BOT251L: Study Guide for Second Exam Fall 2005

Disclaimer: The following study guide is designed to focus your studying around key terms, concepts and thought questions of
material presented in lecture and lab. It is not designed to exhaustively cover all things that may be on the exam. Anything
presented in lecture or lab is fair game for the exam unless specifically noted that it would not be.

I. Terms and Concepts

Chemical potential Nernst equation
Chelator ion channel
proton motive force ATPase .
symport antiport
nitrogen assimilation nirogen fixation
nitrogenase and leghemoglobin nitrate reduction
nitrification denitrification
ammonification glutamate synthase
glutamine synthase calibration curve
nitrogen pollution eutrophic
oligotrophic mesotrophic
root hairs Haber-Bosch process
denitrification nitrification
legumes - what are they, give examples legume nodules
rhizobia actinomycete nodulation - what is it, which organisms do it?
phases of the photosynthetic carbon cycle ferredoxin where and when is it used
heterocyst Azolla-Anabeana mutualism
Rubisco PEP carboxylase
Specificity factor oxygenation
Photosystem II Photosysytem I
photorespiration bundle sheath
Kranz anatomy algal CO2 concentration mechanisms
carboxysome pyrenoid
C3 versus C4 plant bicarbonate pumping
CAM photosynthesis epiphytes and succulents (as in CAM)
oxygen evolving complex light harvesting antennae
mitochondrial respiration uncoupling agents for ATP synthesis
fermentation methyl viologen
plastocyanin cytochrome c
glycine decarboxylase oxygen electrode
herbicides (atrazine, DCMU, paraquat) mode of action
complex II succinate dehydrogenase
vitamin K (phylloquinone) fermentation
rotenone primary versus secondary cell walls
retinol retinal
carotenoids and anthocyanins spore
chemiosmosis thylakoids
stroma stroma lamellae
resonance energy transfer succulence
grana cristae
cell type, tissue type and organ seed
sporophyte gametophyte
gametangia sporangia
sperm egg
megaspore microspore
megasporangium microsporangium
megasporocyte microsporocyte
leptoids hydroids
archegonia antheridia
calyyptra operculum
seta capsule of a moss
sori fiddlehead
indusium megaphyll

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microphyll heterospory
homospory rhizoid
root hair rhizome
stolon corm
tuber cladode
bud internode
sporopollenin resurrection plant
integument nucellus
micropyle ovule
ovary stigma
style strobilus
rhizosheath rhizosphere (its the area in the rhizosheath)
alternation of generations gametophyte versus sporophyte
sporic life cycle gametic life cycle
proteoid (cluster) roots action spectrum
red tide marine dead zones
algae bloom pink snow
endosymbiosis accessory pigments
gated ion channel cation exchange
Five Global Change Drivers facilitation in ecological succession
Pollen fruit
Carpel pistil
Stamen anther
Filament receptacle
Peat moss bog people
Lignin pericycle
Procambium ground meristem
Protoderm apical meristem
Endodermis epidermis
Secondary meristem primary meristem
Cortex pith
vascular bundles stele
root cap quiescent centre
mesophyll chlorenchyma
suberin cutin
Casperian strip ground tissue
Pollination syndromes gymnosperm
Angiosperm lower vascular plant
Monocot dicot
Cotyledon endosperm
Double fertilization protostele
Eustele tube nucleus
Synergids micropyle
Pericarp polar nuclei
Aggregate fruit simple fruit
Multiple fruit ANITA clade
Embryo green roof
Primary cell wall secondary cell wall
Plasmodesmata desmotubule
Cytoskeleton microtubules
Microfiliments vacuole
Golgi apparatus rough ER (endoplasmic reticulum)
Smooth ER pectin
Middle lamella cellulose
Starch symplast
Apoplast etioplast
Plasmalemma chromoplast
Amyloplast proplastid
Trichome gland
cryptogam epiphytes

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spine thorn
chelator siderophore

