Plant Cell Definition

Plant cells are the basic unit of life in organisms of the kingdom Plantae. They are eukaryotic cells, which

have a true nucleus along with specialized structures called organelles that carry out different functions.

Plant cells have special organelles called chloroplasts which create sugars via photosynthesis.

Plant Cell Overview

Animals, fungi, and protists also have eukaryotic cells, while bacteria and archaea have simpler

prokaryotic cells. Plant cells are differentiated from the cells of other organisms by their cell

walls, chloroplasts, and central vacuole. The chloroplasts within plant cells can undergo

photosynthesis, to produce glucose. In doing so, the cells use carbon dioxide and they release oxygen.

Other organisms, such as animals, rely on this oxygen and glucose to survive. Plants are

considered autotrophic because they produce their own food and do not have to consume any other

organisms. Specifically, plant cells are photoautotrophic because they use light energy from the

sun to produce glucose. Organisms that eat plants and other animals are considered heterotrophic.

The other components of a plant cell, the cell wall and central vacuole, work together to give the cell

rigidity. The plant cell will store water in the central vacuole, which expands the vacuole into the sides of

the cell. The cell wall then pushes against the walls of other cells, creating a force known

as turgor pressure. Turgor pressure between cells allows plants to grow tall and reach more sunlight.

Plant Cell Parts

The plant cell has many different parts. Each part of the cell has a specialized function. These structures

are called organelles.

This diagram shows the various parts of a plant cell. Specialized structures in plant cells include

chloroplasts, a large vacuole, and the cell wall.

Chloroplasts

Chloroplasts are found only in plant and algae cells. These organelles carry out the process of

photosynthesis, which turns water, carbon dioxide, and light energy into nutrients. They are
oval-shaped and have two membranes: an outer membrane, which forms the external surface of

the chloroplast, and an inner membrane that lies just beneath. Between the outer and inner membrane is

a thin intermembrane space about 10-20 nanometers wide. Within the other membrane, there is another

space called the stroma, which is where chloroplasts are contained.

Chloroplasts themselves contain many flattened disks called thylakoids, and these have a high

concentration of chlorophyll and carotenoids, which capture light energy. The moleculechlorophyll also

gives plants their green color. Thylakoids are stacked on top of one another in vascular plants in stacks

called grana.

Vacuoles

Plant cells are unique in that they have a large central vacuole. A vacuole is a small sphere of plasma

membrane within the cell that can contain fluid, ions, and other molecules. Vacuoles are basically

large vesicles. They can be found in the cells of many different organisms, but plant cells characteristically

have a large vacuole that can take up anywhere from 30-80 percent of the cell.

The central vacuole of a plant cell helps maintain its turgor pressure, which is the pressure of the contents

of the cell pushing against the cell wall. A plant thrives best when its cells have high turgidity, and this

occurs when the central vacuole is full of water. If turgor pressure in the plants decreases, the

plants begin to wilt. Plant cells fare best in hypotonic solutions, where there is more water in the

environment than in the cell; under these conditions, water rushes into the cell by osmosis, and turgidity

is high.

Animal cells, on the other hand, can lyse if too much water rushes in; they fare better

in isotonic solutions, where the concentration of solutes in the cell and in the environment is equal and net

movement of water in and out of the cell is the same.

Cell Wall

The cell wall is a tough layer found on the outside of the plant cell that gives it strength and also

maintains high turgidity. In plants, the cell wall contains mainly cellulose, along with other

molecules like hemicellulose, pectin, and lignins. The composition of the plant cell wall differentiates

it from the cell walls of other organisms.

For example, fungi cell walls contain chitin, and bacterial cell walls contain peptidoglycan, and these

substances are not found in plants. The main difference between plant and animal cells is that

plant cells have a cell wall while animal cells do not. Plant cells have a primary cell wall, which is a

flexible layer formed on the outside of a growing plant cell, and a secondary cell wall, a tough, thick layer

formed inside the primary plant cell wall when the cell is mature.

