CHAPTER-8

RU C TU RE A N D F U N CT I O N S
CE L L -S T
WHAT IS CELL
• CELLS ARE THE FUNDAMENTAL STRUCTURAL UNITS OF LIVING ORGANISMS
AND THE BASIC UNITS OF LIFE.

• THE SMALLEST UNIT THAT CAN LIVE ON ITS OWN AND THAT MAKES UP ALL
LIVING ORGANISMS AND THE TISSUES OF THE BODY.

• A CELL HAS THREE MAIN PARTS: THE CELL MEMBRANE, THE NUCLEUS, AND THE
CYTOPLASM.
DISCOVERY OF CELL

• ROBERT HOOKE IN 1665 OBSERVED SLICES OF CORK UNDER A SIMPLE MAGNIFYING DEVICE.
• HE NOTICED PARTITIONED BOXES OR COMPARTMENTS IN THE CORK SLICE.
• THESE BOXES APPEARED LIKE A HONEYCOMB. HE ALSO NOTICED THAT ONE BOX WAS SEPARATED FROM
THE OTHER BY A WALL OR PARTITION. HOOKE COINED THE TERM ‘CELL’ FOR EACH BOX.
CELLS OF ONION EPIDERMAL SKIN
NUMBER OF CELLS

•THE ORGANISMS ARE DIVIDED INTO 2 CATEGORIES:

•1. UNICELLULAR OR SINGLE CELL ORGANISMS
•2. MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS
 UNICELLULAR MULTICELLULAR
• THE SINGLE CELLED ORGANISMS ARE CALLED • ORGANISMS MADE OF MORE THAN ONE CELL ARE
UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS. CALLED MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS.

• A SINGLE-CELLED ORGANISM PERFORMS ALL THE • FUNCTIONS IN MULTICELLULAR ORGANISMS ARE

NECESSARY FUNCTIONS SAME AS MULTICELLULAR CARRIED OUT BY GROUPS OF SPECIALISED CELLS
ORGANISMS PERFORM. EX- CAPTURES AND DIGESTS FORMING DIFFERENT TISSUES.
FOOD, RESPIRES, EXCRETES, GROWS AND
REPRODUCES.
SINGLE CELLED AMOEBA PARAMECIUM
HUMAN SKIN CELL
 SHAPE OF CELLS
• SOME CELLS KEEP ON CHANGING THEIR SHAPES SUCH AS AMOEBA, SO YOU CAN SAY THEIR SHAPE APPEARS
IRREGULAR.OTHER CELLS HAVE DIFFERENT SHAPES RELATED TO THEIR SPECIFIC FUNCTIONS.

• COMPONENTS OF THE CELL ARE ENCLOSED IN A MEMBRANE. THIS MEMBRANE PROVIDES SHAPE TO THE CELLS
OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. CELL WALL IS AN ADDITIONAL COVERING OVER THE CELL MEMBRANE IN PLANT
CELLS. IT GIVES SHAPE AND RIGIDITY TO THESE CELLS

• SOME CELLS ARE

1. LONG AND POINTED AT BOTH ENDS
2. SOME ARE ARE QUITE LONG
3. SOME ARE BRANCHED LIKE THE NERVE CELL
4. SOME CELLS ARE ROUND, SPHERICAL OR ELONGATED
 PSEUDOPODIA
• A TEMPORARY PROTRUSION OF THE SURFACE OF AN AMOEBOID
CELL FOR MOVEMENT AND FEEDING.
SPHERICAL RED BLOOD SPINDLE SHAPE MUSCLE
CELL CELLS
LONG BRANCH NERVE CELL
SIZE OF CELLS

• MOST OF THE CELLS ARE MICROSCOPIC IN SIZE AND ARE NOT VISIBLE TO THE UNAIDED EYE. THEY NEED
TO BE ENLARGED OR MAGNIFIED BY A MICROSCOPE.

• THE SMALLEST CELL IS 0.1 TO 0.5 MICROMETER IN BACTERIA.

• THE LARGEST CELL MEASURING 170 MM ×130 MM, IS THE EGG OF AN OSTRICH.
• THE SIZE OF THE CELLS HAS NO RELATION WITH THE SIZE OF THE BODY OF THE ANIMAL OR PLANT.
CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
PARTS OF THE CELL

• CELL MEMBRANE-THE CELL MEMBRANE SEPARATES CELLS FROM ONE

ANOTHER AND ALSO THE INTERNAL CONTENTS FROM THE SURROUNDING
MEDIUM.

• IT IS POROUS AND ALLOWS THE MOVEMENT OF SUBSTANCES OR MATERIALS

BOTH INWARD AND OUTWARD.
 CELL WALLS IN PLANTS

• THE BOUNDARY OF THE ONION CELL IS THE CELL MEMBRANE COVERED BY ANOTHER THICK COVERING
CALLED THE CELL WALL.

• A CELL WALL IS AN ADDITIONAL COVERING OVER THE CELL MEMBRANE IN

PLANT CELLS.

• IT GIVES SHAPE AND RIGIDITY TO THESE CELLS.

