the Cell

structure
and function
Learning Outcomes
1. Explain the postulates of cell theory.
2. Identify the structure and function of the
cell organelles and components.
3. Distinguish features of prokaryotic and
eukaryotic cells according to their
functional modifications.
4. Classify various cell types (plant/animal
tissues) and its specific function.
5. Describe some cell modifications to carry
out its specialized functions.
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Introduction
• The cell is the basic unit of
structure for all organisms,
and basic unit of reproduction
• The cell is the simplest
collection of matter that can be
alive
• Cell structure is correlated to
cellular function
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Levels of Biological Organization
Historical Background
• Robert Hooke (1665), British scientist –
observed a mass of tiny cavities from thin slices
of cork with his self-made microscope, he
named these structures “cells” since these
structures reminded him of the small rooms in a
monastery.

• Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1674), Dutch

businessman and scientist – made pioneering
discoveries concerning protozoa, red blood
cells, capillary systems, and the life cycles of
insects, he also perfected the construction of
the compound microscope.
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Historical Background
• Robert Brown (1831), British botanist –
observed plant cells with a distinct central
part (nucleus); described the streaming
movement of the cytoplasm.

 Félix Dujardin (1835), French biologist –

and cytologist observed that cells were not
empty but filled with thick, jelly-like fluids
(protoplasm)

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Historical Background
• Matthias Schleiden (1838), German botanist
– concluded that plants are composed of cells
and formulated the cell theory.
• Theodor Schwann (1839), German zoologist
stated that cells are the elementary particles
of both plants and animals and formulated
the cell theory.
• Rudolf Virchow (1858), German pathologist –
concluded that cells arose only by the
division of other, pre-existing cells

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Cell Theory
CELL THEORY states that:
 A cell is the smallest structural
and functional unit of life;
 Every living organism is made up
of one (uni) or more (multi) cells;
and
 Cells are capable of self-
reproduction, and cells come
only from pre existing cells.
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Microscopy
• Scientists use microscopes to
visualize cells too small to see with
the naked eye
• In a light microscope (LM), visible light
is passed through a specimen and
then through glass lenses
• Lenses refract (bend) the light, so that
the image is magnified
© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc
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Microscopy
• Three important parameters of microscopy
- Magnification, the ratio of an object’s image
size to its real size
- Resolution, the measure of the clarity of the
image, or the minimum distance of two
distinguishable points
- Contrast, difference in brightness between
the light and dark areas of an image.

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc

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 10 m

Human height
1m
Length of some
nerve and

Unaided eye
muscle cells
The size range of cells. 0.1 m
Chicken egg

1 cm

Frog egg
1 mm

Light microscopy
Human egg
100 m
Most plant and
animal cells
10 m
Nucleus
Most bacteria

Electron microscopy
Mitochondrion
1 m

Smallest bacteria Super-

100 nm
Viruses resolution
microscopy
Ribosomes
10 nm
Proteins
Lipids
1 nm
Small molecules

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc 0.1 nm Atoms

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 10 m
The size range of cells.
Human height
1m
Length of some
nerve and

Unaided eye
muscle cells
0.1 m
Chicken egg

1 cm

Frog egg
1 mm

Human egg
100 m
 1 cm

Frog egg
1 mm

The size range of cells.

Light microscopy
Human egg
100 m
Most plant and
animal cells
10 m
Nucleus
Most bacteria

Electron microscopy
Mitochondrion
1 m

Super-
100 nm Smallest bacteria
Viruses resolution
microscopy
Ribosomes
10 nm
Proteins
Lipids
1 nm
Small molecules

© 2011 Pearson Education, Inc 0.1 nm Atoms

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 Light Microscopy (LM) Electron Microscopy (EM)
Brightfield Confocal Cross section
Longitudinal section
(unstained specimen) of cilium of cilium
Cilia

50 m
Brightfield
(stained specimen)

50 m
2 m

2 m Transmission electron
Scanning electron microscopy (TEM)
Deconvolution
microscopy (SEM)
Phase-contrast

