Chapter5

--
~ UNIT OF LIFE
While e).--aminlng a thin sll<'C of \'Ork, Rolwrt. :wold air bu hbles while pu II lng the
cove r s lip wllh the help of a mount ing
Hooke saw that the cork reRcmhlcd the: needle. ARk your teacher for help. We
structure of a honeyromb const~t in!,( of mnny hAve prepa red a temporary mou n t of
little compartments. Cork ts a substonce onion peel. We can ohserve Lhls sUdc
which comes from the bark of a tree. This und e r low power followed by high
was in the year 1665 when Hooke made this powers of a compound mlcroscupe.
chance obsexvatlon through a self-designed
nucroscope. Robert Hooke called these boxes
cells. Cell Is a Latin word for 'a little room'.
This may seem to be a very small and
insignificant Incident but it is very important
Coarse adjustment
tn the history of science. This was the very first Body tube
time that someone had obsexved that living Fine adjus tmen t
things appear to consist of separate units. The
use of the word 'cell' to describe these units is - Objective lens
being used tlll this day In biology.
Let us find out about cells.

5.1 What are Living Organisms l t,.lt"---,+- Mirror

Made Up of?
Actit'it, _ _ _ _ _ 5.1 Fig. 5.1: Compoimd microscope

ut us take a small piece from an onion What do we obsexve as we look through

bulb. Wtth the help of a pair of forceps, the lens? Can we draw the stn1ctures that
we can peel off the skin (called we are able to see through the microscope.
epidermis) from the concave side (inner on an observation sheet? Does lt look like
layer) of the onion. This layer can be
put lmmedtately tn a watch-glass
Fig. 5.2?
contaJnlng water. Thia will prevent the
peel from &ettlnC folded or geWng dJy.
What do we do wtth th1a peel?
Let ua lake a ,.._ allde, put a drop of
..... on It and trandlr a amall piece
"'the peel from tbl watch ..... Lo the
■Ude. Mau ■Ul'e &bat the peel 1•
PlitectlJ lat ao III lllde- A thin aamel
hair ......,..-,bt Ill aocnnn::y to
hllp lnlllflr ....... Now - put •
-. .,.... .•e11nn
f6 ■ aflfa.
'ID . . . . . .
. . . ,.... ... .
,,._ Lt: Cea. ofan onion pttl
 I

