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Organisation of The Organism

The document discusses the structure and organization of cells. It describes the key components of plant and animal cells including the cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria and ribosomes. It explains the functions of these structures and compares the differences between plant and animal cells.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
18 views10 pages

Organisation of The Organism

The document discusses the structure and organization of cells. It describes the key components of plant and animal cells including the cell membrane, cell wall, nucleus, chloroplasts, mitochondria and ribosomes. It explains the functions of these structures and compares the differences between plant and animal cells.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Organisation of the Organism

Cell Structure

A Cells is the basic unit of life or it is the basic unit of


the structure and function of living organisms.

Cell Membrane:
 It is a partially permeable membrane.
 It is the outermost boundary in animal cells but
inner to, or second to, cell wall in plant cells.
 It controls the movement of substance into and
out of the cells. It also gives shape to the cells to
some extent.
 It is a very thin layer, chemically composed of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates.
 Also called "cell surface membrane"
 In plant cells they are difficult to see because they are so tightly pressed against the cell
wall.
 It allows the cell contents from not escaping.
 In general, oxygen, food and water are allowed to enter, waste products are allowed to leave
and harmful substances are kept out.
 In this way the cell membrane maintains the structure and chemical reactions of the
cytoplasm.
Centrioles
 They are found in animal cells only.
 They help in cell division.
 In plant cells, cells can divide without the need of centrioles.
Cytoplasm
 Inside the cell membrane a jelly-like substance known as the cytoplasm is present. It is
located outside of the nucleus.
 90% of it is composed of water.
 Contains many small structures called cell organelles, e.g nucleus, vacuoles, atoms, ions,
molecules, chloroplast etc.
 Organic and inorganic substances are also present here. Organic being carbohydrates, fats,
carbon, protein, DNA etc.
 It contains many dissolved substances especially protein.
 Useful waste and harmful materials.
 Enzymes, co-enzymes, and raw materials for chemical reactions (metabolic reactions) take
place in cytoplasm.
 Provides a place for chemical reactions.
 Provides optimum temperature and pH for chemical reactions.
 These chemical reactions keep the cell alive, by providing energy and making substances that
the cell needs.
Nucleus
 It is the largest cell organelle.
 It contains chromosomes which are long thread like structures.
 Chromosomes contain DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). DNA contains our genetic information.
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 Nucleus controls all the activities of the cell.
 The function of the nucleus is to control the type and quantity of enzymes produced by the
cytoplasm.
 In this way it regulates chemical changes that take place in a cell. Asa result the nucleus
determines what the cell will be, for example a blood cell, a liver cell, a muscle cell or a nerve
cell.
 Genetic information → chromosomes → DNA
 Chromosomes are very long, but so thin that they cannot be seen using an electron microscope
either, however, when the cell is dividing they become short and thick and they can be seen
with a good light microscope.
Cell Wall:
 It is the outermost boundary or covering in
plant cells. It is non-living.
 It is made up of a chemical substance called
cellulose. Cellulose is a polysaccharide (a
carbohydrate).
 Its thickness varies in different plant cells, e.g
it is thickest in xylem vessels.
 Cellulose forms fibres which criss-cross over
one another to form a very strong covering to
the cell. This helps to protect and support the
cell.
 If the cell absorbs a lot of water and swells, the cell wall prevents it from bursting (if the
cell is placed in a dilute solution or water)
 It gives proper shape o plant cells.
 Because of spaces between the wall, it is considered to freely or fully permeable.
Vacuoles
 A vacuole is a space in the cell, surrounded by a membrane and containing a solution.
 Plant cells have large vacuoles which contain cell sap. The membrane of a plant vacuole is called
a tonoplast.
 A full vacuole presses outwards on the rest of the cell and helps keeping its shape, and makes
the tissues firm.
 Animal cells have smaller membrane bound vacuoles, which may contain food or water, known as
vesicles.
Chloroplasts
 In the cytoplasm of plant cells, there are many organelles called plastids.
 They aren't present in animal cells.
 If they contain a green substance, chlorophyll, the organelles are called chloroplasts.
 Colourless plastids usually contain starch.
 Chloroplasts often contain starch grain.
 Chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight, and this energy is then used to make food for the
plant through photosynthesis.
Mitochondria
 Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
 Found in almost all cells except for prokaryotes.
 Inside them oxygen is used to release energy from glucose in a process called aerobic
respiration.
 It is made of two memebranes.

