cell differentiation and specialisation Flashcards
What is a specialised cell?
A specialised cell is a cell that carries out a specific function.
What is the process called where cells become specialised?
Differentiation
When does most differentiation in cells occur?
Most differentiation occurs as an organism develops so most animal cells can only differentiate at an early stage of their life. However lots of plants cells can differentiate for the whole of the plants life.
What is the main reason for an adult cell to differentiate later in its life?
The cells that differentiate later in an animals life are mainly used for repairing and replacing cells.
What is a stem cell?
A stem cell is a cell that remains undifferentiated.
What is a cell that remains undifferentiated?
A stem cell.
Give three examples of types of specialised cell-
Sperm cells, Nerve cells, Muscle cells, Root hair cells and Phloem and Xylem cells.
How is a sperm cell specialised for its function?
A sperm cells job is to take the male DNA to the egg so it has a tail to help it swim to the egg and has a lot of mitochondria to provide the energy for swimming.
How are nerve cells specialised?
A nerve cells job is to carry electrical signals around the body. So they are very long to cover more distance in the body and have branches at the end to connect to other nerve cells.
How are muscles cells specialised for their function?
Muscle cells need to contract so they are long to allow them to have the space to do this. they also have a lot of mitochondria which provide the energy for contracting.
How are root hair cells specialised?
Root hair cells absorb water and minerals so they grow into long hairs that stick out from the soil. This allows the plant to have a big surface area for absorbing water and mineral ions from the soil.
How are phloem and xylem cells specialised for their function?
Phloem cells transport food and xylem cells transport water. They both form phloem and xylem tubes to allow them to do this. To allow them to make the tubes the cells are long and joined end to end. xylem tubes are hollow and phloem tubes have very few sub cellular structures so there is a lot of space inside the cells for stuff to flow through them.
