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Desiccation: Definition, Meaning, and Examples
Continue ReadingDesiccation Definition
Desiccation is the condition, act, or process of completely eliminating or extracting all water content from the body, resulting in severe dryness.
Desiccation Etymology
“Desiccate” (v., def: to desiccate) and “desiccated” are two words that are related (adj., def: pertaining to desiccation or one that is dried by desiccation).
What is Desiccation?
Desiccation can be achieved by exposing the organism to a desiccant or a desiccator, for example. A desiccant is a chemical compound that works against humectants, which retain moisture in place. Desiccants include silica gel, activated charcoal, calcium chloride, and calcium sulphate, among others. By adsorbing moisture, they cause desiccation. A vacuum desiccator is a glass or plastic container used in the laboratory to help make or keep things dry.
Desiccation Definition in Biology
Desiccation is the process of an organism being dried out by eliminating water or extracting moisture. Drying crops (agriculture), drying newborn animals (particularly livestock animals), and killing sensitive organisms, such as some bacteria, are some of its biological uses.
Water molecules prefer to exit the cell through osmosis through the aquaporins on the cell membrane when there is no water surrounding it. The water subsequently evaporates and dissipates into the atmosphere. This is what happens when an aquatic creature is removed from its natural environment or when a susceptible organism is exposed to a desiccating substance, such as a salt-exposed earthworm.
Desiccation susceptibility varies. Desiccation resistance is high in many viruses. Some bacteria are not entirely resistant and may survive, allowing them to reactivate when water becomes available. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for example, can live for several months.
Desiccation in Plants
Water is necessary for the survival of plants. Land plants, in particular, use their roots to take water from the soil. They grow wilted without water, and a prolonged absence of water causes death. As water outflow increases, their cells become flaccid at first, then plasmolyzed. This is what occurs when plants are overly exposed to sunshine or are drought-stricken. Desiccation of plants can also be induced, for example, when the plant is to be conserved and stored as a specimen.
Desiccation in Medicine
The term “dessicated” in medicine refers to something that has been kept dry. Pharmaceutical medicines and supplements are produced in a dry environment. Because moisture may degrade medical items, dessicated medicinal products have a longer shelf life.
Desiccation Citations
- Soil desiccation cracking and its characterization in vegetated soil: A perspective review. Sci Total Environ . 2020 Aug 10;729:138760.
- Desiccation Tolerance as the Basis of Long-Term Seed Viability. Int J Mol Sci . 2020 Dec 24;22(1):101.
- Desiccation Tolerance: Avoiding Cellular Damage During Drying and Rehydration. Annu Rev Plant Biol . 2020 Apr 29;71:435-460.
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First Order Kinetics: Definition and Examples
Continue ReadingFirst Order Kinetics Definition
An order of chemical reaction in which the rate of the reaction is proportional to the amount of one reactant and is determined by its concentration.
It can be expressed using the formula
rate = kA
where k is the reaction rate constant and A is the reactant concentration.
The breakdown of N2O5 is an example of a first-order reaction:
N2O5 → 2NO2 + 12O2
The rate of reaction is proportional to the N2O5 concentration raised to the first power.
First Order Kinetics Citations
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Hermaphrodite: Definition and Examples
Continue ReadingHermaphrodite Definition
(1) A male and female reproductive organ-bearing creature (plant or animal).
(2) As a result, an organism with both male and female organs may produce both male and female gametes.
For example, a plant hermaphrodite possesses both staminate and carpellate organs.
Animals like pulmonate and opisthrobranch snails and slugs can play both male and female roles in sexual reproduction.
In humans, the word refers to a person who possesses both male and female organs.
However, such a person may not be regarded as a real instance of hermaphroditism because one of the two gonads is typically inoperable.
The term “genuine hermaphrodite” refers to an individual who has both functioning gonads.
Hermaphrodites can be any of the following:
Simultaneous Hermaphrodite refers to an organism that has both male and female reproductive organs at the same time.
Sequential Hermaphrodite a creature has one kind of reproductive organ early in life and the other afterwards.
The name Hermaphroditus derives from the minor Greek deity Hermaphroditus, son of Hermes and Aphrodite.
