Lesson 2

The cell
Prepared by:
Asley Raven Macatiag
The cell is the basic unit of life. Every organism is
made up of at least one cell. Your body contains
billions (or even trillions!)of cells. Cells come from
different shapes and sizes, depending on their
functions.
the Why are cells small? This is because
of surface area to volume ratio required.
The volume is the amount of space inside
the cell, and the surface area outside the
cell.
The history of the cell coincides with the
development of microscope.
However, the discovery of the cell began in 1665
when Robert Hooke examined a cork sample under
his own microscope. He described the cork sample
as composed of tiny holes, which reminded him of
little rooms in the monastery.
Upon writing his book Micrographia, he
named these little holes cellula. Hooke
was the first one to coin the term “cell”.
In 1831 Robert Brown (1773-1858) was the first
person to discover the nucleus (plural : nuclei) of the
cell by discovering pollen grains travelling in and out
on the “ovals” in the cells of orchids. Brown called
these ovals the nuclei.

Robert Brown
Matthias Schleiden (1804-1881) and
Theodore Shwann (1810-1882), through
their separate discoveries, discovered the
first two postulates of the cell theory, which
will be discussed later.
The last postulate of the cell theory was made by
Rudolf Virchrow (1821-1902) in 1858.He derew his
conclusions based on the initial discovery made by
Robert Remak three years earlier. Remak(1815-
1865)was trying to prove the existence of Virchow
verified this discovery by observing the role of cells
in the presence of diseases. He discovered that
most of the disease in organisms come from affected
cell.
Today, the cell theory is guided by three
postulates:
1. All organisms are made up of one or
more cells.
2. The cell is the basic unit of life
3. All cell arise from preexisting
cells(omnis cellula e cellula)
 THE CELLS AND THEIR PARTS
An organism may be either unicellular and
multicellular .Depending on the number of cells
present. A unicellular organism contains only one
cell. Examples are bacteria, some protists
(protozoans and select types) and fungi (yeast). A
multicellular organism is made up of more than one
cell. Examples are plants and animals.
Prokaryotes
Cells may be classified as either prokaryotes. A
prokaryote (from the Greek word pro- meaning
“before” and karyon, meaning “kernel”)is a cell that
has no nucleus . The genetic material of a prokayotic
cell is circular, and is located in a region called the
nucleoid. Some prokaryotes may also contain
plasmids, which are small double strands of circular
genetic materials found outside the nucleoid.
Prokaryotes with plasmids have additional
advantages, such as an antibiotic resistance.
Ribsomes are small dense structure scattered all
over the cytoplasm.
The outer part of the prokaryote has
several coverings. The first one near the
cytoplasm is the plasma membrane. The
plasma membrane is a very thin bilayer
made up of phospholipids. The plasma
membrane is covered by a cell wall. The
cell wall is made of peptidoglycan. It gives
structural support and protection to the
prokaryote.
Some prokaryotes have an additional
capsule covering the cell wall. These
capsules are composed of
polysaccharides. Their main function is for
protection. Bacteria that do not have
capsule generally do not cause diseases.
The capsule of the bacteria is known as
the slime layer.
The pili are small hairlike projections found mainly in
Gram-negative prokaryotes. They allow prokaryotes
to attach the cell surface. Some prokaryotes have a
special type of pili, called sex pili, which help the
male donor transfer its genetic material to the female
conjugation.
The flagellum of prokaryotes are long ,
whiplike appendages composed of many
subunits of flagelin (a globular protein).
They are responsible of movement.
However, not all prokaryoteshave a
flagellum . Most cocci (circular) bacteria do
not flagella; thus, they do not move on
their own.
Parts of a prokaryote cell
Eukaryotes
A eukaryote (from the Greek word eu-
which means “true”, and karyon, which
means “kernel”) is a cell that has a true
nucleus bound by nuclear membrane. The
nucleus is where genetic material is
located. It is a coiled twice around a
protein called a histone
Unlike prokaryotes, contain several organelles,
which help them perform different functions.
Depending on the organism, some of these
organelles are only present in a certain cell, or these
organelles may have special function. Animal cells
and plant cells almost have the same kind of
organelles, except for the chloropast and the cell
wall, which are present in plant cells.
The plasma membrane in eukaryotes not only gives
structure to the animal cell. It also acts as a selective
barrier that allows certain substances to enter and
exit the cell. The plasma membrane is composed of
phospholipid bilayer chain with several embedded
proteins, sterols (lipids that help the stability of the
cell membrane), and carbohydrates chain.
Substances that enter and exit the cell can pass
through the plasma membrane by diffusion,
facilitated diffusion, active transport, or bulk
transport.
In diffusion, substances can pass through the
phospholid bilayer from an area of greater
concentration to an area of lesser concentration. In
facilitated diffusion substances enter and exit the cell
through the use of proteins. In active transport,
molecules move from an area of less concentration.
Active transport requires the use of energy. In bulk
transport substances can be taken in or out of the
cell through endocytotis and exocytosis.
Parts of eukaryote cell
Remember:
 The nucleus is the control center of the
cell.
 The cytoplasm in eukaryotes is
composed of a jellylike substance called
cytosol.
 The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a
system of membrane channels and
flattened vesicles connected to the
nuclear membrane.
 The endoplasmic reticulum can be
called through their texture:
The rough endoplasmic reticulum and the
smooth endoplasmic reticulum.
After passing to the ER, the modified
materials go to the Golgi apparatus. This
organelle packages proteins for the cells.
 The lysosome is a membrane-bound organelle
that originated from the ER.
 Sometimes, lysosomes can fuse with
phagosomes.
 The mitochondrion double membrane organelle,
which contains circular molecules of DNA and
ribosomes.
 The vacuole is an organelle that is larger than a
vesicle.
 The chloroplast is like the mitochondrion because
it is also a double membrane organelle!
 The inner membrane of the chloroplast consist of
organized flattened disk called thylakoids, which
are collectively known as granum. The granum is
a semifluid stroma. Each granum is connected by
via intergrana thylakoid.
 The thylakoids contain chlorophyll, which absorbs
light during photosynthesis.
 The lumen is the space inside the
thylakoid. It serves as the site of several
reaction during photosynthesis.
 In plants the cell wall is made of
complex of a complex sugar called
cellulose.
 In fungi, their cell walls are made of
chitin.
Thank you!!!