Other Organelles

Plant cells have many other organelles that are essentially the same as organelles in other types of

eukaryotic cells, such as animal cells. The nucleus contains a cell’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), its

genetic material. DNA contains instructions for making proteins, which controls all of the body’s
activities. The nucleus also regulates the growth and division of the cell. Proteins are synthesized in

ribosomes, modified in the endoplasmic reticulum, and folded, sorted, and packaged into vesicles in

the Golgi apparatus.

Mitochondria are also found in plant cells. They produce ATP through cellular respiration.

Photosynthesis in the chloroplasts provides the nutrients that mitochondria break down for use in cellular

respiration. Interestingly, both chloroplasts and mitochondria are thought to have formed from bacteria

being engulfed by other cells in an endosymbiotic (mutually beneficial) relationship, and they did so

independently of each other.

The liquid within cells is the cytosol. It is mostly made of water, and also contains ions like potassium,

proteins, and small molecules. Cytosol and all the organelles within it, except for the nucleus, are called

the cytoplasm. The cytoskeleton is a network of filaments and tubules found throughout the

cytoplasm of the cell. It has many functions; it gives the cell shape, provides strength, stabilizes

tissues, anchors organelles within the cell, and has a role in cell signaling. The cell membrane, a

double phospholipid layer, surrounds the entire cell.

Plant Cell Functions

Plant cells are the basic building block of plant life, and they carry out all of the functions necessary for

survival. Photosynthesis, the making of food from light energy, carbon dioxide, and water, occurs in the

chloroplasts of the cell. The energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is produced through cellular

respiration in the mitochondria.

Like all multicellular organisms, each cell within an organism has its own unique role. Some

plant cells function solely in the production of glucose, while others are needed to carry nutrients and

water to various parts of the cell. Read the following section for more about different cell types and their

functions.

Plant Cell Types

There are five types of plant cells, each with different functions:

 Parenchyma cells are the majority of cells in a plant. They are found in leaves and carry out

photosynthesis and cellular respiration, along with other metabolic processes. They also store

substances like starches and proteins and have a role in plant wound repair.

 Collenchyma cells provide support to growing parts of a plant. They are elongated, have thick

cell walls, and can grow and change shape as a plant grows.

 Sclerenchyma cells are hard cells that are the main supporting cells in the areas of a plant

that have ceased growing. Sclerenchyma cells are dead and have very thick cell walls.

 Xylem cells transport mostly water and a few nutrients throughout a plant, from the roots to

the stem and leaves.

 Phloem cells transport nutrients made during photosynthesis to all parts of a plant. They

transport sap, which is a watery solution high in sugars.

Plant Cell Structure

There are several important structural elements within plant cells that allow plants to stand, gather

sunlight, and grow as a single organism. The most important components within the cells to

achieve these ends are the cell wall and the vacuole.

Together, these two structures within plant cells create rigidity, which allows plants to stand tall and not

fall over. Specifically, the vacuole fills with water, pushing on the cell wall. This creates internal pressure,

called turgor pressure. The cell walls experience this pressure. In turn, each wall exerts pressure on the

wall next to it. Together, this holds the plant up much like the skeleton of a human provides

support.

However, plants need a steady supply of water to keep this pressure up. Without water, the vacuoles will

quickly lose water. Without pressure, the cells cannot push against each other. Thus, a thirsty plant will

wilt, tip over, and eventually die.

