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Response of plants
Types of plant chemical defences:
Alkaloids
o Toxic to microorganisms/herbivores
o Make the leaf taste unpleasant
Tropism
Phototropism
o Occurs on flowers
o Pollen tubes grow down the style towards ovaries
o They are attracted by chemicals
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Thigmotropism
o Diffusion
o Active transport
o Mass flow in phloem and xylem
Cytokines
Gibberellins
Abscisic Acid
Ethene
Plant Growth
o Cell elongation
o Cell division
Apical Meristems are located behind shoots and are responsible for
shoots getting longer
Lateral bud meristems are found in buds and give rise to shoots
Lateral meristems are found near the outside of shoots and root and
make them wider
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Auxin
Cell elongation
Inhibit growth of side-shoots
Cause of Phototropism
Leaf Loss
Grafted a plant which has the enzyme, but no gibberellins onto a normal
plant
Auxins
Gibberellins
Fruit Production
o Delays senescence
o Make fruit last longer on shop shelves
Brewing
Cytokinins
Ethene
CNS
PNS
Connect at a ganglion
o Sympathetic
Involves noradrenaline
Motor neurons are connected by ganglia
Relaxing responses
Involves acetylcholine
Maintains a suitable state for non-threatening conditions
The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems each have their own
neurons. The two systems are antagonistic.
Effects on Heart
Parasympathetic
Parasympathetic
Effects on Iris
Parasympathetic
EXAM TIP
While the sympathetic nervous system stars in the fight or flight response, it is constantly acting
homeostasis. In its total absence, we would have dangerously low blood pressure, heart rate, and
chronically inadequate blood supply.
Cerebrum
Largest part
Involved in ‘higher’ brain activities
Divided into 2 hemispheres
Cerebral Cortex
Subdivided
o Sensory Areas
o Association Areas
Cerebellum
o Muscle memory
Processes information from:
Medulla Oblongata
Controls:
o Cardiac centre
o Respiratory Centre
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Hypothalamus
Pituitary Gland
Reflex actions are responses to external stimuli that do not require conscious
coordination. They are immediate responses and their rapidity is achieved by
bypassing the brain between sensation and reaction. The brain is informed
afterwards about the stimulus/reflex.
Sensory neurone -> relay neurone in spinal cord -> motor neuron
Blinking reflex
The body frequently employs the use of both the nervous and endocrine
systems to achieve a common goal. The two systems can easily be used to
amplify each other. The fight or flight responseis a good example of the
body’s ability to do this.
The term ‘fight or flight’ refers to a set of physiological changes which occur in
the body when danger is detected, and we need to either run away or fight it.
It is a function of the sympathetic nervous system and incorporates several
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hormones as well.
Co-ordination of Changes
Cardiac (heart) muscle is myogenic. This means it can initiate its own contractions.
It achieves this with its own pacemaker: the sinoatrial node (SAN):
Beats faster
Beats stronger: myocytes contract with greater contractile force
Nodes
o Sinoatrial node
o Atrioventricular node
Rate of Initiation
Controlled by:
E.g. – Adrenaline
Nerves
Vagus Nerve
Medulla Oblongata
Resting conditions
Movement
Exercise
Adrenaline
Blood Pressure
Artificial Pacemakers
o 1928
The neuromuscular junction is the site where action potentials carried by neurons
are delivered to muscle tissue to begin muscle contraction. Electrical energy is
hereby converted into kinetic energy. There are some similarities and differences
between neural synpases and neuromuscular junctions:
Synapse Neuromuscular Junction
Neurone to
neurone
Post synaptic
stimulation Neurone to sarcomere
leads to AP in Postsynaptic stimulation leads to depolarisation f sarcolemma
postsynaptic End plate has a brush border
membrane
Synaptic
knob is
smooth and
rounded
Muscle
Can be involuntary…
o Smooth muscle
o Cardiac muscle
o Controlled by autonomic nervous system
Or voluntary..
