Content of the SAT II Biology

The SAT II Biology covers the biology topics taught in any standard American high school biology course, with particular emphasis on either ecology or molecular biology. ETS breaks the test down into five basic categories:
Topic Cellular and Molecular Biology Ecology Classical Genetics Organismal Biology Evolution and Diversity Number of Questions 8 11 8 11 79 22 26 7 10

As we said, depending on which specialty section you elect to take, you will also face 20 questions (25 percent of the total questions you will see) in either ecology/evolution or molecular biology/evolution. While these categories are helpful, they are also very broad. For example, you may have cell structure down pat, but biochemistry throws you for a loop, and you would like to get a sense of how much of the test is devoted to these two topics. To help you out, weve broken the core of the test down even further, so that youll know exactly where to expect to feel the squeeze.
Topic Cellular and Molecular Biology The Cell and Cell Structure Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry Cell Processes Mendelian and Molecular Genetics Evolution and Diversity Evolution Diversity Organismal Biology Animal Structure, Function, and Behavior Plant Structure and Function Ecology Number of Questions 8 12 46 35 13 8 10 8 10 24 46 20 26 9 13 9 13 79

This book is organized according to these categories, allowing you to focus on each topic to whatever degree you feel necessary. Also, each question in the practice tests at the back of this book has been sorted into these categories, so that when you study your practice tests, you can very precisely identify your weaknesses and use this book to address them.

The Cell
Cellular and Molecular Biology The Cell and Cell Structure Biochemistry and Organic Chemistry Cell Processes 8 12 46 35 13

THE EARTH IS HOME TO MILLIONS OF DIF- ferent kinds of organisms, from slime molds to sheep, blue whales to naked mole rats. Yet the diversity of size and structure evident in all of these organisms emerges from one fundamental building block: the cell. A cell is a small, membrane-bound compartment capable of performing all the basic functions of life. Since all living organisms, from the simplest to the most complex, are composed of cells, understanding how cells work is integral to understanding larger life processesnot to mention that the cell and its structure are common topics tested by the SAT II Biology.

The Discovery of Cells

Most cells are too small to be observed with the naked eye. For this reason, even the existence of cells escaped notice until scientists first learned to harness the magnifying power of lenses in the second half of the seventeenth century. At that time a Dutch clothing dealer named Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (16321723) fashioned extraordinarily accurate single-lens

microscopes. Gazing into the lens of these microscopes, he discovered single-celled organisms, which he called animalcules and which, today, we call bacteria and protists. Englishman Robert Hooke (16351703) expanded on Leeuwenhoeks observations with the newly developed compound microscope, which uses two or more aligned lenses to increase magnification while reducing blurring. When Hooke turned the microscope on a piece of cork, he noticed that the tiny, boxlike compartments of the wood resembled the cells of a monastery. The term cell was born.

Cell Theory Emerges

As microscope technology improved, scientists were able to study cells in ever-greater detail. Hooke had no way to tell if cells were living things, but later researchers who could see the nucleus and the swirling motion of the cytoplasm were convinced that cells were indeed alive. By 1839, enough evidence had accumulated for German biologists Matthias Schleiden and Theodore Schwann to proclaim that cells are the elementary particles of organisms. But many researchers still did not belie ve that cells arose from other cells until 1855, when famous German pathologist Rudolph Virchow pronounced, All cells come from cells. Nearly 200 years after the discovery of cells, the observations of Virchow, Schleiden, and Schwann established the cell theory: All living things are made of cells. All cells arise from preexisting cells. These two tenets made clear that the cell is the fundamental unit of life.

Cell Size
Cells could not be studied until the microscope was developed because they are very small. This fact raises two questions: why are cells so small, and why are living things made up of millions of tiny cells? Cells are small because their surface area and volume must be balanced. In order to stay alive, cells with a larger volume need to carry out more chemical activity than smaller cells do. However, for metabolic activity to take place, the cell must also have enough surface area to allow an adequate supply of nutrients and waste products to move in and out of the cell. Because surface area increases at a slower rate than volume as objects get bigger, the surface area-to-volume ratio in a cell decreases dramatically as the cell gets larger. It turns out that a size of 10 provides the surface area-to-volume ratio necessary for the survival of most cells. ( the micrometer, is one thousandth of a millimeter.)

Microscopes
Two major types of microscopes allow scientists to study the miniature world of the cell.

