Unit-II Cell and Cell division Chapter - 13 The Cell As the Unit of Life The body of living beings right from unicellular Amoeba to man ot from unicellular plant Chlamydomonas to large Banyan tree, have their bodies made up of one or many cells, ‘Thus we can say unit cell is the fundamental basic unit of all organisms. Although, the availability of powerful microscopes have made it possible to know that the body of micto- ‘organisms like bacteria and viruses show a subcellular level of organisation, But since quite long time, cell has been treated as the basic unit of life, therefore we shall study about different aspect of the cell treating it as the smallest unit of life 13.1 Cell as the Basic Unit of Life and Cell Theory: As the cells are minute structures and could be studied only with the help of a device like microscope, the knowledge of history of microscope is essential. Whatever information ‘we have collected so far is the continuous effort of over 300 years done by number of scientists Robert Hooke was the pioneer to start the study of cell as unit of life, He, in 1665, studied a thin section of cork with the help of microscope and showed that it is made up of compartments like structure, In his book Micrographia he introduced the cell” for these compartments. He also suggested that the section appears like a bee-hive and all the cells in a section remain surrounded with thick wall. Conclusively after studying the sections from various plants and animals he concluded that every organism consists of “cell” like structure After this, Leeuwenhoek, a scientist from Holland invented his own microscopes and studied many unicellular organisms around 1674, Till this time, no one had the further knowledge about the structure of cell. After a word long gap, somewhere in 1831, Robert Brown. discovered that there is a particular structure present in the centre of cells of roots from an orchid. This centrally placed structure was named as “Nucleus”. While studying cells from other plants it was found that necleus is present almost in all the cells*. Dujardin, Purkinje, ‘VonMohl and Schultze are some of the eminent scientists who contributed the important knowledge about cell. German Botanist Schleiden studied cells from various plants and concluded that all organisms are basically composed of minute structures known as cells. Near about the same time a German Zoologist, ‘Theodor Schwann contributed same thought. He studied many cells from different animals and could not observe the cell wall. He also identified presence of nucleus. It is very well known today that like plants, animals do not have cell wall in their cells, The cytoplasm of animal cell remains bounded by a thin membrane called plasma membrane. This is also called cell membrane. In 1838 and 1839 Schleien and Schwann proposed the cell theory jointly. The main postulates of the theory are - Bach living body is made up of single or many cells. - New cells arise from the pre-existing cells. - Basically the structural composition of all cells is similar and hence they perform similar metabolic activities. = The activities shown by an organism is the result of the total sum of the activities performed by the cell/cells of its body. The cell theory in their own words is as under- > Plant Geographer Robert Brown bad vast collection of plants from Newzealand and Australia, In 1831 for the first time presence of nucleus was reported by him. His important contribution was to study movement of pollen grain in water which is now known as Brownian Movement in his honour (67)168/BIOLOGY - XI “We have seen all the organisms which are composed of essentially like parts, namely cells, that these cells are formed and grown in accordance with essentially same laws, hence that these processes must everywhere result from the operation of the same forces” As knowledge progressed the cell is regarded as the basic unit of organism, But inspite of all these, it was still not known that how does a new cell arise? Rudolf Virchow attempted in 1855 to explain that cells duplicate themselves i.e. one parent cell gives rise to two daughter cells and this process is known as cell division. Thus on the basis of cell theory it can be explained that “Cell is the structural and functional unit of all living beings”. OR “The cell is the smallest living unit which is capable of maintaining its independent existence” Later on, in 1963 Loewy and Sickevity defined cell as follows :- “Cell is a biological unit delimited by a semipermeable membrane and capable of self reproduction in a medium free of other living system”, Alll the above definitions and studies reveal that basically all the cells are alike in structural molecular organisation and some activities. Because of all these similar basic properties cells. exhibit unity. There are certain fundamental properties similar to all types of cells. We all know that the cells consist of hereditary material called Nucleic Acid. Structure of cell membrane and properties are also alike. Mechanism of synthesis of nucleic acid and protein are alike. Besides all these mentioned similarities we find considerable diversities among them. It is concluded that perhaps organisms have gained these diversities as a result of organic evolution. Itis also possible that changing environment enforced these variations in the organisms. 