Vacuoles and vesicles function to move material around plant and animal cells through membrane-bound sacs. Plant cell vacuoles are large central structures that contain cell sap and help regulate water flow via osmosis. They aid in food and water storage. Animal cells contain smaller vacuoles and vesicles, as well as lysosomes, which are vesicles containing digestive enzymes that function as the cell's "cleanup crew" and digest macromolecules and old organelles. Lysosomes fuse with food vacuoles to digest polymers into monomers for use as cell nutrients. They are also involved in programmed cell death processes.

1. Vacuoles & vesicles
• Function
• moving material
around cell
• storage
• Structure
• membrane sac
small food
particle
vesicle
vacuole filled w/
digestive enzymes
vesicle filled w/
digested nutrients

2. • Plant cells contain a
large central vacuole
• The vacuole is
bordered by a
membrane called the
tonoplast
• The vacuole contains
cell sap. This is a
solution of mineral
salts, sugars, oxygen ,
carbon dioxide,
pigments and
enzymes
• Vacuoles help to
regulate the flow of
water by osmosis into
and out of the cell
NucleusNucleus
Free ribosomesFree ribosomes
Rough endoplasmic reticulumRough endoplasmic reticulum
MitochondrionMitochondrion
Golgi bodyGolgi body
Large central
vacuole
Large central
vacuole
TonoplastTonoplastPlant Cell Vacuoles

3. Food & water storage
plant cells
contractile
vacuole
animal cells
central vacuole
food vacuole

4. Lysosomes
•Function
• little “stomach” of the cell
• digests macromolecules
• “clean up crew” of the cell
• cleans up broken down
organelles
•Structure
• vesicles of digestive
enzymes
only in
animal cells
synthesized by rER,
transferred to Golgi
Where
old organelles
go to die!

5. Lysosomes
white blood cells attack &
destroy invaders = digest
them in lysosomes
1974 Nobel prize: Christian de Duve
Lysosomes discovery in 1960s
1960 | 1974

6. Cellular digestion
•Lysosomes fuse with food vacuoles
•polymers
digested into
monomers
• pass to cytosol
to become
nutrients of
cell
vacuole
 lyso– = breaking things apart
 –some = body

7. But sometimes cells need to die…
•Lysosomes can be used to kill cells when
they are supposed to be destroyed
• some cells have to die for proper
development in an organism
• apoptosis
• “auto-destruct” process
• lysosomes break open & kill cell
• ex: tadpole tail gets re-absorbed
when it turns into a frog
• ex: loss of webbing between your
fingers during fetal development

8. Fetal development
15 weeks
6 weeks
syndactyly