL
Stop gas volume: 500 mL (MAX)
Time: 0:23
*since this trial reached the maximum volume we did it again.

40% HCl (trial 2)
Start gas volume: 105 mL
Stop gas volume: 500 mL
Time: 0:34
*this one produced gas rapidly, then stopped, so time was stopped. Gas then suddenly continued being produced at the same pace, so time was started again.

60% HCl
Start gas volume: 50 mL
Stop gas volume: 225 mL
Time: 0:12

20% NaOH
Start gas volume: 60 mL
Stop gas volume: 500 mL (MAX)
Time: 0:55
*this one reached the max as well but we didn't have time to redo it.

40% NaOH
Start gas volume: 50 mL
Stop gas volume: ~550 mL
Time: 0:37
*this trial stopped about 50 mL after the 500 mL mark.

60% NaOH
Start gas volume: 60 mL
Stop gas volume: 400 mL
Time: 0:30

Importance of Entropy

Firstly, the definition for entropy is the measure of randomness or disorder in a collection of objects or energy; symbolized by S.  In layman terms connected to biology, entropy is the measure of the randomness of the particles in an object or system.  So an example would be when you add heat to an ice cube, the randomness of the particles increase, because the heat causes the particles to go from just vibrating to vibrating and moving fluidly into open space.

Entropy is also a part of the Thermodynamic Laws, namely being the second law.  The Second Law of Thermodynamics states:  All systems will spontaneously increase in entropy over time.

A good way to prove entropy:

1. Change of state
2. Energy Form
3. Number of particles

In addition, to quickly demonstrate a reaction has actually followed the laws of thermodynamics, balance the chemical equation.

Sanger Method - DNA Sequencing

ddNTP

Sanger Method

1. Start off with a single strand of DNA.  Occurs through denaturation of DNA, be being heated.
2. Radioactively labeled primer attached to four copies of single strand DNA.  (to help identify the starting point)
3. Each strand is put into individual test tubes.  Each test tube is filled with an abundant amount of dATP, dGTP, dCTP, dTTP.  
4. In each separate test tube, a small amount of ddNTP is added to each test tube.  One type of ddNTP for each test tube, e.g. ddATP in one, ddGTP in one, etc.  ddNTP stands for dideoxy nucleoside triphosphate.  It has NO oxygens on the carbon chain, and therefore cannot bond with any other dATPs, which terminates the DNA replication.
5. Polymerase 3 is added.
6. DNA replication occurs.  In each test tube, there will be strands where the replication automatically stops as a result of ddNTP.
7. Each individual test tube is loaded into four individual lanes on a gel.  The gel is run through an electrophoresis machine, and the DNA sequence can be read from bottom to the top, because it is radioactively labelled.  

PCR vs. Vector Cloning

Vector Cloning:

• Relatively cheaper compared to PCR
• replicates entire DNA
• requires bacteria and plasmid
• can be used to insert DNA and produce protein
• requires specific R.E. 
• Has practical uses in treating medical disorder (eg. somatropin for stunted growth)

PCR:

• Requires less time
• Higher probability of damage/corruption.  if only one DNA is replicated improperly, every DNA strand in that set will be negatively affected.
• Only replicates DNA, cannot produce protein
• Useful for forensics; PCR only requires one intact DNA strand.
• Medical uses more centred in help with diagnosis (diagnosis of HIV, looking for HIV genome)

Actually Starting on ISU

Got my paint together, got all the pots and soil and etc. together.

Started mixing paint.  And I suddenly ran into a foreseeable but unforseen problem.

Oil based paint does not dilute very well in water.  Not at all, actually.  Oil and water don't mix.  Duh.  Should've thought of that earlier.

So now I'm wondering if I should just go ahead with the environmentally friendly and acrylic paint and go without the last one, oil based, or find a substitute.  What a dilemma.

I decided to start another blog to keep track of my ISU progress.  Just cause I like blogs.  And cause I'm tired of putting together work logs for my ISUs (multiple curses upon my grade 11 and 12 physics ISUs...)
http://isuayjcc.blogspot.com/