Index of biology articles explained

See also: Outline of biology.

Biology is the study of life and its processes. Biologists study all aspects of living things, including all of the many life forms on earth and the processes in them that enable life. These basic processes include the harnessing of energy, the synthesis and duplication of the materials that make up the body, the reproduction of the organism and many other functions. Biology, along with chemistry and physics is one of the major disciplines of natural science.

A

ABO blood group systemabscisic acid – absorption spectrum – abyssal zoneacetylcholineacetyl-CoAacid – acid precipitation – acoelomate – acrosomeactinaction potentialactive siteadaptive radiation – address-message concept – adenosine 5'-triphosphateadenylyl cyclaseadrenal gland – adrenodoxin – aerobic organism – age structure – agonist – AIDS – albumin – aldehydes – aldosterone – algae – allantoisalleleallometryallopatric speciation – allosteric binding site – allosteric effector – allosteric enzyme – allosteric site – allozyme – alpha helixamino acidaminoacyl tRNA synthetase – amino group – amniocentesisamnioteamphipathic moleculeanabolismanaerobic organismanaerobic respiration – androgen – anemiaaneuploidy – angiosperm – anther – anthraxantibiotic – antibody – anticodon – antidiuretic hormone – antigenapical dominance – apical meristem – apolipoproteinapoplastapoptosisaquaporinArchaeaarchegoniumarteriosclerosisarteryarthritisascusasexual reproductionatomic numberATPATP synthase – atrioventricular valve – atriumautoimmune diseaseautonomic nervous systemautosomeauxinaxillary budaxon

B

bacillary bandbacteria – bacteriochlorin – barkBarr bodybasal bodybasal metabolic ratebasebase pairbasement membrane – basidiomycetes – basidiumB cellbenthic zonebeta sheet – binary fission – binding sitebioassaybiodiversitybioenergeticsbiogeochemical cycle – biological magnification – bioluminescencebiomebiopolymerbiosphere – blood – blood–brain barrier – blotting – bond energybook lungbotany – bottleneck effect – Bowman capsule – brain stem – bronchiole – Brønsted acid – Brønsted base – Brownian movement – bryophytebubonic plaguebudding – bulk flow

C

C3 plant – C4 plant – calcitonincalmodulincalorieCalvin cycle – cancer – capillarycapsidcarbohydrate – carbon fixation – carboxyl group – cardiac musclecardiac output – cardiovascular system – carotenoid – cartilagecatabolismcatabolite activator protein – catalyst – catecholamine – celiac disease – cellcell cyclecell-mediated immunitycell membranecellular respirationcellulosecentral nervous system – centriole – centrosomecerebellumcerebral cortexcerebrumchaperoninchemiosmosis – chemoautotroph – chemoheterotroph – chemoreceptorchirality – chi-square test – chitinchlaeniitaechlamydosporechlorophyllchloroplastcholeracholesterolchromatinchromophorechromosome – chytrid – circadian rhythm – cloning vector – closed circulatory system – cobalamin – codominance – codon – coenzyme – cofactorcollagen – collecting duct – commensalismcompetitive exclusion principle – competitive inhibitor – complementary DNAcomplement systemcondensation reactionconidiumcork cambiumcorpulentapuscorpus luteum cortex – cotransport – cotyledoncovalent bondcrossing overcuticlecyanobacteria – cyclic AMP – cyclincyclin-dependent kinasecytochromecytochrome c oxidasecytochrome P450cytokinecytoplasmcytotoxic T cell

D

dalton – Darwinian fitness – Darwinismdecomposerdehydrogenasedeletiondenaturationdendrite – dengue – denitrification – deoxyribonucleic acid – deoxyribosedepolarizationdesmosomedeuterostome – diabetes mellitus – diastolediffusion – digestion – dihybrid crossdikaryon – dikaryotic – disaccharideDNA ligaseDNA methylationDNA polymerase – double circulation – double helix – Down syndrome – drupeduodenumdynein

E

ecdysoneecological nicheecologyecosystemeffector cellelectrochemical gradientelectronelectron acceptorelectronegativityelectron transport chainenantiomer