w~ can '"'' mo un ts Chlamydomonas, Pa ram oe ciu

.,.., pr<.'pru1n~ tc.-mporary d m an d ba cterta.
or ptt \s of oni.o ns of different s 1zes· Wh at o Th ese or ga nis ms are ca lle
d un ice llu lar
"""" observe.-? Do we sec sim ila r or org ani sm s (un i= sin gle ). On the
str uct ure s oth er hanct
dlf fcr en t str uct un -s? ma ny cel ls gro up tog eth er in a
sin gle bod ·
an d ass um e dif fer ent fun cti on s
Wh al are the se str uc tur es? in tt to fo ~
var iou s bo dy pa rts in mu ltic ell
~ str uc tu~ s loo k stmUar ula r org ani sms
to eac h 0ther. (multi = many) su ch as so me
To get her the y form a big str uct fun gt. Plants
ure like an an d an im als . Ca n we fin d ou t na
oni on bu lbt We fin d from thi s mo re un ice llu lar org an ism s?
me s of SOll'}e
activity tba t
on lon bu lbs of dif fer ent sizes Ev ery mu lti- cel lul ar org an ism
hav e sim ila r ha s cornc
sm all str uct ure s vis ibl e un der fro m a sin gle cel l. Ho w? Ce
a mi cro sco pe.
~ cel ls of the oni on pee l lls div tde to
wil l all loo k the pro du ce cel ls of the ir ow n kin d.
same. reg ard les s of the siz e of the oni on the y com e fro m pre -ex ist ing cel ls.
All cel ls thu s
cam e from.
Th ese sm all str uct ure s tha t we
the bas ic bui ldi ng un its of the
see are Actwit, _ _ _ _ _ _ 5. 2
on ion bu lb.
Th ese str uct ure s are called cel ls. We can try pre pa rin g tem
No t onl y po rar y
oni ons , bu t all org ani sm s tha mo un ts of lea f pee ls, tip of
t we obs erv e roo ts of
aro un d arc ma de up of cells. Howe oni on or eve n pee ls of oni ons of
ver, the re different
are als o single cel ls tha t live siz es.
on the ir ow n.
After per for mi ng the abo ve act
tvtt y. let
Ce lls we re fir st dis co ve red us see wh at the ans we rs to the
by followtng
Robert Hooke in 166 5. He ob ser que stio ns wo uld be:
ved (a) Do all cel ls loo k alik e in ter
the cel ls In a corksiice Wi th the ms of
he lp sha pe and siz e?
of a pri ml tlv e mi cro
sco pe . lb) Do all cel ls loo k alik e 1n
Le euw enh oek (lW ), wi th str uct ure ?
the (c) Co uld we fin d dif fer enc es
Imp rov ed mk:roacopc, dis cov ere am ong
d the cel ls fro m dif fer en t pa rts
free lM ng cells In pon d wa ter of a
for the pla nt bod y?
flrst ttme. It wa s Robert Br ow
n
lf!al who dlacov&ed the nu cl; ;;~ in
(d) Wh at Sim ilar ttle s cou ld we
find?
in
dieeeU. ~ I n l~ co in ed the So me org ani sm s ca n als o ha
t erm :Pr oto pla sm ' for the flu different kin ds. Look at the follow ve cells of
id
It dep ict s som e cel ls fro m the
ing picture.
substance of the cel l:rb e cel
l the ory hu ma n body.
tha t all the pla nts an d an im als
~
COlllpOlled of ce1la and tha t the

=
cel l is

··---
the ba sic unt t of life, was pre
sen ted
by two blnlgaat., Sr-hidden
(1838)
~ l l ~ •'f!lecelltbeoif
expended-by Vt rch ow
~ \!! .. 0
.-.,.--ma.••.......
that all cel ls
Blood
dla mu ay of 1he de t Wi th the Smooth cdla
IDk:roe
undentaftd111e ±bto -t,■ mveacopnde
1111940 It . . . , -

--.......
IIIUllde Nel wC eU
cell
the ce11 1 '- 1tructure or
f
an d . . .,, ~

1b e lnwaUon or-..,
a -..
the ch oa ua 1 of tbe _; '* 'c le
now known that
nw led to
C&c.cap.e world. It la
a wh ole oraantam : : ' - , con
att tut e
cell Fat cdl

