NMAT BIOLOGY
CELL BIOLOGY
1.1 Eukaryotic & Prokaryotic Cells
Prokaryotes vs. Eukaryotes
Description Eukaryotes Prokaryotes
Organisms Plants, animals, & fungi Bacteria & Cyanobacteria
Cell wall No (animals) Yes
Yes (plants)
Centrioles Yes (all animals and some lower No
plant forms)
Cilia and flagella Yes, simple Yes, complex
Golgi Complex Yes No
Lysosomes Common in animals, absen in No
plants
Peroxisomes Yes No
Nucleus Yes No
Plasma membrane Yes Yes
Chromosomes Several chromosomes One long DNA strand
Ribosomes Yes Yes
Endoplasmic Reticulum Yes No
CELL ORGANELLES
Cell Component Structure Function
Nucleus x Ribosomes
- Surrounded by nuclear - Houses chromosomes, which
envelope (double membrane) are made of chromatin (DNA
perforated by nuclear pores; and proteins);
- nuclear envelope continuous - contains nucleoli, where
with endoplasmic reticulum ribosomal subunits are made;
(ER) - pores regulate entry and
exit of materials
- Two subunits made of - Protein synthesis
ribosomal RNA and proteins;
- can be free in cytosol or
bound to ER
Endomembrane System
- Extensive network of Smooth ER
membranebounded tubules and - synthesis of lipids,
sacs; metabolism of carbohydrates
- membrane separates lumen - Ca2+ storage
from cytosol; - detoxification of drugs and
- continuous with nuclear poisons.
envelope
Rough ER
- aids in synthesis of
secretory and other proteins
from bound ribosomes
- adds carbohydrates to
proteins to make
glycoproteins
- produces new membrane.
- Stacks of flattened - Modification of proteins,
membranous sacs carbohydrates on proteins,
- has polarity (cis and trans and phospholipids;
faces) - synthesis of many
polysaccharides;
- sorting of Golgi products,
which are then released in
vesicles
- Membranous sac of hydrolytic - Breakdown of ingested
enzymes (in animal cells) substances, cell
macromolecules, and damaged
organelles for recycling
- Large membrane-bounded - Digestion,
vesicle - storage,
- waste disposal,
- water balance,
- cell growth,
- protection
Energy Production
- Bounded by double membrane; - Cellular respiration
- inner membrane has
infoldings (cristae)
- Typically two membranes - Photosynthesis
around fluid stroma, which
contains thylakoids stacked
into grana (in cells of
photosynthetic eukaryotes,
including plants)
- Specialized metabolic - Contains enzymes that
compartment bounded by a transfer hydrogen atoms from
single membrane substrates to oxygen,
producing hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2) as a by-product;
- H2O2 is converted to water
by another enzyme
1.2 Membrane Structure and Function
PASSIVE TRANSPORT & ACTIVE TRANSPORT
Passive Transport
- diffusion of a substance across a
membrane with no energy investment
Diffusion
- the movement of particles of any
substance so that they spread out
into the available space.
Facilitated Diffusion
- passive transport aided by transport
proteins
Active transport
- uses energy to move solutes against
their gradients
Sodium-potassium pump
- transport system which exchanges Na+ for
K+ across the plasma membrane of animal
cells.
- An electrogenic pump.
Cotransport
- Transport of two solutes occurs when a
membrane protein enables the “downhill”
diffusion of one solute to drive the
“uphill” transport of the other.
Bulk transport across the plasma membrane
occurs by exocytosis and endocytosis:
Exocytosis
- transport vesicles migrate to the plasma
membrane, fuse with it, and release
their contents.
Endocytosis
- molecules enter cells within vesicles
that pinch inward from the plasma
membrane.
- The three types of endocytosis are
phagocytosis, pinocytosis, and receptor-
mediated endocytosis
Active Transport
Passive Transport
Water Balance of Cells Without Cell Walls
Osmosis
- The diffusion of free water across a
selectively permeable membrane, whether
artificial or cellular.
Osmoregulation
- the control of solute concentrations and
water balance.
Behavior of a cell in a solution/tonicity:
1.) solute concentration
2.) membrane permeability.
Tonicity
- the ability of a surrounding solution to cause a cell to gain or lose water.
- depends in part on its concentration of solutes that cannot cross the membrane
(nonpenetrating solutes) relative to that inside the cell.
- If there is a higher concentration of nonpenetrating solutes in the surrounding solution,
water will tend to leave the cell, and vice versa.
Turgor Pressure
- Back pressure exerted by the cell wall that opposes further water uptake.
Hypotonic Fluid that has - water will enter the cell - the plant cell swells as
low overall faster than it leaves. water enters by osmosis.
solute - the cell will swell and - the cell is turgid (very
concentration
lyse (burst) like an firm), which is the healthy
relative to
overfilled water balloon. state for most plant cells.
another fluid.
BEST for plant
cells since
water uptake is
balanced by cell
wall.
BOTANY
2.1 Plant Responses
Photoperiodism and Responses to Seasons, Flowering
Photoperiod
- the environmental stimulus that
plants use most often to detect
the time of year.
- the interval in a 24-hour period
during which an organism is
exposed to light.
Photoperiodism
- A physiological response to
photoperiod, such as flowering.
Critical Night Length
- Controls flowering and other
responses to photoperiod, not day
length.
Short-day plant/Long-night plants
- Requires a light period shorter than a critical length to flower.
- Chrysanthemums, poinsettias, and some soybean varieties are also short-day plants, which
generally flower in late summer, fall, or winter.
Long-day plant/Short-night plants
- Flower only when the light period is longer than a certain number of hours.
- Generally flower in late spring or early summer.
- For example, Spinach, flowers when days are 14 hours or longer. Radishes, lettuce, irises,
and many cereal varieties are also long-day plants.
Day-neutral plants
- Plants unaffected by photoperiod and flower when they reach a certain stage of maturity,
regardless of photoperiod.
- Examples are tomatoes, rice, and dandelions.
REMEMBER!
- If the light portion of the photoperiod is broken by a brief exposure to darkness, flowering
proceeds. However, if the dark part of the photoperiod is interrupted by even a few minutes
of dim light, it will not flower, and this turned out to be true for other short-day plants
as well.
- We distinguish long-day from short-day plants not by an absolute night length but by whether
the critical night length sets a maximum (long-day plants) or minimum (short-day plants)
number of hours of darkness required for flowering.
2.2 Plant Stimulus
Tropism
- Any growth response that results in plant organs curving toward or away from stimuli is
called a tropism (from the Greek tropos, turn).
- Phototropism
- The growth of a shoot toward light or away from it.
- the former is positive phototropism, and the latter is negative phototropism.
- In natural ecosystems, where plants may be crowded, phototropism directs shoot growth
toward the sunlight that powers photosynthesis. This response results from a
differential growth of cells on opposite sides of the shoot; the cells on the darker
side elongate faster than the cells on the brighter side.
- Gravitopism/Geotropism
- bending in response to gravity. Roots show positive gravitropism, and stems show
negative gravitropism.
- Statoliths, starch-filled plastids, enable roots to detect gravity.
- Thigmotropism
- a growth response to touch. Rapid leaf movements involve transmission of electrical
impulses.
2.3 Plant Hormones
SUMMARY!
Plant hormones help
coordinate growth,
development, and
responses to stimuli.
Hormones
- control plant
growth and
development by
affecting the
division,
elongation, and
differentiation of
cells. Some also
mediate the
responses of plants
to environmental
stimuli.
