Unit 2 - Cells Flashcards
Mitochondria Structure + Function
Structure:
- Two layers of membrane
- Inner membrane is folded to maximize the amount of chemical reactions occuring and the membrane can hold more enzymes
- More surface area = more ATP being made!
- cristae - Folds of the inner membrane
- matrix - The innermost area of the mitochondria
- Matrix stores enzymes, proteins, ribosomes, and mitochondrial DNA
Function:
- Produces the energy molecule ATP through aerobic respiration
- Uses glucose to generate ATP
- proteins in the mitochondria help with production of ATP and other things
Chloroplast Structure + Function
Structure:
- Contains the pigment chlorophyll (which gives plants/protists green coloration).
- Thylakoids - Flat green pancakes that store chlorophyll and collect sun energy for the first part of photosynthesis
- Grana - Stacks of thylakoids - increase surface area
- Stroma - Fluid that surrounds the thylakoids. Site where the second half of photosynthesis occurs. Also contains ribosomes and chloroplast DNA
- Chloroplasts are considered plastids- which are organelles that contain pigments surrounded by a membrane. - Plastids have their own DNA and ribosomes
Function:
- Performs photosynthesis in plants and algae
- Chlorophyll captures energy from the sun and carbon from CO2 in the air to turn into glucose
Vesicles Function
- Small membranous sacs that store materials or transport/secrete materials around/out of cells
- Secretory vesicles: Fuse with the cell membrane to deliver membrane proteins or to release secretory proteins. This is done by exocytosis. Active transport because it uses energy.
Vacuoles - Type of Vesicle Structure + Function
Structure:
- membrane-bound sacs
Function:
- Larger vesicles that function as storage for food, water, or waste
- Large Central Vacuoles - found in plant cells
- Stores water and exerts an outward force (turgor pressure) on the cell wall to provide rigidity and structure to plants
- When plants wilt, they need water to replenish their large central vacuoles!
Contractile Vesicles - Type of Vesicle Function
- Used to dispel excess water in unicellular eukaryotes
- Prevents the single-celled organism from absorbing too much water from its environment
- Organisms that live in saltwater don’t have these because organisms that are in water are passively losing water so they don’t want to actively lose it as well.
Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic Cells
Similarities:
Both have ribosomes
Both have plasma membranes
Both have DNA somewhere in the cell
Differences:
Prokaryote has no nucleus and no membrane bound organelles
Eukaryote has a nucleus and membrane bound organelles
Prokaryote has cell wall, eukaryotes only have cells walls if they are plant cells
DNA is in nucleus in eukaryotes
DNA is in a nucleoid in prokaryotes
Prokaryotes:
Plasma membrane
cytosol/cytoplasm
Genetic material (chromosomes)
Ribosomes
Eukaryotes:
Have internal membranes that: compartmentalize their functions (organelles), isolate specialized environments (pH, molecules), increase internal surface area for reactions.
Nucleus with DNA inside
Mitochondria vs Chloroplasts
Similarities:
Both have DNA, intermembrane space, inner membrane, ribosomes
Both are the same size, around 1um
Inner folds and space between folds to increase surface area for more efficient cellular processes
Differences:
Mitochondria used to make ATP
Chloroplasts used to make food
Lysosomes and Peroxisomes - Type of Vesicle Function
- Lysosomes: the cell’s recycling centers, use acid hydrolases to break down waste into reusable parts through autophagy and crinophagy. Release enzymes into cytoplasm to perform apoptosis.
- Peroxisomes: protect cells by isolating and breaking down harmful hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.
Endosymbiotic theory
Certain organelles, like mitochondria and chloroplasts, originated as free-living bacteria that were engulfed by prokaryotic cells, forming a symbiotic relationship. A prokaryotic cell folded its plasma membrane and engulfed organelles to form eukaryotic cells.
How do mitochondria and chloroplasts show evidence of the endosymbiotic theory?
Mitochondria and chloroplasts contain their own DNA, which resembles prokaryotic DNA rather than eukaryotic nuclear DNA. They have similar shape and size to bacteria. The folding of the cell membrane eventually led to the development of the endomembrane system and the nucleus. Mitochondria and some prokaryotes share similar metabolic reactions that produce
ATP.