ln Am oe ba ,
 To e sh ap e an d siz e of cel ls
a~ relntcd to f'V('IY rd l: 11l11M111:1 111r 111l11 1111 r . 11 111
the speclftc fun cti on the y pe -h-111'\ un d
rfo rm . So me rcl \s r ytoplmun . All 111'1 lvl llM l11M
Uke Am oe ba ha ve ch an gin g lclf' I ltf' rr-11 u11 cl
sh ap es . In some lnl<'rnl'llcm ~ of thr l'd l with
r.ases the cell sh ap e co uld ll !'t r 11v h 1J11 111r 11I
be mo re or lt>ss nre poMslhlc- chi t' to t hr ~<'
fixed an d ~u lla r for a pa rti cu k ul 11rr 1". l.d w i sc-~
lar typ e of cell: how.
for ex am ple , ne rve ce lls ha ve
a typ ica l shapf".
Ea ch ltv tng ce ll ha s th e
ca pa cit y to
pe rfo rm ce rta in ba ste fu
nc tio ns th at are
5.2. 1 P L ASM A M l~M I\R AN E Ot t Cl•' U .
ch ara cte ris tic of all ltv tng
for ms . How does MEMBRANE
a living cel l pe rfo rm the se
ba ste fun cti on s?
We know th at the re ts a div isi TI1ls ls the ou ter mo st <'.OV<
on of lab ou r in "rln ~ ol I hr <'rll ti 1111
mu lti ce llu lar or ga nis ms sep ara tes the <·o nk nt~ of
su ch as hu ma n tht: c-dl fro m IIM
beings. Th is me an s th ex ter na l en vtr on me nl.111 t". pla
at dif fer en t pa rts of :-m1:.1 111rmhra11«-:
the hu ma n bo dy pe rfo rm dif allows or pe rm its the entry
fer en t fun cti on s. an d ~xii of 1'1<) 111<"
The hu ma n bo dy ha s a he art ma ter ial s tn an d ou t of
to pu mp blood, tht": cell . II ol so
a sto ma ch to dig est food an pre ve nts movemen t of so me
d so on . Similarly, ol.h r r ma l t>r1 als.
dtviston of lab ou r is als o se Th e cell me mb ran e, th e ref
en wi ore , Is ca ll<"ll a
cell. In fac t, ea ch su ch cell ha thi n a single selectively permeable memb
ra ne .
s go t ce rta in How does the movement of
specific co mp on en ts wi thi su bs tances
n it kn ow n as cell tak e place into the cell? How
organelles. Ea ch ki nd of do su bs tances
ce ll or ga ne lle move ou t of the cell?
pe rfo rm s a sp ec ial fun cti on
, su ch as ma kin g Some su bs tan ce s like ca rbo
ne w ma ter ial in th e cel l, n dioxide or
cle ari ng up the oxygen ca n move ac ros s the
wa ste ma ter ial fro m th e cel cell me mb ran e
l an d so on . A by a process called diffusion.
ce ll is ab le to ltv e an d We ha ve stu die d
pe rfo rm all its the pro ces s of diffusion in ear
fun cti on s be ca us e of the se lie r ch ap ter s.
org an ell es. Th ese We saw tha t the re is sp on tan
org an ell es tog eth er co ns tit eo us movement
ute the ba sic un it of a su bs tan ce fro m a reg
cal led th e cel l. It is int ere sti ion of hig h
ng
are fou nd to ha ve the sa me th at all cells co nc en tra tio n to a reg
ion wh ere its
org an ell es, no concentration is low.
matter wh at th eir fu nc tio
n ls or wh at Something similar to thi s ha pp
organism th ey ar e found in. en s in cells
when, for example, so me su bs
tan ce like CO2
(which is cellular wa ste an d
uestions excreted ou t by the cell) ac cu
req uir es to be
mu lat es in hig h
1. Who discovered cells, concentrations ins ide the cel
an d how? l. In the cell's
2. W hy is th e ce ll ca lle external environment, the co
nc en tra tio n of
d th e
str uc tur al an d functional co ls low as compared to tha t ins ide the
un it of cell. As so on as the re is
JJfe? a dif fer en ce of
concentration of CO inside an
d ou tsi de a cell.
co moves ou t of the 2
cell, from a region of
htg h co nc en tra tio n, to a reg
ion of tow
concentration ou tsi de the cel
5.2 What is a Cell Made Up of? of diffusion. Similarly, 0 en
l by the pro ce ss
ter s the c-eU by
Wkat is ti., Structural the process of diffusion 2wh
en the len~·l or
concentration of 0 lns ide the
oru ,;rdee-tf a Cell? 2
Th us, diffusion plays an im
cel l de-creas es.
po rta nt role in
We -- .t i. W t _. . gaseous exchange be tw een the «-t
.. ., bu special is as ·well
_, HoWta a cell 89 the ~11 an d tts ex ter na l em 1ro nm en t .

- Water also obeys the law

nv,vement of water moleculesofthrdifoufus
~p tl •• ft b lc l1ffObran
ion. Th e
gh su ch a
e ~ called OSl'I\OS6.