F

facilitated diffusion – FADH – FADH2 – fat – feedback inhibition – Fehling solution – female – fermentation (biochemistry) – fetus – Fick's law of diffusion – fitnessfitness landscapeflagellumflavin adenine dinucleotide – flavine – flaviviridaeflowerfluid mosaic modelfood web – foot and mouth disease – fossil – Francis Crick – Francis Galtonfree energy – fundamental niche – fungi –

G

G3Pgallgall-inducing insect – gamete – gametophyte – gastrula – gel electrophoresisgenegenetic driftgene duplicationgene poolgenetic codegenetic equilibrium – genetic fingerprint – genetic recombination – genetics – gene regulatory network – genetic carrier – gene therapygenomegenome projectgenomicsgenotype – geologic time – George W. Beadle – glucoseglycolipidglycolysisglycomeglycomicsglycoproteinglycoprotein – Gobind Khorana – Golgi apparatusGondwanagradientgravitational biologygravitropismGregor Mendelground tissuegrowth curve – Guthrie test

H

habitat – HACEK organism – halobacteria – haploid – Hardy–Weinberg principleheart – Hela cell – helper T cell – Hepadnaviridaehepatitis Bherbivoreheredity – hereditary disease – hermaphroditeherpetologyHershey–Chase experimentheterochromatinheterotroph – heterozygote – Hfr cellhibernation – hierarchy of life – Hill reaction – His tag – histonehomeoboxhomeostasishomologous recombinationhomologyhomoplasy – homozygote – homunculushorizontal gene transferhormonehost – household gene – human – Human Genome Projecthumoral immunityhybrid (biology)hybridizationhydrolysis – hydrolytic enzyme – hygiene – hyperpolarization (biology)

I

ichthyology – immune cell – immune system – immunology – inbreeding – inducibility – infectious disease carrier – infertility – inner matrix – insect – insectivores – insulinintermediate filamentintermembrane spaceinterphase – intestine – introninvasive speciesion channel – isoenzyme – isotonic (exercise physiology)

J

James Watson – Jean-Baptiste Lamarckjoint

K

K-selection – Kary Mullis – karyoplasm – karyotypekeratinkeystone specieskidneykinesiologykinetic energyKlinefelter syndrome – knock-out mouse – Konrad Lorenz – Krebs cycle (or citric acid cycle) – KSL cells - kwashiorkor

L

Lac repressor –lactic acid autotroph –lagging strand –lambda phagelarva –leading strand –leafWhite blood cells –lichen –life form –life –light reactions –limbic systemlimnology –Lineweaver-Burk diagram –lipaselipidliverlocuslong-term potentiationLouis PasteurlungLynn Margulis –Lyon hypothesis –lysislysozymelytic cycle

M

macroecologymacroevolution – macromolecules – major histocompatibility complex (MHC) – malaria – male – Malpighi layer – monophyletic – marburg virusMarcello MalpighiMarfan syndromemarine biology – mass extinction – mathematical biology – mating – Max Delbrück – meiosis – membrane transporter – memorymemory cellMendelian inheritancemeristemMesowearmetabolismmetaphasemetapopulation – metazoa – Michaelis-Menten kinetics – microbe – microbiologymicroevolutionmicrofilament – microsatellite – microscope – microtubules – Miller–Urey experiment – mimicry – Mitchell hypothesis – mitochondrial membrane – mitochondrion – mitosis – mitotic spindle – modern evolutionary synthesismolecular biologymolecular clockmolecular evolutionmolecular genetics – molecular phylogeny – mollusc – monoclonal antibodymorphogenesismorphometrics – morula – MRI – MTT assay – mucous membrane - Muller's ratchetmultiresistancemusclemutagen – mutation – mutational meltdownMutualism (biology)mycologymyosin

N

NAD – NADH – NADPH – natural environment – natural selection – nephron – nervous system – neural plateneural tubeneuronneuroscienceneurospora crassa – neurotransmitter – neurulaneutral theory of molecular evolutionnichenitrogen cyclenon-competitive inhibition – non-cyclic electron flow – nondisjunctionN-terminusnuclear laminanucleolusnucleonnucleosidenucleosomenucleotidenutrition

