Cell Structure

Cells: Cells are the basic building blocks of all animals and plants which can replicate independently.
Smallest unit of life that can replicate independently.

Animal cell
Sub-cellular structures/organelles: Structures inside cells

Animals are:

 Multicellular: Each individual organism is made up of

loads of cells rather than one.
 Heterotrophs: Animals have to get their energy from consuming other organisms
 Most reproduce sexually

In an animal & plant cell, the sub-cellular structures include:

Structure Function
Nucleus  Contains genetic material (DNA)
 Control cell’s activities
Cytoplasm  most of the chemical reaction take
place
 contains enzymes
 organelles are found in it

Cell membrane  controls the passage of substances into

and out of the cell.
Mitochondria  where aerobic respiration takes place
providing energy for the cell

Ribosome  where proteins are synthesised (made).

 Found on a structure called the rough
endoplasmic reticulum.

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Plant cells

Only in plant cells…

Structure Function
Chloroplast  Contains chlorophyll pigment (which
makes it green) which harvests the light
needed to make food (glucose) by
photosynthesis.
Permanent vacuole  Contains cell sap (mixture of sugar salt
and water)
 Found within the cytoplasm
 Improves cell’s rigidity (firmness)
Cell wall (also present in algal cell nor animal  Made from cellulose
neither plant)  Provide strength to the cell

Plants are:

 Multicellular: Each individual organism is made up of loads of cells rather than one.
 Autotrophs: Receives energy from the sun using photosynthesis.

Fungi:

 Can be multicellular and unicellular

 Some of multicellular fungi has a body called a mycelium, which is made up of loads of little
thread-like structures called hyphae.
 Some fungi can be considered pathogen, e.g. fungus = athlete’s foot
 Fungi can’t photosynthesis, gets energy from other organism.
 Saprotrophs: Most fungi feed using saprotrophic nutrition.

This is a process whereby:

 Secretes digestive enzymes onto some food outside their body

 waits for enzymes to break down the food
 absorbs all nutrient

Protist

Protist can be known as: Protoctists, Protoctista and Protista

 Mostly unicellular
 Some can use photosynthesis for energy if contains chloroplast
 Others consume energy from other organisms
 Some protists can be pathogen for e.g. plasmodium causes malaria

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Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
There are two main types of cells:

- Prokaryotic
- Eukaryotic

 Plant, animal fungal cells and protists are all eukaryotic ;

 Bacterial cells are prokaryotic.

 There are many differences between the two types of cells:

- Prokaryotic cells are unicellular organism (one cell organism)
- Prokaryotic cells are much smaller in size (10 to 100 times smaller)
- The genetic material is not enclosed in a nucleus.
- The genetic material is a single loop of DNA and there may be one or more small rings of
DNA, called plasmids (extra genes).
- They do not contain mitochondria or chloroplasts.

Prokaryotic cells are smaller and simpler because:

 Larger surface area : volume ratio

 Short diffusion distance
 Allow sufficient transport of molecules into and out of cell to meet needs of organisms .

Bacterial cell
 Unicellular organism (live just about everywhere)
 Some species of bacteria can photosynthesis but none of them has chloroplast
 Most bacteria feed off other organisms either living organisms or dead organisms
 Some of them can cause disease such as salmonella but most of them is harmless and often
useful such as the bacteria in intestines which helps digest food.
 In bacterial cell the role of mitochondria and chloroplasts are taken over by the cytoplasm.
 There may be one or more flagella, which are thread-like structures that move the bacterium
and has cell membrane.
 Uses asexual reproduction as individual cell is a whole organism. Meaning when they
divide/produce they are actually reproducing

In Bacterial cells…

Structure Function
Cytoplasm  Above
Cell membrane  Above
Cell wall  Made of different compound
(peptidoglycan)
 Not made by cellulose

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 Single circular strand of DNA/circular  Big loop of DNA
chromosomes/nucleoid  As they have no nucleus, this floats in
the cytoplasm
Plasmids  Small rings/loops of DNA
 Contains extra genes
 allows bacterial cells to move genes
from one cell to another.
 Can replicate chromosomal DNA.
Flagellum  Tale-like structures that move and
rotate the bacterium.
Simple capsule  Protect cell

KEY POINT

Chromosomal DNA: the

DNA of bacteria of
bacteria is usually
found as one long,
looped chromosome.

