Life Processes

Nutrition

• The processes of obtaining energy through consumption of food.

Respiration

• The process of acquiring oxygen through breathing and make it available to cells for the process of breaking down of organic substances into simpler compounds is called as respiration.

Transportation

• Transportation is the process by which f oxygen is carried from one organ to other organs in the body

Excretion

• It is the process by which the metabolic waste by-products are removed from the different organs and released out from the body.

Types of Nutrition

Carbohydrates: Provides energy

Proteins            : Help in growth

Fats                  : Provide energy

Vitamins          : Help in physiological activities

Minerals           : Act as regulators in physiological activities

Water               : Transports food, regulates body temperature

Autotrophic nutrition

Mode of nutrition in which an organism prepares its own food is called autotrophic nutrition. E.g.: Green plants, Euglena.

They prepare their own food by photosynthesis

Heterotrophic nutrition

The mode of nutrition in which an organism depends on other organisms for food as  they cannot prepare their own food called for food heterotrophic nutrition  

  Types of Parasites

(i)Ectoparasites

(ii)Endoparasites                     

• The plant Cuscuta depends on other plants for food. This is an example for parasitic mode of nutrition oganisms like head, louse, leech etc., are found attached to the outer surface of the body and get nourishment from the host. So, these are called ectoparasites.
• Round worm lives inside the body (gut)and derives food from the intestine.So it is an endoparasite

Saprophytes

            In saprophytes nutrition, the organism decomposes the dead plant and animal substances and converts them into simple molecules and absorbs them through their body wall

Special type of nutrition

            Plants like Nepenthes, Drosera and Utricularia are green in colour and are autotrophic   Since they are found in nitrogen deficient soil, they trap insects and kill them to get nitrogen from them.

So they are called insectivorous plants.

NUTRITON IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS

• Green plants can make their own food by using water and carbon dioxide.
• The mode of taking food by an organism and utilizing it by the body iscalled nutrition.
• The mode of nutrition in which organisms make their own food is called

Autotrophic Nutrition and such organisms are called autotrophs.

• Green plants. ` `
• The process of preparing food with the help of water, carbon dioxide,sunlight and chlorophyll in plants is called photosynthesis.
• The sun is the ultimate source of energy for all forms of life.
• Photosynthesis can be represented by the equation given below

                                                              sunlight

Water + Carbon dioxide                                    Starch + Oxygen.

                                                            chlorophyll

Other Modes of Nutrition in Plants

• There are some non-green plants which cannot prepare the food. They take readymade food prepare by the other plants .They follow heterotrophic nutrition. 

Symbiotic Plants

• The phenomenon by which two different organisms live together for mutual help is called symbiosis

Nutrition in Animals

• Mostly animals take in solid food. This mode of nutrition is called holozoic nutrition

1. Ingestion

• The process of taking food into the body is called ingestion.

2. Digestion.

• The process of breaking down of complex food into simple food with thehelp of enzymes is called digestion.

3. Absorption

• The process by which the digested food passes into the blood vessels of thewall of the intestine is called absorption.

4.Asimilation

• The ways in which the absorbed food is utilized in cells is calledassimilation

5. Egestion

• The removal of undigested food through anus is egestion.

Nutrition in Amoeba

• Amoeba is a unicellular organism.
• It feeds on microscopic organisms, takes in solid food through its body surface
• So the mode of nutrition is holozoic
• The digested food reaches the entire cell by diffusion.

NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

MACRO NUTRIENTS

• Elements which are needed in large quantities for growth of the plants are called Macro nutrients.
• Manure is an organic substance and is prepared by the decomposition of plant and animal wastes.

MICRO NUTRIENTS

• Elements which are needed by the plants in very small quantities are called Micro Nutrients.
• They are Manganese, Copper, Molybdenum, Zinc, Boron and Chlorine.
• Compost prepared by using earth worms to speed up the process of decomposition of plant and animal wastes is called Vermi Compost.

GREEEN MANURES

• Leguminous plants like Sunn-hemp or cluster bean are grown and then mulched by ploughing them back into the soil. This helps in enriching the soil with Nitrogen and Phosphorous.

