Cell structure and levels of organisation.

Living organisms are comprised of cells.

Definitions:
Cell is the smallest unit of a living organism capable of independent function and produced from a parent
cell.
e.g. palisade cell, muscle cell
Tissue is a group of cells with similar structures working together to perform a particular function e.g.
muscle tissue, xylem tissue.
Organ is a structure made up of a group of tissues working together to perform a specific function e.g.
leaf, eye,
Organ System a group of organs with related functions working together to perform body functions e.g.
digestive system, flower.

Decide which descriptor best fits each part of an organism:

Nose, blood, bone, potato, root, bacterium, skeletomuscular system, heart, stem, and pollen grain.

Cell Structure

Cells are composed of functional subunits, organelles

All cells contain the following organelles:-
1. Cell membrane an outer layer which is selectively permeable to control entry and exit of
materials and to maintain the integrity of the cell from its environment.
2. Nucleus - contains genetic material (genes) in the form of chromosomes. Genes control cell
activity e.g. protein manufacture and govern differentiation into mature functional cells e.g. white
blood cells.
3. Cytoplasm a gel in which biochemical reactions occur
4. Mitochondria to carry out aerobic respiration
5. Storage granules - to store energy sources e.g. fats, starch
Plant cells also have
6. Cell wall a rigid permeable outer layer to provide support and is part of the skeleton of the plant
7. Chloroplast Photosynthesise
8. Vacuole a large central store of water to keep the cell turgid and also is a store of minerals

Comparison of plant and animal cells

Feature Plant cell Animal cell

Shape Fixed and rigid Flexible and elastic
Size From 0.1mm to 1cm Up to 0.01mm
Contents Large vacuoles containing water and Small or no vacuoles containing
minerals stored nutrients
Chloroplasts x
Cell wall x
In the space below, draw an example of a typical animal and a typical plant cell
Cell differentiation

When cells are first produced from stem cells by mitosis (cell division of growth), they then mature by
developing certain structures in order to carry out a particular function. This is controlled by the genes
present in the nucleus. All the cells in an individual organism contain the same genes but they are activated
differently in different cell types to cause them to differentiate in a certain way. This differentiation gives
individual cell types particular structures that enable them to function in a certain way.

Practical work

1. Create a table for the information below over 2 pages of your book and complete it by drawing one
cell of each type from microscope or photographic slides and using the notes as labels to show the
way in which the cell is differentiated in order to carry out a particular function:

Cell type Notes on how this differentiated cell differs from a typical plant or animal
cell
Red blood cell Haemoglobin to carry oxygen
Biconcave disc to flow easily and to provide a large surface area to
exchange gases
No nucleus to give more space for haemoglobin
White blood cell Nucleus with genes able to control the manufacture of antibodies specific
to a disease.
Shape changing mobility to allow the cell to search for antigens

Muscle Contractile proteins to provide contraction force

The cell is length of the organ e.g. biceps muscle
Neuron Axon and Dendron to carry nervous impulses
Synapses to communicate between neurons
Ciliated Cilia to remove trapped bacteria and dust from the trachea
(epithelial) cell
of the trachea
Root hair cell Hairs to provide a large surface area for absorption of water by osmosis
Membrane able to actively transport mineral ions into the cell
Xylem vessel Empty cylinder to allow rapid flow of water
Tough lignin wall which is waterproof and provides support (woody
tissue)

2. Which structures in the cell are the easiest to see? Explain why

3. Describe how to make a microscope slide of

Cheek cells
Plant cells
including the method for staining the specimen
Draw what you see through the microscope.
Explain why biological stains used and how can they improve your observation
Magnification and size of Biological objects

Biological drawings are often of very small or very large objects and an idea of size is essential. This is
called the magnification of the drawing.

If an elephant is 4.5m long and in an illustration it is shown as 15 cm, what is the magnification?
4.5 m is 4.5 x 100 cm, so the magnification is:
15/4.5 x 100 = 0.0033

Examples:

1.

This is a drawing of a cell. Measure it in

millimetres and calculate its true size if the
magnification is x 5000. Show your
calculation.

Width

Length

2. If the drawing of a plant leaf is 4.8 cm. long and the leaf actually measures 1.2 cm. what is the
magnification of the drawing?
3. If a dogs hair is drawn 12 mm. wide and the magnification is given as x 50, what is the true width?

Hint check your answers to see if they make sense, would the dogs hair be 6m. wide?
 Movement of substances in and out of cells

Substances can enter or leave a cell through the membrane by passive processes (use no energy) and by
active processes (use energy).
The membrane controls the movement of some substances as it is selectively permeable. All membranes are
fully permeable to water, oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Diffusion is the net movement of molecules from a region of their higher concentration to a region of
their lower concentration down a concentration gradient. It is due to the random movement of the
molecules that occurs in gases and liquids.

Examples
1. Leaf gaseous exchange
As the leaf is using up CO2 for photosynthesis, the concentration inside the leaf is always near zero i.e. CO2
from air (although only 0.04% of air) diffuses into the leaf.

