MODULE 1 – CELLS AS THE

BASIS OF LIFE
PART 2 – CELL FUNCTION (HOW DO CELLS COORDINATE
ACTIVITIES WITHIN THEIR INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT AND THE
EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT?)
  Membrane permeability
 Types of transport across the membrane
(passive vs active)
LEARNING  Molecular mechanisms of transport across
INTENTIONS the membrane
 Other types of transport into/out of the cell
– endocytosis and exocytosis

06/12/2024
MEMBRANE PERMEABILITY

The phospholipid bilayer is a permeability barrier to most

Hydrophobic molecules will dissolve Smallmolecules.
molecules like oxygen, Ionised, polar and large molecules
in the hydrophobic core and diffuse carbon dioxide and water will also will NOT cross membranes without
across the membrane. cross membranes by diffusion. a specific transport mechanism.

This is important for the maintenance of cell integrity –

the membrane maintains the environment within the
cell which is different to the external environment.
06/12/2024
CHARACTERISTICS OF MATERIALS BEING
EXCHANGED AND DIFFUSION
THE CELL MEMBRANE HAS DIFFERENT LEVELS OF PERMEABILITY TO DIFFERENT MOLECULES

Molecule/ion Examples Permeability of membrane

to the molecule/ion
small, uncharged molecule oxygen, carbon dioxide permeable
lipid-soluble, non-polar alcohol, chloroform, steroids permeable
molecule
small, polar molecule water, urea permeable or semipermeable
small ion potassium ion, sodium ion, non-permeable (ion passes
chloride ion through protein channels)
large polar, water-soluble amino acid, glucose non-permeable (ion passes
molecule through protein channels)

06/12/2024
TRANSPORTING
MOLECULES INTO
CELLS
(WATCH
CELL TRANSPORT
)

06/12/2024
DIFFUSION

 Molecules that can diffuse across a

membrane will move in both directions.
 If there is a difference in concentration
between the two sides of the membrane,
there will be net movement down the
concentration gradient until equilibrium is
reached (the concentration is equal on
both sides of the membrane).
 This is called passive transport because
the cell does not expend energy in the
process.
 Main factors that affect the rate of
diffusion are concentration, temperature
and size.
06/12/2024
FACILITATED  In facilitated diffusion, transport
proteins assist movement of
molecules down a concentration
DIFFUSION: gradient.
 This requires no energy.

PASSIVE  Channels – allow direct passage

from one side of the membrane
TRANSPORT to the other.
 Carriers – binding to solute on

AIDED BY one side of the membrane

produces a conformational

PROTEINS change in the protein moving the

solute through.

06/12/2024
FACILITATED DIFFUSION VIA CHANNELS
 Channels – Integral membrane proteins,
which allow diffusion across the
membrane down a concentration
gradient.
 Channel proteins provide a corridor for
specific molecules or ions to cross the
membrane.
 Water can diffuse across the
membrane, but only very slowly
because it is polar.
 There are specific channel proteins for
water (results in a faster rate of
diffusion than simple diffusion).
 Channel proteins are involved in the
passage of water-soluble polar
particles.
Allows the cell to take up and retain
the molecules it needs and exclude
06/12/2024

what is unwanted.
FACILITATED DIFFUSION VIA CARRIERS

 Carriers – Integral membrane proteins

which help molecules to cross the
membrane.
 Alternates between two shapes.
 Moves the solute across the membrane
during the shape change.
 Transports solute in either direction
depending on the concentration gradient.
 Shows specificity – carriers have binding
sites equivalent to the binding sites of
enzymes. Transport through carriers is
slower than via channels.

06/12/2024
  Osmosis refers to the net diffusion
of water molecules across a
semipermeable membrane. The
direction of movement is from an
area of high water concentration to

KEY an area of low water concentration

(from a dilute solution to a
concentrated solution). This is known

CONCEPT:
as the osmotic gradient. The
pressure causing the water to move
along the gradient is known as the

OSMOSIS
osmotic pressure.
 Activities:
 Model the processes of diffusion and
osmosis (Practical Activity 1.3 in
Skills and Assessment workbook)
 ‘Diffusion’ Gizmo
06/12/2024
CONCENTRATION GRADIENTS – DIFFERENCES IN ION
CONCENTRATIONS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF CELLS

 The table shows typical ion

concentrations inside and
outside of a mammalian
cell.
 Concentration gradients
would disappear with time
if they are not maintained.
They are maintained with
active transport against
the gradient.

