Cell Structure

Cells are a fundamental unit of structure, function and organisation in all living organisms. The
cells structure of higher organisms such as animals, plants and fungi are given below.

Cell wall: Plant cell wall is a layer of non-living material found outside the cell membrane. It is
made of a carbohydrate called cellulose.

Function:

• Cellulose is a tough material helping the cell keep its shape

• It provides support and prevent the plant cell from bursting
• It allows movement of water through and along it
• It acts as a waterproofing layer when impregnated with other substances such as lignin

Cell membrane: All cells are surrounded by a cell membrane. It is made of lipid and protein.

Function:

• It acts as a selectively or partially permeable membrane. Because it allows selective

substances such as water, mineral etc. to pass across.
• Osmosis, diffusion and active transport occur through cell membrane
• It acts as a sac-like structure holding cytoplasm and organelles inside it

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Cytoplasm: It is jelly-like structure and contains all living materials making up a cell. For
example, proteins such as enzymes, glucose, water and different ions such as Na+, K+, Cl-etc.

Functions:

• It provides a basis for chemical reaction to occur

• Organelles are suspended in it
• It regulates osmotic potential of the cell

Mitochondria: All living cells contain mitochondria which are rod-like structure having outer
and inner membrane. These membranes seperate its contents from the rest of the cytoplasm. Its
inner membrane is folded to form cristae which increases the surface area for more chemical
reactions to occur. Matrix inside mitochondria contains the enzymes needed for different
chemical reactions involved in the respiration. Cells with a high demand of energy contain more
mitochondria, for example, liver cells, muscle cells nerve cells etc.

Functions:

• Aerobic respiration occurs here

• Energy released in respiration is used to make ATP which is temporarily stored here
• It is called the power house of the cell.

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Nucleus: It is the largest organelle in the cell. Nearly all cells have a nucleus excepting few types
such as red blood cells in animals and cells in the xylem vessel in plant. It is bounded by double
membrane-inner and outer membrane.

Functions:

• It controls the activity of the cell

• Chromosome in nucleus contains the genetic material of the cell
• Nucleolus in the nucleus is made of pure DNA. It produces ribosomes
• Nuclear pore controls the entry and exit of substances into and out of the nucleus

Chloroplast: It is also double membrane bounded organelle. It is present in the cells of the
green parts of the plant, such as leaves. Cells from the parts of a plant that are not green, such as
the flowers, roots and woody stems, have no chloroplasts.

Functions:

• Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll which absorbs light energy and converts this light
energy into chemical energy for using in the photosynthesis.
Endoplasmic Reticulum: It is an extension of the outer nuclear membrane. It is of two types-
rough endoplasmic reticulum and smooth endoplasmic reticulum.

Functions:

• It forms a transport network throughout the cell

• It provides a large surface area for chemical reactions
• Rough endoplasmic reticulum is involved in protein synthesis
• Smooth endoplasmic reticulum produce lipids and steroids

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Golgi apparatus: Golgi apparatus is composed of membrane bound flattened sacs piled up in
stacks.

Functions:

• It is involved in modifying chemicals such as protein produced by endoplasmic reticulum

to make it functional. For example, iron is added to protein to make haemoglobin etc.
• It also produces lysosome.

Lysosome: It is produced by the Golgi apparatus.

Function:

• It releases enzyme outside the cell to digest external material

• It destroys damaged or unwanted cell organelles
• It digests engulfed material by a cell, for example, bacteria engulfed by white blood cells

Ribosome : It is made of RNA (Ribonucleic acid) and proteins.

Function:

• It is here protein synthesis occurs

Centriole: It is made of proteins. There are two centrioles near the nucleus in each cell.

Function:

• It is involved in cell division

Vacuole: It is a fluid-filled sac surrounded by a membrane called tonoplast in plant cell. It is a

permanent feature in plant cell but temporary in animal cell. The fluid inside the vacuole is
called cell sap which is a store of dissolved sugars, mineral ions and other solutes.

Function:

• It regulates osmotic potential of the cell

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Similarities and differences between a plant and an animal cell
Similarities:

Both plant and animal cells contain-

• Cell membrane
• Cytoplasm
• Mitochondria
• Nucleas
• Ribosome
• Endoplasmic reticulum ( Rough and smooth)
• Golgi apparatus
• Lysosome

Differences:

Features Plant Cell Animal Cell

Presence of cell wall Present Absent
Presence of large permanent vacuole Present Absent
Presence of chloroplast Present Absent
Presence of centriole Absent Present
Energy store Starch Glycogen

Types of cell : Fundamentally there are two different types of cells. These are-

• Prokaryotic cell
• Eukaryotic cell

Prokaryotic cell- Cells lacking organised nucleus and other membrane-bounded organelles such
as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc. are reffered to as prokaryotic cells. Its DNA is
circular. It has 70S ribosome. It has cell wall which is made of carbohydrate and protein.

Eukaryotic cell- Cells having organised nucleus and membrane bounded-organelles such as
mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum etc. are referred to as eukaryotic cells. Hence, organised
nucleus means- nucleus is bounded by nuclear membrane and chromosome is located inside the
nucleus. Its DNA is not circular. It has 80S ribosome. It may contain cell wall which is either
cellulose as in plants or chitin, as in fungus.

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