2. Alveolar gaseous exchange

The body uses O2 in respiration to produce energy. Blood returning to lung has low O 2 concentration and
therefore O2 diffuses from the air in the alveolus of the lung into blood where it dissolves then combines
with haemoglobin
CO2 made by cell respiration is in a high concentration in the blood returning to the lung and diffuses in the
opposite direction from the blood to the alveolar air

The Diffusion Gradient is the difference in concentration between high and low concentration - the
higher the concentration gradient, the faster the rate of diffusion. The body maintains a high diffusion
gradient in the lungs by:
Haemoglobin in red blood cells absorbs the O2 keeping its concentration in the blood near to zero
Ventilation (breathing) to keep O2 conc. high and CO2 conc. low in the alveolar air

3. Exchange between blood and tissues works by diffusion. Substances the cells utilise will be in low
concentrations, substances they produce will be in high concentrations

Place H, L and an arrow showing the concentrations and direction of flow from the blood in the capillary
to and from the tissues. Water also enters and exits due to blood pressure and also osmosis

Tissues
L

Urea Glucose Oxygen Carbon dioxide Amino acids

Blood in capillary H

If a cell is using glucose very rapidly then its concentration will be very low so the diffusion gradient will
be very high between blood and cells and therefore diffusion of glucose from blood to tissues automatically
increases in rate. Therefore an active cell requiring more nutrients will automatically receive them from the
blood by more rapid diffusion.

The body homeostatically regulates the concentrations of glucose, amino acids, minerals, water (and heat)
in the blood and this has the effect of regulating the cell concentrations of these substances

Osmosis
Is the diffusion of water molecules from a hypotonic (dilute) solution to a hypertonic (concentrated)
solution through a partially permeable membrane (diffusion because the water is moving from a region of
its higher concentration to a region of lower concentration).
Cell membranes are permeable (allow free entry/exit) to water
They are impermeable to large molecules such as proteins, starch, and glycogen
If a cell cytoplasm contains more salts/sugars/proteins than the surrounding medium, water will enter the
cell by osmosis because the cytoplasm is hypertonic to its environment.
The greater the concentration of solutes in the cell, the greater is the water potential, the ability of the cell
to absorb water by osmosis.
Examples:
Soil water contains a higher concentration of water than the root hair cell cytoplasm so water will
pass into the cell by osmosis and the cell will become turgid.
S Water potential is a measure of the ability of a solution to absorb water by osmosis a root hair
cell must have a higher water potential than the soil water surrounding it to be able to absorb water
(hence salt water incursion can destroy crop plants)
Red blood cells placed in distilled water will absorb water and burst (animal cells have no cell wall)
Putting salt on fresh food dries and shrinks the food as water exits by osmosis

The cell membrane is vital to osmosis as it keeps the dissolved solutes inside the cell.

http://www.biotopics.co.uk/life/osmsis.html

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/molecu1.htm#osmosis 19/07/10

Organisms have systems for transporting substances round the body in solution in water (e.g. blood in
animals; phloem translocation and xylem water and mineral transport in plants). The transport system
exchanges materials with the environment and with the tissues by diffusion and osmosis.

Water is the universal solvent for all living systems. It is the medium in which all molecular movement
occurs in the body and for all of the biochemical reactions which occur.
All the reactions in the body occur in solution in water, therefore the oxygen must dissolve in water this
happens on the moist surface of the alveolar and palisade cells.
S Active Transport.

Is the movement of ions or organic compounds such as sugars into or out of a cell through the cell
membrane, from a region of their lower concentration to a region of their higher concentration against the
concentration gradient using energy released from respiration.

Root

Plants absorb minerals (e.g. nitrate, potassium, magnesium) from soil water. The plants contain a higher
concentration of minerals then soil water so they have to be absorbed by active transport against the
concentration gradient.

Labels to place on the diagram:

soil water, soil minerals, osmosis,

vessel
Xylem
Root hair cell Roo
t
cell
active transport and arrows to show
the movement.

Gut

Gut As blood has a fairly high sugar concentration the gut

Amylase and must use active transport to absorb the glucose
Maltase against the concentration gradient. It is also quicker
convert than diffusion and ensures that all the glucose is
lary
capil
od
Blo

Starch to absorbed
Glucose

The cell membrane contains carrier molecules which are rather similar to enzymes. They combine with the
required substance and then release it inside the cell. This needs energy. The membrane is impermeable to
the absorbed substance to it so that it cannot leak out of the cell. It allows the cell to move substances
against concentration gradients but it requires energy to do so.

Endocytosis is the entry of large particles into the cell by the membrane surrounding and engulfing them
for example, a white blood cell engulfing a pathogenic bacterium.
Exocytosis is the controlled exit of packaged materials inside the cell as secretions for example, digestive
enzymes are produced in gut cells and packaged in vesicles in the cells. When food enters a particular area
of the gut, the vesicles move to the surface of the cell, melt into the cell membrane and release their
contents to digest the food.