MODULE GENERALBIOLOGY 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

Course Description

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subject is designed to enhance the understanding of the principles and concepts in the study
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transformation of energy in organisms.

Learning Outcomes
KNOWLEDGE:
1. explain the postulates of the cell theory
2. describe the structure and function of major and sub cellular organelles
3. distinguish prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells according to their distinguishing features
4. characterize the phases of the cell cycle and their control points
5. discuss crossing over and recombination in meiosis
6. describe the structural components of the cell membrane
7. relate the structure and composition of the cell membrane to its function
8. explain transport mechanisms in cells (diffusion osmosis, facilitated transport, active
transport)
9. categorize the biological molecules(lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids)
according to their structure and function
10. explain the role of each biological molecule in specific metabolic processes
11. describe the components of an enzyme
12. explain oxidation/reduction reactions
13. explain coupled reaction processes and describe the role of ATP in energy coupling and
transfer
14. describe the major features and chemical events in photosynthesis and respiration
15. explain the importance of chlorophyll and other pigments
16. describe the patterns of electron flow through light reaction events
17. describe the significant events of the Calvin cycle

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Cell
Lesson 1: Cell Theory
Lesson 2: Cell Structure and functions

Chapter 2: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells

Lesson 1: Prokaryotic cells
Lesson 2: Eukaryotic cells

Chapter 3: Cell types

Lesson 1: Cell modification

CHAPTER 4: Cell Cycle

Lesson 1: Mitosis
Lesson 2: Meiosis

CHAPTER 5: Transport Mechanism

Lesson 1: Simple Diffusion
Lesson 2: Facilitated transport
Lesson 3: Active Transport
Lesson 4: Bulk/ Vesicular transport

CHAPTER 6: Structures and functions of Biological Molecules

Lesson 1: Carbohydrates
Lesson 2: Li[ids

CHAPTER 7: Proteins
Lesson 1: Proteins
Lesson 2: Enzymes
Lesson 3: Nucleic Acid

CHAPTER 8: ATP – ADP CYCLE

CHAPTER 9: PHOTOSYNTHESIS

CHAPTER 10: RESPIRATION

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CHAPTER 1

CELL
LESSON 1: CELL THEORY

OBJECTIVES:
 Explain the postulates of the cell theory
 Discuss the history of cell

TIME TO LEARN!

Cell theory

In biology, cell theory is the historic scientific theory, now universally accepted, that living
organisms are made up of cells, that they are the basic structural/organizational unit of all
organisms, and that all cells come from pre-existing cells. Cells are the basic unit of structure in
all organisms and also the basic unit of reproduction.
The three tenets to the cell theory are as described below:

1. All living organisms are composed of one or more cells.

2. The cell is the basic unit of structure and organization in organisms.
3. Cells arise from pre-existing cells.
There is no universally accepted definition of life. Some biologists consider non-cellular
entities such as viruses living organisms, And thus reasonably disagree with the first tenet.

History

With continual improvements made to microscopes over time, magnification technology

advanced enough to discover cells. This discovery is largely attributed to Robert Hooke, and
began the scientific study of cells, known as cell biology. When observing a piece of cork under
the scope and he was able to see pores. This was shocking at the time because it was believed no
one else had seen these.To further support his theory, Matthias Schleiden and Theodor

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Schwann both studied cells of both animal and plants. What they discovered was there were
significant differences between the two types of cells. This put forth the idea that cells were not
only fundamental to plants, but animals as well.

Microscopes

Robert Hooke's microscope was a recreation of Leeuwenhoek's microscope in the 17th century,
except his was 300x magnification [30].The discovery of the cell was made possible through the
invention of the microscope. In the first century BC, Romans were able to make glass. They
discovered that objects appeared to be larger under the glass. In Italy during the 12th century,
Salvino D’Armate made a piece of glass fit over one eye, allowing for a magnification effect to
that eye. The expanded use of lenses in eyeglasses in the 13th century probably led to wider
spread use of simple microscopes (magnifying glasses) with limited magnification. Compound
microscopes, which combine an objective lens with an eyepiece to view a real image achieving
much higher magnification, first appeared in Europe around 1620. In 1665, Robert Hooke used a
microscope about six inches long with two convex lenses inside and examined specimens under
reflected light for the observations in his book Micrographia. Hooke also used a simpler
microscope with a single lens for examining specimens with directly transmitted light, because
this allowed for a clearer image.
An extensive microscopic study was done by Anton van Leeuwenhoek, a draper who took the
interest in microscopes after seeing one while on an apprenticeship in Amsterdam in 1648. At
some point in his life before 1668, he was able to learn how to grind lenses. This eventually led
to Leeuwenhoek making his own unique microscope. He made one with a single lens. He was
able to use a single lens that was a small glass sphere but allowed for a magnification of 270x.
This was a large progression since the magnification before was only a maximum of 50x. After
Leeuwenhoek, there was not much progress in microscope technology until the 1850s, two
hundred years later. Carl Zeiss, a German engineer who manufactured microscopes, began to
make changes to the lenses used. But the optical quality did not improve until the 1880s when he
hired Otto Schott and eventually Ernst Abbe.
Optical microscopes can focus on objects the size of a wavelength or larger, giving restrictions
still to advancement in discoveries with objects smaller than the wavelengths of visible light. The
development of the electron microscope in the 1920s made it possible to view objects that are
smaller than optical wavelengths, once again opening up new possibilities in science.

