THE FUNDAMENTAL UNIT OF LIFE

FACTS ABOUT CELL

❖ What is cell? :- The cell is the basic
structural and functional unit of all
forms of life.
❖ Discovery of cell :- Robert Hooke
It resembled the structure of a
honeycomb consisting of many
little compartments, he called Oak Tree
these boxes CELL
❖ Cell :- Latin word – A little room
❖ Robert Hooke discovered Cell in 1665
Honeycomb
with the help of a primitive
microscope
➢ Discovery of Living cell :- Anton Von
Leeuwenhoek ( free living cells in
pond water, PROTOZOAN)

➢Discovery of nucleus :- Robert Brown

FREE LIVING CELL
➢Term Protoplasm :- Purkinje (fluid of
substance of the cell

➢“All cells arise from pre-existing

cells" – Virchow

➢The cell theory was given by

Schleiden and Schwann.
 Unicellular vs Multicellular organisms
UNICELLULAR
➢ Made of one cell MULTICELLULAR
➢ Single cell ➢ Made of more than
performs all life one cell
functions ➢ Specialized cells
❖ Ex :- Amoeba, perform different
Bacteria, life functions
Chlamydomonas, ➢ Ex :- plants ,
Paramecium Animals , fungi

Fungi Animals plants

➢ The shape and size of cells are
related to the specific function they
perform.
➢ Division of labour is also seen
within a cell.
➢ Each such cell has got certain
specific components within it,
known as CELL ORGANELLES.
➢ Generally, a cell has plasma
membrane, nucleus and cytoplasm.
Before we start I wanna show you something
If organelles could talk
To Chaliye Shuru Karte Hai
PARTS OF A CELL
 CDS 2 2023

Halwaaaaaa
PLASMA MEMBRANE
OR
CELL MEMBRANE
 PLASMA MEMBRANE OR
CELL MEMBRANE protector
➢Outermost covering of the cell that
separates the contents of the cell
from its external environment
➢Universal membrane
➢Made of lipids and proteins
➢Selectively permeable
➢allows or permits the entry and exit
of materials in and out of the cell
➢Transfer of gases like oxygen and
carbon dioxide through Diffusion
❖ DIFFUSION :-
▪ Diffusion is important for cells to obtain nutrition from
its environment and exchange gases & water.
▪ Transfer from high concentration to low concentration
▪ Carbon dioxide is cellular waste requires to be excreted
out by the cell
▪ Cell intakes oxygen for functions

❖ Osmosis:-
▪ a special kind of diffusion
▪ Movement of water from high concentration to low
concentration
▪ Three kind of medium :- Hypotonic, Hypertonic,
Isotonic
➢ Hypotonic Solution- When the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water
concentration than the cell. Cell gains water by osmosis as outside solution is very
dilute. More water will come into the cell than will leave. Cell swells up.

➢ Hypertonic Solution- When the medium has a lower concentration of water than the
cell, meaning that it is a very concentrated solution, the cell will lose water. Cell
shrinks

➢ Isotonic Solution- When the medium has exactly the same water concentration as the
cell, there will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane. Cell remains
same

Cell swells in hypotonic medium

Cell shrinks in hypertonic medium

Remains of the same size in isotonic medium

➢ Unicellular freshwater organisms and most
plant cells tend to gain water through
osmosis

➢ Absorption of water by plant roots is also an

example of osmosis.

➢ Osmosis is a special case of diffusion

through a selectively permeable membrane.

➢ Note :- Plasma membrane is flexible. It helps

cell to engulf in food and other material from
its environment. Such processes are known
as endocytosis.(Amoeba)
NUCLEUS
 NUCLEUS
➢Manager of the cell
➢Has double membrane
➢The nucleus membrane has pores
which allow the transfer of material
from inside the nucleus to outside, i.e.
to the cytoplasm.
➢Contains chromosomes
❖ CHROMOSOMES :-
➢ Rod shaped structure visible only when the
cell is about to divide
➢ Chromosomes contain information for
inheritance of the features from parents to
next generation in the form of DNA
(Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid) molecules.
➢ Chromosomes are composed of DNA and
protein
➢ DNA molecules contain information
necessary for constructing and organizing
cells
➢ Functional segments of DNA are known as
genes
➢ In a cell which is not dividing, this DNA is
present as part of chromatin material.
CDS 2 2023

CDS 2 2023
 Functions of the nucleus
▪ Nucleus plays a central role in cellular
reproduction the process by which a
single cell divides and forms two new cells

▪ In some organisms like bacteria, the

nuclear region of the cell may be poorly
defined due to the absence of a nuclear
membrane.