Animal Cell Structure

Animal cells are typical of the eukaryotic cell, enclosed by a plasma membrane and containing a
membrane-bound nucleus and organelles. Unlike the eukaryotic cells of plants and fungi, animal cells do
not have a cell wall. This feature was lost in the distant past by the single-celled organisms that gave rise
to the kingdom Animalia. Most cells, both animal and plant, range in size between 1 and 100
micrometers and are thus visible only with the aid of a microscope.
The lack of a rigid cell wall allowed animals to develop a greater diversity of cell types, tissues, and
organs. Specialized cells that formed nerves and muscles—tissues impossible for plants to evolve—gave
these organisms mobility. The ability to move about by the use of specialized muscle tissues is a hallmark
of the animal world, though a few animals, primarily sponges, do not possess differentiated tissues.
Notably, protozoans locomote, but it is only via nonmuscular means, in effect, using cilia, flagella, and
pseudopodia.

The animal kingdom is unique among eukaryotic organisms because most animal tissues are bound
together in an extracellular matrix by a triple helix of protein known as collagen. Plant and fungal cells
are bound together in tissues or aggregations by other molecules, such as pectin. The fact that no other
organisms utilize collagen in this manner is one of the indications that all animals arose from a common
unicellular ancestor. Bones, shells, spicules, and other hardened structures are formed when the collagen-
containing extracellular matrix between animal cells becomes calcified.

Animals are a large and incredibly diverse group of organisms. Making up about three-quarters of the
species on Earth, they run the gamut from corals and jellyfish to ants, whales, elephants, and, of course,
humans. Being mobile has given animals, which are capable of sensing and responding to their
environment, the flexibility to adopt many different modes of feeding, defense, and reproduction. Unlike
plants, however, animals are unable to manufacture their own food, and therefore, are always directly or
indirectly dependent on plant life.

Most animal cells are diploid, meaning that their chromosomes exist in homologous pairs. Different
chromosomal ploidies are also, however, known to occasionally occur. The proliferation of animal cells
occurs in a variety of ways. In instances of sexual reproduction, the cellular process of meiosis is first
necessary so that haploid daughter cells, or gametes, can be produced. Two haploid cells then fuse to
form a diploid zygote, which develops into a new organism as its cells divide and multiply.

The earliest fossil evidence of animals dates from the Vendian Period (650 to 544 million years ago),
with coelenterate-type creatures that left traces of their soft bodies in shallow-water sediments. The first
mass extinction ended that period, but during the Cambrian Period which followed, an explosion of new
forms began the evolutionary radiation that produced most of the major groups, or phyla, known today.
Vertebrates (animals with backbones) are not known to have occurred until the early Ordovician
Period (505 to 438 million years ago).
Cells were discovered in 1665 by British scientist Robert Hooke who first observed them in his crude (by
today's standards) seventeenth century optical microscope. In fact, Hooke coined the term "cell", in a
biological context, when he described the microscopic structure of cork like a tiny, bare room or monk's
cell. Illustrated in Figure 2 are a pair of fibroblast deer skin cells that have been labeled with fluorescent
probes and photographed in the microscope to reveal their internal structure. The nuclei are stained with a
red probe, while the Golgi apparatus and microfilament actin network are stained green and blue,
respectively. The microscope has been a fundamental tool in the field of cell biology and is often used to
observe living cells in culture. Use the links below to obtain more detailed information about the various
components that are found in animal cells.

