The Cell

Basic unit of plant & animal life.

Life begins with one cell
 Zygote – fertilized egg
 Embryo – zygote divides and cells multiply
 Cells begin to differentiate – change their
function
 Brain cells, muscle cells, hair, etc.
 Fetus – Foal – Adult
 New cells still being produced throughout life
 RBC, bone, skin, gametes
Differentiated Cells
 100’s of cell types in the body
 Allcells have the same genetic information
 Function determined by the genes inherited
 Certain genetic signals are translated and
expressed
 Fulfill their role in the body
Cytogenetics
 The branch of biology that deals with heredity
and the cellular components, particularly
chromosomes associated with inheritance
 Genotype – the exact genetic makeup - full hereditary
information of an organism represented by the
particular set of genes it possesses.
 Phenotype – represents its actual physical properties,
such as appearance (height, weight, hair color) and or
performance
2 Main Cellular Compartments
 Cytoplasm
 Borderedexternally by the plasma membrane (cell
membrane) and internally by the nuclear envelope
 Area where organelles found
 Mitochondria, Endoplasmic Reticulum, Golgi apparatus, etc
 Nucleus
 Control center of the cell – contains all the genetic
information in the form of DNA
Mitochondria Nucleolus
– energy
Nucleus
generator

Endoplasmic
Reticulum
-Contains
Ribosomes
Protein synthesis
Genetic Inheritance
 Chromosome
 Threadlike part of a cell that carries hereditary
information – DNA – in the form of gene
 Gene
 Hereditaryunit consisting of a sequence of DNA that
occupies a specific location on a chromosome
 Determines a particular characteristic in an organism
 Locus (loci – pl)
 Specific location of a gene on a chromosome
 Allele
 Any of a number of alternative forms of a gene
Homologous Chromosomes
 Paired – horse = 32 pair (64 individual)
1 paternal and 1 maternal
 Similar in length (number of DNA units)
 Similar genetic information - genes
 Allele – variations of specific gene found at
particular locus
 Homozygous – identical alleles

 Heterozygous – different alleles

How to tell chromosomes apart.
 Centromere
 Constriction in a chromosome that divides it into two
arms
 Responsible for proper segregation of each
chromosome pair during cell division
 Length of DNA strand
 Made up of units of a base, a sugar and phosphoric
acid
 Four bases – (A) adenine, (G) guanine, (T) thymine or
(C) cytosine
 Order of bases contains code for formation of proteins
 64 different combinations – 20 amino acids
Centromere
 Acrocentric – near one end
 36 (18 pair) of the autosomes (non sex chromosomes)

 Metacentric – near middle

 26 (13 pair) of the autosomes

 Telocentric – very close to end

Karyotype Ex. Human chromosomes (23 pair)

Terms:
Mitosis
-Prometaphase
-Metaphase

Homologous
Chromosomes

Sister
Chromatids
two identical copies

 Male sex chromosome (Y) is acrocentric

 Female sex chromosome (X) is submetacentric