10 m
Differential-interference-
contrast (Nomarski) Super-resolution

Fluorescence

Different types of Microscopy

1 m

10 m
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 Classification of Cells
1. PROKARYOTIC which means before the
nucleus
 Prokaryotes have a relatively uniform
cytoplasm
 They do not have special membrane-bound
compartments called organelles
 DNA in an unbound region called the
nucleoid
 Two main groups of prokaryotes are bacteria
and archaea.
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Three Domain System
Classification of Cells
2. EUKARYOTIC which means true
nucleus
 Eukaryotes are much larger with a
complex interior organization
 They have a system of interior
membranes and membrane-bound
organelles
 All cells alive today except bacteria
and archaea

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Visual Summary of an Animal Cell
The Cell Membrane
• Double phospholipid layer with
embedded proteins
• Membrane transport - selectively
permeable membrane
– osmosis
– protein channels
– active transport
– fluid mosaic model

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 Cytoplasm of the Cell
• Semifluid matrix that contains the
nucleus and various organelles
• Mostly water with chemical
compounds in solution or colloid
– Solution: atoms or ions
distributed in medium
• Polar compounds go into solution
• Nonpolar compounds go into colloidal
suspension
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Nucleus
• Command center of the cell
• Nuclear membrane has pores to
allow substances passage
• Chromatin genetic material
inside nucleoplasm
• Nucleolus - site of ribosome
formation
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Mitochondria
• Powerhouses of the cell
 energy is extracted from food
during oxidative metabolism
• Cristae - inner folds where cellular
respiration occurs
• Energy requirements of cell
determine cristae number
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Lysosomes
 Vesicle that breaks down macromolecules
and digest worn out cell components
 Digestive enzyme packages
 Uncontrolled release of lysosome contents into
the cytoplasm can also cause cell death
(necrosis).
 Functions
– digest stored food
– maintenance and repair of organelles
– suicide agents for old or weak cells

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Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
• System of membranes that makes up
channels
• Connects with outer nuclear and cell
membranes
• Types of ER
– Rough: for protein synthesis
– Smooth: for fat transport, steroid hormone
synthesis and aids in the manufacture of
carbohydrate and lipids
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The Golgi Apparatus
• Collection of flat saclike cisternae
• Functions:
– Collects, packages, and distributes
cellular compounds
– Storage warehouses of the cell
– Site for carbohydrate synthesis

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Ribosomes
 Distributed throughout
cytoplasm, small complexes of
RNA and protein that are the
sites of protein synthesis
 Attached to Rough Endoplasmic
Reticulum
 No membrane covering

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Centrioles
• Centrosome - two centrioles at right
angles to each other
– composed of nine sets of triplet fibers
• Form spindle fibers during cell
division
• Guide duplicated chromosomes to
daughter cells

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Cilia and Flagella
 Hairlike protrusions from cell
membrane
 Nine double fibrils around two single
central fibrils
 Cilia move materials across cell
surface
 Flagellum propels cell through a
medium
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 Paramecium
• Paramecium is a
genus of the ciliate
protozoa (Kingdom
Protista). Protozoa are
the group of single-cell
eukaryotes (organisms
with nuclei) that
usually show mobility
and heterotrophy.

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 Paramecium
• CONTRACTILE VACUOLES
are vacuoles that function in
osmoregulation. They are
surrounded by radial canals
which absorb water from the
cytoplasm. The contractile
vacuole contracts and forces
the water into the extracellular
environment. Upon relaxation,
the vacuole refills and then
repeats its pumping activity.

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 Amoeba
• Amoeba is a genus of the
protozoa (Kingdom
Protista) and move by the
formation of temporary
"false-feet" called
pseudopodia. Amoeba
live in a variety of
habitats including
freshwater, oceans, soil,
and as parasites on and
within many animals.

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 Amoeba
• Amoeba engulf their prey or food substances by
extending pseudopodia around it and capturing
it in newly formed cytoplasmic vacuoles, a
process called phagocytosis (endocytosis).

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