Early Days of Cells

Cells

Cells are the fundamental structural units of living organisms and the basic units of life

Robert Hooke discovered the cell in the year 1665 from a thin section of cork under a self-made
microscope. Then in 1838, German scientist Schleiden proved that all plants are made up of cells
then one year later German scientist Shwann proved that all animals are made up of cells

World of Cells

Prokaryotic & Eukaryotic cells

The cells having nuclear material without a nuclear membrane around it are called prokaryotic
cells

 The nucleus is not well organized.

 There is no nuclear membrane around it.
 The organisms made of prokaryotic cells are called prokaryotes.
 Examples- blue green algae, bacteria

All the prokaryotic cells are unicellular organisms. A unicellular organism whose cells do not have a
nucleus bound by a nuclear membrane is called a prokaryote.

The cells having nuclear material enclosed by a nuclear membrane are called eukaryotic cells

 They have a proper well organized nucleus.

 There is a nuclear membrane around it.
 The organisms made up of eukaryotic cells are called eukaryotes.
 Examples- plants, animals, fungi, Protozoa etc.

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. For
example, glucose and oxygen go in and waste products like carbon dioxide go out.

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.
 Here new substances are built from materials taken into the cell and energy is released and stored.

Cell walls in plants

 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.

Protoplasm
 The protoplasm is the combination of the cytoplasm and nucleus
 The protoplasm can also be termed as all the living components of the cell
 It is made up of compounds of elements of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen. It contains
compounds such as water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, nucleic acids, and mineral salts.

Cell Factory

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.

Nucleus
 It is generally spherical and located in the centre 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 structurescalled chromosomes.
 These carry genes and help in the 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.

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.
 In plant cells, the vacuole is filled with a liquid called cell sap, which contains dissolved sugars and
salts

Mitochondria
 Mitochondria is a tiny rod-shaped organelle.
 Also known as ‘powerhouse of the cell’.

 Mitochondria are the sites of aerobic respiration in the cell. It converts glucose + oxygen into energy.

Chloroplast
 Chloroplasts are the green colored organelles present in the cytoplasm of plant cells
 Photosynthesis takes place in chloroplasts
 A green pigment called chlorophyll is in them

Plants vs Animals
Comparison of plant and animals cells

Plant
Cell Organelle Animal Cell
Cell
Cell wall Yes No

Cell membrane Yes Yes

Cytoplasm Yes Yes

Nucleus Yes Yes

Chloroplast Yes No

No (only many small

Large Vacuole Yes
vacuoles)
How to view cells

The various parts of a cell are colorless and so to distinguish it’s components we must dilute it to color them.
Some of the common dyes used are dilute iodine solution, methylene blue solution and safranin.

Variety in number of cells

The number of cells determine the type of organism exists. An organism with just one cell is called unicellular.
Some unicellular organisms are- amoeba, paramecium, euglena etc. An organism made up of many cells is
called multicellular. The number of cells being less in small organisms does not in any way affect the
functioning of the small organisms. Almost all organisms start of as a single cell called zygote. This zygote
then divides and multiplies due to which the organism develops.

Variety in shape of cells

The cells differ in different multicellular organisms. The different shapes of cells are related to their functions.
The human body is made up of about 20 different types of cells. Some of them are- Neuron, muscle cell,
epithelial cell, red blood cell, white blood cell, bone cell and cartilage cell.
The shape of the cell helps its functioning-

Neuron- a nerve cell is very long and has wire like projections coming out of it. The nerve cells are long and
have projections so that they can make contact with many other nerve cells and carry messages over long
distances (between the brain and other parts of the body).

Muscle cells- muscle cells bring about the movement of body parts by contracting and relaxing.

Epithelial cells- epithelial cells are rectangular in shape. The epithelial cells form a thin layer over the body
parts and protect the cells below them from injury.

RBC- red blood cells are spherical in shape. Red blood cells carry oxygen around the body.

WBC- white blood cells have irregular shape. White blood cells eat up or kill bacteria which enter the blood
and save us from many diseases.

Epidermal cell- the epidermal cells form a layer around the plant organs and protect the cells below from
injury.

Xylem cell- xylem cells are the tube like plant cells having thick and strong walls which carry water and
mineral salts to from the roots to the leaves.

Phloem cell- phloem cells are also tube like plant cells of the plant having thin walls which carry all the food
made by the leaves to the other parts of the plant.

Photosynthetic cells- the photosynthetic cells contain chlorophyll and prepare food by photosynthesis.

Mesophyll cells- the mesophyll cells of leaf are the photosynthetic plant cells. These cells in the leaf are
specially adapted for making food by photosynthesis.

The amoeba cell has no fixed shape. The amoeba cell keeps changing its shape. It can make its cytoplasm flow
in any direction. The amoeba cell has finger like projections of different lengths called pseudopodia. Amoeba
can produce pseudopodia on any side by pushing its cytoplasm in that direction. The pseudopodia appears and
disappears as the amoeba moves or feeds. Amoeba also uses its pseudopodia to catch food particles from the
water. The changing of shape due to the formation of pseudopodia helps amoeba in movement and in capturing
food.
The difference between Amoeba and WBC is that while Amoeba cell is a full fledged organism capable of
independent existence, white blood cell is merely a cell of human blood which is not a full fledged organism
and hence cannot exist independently. It can exist only inside the blood
.

Variety in size of cells

The smallest unit of measuring length is called micrometre or micron. It is one millionth of a metre (which is
10 to the power of -6 metres). The sizes of some of the common cells are given below-

Name of cell Size (length)

Bacteria Mycoplasm (Smallest) 0.0001 mm or 0.1 micron
RBC 0.009 mm or 9 microns
Liver cell 0.02 mm or 20 microns
Human egg 0.1 mm or 100 microns
Humming bird egg 13 mm or 13,000 microns
Hen egg 60 mm or 60,000 microns
Ostrich egg (biggest cell) 170 mm or 170,000 microns