o Skeletal muscle
Smooth Muscle
Cardiac Muscle
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o Atrial muscle
o Ventricular muscle
o Specialised excitatory and conductive fibres
Contract in similar way to skeletal muscle, but with longer duration of
contraction
Some muscle fibres are myogenic
Skeletal Muscles
Voluntary muscles
Action of these muscles leads to the movement of the skeleton
Ligaments connect bone to bone
Tendons connect muscle to bone
Form fibres with many nuclei
Cell surface membrane is the sarcolemma
Cell cytoplasm is the sarcoplasm
Sarcoplasm contains:
o Many mitochondria
o Extensive sarcoplasmic reticulum
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o Myofibrils
Contractile elements
Contain smaller units called sarcomeres
Actin and myosin filaments
Called ‘striated muscle’ because of its striped appearance
The Sarcomere
Structure
I Band
A band
Thin Actin
Consists of 3 polypeptides
1 binds to actin
1 binds to tropomyosin
1 binds to calcium ions
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Thick Myosin
o Consists of myosin
o Shaped like a golf club, with 2 heads
o Heads stick out to form the cross bridge
o Many of these myosin molecules stick together to form a thick
filament
Process of contraction
ATP pump actively pumps Ca ions from the sarcoplasm to the cisternae of
the SER
Ca ion concentration falls below the threshold level
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ATP provides the energy that allows binding, tilting and releasing on the
myosin heads
It is the force that causes muscular contraction
Motor Unit
Temperature
Blood glucose concentration
Blood salt concentration
Water content
Blood pressure
Blood carbon dioxide partial pressure (blood pH)
Negative Feedback
Positive Feedback
The kidney’s role is to filter blood and remove excess ions/water to produce urine.
The functional unit of the kidney is the nephron.
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The nephrons spread across the cortex and medulla of the kidney. Blood enters the
organ via the renal artery and exits via the renal vein. In between, it passes through
tiny capillaries that surround the continuous tube constituting the nephron.
Function
Structure
Bowman’s Capsule
o Ultrafiltration unit
o Filters blood
o Separates large particles from small particles
Proximal Convoluted Tubule (PCT)
o Involved in osmoregulation
o Varies the amount of water reabsorbed into the blood
Blood vessels
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Glomerulus
o Site of filtration
o Tight, knot-like, high pressure capillary bed
Afferent arteriole
o Un-branched capillaries
o Similar in shape to the Loop of Henle
o Descending limb carries blood deep into the medulla
o Ascending limb brings blood back to the cortex
Venule
PCT
Salts added
Water removed
Ascending Limb
Water is removed
o Endothelium of capillary
Podocytes
Specialized shape
High pressure forces some water and solutes through the basement
membrane and into the Bowman’s capsule
This liquid is now known as the ‘glomerular filtrate’
Proteins
Blood cells
Molecules bigger than 69,000 RMM will remain in the blood
Selective reabsorption
Reabsorption of salts, glucose and amino acids reduced the water potential
in cells and increases it in the tubule fluid
Water will enter cells
Larger proteins can be absorbed by endocytosis
Adaptions
Reabsorption of Water
The Loop of Henle
Salts can be transferred from the descending limb to the ascending limb
Increases concentration of salts in the tubule fluid
Salts diffuse out into the surrounding medulla tissue
Medulla tissue has a very low water potential
Amount of water reabsorbed controls water potential of blood
EXAM TIP
You’re sure to impress examiners if you are able to clearly recall the different processes that hap
the descending and ascending limbs of the Loop of Henle.
Tubular fluid becomes highly concentrated as it travels through the descending limb
It becomes much more diluted as it travels back up the ascending limb
The control of water content in the blood is regulated by a negative feedback loop:
EXAM TIP
ADH is a really important hormone involved in regulation of blood’s water potential. Make sure
triggers its release and what its overall effect is.
Diabetes mellitus
Heart disease
Hypertension
Infection
Treatment 2: Dialysis
Treatment 3: Haemodialysis
Pregnancy