Viruses

 Viruses are particles and aren’t classified as cells

 Viruses aren’t living
 Comes in lot of different shapes
 Basic structure involves a protein coat around the outside surrounding some genetic material
on the inside, can be DNA or DNA
 They can only be produced only inside living organism
 Infect other organisms and use their cells to replicate; called parasite which means they
depend on another organism to produce
 All viruses can be classified as pathogen as they all harm other organism when using their
cells

Binary Fission
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  Process by which prokaryotic organisms, like bacteria divide and reproduce.
 Binary fission is a type of cell division + reproduction as whole organisms divide.
 Binary fission reproduces asexually.
 In order for bacteria to go through binary fission and divide they first grow in size.
 Replicate genetic material, though plasmids can have uneven replication
 Cell wall forms in between the 2 replications and divides.

 Bacteria divides every 20 minutes and population doubles with every division.

To calculate bacterial population growth:

 Figure out amount of division cycle in the amount of time given

 Which can be found by dividing the questioned time over mean division time
 To figure how many cells will be make
 Double initial bacteria amount by however many times the amount of division cycle in the
amount of time given.

For optimal bacterial growth, warmth, moistness and sufficient nutrients are required.

Cell Specialisation

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  Cells specialise by undergoing differentiation: A process that involves the cell gaining new
sub-cellular structures in order for it to be suited to its role.
 Cells can either differentiate once early on or have the ability to differentiate their whole life
(these are called stem cells).
 In animals, most cells only differentiate once, but in plants, many cells retain the ability.

Sperm Cell
Function Adaptation/feature
 Carry the male’s DNA to the egg cell  Streamlined head and long tail to aid
(ovum) for successful reproduction swimming
through fertilizing egg  Acrosome contains digestive enzymes
to penetrate egg membrane
 Mid-section contains mitochondria to
provide energy in respiration for tail to
work/swim
 Nucleus contains 23 chromosomes
Nerve cell
 Transmit electrical signals quickly from  The axon is long, enabling the impulses
one place in the body to another to be carried along long distances
 Have lots of dendrites (branches) to
connect other nerve cells
 Synapses contain lots of mitochondria
to provide energy to make transmitter
chemicals
 Myeline act as an electrical insulator to
stop electrical impulse from leaking out
Muscle cells
 Contract and relax to bring about a  Special proteins (myosin and actin) slide
movement over each other, causing the muscle to
contract
 Contain protein fibre to change length
of cell (↓fibre ↓length)
 Lots of mitochondria to provide energy
for contraction and respiration
 Store glycogen which can be broken
down in cellular respiration to transfer
energy
Red Blood Cells
Transport oxygen from the lungs to  Biconcave shape increases surface area
body tissues for gas exchange
 Contain haemoglobin, a protein that
binds oxygen
 No nucleus, maximising space for
haemoglobin
 Flexible membrane allows them to
navigate through capillaries
Examples of specialised cells in plants:

Root hair cells

Function Adaptation/feature

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  Specialised to take up water by osmosis  Have a large SA due to root hairs, to
and mineral ions by active transport absorb water & mineral ion
from the soil as they are found in the  Have large permanent vacuole to speed
tips of roots up the movement of water by osmosis
 Aerobic respiration occurs in
Mitochondria to provide energy for
active transport to transport the ions
against the concentration gradient.
Xylem cells
 Transports water/mineral ions  Upon formation, lignin is deposited in
unidirectionally from roots to stems & spirals, causing the cells to die and
leaves and become hollow. This creates long,
 Involved in transpiration. continuous tubes joined end-to-end,
allowing for efficient movement of
water and mineral ions.
 The strong lignin spirals help the tubes
withstand the pressure from water
movement during transpiration and
support the plant stem.
Phloem cells
 Transports dissolved sugar  Phloem is composed of tubes of
bidirectionally (2 directions) through elongated cells.
translocation from leaves to rest of  Made of living cells, have pores in their
plant for immediate use or storage end walls, contains cytoplasm.
 Cell sap can move from one phloem cell
to the next through pores in the end
walls.
 Cell walls between cells break down to
form sieve plates - allow water carrying
dissolved food move freely up & down
tube to where it's needed
 Companion cells keep them alive &
contain mitochondria to provide energy
to move dissolved food up & down
plant