Discovery of cells
Drawing of the structure of cork by Robert Hooke that appeared in Micrographia. The cell was
first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665, which can be found to be described in his
book Micrographia. In this book, he gave 60 ‘observations’ in detail of various objects under a
coarse, compound microscope. One observation was from very thin slices of bottle cork. Hooke
discovered a multitude of tiny pores that he named "cells". This came from the Latin word Cella,
meaning ‘a small room’ like monks lived in and also Cellulae, which meant the six sided cell of
a honeycomb. However, Hooke did not know their real structure or function. What Hooke had
thought were cells, were actually empty cell walls of plant tissues. With microscopes during this
time having a low magnification, Hooke was unable to see that there were other internal

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components to the cells he was observing. Therefore, he did not think the "cellulae" were alive.
His cell observations gave no indication of the nucleus and other organelles found in most living
cells. In Micrographia, Hooke also observed mould, bluish in color, found on leather. After
studying it under his microscope, he was unable to observe “seeds” that would have indicated
how the mould was multiplying in quantity. This led to Hooke suggesting that spontaneous
generation, from either natural or artificial heat, was the cause. Since this was an old Aristotelian
theory still accepted at the time, others did not reject it and was not disproved
until Leeuwenhoek later discovered that generation was achieved otherwise.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek is another scientist who saw these cells soon after Hooke did. He made
use of a microscope containing improved lenses that could magnify objects almost 300-fold, or
270x. Under these microscopes, Leeuwenhoek found motile objects. In a letter to The Royal
Society on October 9, 1676, he states that motility is a quality of life therefore these were living
organisms. Over time, he wrote many more papers in which described many specific forms
of microorganisms. Leeuwenhoek named these “animalcules,” which included protozoa and
other unicellular organisms, like bacteria. Though he did not have much formal education, he
was able to identify the first accurate description of red blood cells and discovered bacteria after
gaining interest in the sense of taste that resulted in Leeuwenhoek to observe the tongue of an ox,
then leading him to study "pepper water" in 1676. He also found for the first time the sperm
cells of animals and humans. Once discovering these types of cells, Leeuwenhoek saw that the
fertilization process requires the sperm cell to enter the egg cell. This put an end to the previous
theory of spontaneous generation. After reading letters by Leeuwenhoek, Hooke was the first to
confirm his observations that were thought to be unlikely by other contemporaries
The cells in animal tissues were observed after plants were because the tissues were so fragile
and susceptible to tearing, it was difficult for such thin slices to be prepared for studying.
Biologists believed that there was a fundamental unit to life, but were unsure what this was. It

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would not be until over a hundred years later that this fundamental unit was connected to cellular
structure and existence of cells in animals or plants. This conclusion was not made until Henri
Dutrochet. Besides stating “the cell is the fundamental element of organization” Dutrochet also
claimed that cells were not just a structural unit, but also a physiological unit.

Cell theory
Credit for developing cell theory is usually given to two scientists: Theodor
Schwann and Matthias Jakob Schleiden. While Rudolf Virchow contributed to the theory, he is
not as credited for his attributions toward it. In 1839, Schleiden suggested that every structural
part of a plant was made up of cells or the result of cells. He also suggested that cells were made
by a crystallization process either within other cells or from the outside. However, this was not
an original idea of Schleiden. He claimed this theory as his own, though Barthelemy
Dumortier had stated it years before him. This crystallization process is no longer accepted
with modern cell theory. In 1839, Theodor Schwann states that along with plants, animals are
composed of cells or the product of cells in their structures. This was a major advancement in the
field of biology since little was known about animal structure up to this point compared to plants.
From these conclusions about plants and animals, two of the three tenets of cell theory were
postulated
1. All living organisms are composed of one or more cells
2. The cell is the most basic unit of life
Schleiden's theory of free cell formation through crystallization was refuted in the 1850s
by Robert Remak, Rudolf Virchow, and Albert Kolliker. In 1855, Rudolf Virchow added the
third tenet to cell theory. In Latin, this tenet states Omnis cellula e cellula. This translated to:
3. All cells arise only from pre-existing cells
However, the idea that all cells come from pre-existing cells had in fact already been proposed
by Robert Remak; it has been suggested that Virchow plagiarized Remak and did not give him
credit.Remak published observations in 1852 on cell division, claiming Schleiden and Schawnn

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were incorrect about generation schemes. He instead said that binary fission, which was first
introduced by Dumortier, was how reproduction of new animal cells were made. Once this tenet
was added, the classical cell theory was complete.