06/12/2024
ACTIVE TRANSPORT

 Active transport only occurs through

carrier proteins.

06/12/2024
  Large molecules, such as
polysaccharides and proteins,
cross the membrane in bulk via
vesicles.
 Exocytosis - materials are
exported out of the cell via
BULK TRANSPORT secretory vesicles. In this
process, the Golgi complex
ACROSS THE packages macromolecules into
transport vesicles that travel to
PLASMA and fuse with the plasma
membrane. This fusion causes
MEMBRANE the vesicle to spill its contents out
of the cell. Exocytosis is
OCCURS BY important in expulsion of waste
materials out of the cell and in
EXOCYTOSIS AND the secretion of cellular products
such as digestive enzymes or
ENDOCYTOSIS hormones.
 Endocytosis - materials move
into the cell. There are three
types of endocytosis:06/12/2024
phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and
receptor-mediated
PHAGOCYTOSIS: CELLULAR EATING

 A cell engulfs a particle by wrapping

pseudopodia around it and
packaging it into a large vesicle or
vacuole.
 Used by macrophages in higher
animals to destroy bacteria –
involves recognition of what is
“foreign”.
 Phagocytosis

06/12/2024
PINOCYTOSIS: CELLULAR DRINKING

 New vesicles are formed by random invaginations

of the plasma membrane.
 Any and all solutes are taken into the cell – there is
no specificity!

06/12/2024
RECEPTOR-MEDIATED ENDOCYTOSIS

 Receptor proteins on the cell surface recognise and bind

to specific molecules.
 Receptors are clustered in regions called “coated pits”.
 Vesicles are formed in which the receptors and their
bound molecules are concentrated.
 A highly selective, specific uptake process.

06/12/2024
SUMMARY: MEMBRANE TRANSPORT MECHANISMS

06/12/2024
  Substances that enter cells must travel from
the outside environment across the surface of

SURFACE
the cell and then diffuse inwards until they
reach the centre of the cell. If a cell has a
large volume, the organelles in the centre of
the cell are further from the outside. If a cell

AREA TO
is flatter or smaller, the organelles in the
centre are close to the outer surface. This
increases the efficiency of substances
diffusing into or out of a cell due to the cell

VOLUME
having a larger surface area to volume
ratio. As a cell increases in size, the surface
area to volume ratio decreases, making
movement of substances across the

RATIO AND
membrane less efficient. Therefore, when a
cell reaches a certain size, it divides into two
smaller cells, restoring a more favourable
surface area to volume ratio.

DIFFUSION  Practical activity – surface area to volume

ratios (Practical Activity 1.2 in Skills and
Assessment workbook)

06/12/2024
  A diffusion gradient exists whenever
two areas have different
concentrations of a substance; the
substance moves until the two
concentrations are equal. (Two
solutions of equal concentration are
CONCENTRATION said to be isotonic; a more
concentrated solution is hypertonic

GRADIENTS AND and a more dilute solution is

hypotonic.) This requires no energy
and occurs whether or not a
DIFFUSION membrane exists. Movement requiring
no energy is known as passive
transport.

 concentration gradients and rate of

diffusion (‘Osmosis’ gizmo)
06/12/2024
06/12/2024

YOUR TURN

 Key questions on page

123 of the text.
  Cell requirements
 Metabolism
 Energy requirements
 Respiration
 Photosynthesis
LEARNING  Removal of cellular products and wastes in eukaryotic cells

INTENTIONS

06/12/2024
CELL REQUIREMENTS

 Recall that …
 Autotrophs: produce
organic molecules from CO2
and other inorganic
molecules from the
environment.
 Heterotrophs: obtain
organic molecules through
other organisms.