• IT GIVES A RIGID STRUCTURE TO PLANT CELLS AND THAT IS WHY THEY CAN
WITHSTAND THE STRESS OF HIGH-VELOCITY WIND, RAIN, HIGH
TEMPERATURE ETC.
CYTOPLASM
• IT IS THE JELLY-LIKE SUBSTANCE PRESENT BETWEEN THE CELL MEMBRANE AND
THE NUCLEUS.

• VARIOUS OTHER COMPONENTS, OR ORGANELLES, OF CELLS ARE PRESENT IN THE

CYTOPLASM.
ORGANELLES

• THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS PRESENT WITHIN THE CELL ARE KNOWN AS CELL
ORGANELLES.

• ALL THESE COMPONENTS ARE SPECIAL AND SPECIFIC TO THEIR FUNCTIONS.

• FOR EXAMPLE, MITOCHONDRIA, LYSOSOMES ETC.
ORGANELLE CONTD…….
• GOLGI APPARATUS- ALSO TERMED AS GOLGI COMPLEX IS A MEMBRANE-BOUND
NUCLEUS.

• ITS MAIN FUNCTION IS TO MODIFY PROTEINS.

• THESE MODIFIED PROTEINS ARE PLACED IN GOLGI SO THAT IT CAN TRANSPORT
ELSEWHERE IN THE CELL WHEN REQUIRED.

• MITOCHONDRIA- IS A DOUBLE MEMBRANE-BOUND SAUSAGE SHAPED ORGANELLE.

• ALSO KNOWN AS ‘POWERHOUSE OF THE CELL’.
• MITOCHONDRIA ARE THE SITES OF AEROBIC RESPIRATION IN THE CELL AND IT
PRODUCES ENERGY IN THE FORM OF ATP.
NUCLEUS

• IT IS GENERALLY SPHERICAL AND LOCATED IN THE CENTER OF THE CELL.

• THE NUCLEUS IS SEPARATED FROM THE CYTOPLASM BY A MEMBRANE
CALLED THE NUCLEAR MEMBRANE.

• IT USES INFORMATION IN THE CHROMOSOMES TO DECIDE WHAT EACH

ORGANELLE SHOULD DO AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CELL.

• THE NUCLEUS CONTAINS AN EVEN SMALLER CONCENTRATED MATERIAL

CALLED NUCLEOLUS.
CHROMOSOMES
• THE NUCLEUS CONTAINS THREAD-LIKE STRUCTURES CALLED CHROMOSOMES.
• THESE CARRY GENES AND HELP IN INHERITANCE OR TRANSFER OF CHARACTERS
FROM THE PARENTS TO THE OFFSPRING.

• CHROMOSOMES ARE COMPOSED OF DNA IN THE FORM OF CHROMATIN AND

PROTEIN.

• CHROMOSOMES CONTAIN INFORMATION FOR THE INHERITANCE OF FEATURES

FROM PARENTS TO NEXT GENERATION IN THE FORM OF DNA MOLECULES.

GENE - IS A UNIT OF INHERITANCE IN LIVING ORGANISMS. IT CONTROLS THE

TRANSFER OF A HEREDITARY CHARACTERISTIC FROM PARENTS TO OFFSPRING.
THIS MEANS THAT YOUR PARENTS PASS SOME OF THEIR CHARACTERISTICS ON TO
YOU.
PROKARYOTIC & EUKARYOTIC CELLS

• PROKARYOTIC – SIZE: GENERALLY SMALL ( 1-10 ΜM) WHERE 1 ΜM = 10 −6M.

• THE NUCLEUS IS NOT WELL DEFINED AND KNOWN AS A NUCLEOID.
• SINGLE, CIRCULAR CHROMOSOME.
• MEMBRANE-BOUND ORGANELLES ABSENT. EG: BACTERIAL CELL
• EUKARYOTIC – SIZE: GENERALLY LARGE ( 5-100 ΜM).
• THE NUCLEUS IS WELL DEFINED AND SURROUNDED BY A NUCLEAR MEMBRANE.
• POSSESS MORE THAN ONE AND LINEAR CHROMOSOME.
• MEMBRANE-BOUND CELL ORGANELLES ARE PRESENT. EG: HUMAN CELL.
VACUOLES

• VACUOLES ARE STORAGE BUBBLES OF IRREGULAR SHAPES WHICH ARE

FOUND IN CELLS.

• THE VACUOLE STORES THE FOOD, A VARIETY OF NUTRIENTS THAT A CELL

MIGHT NEED TO SURVIVE OR WASTE.

• IN PLANT CELLS, VACUOLES ARE MUCH LARGER THAN IN ANIMAL CELLS AND
THEY PROVIDE RIGIDITY TO THE PLANT CELLS.
PLASTIDS

• PLANT CELLS HAVE TINY, COLOURED STRUCTURES CALLED PLASTIDS.

• PLASTIDS CARRY PIGMENTS OF VARIOUS COLOURS LIKE ORANGE, RED, GREEN
AND EVEN COLOURLESS.

• THE PLASTIDS, WHICH CARRY GREEN-COLOURED PIGMENTS I.E., CHLOROPHYLL

ARE CALLED CHLOROPLASTS.