Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Cell Structure 2016
Cell Structure 2016
A.M.D.G.
Cell Structure
General Background
Cell Theory
Proposed by Schleiden and Schwann
The cell is the basic unit of life
Cells are made from other cells by division
Cells contain hereditary information
Metabolic reactions occur within cells
Unicellular organisms have specialised regions within the cell. For example Amoeba
Multicellular organisms have specialised cells performing different structures
The simplest multicellular organisms are colonies of similar cells
Historical Events:
Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek: between 1650 and 1700 this Dutch microscopist saw
bacteria and nuclei
Robert Hooke in 1662 described cells from cork (cell walls and no content)
From 1828- 1945 advances in the light microscope meant it was possible to get a
resolution of 0.2µm (200nm)
Shleiden and Schwann proposed the cell theory in 1838
Louis Pasteur did work on microbes which previously were not recognised
The electron microscope, developed between 1930 and 1946, which allows a
resolution of 0.1nm and ultra-structure was revealed
2
Electrons have a wavelength of about 0.5nm, this can be adjusted by changing the
voltage
Resolution is about 0.2nm
The electron beam is focused using electromagnets
Cell Membranes
Under the light microscope these are seen as a single layer, but the electron microscope shows two
layers, 7nm wide
In water phospholipids form micelles with the hydrophilic heads shielding the
4
hydrophobic tails
The Nucleus
There is one or more nucleolus (plural = nucleoli) where ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is
manufactured
It is seen as a dense, dark staining region
6
Ribosomes
These are about 20nm in diameter
They are found free in the cytoplasm or bound to ER
Ribosomes are made of RNA and proteins
The RNA is ribosomal RNA (rRNA)
It is made in the nucleolus
They are the site of protein synthesis
They "read" the RNA code and attach amino-acids in the correct sequence to form a polypeptide
Free ribosomes make cell proteins
Ribosomes on the ER make proteins that may be secreted from the cell
A polysome is several ribosomes simultaneously reading the same strand of mRNA to increase the
efficiency of protein synthesis
7
Golgi apparatus
These are found in all cells and are abundant in metabolically active secreting cells
They are a system of flattened sacs called cisternae only visible under EM
Lysosomes
These are about 0.1 – 0.5µm in diameter and only seen under using EM
They are made by rough ER and Golgi apparatus
Lysosomes are spherical membrane bound structures containing digestive enzymes
These enzymes may be
used to digest other organelles or the entire cell (autolysis)
Released form the cell by exoxytosis (such as when sperm digest the
ovum barrier)
Digest foreign matter taken in to the cell by endocytosis. They fuse with
the food vacuole to form a secondary lysosome
8
In plant cells the vacuole may act as
a lysosome
1 endocytosis
2 Food vacuole formed
3 lysosome fuses with food
vacuole forming secondary
vacuole
4 Hydrolytic enzymes digest
contents
5 nutrients absorbed then unwanted waste egested by exocytosis
Peroxisomes are single membrane bound organelles in Eukaryotes that contain the
enzyme Catalase. This removes toxic hydrogen peroxide
Peroxisomes are involved in other metabolic activity functions too
Mitochondria
These are 0.5 -1.5 µm x 3-10µm
They can be seen under a good light microscope
Mitochondria are found in all cells
There are high numbers in metabolically active cells
They are the site of pyruvate oxidation in respiration and ATP synthesis
ATP is used to build molecules, cause movement of microtubules to move cytoplasm
or contract muscles, in cell division, DNA synthesis
Vacuoles
These are only found in plant cells
They are membrane bound and filled with cell sap
The membrane is called the tonoplast
Cell sap contains water, ions, waste, pigments, and hydrolytic enzymes
Younger cells have many smaller vacuoles
In older cells these fuse to form a large, permanent, central vacuole
Animal cells have small, temporary vesicles
Chloroplasts
These are 4-10 x 2-3µm
They are a type of Plastid, that is an organelle containing pigment
They are biconvex discs
They are the site of photosynthesis
There is a double membrane
Microtubules
These are hollow cylinders made of protein
They are 24nm in diameter
They occur throughout the cytoplasm and bring about movement of cell contents,
such as lysosomes
Microtubules are also found in cilia ans flagella and centrioles
Misrotubules in the cytoplasm form the structure of the cell, they are said to from
the cytoskeleton
Microfilaments
These are single stranded proteins
They are involved in cytoplasmic movement
Centrioles
These are only found in animal cells
They consist of two hollow cylinders at right angles
They are about 0.3-0.5µm long and 0.2 µm wide
Centrioles contain microtubules in the same structure as seen in cilia and flagella
basal bodies
The Centrioles move to opposite poles during cell division
Cell Wall
Found in plant cells only
Provide mechanical support and protection
Because the wall prevents the cell from bursting this allows turgor pressure to give
11
the plant support
The wall is made from cellulose and other polysaccharides
Fungi and Prokaryotes have cell walls made of other substances
The endosymbiont theory suggests these organelles were once free living prokaryote
organisms that were engulfed by another cell and enclosed in a vacuole
Instead of digesting the contents of the vacuole a symbiotic relationship was
established
The mitochondria provided ATP and the chloroplasts provided glucose
In return the host cell provided raw materials for these processes
The vacuole membrane became the outer membrane of the organelles
A symbiotic relationship is when one organism lives in or on another and both benefit
from the relationship
Viruses
Viruses are very small non-cellular structures with a piece of genetic material [DNA or
RNA] surrounded by a protein coat
They can only copy their genetic material and make new protein coats in a host cell
so all viruses are pathogens
13