The Light Microscope

Light microscopes use light and lenses to magnify their subjects. The most common of these used in the laboratory is the compound microscope, which creates high magnification by combining two relatively low-power lenses. The total power of a compound microscope is the power of the ocular lens, located in the eyepiece, multiplied by the power of the objective lens, located near the slide. For example, an ocular lens of 10x and an objective lens of 11x yield a total magnification of 110x. Typical high school microscopes offer magnifications of up to about 430x. From time to time the SAT II Biology tests your knowledge of the various parts of the compound microscope, usually by showing you an image and asking you to identify the parts.

Many parts of the cell are hard to see under microscopes because they are colorless. In order to view them, scientists sometimes employ stains that mark various cell parts differently. One alternative to staining is a technique called phase contrast microscopy, which uses filters to emphasize the contrast between different parts of the cell.

The Electron Microscope

At high magnifications, light microscopes produce blurry images. In the 1950s, scientists invented a new type of microscope called the electron microscope, which offers increased image clarity, or resolving power. Electron microscopes are powerful

enough to resolve individual fats and proteins. Light microscopes are still widely used, however, because electron microscopes are expensive and can only be used to view matter that is not living.

Types of Cells
There are two major types of cells: prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Eukaryotic cells, whose name derives from the Greek eu, meaning good, and karyon, kernel or nucleus, have a nucleus and membrane-bound organelles. Prokaryotic cells, whose name derives from the Greek pro, meaning before, contain neither nucleus nor organelles. As the names imply, prokaryotic cells are less evolutionarily advanced than eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotes
Prokaryotes include some of the most primitive forms of life: bacteria and blue-green algae (also known as cyanobacteria). Prokaryotic organisms are generally single-celled.

Prokaryotes have a cell membrane, and they are made up of generally undifferentiated fluid, called the cytoplasm, in which floats a circular ring of DNA that controls the functioning of the cell. Prokaryotes maintain their shape through a cytoskeleton and have ribosomes that float in the cytoplasm. In addition, some prokaryotes have a special type of cell wall made of a proteinsugar combination called peptidoglycan. A few prokaryotes possess whiplike tails called flagella that help propel the cells through water. Though less complex and less efficient than eukaryotes, prokaryotes are hardy because of their simplicity. They are able to survive environmental extremes that would kill higher life forms.

Eukaryotes
All living things besides bacteria and cyanobacteria consist of eukaryotic cells, which are larger and structurally more complex than prokaryotic cells. Like prokaryotes, eukaryotes are surrounded by a lipid bilayer cell membrane and have cytoplasm and ribosomes. However, unlike prokaryotes, eukaryotes also contain organelles and a defined nucleus containing DNA. Eukaryotes benefit enormously from the presence of membrane-bound organelles. Each organelle creates an additional compartment in the cell that can specialize in particular activities or processes, increasing productivity as a result. The structure of eukaryotic cells and the specific functions of the various organelles are often tested by the SAT II Biology.

Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm refers to the entire area of the cell outside of the nucleus. The cytoplasm has two parts, the organelles and the cytosol, a grayish gel-like liquid that fills the interior of the cell. The cytosol provides a home for the nucleus and organelles as well as a location for protein synthesis and other fundamental chemical reactions.

Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a protein structure that maintains cell shape and helps move organelles around the cell. There are two types of cytoskeleton proteins:microtubules and microfilaments. Microtubules are thick, hollow rods that provide a strong scaffold for the cell. The smaller microfilaments are thin rods made of a protein called actin; they are strung around the perimeter of the cell to help it withstand strain. In some organisms, the microtubules power limbs called cilia and flagella, creating movement.

Contraction of the microfilaments powers muscle movement in animals and facilitates the creeping motion of creatures like amoebas. The microtubules also form protein tracks on which organelles can slide around the cell.