▪ Such an undefined nuclear region

containing only nucleic acids is called a
nucleoid
 Prokaryotes vs Eukaryotes
❖ Prokaryotes (Pro = primitive; karyote = nucleus)
▪ Prokaryotes :- No well defined nucleus
▪ Such undefined nucleus region is called NUCLEOID
▪ lack a nuclear membrane
▪ Smaller in size
▪ Single chromosome
▪ Bacteria, blue green alagae, mycoplasma

❖ Eukaryotes (Eu – True, karyotes – nucleus )

▪ Well defined nucleus with a proper nuclear membrane
▪ cells having a nuclear membrane
▪ Comparatively large size
▪ More than one chromosome
▪ Plants, Animals, Fungi
NDA 2 2023
CYTOPLASM
➢ fluid content inside the plasma membrane.
➢ It contains many specialized cell organelles. Each
of these organelles performs a specific function
for the cell
➢ Cell organelles are enclosed by membranes.
➢ In prokaryotes, beside the absence of a defined
nuclear region, the membrane-bound cell
organelles are also absent.
➢ On the other hand, the eukaryotic cells have
nuclear membrane as well as membrane-enclosed
organelles.

➢ Note :- Viruses lack membranes and hence do not

show characteristics of life until they enter a
living body and use its cell machinery to multiply.
CELL WALL
➢ Plant cells have additional
membrane outside the plasma
membrane
➢ This is rigid and is mainly made
of cellulose which is a complex
substance and provides structural
strength to the plants
➢ In bacteria, this is made up of
peptidoglycans
➢ In fungi, this is composed of
chitin
➢ Helps protect the cell in hypotonic
external medium.
After studied cell wall, my mind is…
CDS 2 2023
Cell Organelles
❖ Cell Organelles:-
➢ Endoplasmic reticulum
➢ Golgi apparatus
➢ Lysosomes
➢ Vacuole
➢ Mitochondria
➢ Plastids.
➢ Ribosomes
ENDOPLASMIC
RETICULUM
 Endoplasmic Reticulum
➢ It is a large network of membrane-bound tubes and sheets.
It looks like long tubules or round or oblong bags (vesicles)
➢ ER membrane is similar in structure to the plasma
membrane
➢ Has two type :- SER & RER
➢ RER :- (Rough endoplasmic reticulum) – has rough surface
due to presence of ribosomes
➢ Ribosomes are site of protein synthesis
➢ The manufactured proteins are then sent to various places
in the cell depending on the need using the endoplasmic
reticulum
➢ SER :- Has smooth surface due to absence of ribosomes on
the surface
➢ Helps in lipid formation
➢ SER plays a crucial role in detoxifying many poisons and
drugs
 GOLGI APPARATUS
➢ It is a system of membrane-bound
vesicles (flattened sacs) arranged
approximately parallel to each other in
stacks called cisterns.
➢ First described by Camillo Golgi
➢ The material synthesized near the ER
is packaged and dispatched to various
targets inside and outside the cell
through the Golgi apparatus.
➢ Storage, modification and packaging in
vesicles
➢ Formation of Lysosomes
➢ Complex sugars from simple sugars
 Lysosomes
➢ Have digestive enzymes
➢ Waste disposal system of the cell
➢ Lysosomes help to keep the cell
clean by digesting any foreign
material as well as worn out cell
organelles
➢ ‘suicide bags’ of a cell
➢ Structurally lysosomes are
Membrane bounce sacs filled with
digestive enzymes.
➢ These enzymes are made by RER.
 Vacuoles
➢ Storage sacs for solid or liquid contents.
➢ Vacuoles are small sized in animal cells
while plant cells have very large
vacuoles
➢ The central vacuole of some plant cells
may occupy 50-90% of the cell volume
➢ Vacuoles are full of cell sap and provide
turgidity and rigidity to the cell in
plants.
➢ Many substances of importance in the
life of the plant cell are stored in
vacuoles.(amino acids, sugars.)
 Mitochondria
➢ Powerhouse of the cell.
➢ Double membrane
➢ The outer membrane is porous
while the inner membrane is deeply
folded
➢ Help in generation of the energy
currency of the cell known as ATP
(Adenosine triphosphate)
➢ The energy is used to make new
chemical compounds and carrying
out mechanical activities of the cell
➢ Has its own DNA & Ribosomes
CDS 2 2023
 Plastids
➢ Are found only in plant cells
➢ Are of two types :- Chromoplasts and
Leucoplasts
➢ Chromoplasts contain coloured pigments
➢ Leucoplast are colourless and their major
function is storage of starch, Oil and
proteins
➢ Chromoplasts with green pigment
(chlorophyll ) are known as chloroplast
➢ These help the cell in photosynthesis
➢ Plastids are similar to mitochondria in
external structure
➢ They also have their own DAN &
RIBOSOMES
 Cell Division
➢ Process by which new cells are made.
➢ There are two main types of cell division: (1)Mitosis
(2)Meiosis
➢ The process of cell division by which most of the cells
divide for growth is called Mitosis.
➢ In this, Mother cell divides to form two identical daughter
cells.
➢ The daughter cells have the same number of
chromosomes as mother cell
➢ Meiosis involves two consecutive divisions.
➢ When a cell divides by meiosis it produces four new cells
instead of just two.
➢ The new cells only have half the number of chromosomes
than that of the mother cells
The free living cells in pond water is discovered by?
A. Robert Hooke
B. Leeuwenhoek
C. Purkinje
D.Virchow

