1. Describe the process involved in the mobilization of food reserve in a endosperm in seed germination.

Germination starts when dormant embryo in a seed resumes growth. Before a seed can germinate, it must first inbibe water. A large amount of water is taken in by the seed through the micropyle and testa, causing swelling and rupture of the seed coats. ater is absorbed by colloidal substances within the seed, such as proteins, starch and hemicelluloses. !he breaking of testa allows seed to take in even more water and makes o"ygen available to develop embryo. ater activates biochemical reactions, acts as a reagent to hydrolyse stored food. Besides, water dilute the effect of growth inhibitor present in the seed like abscisic acid. !he activated embryo synthesizes and releases gibberellins which trigger the protein#rich layer of endosperm to synthesise $#amylase and other digestive enzyme. !he digestive product are then used as respiratory substrate and anabolic reactions. %tarch is hydrolysed to glucose, proteins to amino acids and lipids to fatty acods and glycerol. !he products synthesise growth of embryo. &. Describe the process involved during fertilization in humans. 'ertilisation of human is internal. %perms that have entered the female reproductive tract undergo capacitation which involves changes in its cell surface membrane and increased sperm motility. !he head of the sperm contains an acrosome filled with hydrolytic enzyme which are released when the sperm head binds to receptor molecules on the egg. !he enzyme digest glycoproteins of zona pellucid and reach plasma membrane of the egg. !his is called the acrosomal reaction. !hen, the sperm membrane fuses with the egg membrane, the latter depolarizes and this prevent further sperm entry. (ortical granules )ust inside egg cells membrane released by e"ocytosis. *nzyme from the granules harden zona pellucid, further blocking the polysperm.

*gg cell takes in whole sperm+only nucleus,. %perm entry stimulates nucleus of secondary oocyte to complete meiosis -to form ovum and second polar body. !he membrane of both ovum and sperm nuclei break down and a diploid nucleus is formed.

.. Give the meaning of ultrafiltration, osmosis and active transport and e"plain the role of each of these three terms in urine production in mammals /ltrafiltration is a passive , non#selective process by which all substances with low molecular mass are filtred from the glomerulus into Bowman0s capsule as a result of high hydrostatic pressure e"isting in the glomerulus. 1t enables small enough molecules to be filtered out of the blood entering the glomerulus so that the unwanted substances such as nitrogenous base products and to"ic substances can be eliminated from the blood and e"creted in the urine. 2smosis is the movement of water molecules from a region of higher water potential to a region of lower water potential through a semi#permeable membrane. 2smosis allows water to be reabsorpted from the filtrate and return to the body. !his happens at the distal tubule and collecting ducts under the control of AD3 so that the osmotic concentration of the blood and tissue fluid can be maintained. At the loop of 3enle, water flow out from the descending loop to allow the filtrate to be concentrated as it descends the loop of 3enle so that 4a5 ions can move out at the ascending limb to concentrate the tissue of the medulla. !his will facilitate reabsorption of water at the collecting duct when necessary. Active transport is a movement of molecules against a concentration gradient from a region of low concentration to a region of high concentration, energy is needed and carrier molecules are involved. 4itrogenous base substances and other to"ic substances can be eliminated from the blood through active secretion from the peritubular capillaries into the uriniferous tubule to be e"creted in the urine. At the thick ascending part of loop of 3enle, 4a 5 and (l# ions actively transported out from the filtrate into the medulla tissue so that osmosis can be carried out effectively at the collecting ducts when necessary. At the pro"imal tubules when selective reabsorption occurs, useful substances are actively transported from the filtrate into the cells of the wall of the pro"imal tubule and then into the interstitial

fluid and then diffuse into the blood capillaries so that there will be no wastage of useful substances like glucose and others.

6. By referring to a specific e"ample, e"plain the basic principles of homeostasic control. 3omeostasic mechanism involves only living system which are open system. !herefore e"change of materials with environment must be controlled. 1n the regulation of blood sugar, the individual obtains the glucose supply from diet, the amount of glucose taken in and also present in cells and body fluids must be regulated to maintain a constant optimum level. !he homeostasic mechanism is triggered by a change occurring that is a deviation fro the optimum level. A change from the norm in the parameter that needs to be maintained must occur to trigger the homeostatic response. A change in blood glucose level will automatically trigger the corrective mechanism to revert it back to the norm. 3omeostasic mechanism involves negative feedback mechanism. 1n the regulation of blood sugar, an increase or decrease in blood sugar level will trigger the corrective mechanism to lower of increase the sugar level to normal after which corrective mechanism is cut off. 3omeostasic mechanism involves receptors, effectors, regulators and sometimes a control centre. 1n regulation of blood glucose, a change in glucose level will stimulate the receptors like alpha and b7te cells of the islet of langerhans of the pancreas to secrete regulators in the form of hormones like insulin or glucagon which will be sent to the effector organ like liver. Appropriate corrective measures are carried out to revert the change back to normal.