51
 11te movemrnt o
me mb ra ne is al so
f water ac ro ss U1e pl as ma
a
ffected by th e
Activity _ __ _ _ _ 5.3
Osmo sis with an egg
I
I

ou nt of su bs tan ce di580lved ln water. To us , Remove the sh ell of an egg

by disso lving
::.10s\s ls Uu." ne t dilTuslon of a (a) it in dil ute hy dr oc
wa ter ae ro ~ a hlmi c ac id . The shell
selectively permeable me mb is mo stl y ca lci um ca rb on
ra ne towar ate . A thi n
higher solute concentration. ou ter Sk in no w en close s th e egg. Pu t
What will ha pp en if we pu t al cell the egg in pu re wa ter an d ob
an an tm alt serve afler
or a pl an t cell into a solution
of su ga r or s 5 m1.nutes. W ha t do we ob serve?
The egg swells be ca us e wa
in wa ter ? ter pa sses
One of th e following three tnto it by os mo sis .
things could (b) Pla ce a sim ila r de
happen: -sh ell ed egg in a
l. If the medium surroun concent ra ted sa lt so lut ion an d ob serve
ding the cell ha s for 5 mi nu tes . Th e egg sh rin .
a higher water concentra ks . Wh y?
tion th an th e Water pa ss es ou t of the eg
g solu tion
cell. meaning th at th e outside into the sa lt so lut ion be ca
solution us e th e sa lt
is very dilute, the cell will gain solution is mo re co nc en tra
water by ted .
osmosis. Such a solution is We ca n also tzy a sim ila r ac
known as tivity wi th dr ied
a hypotonic solution. ra isi ns or ap ric ot s.
Water molecules ar e free to
pa ss
ac ro ss th e cell m em br an e
in bo th Activity - - - - - - - - 5.4
directions, bu t more wa ter Pu t dried rai sin s or ap ric
will come ots in pla in
Into the cell th an will leave wa ter an d leave th em for so
. The ne t
(overall) result is th at wa
ter en ter s th e Then place th em int o a co me time.
nc en tra ted
cell. The cell is likely to sw so lut ion of su ga r or sa lt.
ell up . obseIVe the following:
You will
2. If the medium ha s ex
actly th e sa me (a) Ea ch ga in s wa te r an
water concentration as
th e cell, th er e d sw ell s
wh en placed in water.
will be no net movement of (b) Ho we ve r. wh en
water across pl ac ed in
the cell membrane. Su ch
a so lu tio n is co nc en tra ted so lu tio n it th e
known as an isotonic solut water, an d co ns eq ue ntl y sh lo se s
ion. rin ks .
Water crosses th e cell me mb Un ice llu lar fre sh wa te r or
ra ne in mo st pl an t ga ni sm s an d
both directions, but th e am ou cells te nd to ga in wa te r th
nt going osmosis. Ab so rp ro ug h
ln ls the same as the am ou nt tio n of wa te r by pl an t ro ot
going out, is also an example of os mo s
so there ls no overall mo ve sis .
me nt of Th us , di ffu sio n is im po rta
water. The cell will stay the sa of nt in ex ha ng e
m e size. ga se s an d wa te r in th e life
3. If th e me di um ha s of a cell. In
a lo we r ad di tio ns to th is , th e ce ll al so ob
concentnUon pf water th an th nu tri tio n from its en vi ro ta in s
e cell, nm en t. Di ffe re nt
meantng that lt ts a very co nc m ol ec ul es m ov e in an d
en tra ted ou t of th e ce ll
eolutlon. the cell Will lose wa th ro ug h a ty pe of tra ns po
te r by of energy. rt re qu iri ng us e
OMIOlla. Such a aoluUon Is kn
ow n as Th e pl as m a m em br an e ts
a hypertomc IOIUUon.
made up of organic n1olecu flexible an d is
Acaln, water crosses th e cell and proteins. However, les ca lle d lip id s
time...
mminnelDballdtrectlona butth
eat 16 . . . - hi W the ce .
we ca n ob se rv e th e
ts st ru ct ur e of th e pl as m a m em br an e on ly
th ro ug h an ele ctr on micro
scope.
.. .. . . .• .. _. . wdl shrin ll th an Th e
k. enab Oc xtb lllt y of th e cell m em br an e als o
tbrouJIIJ, • les th e ce ll to en gu lf in
of dSft\lslon material from Its ex ter na l envifood an d ot he r
No w kt t• tq processes are known as endocyrotos nment. Su ch
