L-8

CELL- STRUCTURE AND

FUNCTIONS
Cell- cell is the building block of life.
 Discovery of cell
 THE CELL THEORY
In 1838, Mathias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann introduced cell theory.
 Cells are the basic building blocks of organisms.
 All cells are similar in their basic structure and function but are not identical. They differ in size
and structure.
 New cells are formed due to division in old cells.
 The organization of cells in the body of a living organism determines its structure.
 The way organism functions depends on the way cell work.
UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS
Amoeba Paramecium Euglena
HIERARCHY OF ORGANISATION OF
LIFE
Shape of Cells:
(i) Generally, cell’s shapes are round, spherical or elongated. Some
types of cells are long and pointed at both ends. They exhibit spindle
shape. Some types of cells are branched like the nerve cell or a neuron,
which receives and transfers messages for helping to control and
coordinate the working of different parts of the body.
Size of Cells:
(i) The cell’s size in living organisms may be as small as a millionth of a metre
(micrometre or micron) or may be as large as a few centimetres.
(ii) Most of the cells are microscopic in size and are not visible to the naked eye. They
need to be enlarged or magnified by a microscope for seeing.
(iii) The smallest cell is 0.0001mm x 0.0005mm in bacteria. The largest cell measuring
170 mm ×130 mm, which is the egg of an ostrich. The smallest cells in the human
body are the RBCs. They are about 0.007mm in diameter. In plants like jute and hemp,
the fibre cells are few cm long.
(iv) The size of the cells has no relation with the size of the body of the animal or plant
STRUCTURE OF CELL
Cell membrane
The outermost body of the cell is called cell membrane. It is present in both plant and animal cell.
The cell membrane is a semi-permeable membrane, that allows the transmission of a very few molecules
across it.
Functions of cell membrane
1.Cell membrane provides support to cell.
2.It is helpful in exchange of materials.
3.It gives shape to the cell.
Cell Wall
It is outer to cell membrane and it is dead and
freely permeable (All substances can pass
through it)
It is thick layer and present only in cells of
plants.
Cell wall is made up of cellulose.
In addition to cell wall, cell membrane is also
required by the plants for protection against
variations in temperature, high wind speed,
atmospheric moisture, etc.
Functions of cell wall
1.It provides mechanical support to cell.
2.It allows all the substances to pass through
it.
3.It maintains the shape of cell.
• It contains all the cell
organelles which help to
carry all life functions
 Cell Organelles
•Nucleus.
•Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (RER)
•Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (SER)
•Mitochondria.
•Chloroplasts (plant cells only)
•Golgi bodies
•Lysosomes
•Vacuoles
•Plastids
•Ribosomes
•Centrosomes
  Nucleus
It is located in the centre of the cell. Nucleus is the storehouse of genes.
Without nucleus, cell can neither survive nor shows specialized
activities.
It consists of:
Nuclear membrane
Nucleoplasm
Nucleolus
Nuclear material
Nuclear membrane
Nucleus is separated from the cytoplasm by a membrane called nuclear
membrane. This membrane is porous (has pores) and allows the movement
of materials between the cytoplasm and the inside of the nucleus. It is also
called as nuclear envelope.
Nucleoplasm
It is the cytoplasm of nucleus.
Nucleolus
It is the small oval body which is rich in protein and RNA (Ribonucleic
acid). Ribosome formation occurs in nucleolus. Ribosome is an organelle
which makes proteins.
Nuclear material
It contains chromosomes which are made up of
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) and proteins.
Segments of DNA are called as genes. Genes
acts as hereditary vehicles.
For example: If mother has blue eyes and her
daughter also has blue eyes. This is due to
hereditary characters. The transfer of characters
from parents to their offsprings occurs through
genes.
Functions of Nucleus
It regulates cell division.
It controls metabolic activities.
It contains genes, which are helpful in
transmission of characters from parents to
offsprings
Functions of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
It is mainly responsible for the transportation of proteins and
other carbohydrates to another organelle, which includes
lysosomes, Golgi apparatus, plasma membrane, etc.
 Comparison of Plant cell and Animal cell
S.No Part Plant cell Animal cell

1 Cell membrane Present Present

2 Cell wall Present Absent

3 Nucleus Present Present

4 Centriole Absent Present

5 Cytoplasm Present Present

6 Plastids Present Absent

7 Vacuole Present Absent or if

(One or two large Present small in
vacuoles) size
Structure of an animal cell and a plant cell