 Centrioles - Centrioles are self-replicating organelles made up of nine bundles of microtubules and
are found only in animal cells. They appear to help in organizing cell division, but aren't essential to
the process.
 Cilia and Flagella - For single-celled eukaryotes, cilia and flagella are essential for the locomotion
of individual organisms. In multicellular organisms, cilia function to move fluid or materials past an
immobile cell as well as moving a cell or group of cells.
 Endoplasmic Reticulum - The endoplasmic reticulum is a network of sacs that manufactures,
processes, and transports chemical compounds for use inside and outside of the cell. It is
connected to the double-layered nuclear envelope, providing a pipeline between the nucleus and
the cytoplasm.
 Endosomes and Endocytosis - Endosomes are membrane-bound vesicles, formed via a complex
family of processes collectively known as endocytosis, and found in the cytoplasm of virtually
every animal cell. The basic mechanism of endocytosis is the reverse of what occurs during
exocytosis or cellular secretion. It involves the invagination (folding inward) of a cell's plasma
membrane to surround macromolecules or other matter diffusing through the extracellular fluid.
 Golgi Apparatus - The Golgi apparatus is the distribution and shipping department for the cell's
chemical products. It modifies proteins and fats built in the endoplasmic reticulum and prepares
them for export to the outside of the cell.
 Intermediate Filaments - Intermediate filaments are a very broad class of fibrous proteins that
play an important role as both structural and functional elements of the cytoskeleton. Ranging in
size from 8 to 12 nanometers, intermediate filaments function as tension-bearing elements to help
maintain cell shape and rigidity.
 Lysosomes - The main function of these microbodies is digestion. Lysosomes break down cellular
waste products and debris from outside the cell into simple compounds, which are transferred to
the cytoplasm as new cell-building materials.
 Microfilaments - Microfilaments are solid rods made of globular proteins called actin. These
filaments are primarily structural in function and are an important component of the cytoskeleton.
 Microtubules - These straight, hollow cylinders are found throughout the cytoplasm of all
eukaryotic cells (prokaryotes don't have them) and carry out a variety of functions, ranging from
transport to structural support.
 Mitochondria - Mitochondria are oblong shaped organelles that are found in the cytoplasm of
every eukaryotic cell. In the animal cell, they are the main power generators, converting oxygen
and nutrients into energy.
 Nucleus - The nucleus is a highly specialized organelle that serves as the information processing
and administrative center of the cell. This organelle has two major functions: it stores the cell's
hereditary material, or DNA, and it coordinates the cell's activities, which include growth,
intermediary metabolism, protein synthesis, and reproduction (cell division).
 Peroxisomes - Microbodies are a diverse group of organelles that are found in the cytoplasm,
roughly spherical and bound by a single membrane. There are several types of microbodies but
peroxisomes are the most common.
 Plasma Membrane - All living cells have a plasma membrane that encloses their contents. In
prokaryotes, the membrane is the inner layer of protection surrounded by a rigid cell wall.
Eukaryotic animal cells have only the membrane to contain and protect their contents. These
membranes also regulate the passage of molecules in and out of the cells.
 Ribosomes - All living cells contain ribosomes, tiny organelles composed of approximately 60
percent RNA and 40 percent protein. In eukaryotes, ribosomes are made of four strands of RNA. In
prokaryotes, they consist of three strands of RNA.

In addition the optical and electron microscope, scientists are able to use a number of other techniques to
probe the mysteries of the animal cell. Cells can be disassembled by chemical methods and their individual
organelles and macromolecules isolated for study. The process of cell fractionation enables the scientist
to prepare specific components, the mitochondria for example, in large quantities for investigations of
their composition and functions. Using this approach, cell biologists have been able to assign various
functions to specific locations within the cell. However, the era of fluorescent proteins has brought
microscopy to the forefront of biology by enabling scientists to target living cells with highly localized
probes for studies that don't interfere with the delicate balance of life processes.

Bacteria Cell Structure

They are as unrelated to human beings as living things can be, but bacteria are essential to human life
and life on planet Earth. Although they are notorious for their role in causing human diseases, from tooth
decay to the Black Plague, there are beneficial species that are essential to good health.

For example, one species that lives symbiotically in the large intestine manufactures vitamin K, an
essential blood clotting factor. Other species are beneficial indirectly. Bacteria give yogurt its tangy flavor
and sourdough bread its sour taste. They make it possible for ruminant animals (cows, sheep, goats) to
digest plant cellulose and for some plants, (soybean, peas, alfalfa) to convert nitrogen to a more usable
form.

Bacteria are prokaryotes, lacking well-defined nuclei and membrane-bound organelles, and with
chromosomes composed of a single closed DNA circle. They come in many shapes and sizes, from minute
spheres, cylinders and spiral threads, to flagellated rods, and filamentous chains. They are found
practically everywhere on Earth and live in some of the most unusual and seemingly inhospitable places.