Modern interpretation
The generally accepted parts of modern cell theory include:

1. All known living things are made up of one or more cells

2. All living cells arise from pre-existing cells by division.
3. The cell is the fundamental unit of structure and function in all living organisms.
4. The activity of an organism depends on the total activity of independent cells.
5. Energy flow (metabolism and biochemistry) occurs within cells.
6. Cells contain DNA which is found specifically in the chromosome and RNA found in the
cell nucleus and cytoplasm.
7. All cells are basically the same in chemical composition in organisms of similar species.

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LESSON 2: CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTIONS

OBJECTIVES:
 Describe the structure and function of major and sub cellular organelles
 Illustrate the function of cell
 Describe the structure of cell

TIME TO LEARN!

Cells are the smallest form of life; the functional and structural units of all living things. Your
body contains several billion cells, organised into over 200 major types, with hundreds of cell-
specific functions.

Some functions performed by cells are so vital to the existence of life that all cells perform them
(e.g. cellular respiration). Others are highly specialised (e.g. photosynthesis).

shows a two-dimensional drawing of an animal cell. The diagram shows the structures visible
within a cell at high magnification. The structures form the ultrastructure of the cell.

We will now look at some of the basic cell structures and organelles in animal and plant cells.

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Cell wall

The cell wall is a rigid non-living layer that is found outside the cell membrane and surrounds
the cell. Plants, bacteria and fungi all have cell walls. In plants, the wall is comprised of
cellulose. It consists of three layers that help support the plant. These layers include the middle
lamella, the primary cell wall and the secondary cell wall.

Middle lamella: Separates one cell from another. It is a thin membranous layer on the outside of
the cell and is made of a sticky substance called pectin.

Primary cell wall: Is on the inside of the middle lamella and is mainly composed of cellulose.

Secondary cell wall: Lies alongside the cell membrane. It is is made up of a thick and tough
layer of cellulose which is held together by a hard, waterproof substance called lignin. It is only
found in cells which provide mechanical support in plants.

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Functions of the cell wall

 The main function of the wall is to protect the inner parts of the plant cell, it gives plant
cells a more uniform and regular shape and provides support for the plant body.
 The cell wall is completely permeable to water and mineral salts which allows
distribution of nutrients throughout the plant.
 The openings in the cell wall are called plasmodesmata which contain strands of
cytoplasm that connect adjacent cells. This allows cells to interact with one another, allowing
molecules to travel between plant cells.

Cell membrane

The cell membrane, also called the plasma membrane, physically separates the intracellular
space (inside the cell) from the extracellular environment (outside the cell). All plant and animal
cells have cell membranes. The cell membrane surrounds and protects the cytoplasm. Cytoplasm
is part of the protoplasm and is the living component of the cell.

The cell membrane is composed of a double layer (bilayer) of special lipids (fats)
called phospholipids. Phospholipids consist of a hydrophilic (water-loving) head and
a hydrophobic (water-fearing) tail. The hydrophobic head of the phospholipid
is polar (charged) and can therefore dissolve in water. The hydrophobic tail is non-
polar (uncharged), and cannot dissolve in water.

The lipid bilayer forms spontaneously due to the properties of the phospholipid molecules. In an
aqueous environment, the polar heads try to form hydrogen bonds with the water, while the non-
polar tails try to escape from the water. The problem is solved by the formation of a bilayer
because the hydrophilic heads can point outwards and from hydrogen bonds with water, and the
hydrophobic tails point towards one another and are 'protected' from the water molecules

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The lipid bilayer showing the arrangement of phospholipids, containing hydrophilic, polar heads
and hydrophobic, non-polar tails.

All the exchanges between the cell and its environment have to pass through the cell membrane.
The cell membrane is selectively permeable to ions (e.g. hydrogen, sodium), small molecules
(oxygen, carbon dioxide) and larger molecules (glucose and amino acids) and controls the
movement of substances in and out of the cells. The cell membrane performs many important
functions within the cell such as osmosis, diffusion, transport of nutrients into the cell, processes
of ingestion and secretion. The cell membrane is strong enough to provide the cell with
mechanical support and flexible enough to allow cells to grow and move.

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For further reading, please refer to the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_theory#:~:text=In%20biology%2C%20cell%20theory
%20is,come%20from%20pre%2Dexisting%20cells.

https://intl.siyavula.com/read/science/grade-10-lifesciences/cells-the-basic-units-of-
life/02-cells-the-basic-units-of-life-03

LINKS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk3vlhz1b6k&t=5s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwAJ8ByQH2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56kSOHc8B1E

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