EukaryoticCells

Eukaryotesareorganismswhosecellshavenucleiandorganellesthatareenclosedinamembrane.Themain
typesofeukaryoticcellsincludeanimalandplantcellsandeachhavespecificorganelles(specialisedstructures
withinthecell)thathavespecifictasks.

AnimalCells
TheNucleus
Eukaryoticcellsgettheirnameduetothepresenceofmembraneenclosedorganellesprokaryoticcells,suchas
bacteriaandarchaeacells,donothavemembraneenclosednuclei.Thenucleusisahighlyspecialisedorganelle
whichisfoundinitsowndoublemembrane,calledthenuclearenvelope.Thenucleusstoresthechromosomesand
thecellsDNAintheformofchromatins.TheDNAdeterminesthesequencesinwhichaminoacidsarelinked
togetherinthecytoplasmtoformproteinmolecules.Thenucleusisthelargestorganelle,usuallyaround1020min
diameter.Communicationbetweenthenucleusandcytoplasm(andtheorganelleswithinit)isveryimportant.

TheNucleolus
WithintheNucleusisanotherdense
structurewhichisnotsurroundedbya
membraneandisoftenreferredtoasa
suborganelle:thenucleolus.Anucleus
canhavemorethanonenucleolus.The
mainfunctionofthenucleolusistomake
ribosomalRNA(rRNA)whichit
combineswithproteinstomake
ribosomes,whicharediffusedoutofthe
nuclearenvelopethroughnucleoporins.
Manyribosomesarefoundattachedto
thenuclearenvelopeitself.

TheNuclearEnvelope
Thenuclearenvelope,apairof
membranes,completelyenclosesthe
nucleusandseparatesthegenetic
materialandnucleoplasmfromthecells
cytoplasm.Thenuclearenvelopehas
littleproteinpores,alsoknownas
nucleoporins,whichallowonlycertain,
small,watersolublemoleculestoenter
andexitthenucleus.

ThePlasmaMembrane
Theplasmamembraneenclosesalltheorganellesandithasselective
permeability:itcontrolswhichsubstancescanenterandleavethecell.Most
oftheorganelleswithinthecellhavetheirownmembranewhichallowthem
tocarryoutcertainchemicalreactionswithoutinterferingwithother
organelles.

TheEndoplasmicReticulum
Theendoplasmicreticulum(ER)isanetworkoffolded
membranesformingsheets,tubesandsacs.TheER
complexoriginatesfromthenuclearenvelopeandisoften
stillattachedorveryclosetoit.Therearetwotypesof
ERroughandsmooth.

TheRoughEndoplasmicReticulum(RER)
RERisanextensivenetworkofmembranesfoundinthe
cytoplasmandisfoundnearesttothenuclearenvelope.
Themembranesfoldoneachothertoformsmallspaces
calledcisternae.Theseswellupandarepinchedoffto
formvesicles:usedforthetransportofsubstancesaround
thecell.RibosomesarefoundattachedtotheRER.

TheSmoothEndoplasmicReticulum(SER)
SERissmallerthanitscounterparttheRERanddoesnothaveribosomesattachedtoit.Itisthesiteofsynthesisof
substancesrequiredbycells.TheSERisalsothesiteofstorageofcalciumionswhichisvitalinthecontractionof
musclefibres.TheSERcontainsenzymeswhichhelpintheproductionoflipidsandsteroidhormonesandtheSER
isalsoinvolvedinthebreakdownoftoxins.FurthermorethecisternaeoftheSERaremoreflatcomparedtothose
oftheRER.

TheRibosome
RibosomesaretinystructuresmadeofrRNAandproteinsand
canbefoundfreelyinthecytoplasmorattachedtothenuclear
envelopeandtheRERandareoftenaround25nmin
diameter.Numeroustypesofcellscontainlargenumbersof
these.Ribosomesaremadeoftwosubunitsandtogetherthey
assembleaminoacidsbylinkingthemtogethertoform
polypeptides.ThepolypeptidechainissenttotheRER.Ifthe
proteinsproducedneedprocessingorexportationoutsidethe
celltheymustbesenttotheGolgiapparatus.Polypeptides
moveintothecisternaeoftheRERandthecisternaebreaks
offtoformvesicles,smallfluidfilledsacs,wheretheytravelto
theGolgiapparatus.

TheGolgiApparatus
SometimesreferredtoastheGolgibodyorGolgicomplex,theGolgiapparatus
modifiesproteinsintootherformsandalsoexportthemiftheproteinisneeded
byanothercellinthebody.TheGolgiapparatuscanturntheproteinsinto
hormonesandtheycanalsocombinecarbohydrategroupswiththeproteinsto
formother,importantmolecules.Theyarethentransportedinvesiclestothe
plasmamembranewherethevesicleandmembranefuse.Here,theproductis
secretedfromthecellbyaprocesscalledexocytosis.TheGolgiapparatusis
alsoresponsibleforproducinglysosomes.

TheLysosome
Lysosomesaresmallvesiclesthatcontainaconcentratedmixtureofhydrolytic
(digestive)enzymesproducedintheGolgiapparatusorbytheRER.Lysosomes
digestbacteriaandothercellstakenintothecellbyphagocytosis.Theycanalso
beusedtobreakdownunwantedordamagedorganelles.

