Chapter-5

The fundamental unit of life

Overview of chapter:
Cell: Cell is a Latin word for ‘a little room’. Cells are the smallest, structural and

functional unit of life.

Discoveries:
● Cells were first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665. He observed the cells in a cork
slice with the help of a primitive microscope.
● Leeuwenhoek (1674), with the improved microscope, discovered the free-living cells in
pond water for the first time.
● Robert Brown in 1831 who discovered the nucleus in the cell.
● Purkinje in 1839 coined the term ‘protoplasm’ for the fluid substance of the cell.
● The cell theory, that all plants and animals are composed of cells and that the cell is the
basic unit of life, was presented by two biologists, Schleiden (1838) and Schwann
(1839).
● The cell theory was further expanded by Virchow (1855) by suggesting that all cells arise
from pre-existing cells.
Some interesting facts:
● The smallest cell is Mycoplasma (PPLO-Pleuropneumonia like organisms).
Mycoplasma's size is 0.2–0.3 μm. Mycoplasma are the smallest living organisms on
the earth.
● Ostrich's egg is said to be the largest cell.It is approximately 15 to 18 cm long and
wide.
● Ovum (female gamete) is the largest cell present in the human body.
● Sperm cell is the smallest cell in humans(male).
● Neurons are the longest cell in the human body.

Cell How it looks

RBC

WBC
Platelets

Neuron

Ovum
Sperm

Muscle cell
Basis of difference Prokaryotic cell Eukaryotic cell

Size Generally small (1-10 micro meter). Generally large (5-100 micro meter).

Nuclear region Not well defined and not Well defined and surrounded by a
surrounded by a nuclear nuclear membrane.
membrane & known as nucleoid.

Chromosome Single and circular. More than one and linear

Membrane bound Absent Present

organelle

Nucleus Lack true nucleus True nucleus present

Ribosome Smaller in size and randomly Bigger in size and attached to the
scattered in cytoplasm. endoplasmic reticulum or freely
present in cytoplasm.

Example Bacteria and Blue green algae Plants, animals and fungi.

Basis Animal cell Plant cell

Diagram

Cell wall Absent Present

Plastids Absent Present

Vacuole Usually small and numerous Few large or a single, centrally

positioned vacuole
Components of cell:

1. Cell membrane/Plasma membrane:

Characteristics of plasma membrane:
● It is found in all cells
● It separates the interior of the cell from the outside environment.
● The cell membrane consists of a lipid bilayer that is semipermeable.
● The cell membrane regulates the transport of materials entering and exiting the cell.
● The plasma membrane is flexible.
● The flexibility of the cell membrane also enables the cell to engulf in food and other
material from its external environment. Such processes are known as endocytosis.
Amoeba acquires its food through such processes.

Importance of plasma membrane:

● The plasma membrane, or the cell membrane, provides protection for a cell.
● It transports nutrients into the cell and also to transport toxic substances out of the cell.
● The cell membrane also provides some structural support for a cell.
● Viruses lack any membranes and hence do not show characteristics of life until they
enter a living body and use its cell machinery to multiply.

Why is plasma membrane called selectively permeable membrane?

The plasma membrane allows or permits the entry and exit of some materials in and out of the
cell. It also prevents movement of some other materials. The cell membrane, therefore, is called
a selectively permeable membrane.

How does the movement of substances take place into the cell? How do substances move out
of the cell?
Substances like carbon dioxide or oxygen can move across the cell membrane by a process
called diffusion.
Diffusion: spontaneous movement of a substance from a region of high concentration to a
region where its concentration is low.
For example, some substance like CO2 (which is cellular waste and requires to be excreted out
by the cell) accumulates in high concentrations inside the cell. In the cell’s external environment,
the concentration of CO2 is low as compared to that inside the cell. As soon as there is a
difference of concentration of CO2 inside and outside a cell, CO2 moves out of the cell, from a
region of high concentration, to a region of low concentration outside the cell by the process of
diffusion. Similarly, O2 enters the cell by the process of diffusion when the level or concentration
of O2 inside the cell decreases. Thus, diffusion plays an important role in gaseous exchange
between the cells as well as the cell and its external environment.

Thus, diffusion is important in exchange of gases and water in the life of a cell. In addition to
this, the cell also obtains nutrition from its environment. Different molecules move in and out of
the cell through a type of transport requiring use of energy
Osmosis: The movement of water molecules through such a selectively permeable membrane
is called osmosis.
Unicellular freshwater organisms and most plant cells tend to gain water through osmosis.
Absorption of water by plant roots is also an example of osmosis.