USES OF MANURE

• Manure enhances the water holding capacity of the soil.
• It increases the number of friendly microbes.
• It improves the soil texture.

FERTILIZERS

• Fertilizers are chemicals commercially produced in factories and used as plant nutrients.

Fertilizers have short term benefits.  But manures give long term benefits

PROTECTION FROM PESTS AND DISEASES

PEST CONTROL

• There are different methods of controlling of the pests. The most common method of controlling pests is the use of pesticides.

INSECTICIDES

• Substances which are used to kill the insects are called insecticides.e.g. DDt (Dichloro Diphenyl trichloro ethane), Malathion etc.
• Fungicides: The chemicals used to kill fungi are called fungicides. E.g. Bordeauz mixture.
• Weedicides: The chemical substances which are used to kill the weeds are called weedicide. E.g. 2- 4 – D. (2 – 4 – Dichloro phenoxy acetic acid)
• Rodenticides: The chemicals used to kill rodents like rats, mice and squirrel are called rodenticides, e.g. Zinc Phosphate,  Arsenic etc.

INSECT PESTS

• Chewing Insects: They cut and chew the root, stem and leaves of the plants. E.g. grasshoppers, caterpillars, etc.
• Sucking Insects: they suck the cell sap from different parts of the plants. E.g. Leaf hoppers, aphids etc.
• Borer Insects: They bore and enter different parts and feed on the plant tissues. E.g. sugarcane borer.

METHODS OF INSECT PEST CONTROL

• Root cutting insects are controlled by mixing insecticides in soil. E.g. Chlorophyriphos.
• Stem and leaf cutting and boring insects are controlled by dusting and spraying contact insecticies. E.g. Malathion, Lindane and Thiodan.
• The sap sucking insects can be controlled by spraying insecticides. E.g. Dimethoate and Metasystox.

DISEASES OF CROP PLANTS

• As the pesticides are toxic chemicals, they cause environmental pollution.

HYBRIDIZATION IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS

HYBRIDIZATION IN PLANTS

• Hybridization is the method of producing improved varieties by crossing two or more plants of dissimilar genotypes together.

HYBRIDIZATION CAN BE

Intervarietal (cross between two different varieties)

Interspecific (cross between two species of the same genus)

Intergenric (cross between different general)

HYBRID VARIETY OF MAIZE

Hybridization procedure includes different steps.  They are

• Selection of parents
• Selfing of parents
• Emasculation,
• Bagging, tagging and Labelling
• Crossing and
• Harvesting the hybrid seeds and raising F1 generation.

HYBRIDIZATION IN ANIMALS

• Hybridization is a method of breeding where the offspring is formed by the union of two genetically dissimilar parents.
• The different methods of animal hybridization are as follows.

INBREEDING

• Breeding between closely related individuals within the same breed is known as inbreeding.

OUT BREEDING

• It is a breeding of unrelated animals which may be between individuals of same breed.
• Out crossing: It involves the crossing of animals of the same breed (without a common ancestor)
• Cross breeding: In this method, superior males of one breed are mated with superior females of another breed. It involves the fusion of two different breeds in order to combine the desirable qualities of both.
• Inter specific Hybridisation: In this method, male and female animals of two different species are mated. In some cases, the progeny may combine desirable features of both the parents.  For example, mule is produced from a cross between female horse (mare) and male donkey.  Mules are sturdier and hardier than their parental species, and are well suited hard work in different terrains like mountainous regions.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF MILK

WHITE REVOLUTION

• White revolution attributes to increase in milk production by using new improved breeds of cattle.
• V. Kurien is the founder chairman of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). This board designed and implemented the world’s largest dairy development programme called Operation Flood.
• V. Kurien is considered as Father of White Revolution.

POULTRY FARMING

• Poultry farming is defined as rearing and breeding of avian species for the purpose of egg and meat. Chicken occupy 90% of the total poultry.

SILVER REVOLUTION

• The increase in egg production brought about the ‘Silver Revolution’ in the area of animal husbandry.