The Organelles
Floating in the cytoplasm are the many membrane-bound organelles, each with a distinct structure and an important function in the processes of the cell. NUCLEUS: stores the cells genetic material in strands of DNA and choreographs life functions by sending detailed messages to the rest of the cell. The interior of the nucleus is separated from the cytosol by a membrane called the nuclear envelope, which lets only select molecules in and out. The DNA itself is wrapped around proteins known as histones in an entangled fibrous network called chromatin. When the nucleus is about to split in two, this amorphous mass coils more tightly, forming distinct structures called chromosomes. The nucleus also houses a small, dark structure called the nucleolus, which helps manufacture ribosomes. RIBOSOMES: synthesize proteins for the cell. Some ribosomes are mounted on the surface of the endoplasmic reticulum (see below), and others float freely in the cytoplasm. All ribosomes have two unequally sized subunits made of proteins and a substance called RNA. All living cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic alike, have ribosomes. Ribosomes are explained in more detail in the chapter on Cell Processes as part of the larger discussion about the way the cell manufactures proteins. MITOCHONDRIA: produces energy for the cell through a process called cellular respiration (see the chapter on Cell Processes). The mitochondria has two membranes; the inside membrane has many folds, called cristae. Many of the key cell-respiration enzymes are embedded in this second membrane. The chemical reactions of respiration take place in the compartment formed by the second membrane, a region called themitochondrial matrix.

ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM: an extensive network of flattened membrane sacs that manufactures proteins. These proteins are transferred to the Golgi apparatus, from which they will be exported from the cell. There are two types of endoplasmic reticulum: rough and smooth. Rough endoplasmic reticulum is studded by ribosomes covering its exterior. These ribosomes make the rough endoplasmic reticulum a prime location for protein synthesis. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum moves the proteins around the cell and then packages them into small containers called vesicles that travel to the Golgi apparatus. The smooth endoplasmic reticulum also functions in the synthesis of fats and lipids. GOLGI APPARATUS: a complex of membrane-bound sacs that package proteins for export from the cell. Proteins enter the Golgi complex from the endoplasmic reticulum and proceed through the stacks, where they are modified and stored before secretion. When proteins are ready for export, pieces of the Golgi membrane bud off, forming vesicles that send them to the cell membrane. LYSOSOMES: small membrane-bound packages of acidic enzymes that digest compounds and worn-out cellular components that the cell no longer needs.
Cell Organelles Organelle Cytoplasm Cytoskeleton Nucleus Mitochondria Ribosomes Endoplasmic Reticulum Function Home for the organelles Found in which Type of Cell Prokaryotes and eukaryotes

Maintains cell shape, moves Eukaryotes organelles, moves cell Contains the genetic material Produce energy for the cell Synthesize proteins Eukaryotes Eukaryotes Prokaryotes and eukaryotes

Manufactures and transports Eukaryotes proteins, manufactures fats

Golgi Complex Lysosomes Chloroplasts Vacuoles Cell Wall

Packages secretion Digest wastes Make food Storage

proteins

for Eukaryotes Eukaryotes Plant eukaryotes Plant eukaryotes (contractile vacuoles are found in some animal cells) Plant eukaryotes; some prokaryotes have a cell wall made of peptidoglycan

Stability and protection

Plant Cell Organelles

The organelles described above are found in both animal and plant eukaryotic cells. But plants have additional organelles chloroplasts, vacuoles, and cell wallsthat support their unique life cycles.

CHLOROPLASTS: Animal cells break down the food that they ingest to produce energy. Plants do not need to ingest food; they manufacture their own from sunlight, using the process of photosynthesis (covered in the chapter on Plant Structure and Function). Chloroplasts are the organelles in which photosynthesis takes place. They are large oval-shaped structures containing a green pigment called chlorophyll that absorbs sunlight. Chloroplasts, like mitochondria, are built from two membranes: an external membrane forming the boundary of the organelle and a stacked inner membrane within the organelle. VACUOLES: large liquid-filled storage containers found in plant cells. Plant cells can put virtually anything in their vacuoles, from nutrients to wastes to water to pigments. Vacuoles can be quite large, allowing plant cells to grow to substantial -volumes without making new cytoplasm. Some animal cells in freshwater microorganisms have specialized contractile vacuoles that pump water out of the cell to prevent bursting. CELL WALL: Plant cells have a rigid cell wall surrounding their cell membrane. This wall is made of a compound called cellulose. The tough wall gives the plant cell added stability and protection from harm.

The Cell Membrane

The cells of all organisms, prokaryotic and eukaryotic alike, are surrounded by a thin sheet called the cell membrane. This barrier keeps cellular materials in and foreign objects out. The membrane is key to the life of the cell. By regulating what gets into and out of the cell, the membrane maintains the proper chemical composition, which is crucial to the life processes the cell carries out.

Structure of the Cell Membrane

The cell membrane is made up of two sheets of special fat molecules calledphospholipids, placed on top of each other.