!he norm usually involves a small range and not a specific value. !he blood sugar level does not stay put at a particular value but fluctuate within a small range which is considered as the norm that is 89#:9mg;199cc of blood.

<. Discuss the importance of D4A structure in relation to a. Gene replication Gene replication involves D4A replication which is semi# conservative. Gene replication has to ensure that the gene replicated has to be identical to the parental gene so that the genetic information on D4a is preserved and the characteristic controlled by the gene is maintained. hen D4A is replicated, the gene; D4A is also replicated. !he structure of D4A is suited for the replication process. D4A is a double stranded molecule helically#coiled. !he two polynucleotide chains are complementary to each other and are held by weak hydrogen bonds while each of the chains is held in place and stabalised by strong phosphodiester bond. !he two strands can separate easily when te hydrogen bond between complementary bases of the two strands break. *ach of the two strands then act as a template to pick up a new complementary base pairing. !he new and old strands were then coiled up helically to form & new D4A molecules. *ach daughter D4A will contain an old parental strand and a new strand. !his will ensure that the & new D4A molecules are identical to that of the parental D4A molecule. b. =rotein synthesise =rotein synthesise involves synthesis of a polypeptide chain with a specific amino acid se>uence. !he genetic information needed is present in the D4A molecule. D4A molecules carry genetic information

in the form of nitrogenous base se>uence. !riplet code on the D4A codes for the amino acid that will be added together in a specific se>uence. !riplet code on the D4A codes for the amino acids that will be added together in a specific se>uence to from the polypeptide chain. !his information on the D4A has to be copied out and transferred to the cytoplasm as D4A is in the nucleus while protein synthesise occurs in the cytoplasm. !his happens through transcription whereby the genetic information on D4A is transferred to the m?4A molecules synthesise so that m?4A can go into the cytoplasm to be used in protein synthesise. !he structure of D4A is suited for transcription to occur as the double stranded D4A molecules can be easily separated when the hydrogen bonds break up. 2ne strand of the D4A acts as the template so that ribonucleotides containing bases complementary to that of the template strand are picked up accordingly to form the m?4A molecules. m?4A then leave the nucleus to go into the cytoplasm so that protein synthesise can occur through translation using the triplet codon on m?4A molecule.

@. %tate si" differences between the structure of D4A and transfer ?4A. D4A D4A consists of two polynucleotide chains. !here are & chains coiled into a double helical structure maintained by hydrogen bonds. =entose sugar found in D4A is deo"yribose sugar. 4itrogeneous bases are adenine, cytosine, guanine, thymine. Base se>uence acts as triplet codes. All the beses on the & strands are paired through hydrogen bonds. !he ratio of adenine to thymine is 1, cytosine to guanine is also 1. t?4A t?4a consists of one polynucleotide chain. !here is single chain folded into a .D clover#leaf structure. t?4A contains ribose sgar. 4itrogeneous bases are adenine, cytosine, guanine, uracil. !here is a se>uence of . bases which acts as anticodons on the mid section of the clover#leaf structure. Base pairing only occur at certain site of the molecule while the rest of the bases are unpaired. !he ratio defers.

A. *"plain why fats is a better form of energy storage compound compared to carbohydrate and protein. Bipids have a high ebergy content than carbohydrates or proteins. A certain mass of lipids store twice the energy as the same mass of carbohydrates because lipids contain more (#( and (#3 bonds. 'ats when o"idized produces more metabolic water compared to carbohydrates and proteins which is important to animals living in desserts. Bipids are more compact, smaller and lighter to store. 'or e"ample, seeds storing lipids are lighter, allowing it to be dispersed further away. Animals storing lipid are not so heavy therefore enabling them to float in a>uatic environment. Bipids can be stored easily in many parts of the body. 'or e"ample, under the skin as adipose tissue or around body organs. (arbohydrates such as glycogen can be stored only in liver and muscle cells. !herefore a limited amount of carbohydrates can be stored. A layer of stored fat under the skin also functions as a heart insulator playing a role in themoregulation

8. 4ame & types of steroid and draw the structure of these steroids.