13.2 The Cell as a self contained Unit If we study the life processes performed by unicellular organisms then we come to know that cell in itself, is an autonomous unit, because it exhibits a wide range of properties of living beings which continuously go on independantly and regularly, For example nutrition, respiration and reproduction keep on taking place within the cell. Thus all the cells are capable of regulating all the essential activities by maintaining the physico-chemical conditions. Each cell has its own life span. However, cells. of multicellular organisms are not totally independant as compared to that of unicellular organisms, That means in unicellular organisms each cell is recognised as complete organism where as multicellular organisms are organised at tissue, organ, organ system and then organismic level. Thus to carry out all the functions in multicellular organisms, cells are united together to form groups which perform certain functions, This is known as division of labour. In this whole arrangement cells become structurally and functionally different, The cells become specialized for certain function and as they work in groups, they form group of similar cells. Thus group of cells having same structure and performing identical functions is called tissue. All the cells in a tissue collectively perform same functions thus work in co- ordination, Still the cells hold their basic properties. This is evident from cell culture technique. In this technique the cells are isolated from the plant or animal body and are grown in suitable nutrient medium. This isolated group of cells divide, redivide and develop new tissue which is capable of performing all activities of life 13.3 Unicellular and Multicellular Organisms Unicellular Organisms ‘The organisms who have their body made up of one cell, perform all metabolic activities within one cell itself. These are also called acellular organisms because in these organisms body is not made of cells but cell itself acts as. an organism. The cells have some specialised‘The Cell As the Unit of Life/169 structures present in it known as cell organelles and they perform the essential activities of life. The cell should be able to adjust all these organelles. We see that in unicellular organisms the cell is efficient to adjust all the cell organelles in itself, The ratio of volume to surface atea is limited, even if the cell grows in volume. It can be concluded that surface area of large sized cell is comparatively less and ratio of its volume to surface area is more than of a small cell, In a large sized cell, the rate of transport of materials and transmission of messages is very slow. Therefore to perform all these smoothly either the cell becomes cylindrical or cell membrane develops certain folds inside so that surface area increases. Yet it is not possible for a cell to have these characters. For instance, to remain mobile the cell should have thin and elastic cell wall where as on the other hand the walls should be tough and rigid. In plant cells, for example, it is required to prevent the cells from bursting due to entry of molecules into cell, Both these characters in a cell cannot be found together. Plant cell consists of thick and rigid cell wall so they are not mobile and a mobile cell like blood cell which lacks cell wall can enlarge because of absorption of mote water any may burst also Multicellular Organisms In case of organisms, who have their body made up of more than one cell, the body is not only an assembly of cells but in such cases the cells also become specialised to perform those different life activities more effeciently which. are performed within the body of one cell. For example, some cells are responsible for nutrition, and some are sensory cells which carry the impulse & some are responsible for reproduction, Even some dead cells perform particular function. In animals the outer most layer of skin consists of dead cells and in plants bark or xylem tissue etc. are dead cells. In this way, multicellular organisms are adapted in better way by division of labour. The efficiency of cell increases as compared to that of unicellular organism, No doubt, for tissues and organs to work efficiently, itis essential that they co-ordinate properly and promptly. For example, to pump the blood from heart it is essential that all the muscles work together, to carry out netve impulse all the nerves remain connected with one another. Thus in multicellular organisms the cell represent itself in two forms- ~ as an individual and = as a member of assembly of cells. The life span of multicelluler organism is comparatively more than unicellular organisms. Inspite of death of few cells the organism remains alive, It can be understood here as when the cells reach to certain age, they die and are replaced by newer cells. For example RBC are continuously being formed and after they complete certain age they perish. Like wise older cells from outer most layer of our skin are continuously replaced by cells from the lower layers. Each multicellular organism, reproducing sexually starts its life cycle from fertilized ovum i.e. single cell and it has a definate set of hereditary characters. In the course of development with the differentiation and peculiar behaviour of cells, organs are developed and the organism come into existence. For example RBCs of man are not capable of duplication of DNA and Synthesis of RNA. Mature neurons do not have capacity of cell division, Itis still unknown that why a cell looses any of its ability. 