Hermaphrodite Citations
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Inherited Trait: Definition and Examples
Continue ReadingInherited Trait Definition
A genetically inherited trait or character that is passed down from generation to generation.
Inherited characteristics include:
1. Dimples
2. Hitchhiker’s thumb vs. normal thumb
3. Tongue rolling
4. Second toe is longer than the big toe (or vice versa)
5. When interlocking fingers, left or right-thumbed
6. Either connected or unattached earlobes
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Interphase: Definition, Diagram, and Examples
Continue ReadingInterphase Definition
The stage of a cell’s life cycle during which it expands in size, duplicates its DNA, and prepares for cell division.
The cell cycle is a cyclical sequence of biological processes that some asexual cells go through in eukaryotes.
The cell cycle is characterised by a series of processes that include DNA duplication via DNA replication in preparation for cell division, in which the parent cell splits into two genetically identical daughter cells.
Cell Cycle
The cell cycle is divided into three phases: (1) the resting phase (Gap 0), (2) the interphase (Gap 1, S phase, Gap 2), and (3) cell division (Gap 2). (i.e. the mitotic phase and cytokinesis).
Interphase Diagram
The interphase is the time between cell divisions in the cell cycle.
When compared to the length of the mitotic phase, the interphase is usually longer. Interphase is characterised by the absence of cell division.
Rather, cell development and DNA replication are the focal points.
It contains three stages: Gap 1 (G1), the S phase, and Gap 2 (G2) (G2). Typically, the cell grows during the G1 phase (i.e. increases in cell size).
In the S phase, the cell duplicates its DNA.
The cell continues to grow in G2 and then prepares to divide.
Word origin: inter (between) + phase (from phasis, appearance)
Interphase Citations
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Interstitial Fluid: Definition, Types, and Examples
Continue ReadingInterstitial Fluid Definition
Water, amino acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, coenzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, salts, and cellular products make up the fluid present in intercellular spaces.
It bathes and surrounds the body’s cells, allowing for the delivery of materials, intercellular communication, and the disposal of metabolic waste.
All bodily fluid outside the cell is referred to as extracellular fluid (s).
In humans, it makes up roughly 26% of total body water composition.
This fluid is made up of blood plasma, interstitial fluid, lymph, and transcellular fluid (Examples include cerebral fluid, synovial fluid, aqueous humour, serous fluid, intestinal fluid, and so forth.).
The extracellular fluid is mostly made up of interstitial fluid and blood plasma.
The fluid that fills the crevices between cells is known as interstitial fluid.
The human body is made up of water, amino acids, carbohydrates, fatty acids, coenzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, salts, and cellular products.
Its primary job is to wash and surround the body’s cells.
It allows for the delivery of supplies to cells, intercellular communication, and the elimination of metabolic waste.
Because molecules are regularly exchanged across capillary walls, the interstitial fluid has a similar composition to blood plasma.
Blood plasma, on the other hand, is restricted to the blood vessels.
Word originates from Latin interstiti (um) (“interstice”) + –al
Interstitial Fluid Citations
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Nerve Impulse: Definition, Types, and Examples
Continue ReadingNerve Impulse Definition
(1) The movement of a nerve fiber’s action potential in response to a stimulation (such as touch, pain, heat or cold).
(2) The transmission of a coded signal from a nerve cell to an effector, such as a muscle, gland, or another nerve cell, across the membrane of a nerve cell.
A Nerve impulse is the reaction to a stimulus of a coded signal from a nerve cell to an effector (muscle cell, gland cell, or another nerve cell).
It’s how a nerve cell communicates with another nerve cell.
This signal travels through the nerve cell’s axon, carrying a message instructing an effector to act.
A nerve impulse, for example, travels through the axon of a nerve cell to urge a muscle cell to contract at a neuromuscular junction.
The word originated from nerve + impulse.
Nerve Impulse Citations
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Intraspecific Competition: Definition, Types, and Examples
Continue ReadingIntraspecific Competition Definition
A type of competition between members of the same species in ecology.
The symbiotic interaction between or among living organisms for limited resources is referred to as competition in biology.
These resources could include territory, goods, food (prey), mates, and so forth.
