Science Paper on Tropism Essay Example for Free

Science Paper on Tropism Essay A tropism is a growth in response to a stimulus. Plants grow towards sources of water and light, which they need to survive and grow. Auxin is a plant hormone produced in the stem tips and roots, which controls the direction of growth. Plant hormones are used in weedkillers, rooting powder and to control fruit ripening. Tropisms The direction of plant growth Plants need light and water for photosynthesis. They have developed responses called tropisms to help make sure they grow towards sources of light and water. There are different types of tropisms: Positive phototropism in plant stems * Tropism – growth in response to a stimulus * Positive tropism – towards the stimulus * Negative tropism – away from the stimulus * Phototropism – growth in response to the direction of light * Geotropism – growth in response to the direction of gravity Responses of different parts of the plant Auxin is a plant hormone responsible for controlling the direction of growth of root tips and stem tips in response to different stimuli including light and gravity. Auxin is made at the tips of stems and roots. Its moved in solution to older parts of the stem and root where it changes the elasticity of the cells. More elastic cells absorb more water and grow longer, causing bending in the stem or root. Its thought that light and gravity can interfere with the transport of auxin causing it to be unevenly distributed. Auxin experiment 3 groups of seeds are grown in a cardboard box. A when the tips are removed, no auxin is made so the stems do not grow B – when the tips are covered, auxin moves to all parts of the stem causing all parts to grow C when the tips are lit from one side only auxin accumulates on the shaded side causing it to grow more than the illuminated side Nervous System And Nerves Function: To transmit messages from one part of your body to another Neurons: Messenger cells in your nervous system Nerve impulses: Electrical signals carrying messages Neurotransmitters:Chemicals released by one neuron to excite a neighbouring one Millions of messengers Your nervous system contains millions of nerve cells, called neurons. Neurons are highly specialised to transmit messages from one part of your body to another. All neurons have a cell body and one or more fibres. These fibres vary in length from microscopic to over 1 metre. There are two different kinds of nerve fibres: fibres that carry information towards the cell body, called dendrites, and fibres that carry information away from it, called axons. Nerves are tight bundles of nerve fibres. Teamwork Your neurons can be divided into three types: * Sensory neurons, which pass information about stimuli such as light, heat or chemicals from both inside and outside your body to your central nervous system * Motor neurons, which pass instructions from your central nervous system to other parts of your body, such as muscles or glands * Association neurons, which connect your sensory and motor neurons Electrical and chemical signals Your neurons carry messages in the form of electrical signals called nerve impulses. To create a nerve impulse, your neurons have to be excited. Stimuli such as light, sound or pressure all excite your neurons, but in most cases, chemicals released by other neurons will trigger a nerve impulse. Although you have millions of neurons that are densely packed within your nervous system, they never actually touch. So when a nerve impulse reaches the end of one neuron, a neurotransmitter chemical is released. It diffuses from this neuron across a junction and excites the next neuron. Protecting cells Over half of all the nerve cells in your nervous system do not transmit any impulses. These supporting nerve cells are located between and around your neurons to insulate, protect and nourish them. Chromosomes Every human cell has 46 molecules of double-stranded DNA. This DNA is coiled and supercoiled to form chromosomes. Each chromosome has around 50 to 250 million bases. Image Credit: genome.gov Human cells contain two sets of chromosomes, one set inherited from the mother and one from the father. The egg from the mother contains half of the 46 (23) and thesperm from the father carries the other half 23 of 46 chromosomes. Together the baby has all 46 chromosomes. There are 22 pairs of autosomes and 1 pair of sex chromosomes. Females have an XX chromosome while men have an XY chromosome. DNA DNA resides in the core, or nucleus, of each of the bodys trillions of cells. Every human cell (with the exception of mature red blood cells, which have no nucleus) contains the same DNA. The DNA is a double, stranded spiral forming a double helix. Each strand is made up of millions of chemical building blocks called bases. There are only four types of bases making up the DNA adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The order of these bases are changed with permutation and combination in a sequence and unique sequences code for proteins. The concept is similar to combination of alphabets to form words that further combine to form sentences. Genes The DNA in each chromosome constitutes many genes. The DNA also contains large sequences that do not code for any protein and their function is not known. The gene of the coding region encodes instructions that allow a cell to produce a specific protein or enzyme. There are nearly 50,000 and 100,000 genes with each being made up of hundreds of thousands of chemical bases. In order to make proteins, the gene from the DNA is coped by each of the chemical bases into messenger RNA (ribonucleic acid) or mRNA. The mRNA moves out of the nucleus and uses cell organelles in the cytoplasm called ribosomes to form the polypeptide or amino acid that finally folds and configures to form the protein. The human genome All the DNA in the cell makes up the human genome. There are about 20,000 important genes located on one of the 23 chromosome pairs found in the nucleus or on long strands of DNA located in the mitochondria. The DNA in the genes make up only around 2% of the genome. For some years now each of the sequences and genes discovered are carefully recorded as to their specific location, sequences etc. The whole information is stored in a database that is publicly accessible. Nearly 13000 genes have been mapped to specific locations (loci) on each of thechromosomes. This information was initiated by the work done as part of the Human Genome Project. The completion of the project was celebrated in April 2003 but the exact number of genes and numerous other genes in the genome of humans is as yet unknown. Genetic switches and non-coding DNA regions The genes that contain the information to make the necessary proteins are therefore ‘switched on’ in some of the specialized cells while the remaining genes are ‘switched off’. For example, the genes that are ‘switched on’ in kidney cells are different to those that are ‘switched on’ in brain cells because the cells of the brain have different roles and make different proteins. In addition to the Human genome project, more information is needed to find what each of the genes as well as the vast amounts of non-coding regions do. These non-coding regions form nearly 90% of the chromosome and earlier much of it was termed â€Å"junk DNA† as it appeared that this DNA did not contain the information for gene products that the cells use and produce. Now it is increasingly clear that the non-coding DNA has a very important role to play. That role is still largely unknown but is likely to include regulating which genes are ‘switched on’ or ‘switched off’ in each cell. The non-coding regions of the DNA is also important for forensic investigations and determining biological relationships – paternity etc. Promoter regions, exons introns of genes A gene can have more than one promoter, resulting in RNAs that may vary in lengths. Some genes may have strong promoters that bind the transcription machinery well, and others have weak promoters that bind poorly. Weak ones allow for less transcription to protein than strong ones. Other possible regulatory regions include enhancers. These enhancers may help the weak promoters. Many prokaryotic genes are organized into operons. These sequences are genes that have products with related functions. Long stretches of DNA that are coded to proteins are called introns and non-coding regions are called exons. Genes mutations Around 20,000 genes in the cell guide the growth, development and health of the animal or human. The genetic information contained in the DNA is in the form of a chemical code, called the genetic code. The code is similar in many ways and in most of the sequences across all living organisms. An allele is one variant of that gene. In many cases, all people would have the gene, but certain people will have a specific allele of that gene, which results in the trait. This could be a simple trait like hair or eye color. There are, however, variations in the genetic code that makes each individual unique. Most variations are harmless. However, variations to the genetic information can sometimes mean that some proteins are not produced properly, produced in the wrong amounts or not produced at all. Variations that make the gene faulty are called mutations. SNPs or single nucleotide polymorphisms are changes in a single base or single letter in the sequence and may code of a different protein altogether making it akin to a genetic mutation. Mutations of genes that are important for functions in the body can lead to a genetic condition that may affect growth or health of the individual. Some mutations do not directly cause disease but may make a person more susceptible to developing a genetic condition.