13.4 Compartmentalisation in Cellular Life Every cell is a type of chamber bounded by plasma membrane. It is the structure which protects cellular contents and inhibits mixing of extracellular medium with internal medium of cell. All the biomolecules constituting protoplasm, can maintain their individuality only because of plasma membrane. It also controls biological activities in its way. These biomolecules, can not work so efficiently in extra cellular medium as they do inside the cell170/BIOLOGY - XI Fiagethum Capsule Photosynthetic membrane Food reserve Cyteplasm DNA (Circular Monostiienul Fig, 13.1 A generalized prokaryotic cell (Rod Shaped Bacteria) It is also true that the cell is not totally isolated from the external atmosphere because plasma membrane exchange and transports ions through it, according to the requirement of the cell, It is a selective permeable membrane. This quality of plasma membrane maintains the composition of protoplasm with very little changes. Individuality of multicellular organisms is preserved by plasma membrane but it cannot separate the cell totally from neighbouring cell. The plasma membrane of two adhered cells develop relationship which further help in the formation of tissue. It also serve as connecting link between the two cells. Other than exchange ‘of materials, transmission of messages also occur through plasma membrane. As a result of property of selective permeability some of the organisms accumulate materials from surroundings more than they need, For example, some weeds absorb so much quantity of iodine from sea water that iodine concentration in weeds become twenty lakh times more than the concentration of iodine in sea water. Compartments within the cell : As you know that the cell itself is like a compartment, But inside the cell many membrance bound organelles also exist in the form of compartments. The cell organelles found inside the cell like nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplast, Golgi body, lysosome, endoplasmic reticulum are membrane bound structures. Besides this some other structures are not bounded by membrane. Like centriole and ribosome do not have plasma membrane. Whether membrane bound or without a membrane, all these are peculiar cell structures and perform specific functions which you will study in detail in next chaper. cy Plsmamenbrane Z cet mentee eS Spice Nuceolus \ “ voanin Nuc Nepal 1 Ga appara “eon ei ISP Secretary granules a Fig, 13.2 Typical animal cell an seen under light microscope. The cells which consist of structures like cell organelles are called Eukaryotic Cells. Certain cells, like bacteria do not have membrane bound structures. Even their chromosomes are not surrounded by a membrane i.e. nuclear membrane also do not exist. Such cells are prokaryotic cells. It is also believed that organisms with prokaryotic cells have arisen first. In the following pages the structure of these two kinds of cells is discussed. in detail. 13.5 Structure of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells Prokaryotic (bacterial) cell is shown in fig 13.1 On studying animal and plant eukaryotic cells under good quality microscope important structures like nucleus, mitochondria, Golgi body & vacuoles floating in the cytoplasm can‘The Cell As the Unit of Life/171 be seen. Plant cells have accentric nucleus by large vacuole. Sec the labelled diagram of because the central part of the cell is occupied both kinds of eukaryotic cells in fig 13.2 & 13.3 Call alls of neighbouring cells SR Mitte lame ZENS NSS — lasmnodesma Cyteplasm Golgi appamnaus Secretory granule Nuclsolus Plasma membrane Choomzatia’ threads Mitochondrion Nueleoplasm: Large Vacuole noc et S ous ee Con Fig. 13.3 Structure of typical plant cell (cell from mesophyll of leaf) under light Microscope. 13.5.1 Differences between Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells. S.No, Structure Prokaryotic Cell Eukaryotic Cell 1. Size Less than 4 jim. ‘More than 5 pm. 2. Nuclear Membrane Absent Present 3. Chromosome Only one chromosome is ‘More than one chromosomes present which is composed are present and other than of only nucleic acid. nucleic acid, proteins are also present 4. Golgi Body It is absent. It is present 5. Endoplasmic Reticulum It is absent It is present 6. Lysosome It is absent. Itis present 7. Peroxisome Absent Present 8. Mitochondria Absent but its functions Present are performed by plasma ‘membrane. 