Which of the following about Plasma membrane is Incorrect?

A. It prevents movement of some materials that is why it is
selectively permeable membrane.
B. The plasma membrane is made up of organic molecules called
lipids and proteins.
C. We can observe the structure of the plasma membrane only
through an electron microscope.
D. It also prevents cell from engulfing the food and other material
from its external environment.
Which of the following is Incorrect?
A. Plant cells , In addition to plasma membrane have another rigid covering called
cell wall.
B. The cell wall lies outside the plasma membrane.
C. The Animal cell is mainly composed of cellulose.
D. Cell walls permit the cells of plants fungi and bacteria to withstand hypotonic
external media without bursting.

Which of the following is Incorrect?

A. The nucleus has triple layered covering called nuclear membrane.
B. The nucleus contains chromosomes which are visible as rod shaped structures.
C. Chromosomes are composed of DNA and Protein
D. In a cell which is not dividing , this DNA is present as part of Chromosomes.

A. only one pair B. Only two pair C. Only three pair D. All four incorrect
Which of the following is correct?
A. Bacteria has no nuclear membrane.
B. The chlorophyll in photosynthetic bacteria is associated with plastids.
C. The chlorophyll in Eukaryotic cell is associated with plastids .
D. All are incorrect

which of the following pairs is/are correctly matched

1. endoplasmic reticulum - forms a network system.
2. lysosomes - membrane-bound sacs filled with digestive enzymes
3. Vacuoles-storage sacs for solid or liquid contents.

A. 1 and 2 only B. 2 and 3 only C. 1 and 3 only D. 1, 2 and 3

which among the following present only in plant cells
A. Plastids
B. Golgi apparatus
C. endoplasmic reticulum
D. Mitochondria

Which of the following is not correctly matched?

A. Golgi apparatus - arranged in cisterns
B. Mitochondria - two membrane coverings
C. Endoplasmic reticulum - looks similar to cell wall
D. Endoplasmic reticulum - looks similar to cell
membrane.
Leucoplasts are primarily
organelles in which material/(s)
such as______is/are stored
A. Oils
B. Starch
C. Protein
D. All