The basics of Cell Biology

Smallest structure and
functional unit of an
organism.
All plants and animals are
made of cells.
Cells share many common
features, yet they can look
wildly different.
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Multicellular organisms:
all species of animals,
land plants, most fungi
and many algae.
Unicellular organisms:
bacteria, some algae.

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By Nina Sesina
(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w
iki/File:Zygote.tif)[CC BY-SA 4.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licen
ses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons

© Vladimir
Mucibabic

By Egelberg [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Cell division: the
process by which
a parent cell
divides into two or
more daughter
cells.

S1 Movie from Fuerstenau-Sharp M, Zimmermann M, Stark K, Jentsch N, Klingenstein M, Drzymalski M, Wagner S,
Maier L, Hehr U, Baessler A, Fischer M, Hengstenberg C (2015). "Generation of Highly Purified Human
Cardiomyocytes from Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cell-Derived Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells". PLOS
ONE. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0126596. PMID 25970162. PMC: 4430251.

Cell differentiation: the
process of a cell
changing from one cell
type to another, most
commonly from a less
specialized type to a
more specialized type.

By Egelberg (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons

Apoptosis:
process of
programmed cell
death that occurs
in multicellular
organisms.

The cell membrane separates
the interior of all cells from the outside
environment.
It consists of a lipid bilayer with
embedded membrane proteins.
Its main function is to protect the cell from
its surroundings.

The cell wall is a structural
layer surrounding cells and
located outside the cell
membrane.
Mainly composed of the
carbohydrate cellulose (which
is the most abundant sugar on
the planet!)

Organelle: a
specialized subunit
within a cell that has
a specific function.

Largest organelle in
animal cells.
Contains the genetic
material, in the form
of DNA molecules.
“Membrane-bound”

Cells
Eukaryotic cells
Plant cells
Animal cells
Prokaryotic cells
(i.e. bacteria)

Mitochondrion are
membrane-
bound organelle found in
the cytoplasm (cell
substance between the
cell membrane and the
nucleus) of almost
all eukaryotic cells
Primary function is to
generate large quantities
of energy through the
process of respiration.

Organelle found in plants,
algae and some bacteria.
The main role of chloroplasts
is to conduct photosynthesis,
where the photosynthetic
pigment captures
the energy from sunlight,
converts it and stores it in the
energy-storage molecules
while freeing oxygen from
water.
By Kelvinsong [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

All cells are not created equal
By domdomegg (Own work) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia
Commons

By domdomegg (Own work) [CC BY 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via
Wikimedia Commons
Bacterial cells do NOT contain
membrane bound organelles!

Comparison list between the three main cell types.
Cell type nucleus cell wall mitochondria vacuole chloroplast
animal yes no yes no no
plant yes yes yes yes yes
bacteria no yes no no no

The basics of Cell Biology

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