This arrangement is known as a phospholipid bilayer. Phospholipid molecules naturally arrange in bilayers because they have a unique structure. The long chains of carbon and hydrogen that form the tail of this molecule do not dissolve in water; they are said to be hydrophobic or water fearing. The hydrophilic phosphorous heads are attracted to water. Forming a bilayer satisfies the water preferences of both the heads and tails of phospholipids: the hydrophilic heads face the watery regions inside and outside the cell, and the hydrophobic tails face each other in a water-free junction. The bilayer forms spontaneously because this situation is so favorable.

The Fluid Mosaic Model

Phospholipids form the fundamental structure of the cell membrane, but they are not the only substance found there. According to the fluid-mosaic model of the cell membrane, special proteins called membrane proteins float in the phospholipid bilayer like icebergs in a sea.

The sea of phospholipid molecules and gatekeeper membrane proteins is in constant motion. The membranes fluidity keeps the cell from fracturing when placed under strain.

Transport Through the Cell Membrane

The most important property of the cell membrane is its selective permeability: some substances can pass through it freely, but others cannot. Small and nonpolar (hydrophobic) molecules can freely pass through the membrane, but charged ions and large molecules such as proteins and sugars are barred passage. The selective permeability of the cell membrane allows a cell to maintain its internal composition at necessary levels. Molecules that can pass freely through the membrane follow concentration gradients, moving from the higher concentration area to the region of lower concentration. These processes take no energy and are called passive transport. The molecules that cannot pass freely across the phospholipid bilayer can be carried across the membrane in various processes that require energy and are therefore called active transport.

Passive Transport
There are three main types of passive transport: diffusion, facilitated diffusion, and osmosis. In fact, osmosis is simply the term given to the diffusion of water. DIFFUSION In the absence of other forces, substances dissolved in water move naturally from areas where they are abundant to areas where they are scarcea process known as diffusion. If there is a higher concentration of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the water inside the cell than in the water outside the cell, carbon dioxide will naturally flow out from the cell until its distribution is balanced, without any energy required from the cell.

Nonpolar and small polar molecules can pass through the cell membrane, so they diffuse across it in response to concentration gradients. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are two molecules that undergo this simple diffusion through the membrane. The simple diffusion of water is known as osmosis. Because water is a small polar molecule, it undergoes simple diffusion. SAT II Biology problems on osmosis can be tricky: water moves from areas where it is in high concentration to areas where it is in low concentration. Remember, however, that water is found in low concentrations in places where there are many dissolved substances, called solutes. Therefore, water moves from places where there are few dissolved substances (known as hypotonicsolutions) to places where there are many dissolved substances (hypertonicsolutions). An isotonic solution is one in which the concentration is the same as that found inside a cell, meaning osmotic pressure in both sides is equal.

Immersing cells in unusually hypotonic or hypertonic solutions can be disastrous: water can rush into cells in hypotonic conditions, causing them to fill up so fast that they burst. To combat this possibility, many cells that need to survive in freshwater environments possess contractile vacuoles to pump out excess water. FACILITATED DIFFUSION Certain compounds important to the functioning of the cell, such as ions, cannot enter the cell through simple diffusion because they cannot pass through the cell membrane. As with water, these substances want to enter the cell if the concentration gradient demands it. For that reason, cells have developed a way for such compounds to bypass the cell membrane and flow into the cell on the basis of concentration. The cell has protein channels through the phospholipid membrane. The channels can open and close based on protein membranes. When closed, nothing can get through. When open, the protein channels allow compounds to pass through along the concentration gradient, which is diffusion.

Active Transport
Quite often, cells have to transport a substance across the cell membrane against the normal concentration gradient. In these cases, cells use another class of membrane proteins. Instead of relying on diffusion, these proteins actively pump compounds in the direction the cell wants them to go, a process that requires energy. Cells can turn active transport on and off as needed.

Endocytosis and Exocytosis

Cells use yet another type of transport to move large particles through the cell membrane. In exocytosis, waste products that need to be removed from the cell are placed in vesicles that then fuse with the cell membrane, releasing their contents into the space outside the cell. Endocytosis is the opposite of exocytosis: the cell membrane engulfs a substance the cell needs to import and then pinches off into a vesicle that is inside the cell.