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 Muscle cells need mitochondria for the storage of glycogen and the absorption of oxygen
during exercise or movement.
 Sperm cells need mitochondria to swim to the ovum, in order to fertilise it.
 Neurones also have a large number of mitochondria to transmit electrical impulses.
 Cells that use a lot of energy have a lot of mitochondria.
 Mitochondria also produce ATP energy molecules.

Q.) Suggest why cells that convert glycogen contain many mitochondria. (2)
Ans.) These cells contain mitochondria because they need a lot of energy to convert glucose to
glycogen, as mitochondria provide energy, also aerobic respiration requires energy.

Q.) Explain why mitochondria have an important role in dividing cells. (3)
Ans.) For a dividing cell or mitosis a lot of energy is needed which is provided through mitochondria.
They also carry aerobic respiration and provide (release) energy. They are also used in the formation
of protein and DNA molecules, formation of cell walls and movement of chromosomes.

Ribosomes
 Even tinier structures than mitochondria,
that can be seen just with an electron
microscope.
 Attached to a network of membranes, like
tiny dots, throughout the cytoplasm.
 This network is known as the Rough
Endoplasmic Reticulum (or Rough ER)
 Ribosomes may also be freely scattered
throughout the cytoplasm.
 Found in all types of cells, bacterial,
plant, fungi, animals, algae etc..
 They have a grain like structure.
 Proteins are made here by joining amino
acids in long chains.
 This is done according to instructions carried in the nucleus' DNA, which specify the sequence
of the amino acids that should be strung together to make a particular protein, e.g
haemoglobin, enzymes, hormones, nail proteins etc.

Differences Between Animal and Plant Cells


Structure/Chemical Animal Cell Plant Cell
Cell Wall Cell wall is absent It is the outermost covering in plant cell
Cell Membrane It is the outermost boundary It is second to the cell wall
Vacuole Many small temporary vacuoles They have single large and central permanent
vacuole
Nucleus Usually present in the centre of the Present to a side due to the large vacuole.
animal cell
Chloroplasts Absent They are present in green parts of plants.
Absorbs light energy from the sun and converts
it into chemical energy (Mg+ are required to make
chlorophyll)

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Glucose Extra glucose in animal cells are Starch is extra glucose stored in the form of
stored in muscle and liver cells in the starch. Starch is also a polysaccharide stored in
form of glycogen (which is a fruits, seeds, stems, roots, etc..
polysaccharide)
Centrioles They are present in animal cells and Plant cells can divide without the presence of
they help in cell division. centrioles
Tonoplast Absent It is the membrane of the plant vacuole, but it is
not called tonoplast in animal cells.
Cell Sap The solution in animal vesicles isn't The solution in plant vacuoles is called sap, cell
called cell sap. sap or vacuolar sap (containing water, mineral
ions, salts, sugars, amino acids, and various
different pigments).
Cell Division During cell division, the cell During cell division a cell plate called
membrane begins to move inwards in phragmoplast appears in the centre of the cell.
the middle of the cell. It grows It grows outwards and finally divides the parent
inwards and finally fuses to divide cell into two daughter cells.
the parent cell into two daughter
cells.

Q.) Describe the functions in a plant of


a. Cell wall (5)
Cell walls are permeable to salts and water, which can pass by diffusion. Cell walls in plants are
made of cellulose fibre, which is tough aswell as flexible to some extent. It supports the plant
and maintains its shape. When the water enters and fills the plant cell producing turgor, then
cell walls prevent it from bursting. Turgor pressure helps young plants to keep in upright
position, because if young plants or leaves remain in upright position, then more sun falls on
them and photosynthesis occurs rapidly.
b. Cell membrane (5)
Cell membranes are partially permeable to different substances. Water can pass through cell
membranes by osmosis, down the osmotic gradient. Permeability of water can cause turgor in
the cell or vacuole of plant cell. Salt and mineral ions can effectively pass through membranes
by active transport which requires energy. Some soluble substances can pass through the
membrane by facilitated diffusion through membrane proteins.

Bacterial Cells
 Bacteria are very small organisms containing a single cell.
(they are unicellular microorganisms)
 The may be useful or harmful.
 The have a cell wall which is not made up of cellulose, but
instead a chemical substance called murein.
 It has a cell membrane, cytoplasm, ribosomes and a single
circular strand of DNA. Its DNA may be called a
chromosome.
 In addition some bacterial cells may have a slime cover, and
capsule.
 Bacterial cells have no nucleus.
 These and blue-green algae are considered as prokaryotes.
 The cytoplasm may contain, glycogen, lipids and food reserves.