Cell Differentiation
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  Differentiation is the process where cells become specialised for a particular function.
 As an organism develops, cells differentiate to form different types of cells.
 In animals, almost all cells differentiate at an early stage and then lose this ability.
 In mature animals, cell division mostly only happens to repair or replace damaged cells, as
they undergo little growth.
 In plants, many types of cells retain the ability to differentiate throughout life.
 As a cell differentiates, it acquires different sub-cellular structures to enable it to carry a
particular function. It has become a specialised cell

Information

Red blood cells (which

lose their nucleus)
cannot divide and are
replaced by adult stem
cells (which retain their
ability to undergo
differentiation).

Microscopy
A microscope has two lenses, an objective and eyepiece

 The objective Lense produces a magnified image, which is then magnified and directed
into the eye by the eyepiece Lense.

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  A slide, dye, tweezers, needle, dropper or scalpel can be used to prepare for viewing
cells.
 Object: The real object or sample you are looking at
 Image: Image seen when looking down the microscope
 The ability to see two or more object as a separate object is called resolution.
 Light from the room hits the mirror and be reflected upward through the object, then
will pass through the chosen objective lens, then through the eyepiece lens and finally
into the eye.
 Lenses spreads out light rays, so the image is seen is larger than actual object.

Light microscope

Advantages Disadvantages
 Use light & lenses to form image of  Less resolution limited to 0.2 micro
specimen & magnify meter
 Cheap and easy to use  Less magnification

Electron microscope

 Use electron
 Have high magnification & resolution 0.1 nm
 Very expensive, hard to use
 Used to study cells in much finer detail & enable biologist to see & understand many
more subcellular structure

Calculating Magnification

 The magnification is how many times larger the image is then the real object.

Magnification = size of image / size of real object

Size of real of real object = size of image / magnification CALCULATIONS

Size of image = magnification x size of real object

 Turn the coarse focus knob slowly until you are able to see the cells. – To make the image
clearer
 Turn the fine focus knob slowly until the cells are in focus – To make the image clearer
through higher resolution and magnification.

Culturing microorganisms
Microorganisms are very small, so in order for scientists to study them they need to grow many of
them in the lab using nutrients (culturing them).

 Bacteria in culture medium contains carbohydrates for energy, minerals, proteins and
vitamins.

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  Cell multiplies every 20 minutes to form colony
 Need uncontaminated culture to investigate action of disinfectants & antibiotics

There are two ways to grow microorganisms in the lab:

1. In nutrient broth solution - involves making a suspension of bacteria to be grown

and mixing with sterile nutrient broth (the culture medium), stoppering the flask
with cotton wool to prevent air from contaminating it and shaking regularly to
provide oxygen for the growing bacteria.

2. On an agar gel plate - the agar acts as the culture medium, and bacteria grown on it
form colonies on the surface. Making the plate:

Steps Why
Sterilize Petri dish & agar before use (often Kill or prevent contamination, unwanted
done by an autoclave, an oven or UV light.) microorganisms or pathogens affecting results
Sterilize inoculating loop by passing them //
through a flame.
Use loop to spread bacterium onto agar Open lid as little as possible so fewer bacteria
from air to enter
The lid of the Petri dish should be sealed with Sealing stops airborne microorganisms from
tape. contaminating the culture (but it should not be
sealed all the way around as this would result in
harmful anaerobic bacteria growing due to no
oxygen entering).
The Petri dish should be stored upside down. Prevent drops of condensation fall onto agar
surface and disrupt growth.
The culture should be incubated at 25 degrees. For optimum growth - If it were incubated at a
higher temperature, nearer 37 degrees (human
body temperature), it would be more likely that
bacteria that could be harmful to humans
would be able to grow as this is their optimum
temperature. At lower temperatures, colonies
of such bacteria would not be able to grow
If they have a supply of nutrients and a suitable temperature, bacteria can multiply by binary fission
(one splitting into two) as fast as every 20 minutes. You can calculate the number of bacteria in a
population after a certain time if given the mean division time. The formula is:

bacteria at beginning x 2 number of divisions = bacteria at end

If the microorganisms are bacteria, they can be used to test the effects that different antibiotics (or
disinfectants) have on their growth. The investigation involves:

