Glossary & Bibliography
for
Microbial Life in Qukoha
Glossary
CELL: Has a nucleus which contains most of its
DNA. The nucleus is surrounded by the cytoplasm, where most of
the cell's active processes occur.
DNA: Deoxyribonucleic Acid; an acid found
in the nucleus of all living cells. It is the substance of which
most genes are made and is chiefly responsible for transmission
of inherited characteristics.
CONVOLUTION: a coil; winding; twist.
CYTOPLASM: The living substance of a cell
outside of the nucleus: the main body of the cell; corresponds
to the factory area where workers are manufacturing the specified
product from incoming raw materials.
ENDOSYMBIONT: A microorganism that has adapted
itself to existence within the cell or cells of other organisms.
EUKARYOTES: Organisms having efficient oxygen-using
cells with a discrete nucleus and specialized organelles.
MICROTUBULES: A long, straight tubular structure,
of uncertain function, in many cells of the body: They are found
in cilia, in the tail of sperm cells, in the mitotic spindle of
a dividing cell and in the cytoplasm of many types of cells(Scientific
American)
MITOCHONDRIA: Organelles in eukaryotic cells
that carry out respiration.
ORGANELLES: Small separate structures incorporated
in eukaryotic cells that carry out specialized functions.
PEROXISOME: An organelle thought to protect
cells from oxygen. Peroxisomes contain enzymes that catalyze the
direct reduction of oxygen molecules through the oxidation of
metabolites, such as amino acids and other organic acids.
PHAGOCYTE: A cell, such as a white blood cell,
capable of absorbing and destroying waste or harmful material,
such as disease-producing bacteria. Phagocytes occur in body fluids
and tissues.
PHOSPHOLIPID = Phosphatide - Any fatty substance
of a group present in cellular tissue and consisting of esters
of phosphoric acid.
PLATIDS: Any one of various small differentiated
masses of protoplasm in the cytoplasm of a plant cell, such as
a chloroplast: The cells of most plants contain protoplasmic bodies
called plastids, which multiply by fission (Harbaugh & Goodrich).
PROKARYOTES: Single-celled organisms with
more primitive cells containing dispersed genetic material and
no specialized organelles; bacteria and cyanobacteria.
PROTOPLASM: Living matter; the living substance
of all plant and animal cells; the substance that is the physical
basis of life. Protoplasm is a colorless matter somewhat like
soft jelly or white of egg. It is a chemically active mixture
of protein, fats, and many other complex substances suspended
in water. Metabolism, growth, and reproduction are manifested
in protoplasm.
RIBOSOMES: Sites of protein assembly that
serve to synthesize externally shed digestive enzymes.
Bibliography
De Duve, Christian, The Birth of Complex Cells,--Scientific
American, April, 1996, pp. 50-57.
Gillette, Stephen, World Building, Writer's Digest Books,
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1996, 188 pp.
Hoagland, M. and Dodson, B., The Way Life Works, Times Books,
Random house, 1995, 233 pp.
Anonymous, World Encyclopedia, World Books, Inc., 1991,
pp. 327 - 330 and 516 - 520.