Evidence shows that bacteria were in existence as long as 3.5 billion years ago, making them one of the
oldest living organisms on the Earth. Even older than the bacteria are the archeans (also called
archaebacteria) tiny prokaryotic organisms that live only in extreme environments: boiling water, super-
salty pools, sulfur-spewing volcanic vents, acidic water, and deep in the Antarctic ice. Many scientists now
believe that the archaea and bacteria developed separately from a common ancestor nearly four billion
years ago. Millions of years later, the ancestors of today's eukaryotes split off from the archaea. Despite
the superficial resemblance to bacteria, biochemically and genetically, the archea are as different from
bacteria as bacteria are from humans.

In the late 1600s, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek became the first to study bacteria under the microscope.
During the nineteenth century, the French scientist Louis Pasteur and the German physician Robert Koch
demonstrated the role of bacteria as pathogens (causing disease). The twentieth century saw numerous
advances in bacteriology, indicating their diversity, ancient lineage, and general importance. Most notably,
a number of scientists around the world made contributions to the field of microbial ecology, showing that
bacteria were essential to food webs and for the overall health of the Earth's ecosystems. The discovery
that some bacteria produced compounds lethal to other bacteria led to the development of antibiotics,
which revolutionized the field of medicine.

There are two different ways of grouping bacteria. They can be divided into three types based on their
response to gaseous oxygen. Aerobic bacteria require oxygen for their health and existence and will die
without it. Anerobic bacteria can't tolerate gaseous oxygen at all and die when exposed to it. Facultative
aneraobes prefer oxygen, but can live without it.

The second way of grouping them is by how they obtain their energy. Bacteria that have to consume and
break down complex organic compounds are heterotrophs. This includes species that are found in
decaying material as well as those that utilize fermentation or respiration. Bacteria that create their own
energy, fueled by light or through chemical reactions, are autotrophs.

 Capsule - Some species of bacteria have a third protective covering, a capsule made up of
polysaccharides (complex carbohydrates). Capsules play a number of roles, but the most important
are to keep the bacterium from drying out and to protect it from phagocytosis (engulfing) by larger
microorganisms. The capsule is a major virulence factor in the major disease-causing bacteria,
such as Escherichia coli and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Nonencapsulated mutants of these
organisms are avirulent, i.e. they don't cause disease.
 Cell Envelope - The cell envelope is made up of two to three layers: the interior cytoplasmic
membrane, the cell wall, and -- in some species of bacteria -- an outer capsule.
 Cell Wall - Each bacterium is enclosed by a rigid cell wall composed of peptidoglycan, a protein-
sugar (polysaccharide) molecule. The wall gives the cell its shape and surrounds the cytoplasmic
membrane, protecting it from the environment. It also helps to anchor appendages like the pili and
flagella, which originate in the cytoplasm membrane and protrude through the wall to the outside.
The strength of the wall is responsible for keeping the cell from bursting when there are large
differences in osmotic pressure between the cytoplasm and the environment.

Cell wall composition varies widely amongst bacteria and is one of the most important factors in
bacterial species analysis and differentiation. For example, a relatively thick, meshlike structure
that makes it possible to distinguish two basic types of bacteria. A technique devised by Danish
physician Hans Christian Gram in 1884, uses a staining and washing technique to differentiate
between the two forms. When exposed to a gram stain, gram-positive bacteria retain the purple
color of the stain because the structure of their cell walls traps the dye. In gram-negative bacteria,
the cell wall is thin and releases the dye readily when washed with an alcohol or acetone solution.