06/12/2024
CELL REQUIREMENTS - INORGANIC

 Oxygen Is needed for efficient energy supply (respiration) in most organisms. Taken in as a gas by
terrestrial organisms and in solution by aquatic organisms.
 Water makes up 70-90% of most organisms. It is an important solvent and transport medium.
Chemical reactions in cells take place in the water-based cytosol, and some of these reactions
include water.
 Carbon dioxide is a source of carbon for organic molecules (photosynthesis). Taken in by plants as a
gas, converted into sugars and returns to the atmosphere by the carbon cycle.
 Nitrogen is needed to form amino acids (that link together to form proteins), and nucleic acids.
Bacteria take nitrogen gas from the air and convert it into nitrate ions, which are taken up by plants.
Consumers get their nitrogen from these plants. The nitrogen cycle returns nitrogen gas to the air.
 Minerals, e.g. calcium, sodium, potassium, iron and magnesium, are important for building
enzymes and vitamins that are needed for structure and function.

06/12/2024
 CELL REQUIREMENTS - ORGANIC
 Carbohydrates are important energy sources and structural components of organisms.
 Examples are glucose, sucrose, starch and cellulose.
 Basic subunits are simple sugars called monosaccharides, disaccharides and polysaccharides.
 Carbohydrates have hydrogen atoms in a 2:1 ratio with oxygen atoms.
 Lipids play an important role in cell membranes.
 They include fats and oils which are important for energy storage.
 They are composed of a glycerol ‘head’ and fatty acid ‘tail’.
 They contain less oxygen compared to carbohydrates and can contain other elements, such as phosphorus and
nitrogen.
 Proteins are composed of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds to form a polypeptide chains (two or more of
which are folded into a complex, 3D structure).
 Include enzymes, hormones, antibodies, carrier molecules (haemoglobin) and form part of the cell membrane.
 Made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.
 Nucleic acids carry the genetic information of the cell (DNA and RNA)
 Long chains of nucleotides (bases, sugars and phosphates).
06/12/2024
WHAT IS METABOLISM?

 Metabolism is the totality of an

organism’s chemical reactions, consisting
of catabolic and anabolic pathways,
which manage the material and
resources of a cell.

06/12/2024
CATABOLISM

 Catabolic pathways release energy by

breaking down complex molecules into
simpler compounds.
 Cellular respiration, the breakdown of
glucose in the presence of oxygen, is an
example of a pathway of catabolism.

06/12/2024
ANABOLISM

 Anabolic pathways consume energy to

build complex molecules from simpler
ones.
 The synthesis of protein from amino
acids is an example of anabolism.

06/12/2024
ENERGY REQUIREMENTS

 In order to survive, organisms must obtain both energy and a carbon source from
the environment.
 Phototrophs are organisms that use light energy while chemotrophs obtain energy
from chemicals.
 Autotrophs require only carbon dioxide as a carbon source, while heterotrophs
require one or more organic carbon sources (e.g. glucose).

06/12/2024
NUTRITIONAL MODES

06/12/2024
ATP POWERS
CELLULAR WORK

 ATP (adenosine
triphosphate) is the
energy shuttle of the
cell.
 ATP is composed of
ribose (a sugar), adenine
(a nitrogenous base),
and three phosphate
groups.

06/12/2024
THE HYDROLYSIS OF ATP

 The bonds between the phosphate

groups of the ATP tail can be broken by
hydrolysis.
 Energy is released from ATP when the
terminal phosphate bond is broken.

06/12/2024
GENERATION OF ATP

 Catabolic processes in higher animals and other organisms require oxygen – that is, they
are AEROBIC processes.

 Catabolic processes in many protists and bacteria do not require oxygen – that is, they are
ANAEROBIC processes.

06/12/2024
RESPIRATION VS FERMENTATION

06/12/2024
PHOTOSYNTHESIS

 Leaves are the major site of photosynthesis in plants.

 Photoautotrophs: organisms that synthesise organic
molecules from carbon dioxide and (mostly) water.
 Chloroplasts are mainly found in the mesophyll (the interior
leaf tissue).
 Chloroplasts have an outer and inner membrane, separated
by an intermembrane space. The interior is a dense fluid /
gel like substance called the stroma. Within the stroma are
membranous sacs called thylakoids. Inside the thylakoids is
the thylakoid space. The stacks of thylakoids are called
grana. Chlorophyll is located in the thylakoid membranes.
06/12/2024
PHOTOSYNTHESIS

 Photosynthesis comprises two processes: a

light reaction (photo) and the Calvin cycle
(the dark reaction) (synthesis).

