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Course: High school biology > Unit 2
Lesson 4: Eukaryotic cell structuresEukaryotic cell structures review
Key terms
Term | Meaning |
---|---|
Cell | Basic unit of living things |
Organelle | Specialized cell structure that performs a specific function |
Eukaryote-specific organelles
Organelle | Function |
---|---|
Nucleus | Stores genetic information; controls all cell activities |
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) | Network of tubes and membranes that carry material through the cell and play a role in protein modification and lipid synthesis; has two parts: rough ER (contains ribosomes) and smooth ER (does not contain ribosomes) |
Golgi body | Flattened membrane discs that package and sort proteins |
Mitochondria | Breaks down sugar into energy for the cell |
Chloroplast | Uses light energy to make food for plant cells |
Vacuole | Storage site for food, water, and waste; large central vacuole helps maintain the shape of plant cells |
Lysosome | Breaks down large molecules and digests old cell parts |
Common mistakes and misconceptions
- Plant cells have both mitochondria and chloroplasts. Some people believe that only animal cells have mitochondria, and plant cells have chloroplasts instead. However, plants need both chloroplasts and mitochondria to undergo photosynthesis and cellular respiration, respectively.
Want to join the conversation?
- why does the Golgi body move(26 votes)
- To deliver proteins to the other parts of the cell(23 votes)
- Why does mitochondrial DNA specifically come from the mother?(9 votes)
- That is an excellent question!
"One theory has to do with the fact that sperm must generate a lot of energy when competing to fertilize an egg. During this time, sperm mitochondria are overworked, which could possibly damage their DNA and lead to mutations." - The New York Times.
"In reproduction, mitochondria are normally inherited exclusively from the mother; the mitochondria in mammalian sperm (The typical mammalian sperm midpiece contains approximately 50–75 mitochondria with one copy of mtDNA in each) are usually destroyed by the egg cell after fertilization." - BYJU's
"While it is well-documented that almost all animals inherit mtDNA only from their mothers, the mechanism by which this occurs is still not understood." - thewire.in
In conclusion, we're not 100% sure just yet.(22 votes)
- Can someone please explain the membrane bound organelles and the non membrane bound organelles. Just state the organelles.(8 votes)
- The membrane bound organelles are in the eukaryotic cell and the membrane helps the organelles maintain their shape. The non membrane bound organelles live in the prokaryotic cell and have no membrane, so they are more of a blob than anything.(13 votes)
- how many component in a cell?(11 votes)
- What cell structure is most likely responsible for whether or not a plant cell is flaccid or turgid?(8 votes)
- Vacuoles hold water. When there's a lot of water in the vacuole, it pushes the membrane against the cell wall.(7 votes)
- what is the microtobules and microfilaments(11 votes)
- So much information at once
I've already forgotten what he said at the start(6 votes)- Try to take notes on a piece of scratch paper, and read over them at the end. Science proves that writing down important information helps with memory!(3 votes)
- I have seen elsewhere a cell diagram with a part labelled 'lumen' I haven't seen that here, and with an internet search haven't been able to find info on it, or the same diagram. Any ideas what it could be? It was not within a chloroplast or any organelle, rather just by itself in the cytosol. Thanks(4 votes)
- A lumen is a space enclosed by a membrane. The lumen in your cell diagram is likely referring to the space in the cell and not necessarily any of its organelles or the cytosol.(8 votes)
- Which part is deals with photosynthesis again?(6 votes)
- Chloroplasts deal with photosynthesis. But keep in mind that chloroplasts are only present in plant cells. We don't perform photosynthesis, so as a result, we don't have chloroplasts.(3 votes)
- How could such a complicated structure create itself?(4 votes)
- It doesn't. Yet there are still people who don't believe that something much greater, created all of these small but extremely complex structures.(5 votes)