Vacuole,peroxisome,microbodies

Dr.S.Jenifer
Associate Professor
 vacuole
 A vacuole is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in all
plant and fungal cell ,animal and bacterial cells.

 Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled

with water containing inorganic and organic molecules including
enzymes in solution.
 Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which
are filled with water containing inorganic and organic
molecules including enzymes in solution.

 Vacuoles are formed by the fusion of multiple

membrane vesicles . The organelle has no basic shape
or size; its structure varies according to the needs of the
cell.
 In general, the functions of the
vacuole
 Containing waste products
 Containing water in plant cells
 Maintaining internal hydrostatic pressure
 Maintaining an acidic internal pH
 Containing small molecules
 Exporting unwanted substances from the cell
 Allows plants to support structures such as leaves and
flowers due to the pressure of the central vacuole
 By increasing in size, allows the germinating plant or its
organs (such as leaves) to grow very quickly and using
up mostly just water.
Vaculoe
 Discovery
 vacuoles ("stars") were first observed
by Spallanzani (1776) in protozoa, although
mistaken for respiratory organs. Dujardin (1841)
named these "stars" as vacuoles.
 In 1842, Schleiden applied the term for plant cells,
to distinguish the structure with cell sap from the rest
of the protoplasm.
 In 1885, de Vries named the vacuoule membrane as
tonoplast
 In bacteria:Large vacuoles are found in
three genera……
 sulfur bacteria,
 Thioploca, Beggiatoa
 Thiomargarita.
 The cytosol is extremely reduced in these genera and
the vacuole can occupy between 40–98% of the cell.
 In Plant:Most mature plant cells have one large vacuole
that typically occupies more than 30% of the cell's
volume, and that can occupy as much as 80% of the
volume for certain cell types and conditions.
 Fungi:Vacuoles in fungal cells perform similar functions
to those in plants and there can be more than one
vacuole per cell.
 In animal cells:vacuoles perform mostly subordinate
roles, assisting in larger processes
of exocytosis and endocytosis.
 Animal vacuoles are smaller than their plant counterparts
but also usually greater in number.
 Peroxisomes
 Peroxisomes hold on to enzymes that require oxygen
(oxidative enzymes). Lysosomes have enzymes that
work in oxygen-poor areas and lower pH.

Peroxisomes absorb nutrients. They are very well known

for digesting fatty acids. They also play a part in the
way organisms digest alcohol (ethanol).
 There are many ways that peroxisomes are similar
to lysosomes. They are small vesicles found around the
cell.

 They have a single membrane that contains digestive

enzymes for breaking down toxic materials in the cell.
 liver cells to have more peroxisomes than most other
cells in a human body.
 They also play a role in cholesterol synthesis and the
digestion of amino acids.
peroxisome
Function:
 A major function of the peroxisome is the breakdown
of very long chain fatty acids through beta oxidation.

 In animal cells, the long fatty acids are converted

to medium chain fatty acids, which are subsequently
shuttled to mitochondria where they are eventually
broken down to carbon dioxide and water.

 In yeast and plant cells, this process is carried out

exclusively in peroxisomes
 microbodies
 A microbodies (or cytosomes) is a type of organelle that
is found in the cells of plants, protozoa, and animals.

 Organelles in the microbody family include

peroxisomes, glycosomes .

 In vertebrates, microbodies are especially prevalent in

the liver and kidney organs
 A microbody is usually a vesicle with a spherical shape,
ranging from 0.2-1.5 micrometers in diameter.

 Microbodies are found in the cytoplasm of a cell, but they

are only visible with the use of an electron microscope.

 They are surrounded by a single phospholipid bilayer

membrane and they contain a matrix of intracellular
material including enzymes and other proteins, but they
do not seem to contain any genetic material to allow
them to self-replicate.
Function:
 Microbodies contain enzymes that participate in the
preparatory or intermediate stages of biochemical
reactions within the cell. This facilitates the
breakdown of fats, alcohols and amino acids.
 Generally microbodies are involved in detoxification
of peroxides and in photo respiration in plants.
Different types of microbodies have different
functions
• Peroxisomes
 A peroxisome is a type of microbody that functions
to help the body break down large molecules and
detoxify hazardous substances.
 It contains enzymes like oxidase, which can create
hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of its enzymatic
reactions.
 Within the peroxisome, hydrogen peroxide can then
be converted to water by enzymes
like catalase and peroxidase.
Glyoxysomes
 Glyoxysomes are specialized peroxisomes found in
plants and mold, which help to convert stored lipids
into carbohydrates so they can be used for plant
growth.
 In glyoxysomes the fatty acids are hydrolyzed to
acetyl-CoA by peroxisomal β-oxidation enzymes.
 Besides peroxisomal functions, glyoxysomes also
possess the key enzymes of the Glyoxylate cycle.
 Microbodies were first discovered and named in 1954 by
Rhodin.
 in 1956, Rouiller and Bernhard presented the first
worldwide accepted images of microbodies in liver In
1967.
 Breidenbach and Beevers were the first to isolate
microbodies from plants, which they
named Glyoxysomes .
 Then in 1965, Christian de Duve and coworkers isolated
microbodies from the liver of a rat.

 De Duve also believed that the name Microbody was too

general and chose the name of Peroxisome because of
its relationship with hydrogen peroxide.
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