BIO 101 GENERAL BIOLOGY

CELL STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION

A CELL

The biological science which deals with the study of structure, function, molecular organization,
growth, reproduction and and genetics of the cells, is called cytology

The cell theory.

A general characteristic of cells is their microscopic size. While there are a few exceptions—the
marine alga Acetabularia can be up to 5 centimeters long.
Robert Hooke first described cells in 1665, when he used a microscope he had built to examine a
thin slice of cork, a nonliving tissue found in the bark of certain trees. Hooke observed a
honeycomb of tiny, empty (because the cells were dead) compartments. He called the
compartments in the cork cellulae (Latin, “small rooms”), and the term has come down to us as
cells.

A cell is a membrane-bounded unit that contains the DNA hereditary machinery and
cytoplasm. All organisms are cells or aggregates of cells.

The cell theory, in its modern form, includes the following three principles:
1. All organisms are composed of one or more cells,
2. The life processes of metabolism and heredity occur within these cells.
3. Cells are the smallest living things, the basic units of organization of all organisms.
4. Cells arise only by division of a previously existing cell.

Types of cell

Types of cell based on number of aggregates.

1. Unicellular
2. Multicellular

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Types of cell due to complexity
1. Prokaryotic cell
2. Eukaryotic cell.

Prokaryotic cell:
These includes cells whose genetic materials are not bounded by a nuclear membrane but are
found freely in the cytoplasm in an area known as a nucleoid. They include bacteria, virus,
ricketsia, etc.

Virus .
This is a small microorganism or complexes that contain RNA or DNA, and is surrounded by
a protein coat. They invade cells and replicates new viruses after invasion using the protein
of the infected cell (Host) to reproduce. They can cause human diseases like measles,
mumps, chicken pox, AIDS, etc while they cause TMV, vain clearing, vain banding, and
necrosis in plants. They are not usually affected by common drugs such antibiotics which are
affective against bacteria based disease, vaccine are used instead to prevent their attacks.
A mature virus is known as a Virion and it is made up of 3 parts,
1. A genome (RNA or DNA)
2. Capsid
3. Envelope in some virus.
Virus has both living (within the host) and non living (outside the host) characteristics.

Virus are grouped by their shape, types of disease they cause and their life cycle or genome.
There are 4 main shapes of virus.
1. Crystal shape e.g Polio virus
2. Cylinders eg. TMV
3. Sphere eg. Influenza, HIV
4. Spacecraft eg. Bacteriophage
Virus attack living cell and turn them into virus factories through LYTIC CYCLE

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Virus that evolved in isolated areas and that can infect human beings are called EMERGING
VIRUSES. Eg. Yara virus (Brazil), Machupo (Southamerica), Ebola (Africa), Lassa (Africa),
COVID 19.

Bacteria
The Domain Bactereia and Archaea consist of single celled organism. They are the two oldest
forms of life on earth.

Bacteria shape
1. Rod shaped (Baccili)
2. Spherical (Cocci)
3. Spiral shape (spirilla)
4. Comma shape (Vibrio)

USES OF BACTERIA
Nitrogen fixation
Nutrient recycling
Biomediation
Antibiotics
Genetic engineering
Pathogenic bacteria.

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 Eukaryotic cells
This refers to cell whose organelles are bounded by a double membrane. They consist of
essentially two envelope
systems and they are very much larger than prokaryotic cells. Secondary membranes envelop the
nucleus and other internal organelles and to a great extent they pervade the cytoplasm as the
endoplasmic reticulum. The eukaryotic cells are the true cells which occur in the plants (from
algae to angiosperms) and the animals (from Protozoa to mammals). Though the eukaryotic cells
have different shape, size, and physiology; all the cells are typically composed of plasma
membrane, cytoplasm and its organelles, viz., mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes,
Golgi apparatus, etc., and a true nucleus. Here the nuclear contents, such as DNA, RNA,
nucleoproteins and nucleolus remain separated from the cytoplasm by the thin, perforated
nuclear membranes.

The interiors of eukaryotic cells contain numerous organelles, membrane-bounded structures

that close off compartments within which multiple biochemical processes can proceed
simultaneously and independently. They are cells whose nucleous is bounded by a nuclear
membrane. Plant and higher animals have this type of cells.

