Organelles & Organelle Functions Flashcards
What are mitochondria?
“Powerhouses” or “power plants” of the cell; membrane-bound; where food is converted to energy.
What is a chloroplast?
Organelle that converts solar energy to sugar; makes plants green because they contain chlorophyll; site of photosynthesis; found in plant cells (and some bacteria) only.
What are ribosomes?
Where proteins are made in the cell; free floating and found on rough ER.
What is the cell membrane?
Surrounds and protects the cell; regulates what enters and leaves; semi-permeable; flexible barrier.
What is the cell wall?
Helps keep the shape of the cell; hardest substance in a plant cell; made of cellulose; not found in animal cells.
What is the nucleus?
Controls all functions of the cell; membrane-bound; stores genetic information (DNA); only found in eukaryotes.
What is cytoplasm?
A jelly-like fluid found throughout the cell; where metabolic activity takes place; other organelles float in it.
What is an organelle?
Tiny specialized structures inside each cell that carry out a specific function.
What is a vacuole?
Fluid-filled organelles that store materials such as food, water, sugar, minerals and waste products; plants have much larger ones; animals have many smaller ones.
What does unicellular mean?
Having only one cell.
What does multicellular mean?
Having more than one cell.
What is the Golgi apparatus?
Modifies and packages material.
What is the smooth endoplasmic reticulum?
Detoxifies; network of canals filled with fluid; carries materials throughout the cell; not lined with ribosomes.
What is the rough endoplasmic reticulum?
Network of canals filled with fluid; carries materials throughout the cell; lined with ribosomes.
What are cilia?
Hairlike structures that extend from the surface of the cell, assisting in movement; many prokaryotic cells have these.
What are flagella?
Whiplike tails found in one-celled organisms to aid in movement; many prokaryotes have these.
What is the central vacuole?
A sac in a plant cell with diverse roles; stores water and nutrients & helps maintain turgor pressure.
What is a lysosome?
Cell organelle filled with enzymes needed to break down certain materials in the cell.
What are centrioles?
Cell organelle that aids in cell division in animal cells only.
What is the cytoskeleton?
A network of fibers that holds the cell together, helps the cell to keep its shape, and aids in movement.
What is the nuclear envelope?
Double membrane perforated with pores that control the flow of materials in and out of the nucleus.