Memorize: The Krebs cycle Glycolysis

Photosynthetic electron transport The phases of photosynthesis as given in lecture
The photorespiratory cycle The C4 photosynthetic cycle
How the O2 electrode works How to make a calibration curve in spectrophotometric assays
The Fern Life cycle The Moss life cycle
The Pine life cycle The Flowering plant life cycle
The carbon cycle The nitrogen cycle
Patterns of O2 and CO2 change through time
Nitrogen fixation, nitrogen reduction and nitrification reactions and enzymes
The structure of a typical photosynthetic plant cell
The Nernst equation

Compare and Contrast

Starch and sucrose synthesis spore versus seed

Complex I, II, II and IV in the mitochondria macro and micro nutrients
C3, C4 and CAM plants ATP synthesis in chloroplasts and mitochondria
Photosystem I and II photosynthesis and photorespiration
Carbon flow in glycolysis Electron flow in the chloroplast and mitochondria
carboxylation versus oxygenation of RuBP photorespiration and mitochondrial respiration
Krebs (TCA) cycle versus Calvin (PCR) cycle plastoquinone versus ubiquinone
mobile and protein-bound electron carriers in photosynthesis and respiration
components of chemical potential you need to know in order to predict movement of potassium, sucrose and water
Action spectrum versus absorption spectrum
Preparatory phase versus payoff phase in glycolysis carpel versus pistil
Phosphofructokinae versus fructose-1,6-bisphosphotase Eutrophic versus oligotropic and mesotrophic
mobile versus immobile nutrient inside plants
Distinguishing characteristics of algae, mosses, ferns, gymnosperms, monocots and dicots
Suberin versus cutin
Stem versus root function monocot versus dicot roots and stems
Xylem and phloem symplast versus apoplast
Saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids ovary versus ovule
How plants can accumulate cations versus anions across the root surface

General Questions and expectations:

Where is lignin found (i.e., in which plants and tissues)?
How do plants prevent unwanted soil ions from entering the vascular cylinder?
Describe how lateral roots originate? How does this differ from root hairs?
What protects the apical meristem of the shoot and the root?
Be able to identify tissue regions and cell types from diagrams shown in lecture.
Be able to identify the parts of the various plants emphasized in lab and lecture.
Be able to name and describe 6 types of specialized stems.
Be able to distinguish between the different fruit types described in lecture.
Be able to distinguish between the various pollination syndromes shown in lecture.
How old is life on earth? When did oxygenic photosynthesis start?
Know how the various pigments presented in class differ.
What is the function of carotenoids?
How does land conversion and agriculture produce a) toxic algae blooms and B) species loss in pristine forests?
Why are carnivorous plants found in flooded soils such as bogs and marshes?
How you personally can reduce N loading on the biosphere (even in a small way).
Describe the conditions which cause proplastids to be transformed into other types of plastids.
Describe how trichomes and glands protect plants.
Explain how unsaturation of fatty acids improves cold tolerance in plants.
Why is free water required for sexual fertilization of eggs in bryophytes and lower vascular plants but not seed plants?
Why are the reproductive system of the angiosperms considered to be more adaptive to many environments than the reproductive
system of the gymnosperms?
How does the alternation of generations change as one proceeds from bryophytes to flowering plants?

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Be able to identify whether a structure is haploid or diploid in any of the life cycles you examined in lab.
How are spores dispersed in the various groups pf land plants we studied?
Know the evolutionary challenges to life on land and how plants overcame them.
What property of CAM plants allows for success in A) a green roof setting; B) a desert; C) a tree limb in the jungle.
Know the function of all reproductive structures, organelles and cell types presented in lecture.
Know the economic and ecological value of bryophytes, ferns, lower vascular plants, gymnosperms, fruits and seeds, cell walls, C4
plants and CAM plants, and photosynthesis as presented in class.

Thought-Provoking Questions

1. Do you need to know the electrical potential difference across the plasmalemma of the root epidermis to predict whether a mineral
nutrient ion will be transported into the root? Explain.

2. Would you buy lawn fertilizer from a fertilizer company owned and operated by a bunch of guys who confused macro and
micronutrients? Explain.

3. Which step of the Krebs cycle occurs in complex II?

4. List 3 roles for PEP carboxylase in plants? Do humans share any of these functions?

5. Why did the O2 level in the atmosphere stay low for the fist billion years of photosynthetic life? What significance did this have for
the evolution of eukaryotes?