CELL SHAPE
The basic shape of the eukaryotic cell is spherical, however, the shape is ultimately determined
by the specific function of the cell. Thus, the shape of the cell may be variable (i.e., frequently
changing the shape) or fixed. Variable or irregular shape occurs in Amoeba and white blood cells
or leucocytes. Fixed shape of the cell occurs in almost all protists (e.g., Euglena, Paramecium),
plants and animals. In unicellular organisms the cell shape is maintained by tough plasma
membrane and exoskeleton. Thus, cells may have diverse shapes such as polyhedral (with 8, 12
or 14 sides; e.g., squamous epithelium); flattened (e.g upper layers of the epidermis); cuboidal
(e.g., in thyroid glands); columnar (e.g., the cells lining the intestine); discoidal (e.g., red blood
cells or erythrocytes); spherical (e.g., eggs of many animals); spindle shaped (e.g., smooth-
muscle fibres); elongated (e.g., nerve cells or neurons); or branched (e.g., chromatophores or
pigment cells of skin). Among plants, the cell shape also depends upon the function of the cell.

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For example, cells such as glandular hairs on a leaf, the guard cells of stomata and root hair cells
have their special shape.

CELL VOLUME
The volume of a cell is fairly constant for a particular cell type and is independent of the size of
the organism. (This is called the law of constant volume.) For example, kidney or liver cells are
about the same size in the bull, horse and mouse. The difference in the total mass of the organ or
organism depends on the number, not on the volume of the cells. Thus, the cells of an elephant
are not necessarily larger than those of other tiny animals or plants. The large size of the elephant
is due to the larger number of cells present in its body.

CELL STRUCTURE
An eukaryotic cell consists of the following components: A Cell wall and plasma membrane;
B. Cytoplasm; and C. Nucleus.
ORGANELLE>>
This is the cell contents containing fluids performing a distinct function for the survival of the
cell. Eg cell wall, nucleous, RER SER.etc.
1. Cell wall. The outermost structure of most plant cells is a dead and rigid layer called cell wall.
It is made up of 3 parts viz. middle lamella, primary and secondary wall. Many kinds of plant
cells have only primary cell wall around them.
2. Nucleus.
A round duble membrane organelole containing chromosome in which DNA replication and
transcription takes place.
4. Nucleolus.. An oval structure in the nucleus that forms at the nuclear organizer.
5. RER””..MEMbranous interconnected folded sheets in the cytoplasm of cells containing
ribosome. It transport materials through the cell and produce protein sacks (cisternae)
6. SER>. They lack ribosome but contains enzymes. They function to produce and digest
lipids and membrane proteins.
7. LYSOSOME> A small organelle surrounded by a membrane and contains digestive
enzymes and acidic chemicals. It function to digest food materials and cleaning up of
damaged cells.

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 8. CELL PLATE.> a membrane that forms in the cytoplasm of plant cell during cell
division. It develops into a new cell wall.
9. CYTOSOL> semi fluid portion of the cytoplasm not containing any organelle.
10. VACUOLES> it is the largest organelle in the plant cell. It stores nutrients and toxic
wastes. If the pressure increases within the vacuole, it can increase the size of the cell and
the cell become swollen. If the increase in pressure continues, the cell will burst.
11. CHLOROPLAST> this is the organelle containing the green pigment responsible for
photosynthesis in plant. It confers green coloration to plants. It is lacking in animal cell.

Animal cell and Plant cell differences

1. Animal cells are generally small in size while plant cells are larger than animal cells.
2. Cell wall is absent in plant while the plasma membrane of plant cells is surrounded by a rigid
cell wall of cellulose.
3. Except the protozoan Euglena no animal cell possesses plastids while Plastids are present in
plant cell.

4. Vacuoles in animal cells are many and small while most mature plant cells have a large central
sap (vacuole)
vacuole.
5. Animal cells have a single highly complex and prominent Golgi apparatus while Plant cells
have many simpler units of Golgi apparatus, called dictyosomes.
6. Animal cells have centrosome and centrioles while Plant cells lack centrosome and centrioles.

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