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CELL: UNIT OF LIFE

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• Thecell is the basic structural, functional and biological unit of all

known organisms. A cell is the smallest unit of life. Cells are often
called the "building blocks of life".

CELL HISTORY
• 1665: Robert Hooke (English scientist) discovered cells in cork,
then in living plant tissue using an early compound microscope.
• He coined the term cell (from Latin cella, meaning "small room") in
his book Micrographia (1665).

A typical cell consists of three major parts:

1. An outer cell membrane.
2. A liquid cytoplasm.
3. Genetic material.

All cells share these four common components:

• A plasma membrane: an outer covering that
separates the cell’s interior from its surrounding
environment.
• Cytoplasm: a jelly-like cytosol within the cell in which other cellular components are found
• DNA: the genetic material of the cell
• Ribosomes: where protein synthesis occurs
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• Anton van leeuwenhoek, a dutch scientist, saw and described a live cell in 1674 in algae
spirogyra.
• Robert brown, a Scottish botanist, discovered the nucleus in 1831 and described in Linnean
society of London.

Cell Theory
• 1839: Theodor Schwann and Matthias Jakob Schleiden stated that plants and animals are made
of cells.
• Concluded that cells are a common unit of structure and development.
• Thus founded the cell theory.
• 1855: Rudolf Virchow stated that new cells come from pre-existing cells by cell division (omnis
cellula ex cellula).

Shape and Size of the cell:

▪ Shape and size of cells vary but all of these are ultimately
▪ determined by the specific function.

Shape and Size of cells

▪ Some cell can change their shapes amoeba, WBC but plants and
animals have almost fixed shapes.
▪ Smallest cell- PPLO pleuropneumonia-like organisms
(mycoplasma)
▪ Largest Cell-Ostrich egg
▪ Longest animal cell-Nerve cell
▪ A micrometer (μm) or micron is one thousandth of a millimeter.

Note: Cell size has no relation to the size of an organism. It is not necessary that the cells of, say an elephant
be much larger than those of a mouse.

Approximate number of cells in the human body is 3.7 X1013 or

37,000,000,000,000.
Types of cell:
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• The Prokaryotic Cell

• Prokaryotes are unicellular organisms that lack
organelles or other internal membrane-bound
structures.
• Therefore, they do not have a nucleus, but, instead,
generally have a single chromosome: a piece of
circular, double-stranded DNA located in an area of the
cell called the nucleoid.
• Examples – bacteria, blue green algae, mycoplasma
and PPLO.

• Eukaryotic cells are cells that contain a nucleus and organelles, and are enclosed by a plasma membrane.
• Organisms that have eukaryotic cells include protista, fungi, plants and animals.

Within the cytoplasm, the major organelles and cellular

structures include:
(1) nucleus
(2) ribosome
(3) rough endoplasmic reticulum
(4) Golgi apparatus
(5) cytoskeleton
(6) smooth endoplasmic reticulum
(7) mitochondria
(8) vacuole
(9) lysosome
(10)centriole.

Difference between Prokaryote and Eukaryote

PROKARYOTES EUKARYOTES

Very minute in size Comparatively large in size

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Nuclear region nucleoid not surrounded Nuclear material is surrounded by a nuclear

by a nuclear membrane membrane

Single chromosome present More than one chromosome present

Nucleolus absent Nucleolus present

Membrane bound cell organelles Membrane bound cell organelles are present
are absent
Cell division by fission or budding Cell division by mitosis or meiosis

CELL ORGANELLES: Mitochondria

• Unless specifically stained not easily visible under

the microscope.
• Double membrane bound structure.

• These are sites of aerobic respiration.

•
• Produce cellular energy in the form of ATP,
hence they are called power houses of the cell.
• It also contain single circular DNA molecules.

ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM
• UNDER ELECTRON microscope eukaryotic cells reveal
the presence of reticulum of tiny tubular structures
scattered in cytoplasm called as endoplasmic
reticulum
• Ribosomes are often attached to their outer surface.
• If ribosomes present – rough endoplasmic reticulum
• If ribosome absent – smooth endoplasmic reticulum
• Its function is synthesis, modification and transport of
proteins.
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GOLGI APPARATUS

• The Golgi apparatus, also known as the Golgi complex,

Golgi body, or simply the Golgi.
• An organelle found in most eukaryotic cells.
• Part of the endomembrane system in the cytoplasm.
• It packages proteins into membrane-bound vesicles
inside the cell before the vesicles are sent to their
destination.

Lysosomes - “Suicidal Bag”.

• A lysosome is a membrane-bound cell organelle that
• contains digestive enzymes
• Lysosomes are involved with various cell processes.
• They break down excess or worn-out cell parts.
• They may be used to destroy invading
viruses and bacteria.

Nucleus

• The nucleus is a membrane-bound organelle

contains genetic material (DNA) of eukaryotic
organisms
• It facilitates transcription and replication processes.
• Inheritance from parent to offspring
• It’s the largest organelle inside the cell taking up
about a tenth of the entire cell volume.

Chloroplast- “Food Producers”

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• Only plants have chloroplast that's why they

can do photosynthesis.
• They contain the very important green
pigment, chlorophyll.
• Chlorophyll can absorb radiant energy from
the Sun and convert it to the chemical energy
which can be used by the plants and animals.
• Animal cells lack chloroplasts and are unable
to do photosynthesis.

Centrioles

• They are generally found close to the nucleus and are made up of tube-
like structures.
• Centrioles or centrosomes are present only in animal cells and absent in
plant cells. It helps in the separation of chromosomes during cell
division.
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