Plant vs Animal Cells
Similarities:
Nucleus
ER
Golgi Body
Mitochondria
Cytoskeleton
Vesicles/Vacuoles
Peroxisomes
Nuclear Envelope (also called the nuclear membrane is a double membrane that encloses the nucleus of eukaryotic cells)
Nucleolus
Differences:
Plant cells: Chloroplast, Large Central Vacuole, cell wall
Animal cells: small vacuole, Centrioles, Gap Junctions, Tight Junctions, Lysosomes, Cilia, Microvilli, Flagella
all cells have which organelles/structures?
Cell membrane
Ribosomes
Cytoplasm
DNA/RNA
Prokaryotes vs Plant/Animal Cells
Differences:
- Nucleoid (an unevenly shaped region that stores genetic material)
- Pili (a hair-like structure associated with bacterial adhesion)
- Capsule (an outer protective covering found in the bacterial cells)
- Plasmids (small circular DNA molecule found in bacteria, physically separate from chromosomal DNA)
Similarities:
- has cell wall like plant cell
- has flagella like animal cell
- has everything else all cells have (refer to other flashcard)
Endomembrane System
The genetic material in the nucleus codes the instructions to synthesize proteins. The ribosomes in the rough ER get the instructions from the nucleus by mRNA and then synthesize the proteins. The proteins then travel from the rough ER to the golgi apparatus in vesicles, where new vesicles capture the proteins and carrying them to the cell membrane to get shipped out of the cell. Exocytosis.
Extracellular Matrix
- Animal cells have an extracellular matrix (ECM), networks of connective proteins (like collagen) outside the cell membrane
- Think of the ECM as an external support scaffold and how cells can adhere together better
- Ex: Collagen defects cause tissues to “tear” very easily
Cell Junctions
Cell junctions are multiprotein complexes that provide contact or adhesion between neighboring cells or between a cell and the extracellular matrix.
Animal Cells have a few types of junctions:
- Tight junctions: Fasten together plasma membranes of adjacent cells, like gluing them together. This helps prevent substances leaking through a membrane layer. For example, your stomach does not leak because the tight junctions seal up the stomach lining. Leaking stomach acid would be terrible!!! Ulcers result when the tight junctions are broken by bacteria or by diet.
- Adhering junctions: Fasten cells to one another. These make tissues strong, they actually connect to the cytoskeletons inside cells, like sewing cells together. Heart tissues and the skin have a lot of these, as they are subject to stretching and abrasion due to movement.
- Gap junctions: Closable channels/tubes that connect the cytoplasm of adjoining animal cells. They let water, ions, and SMALL molecules to pass from cell to cell through the cytoplasm. These channels let whole regions of cells respond to one stimulus. Heart muscles and nerve cells have a lot of these, to do coordinated actions.
Plant cells:
- plasmodesmata: passageways in the cell walls, connecting the cytoplasms of adjacent cells to allow communication
Cytoskeleton Function
- Network of structural protein filaments extending throughout the cytoplasm
- Reinforce, organize, and move cell structures, or can even move the whole cell
Cell Wall Function + what plant, fungi, bacteria cell walls are made of
Cross-linked networks of structural polysaccharides (carbohydrates)
Plant cell walls are made of cellulose
Fungi cell walls are made of chitin
Bacterial cell walls are made of peptidoglycan
Endoplasmic Reticulum (Rough and Smooth) Function
Rough:
- has ribosomes
- Proteins are packaged into vesicles and sent to the Golgi apparatus for further processing or to their final destinations
- site where protein synthesis occurs (ER does not synthesize the proteins though)
Smooth
- has no ribosomes
- responsible for synthesizing lipids, including phospholipids and cholesterol
Golgi Apparatus Function
- After proteins are synthesized in the Rough ER, they are transported to the Golgi apparatus, where they are modified
- These modifications help proteins fold correctly, become functional, and get directed to their appropriate destinations
- The Golgi apparatus also modifies lipids
- The Golgi apparatus sorts proteins and lipids, packaging them into vesicles
Ribosomes Function
- Ribosomes translate the genetic code from messenger RNA (mRNA) into a specific sequence of amino acids, forming proteins. This process is called translation.
- can be free ribosomes in the cytoplasm or ribosomes in the rough ER
Selective permeability
The ability of a cell membrane to control which substances and how much enter or leave the cell. Allows the cell to maintain a difference between its internal environment and extracellular fluid. Supplies the cell with nutrients, removes wastes, and maintains volume and pH
order that molecules can pass through cell membrane
Small nonpolar can pass through most easily, then small polar, then large polar, then ions cannot pass through at all (without help)