Competition is one of the many symbiotic relationships that exist in nature.
It’s possible that the competing creatures are of the same or different species.
Intraspecific or interspecific competition is possible.
When individuals of the same species compete against one another, this is known as intraspecific competition.
Plants of the same species (for example, trees that grow very close together) compete for sunshine and soil nutrients as an example of intraspecific completion.
These plants, which are fighting for scarce resources like soil nutrients and water, are harmed, especially in terms of growth and structure.
When plants don’t get enough sunlight, they bend towards the sun.
Other plants grow higher or produce larger roots as a means of adaptation.
Another example is territorial hartebeest and male deer competing for their pairs.
Competition can arise in a variety of ways, including direct interactions between animal species and indirect connections.
Indirect interaction portraying competition occurs when, for example, a bear catching a fish from a river means that the other bears along that river will be unable to get that fish, indicating indirect competition.
In general, intraspecific rivalry is more intense than interspecific competition.
One explanation is that resource needs for the same species are comparable.
Intraspecific Competition Citations
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Kingdom: Definition, Characteristics, and Examples
Continue ReadingKingdom Definition
The Kingdom is a taxonomic rank in biology that is made up of smaller groups known as phyla (or divisions, in plants).
The highest taxonomic level, or the most broad taxon used in classifying creatures, is the kingdom.
The domain, on the other hand, is the most generic taxon in Carl Woese’s new three-domain system, which was presented in 1990.
The five-kingdom taxonomic categorization of the world’s biota, suggested by Robert Whittaker in 1969, into Kingdoms Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera, has become a common standard for categorising species.
It served as the foundation for later multi-kingdom systems, such as Carl Woese and colleagues’ 1977 six-kingdom system. Robert Whittaker’s The Five Biological Kingdoms:
Kingdom Monera: The most primordial of the five kingdoms, Monera contains all bacteria, often known as monerans, which are single-celled prokaryotic creatures. (In the six-kingdom system, Kingdom Monera is divided into two kingdoms:
(1) Eubacteria, which includes all bacteria except archaebacteria
(2) Archaebacteria, which are single-celled creatures that thrive in harsh environments and have specific biochemical characteristics.)
Kingdom Protista: are eukaryotes that are single-celled or multicellular but lack highly specialised tissues. Protozoa and certain algae are examples of protists.
Kingdom Fungi: Slime moulds, mushrooms, smuts, rusts, mildews, moulds, stinkhorns, puffballs, truffles, and yeasts are examples of multicellular, non-photosynthetic, saprotrophic organisms that absorb food in solution directly through their cell walls and reproduce by spores.
Kingdom Plantae: Members of the kingdom of Plantae are multicellular, (mainly) autotrophic eukaryotes that (usually) carry out photosynthesis.
Kingdom Animalia: is a multicellular, heterotrophic eukaryote that digests food outside of its cells and then absorbs the nutrients digested.
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Law of Dominance: Definition, Types, and Examples
Continue ReadingLaw of Dominance Definition
Gregor Mendel’s law states that when two alleles of an inherited pair are heterozygous, the expressed allele is dominant and the non-expressed allele is recessive.
He was able to come up with key assumptions after breeding and testing around 5,000 pea plants, which were eventually utilised as fundamental principles of Mendelian inheritance, or Mendel’s Principles of Heredity.
The so-called “Mendel’s rules of inheritance” are based on Gregor Mendel’s set of principles.
The four laws in consideration are the Law of Segregation, the Law of Independent Assortment, the Law of Dominance, and the Law of Unit Characters.
Genes are the modern name for the unit factors mentioned in Gregor Mendel’s ideas.
The genes in a diploid organism exist in two different forms, called alleles.
In fertilisation, the two types of alleles are brought together.
As a result, the maternal gamete would provide one set of alleles while the paternal gamete would provide the other.
The dominant allele is the one that determines the characteristics when the two alleles differ in such a manner that they are heterozygous.
The recessive allele is the other allele that is concealed by the expression of the dominant allele.
Lowercase letters are used to indicate dominant alleles, whereas uppercase letters are used to represent recessive alleles.
Law of Dominance Citations
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