06/12/2024
PHOTOSYNTHESIS – LIGHT REACTION
 Water is split in the presence of solar energy (light) and
chlorophyll, into hydrogen ions and oxygen. ATP is also
produced.
 This occurs in the thylakoids.

Light energy
Water hydrogen ions + oxygen + ATP
Chlorophyll

06/12/2024
PHOTOSYNTHESIS – DARK REACTION (CALVIN CYCLE)

 Uses the products of the light reaction and carbon dioxide to

produce glucose, water and ADP.
 This occurs in the stroma.

Hydrogen ions + ATP + carbon dioxide glucose +

water + ADP

06/12/2024
PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUMMARY

Light energy
Water + Carbon dioxide Glucose + Oxygen
(+ Water)
Chlorophyll

06/12/2024
PRACTICAL ACTIVITY

 Photosynthesis and respiration (pages 34-36 Skills and Assessment

workbook).

06/12/2024
  Autotrophic and

CELL heterotrophic cells produce

substances from their

REQUIREMEN metabolism that are not

useful. Accumulation of these
substances can prevent cells
TS – WASTE from functioning properly
and so these substances
REMOVAL need to be removed. This
process is called excretion.

06/12/2024
  Lysosomes – small vesicles that
are filled with digestive enzymes.
The digestive enzymes break
down waste products into smaller
molecules to be reused by the
CELLULAR cell or expelled by exocytosis.
 Proteasomes – protein complexes

WASTE that degrade damaged proteins

by breaking their peptide bonds.
The chemical reaction is called
proteolysis and the enzymes that
catalyse these reactions are
proteases.

06/12/2024
  Plants do not require specialised excretory
organs, although leaves do excrete
carbon dioxide or oxygen that is excess to
cell requirements.

WASTE  Compared to heterotrophs, autotrophic

cells produce very little waste – due to
lower metabolic rate.

REMOVAL -  Aquatic autotrophs pass waste directly

into the surrounding water.
 Mangroves are subject to high levels of

AUTOTROPH salt. They have adaptations to cope. For

example, concentrating excess salt in old
leaves and bark, which is shed, storing

S
salt in vacuoles and excreting salt crystals
onto the leaf surface to be blown or
washed away.
 Terrestrial plants can store wastes in non-
living hardwood or in leaves that are
dropped later.
06/12/2024
  Heterotrophic cells break down and
replace carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic
acids and proteins into waste

WASTE products that can not be used by the

cell.
 Unicellular freshwater organisms can
REMOVAL - expel wastes directly through their
membrane into surrounding water.

HETEROTROP They have contractile vacuoles,

which collect water and waste, and
periodically pump them out.
HS  Animals have specific excretory
organs and systems to ensure
wastes are effectively removed from
cells.
06/12/2024
WASTE REMOVAL – CARBON DIOXIDE

 During cellular respiration, carbon dioxide is produced. It

must be removed because it lowers the pH (increases the
acidity) of the blood.
 Carbon dioxide is removed by diffusing across moist
respiratory membranes.
 In mammals it is the lungs
 In aquatic animals, it can be by diffusion or via gills

06/12/2024
WASTE REMOVAL - WATER

 Not usually a waste problem.

 If extra water is produced by respiration or by ingestion, it
is expelled from the body either as water vapour when
breathing, or with urine from the kidneys.

06/12/2024
WASTE REMOVAL – NITROGENOUS WASTES
 When proteins are broken down, the nitrogenous parts are split off and the remainder of the
molecule is converted into carbohydrates or lipids, to be used as energy. Cells also recycle
nucleic acids, releasing more nitrogenous waste.
 The nitrogenous waste must be removed from the cell because it is toxic.
 Multicellular animals use their circulatory systems to transport wastes away from cells to the
excretory organs.
 In mammals, nitrogenous waste is first managed by the liver (breaks down amino acids to
produce ammonia, which is then converted into urea or uric acid), and then regulated by the
kidneys and excreted as urine.
 Specialised structures called nephrons ensure that the blood is continuously filtered to
remove wastes and reabsorb useful substances.
 Activity - Complete the nitrogenous waste table
06/12/2024
WASTE
REMOVAL –
NITROGENOU
S WASTES

06/12/2024
WASTE
REMOVAL -
SUMMARY

06/12/2024
06/12/2024

YOUR TURN

 Key questions on page

130 of the text.
 Key questions on pages
150-151 of the text.