Define 'ecological niche'.
The role and position a species has in its environment
Define 'ecosystem'.
A community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system
Define 'autotroph'.
An organism that produces its own food from inorganic materials and energy from the environment, such as sunlight or inorganic chemical reactions
Define 'endocytosis'.
The process by which a cell takes material into the cell by infolding of the cell membrane.
Define 'cellular respiration'.
The process by which cells convert glucose and oxygen into energy, carbon dioxide, and water
Define 'atomic number' in the context of chemistry.
The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
Define 'denaturation'.
A process in which proteins lose their quaternary structure, tertiary structure, and secondary structure, which is present in their native state, by application of some external stress or compound.
Define 'allopatric speciation'.
The formation of new species in populations that are geographically isolated from one another.
Define 'competitive inhibition' in enzymatic reactions.
A process where a substance mimics the substrate and binds to the active site of an enzyme, preventing the actual substrate from binding.
Define 'gene expression'.
The process by which information from a gene is used to synthesize a functional gene product
Define 'active site' of an enzyme.
The region of an enzyme where substrate molecules bind and undergo a chemical reaction
Define 'biogeochemical cycle'.
A pathway by which a chemical substance moves through both the biotic and abiotic compartments of Earth.
Define 'coenzyme'.
A non-protein compound that is necessary for the functioning of an enzyme.
Define 'catalysis'.
The acceleration of a chemical reaction by a catalyst
Define 'ecological succession'.
The process by which the structure of a biological community evolves over time.
Define 'diploid'.
Having two complete sets of chromosomes, one from each parent
Define 'anabolism'.
The set of metabolic pathways that construct molecules from smaller units, requiring energy.
Define 'enzyme specificity'.
The tendency of an enzyme to catalyze a specific set of chemical reactions
Define 'biome'.
A large naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat
Define 'genotype'.
The genetic makeup of an organism
Define 'allele'.
One of two or more alternative forms of a gene that arise by mutation and are found at the same place on a chromosome
Define 'disaccharide'.
A carbohydrate that is composed of two monosaccharide molecules joined together
Define 'feedback inhibition'.
A regulatory mechanism whereby the end product of a metabolic pathway acts as an inhibitor of an enzyme within that pathway.
Define 'epistasis'.
A phenomenon where the effects of one gene are modified by one or several other genes, which are sometimes called modifier genes.
Define 'genetic drift'.
The change in the frequency of an existing gene variant in a population due to random sampling of organisms