There are two kinds of endocytosis: in phagocytosis the cell takes in large solid food particles that it then digests. In pinocytosis, the cell takes in drops of cellular fluid containing dissolved nutrients.

Review Questions
2. Which of the following are features of the prokaryotic cell? (A) Nucleus (B) Ribosomes (C) Mitochondria (D) Vacuoles (E) Golgi bodies 3. What is the function of the Golgi apparatus? (A) It controls the cells activities and stores its DNA. (B) It is the site of protein synthesis. (C) It synthesizes lipids and transports synthesized proteins. (D) It sorts and packages proteins made in the endoplasmic reticulum. (E) It provides structure to the prokaryotic cell. 4. Proteins manufactured in the endoplasmic reticulum are secreted from the cell by which of the following processes? (A) Diffusion (B) Osmosis (C) Pinocytosis (D) Exocytosis (E) Passive transport

5. Why is the rough endoplasmic reticulum rough? (A) It is studded with ribosomes that form a bumpy coat. (B) It functions in lipid synthesis. (C) It contains cellulose, which gives the membrane rigidity and structure. (D) It lacks the ribosomes characteristic of the cytosol. (E) It engages in lipid synthesis, which gives it a rough texture. 6. Which of the following functions is performed by the lysosome? (A) Digestion of intracellular debris (B) Production of energy through photosynthesis (C) Regulation of transport (D) Storage of nutrients (E) Lipid synthesis 7. What two classes of molecules make up the phospholipid bilayer? (A) Sugars and phosphoproteins (B) Proteins and phospholipids (C) Phosphoproteins and lipids (D) DNA and carbohydrates (E) PhosphoDNA and lipids 8. What is the name of the natural process by which molecules flow from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration? (A) Diffusion (B) Pinocytosis (C) Endocytosis (D) Respiration (E) Exocytosis 9. Which of the following is not a property of the cell membrane? (A) Fluidity (B) Permeability to nonpolar compounds (C) Permeability to water and gases (D) Rigidity (E) Impermeability to large polar compounds 10. A cell is placed in a bath of water that has a much higher salt concentration than the concentration inside the cell. What happens? (A) The cell will fill with water. (B) Water will rush out of the cell. (C) The distribution of water will not change. (D) Salt will move from the cell to the exterior. (E) The cell will clearly burst.

Explanations
1. A Total magnification is calculated by multiplying the power of the ocular and objective lenses. Since, in this case, the ocular lens has a magnification power of 10x and none of the possible objective lenses has a magnification power of 1x, its impossible for the microscope to have a total magnification power of 10x. 2. B Prokaryotes lack membrane-bound organelles but must have ribosomes for protein synthesis. Prokaryotes do not have a nucleus; DNA is stored in a coil in the cytoplasm. 3. D The Golgi apparatus packages proteins for secretion by the cell. As for the other answer choices: the nucleus controls the ce lls activities, proteins are made in the cytoplasm and endoplasmic reticulum by ribosomes, and lipids are synthesized by the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. 4. D

All of the answers are forms of transport, but only exocytosis is used to remove synthesized proteins from the cell. These proteins cannot undergo diffusion because they are too large to fit through the cell membrane. Osmosis refers only to the transport of water. Pinocytosis is a form of transport that involves taking liquids into the cell rather than secreting them. Passive transport includes diffusion and osmosis. 5. A The ribosomes attached to the ER membrane give it its roughness. The smooth ER, not the rough ER, functions in lipid synthesis. Cellulose is part of the cell wall in plants. 6. A Lysosomes digest cellular debris. The other choices refer to functions that are performed by organelles but not by lysosomes. Chloroplasts produce energy through photosynthesis, vacuoles store nutrients, the cell membrane regulates the movement of substances in and out of the cell, and lipid synthesis takes place in the smooth endoplasmic reticulum. 7. B Clearly phospholipids must be a type of molecule in the phospholipid bilayer. The bilayer also contains proteins, which float in the bilayer like icebergs in a sea. 8. A All of the processes listed are means of transport, except for respiration. However, only diffusion is a process by which molecules move from high to low concentration. Pinocytosis, endocytosis, and exocytosis are means of active transport, while diffusion is a type of passive transport. 9. D The cell membrane consists of a floating sea of phospholipids. If the membrane were rigid, organisms would fracture when they move. 10. B Water is in lower concentration outside the cell because there is more salt there. Since substances diffuse from areas of high concentration to low concentration, water will move out.