O

Okazaki fragment – olfaction – oncogene – operator (biology) – operon – organ – organelleorganism – origin of life – Oscar HertwigosmosisosmoregulationOswald Avery – outbreak – outline of biochemical techniques – ovalbumine – ovary – ovum – oxidation – oxidative decarboxylationoxidative phosphorylation

P

Pangaeapaleontologyparallel evolution – paraphyletic – parasitism – parasitologyparthenogenesispassive transportPatau syndromepaternity testPCRPCR mutagenesispentose phosphate pathwaypeptidepeptide bond – peripheral protein – peroxisome – Pfeffer cell – phage – phagocytosisphenotypephloemphospholipid – phospholipid bilayer – phosphorylationphotobiology – photolysis – photonphotophosphorylationphotorespirationphotosynthesisphotosynthesisphotosystem Iphotosystem IIphycobilinphycobiliproteinphycocyaninphycologyphylogenetics – phylogeny – phylogenetic treephysiologypigmentplacentaplanktonplant – plantae – plant physiology – plant sexuality – plasma membrane – plasmidplasmolysisplastidplate tectonicspoint mutationpollenizerpollination – pollinator – polymerase chain reaction – polypeptide – polyploidypolysaccharidepopulationpopulation dynamicspopulation ecologypopulation geneticspotential energy – predation – pregnancyprimary nutritional groups – primary structure – primerprionprokaryoteprometaphase – promoter – prophageprophaseproprioceptionproteasomeprotein biosynthesisprotein – protein translocation – proteolysisproteomeproteomicsprotist – protista – proton pumpprotozoa – pseudopod – pteridophytePunnett squarepurine – punctuated equilibrium – pyrimidine – pyruvate oxidation –

Q

quaternary structure

R

r-selection – radiobiologyreceptor (biochemistry) – receptor (immunology) – recombinationRed Queenredox reaction – redox system – reductionreflexRenal corpusclerepeats – replication bubble – repressor – reproduction – reproductive systemrespiration (physiology)restriction enzymeretrovirusreverse genetics – RFLP – Rh blood group systemribosomeRNARNA virusRobert Kochroot – rough ER – RuBP – Rudolf Steiner

S

saprobe – sarcoplasmic reticulum – scientific classification – secondary metabolite – secondary structure – second messenger – seedseed plant – selection – sequencingserumsemenSewall Wright - sex linkagesexual reproduction – sexual selection – shigellashootsignal transductionsilk – Sir Charles Lyell – sister chromatid – skeleton – skin cell – sleep – smooth ER – sociobiology – speciation – speciesHans Spemannspermspermatidspermatogenesisspermiogenesisspliceosome – splicing – sporesporophyteSSRIstarchstemstem cellStem cell chip – sticky end – stomastomachstreptomycinstructural biologystructural gene – substrate – substrate-level phosphorylation – surface area-to-volume ratio – symbiosissymbiogenesis – synapomorphy – synapse – syngamy – systematicssystems biology

T

T celltaphonomytaxistaxontaxonomytelomeretelophase – tertiary structure – testate amoebae – testes – Theodor BilharzTheodor BoverithermoclinethermoregulationThomas Hunt Morgan – Thomas Malthus – thylakoidTobacco mosaic virustobacco mosaic virustorpor – Trait (biological) – transcription – transcription factortranscriptional regulation – transformation – transgressive phenotype – transport vesicle – transposon – Traube celltrophic leveltropismtubulin – tumor – turgor – Turner syndrome – twin

U

urea cycle

V

vaccinevacuole – varicella-zoster virus – vascular cambiumvascular tissueveinvertebrate – vesicle – vesicular stomatitis virus – vestibular system – vicariance – virology – viral classification – virusviral evolutionviridamide – visible light – visionvitamin - Viroid

W

water cyclewavelengthwelfare biologyWobble base pairwood

X

xanthophyllX chromosomexenobiologyX-ray diffractionxylem

Y

Y chromosome –yellow fever

Z

zona pellucida –zoology –zygote

See also