Peek Inside a Eukaryotic Cell

All protists, fungi, plants, and animals are eukaryotes. Some of these organisms

are independent, free-living cells (Figure 3.1); others consist of many cells working together as a body.

By defi nition, a eukaryotic cell starts out life with a nucleus (eu– means

true; karyon means nut, or kernel). Like many other organelles, a nucleus has a

membrane. An organelle’s outer membrane controls the types and amounts of

substances that cross it. Such control maintains a special internal environment

that allows the organelle to carry out its particular function. That function may

be isolating toxic or sensitive substances from the rest of the cell, transporting

substances through cytoplasm, maintaining fl uid balance, or providing a favorable environment for a
special process.

A typical eukaryotic cell contains a nucleus, an endomembrane system (ER,

vesicles, and Golgi bodies), mitochondria, and cytoskeletal elements. Certain

cells also have other special structures (Figures 3.9 and 3.10). Much as interactions among organs keep
an animal body alive and well, interactions among

these components keep a cell alive and well.

The Nucleus A nucleus serves two important functions. First, it keeps the

cell’s genetic material—its one and only copy of DNA—safe and sound. Isolated

in its own compartment, DNA stays separated from the bustling activity of the

cytoplasm, and from metabolic processes that might damage it 2 .

The second function of a nucleus is to control the passage of certain molecules between the nucleus and
the cytoplasm . The nuclear membrane, which is

called the nuclear envelope, carries out this function. A nuclear envelope consists of two lipid bilayers
folded together as a single membrane. Receptors and

transporters stud both sides of the bilayer; other proteins cluster to form tiny

pores that span it. These molecules and structures work as a system to selectively
differ in structure and metabolic details. Some characteristics of archaeans indicate they are more
closely related to eukaryotic cells than they are to bacteria.

Chapter 13 revisits prokaryotes in more detail. Here we present a simple overview.

Most prokaryotic cells are not much bigger than a few micrometers. None

has a complex internal framework, but protein fi laments under the plasma

membrane reinforce the cell’s shape. Such fi laments also act as scaffolding for

internal structures.

Figure 3.8 shows a general body plan of a prokaryotic cell. The cytoplasm of

these cells contains many ribosomes (organelles upon which polypeptides are

assembled), and in some species, additional organelles. The cell’s single chromosome, a circular DNA
molecule, is located in the cytoplasm, in an irregularly

shaped region called the nucleoid. Most nucleoids are not enclosed by a membrane. The cytoplasm of
many prokaryotes also contains plasmids. These small

circles of DNA carry a few genes (units of inheritance) that can provide advantages, such as resistance to
antibiotics.

Many pr