1. Soak the paper discs in different types/concentrations of antibiotics and place on an agar
plate evenly spread with bacteria. One disc should be a control, soaked in sterile water. There
should be no death of bacteria with this disc- showing only the type of antibiotic affects the
size of the inhibition zone (the clear area left when they die).
2. If the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic they will not die, but non-resistant will die,
leaving an inhibition zone.

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 3. Leave the plate at 25 degrees for 2 days.
4. The zone of inhibition can be measured- the bigger it is, the more bacteria are killed and
therefore the more effective the antibiotic is.

In both investigations- growing bacteria and testing the effectiveness of antibiotics- you need to
calculate cross-sectional areas (of colonies or inhibition zones). This involves using the formula πr².

Calculation: cross sectional area - πr²

Some agar may have no bacteria because

 Bacteria killed
 May be harmful to people

KEYPOINT:

Incubation time is the usual time from

exposure to a pathogen until the first
Cell Division symptoms appear.

An incubator is a heated, insulated box

used to grow and maintain

Chromosomes microbiological or cell cultures.

Bacteria are also grown in an incubator;

bacteria are usually grown at 25C to
 The nucleus of a cell contains chromosomes prevent the growth of a harmful
made of DNA molecules. pathogen.
 Chromosomes are thin strands of DNA
Although companies testing new
(deoxyribonucleic acid).
antibiotics grow bacteria at 37C to grow
 Each chromosomes carries (hundreds to
the bacteria faster.
thousands of) genes.
 A gene is a short section of DNA that is the
genetic code to make different proteins and so control the different characteristics.
 There are 23 pairs of chromosomes in each body cells, as one is inherited from one’s mother
and one is inherited from one’s father. – resulting in 46 chromosomes in total.
 Sex cells (gametes, sperm for male gametes and egg cell for female gamers) have 23
chromosomes.
 Each chromosome carries a large number of genes.

Mitosis and the cell cycle

The cell cycle:

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  Cell divides in a series of stage
 During cell cycle genetic material is doubled & divided into 2 identical cells

Stages (4 marks)
1. (Interphase – before cell divides):
 Cell grows, and increase the number of organelles such as ribosomes and
mitochondria increase in number
 the synthesis of proteins occurs,
 DNA replicates to form 2 copies of each chromosome
2. (Mitosis takes place)
 One set of chromosomes is pulled to each end of cell & nucleus divide
3. (Cytokinesis)
 Cytoplasm and cell membranes divides to form Two identical daughter cells.

Cell division by mitosis is important because it makes new cells for:

- Growth and development of multicellular organisms.

- Repairing damaged tissue/cells
- Asexual reproductions – as this type of reproduction only involves one organism, so to
produce offspring it simply replicate its own cells.

3 differences between the process of mitosis and meiosis:

 Mitosis produces 2 daughter cells but meiosis produces 4 daughter cells

 One cell division in mitosis but 2 cell division in meiosis
 Mitosis produces cells with 2 of each chromosome, but meiosis produces cells with one of
each chromosome.

Sexual reproduction Asexual Reproduction

 Involves two parent  Involves 1 parent
 Involves gametes fusing  Involves no fusion of gametes
 There is a mix of genetic material  There is no mixing of genetic material
 Offsprings are genetically different  Offspring are genetically identical
 Involves only meiosis  Involves mitosis
 More energy required  Less energy required
 Slower  Faster

Stem cell
 A stem cell is an undifferentiated cell of an organism which is capable of giving rise to many
more cells of the same type, and from which certain other cells can arise from
differentiation.

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  Stem cells are found in human embryos, in the umbilical cord of a new born baby, and in
some organs and tissues.
 Stem cells from human embryos are called embryonic stem cells and can make all types of
cells.
 Scientist may be concerned about using stem cells because it could cause cancer.