6. Why do phycobilin pigments enhance the low light tolerance of blue-green and red algae?

7. Why are red tides increasing in recent decades? If you were the Earths Dictator, what would you do to stop red tides without
causing widespread starvation?

8. Is fertilizer production sustainable for the next 500 years? Explain.

9. What are fossil fuels and ultimately, where does the energy in them come from?

10. Which is more energetic, blue or red photons? Why are leaves green?

11. Your mother asks, you must answer. Why is photosynthesis important to life? Explain, with examples.

12. What would happen to a plant if a mutation rendered glutamate synthase ineffective? Would the cell die? Explain.

13. What regulates nitrate reductase expression?

14. How is nitrate reductase activity assayed?

15. What is the relationship between beta-carotene and retinal?

16. What is the evidence that green algae are the ancestors of the first land plants? When did land plants first evolve.

17. How old is a pine cone when the pine seed matures?

18. What are the most significant C3 and C4 crops species?

19. How did photosynthesis cause iron ore formation in the ancient crust of the earth?

20. How can plants reduce photorespiration?

21. Why and how do algae concentrate CO2 around Rubisco?

22. What distinguishes a potentially good fertilizer mix from and a bad one.

23. How is alcohol made by plants? Is oxygen required? What happens if oxygen is present?

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24. Why is heterospory considered to be an important modification that predates the evolution of the seed?

25. Would hummingbirds and bees normally feed off of the same flower? Explain.

26. Why do plants have cell walls and animals do not? What is the consequence of this for life on earth?

27. How does the structure of starch and cellulose differ, and why is this difference critical for the function of these respective
molecules?

28. What is the significance of the acidification of the thylakoid lumen after illumination of leaves?

29. Why are peroxisomes, mitochondria and chloroplasts located in close proximity in the leaf chlorenchyma cells?

30. How does reducing power get from the antennae pigments in Photosystem II in the grana to Photosystem I in the stroma lamellae?

31. How is ATP made in glycolysis and during photosynthesis and respiration?

32. What special traits do the following structures have to attract male genetic material from another individual? A) fern archegonia
and eggs; B) the ovule and carpel of a lily flower; C) the ovule and female cone of a pine tree?

33. How are the embryos of the new sporophyte generation nourished in A) mosses; B) ferns; B) pines; D) maize What is the
nutritive tissue called in each case?

34. Why do low CO2 levels and elevated oxygen levels favor C4 over C3 photosynthesis?

Evaluate the following speculative (and not-necessarily correct arguments)

Are the scenarios possible? Explain the logic.

1. C4 photosynthesis has its evolutionary origins in the physiology of Rubisco catalysis.

2. C4 photosynthesis evolved in response to a reduction of atmospheric CO2 that occurred over the past 25 million years.

3. Humans could become photosynthetic if we transferred the gene for photosystem I and II into the human mitochondria.

4. True or false, without C4 plants there would be no humans?

5. Greenpeace and other environmental organizations should welcome biotechnology and molecular engineering of plants because
botanists could engineer plant roots to effectively assimilate potash and phosphate fertilizers, thereby reducing water pollution and
allowing the geological potash and phosphate reserves to last longer.

6.. Eutrophication allows plants to grow faster, but is bad for biodiversity because weeds grow fastest and crowd out native plants.

7. Vitamin K allows human blood to form clots. This is because in plants it stops bleeding as well.

8.. Without photosynthesis, the atmosphere of the early earth would never have become hospitable for advanced forms of life.

9. Acid rain reduces forest health by promoting the leaching of cations from the soil.

10. Excess nitrogen deposition will accelerate the cycling of carbon between the terrestrial carbon pools and the atmosphere.

11. The oxygen in the atmosphere is derived from the O2 in carbon dioxide.

12. Velcro was invented by a dog and his master, who both enjoyed knitting.

Organism names to recognize:

Hornworts liverworts Sphagnum mosses bryophytes Chara
Lycipodium Selaginella Equisetum Psilotum cycads gnetophytes
Ferns Conifers Lily monocots dicots ANITA plants
Magnoliads Legumes Rhizobia Alders Frankia Azolla-Anabeana