9. Chlorophyll/Chloroplast May be present but chloroplast it is found only in plant is absent cells & is always present in chloroplast. 10. Ribosomes Comparatively small Bigger 11. Microtubules Absent. it is present. 12. Flagella Are present but 942 tubule Flagella with 942 system is not found, tubules present 13. Cytoplasmic Movement It is not found. It is found, (but not in all)172/BIOLOGY - XI 14, Cell wall Aminoacid) 15. Vacuoles 16. Nucleolus 17. Respiratory enzymes Absent ‘May be present filled with gas. Fluid filled vacuoles are absent. ‘Are located on the plasma membrane & its inpushings. Made up of murine (chemically it Only plant cells have a cell consists of polysaccharide and wall which is made up of cellulose (It is also a polysaccharide) Here gas filled vacuoles are not present but fluid filled vacuoles are large in plant cell & small in animal cell Present Located in cytoplasm & mitochondria 13.5.2 Differences between a Plant & Animal Cell S.No. Structure Animal cell Plant Cell 1. Cell wall 2. Vacuole cytoplasm. 3. Chloroplasts take place. 4. Centrioles & centrosomes 5. Golgi Complex the nucleus. 6, Other materials ‘The plasma membrane is the ‘outer most structure, A. cell wall is absent in all animal cells Small vacoles are present in Absent and therefore, photosynthesis does not Present near the nucleus. Golgi complex is distinct and well developed. it lies near ‘There are different types of filaments, lipid droplets & vacuoles in the cytoplasm. A cell wall is formed of cellulose, It is present outside the plasma- membrane in all plant cells. In mature plant cells a vacuole become so big that it displaces the nucleus from the centre, Besides this there are small vacuoles (oo. Present & therefore, photosynthesis takes place. Devoid of centrioles & centrosomes.(except a few sp. of algae), Golgi complex is found scattered and is called dictyosome. Cytoplasm contain various reserve food material, excretory substances (e.g, gum rubber, resins etc.) and number of various secretory substances. 13.6 Techniques and Equipments- The present form of biology is due to the invention of various scientific techniques and instruments. Various techniques and instruments ‘used in the study of physics and chemistry is presently used in the research of biology. Some of them are given as follows- (1) Light microscope- To study the micro structures magnifying lens, simple and compound microscopes are very essential in biology. To study the external structure we can use a good magnifying lens. For more detailed study we can use light‘The Cell As the Unit of Life/173 microscope (for more than 20 times magnifying area) or compound microscope for more magnifying area. Light microscope has a single Iens while compound microscope has 2 convex lenses. In light microscope the rays of light are passed through the objects. Eyepiece Coarse adjustinent ——~ ‘knob Fine adjustment. ‘knob Inctination— Joint pillar Fig 13.4 A compound microscope 2. Electron microscope- For more magnifiny power, electron microscope are used. Electrons are used in such microscopes. In this mictoscope since electrons are used we can not observe this with our naked eye. Electron microscope is a large electronic apparatus having more resolving power than light microscope, Molecular study of a cell and its relation with other branches is only possible with the invention of electron microscope. 3. Microtome- ‘They are of 2 types (i) rocking (ii) rotary and used for cuttings of animal and plant organs/ and tissues. 4. Radio-isotopes Some radio-active isotopes of chemical elements like- C4H'T!!, P! are very useful in the study of various chemical reaction taking place inside the cell. 5. Chromatography- It is of many types like column, thin layer, paper etc. and useful for the separation of various cell molecules on the basis of their shape, size, weight, solubility, charge and adsorption, It is also helpful in immunology. 6. Electrophoresis- This technique is also useful for the separation of molecules. It is of many types like paper electrophoresis. S.D.S., Gel electrophoresis, gradient gel electrophoresis 7, Fractionation, In this technique the tissues & cell organelle are studied after their separation by centrifuge. 8. Colorimetry- This technique is used for the study of concentration of biochemical compounds 9. X Ray Diffraction - ‘The technique was very useful in the study of DNA molecule Summary Cell is the fundamental unit of life, In 1665 Robert Hooke was first to use the term cell while describing his studies on thin slice of cork. Later on, Schleiden and Schwann together established the cell theory, according to which each plant and animal is composed of identical basic structures called cells and also that new cells appear from pre-existing cells. On the basis of cell theory cell is treated as structural and functional unit of life Cell in itself is an independant unit, because unicellular organisms perform all their biological activities within the body of one cell with the help of organelles. All the activities of cells are regulated internally by the cell itself while in multicellular organisms each cell is not completely independant because