Slide 1

Biology
Cell structure & organization

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Slide 2

Cell theory timeline

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Slide 3

Why is a cell the basic unit of life & how does it

promote continuity of life?
The Cell Theory states that
1. Living organisms are made up of 1 or more cells
2. The cell is the smallest & most basic unit of life that retains the
characteristics & properties of life
3. All cells come from pre-existing cells. Hence continuity of life comes
directly from the growth & division of existing cells.

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Slide 4

How is the study of cells crucial in understanding

life?
• Cells have sub-cellular organelles & structures that drive cellular
processes
• The way they facilitate specific interdependent cellular processes
explains how life ‘works’.
• The study of cellular organelles (e.g nucleus, ribosome, chloroplast &
mitochondrion) & cellular structures (e.g cytoskeleton) enable us to
understand how their structure enables their function, which is
necessary for us to understand life.

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Slide 5

Nucleus

Endoplasmic reticulum
Golgi apparatus

Mitochondria

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Slide 6

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Slide 7

How are organelles & structures related to

their functions?
Outline the functions of the membrane systems & organelles shown below
• Cell surface membrane
• Cytoplasm
• Cytoplasm organelles
The structures visible under a light microscope:
• Mitochondria
• Chloroplasts (plant cell specific) • cell membrane,
• Golgi apparatus • cytoplasm,
• Ribosomes • nucleus,
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum • vacuoles,
• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum • cell wall &
• Lysosome
• chloroplasts.
• Vacuole
• Centrioles (animal cell specific)
• Nucleus
• Nuclear Envelope
• Nucleolus
• Chromosomes

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Slide 8

Cell surface membrane

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Slide 9

Cell surface membrane

The cell surface membrane or plasma membrane is a partially

permeable membrane surrounding the cytoplasm of the cell. It
controls substances entering or leaving the cell.

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Slide 10

Cytoplasm
• The cytoplasm is the gel-like
matrix embedded with organelles.
It is the site of mostCytosol
cellular
activities.

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Slide 11

Cytoplasmic Organelles
Are compartmentalized
structures that perform
a specialized function
within a cell.

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Slide 12

Vacuole
• The cell vacuoles are fluid-filled spaces bound
by a membrane that’s not derived from Golgi
• Plant cells have a prominent large &
permanent central vacuole enclosed by a
membrane called tonoplast. They serve as a
storage for water, pigments, wastes etc.
• In contrast, animal vacuoles are smaller, more
numerous & are usually not permanent. They
store water & food substances.

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Slide 13

Lysosome
• Derived from Golgi (hence not found in bacterial
cells)
• Hold hydrolytic enzymes.
• Lysosomes contain an environment made to destroy
waste which helps to clean up the cell.
• Vesicles carry the waste (bacteria, old organelles,
etc.) into the lysosome. Once inside, the waste is
destroyed & its parts recycled.
Caption
Lysosomes. Coloured high resolution scanning electron micrograph (SEM) of two lysosomes in an intestinal epithelial cell. Lysosomes (large, blue, rounded and pear-shaped) are vesicles
bound by a single membrane. They contain a concentrated mixture of digestive enzymes. These enzymes are used to destroy redundant cell organelles or damaged molecules from within
or outside the cell. The organelle or molecule becomes enclosed in a membrane of the lysosome and is digested. Material probably representing partially digested cell organelles can be
seen in each lysosome. A mitochondrion (yellow) is at left.

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Slide 14

Mitochondria

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Slide 15

Mitochondria
• Power house of the cell, supply energy to the cell via
aerobic respiration where energy is extracted from
food substances (e.g carbohydrates) in the presence
of oxygen to form ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
• This energy is used by the cell to perform cellular
activities such as growth & cell division.
• The mitochondria are surrounded by 2 membranes.
• Mitochondria have their own DNA that is different
from that in the cell’s nucleus. This is evidence that
mitochondria used to be free-living creatures that
now live symbiotically within animal cells. This
symbiotic relationship benefits the animal cell, which
gets its energy produced by the mitochondria, while
the mitochondria has a safe, suitable habitat in
which to live.
Coloured Sem Of Mitochondria In Ovarian Cells is a
photograph by Professors P.m. Motta, S. Makabe & T. Naguro
which was uploaded on May 1st, 2013.

