General Biology I
cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell.
I. Cell
Robert Hooke was an English scientist who coined the
term cell for the Honeycomb structures he saw in a cork
slice. He used a primitive compound microscope. He
discovered it in 1665.
By the late 1830s, botanist Matthias Schleiden and
zoologist Theodor Schwann were studying tissues and
proposed the unified cell theory. This theory states that:
1. All living things are made up of one or more cells.
2. The cell is the fundamental, structural and functional unit
of all living organisms.
In 1855, third statement on the cell theory was added by
Rudolf Virchow. It states that:
3. All living cells come from pre-existing cells, by division.
It was over 200 years after the discovery of cells when
scientists and civilians finally abandoned the theory of
spontaneous generation of life in favor of cell theory,
the idea that all cells come from preexisting cells.
Inherent in cell theory was the belief that all life therefore
comes from all preexisting life.
II. Plant & Animal Cell
Prokaryotes are organisms that consist of a single
prokaryotic cell.
Eukaryotic cells have a well-organized nucleus and they
have a nuclear membrane. It can be found in plants,
animals, fungi, and protists. Both plant and animal cells are
eukaryotic, so they contain membrane-bound organelles
like the nucleus and mitochondria.
The cell membrane consists of a lipid bilayer that is
semipermeable. The cell membrane regulates the
transport of materials entering and exiting the cell.
A cell wall is a structural layer surrounding some types of
cells, just outside the cell membrane. It can be tough,
flexible, and sometimes rigid. In plants, the cell wall
surrounds the cell membrane. This gives the plant cell its
unique rectangular shape. Animal cells simply have a cell
membrane, but no cell wall.
A nucleus controls all of the cell's activities, such as
growth and metabolism, using the DNA's genetic
information.
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles
(mitochondrion, singular) that generate most of the
chemical energy needed to power the cell's biochemical
reactions. Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria
is stored in a small molecule called adenosine
triphosphate (ATP).
Ribosomes are the sites in a cell in which protein
synthesis takes place. Cells have many ribosomes, and
the exact number depends on how active a particular cell
is in synthesizing proteins.
Lysosomes are found in all animal cells, but are most
numerous in disease-fighting cells, such as white blood
cells. This is because white blood cells must digest more
material than most other types of cells in their quest to
battle bacteria, viruses, and other foreign intruders.
The majority of metabolic reactions primarily occur in the
Photosynthesis is the process of a plant taking energy
from the Sun and creating sugars. When the energy from
the Sun hits a chloroplast and the chlorophyll molecules,
light energy is converted into the chemical energy.
The rigid cell walls of plants determine cell shape and
prevent the cell from bursting or shrinking as a result of
osmotic pressure.
In an animal cell, the lining of the small intestinal mucosa
is very highly specialized for maximizing digestion and
absorption of nutrients. The lining is highly folded to form
microscopic finger-like projections called villi which
increase the surface area to help with absorption. The
conducting zone is lined with hair-like structures called
cilia that are covered in mucus, which helps trap
potentially dangerous materials. Cilia are mobile, tiny,
finger-like projections on the surface of airway cells. Cilia
line the airways and help move mucus up and out of the
lungs.
The primary cellular modification that optimizes red blood
cells (erythrocytes) for their role in oxygen transport is
the lack of a nucleus and other organelles. Red blood cells
are unique among human cells in that they don't have a
nucleus, mitochondria, or most other organelles. This
absence of a nucleus and other organelles maximizes the
space available for hemoglobin, a protein that binds with
oxygen, and allows red blood cells to carry oxygen
efficiently.
III. Cell Cycle
The cell cycle is a series of events that cells go through
as they grow and divide. During the cell cycle, a cell
grows, prepares for division, and divides to form two
daughter cells, each of which then begins the cycle
again.
Nuclear duplication and cytoplasmic division involved in
mitotic cell division.
Mitosis results in two nuclei that are identical to the
original nucleus. Meiosis, on the other hand, results in
four nuclei, each having half the number of
chromosomes of the original cell.
The G0 phase, also known as the resting phase, is the
time when the cell is neither dividing nor preparing to
divide
At the G1 checkpoint, cells decide whether or not to
proceed with division based on factors such as: Cell size.
Nutrients. Growth factors.
At the G2 checkpoint, the cell checks for: DNA damage.
If the checkpoint mechanisms detect problems with the
DNA, the cell cycle is halted, and the cell attempts to
either complete DNA replication or repair the damaged
DNA.
The S phase of interphase involves the replication of
DNA, which produces identical sister chromatids.
Without this process of replication, there would be no
way for cells to continually go through the cell cycle. They
would run out of DNA.
 Enzymes accelerate chemical reactions also by altering
The G1, S, and G2 phases together are known as the conformation of their substrates to approach that of
interphase. the transition state.

Enzymes have an optimal pH at which they function most

efficiently. When the pH value deviates from the ideal
conditions, the activity of the enzyme slows down and
then stops. The enzyme has an active site at the
substrate binding site, and the shape of the active site
will change with the change of pH value.

Enzymes play a significant role in connecting the series

Mitosis or M phase is conventionally divided into four
stages prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
The Anaphase is when the sister chromatids separate
from one another and are pulled towards opposite poles
of the cell. The microtubules that are not attached to
chromosomes push the two poles of the spindle apart,
while the kinetochore microtubules pull the
chromosomes towards the poles.
of redox reactions ultimately involving oxygen. In an
enzyme-catalyzed redox reaction, it is typically the
substrate that gets reduced during the reaction. The
substrate is the molecule that the enzyme acts upon, and
in a redox reaction, it is the one that gains electrons,
becoming reduced.
When you add more substrate to an enzyme, the
reaction rate goes up, but eventually, it levels off. The
enzyme has too much substrate, with all active sites
occupied.

Apoptosis is the process of programmed cell death.
Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of cells leading to
phenotypic expression in many forms, from mild to life-
threatening. An example of cancer is the p53 mutations
are frequent in tobacco-related cancers and the mutation
load is often higher in cancers from smokers than from
nonsmokers.
The activity of an enzyme is highly dependent on
temperature. Raising temperature generally speeds up a
reaction, and lowering temperature slows down a
reaction. However, extreme high temperatures can
cause an enzyme to lose its shape (denature) and stop
working.

IV. Cell Transport

Passive transport is a naturally occurring phenomenon
and does not require the cell to expend energy to
accomplish the movement.

In facilitated diffusion, molecules diffuse across the

plasma membrane with assistance from membrane
proteins, such as channels and carriers.

During active transport, substances move against the

concentration gradient, from an area of low concentration
to an area of high concentration. This process is “active”
because it requires the use of energy (usually in the form
of ATP). It is the opposite of passive transport.

Endocytosis is the process by which cells bring large

particles inside the cellular membrane, while exocytosis
involves moving large particles out of the cell.

Acting as essential building blocks of the plasma

membranes, cholesterol plays pivotal roles in
maintaining the structural integrity and regulating the
fluidity of cell membranes.

Carbohydrates attached to proteins, stick out from the

plasma membrane to define the cell's characteristics and
help cells identify chemical signals or cell to cell
recognition.

V. Enzyme
Enzymes bind substrates at key locations in their
structure called active sites. They are typically highly
specific and only bind certain substrates for certain
reactions.