is. Am oe ba
ac qu ire s its food th ro ug h su
ch pr oc es se s.
 _ __ _ _ 5.5
,If 1:111\1 0111 11hu11t dt·l'\1,111 mh-ru~c·opc·M
ii h'11n11-r~otm'r!" h\ the- l"dtool llhrnry ol'
r:; t ht'\lllJ,l.h I h1· It ,1 rntrt. lllNl' I\HH ti with
14 yuur h•1wlwr.
UP\I ions
I . I loll' do ·"11/1.-.f ~11 u·,•.-; /iii. <'('() . :ind
u ·. ,,,.,. 11101 <' lt1 ;me/ 0 111 oltli<: ,-di'!
lJis,·11 ......-..
2. \\ 'lly '·" t lie pb,-.111,1 111<'111/Jmr,c
c,1/lc<I a ~d,•ctf\'cl y pl'rr11ca/J/r.
111rm1Jr:mc?
S.2.2 CELL WAU
Plant cells, in addition to the plasma
membrane. have another rigid outer covering
r.alled the cell wall. The cell wall lies outside
the plasma membran e. The plant cell wall is
mainly composed of cellulose. Cellulose is a
complex substance and provides structural
strength to plants.
When a living plant cell loses water
through osmosis there ls shrinkag e or
rontractton of the contents of the cell away
from the cell wall. This phenomen on is known
as plasmoly sis. We can observe this
phenomenon by performin g the following
actlvtty:
Actit1it, _ _ _ _ _ 5.6
Mount the peel of a Rhoeo leaf In water
on a slide and examine cells under
the high power of a microscope. Note
the small green granules, called
chloroplasts. They contain a green
substance called chlorophyll. Put a
strong solution of sugar or salt on the
mounted leaf on the slide. Watt for a
minute and observe under a
mlcroecope. What do we see?
Now place aome Rhoeo leaves In boiling
water for a few mlnutel. This kills the
aella. 1ben mount one leaf on a slide
and obaerve tt under a mlcroecope. Put
• atronc eolutlon ol eugu or salt on
the mounted 1ml on the IUde. Watt for
a mtaute 111d obeene lt again. What
1Dwelrldf'Dtd plumolyaaa <Xnll'now?
Clra,Ln
Wh11I do Wt' lltlc•r rro111 lhls uc Uvlly? IL
11ppt'HrH that only ltvln~ cdb. und not dcud
tTII H, nrc nhlt: to nl>sorb waler by o~mosls.
Cell wnlls permll lltc ce lls of plant s . fun gi
ond lrnclcrla to with s tand ve ry dilut e
(hypolouh') external media without burs ting.
In such media lhc cells tend to take up waler
by osmost~. The cell swells. building up
pressure n~alnsl the cell wall. 111e wall exerts
an equul pressure agaJnst the swollen cell.
Because or their walls. such cells can
withstand much greater changes In the
surroundi ng medium lhan animal cells.
5.2.3 NUCLEUS
Remember the temporary mount of onJon peel
we prepared? We had put iodine solution on
the peel. Why? What would we see if we tried
observing the peel without putting the iodine
solution? Try it and see what the difference
Is. Further. when we put iodine solution on
the peel, did each cell get evenly coloured?
According to their chemical composit ion
different regions of cells get coloured
differentially. Some regions appear darker
than other regions. Apart from iodine solution
we could also use safrantn solution or
methylene blue solution to stain the cells.
We have observed cells from an onion; let
us now observe cells from our own body.
Activity ___ ___ 5.7
Let us take a glass sltde with a drop of
water on it. Using an ice-cream spoon
gently scrape the inside surface of the
cheek. Does any material get stuck on
the spoon? With the help of a needle
we can tran~fer this material and
spread lt evenly on the glass slide kept
ready for this. To colour the material
we can put a drop of methylene blue
solution on lt. Now the material ts ready
~: obscIVatlon under microscope. Do
t forget to put a cover-slip on it!
What do we observe? What ls the
shape of the cells we see? Draw lt on
the obseivatto n sheet.
 in eukaryotic cells. lMany of the l
red sphertcal
cture· near th e
Was there a d arkly colou p resent f sue h organel es are fa s0
functions o rly organised parts o the