Types of stem cells:

Embryonic stem cells:

 Can be cloned & made to differentiate into different types of human specialised cells e.g.
nerve cells

Advantages Disadvantages
 Can develop into most other types of  Cause death to embryo
cells & can treat many diseases  Potential life is killed – ethical issue
 Each cell divides every 30 min, plentiful  Unreliable procedure
 Low chance of rejection & painless  Risk of viral transfer

Adult stem cells (found in adults)

 Adult stem cells are found in some organs and tissues, e.g., bone marrow.
 If found in bone marrow they can form many types of cells including blood cells.

Advantages Disadvantages
 Procedure is well tested & relatively  Few types of cells – can treat some
safe diseases
 Give consent for the procedure to take  Risk of infection from operation
place, which removes any ethical issues  Painful to donate stem cells so may
 Quick recovery deter donors
 Risk of viral transfer

Meristem in plants

 Plant stem cells that can differentiate into specialised cells throughout the life
 Found at growing tips of shoots & roots
 These meristems allow plants to make new cells for growth
 They can differentiate into any type of plant, throughout life of plant
 Used to produce clones of plant quickly & economically
 Protect rare species from extinction & research purposes
 To produce large no of identical plants for farmers e.g. disease resistance crops

Uses of Stem Cell – Therapeutic cloning

Therapeutic cloning involves creating embryonic stem cells from an adult which can be used to
replace the damaged cells. (4)

 A nucleus from the patient is added to the doners egg that has had its nucleus removed.
 The egg is stimulated to divide, becoming an embryo.

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  The embryo is a clone of the patient with same genes therefore the embryo will not be
rejected by the patient and could help treat the patient’s condition.
 Once inside patient, stem cells can differentiate to replace cells which aren't working
properly
 Can help conditions e.g. diabetes & paralysis

Advantages Disadvantages
 Used to cure/treat diseases  Removal of stem cells result in
 Produce replacement cell, tissue and destruction of the embryo.
organs  Potential life is killed which is an ethical
 Can produce cells of any type issue.
 Unlikely to be rejected by the patient’s  Shortages of egg donation including
body. risks when collecting them.
 Many cells for research reducing the  Risk of transfer of viral infections if the
waiting time for transplants, therefore growing stem cells are contaminated.
the tendency for people to survive  Poor success rates to produce viable
increases. (workable) eggs.
 Unwanted embryos from fertility clinics  We do not completely understand the
could be used as they would otherwise process of differentiation, so it is hard
be discarded to control stem cells to form the cells
 Research into the process of we desire.
differentiation  We do not know the full risk as this is
 Treat diabetes and paralysis relatively a new science.
 Money and time could be better spent
into other areas of medicine.

Describe how scientist may use stem cells to create healthy (named) cells that are not rejected by
the patient. (4)

 take stem cells from patient (bone marrow / skin)

 remove / change / fix the faulty / CF gene
 create embryo using these stem cells
 remove stem cells (from embryo) and stimulate / allow them to divide / differentiate into
(cells)

Transport In Cells
Diffusion
 Diffusion is the net (all) movement of particles from an area of high to low concentration
across the cell membrane.

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  This happens because the particles move randomly and spread out. Diffusion is a passive
process meaning they don’t require any energy from cell.
 There are many examples of diffusion in living organisms:
- Oxygen and carbon dioxide diffuse during gas exchange in
lungs, gills and plant leaves KEY POINT
- Urea diffuses from cells into the blood plasma for excretion
by the kidney A dilute solution
- Digested food molecules from the small intestine diffuse into contains lots of water.
the blood.
A concentration solution
contains less water.

Factors Affecting Diffusion

Concentration gradient (difference) The higher the concentration gradient - the higher
the rate of diffusion.
Temperature The higher the temperature the more kinetic
energy particles have, the faster the particles
move, - higher rate of diffusion
Surface Area The larger the surface area, the particles are more
exposed and more available to react - the higher
the rate of diffusion.
Particle size The smaller the particle size the faster they move
Cell membrane The thin the cell membrane the higher the rate of
diffusion

How ______ is adapted for exchange?