BREEDS OF FOW

• Asiatic Breeds – Brahma and Langshan are Asiatic breeds
• Exotic breeds – Plymouth rock, Leghorn, Rhode island, Black Minorca are examples for exotic breeds.
• Examples for cross breeds of Poultry are – HH – 260, IBL -80, B -77, IIS-82

NUTRITIONAL VALUE

• Eggs and meat are a good source of protein. Eggs also contain calcium, phosphorus, Sodium, Vitamin B1, B12, D, etc.

POULTRY FEED

• Poultry diets are composed primarily of a mixture of a mixture of cereal grains, soya bean meal, fish meal, bone meal, wheat bran, groundnut cake, barley, oats, maize, animal by product meals, etc.
• Trace minerals such as Zinc, Iron, Copper iodine, manganes, selenium etc. must be included in the poultry feed.

POULTRY DISEASE AND CONTROL

• Poultry are often affected by diseases and attacked by predators (e.g. cat, dog, fox). Some of the common diseases found in Indian fowl are Tick fever (Spirochaetosis), Tuberculosis, Fowl Cholera, Fowl Pox, Flu, etc.

DISEASE CONTROL

• Poultry diseases can be controlled by vaccination, Isolation of affected ones, improving the sanitary conditons, removing dampness and exposure to sunlight.

POULTRY INDUSTRY IN TAMILNADU

• Namakkal, Palladam and Chennai are well known for poultry industries.

TYPES OF FISH CULTURE

• Extensive fish culture –growing fish on natural feed.
• Intensive fish culture – growing fish on artificial feed to maximum production
• Monoculture – Growing a single type of fish in a given water body.
• Poly culture – growing one or more types of fishes with different feeding habits together in a water body.
• Integrated fish culture – growing fish with agricultural crops of

TYPES OF FISHING PONDS

• Breeding ponds: Sexually mature males and females are collected and in these ponds for the breeding.
• Hatchery ponds: The seeds collected from breeding ponds are place order to hatch the young fishes called fish fries.
• Nursery pond: 3 to 5 day old fish fries are fed well and retained for 20 days.
• Rearing ponds: These are deeper ponds in which fish fries from nursery ponds are transferred and maintained here for about three months. The fish fries grow to a size of about 125 mm length and are called fish fingerlings.
• Stocking ponds: Theses are larger ponds and the fingerlings are fed aretificial feed. Organic and inorganic fertilizers are used in increase growth.  Antibiotics are used to prevent infectious diseases.  When fishes attain the required size, they are harvested.

NUTRITIONAL VALUE OF FISHERY PRODUCTS

• The vitamin – A content of fish liver helps in good vision. Vitamins as B6, B12, Biotin, Niacin, D and minerals such as phosphorus, potassium and iron promotes normal growth of human body.
• Fish meal for cattle and poultry is prepared from the non-edible parts of fishes

Apiculture

• The scientific method of rearing honeybees for honey and wax is called ‘Apiculture’ or ‘Bee keeping’. Honey bees are social insects.
• They exhibit team work and division of labour.
• The nectar is swallowed by the bees. In the stomach, the nectar is converted into honey and stored in the honey combs.
• There are three types of bees in a colony.
• Queen – the only fertile female in the hive and its function is to lay the eggs.
• Drones – These are fertile male bees and its function is to mate with queen bee and fertilize the eggs.
• Workers – These are sterile females. They take care of the queen and young bees, collect nectar build honey combs and protect the bee hive.

A.Indigenous varieties

1. Apis Indica – Common Indian honey bee.

            2.Apis dorsata – Rock bee.

3. Apis florae – Little bee.

B.Exotic varieties

1. Apis mellifera(Italian bee)
2. Apis adamsoni(South African bee)

Uses of Honey

Honey is an energy rich food. For eg. 1kg of honey contains 3200 calories of energy.

Honey contains sugars, minerals, vitamins, enzymes, and pollen.

Honey Bee Communication(Dance Forms)

• Round dance indicates that the source of nectar is within 100mts, the dance signifies a long distance.
• In 1973 KARL VON FRISCH received Noble Prize for deciphering language.