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Slide 16

Mitochondria Muscle cells have many mitochondria because they

need to produce energy to move the body.
Red blood cells, which carry oxygen to other cells,
have none; they do not need to produce energy.
Mitochondria are also found in plant cells, but they
are not the only source of energy for plants
(chloroplasts as well).

The outer membrane covers the surface of the

mitochondrion, while the inner membrane has many
folds called cristae. The folds increase surface area of
the membrane, which is important because the inner
membrane holds the proteins involved in the electron
transport chain for ATP generation.

Other functions of the mitochondria include

• storing calcium, which maintains the cell’s calcium
homeostasis.
• regulate the cell’s metabolism,
• have roles in apoptosis (programmed cell death),
• cell signaling, &
ATP Synthase Complex • heat production.

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Slide 17

ATP Synthase Complex

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Slide 18

Chloroplasts (plant cell specific)

• Plant cells also have chloroplasts, containing chlorophyll, that engage in photosynthesis.
They provide for most of the energy required by the plant. Chloroplasts were once free
living organisms that now live symbiotically within plant cells.
• Like mitochondria, chloroplasts are surrounded by 2 membranes. The outer membrane is
permeable to small organic molecules, whereas the inner membrane is less permeable &
studded with transport proteins.
• The innermost matrix of chloroplasts, called the stroma, contains metabolic enzymes &
multiple copies of the chloroplast genome.
• Chloroplasts also have a 3rd internal membrane called the thylakoid membrane, which is
extensively folded and appears as stacks of flattened disks in electron micrographs. The
thylakoids contain the light-harvesting complex, including pigments such as chlorophyll,
as well as the electron transport chains used in photosynthesis.

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Slide 19

Algae
Some eukaryotic cells example algae also contains chloroplasts

Chloroplasts

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Slide 20

Golgi apparatus

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Slide 21

Golgi apparatus
• Resembles a stack of flattened, folded
sacs surrounded by membranes.
• It stores, sorts & modifies substances
made by the ER, & packages them into
vesicles (e.g. containing proteins) to be
secreted out of the cell.

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Slide 22

Smooth endoplasmic reticulum

• The 2 types of ER make different building
blocks for the cell.
• Smooth ER is NOT attached to the nucleus &
DOES NOT have attached ribosomes (thus
smooth).
• Smooth ER synthesizes carbohydrates (sugars),
lipids (fats) & steroids (e.g hormones).
• It helps to detoxify the cell by converting
harmful substances into harmless ones.
Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum, Sem is a photograph by Dr David Furness, Keele University which was
uploaded on May 11th, 2013.

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Slide 23

Rough endoplasmic reticulum

• Rough ER is a network of membranes found
attached to the outside of the nucleus.
• It appears rough because of the ribosomes
attached to its surface.
• Rough ER helps in finishing protein synthesis
initiated by the ribosomes.
• All proteins made in the Rough ER depart in
membrane-bound vesicles to the Golgi
apparatus.

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Slide 24

Ribosomes
• Each ribosome is made of 2 protein subunits.
• They can either be free in the cytoplasm, or are attached to the
membrane of the rough ER.
• Ribosomes synthesize proteins by translating a strand of mRNA,
originated from the nucleus, via the addition of amino acids, carried
by specific tRNAs, to synthesize polypeptides, that will be folded into
proteins needed for cellular activities.

A Transfer RNA is an adaptor molecule composed

of RNA, typically 73 to 94 nucleotides in length,
that serves as the physical link between the
nucleotide sequence of nucleic acids (DNA and
RNA) and the amino acid sequence of proteins.

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Slide 25

Centrioles (animal cell specific)

• A pair of barrel-shaped small hollow
cylindrical structures at right angles to
each other & found close to the nucleus.
• They play a role in cell division.
• Centrioles are usually absent in plants.

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Slide 26

Nucleus

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Slide 27

Nucleus
• The nucleus contains darker bodies called nucleoli
(singular: nucleolus) & is separated from the
cytoplasm by the nuclear envelope.
• It contains and thread-like structures called
chromatin which are made of DNA.
• The nucleolus is like a “tiny nucleus” inside the
actual nucleus. It contains protein & rRNAs & is the
ribosome production factory
• The nucleus controls cellular activities such as
growth, repair, & cell division.
• The nucleus communicates through holes in the
envelope called nuclear pores.