its activities are affected by neighbouring cells and can be done only with co-ordination.174/BIOLOGY - XI Transport of materials and messages occur to and fro through plasma membrane because of its selective permeability Certain cells in the body of a multicellular ‘organism act significantly even after their death for example xylem cells in plants Each cell is like a compartment and therefore it is able to maintain pecularity of biomolecules. Like wise many compartments are seen inside the cell in the form of cell organelles, viz. Golgi body, mitochondria, nucleus, ete. All of them individually perform their functions thus helping the cell to retain its autonomy. Some organisms like bacteria, blue green algae do not consist of membrane bound organelles prokaryotic cells. On the contrary all the plants and animals have systematically arranged membrane bound nucleus and cell organelles. These are known as Eukaryotic cells. Various types of light microscopes, electron microscopes, _ microtome, chromatography etc. are some latest devices which can provide a detailed study of micro- ‘organisms, animal and plant tissues and various cell organelles. and the nucleus. These are Questions Long Answer Type (Answer in about 250 words) 1, “Cell, in the form of a compartment is an independent unit”. Explain the statement 2, Explain structural and functional organisation of unicellular and multicellular organisms. Il, Short answer type (Answer in about 75 words) 3. Define cell 4. What do you understand by “cell theory”. Explain, 5. “Cell is an independant unit”. statement 6, Write the definition of Prokaryotic and cplain the m1. Vv. a) @ @) 4 6) Eukaryotic cells with examples. Very short answer type (Answer in about 30 words). Write the names of scientist/scientists related with the following discoveries :- (a) Cell (b) Nucleus (©) Cell theory (a) Formation of new cells. Objective Type Choose the correct answer- ‘Nucleusx was observed for the first time by (a) Robert Hooke (b) Robert Brown (©) Leeuwenhoek (@) Schleiden and Schwann Cell theory was proposed by- (a) Schleiden (b) Schwann (©) Schleiden and Schwann (@) Robert Brown and Robert Hooke. Cell is an independant nit because- (a) It releases energy by itself, (b) Il is efficient to locomote itself (©) Ithas self governing structure, nucleus, (@) It is capable of controlling and regulating all biological activities. Plasma membrane is - (a) Semipermeable (b) Permeable (©) Selective permeable (a) Impermeable ‘When the volume of the cell increases but area does not increase in the same ratio then the rate of exchange of materials and conduction of messages (a) Increase (b) Does not change (©) Slows down‘The Cell As the Unit of Life/175 6) mM (8) 1) (10) (d) Rate of exchange of materials goes slow but that of conduction of messages Which one of the following does not possess membrane bound cell organelles- (a) Bacteria (b) Biue green algae (©) Amoeba (@) In both (@) & (b) Which one of the following is not a membrane bound organelle- (a) Ribosome (b) Mitochondria (©) Centrosome (@ Both (a) & (c) The flagella of Prokaryotic cell differs from Eukaryotes (CBSE 2004) (a) The movement and location in the cell (b) Working and location. (c) Organisation of micro-tubules and type of movement. (d) Organisation of microtubules and working By the invention of election microscope the study of cell was a great achievement because- (PMT 2005) (a) Resolving power of electron- microscope is more then light microscope, (b) Resolving power of electron microscope is 200-350 nm while the resolving power of light microscope is, 0.1-0.2 nm. (©) Electron rays can pass through thick objects while thin sections are required for light microscope. (@) Electron microscope is more powerful than light microscope as electron ray are used in electron microscope show’s more wave length. Eukaryotic cells shows the presence of (PMT 2001) (a) Chromatin fibres (b) definite nucleus (©) Primitive nucleus (a) None of the above. (11) Cell theory was proposed by- (PMT 2001) (a) Schleiden and Schwan (b) Watson and Walace (6) Darwin and Walace (4) Mendel and Morgan. (12) The type of ribosome present in the eukaryotic cell is- (a) only 70s (b) only 80s (6) 70s and 80s (4) only 50s (13) ‘The genetic material of prokaryotic cell is called (PMT-2001) (a) Nucleus (b) Nucleolus (©) Nucleotide (4) Golgi bodies, (14) Cell theory was proposed by (PMT 2002) (a) Schleiden and schwann (b) Sinnot and Dunn (©) Okazaki and Okazaki (4) Watson and Crick (15) Bukaryotic and prokaryotic cells differs from each other by the presence of- (a) True nucleus (b) Ribosome (6) Nucleic acid (@) A and B both, (16) The best method to study the ultra structure of a cell- (PMT 2003) (a) Electron microscope (b) Autoradiography (6) Micto-dissection (4) Phase-contrast microscope (17) Schleiden proposed that cell is the structural and functional unit of life. This was a- (PMT 2005) (@) Imagination (b) Detailed statement (6) A hypothesis (4) An observation Answers to objective type Questions- Lb) 2 ©) 3 W@ 4 ©) 5 © 6 @ 7. (A) 8. (6) 9. (a) 10. (b) LL. (a) 12. (©) 13, (©) 14. (@) 15. (@) 16. (a) 17. (©)