Small  Small intestine is very long, which gives plenty of time to complete
Intestine absorption
 Villi are covered with microvilli, which increases SA to absorb quicker
 Villi contain blood capillaries, which provide rich blood supply to maintain a
steep concentration gradient to assist quick absorption
 Villi have thin walls for short diffusion pathways into blood
 Have lots of mitochondria to provide energy from respiration
Gills in fish  Gills has threads to increase SA
 Thin surface membrane for a short diffusion pathway to increase exchange
 Good ventilation and lots of blood capillaries to provide rich blood supply to
maintain a steep concentration gradient
Lungs  Air passes through the trachea aka windpipe
 Tracheas has rings of cartilage to prevent it from collapsing
 The trachea divides into 2 tubes – the bronchi
 Bronchi divides to form bronchioles
 The bronchioles divide until they end in tiny air sacs called alveoli.
 Lots of alveoli increases SA
 Thin membrane for a short diffusion pathway
 Alveolar walls are moist which allows the gases to dissolve increasing rate of
diffusion.

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  Good ventilation and lots of blood capillaries to provide rich blood supply to
maintain a steep concentration gradient by bringing in O2 and removing CO2.
(which is dissolved in the blood plasma)
 large capillary network (around alveoli) or good blood supply
 to remove oxygen (ated blood) quickly
 to bring carbon dioxide to the lungs quickly
 to maintain a concentration / diffusion gradient
Roots  Large SA
 Thin surface membrane for a short diffusion pathway
 Lots of mitochondria to provide energy from respiration for active transport
Leaves  Large SA
 Thin surface for short diffusion pathway
 Air spaces between cells

In multicellular organisms, surfaces and organ systems are specialised for exchanging materials. This
is to allow sufficient molecules to be transported into and out of cells for the organism’s needs. The
effectiveness of an exchange surface is increased by:

 having a large surface area

 a membrane that is thin, to provide a short diffusion path
 (in animals) having an efficient blood supply
 (in animals, for gaseous exchange) being ventilated.

Osmosis
 Osmosis is the net movement/diffusion of water molecules of high concentration to low
concentration/from a dilute to concentrated solution through
a partially semi permeable membrane. KEY POINT
 The semi permeable membrane has little pores which only
allows the small water molecule to move through but the Calculation for breathing
large sugar molecule is stopped. rate/min:

Number of breaths taken

Over /
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Number of minutes
  Isotonic - concentration of solutes (substances dissolved in water) in solution outside &
inside cells are same
 Hypertonic - concentration of solutes in solution outside higher than inside of cell
 Hypotonic - concentration of solutes in solution outside lower than inside of cell

 Net movement of water into bag by

osmosis
 Volume of water in bag increases
 Bag expand & increases water level

Animal cells

 Hypotonic solution  Isotonic solution  Hypertonic solution

 Net movement of  No osmosis occurs  Net movement of
water into cell by water out of cell by
osmosis osmosis
 Cell swells, then burst  Cell shrivels

Plant cell

 Hypotonic solution  Isotonic solution  Hypertonic solution

 Net movement of  No osmosis occurs  Net movement of
water into cell by  Cell flaccid water out of cell by
osmosis osmosis
 Cell turgid  Cell membrane shrank
 X burst because cell away from cell wall
membrane presses (plasmolysis)
against cell wall  Cell flaccid

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The body cells of a person with untreated diabetes lose more water than the body cells of a person
who does not have diabetes.

Explain how diabetes can cause the body cells to lose more water. (3)

 the blood is more concentrated or less dilute (than the solution in the cells)
 (so) water moves out of cells by osmosis
 water moves through a partially permeable membrane

Active Transport
 Active transport is the movement of substances across a membrane from a low to high
concentration/from of solution against a concentration gradient.
 This process requires energy from cellular respiration, a process which happens in
mitochondria
 Stores energy in literal molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which acts like little
batteries taking the energy from mitochondria to the different parts of the cell that need it.
 Requires special proteins that sit in the membrane and transfer molecules from one side to
another.
 In animals, absorption of sugar in the gut from a low to high concentration into blood for cell
respiration
 In plants, absorption of mineral ions into plant root hairs from very dilute solution in the soil
for healthy growth

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