BiologyQ&A by dot point

Topic 1.2 Elements of Life: describe the composition of macromolecules required by living organisms and the role of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulfur in forming them.

Topic 1.3 Introduction to Biological Macromolecules: describe the chemical reactions that build and break biological macromolecules and the structure and function of the four classes.

Topic 1.6 Nucleic Acids: describe the structural similarities and differences between DNA and RNA and explain how the directionality and base pairing of nucleic acids support their function.

Topic 1.4 Properties of Biological Macromolecules: describe the properties of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins, including the directionality of their structures and how their subunits and bonding give rise to their functions.

Topic 1.5 Structure and Function of Biological Macromolecules: explain how a change in the subunit composition or sequence of a polymer may affect its structure and function.

Topic 1.1 Structure of Water and Hydrogen Bonding: explain how the properties of water that result from its polarity and hydrogen bonding affect its biological function.

Topic 2.10 Cell Compartmentalization: explain how internal membranes and membrane-bound organelles contribute to the compartmentalization of eukaryotic cell functions.

Topic 2.3 Cell Size: explain the effect of surface-area-to-volume ratios on the exchange of materials between cells or organisms and the environment.

Topic 2.2 Cell Structure and Function: explain how subcellular structures and organelles provide essential functions and how structure relates to function in cells.

Topic 2.1 Cell Structure: Subcellular Components: describe the structures and functions of the subcellular components and organelles of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Topic 2.7 Facilitated Diffusion: explain how the structure of channel and carrier proteins allows the facilitated diffusion of polar molecules and ions across a membrane.

Topic 2.9 Mechanisms of Transport: explain how active transport and bulk transport move ions and large molecules across membranes and establish electrochemical gradients.

Topic 2.5 Membrane Permeability: explain how the structure of biological membranes influences selective permeability.

Topic 2.6 Membrane Transport: describe the mechanisms that organisms use to transport large and small molecules across the membrane and the energy requirements of passive and active transport.

Topic 2.11 Origins of Cell Compartmentalization: describe the similarities and differences in compartmentalization between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells, and the evidence for the endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts.

Topic 2.4 Plasma Membranes: describe the roles of each of the components of the cell membrane in maintaining the internal environment of the cell.

Topic 2.8 Tonicity and Osmoregulation: explain how concentration gradients of water and solutes affect the movement of water into and out of cells, and how organisms regulate their water balance.

Topic 3.4 Cellular Energy: explain how cells use free energy, ATP and coupled reactions to drive endergonic processes, and how energy flows into and out of biological systems.

Topic 3.6 Cellular Respiration: explain how glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and oxidative phosphorylation release energy from glucose to make ATP, and how fermentation allows ATP production without oxygen.

Topic 3.3 Environmental Impacts on Enzyme Function: explain how changes in temperature and pH affect enzyme structure and the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction, including denaturation and optimum conditions.

Topic 3.2 Enzyme Catalysis: explain how enzymes lower activation energy and how substrate concentration, enzyme concentration and inhibitors affect the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction.

Topic 3.1 Enzyme Structure: describe the structure of enzymes, the role of the active site, and how the structure of an enzyme determines its specificity for a substrate.

Topic 3.5 Photosynthesis: explain how the light-dependent reactions and the Calvin cycle capture light energy and use it to fix carbon dioxide into sugar.

Topic 4.1 Cell Communication: describe the ways cells communicate, including direct contact and chemical signalling over short and long distances.

Topic 4.5 Cell Cycle: describe the phases of the cell cycle, including interphase and mitosis, and explain how the events of each phase produce two genetically identical cells.

Topic 4.4 Feedback: explain how negative feedback maintains homeostasis and how positive feedback amplifies a response, using examples from cellular and organismal systems.

Topic 4.2 Introduction to Signal Transduction: describe the reception, transduction and response stages of a signalling pathway, and the roles of receptors, ligands and second messengers.

Topic 4.6 Regulation of the Cell Cycle: explain how checkpoints and regulatory molecules control progression through the cell cycle, and how loss of control leads to cancer.

Topic 4.3 Signal Transduction Pathways: explain how signalling pathways relay and amplify a signal to produce a response, and how mutations or chemicals that change the pathway affect the cell.

