CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

1. Cell Wall
Description:
 A rigid non-living layer that is found outside the cell membrane and
surrounds the cell. Plants, bacteria and fungi all have cell walls.
Function:
 The main function of the wall is to protect the inner parts of the plant
cell, it gives plant cells a more uniform and regular shape and provides
support for the plant body.
 The cell wall is completely permeable to water and mineral salts which
allows distribution of nutrients throughout the plant

 The openings in the cell wall are called plasmodesmata which contain
strands of cytoplasm that connect adjacent cells. This allows cells to
interact with one another, allowing molecules to travel between plant
cells.

2. Cell Membrane
Description:
 A thin semi-permeable membrane that surrounds the cytoplasm.
 The cell membrane is composed of a double layer (bilayer) of special
lipids (fats) called phospholipids. Phospholipids consist of
a hydrophilic (water-loving) head and a hydrophobic (water-fearing)
tail. The hydrophobic head of the phospholipid is polar (charged) and
can therefore dissolve in water. The hydrophobic tail is non-
polar (uncharged), and cannot dissolve in water.
Function:
 It encloses the cell and separates what is inside it from its environment
 It controls what goes into and out of the cell. The cell membrane allows
entry of materials needed by the cell and eliminates those which are not
needed.
3. Cytoplasm
Description:
 Consists of a jelly-like substance, enclosed by the cell membrane where
all the other parts of the cell are located. It does not however, include
the area where the nucleus is located.
Function:
 Most of the important activities of the cell occur in the cytoplasm.
Cytoplasm contains molecules such as enzymes which are
responsible for breaking down waste and also aid in metabolic activity.
 Cytoplasm is responsible for giving a cell its shape. It helps to fill out
the cell and keeps organelles in their place.
4. Nucleus
Description:
 The information center for the cell
 The largest and most easily seen organelle within a eukaryotic cell
 Roughly spherical in shape and, in animal cells, they are typically
located in the central region of the cell.
Function:
 Stores the cell’s hereditary material, or DNA
 It coordinates the cell’s activities, which include growth, intermediary
metabolism, protein synthesis, and cell division.
5. Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum
Description:
 Meshwork of fine disk like tubular membrane vesicles that is part of a
continuous membrane organelle within the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cell
 Has no ribosomes embedded on it that distinguishes it from the Rough
ER
Function:
 Synthesis of lipids and steroid hormones. Example, cholesterols in the
endocrine system is modified to form different steroid hormones.
 Storage and metabolism of calcium ions inside the cell
6. Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
Description:
 Unlike the Smooth ER, the Rough ER is studded with protein-
synthesizing particles known as ribosomes. These ribosomes are called
membrane bound.
 Series of connected flattened sacs within the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic
cell
Function:
 Plays a central role in the synthesis of proteins
 The ribosomes embedded on it are responsible for the assembly of
many proteins. This process is called translation.
7. Golgi Apparatus
Description:
 Known as the delivery system of the cell
 It is usually near the nucleus and consists of a stack of flattened sacs
Function:
 Collects, packages and modifies proteins for specific functions and
prepares them for transport or distribution to other parts of the cell.
8. Vacuoles
Description:
 These are storage bubbles found in cells
 They are present in both plant and animal cell but are larger in plant
cells.
(Plants have larger vacuoles for long-term storage of water and waste
products, which cannot be removed from the cell because of the cell wall.)
Function:
 Responsible for the storage of food or any variety of nutrients a cell
might need to survive.
 They can also store waste products so the cell is protected from
contamination
9. Mitochondria
Description:
 A rod-shaped organelle that can be considered the powerhouse of the
cell, converting oxygen and nutrients to ATP (adenosine triphosphate)
ATP is the chemical energy of the cell that powers the cell’s metabolic
activities
 It is a double-membrane-bound organelle found in most eukaryotic
cells. Some cells in some multicellular organisms may lack them.
Function:
 They are organelles that act like a digestive system which takes in
nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy rich molecules for
the cell. The biochemical processes of the cell are known as cellular
respiration.
10. Chloroplast
Description:
 These are organelles in plant cells and eukaryotic algae that conduct
photosynthesis
 Unique to plant cells that contains chlorophyll (which is what makes
plants green)
 Function:
 It absorbs sunlight and use it in conjunction with water and carbon
dioxide gas to produce food for the plant
 Conducts photosynthesis, where the photosynthetic pigment
chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it
in the energy-storage molecules ATP and NADPH while freeing oxygen
from water in plant and algal cells.
11. Lysosome
Description:
 Known as the suicide bags of the cell
 These are organelles that contain digestive enzymes that break down
waste materials, foreign materials and foreign particles that enters the
cell.
Function:
 They digest excess or worn out organelles, food particles, and engulfed
viruses or bacteria.
 It helps the cell to process its nutrients and is responsible for destroying
the cell after it has died
12. Peroxisomes
Description:
 An organelle that contain oxidative enzymes to carry out its functions
 Created by taking in proteins and lipids from the cytoplasm
Function:
 Break down fatty acids to be used for forming membranes and as fuel
for respiration
 Transfer hydrogen from compounds to oxygen to create hydrogen
peroxide and then convert hydrogen peroxide into water
13. Ribosomes
Description:
 It is the site for protein synthesis
 Ribosomes occur both as free particles in prokaryotic and eukaryotic
cells and as particles attached to the membranes of the endoplasmic
reticulum in eukaryotic cells.
Function:
 This is where RNA is translated into protein. This process is called
protein synthesis. Protein is needed for many cell functions such as
repairing damage or directing chemical processes
14. Centrioles
Description:
 Barrel-shaped organelles found in the cells of animals and most protists.
They occur in pairs, usually located at right angles to each other.
 Centrioles are tube like structures that aid in cell division. They generally
are found close to the nucleus and are made up of nine tube-like
structures that each have three tubules.
Function:
 The main function of the centriole is to help with cell division in animal
cells. The centrioles help in the formation of the spindle fibers that
separate the chromosomes during cell division (mitosis).
 Another function is celiogenesis. It is simply the formation of cilia and
flagella on the surface of cells. Cilia and flagella help the cell move.
15. Cytoskeleton
Description:
 It is a network of protein fibers supporting cell shape and anchoring
organelles within the cell. The three main structural components of the
cytoskeleton are microtubules (formed by tubulins), microfilaments
(formed by actins) and intermediate filaments.
Function:
 The frame that gives shape to a cell. The same way as the skeletal
system in human, the skeleton also helps hold all of the organelles in
place.
 It helps the cell move in its environment and controls the movement of
all of the cell's interior workings.
MEMBRANE-BOUND NON-MEMBRANE-BOUND

Nucleus Cell Wall

Smooth ER Ribosomes

Rough ER Centrioles

Golgi Apparatus Cytoskeleton

Vacuoles

Mitochondria

Chloroplast

Lysosomes

Peroxisomes