(holesterol

(ortisol

:. 'or each steroid that you named above, describe its importance to health. (holesterol is an important component in cell membranes, it is also a precursor for the synthesise of steroid hormones and vitamin D. it is also involved in transportation of fats. *"cess amount of cholesterol brings about health hazards. 3igh amounts of cholesterol in the body will lead to arteriosclerosis which is the narrowing and hardening of artery walls due to deposits of cholesterol, fats and calcium ions. !he deposit from pla>ue of the walls of artery narrowing the lumen of the artery making it harder and inelastic. !his may lead to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. !he pla>ues may cause blood clots inside the blood vessel which may block the artery

and affect blood supply to important organs like the heart or the brain. !his may lead to heart attack or stroke. (ortisol is a hormone which affects carbohydrates, proteins and lipid metabolism. 1t is needed to maintain a healthy level of glucose in the blood and it affects one0s ability to cope with stressful situation. !his is because cortisol is needed to break down proteins and lipids into amino acids, fatty acids and glycerol during stress. !his will then be converted into glucose so that the person have enough supply of glucose to cope with stress. hen production of cortisol is lacking, Addison0s diseases set in, the person has low sugar level, reduced blood pressure, fatigue and unable to cope with stress. /se of cortisol to overcome Addison0s disease and suppression of allergic reaction has been practiced. 3owever it has its side effects as steroid affects the immune system, causing one to be susceptible to the disease. 19.*"plainC By giving a suitable e"ample, . roles of carbohydrates in animals. (arbohydrates act as an energy source. Glucose is the main substrate from cellular respiration. Glucose contains a large number of (#3 bonds which can be broken down to release energy during respiration. 1t also is the storage of food and energy. (arbohydrates are stored in animals as glycogen in the liver and muscles cells. hen needed, glycogen which contains glucose unit can be broken down to be used to produce energy. Besides, carbohydrates provide protection. (hitin is a homopolysaccarides made up of acetylated amino sugar sub units. 1t is strong, tough, non#elastic and difficult to digest, making it suitable to be used as the main structural component of the outer skeleton of insect and crustaceans.

11.*"plain the differences between disaccharide and polysaccharide by giving named e"amples. Disaccharide D sucrose %ucrose made up of & monosaccharide sugar unit D beta# =olysaccharide D starch %tarch is a polymer of alpha# glucose sub#units, conists of &

fructose and alpha#glucose !he bonds involved are alpha,beta#1,&glycosidec bonds. %ucrose is soluble in water. %ucrose crystalise and is sweet. %ucrose is a small molecule. %ucrose functions as the transport form of carbohydrates in plants as it is soluble in water and it is inert so it does not play a direct role in metabolism. %ucrose has a low molecular mass.

components amulose helically coiled but unbranched and amylopeptin which is branched. !he bonds involved are alpha#1,6 and alpha#1,@glycosidic bonds. %tarch is insoluble in water. %tarch occurs in powdery substances and is not sweet. %tarch is a polymer. %tarch functions as the storage component and an energy source and plays a direct role in respiration. %tarch has a high molecular mass.

1&.Briefly describe a chemical reaction that involves water and takes place inside an organism. ater molecule is capable of breaking bonds in larger comple" molecules. 3ydrolysis is the breaking of large comple" molecules into smallersimple molecules by addition of water. /sually, hydrolysis is speed up by presence of enzymes. 3ydrolysis occurs in living cells. 'or e"ample, hydrolysis of lipids like triglycerides occur in the digestive track and is catalysed by lipase enzyme. !riglycerides are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol. !he three ester bonds in the triglycerides molecules are broken by the addition of . water molecules.

1..Briefly describe a physical phenomena that involves water and is important to a living organism. A physical phenomena involving water is the process of transpiration which occurs in plants. !ranspiration is the lost of water in the form of water vapour from a plant through the stomata, lenticels or cuticle of leaves and stems. ater is evaporated from the mesophyll cells in a leaf and accumulates in a sub stomatal space which 1s

connected to a stoma which are pores present on the surface of leaf and stem. ater vapours diffuses out of the leaf through the stoma into the e"ternal environment. hen water evaporates from the mesophyll cells of the leaf, latern heat of vaporisationis needed. 3eat energy is absorbed from the plant tissues to vapourise water. !hereby, cooling the plants tissue. !ranspiration also helps in the transport of water along the "ylem vessel in the plants.