The Cell Theory

Early Contributions
• A cell is a functional basic unit of life discovered by Robert
Hooke in Cork cells and is the smallest unit of life that is
classified as a living thing, and is often called the building
block of life.
• He was the first person to use the term “cell”.

• In the beginning of the 18th century, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, a Dutch tradesman and scientist
built a microscope and drew the protozoa from rainwater and bacteria from his own mouth. He is
known as the “Father of Microbiology”.

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723): father of microscopy.

• Theodore Schwann - zoologist who observed that the tissues of animals had cells (1839)
• Mattias Schleiden - botonist, observed that the tissues of plants contained cells (1845)
• Rudolf Virchow - also reported that every living thing is made of up vital units, known as cells. He
also predicted that cells come from other cells. (1850 )

Discovered and coined the term cell in

Robert Hooke
1665

Robert Brown Discovered Cell Nucleus in 1831

Presented The cell theory, that all the

Schleiden and plants and animals are composed of cells
Schwann and that the cell is the basic unit of life.
Schleiden (1838) and Schwann (1839).
Cell Theory
• The body of all organisms is made up of cells
• New cells arise from the pre existing cells
• Cells are structural units of all organisms
• Cells are units of all biological functions.
• Before the discovery of the cell, people were unaware that living organisms were made of building
blocks like cells.

Largest and smallest cells

• The organisms which have a single cell are unicellular and the organisms that have multiple cells are
multicellular.
• There are 1 trillion cells is a human body. The size of a typical cell is 10 micrometer and largest cells
in human body are nerve cells called neurons.
• The largest known cells are unfertilized ostrich egg cells which weigh 3.3 pounds. Mycoplasma are
the smallest cells.
Types of Cells
There are two main types of cells based on their cellular structure. They are-
• Prokaryotic cells (As bacterial cells)
• Eukaryotic cells (As animal and plant cells)

Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells

• Prokaryotic cells are primitive cells in which there is no enclosed nucleus.
• Eukaryotic cells are those with a nucleus enclosed by a membrane.
• Bacteria and blue green algae are examples of prokaryotic cells. Algae, plants and animal cells are
eukaryotic cells.

Prokaryotic Cells
• Prokaryotes are very simple cells, probably first to inhabit the earth.
• Prokaryotic cells do not contain a membrane bound nucleus.
• Other features found in some bacteria:
• Flagella - used for movement
• Pilus - small hairlike structures used for attaching to other cells
• Capsule - tough outer layer that protects bacteria, often associated with harmful bacteria
Eukaryotic Cells
• Organisms that have eukaryotic cells are generally called eukaryotes.
• These cells are characterised by having a defined nucleus with a membrane, i.e., a true nucleus.
• The cell size is comparatively larger.
• Cell organelles have membrane-bound structures.
• Eukaryotic animal cells only have cell membranes, while eukaryotic plant cells have a cell
membrane and cell wall.
• The hereditary material is present in more than one chromosome.
• For example, fungi, protozoans, human cells, plant cells, and animal cells.

Eukaryotes
Prokaryotes

Monera: Eubacteria and

Organisms Protists, Fungi, Plants and Animals
Archebacteria
Meaning of name Pro = before Karyon = nucleus Eu = after Karyon = nucleus
3.5 billion years ago (older type
Evolution 1.5 billion years ago
of cell)
Uni-/multicellular Unicellular (less complex) Multicellular (more complex)
fungi and plants (cellulose and chitin):
Cell wall almost all have cell walls (murein)
none in animals
many different ones with specialized
Organelles usually none
functions
Metabolism anaerobic and aerobic: diverse mostly aerobic
complex chromosomes usually in pairs;
Genetic single circular double stranded each with a single double stranded DNA
material DNA molecule and associated proteins
contained in a nucleus
Location of genetic
Nucleoid region Nucleus
information
Mode of mitosis and meiosis using a spindle:
binary fission mostly; budding
division followed by cytokinesis
PARCHAM