What will happen if we put an animal cell or a plant cell into a solution of sugar or salt in water?
One of the following three things could happen:
1. If the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water concentration than the cell,
meaning that the outside solution is very dilute, the cell will gain water by osmosis. Such
a solution is known as a hypotonic solution.
Water molecules are free to pass across the cell membrane in both directions, but more
water will come into the cell than will leave. The net (overall) result is that water enters
the cell. The cell is likely to swell up.
2. If the medium has exactly the same water concentration as the cell, there will be no net
movement of water across the cell membrane. Such a solution is known as an isotonic
solution.
Water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but the amount going in is the same
as the amount going out, so there is no overall movement of water. The cell will stay
the same size
3. If the medium has a lower concentration of water than the cell, meaning that it is a very
concentrated solution, the cell will lose water by osmosis. Such a solution is known as a
hypertonic solution.
Water crosses the cell membrane in both directions, but this time more water leaves the
cell than enters it. Therefore, the cell will shrink.

Endosmosis is the movement of the water inside the cells when the cell is placed in a hypotonic
solution. This movement of water causes the cell to swell.
Exosmosis is the movement of water outside the cells when a cell is placed in a hypertonic
solution. The cell becomes flaccid by the movement of water outside.
Note: only living cells, and not dead cells, are able to absorb water by osmosis.

2. Cell wall
A cell wall is a non-living rigid structure that forms an outer covering for the plasma membrane
of fungi and plants.
Characteristics of cell wall:
● The cell wall lies outside the plasma membrane.
● The plant cell wall is mainly composed of cellulose. Cellulose is a complex substance
and provides structural strength to plants.

Importance of cell wall:

● Cell wall gives shape to the cell.
● Cell wall protects the cell from mechanical damage and infection.
● Cell walls permit the cells of plants, fungi and bacteria to withstand very dilute
(hypotonic) external media without bursting. In such media the cells tend to take up
water by osmosis. The cell swells, building up pressure against the cell wall. The wall
exerts an equal pressure against the swollen cell. Because of their walls, such cells can
withstand much greater changes in the surrounding medium than animal cells.

Comparison of cell wall and cell membrane:

Cell wall Cell membrane

● Present in plant cell ● Present in animal and plant cells

both.

● Cell wall is freely ● selectively permeable membrane.

permeable to most of the
molecules

● The cell wall is mainly ● The cell membrane is mainly

composed of cellulose. composed of lipids and proteins.

● Cell wall is rigid. ● Cell membrane is flexible.

3. Nucleus

Nucleus as a cell organelle was first described by Robert Brown as early as 1831.The material
of the nucleus stained by the basic dyes was given the name chromatin by Flemming.
Structure of nucleus:
The nucleus has a double layered covering called a nuclear membrane. The nuclear membrane
has pores which allow the transfer of material from inside the nucleus to its outside, that is, to
the cytoplasm.

Importance of nucleus:
● The nucleus plays a central role in cellular reproduction, the process by which a single
cell divides and forms two new cells.
● It also plays a crucial part, along with the environment, in determining the way the cell
will develop and what form it will exhibit at maturity, by directing the chemical activities of
the cell.
● The nucleus contains chromosomes.Chromosomes contain information for inheritance of
characters from parents to the next generation in the form of DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic
Acid) molecules. Chromosomes are composed of DNA and protein. DNA molecules
contain the information necessary for constructing and organising cells. Functional
segments of DNA are called genes. In a cell which is not dividing, this DNA is present as
part of chromatin material. Chromatin material is visible as an entangled mass of
thread-like structures. Whenever the cell is about to divide, the chromatin material gets
organised into chromosomes.
Nucleoid: In some organisms like bacteria, the nuclear region of the cell may be poorly defined
due to the absence of a nuclear membrane. Such an undefined nuclear region containing only
nucleic acids is called a nucleoid.
4. Cytoplasm
● The cytoplasm is the fluid content inside the plasma membrane. It also contains many
specialised cell organelles. Each of these organelles performs a specific function for the
cell.
● Cell organelles are enclosed by membranes.
5. Cell organelles
Significance of cell organelles:
Large and complex cells, including cells from multicellular organisms, need a lot of
chemical activities to support their complicated structure and function. To keep these
activities of different kinds separate from each other, these cells use membrane-bound
little structures (or ‘organelles’) within themselves.Some of these organelles are visible
only with an electron microscope. Each kind of cell organelle performs a special
function.A cell is able to live and perform all its functions because of these organelles.
Some important organelles are: endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, lysosomes,
mitochondria and plastids.

I. ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER)

Structure:
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a large network of
membrane-bound tubes and sheets. It looks like long
tubules or round or oblong bags (vesicles). The ER
membrane is similar in structure to the plasma
membrane.
Function:
● To serve as channels for the transport of materials (especially proteins) between
various regions of the cytoplasm or between the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
● ER also functions as a cytoplasmic framework providing a surface for some of
the biochemical activities of the cell.
● In the liver cells of the group of animals called vertebrates, SER plays a crucial
role in detoxifying many poisons and drugs.

RER:
. The endoplasmic reticulum bearing ribosomes on their surface is called rough endoplasmic
reticulum (RER).
Function: RER is frequently observed in the cells actively involved in protein synthesis and
secretion.

SER:
In the absence of ribosomes, they appear smooth and are called smooth endoplasmic reticulum
(SER).
Function: The smooth endoplasmic reticulum is the major site for synthesis of lipid.

Membrane biogenesis: The process in which lipids and proteins helps in membrane formation.
ER is important in membrane biogenesis.

II. GOLGI APPARATUS:

Structure:
● first described by Camillo Golgi
 ● consists of a system of membrane-bound vesicles (flattened sacs) arranged
approximately parallel to each other in stacks called cisterns
● These membranes often have connections with the membranes of ER and therefore
constitute another portion of a complex cellular membrane system.

Function:
● material synthesized near the ER is packaged and dispatched to various targets inside
and outside the cell through the Golgi apparatus.
● the storage, modification and packaging of products in vesicles.
● complex sugars may be made from simple sugars in the Golgi apparatus.
● The Golgi apparatus is also involved in the formation of lysosomes.

III. LYSOSOMES
Structure: Lysosomes are membrane-bound sacs filled with digestive enzymes.These enzymes
are made by RER.
Function:
● Lysosomes are a kind of waste
disposal system of the cell.
● These help to keep the cell clean by
digesting any foreign material as well as
worn-out cell organelles
● Foreign materials entering the cell
end up in the lysosomes.
Lysosomes are able to do this because they
contain powerful digestive enzymes capable
of breaking down all organic material.

Note: During the disturbance in cellular

metabolism, for example, when the cell gets
damaged, lysosomes may burst and the
enzymes digest their own cell. Therefore,
lysosomes are also known as the ‘suicide
bags’ of a cell.
 IV. MITOCHONDRIA
Structure: . Mitochondria have two membrane coverings. The outer membrane is porous while
the inner membrane is deeply folded. These folds increase surface area for ATPgenerating
chemical reactions.

Function:
The energy required for various chemical activities needed for life is released by mitochondria in
the form of ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) molecules. ATP is known as the energy currency of
the cell. The body uses energy stored in ATP for making new chemical compounds and for
mechanical work.
Note: Mitochondria have their own DNA and ribosomes. Therefore, mitochondria are able to
make some of their own proteins.
Power house of cell: Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell as the energy
required for various chemical activities needed for life is released by mitochondria in the form of
ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) molecules.

V. PLASTIDS
Plastids are present only in plant cells. Plastids have their own DNA and ribosomes.
Chromoplast: Chromoplasts containing the pigment chlorophyll are known as chloroplasts.
Chloroplasts are important for photosynthesis in plants. Chloroplasts also contain various yellow
or orange pigments in addition to chlorophyll.
Chloroplast: Chloroplast consists of numerous membrane layers embedded in a material called
the stroma.

Leucoplasts: These are primarily organelles in which materials such as starch, oils and protein
granules are stored.

VI. VACUOLES
Structure:
● Vacuoles are storage sacs for solid or liquid contents.
● Vacuoles are small sized in animal cells while plant cells have very large vacuoles.
● Central vacuole of some plant cells may occupy 50-90% of the cell volume.
Function:
● In plant cells vacuoles are full of cell sap and provide turgidity and rigidity to the cell.
● Many substances including amino acids, sugars, various organic acids and some
proteins are stored in vacuoles in plant cell.
● In some unicellular organisms, specialized vacuoles also play important roles in
expelling excess water and some wastes from the cell
● In single-celled organisms like Amoeba, the food vacuole contains the food items that
the Amoeba has consumed.

Cell division
Why is cell division important?
New cells are formed in organisms in order to grow, to replace old, dead and injured cells, and
to form gametes required for reproduction. The process by which new cells are made is called
cell division.
Mitosis Meiosis

● Each cell called the mother cell ● When a cell divides by meiosis it
divides to form two identical daughter produces four new.
cells. ● It is the process by which cells of
● It is the process of cell division by reproductive organs or tissues in
which most of the cells divide for animals and plants divide to form
growth. gametes.
● The daughter cells have the same ● The new cells only have half the
number of chromosomes as the number of chromosomes than that of
mother cell. the mother cells.