TheMitochondrion
Amitochondrionisasmooth,oblongorganellewhichisrelativelylargeat
around310mlong.Theyarefoundinmostcellsinverylargenumbers
e.g.musclefibresandhormonesecretingcellsoftencontainthousandsof
mitochondriaintheircytoplasm.Similarlytothenucleus,mitochondriahave
anenvelope,meaningitismadeoftwomembranes,surroundingit.The
innermembraneisfoldedtoformwhatiscalledcristae.Mitochondriaarethe
sitesofaerobicrespirationandtheyproduceAdenosinetriphosphate(ATP).
Thefirststageofrespiration,theKrebscycle,takesplaceinthematrix:this
isanaqueoussolutionofmetabolitesandenzymes.Thefinalstage,
oxidativephosphorylation,takesplaceonthemembranesofthecristae.

TheCytoplasm
Thecytoplasmisanythingthatisfoundoutsidethenucleusbutwithinthe
plasmamembraneboundaries.Thecytoplasmismadeupoftwothings.
Thefirstarethemembraneboundorganelleswhicharefoundfloatinginthe
cytoplasmribosomescanalsobefoundfreelyinthecytoplasm.Thesecond
isthecytosol,agraysolublefluidthatfillstheinteriorofaneukaryoticcell
thecytosolismadeupmostlyofwaterwithsolutes,suchasaminoacids,
dissolvedinit.Thenucleushasitsowntypeofcytoplasmwhichiscalledthe
nucleoplasm.

TheCytoskeleton
Thecytoskeletonisaproteinstrandstructurethat
reinforcesthecellandalsohelpstomovethe
organellesaroundthecell.Microtubulesprovidea
scaffoldingforthecell.Microfilamentsarefound
alongtheperimeterofthecellandprovidesupport
thereandallowthecelltoendureacertain
amountofstrainorpressure.Themicrofilaments
aremuchthinnerthanmicrotubules.Somecells,
suchasthespermcell(malegamete),usethe
microtubulestopowerorganellescalledciliaand
flagellathiscreatesmovement.Furthermorethe
microtubulesformthecentrosometwocentrioles
foundatrightanglestooneanother.

TheCentriole
Centriolesarefoundonlyinanimalcells.Centriolesaremadeof
microtubulesarrangedina(9+0)circularpatternfoundnearthe
nucleusofthecell.Microtubulesarehollowcylinders,approximately
25nmlongandmakeupthecytoskeletonofeukaryoticcells,
alongsidemicrofilaments.Centriolesarefoundinpairsperpendicular
toeachother.Fromthispositiontheyareabletomakethe
microtubulesformspindlesduringcellulardivisioninanimalcells.

PlantCells
Manyultrastructuresfoundinanimalscellscanalsobe
foundinplantcells,theseincludethenucleus,nucleolus,
nuclearenvelope,plasmamembrane,mitochondria,
ribosomesandtheendoplasmicreticulum.Plantcellsdo
nothavecentriolesbuttheydohaveacytoskeleton
whichhelpsreinforcetheshapeoftheplantcell,whichis
veryimportant.

TheCellWall
Notfoundinanimalcells,thecellwallprovidesarigid
perimetertothecell.Itismadeupofcellulose,an
extremelystrongpolysaccharide,andprovidestheplant
withstabilityandprotection.Thecellwallisexternalto
thecellandsurroundstheplasmamembrane.Though
thecellwallisnotanorganelle,itisafundamentally
importantlayerofthecellandisproducedbythe
reactionsoftheorganelleswithintheplant.

TheVacuole
Animalplantsoftenhavesmallortemporaryvacuoleswhichareoftenformedbytheintuckingoftheplasma
membrane,howeverplantcellshavelarge,permanentvacuoles.Vacuolesarefilledwithfluidandarecavities,
boundedbythetonoplast:asinglelayermembrane.Thetonoplastcontainsproteinsthatallowthetransportofsmall
solutesandsalts.Thevacuoleoccupiesupto80%ofthecellsvolumeandisfilledwithcellsap.Thecellsapisa
solutionwithsolutes,suchasfoodmaterials,ionsandwasteproducts,dissolvedintoit.Thecellsapcansometimes
alsocontainwatersolublepigments.Thevacuoleprovidesturgorpressurefrominsidethecellwhichreinforcesthe
shapeofthecellfurther.

TheChloroplast
Chloroplastsandamyloplastsarepartofalargergroup
oforganellescalledplastids.Theyarenotfoundin
animalcellsbutareoftenfoundinmanyplantcells.All
plastidshaveadoublemembrane,oftencalledan
envelope.Chloroplastsarefairlylargeorganelles,
410mlong,withabiconvexshapeandtheyare
greenincolour.Chloroplastsoftenoccurinthe
mesophyllcellsofleavesofgreenplantsandarethe
siteofphotosynthesis.Morethan50chloroplastscan
bepackedintoamesophyllcellandphotosynthesis
oftenoccursinthosefoundintheleavesoftheplants.
Theinsidelayerofthechloroplastsformlumenfilled
thylakoidswithasystemofbranchingmembranes,
oftenreferredtoaslamellae.Thylakoidsarearranged
inflat,circularpilescalledagranumandphotosynthetic
pigments,calledchlorophylls,arelocatedinthegrana.
Thethylakoidsarelooselyarrangedallowingspacefor
anaqueousmatrixcalledthestroma.

TheAmyloplast
Anothertypeofcolorlessplastidsaretheamyloplasts.Theseorganellessynthesizeandstorestarchgrainsa
polysaccharidecomposedofamyloseandamylopectin.Theamyloplastscanalsoconvertthestarchbackintosugar
iftheplantneedsit.