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Slide 28

Nuclear Envelope
• The nucleus is an organelle surrounded by 2 lipid
bilayers with pores called the nuclear envelope
surrounding the nucleoplasm within.
• On its inner surface are attachment sites for protein
filaments for anchoring DNA & keep them organized.

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Slide 29

Nucleolus
• Located within the nucleus, the nucleolus
appears as a darker globular mass.
• It is a region where subunits of ribosomes are
prefabricated before being moved out of the
nucleus.

Nucleolus & chromatin fibres. Coloured high resolution scanning electron

micrograph (SEM) of the nucleolus & chromatin fibres of a primordial testis Nucleolus
germ cell nucleus (8-week-old human embryo). The nucleolus (orange) is a
specialized region of the nucleus (yellow). It is the site for synthesis of
ribosomal RNA and proteins. Surrounding the nucleolus are chromatin fibres
which contain the chromosomes. Separating the nucleus from the cytoplasm
(at right) is the nuclear membrane (thin line).

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Slide 30

Chromosomes
• Hold the cell’s DNA in the nucleus.
• The nucleus contains genetic information in the form
of DNA (the universal genetic code).
• The DNA does not hang around loosely in the
nucleus. The DNA is packaged with proteins &
wound up.
• Recall that the role of nucleic acids is to carry genetic
information, which is inherited by an organism’s
offspring.
• These wound up DNA protein structures are called
chromosomes.

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Slide 31

Chromosomes

A human X and Y chromosome

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Slide 32

DNA

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Slide 33

Animal vs plant cell

Identify organelles of typical animal & plant cells from diagrams & photomicrographs

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Slide 34

Animal cell

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Slide 35

Plant cell

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Slide 36

Animal vs plant cell

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Slide 37

Differences between animal & plant cells

(a) Instead of many small vacuoles, plant cells have a large central vacuole filled with cell sap, surrounded by a
membrane (tonoplast). Cell sap is mainly made up of water, with dissolved amino acids & mineral salts, &
waste products.
(b) Presence of a cellulose cell wall which is rigid but fully permeable. It protects the cell from injury & gives
the cell its shape.
(c) Presence of chloroplasts – oval membrane-bound organelles filled with chlorophyll. They’re the sites of
photosynthesis, by which plants make food.
(d) Centrioles are absent.

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Slide 38

Adaptation to functions (Red blood cells)

Deliver oxygen to the body tissues via the blood.
Adaptations:
Hemoglobin is the protein in red
(a) make haemoglobin blood cells that carries oxygen
• an oxygen-carrying protein. throughout our bodies.

(b) no nucleus, so they have a flattened biconcave

shape with a dumbbell-shaped cross section.
• Gives them a higher surface area to volume ratio for faster
diffusion of oxygen.
• Makes them more flexible when squeezing through blood
capillaries.

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Slide 39

Adaptation to functions (Xylem vessels)

• Elongated hollow tubes made of xylem cells linked end
to end. Xylem cells are dead at maturity.
• Conduct water & mineral salts from the roots to the
leaves of the plant.
• Play a role in mechanical support.
• Adaptations to these functions include:
(a) Absence of protoplasm & cross-walls which could impede
water flow through the lumen (internal cavity)
(b) Deposition of lignin on the cell walls which strengthens
vessel walls, providing support

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Slide 40

Adaptation to functions (Root hair cells)

• Extend into the soil to absorb water &
mineral salts.
• Adaptation:
• Growth of a long & narrow structure called root
hair, which extends into the soil to absorb water.
This increases the surface area to volume ratio
of the cell, resulting in faster absorption.

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Slide 41

Organization of a multicellular organism

1. The cell is the most basic unit of a living organism that can be classified as
living.
2. A group of cells of the same type that are found near each other & carry
out the same function comprises a tissue. (blood is a liquid tissue comprising
many types of cells)
3. An organ is made up of different tissues working together to perform a
specific function or a group of functions within an organism. An organ has a
distinct shape which allows it to carry out its function well.
4. A group of functionally-related organs form an organ system.
5. Many organ systems working together make up a multicellular organism.

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