I
or oval, dot-llke 1:~ts structure ls performed by pootl
ccntn of each ccWere there stmllar ( sec on 5 .2. 4). The chlorophyU
·
callt-d nuc1eus. 1 cells? cytoplasm see thetic P rokaryottc bacteria ls
hues ln onton pee in photosyn th membranous vesicles Cbag
struc ble layered covering associated wt ) b t not with plastlds as in
The nucleus has a dou The nuclear tructures u )
mbrane. ti like s otlc ce11s (see section 5.2.5 .
called nuclear me hi hallow the trans er eukary
h po
membrane as reswd cthe nucleus t o its
of material from ln:ii ~oplasm (which we
outside, that ts, to :on 5.2.4). Plasma
membrane
Ribosomes

will talk about In sec ns chromosomes,

The nucleus contat h ped structures l / . \ .

which are visible as rod-sba t to divide. '\ ( 'I .

h ell is a ou Cell wall .
only when t e c in information for
Chromosomes con ta from parents to next
inheritance of characters f DNA (Deoxyrtbo
"'
ti in the form 0
genera on Chromosomes are
Nucleic Acid) molecules. t in DNA molecules
composedofDNAandpro e . for
tain the information necessary al
co~ctJng and organising cells. Function Fig. 5.4: Prokazyotic cell
co ts f DNA are called genes. In a cell
scgmen no
which is °t dividing• this DNA is present as 5.2.4 CYTOPLASM
art of chromatin material. Chromatin
!:iaterta1 is visible as entangled mass of thread
like structures. Whenever the cell is about to When we look at the temporary- mounts of
divide, the chromatin material gets organised onion peel as well as human cheek cells, we
tnto chromosomes. can see a large region of each cell enclosed
The nucleus plays a central role in cellular by the cell membrane. This region takes up
reproduction. the process by which a single very little stain. It is called the cytoplasm.
cell dtvtdes and forms two new cells. It also
The Toplasm is the fluid c~ntent inside tbe
plays a crucial part, along with the
l!l~sma membrnne,. It also contains manL
cnvtronment, 1n determtntng the way the cell
will develop and what form it Will exhibit at
spechills~d c~il _9.rg~elles. Each__oLthese
maturity, by directing the chemical actlvtties
-elles -
.cell.
rfonns a SIJ)eClnC function for the
of the cell.
In some organisms like bacteria, the Cell organelles are enclosed by
nuclear regton of the cell may be poorly membranes. In prokaryotes, beside the
defined due to the absence of a nuclear absence of a defined nuclear region, the
membrane. Such an undeftned nuclear region membrane-bound cell organelles are also
containing only nucleic actds ts called a absent. On the other hand, the eukaryotlc
nucleotd. Such <>rganfams, whose cells lack cells have nuclear membrane as well as
a nuclear membrane, are called prokaiyotes membrane-enclosed organelles.
(Pro • prtmflfve or Prhnary; karyote • karyon The stgntftcance of membranes can be
= nucJeus). Organ.tama With cella havtng a Ulustrated With the example of viruses.
nuclear membrane are called e u ~ .
Viruses lack any membranes and hence do
Prolwyotsc ceUa faee Pig. 5.4) a1ao lack not show charact~ttcs of Ufe until they enter
most of the Other C)'toplaamsc Grianellea
a ltvtng body and use Its cell machinery to

ll54 ntulUply.

Sa1:JK:I