Topic 5.6 Chromosomal Inheritance: explain the chromosomal basis of inheritance, including sex determination and the consequences of nondisjunction.

Topic 5.5 Environmental Effects on Phenotype: explain how environmental factors can affect the phenotype produced by a given genotype.

Topic 5.2 Meiosis and Genetic Diversity: explain how crossing over, independent assortment and random fertilization produce genetic variation.

Topic 5.1 Meiosis: explain how meiosis produces four haploid cells from one diploid cell, and how it differs from mitosis.

Topic 5.3 Mendelian Genetics: apply the laws of segregation and independent assortment to predict genotype and phenotype ratios.

Topic 5.4 Non-Mendelian Genetics: explain inheritance patterns that depart from simple dominance, including incomplete dominance, codominance, sex linkage, polygenic traits and linkage.

Topic 6.8 Biotechnology: describe the main biotechnology techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis, restriction enzymes, sequencing) and explain how they are used.

Topic 6.1 DNA and RNA Structure: describe the structure of DNA and RNA and explain how it suits their role in storing and transmitting genetic information.

Topic 6.6 Gene Expression and Cell Specialization: explain how differential gene expression produces specialized cell types from one genome.

Topic 6.7 Mutations: explain the types of mutations and how they affect gene products, phenotype and the variation available to a population.

Topic 6.5 Regulation of Gene Expression: explain how gene expression is regulated in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, including operons and regulatory sequences.

Topic 6.2 Replication: explain how DNA is replicated semiconservatively, including the roles of the key enzymes and the leading and lagging strands.

Topic 6.3 Transcription and RNA Processing: explain how RNA polymerase transcribes a gene into mRNA and how the primary transcript is processed in eukaryotes.

Topic 6.4 Translation: explain how the ribosome translates mRNA codons into a polypeptide, including the roles of tRNA and the genetic code.

Topic 7.3 Artificial Selection: explain how humans drive evolution through artificial selection and how it differs from natural selection.

Topic 7.7 Common Ancestry: describe the structural and molecular features shared by all organisms that indicate common ancestry.

Topic 7.8 Continuing Evolution: explain how ongoing examples such as antibiotic resistance and pesticide resistance show that evolution continues.

Topic 7.6 Evidence of Evolution: describe the lines of evidence (fossil, anatomical, molecular, biogeographical) that support evolution.

Topic 7.11 Extinction: explain the causes of extinction, including mass extinctions, and its role in shaping biodiversity.

Topic 7.5 Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium: use the Hardy-Weinberg equations to calculate allele and genotype frequencies and test whether a population is evolving.

Topic 7.1 Introduction to Natural Selection: explain the conditions required for natural selection and how it leads to changes in a population.

Topic 7.2 Natural Selection: explain how directional, stabilizing and disruptive selection change the distribution of phenotypes in a population.

Topic 7.13 Origin of Life on Earth: describe the scientific models for the origin of life, including the RNA world and the evidence supporting them.

Topic 7.9 Phylogeny: interpret and construct phylogenetic trees and cladograms from shared characters and molecular data.

Topic 7.4 Population Genetics: explain how natural selection, mutation, gene flow, genetic drift and non-random mating change allele frequencies.

Topic 7.10 Speciation: explain how reproductive isolation leads to speciation, including allopatric and sympatric speciation.

Topic 7.12 Variations in Populations: explain why genetic variation within a population is important for survival and the response to environmental change.

Topic 8.6 Biodiversity: explain how biodiversity contributes to ecosystem stability and resilience.

Topic 8.5 Community Ecology: explain the types of interactions between species in a community and their effects on the species involved.

Topic 8.7 Disruptions to Ecosystems: explain how natural and human-caused disruptions affect ecosystems and how ecosystems respond.

Topic 8.4 Effect of Density of Populations: distinguish density-dependent from density-independent factors and explain how each limits population size.

Topic 8.2 Energy Flow Through Ecosystems: explain how energy flows through trophic levels and why energy is lost between levels.

Topic 8.3 Population Ecology: explain exponential and logistic growth, carrying capacity, and the factors that regulate population size.

Topic 8.1 Responses to the Environment: explain how organisms respond to environmental cues through behavior and signalling, and how these responses affect survival and reproduction.