3.

1 The Cellular Level of Organization

Cell= boundary between living and non-living things. Molecules that make food and
macromolecules inside the cell aren’t living, yet the cell is alive.

Smallest living organisms are unicellular while larger organisms are multicellular
(composed of many cells)

Despite the variety of of form and function, human cells contain the same components.

Organelle- small structure found in eukaryotic cells

Antoine de Leeuwenhoek- made his own microscopes and observed things that no one
had seen before

Robert Hooke- confirmed Leeeuwenhoek’s findings

- first to use the term cell (tiny honeycomb structure he found in cork like cells in a
monastery)

Matthias Schleiden- plants composed of cells

Theodor Schwann- animals composed of cells

Rudolf Virchow (German)- discovered that cells don’t suddenly appear, they come from
preexisting cells

Cell theory- basic theory of biology which states that all organisms are made up of basic
living units called cells and that cells only come from preexisting cells

1) All organisms are composed of one or more cells

2) Cells are the basic living unit of structure and functions in organisms
3) All cells come only from other cells

3.2 Eukaryotic Cells

Eukaryotic cells- one of the 2 major types of cells, found in both plants and animals
-have a nucleus
 Nucleus- large structure that controls the workings of the cell because it contains the
genes
-has a diameter of about 5 u.m
- stores genetic material DNA which governs the characteristics of the cells and its
metabolic functioning
- every cell in the same person contains the same DNA, but in each cell types certain
genes are turned on and off
- Activated DNA with RNA acting as an intermediary, specifies the sequence of amino
acids when a protein is synthesized, which then determines its structure and function
- when you look at it you can’t see the DNA molecule, but you can see chromatin which
consists of DNA and associated proteins.

Chromatin- looks grainy, but is a threadlike material that undergoes foiling to form
rodlike structures (chromosomes) just before the cell divides.
- immersed in nucleoplasm

Nucleoplasm- semifluid medium

-difference in pH between it and the cytoplasm suggests they have different
compositions

Plasma membrane- surround the cell, phospholipid bilayer in which protein molecules
are embedded
-living boundary which separates the living contents of the cell from the nonliving
surroundings

Cytoplasm- a semifluid medium that contains organelles

- surrounds the nucleus

Cell wall- plants have permeable but protective cell walls (as well as plasma membrane)
- many plants have both primary and secondary cell walls
- main constituent of a primary cell wall is cellulose molecules, which form fibrils that lie
at right angles to one another for added strength
- secondary cell walls form inside the primary cell wall and contain lignin, a substance
that makes them stronger than primary walls

Nuclear envelope- what separates the nucleus and the cytoplasm, a double membrane,
which is continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum
- contains nuclear pores of sufficient size (100nm) to permit the passage of proteins into
the nucleus and ribosomal subunits out.

Organelles- originally referred to only membranous structures, now includes any well-
defined sub-cellular structure
 -all organelles of a cell function simultaneously
-chemicals are taken up by the cell and then processed by the organelles
-both plant and animal cells contain mitochondria, but only plant cells have chloroplasts

When you looks at a nucleus you will see some spots that are darker than the rest of the
chromatin, which is nucleoli (singular nucleus) where rRNA (ribosomal RNA) is
produced and joins with proteins to form the subunits of ribosomes

Ribosomes- small bodies in the cytoplasm that contain rRNA and proteins
- composed of two subunits with its own mix of rRNA and proteins- one large, one small
- where protein synthesis occurs
- can be found within the cytoplasm either singularly or in groups (polyribosomes)
- can also be found attached to the endoplasmic reticulum

Endomembrane System- consists of the nuclear envelope, the endoplasmic reticulum,

the Golgi apparatus, and several vesicles (tiny membraneous sacs)
- compartmentalizes the cell of that particular enzymatic reactions are restricted to
specific regions
-organelles that make up the endomembrane system are connected either directly or my
transport vesicles

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)- complicated system of membranous channels and

saccules (flattened vesicles)
-is physically continuous with the outer membrane of the nuclear envelope
- rough ER is studded with ribosomes on the membrane side that faces the
cytoplasm=where proteins are synthesized and enter the ER interior, where processing
and modification begins
- smooth ER, is continuous with rough ER, but doesn’t have attached
ribosomes=synthesizes the phospholipids that occur in membrances and has various
other functions depending on the particular cell (i.e in testes makes testosterone, liver it
detoxifies drugs) and also forms vesicles in which proteins are transmitted to the Golgi
apparatus

Glycoprotein- made when proteins are modified by the addition of a sugar chain

Golgi Apparatus- named for Camillo Golgi who discovered it in 1898

-consists of stacks of three to twenty slightly curves saccules (pancakes)
-in animal cells the inner face is directed towards the ER, other sice directed towards the
plasma membrane
-vesicles can often be seen at the edges of the saccules
-receives proteins and lipids that bud from the smooth ER, which then move through it
from the inner face to the outer face
reasons for this- both may apply depending on organism and cell type:
1)maturation saccule model- the vesicles fuse to form an inner face saccules, which
matures as it gradually becomes a saccule at the outer face

2)stationary saccule model- molecules move through stable saccules from the inner
face to the outer face by shuttle vesibles

-during pass through the Golgi Apparatus glycoproteins have their sugar chain modified
before they are repackaged in secretory vesicles.
-Secretory vesicles go to the plasma membrane where the discharge their contents
(secretion) ---> involved in packaging, processing and secreting
-also involved in the formation of lysosomes (vesicles that contain protein and stay
within the cell)
- Proteins made at the rough ER have molecular tags (“zip codes”) to tell the Golgi
Apparatus whether they belong in a lysosome of secretory vesicle

Lysosome- membrane-bound vesicles produced by the Golgi Apparatus

-contain hydrolytic digestive enzymes