Form 4 Chapter 2 - Cell structure & cell organisation (Part 1)

Dear students, I know this week's lesson was quite heavy for most of you. Below are what we have learned & I hope i won't be writing this long in my next posting unless necessary. 1. Experiment: to observe the structures of plant cells & animal cells with a light microscope. (plant cells: onion & Hydrilla sp. & Elodea sp. epidermal cell; animal cells: Human cheek epidermal cells) *under the light microscope, you are able to observe cell wall, plasma membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, and sometime chloroplast. a) similarities btw plant cell & animal cell : nucleus, cytoplasm, plasma membrane b) In plant cell, there is cell wall, large/big central vacuole, chloroplasts (in photosynthetic cells) c) In human/animal cells, there is no CW, No chloroplasts, usually vacuole not present. 2. Cellular components A) which are not organelles: i) Cell Wall (CW): (plant cell only) *characteristics: rigid cellulose outer layer, permeable to all fluid. *fn: protection, support, maintain shape of plant cell, prevent cells from bursting. ii) Plasma membrane (PM): *characteristics: composed of 2 lipid layers (phospholipids & proteins),thin flexible layer, semi-permeable. * fn: controls/regulates the movements of substances entering & leaving the cell,separate the cell from its environment, allow exchange of substances. iii) Cytoplasm: *characteristic: jelly-liked substances, contains salts, dissolved gases, nutrients, enzymes, organic & inorganic substances. 70-90% are water. with organelles suspended in it. *fn: medium for biochemical reactions & cellular metabolism. An illustrated animal cell as seen under the electron microscope.

An illustrated plant cell as seen under the electron microscope.

B) Cellular components which are ORGANELLES: *what are organelles? ->organelles are cellular components the can perform specific functions/specialised functions within the cell. Many are enclosed by membrane. 1) Nucleus: * largest organelle. * bounded by nuclear membrane - double membrane with pores. * contains chromatin (DNA - Deoxyribonucleic Acid) * chromatin? chromosome? * has nucleolus - nucleolus makes RNA which is needed to make ribosomes. (ribosomes are produced by nucleolus) #fn: direct & control all the activities of the cell. 2) Vacuole: *small cavity contains cell sap & is enclosed by tonoplast (a SPM) #fn: for storage, digestion & waste removal, 3) Ribosomes: (non-membrane bound particles) * compact, spherical organelles, consists of RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) & proteins. * either attached to rough ER or suspended freely in the cytoplasm. #fn: sites of protein synthesis. 4) Endoplasmic reticulum (ER): * a system of flattened, membrane-bound sacs in the form of tubes & sheets. * interconnected to nuclear membrane. *form an extensive transport system in the cell. * exists as Rough ER & Smooth ER i) Rough ER: * flat sealed sac which is continuous with the outer nuclear membrane, outer surface is covered with ribosomes that give it a rough appearance. # fn: transport proteins made by ribosomes throughout the cell

ii) Smooth ER: * tubular sealed sac - either extend from the rough ER or extend separately. * does not have ribosomes # fn: synthesis lipids & steroids hormone, breakdown of lipid-soluble toxins in liver cells, 5) Golgi apparatus/Golgi body/Golgi complex: (GA) * a stack of flattened, membrane-bound sacs having form continuously at one end of the stack & budded off as vesicles at the other end. #fn: as a processing, modification, packaging & transport centre of carbohydrate, proteins & glycoproteins. (site of Enzyme production & lysosome formation) 6) Mitochondrion: Mitochondria (plural)

* spherical to rod-shaped organelles with double membrane. * inner membrane folded inwards to form projections called the cristae (crista - singular) #fn: site for cellular respiration ('powerhouse' of the cell) to produce/generate/release energy (ATPAdenosine Triphosphate). 7) Lysosomes: * membrane-bound spherical vesicle formed by pinching-off from GA. *contains digestive enzymes #fn: as digestive compartment of the cell (intracellular digestion) breaking down food, example in Amoeba sp. breaking down unwanted structure/molecules, example worn-out/old organelles, whole cell, old Red Blood Cell. (common in animal cell, uncommon in plant cell because digestive enzymes are found in the vacuole)

8) Centrioles: (only found in animal cells) * pairs of cylindrical organelles located outside/near the nucleus. * made up of microtubules. #fn: form spindle fibres during cell division, synthesise cilia & flagella in Unicellular organism. 9) Chloroplast: (only found in photosynthetic plant cells)

* lens-shaped organelle with double membrane. *contains green pigment - chlorophyll #fn: chlorophyll trap light energy & converts light E into chemical E during PS. (diagram -- remember the stack of little round flat pillow? one stack is called granum, grana (plural))

3)Comparison btw the structure in animal cell & plant cell. - refer to your table.

Form 4 Chapter 2 - Cell structure & cell organisation (part 2)

here are the recap from our previous lessons .....

1) Density of organelles in specific cells: example 1: Pancreatic cells have high density of rough ER & GA. because Pancreatic cells synthesise & secrete pancreatic juice (which contains enzyme) & hormone insulin. example 2: Palisade mesophyll cells of the green leaves have high density ofchloroplast organelles. because PMC needs to absorb sunlight during photosynthesis. refer to your notes for more examples

2) Living processes of Unicellular organisms. We look at 2 unicellular org. (Amoeba sp. & Paramecium sp.) to study the 8 living processes listed below. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Feeding Excretion Growth Locomotion Sensitivity Respiration Reproduction Osmoregulation

Amoeba sp

1. Feeding - engulf foods through a process called phagocytosis. (you should know how to explain the process, including drawing of the labelled diagrams) 2. Locomotion - forming of pseudopodia through cytoplasmic projection. 3. Osmoregulation - carried out by contractile vacuole. (you shld know the explanation here) 4. Reproduction - only asexual reproduction - binary fission. (you should also know the drawing of labelled diagrams). spore formation.

Paramecium sp

1. Feeding - beating the cilia to bring food particles to its oral groove, into the gullet & cytostome. 2. Locomotion - swimming through beating of cilia. 3. Osmoregulation - carried out by the 2 contractile vacuole. explanation....

Reproduction asexual reproduction - binary fission sexual reproduction - conjugation, where exchange of genetic materials occurs between 2 parameciums. I look forward to meet you again in the next lesson. take care.

CHAPTER 3