 Cytoplasm - The cytoplasm, or protoplasm, of bacterial cells is where the functions for cell growth,
metabolism, and replication are carried out. It is a gel-like matrix composed of water, enzymes,
nutrients, wastes, and gases and contains cell structures such as ribosomes, a chromosome, and
plasmids. The cell envelope encases the cytoplasm and all its components. Unlike the eukaryotic
(true) cells, bacteria do not have a membrane enclosed nucleus. The chromosome, a single,
continuous strand of DNA, is localized, but not contained, in a region of the cell called the nucleoid.
All the other cellular components are scattered throughout the cytoplasm.

One of those components, plasmids, are small, extrachromosomal genetic structures carried by
many strains of bacteria. Like the chromosome, plasmids are made of a circular piece of DNA.
Unlike the chromosome, they are not involved in reproduction. Only the chromosome has the
genetic instructions for initiating and carrying out cell division, or binary fission, the primary means
of reproduction in bacteria. Plasmids replicate independently of the chromosome and, while not
essential for survival, appear to give bacteria a selective advantage.

Plasmids are passed on to other bacteria through two means. For most plasmid types, copies in the
cytoplasm are passed on to daughter cells during binary fission. Other types of plasmids, however,
form a tubelike structure at the surface called a pilus that passes copies of the plasmid to other
bacteria during conjugation, a process by which bacteria exchange genetic information. Plasmids
have been shown to be instrumental in the transmission of special properties, such as antibiotic
drug resistance, resistance to heavy metals, and virulence factors necessary for infection of animal
or plant hosts. The ability to insert specific genes into plasmids have made them extremely useful
tools in the fields of molecular biology and genetics, specifically in the area of genetic engineering.

 Cytoplasmic Membrane - A layer of phospholipids and proteins, called the cytoplasmic

membrane, encloses the interior of the bacterium, regulating the flow of materials in and out of the
cell. This is a structural trait bacteria share with all other living cells; a barrier that allows them to
selectively interact with their environment. Membranes are highly organized and asymmetric
having two sides, each side with a different surface and different functions. Membranes are also
dynamic, constantly adapting to different conditions.
 Flagella - Flagella (singular, flagellum) are hairlike structures that provide a means of locomotion
for those bacteria that have them. They can be found at either or both ends of a bacterium or all
over its surface. The flagella beat in a propeller-like motion to help the bacterium move toward
nutrients; away from toxic chemicals; or, in the case of the photosynthetic cyanobacteria; toward
the light.
 Nucleoid - The nucleoid is a region of cytoplasm where the chromosomal DNA is located. It is not
a membrane bound nucleus, but simply an area of the cytoplasm where the strands of DNA are
found. Most bacteria have a single, circular chromosome that is responsible for replication,
although a few species do have two or more. Smaller circular auxiliary DNA strands, called
plasmids, are also found in the cytoplasm.
 Pili - Many species of bacteria have pili (singular, pilus), small hairlike projections emerging from
the outside cell surface. These outgrowths assist the bacteria in attaching to other cells and
surfaces, such as teeth, intestines, and rocks. Without pili, many disease-causing bacteria lose
their ability to infect because they're unable to attach to host tissue. Specialized pili are used for
conjugation, during which two bacteria exchange fragments of plasmid DNA.
 Ribosomes - Ribosomes are microscopic "factories" found in all cells, including bacteria. They
translate the genetic code from the molecular language of nucleic acid to that of amino acids—the
building blocks of proteins. Proteins are the molecules that perform all the functions of cells and
living organisms. Bacterial ribosomes are similar to those of eukaryotes, but are smaller and have
a slightly different composition and molecular structure. Bacterial ribosomes are never bound to
other organelles as they sometimes are (bound to the endoplasmic reticulum) in eukaryotes, but
are free-standing structures distributed throughout the cytoplasm. There are sufficient differences
between bacterial ribosomes and eukaryotic ribosomes that some antibiotics will inhibit the
functioning of bacterial ribosomes, but not a eukaryote's, thus killing bacteria but not the
eukaryotic organisms they are infecting.
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