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 The chromosome is not enclosed in a nuclear membrane, but
instead coiled up to occupy part of the cell.
 Individual bacteria may be spherical, rod-shaped, or spiral
and filaments called flagella.
 The flagella can flick helping the bacterium to move.
 A bacterial cell divides similarly to an animal cell.

Specialised Cells
Root Hair Cells:
 Root hair cells are present on the tips or ends of the
roots of plants.
 They are long and narrow cells.
 They absorb water and mineral salts from the soil,
through their hair like projections.
 They are adapted to do so because of:
1.) being long and narrow
2.) The large surface area to volume ratio, for the faster absorption of water
and mineral salts.
 They have large number of mitochondria to provide energy for the absorption of mineral ions
through active transport.
Q.) Describe and explain how root hair cells are adapted to their function. (5)
Ans.) Root hair cells are long and thin and are present on the tips of roots of plants. They absorb
water and mineral salts from the soil through their small hair like projections. They are adapted to
do so because of them being long and narrow and having a large surface area to volume ratio for the
faster absorption of water and mineral salts. They also have a large number of mitochondria to
provide energy for the faster absorption of mineral ions through active transport.

Red Blood Cells


 They are living cells and are present in the blood of
mammals.
 Mature RBCs of mammals have no nucleus or any other cell
organelles except for cytoplasm and cell membrane,
otherwise all of them are broken down or absent.
 The transport oxygen from lungs to all other body parts.
 They are circular and biconcave in shape.
 They are adapted to do so because of being circular and biconcave, larger surface to volume
ratio for faster or rapid exchange of oxygen between blood and body cells. RBCs contain a red
pigment called haemoglobin which carries/transports oxygen from lungs to all other body
parts.

Ciliated Epithelial Cells (Ciliated Epithelium)


 They are long or elongated cells, present in the inner
lining of the trachea and bronchi.
 They have hair-like projections/extensions called cilia
(cytoplasmic hair)
 The cilia move backwards and forwards to move the dust
and bacteria that gets trapped in them and the mucus
lining. The constant moving creates a stream of liquid -
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mucus.
 In the bronchi and trachea they waft the mucus away from the lungs and up to the throat.
 This mucus is then swallowed by the stomach.

Xylem Vessels
 Found in plant cells only.
 A substance called lignin impregnates and thickens
the cell walls making the cell walls very strong and
impermeable. This gives the stem its strength.
 They transport water and mineral salts, from roots of
the plant to the shoot.
 Xylem vessels are made of cellulose which provides the plant mechanical strength.
 Its structure is made from many hollow dead cells. The end walls of the cells disappear over
time, and a long open tube is formed.
 They run from roots all the way to the leaves of the plant. They have no cytoplasm or nuclei,
and are joined end to end, with no cross walls.
 Present is all plants. Xylem vessels combine to form wood.
 They effectively form long, thin strong straws.

Palisade Mesophyll Cells


 The cells nearer to the top of the leaf and the upper epidermis.
 They are columnar and are packed with energies from light because of the large number of
chloroplasts present.
 Their function is to make food for the plant by photosynthesis using, carbon dioxide, water
and light energy.

Nerve Cells (Neurones)


 Part of the human nervous system. Neurones
contain the basic parts of an animal cells.
However, their structure is adapted to be
able to carry messages very quickly.
 Have long thin fibres stretching out from the
cell body.
 Conduct electrical impulses to and from the
brain and spinal cord. These fibres are very
long and connect distanced part to the CNS.
 Chemical reactions cause the impulse to travel along the fibre.

Sperm and Egg Cells


 Sperm cells are male sex cells and are made in very narrow,
coiled tubules in the testes. The front of the cell is oval
shaped and contain a nucleus which contain genetic
information.
 There is a tip, called acrosome, which secretes enzymes
that digest the cells around an egg membrane. Behind this is
a mid-piece packed with mitochondria to provide energy for
movement.
 The tail or flagellum moves in a whipped-like action enabling

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the sperm to swim.
 Sperm are continually made from puberty onwards,
and are very sensitive to heat, which is why testes
hang outside a male body.
 Their function is reproduction which is achieved by
fertilising the egg cell.
 The egg cell, ova (or ovum if singular) are larger than sperm cells and are spherical.
 And ovum is roughly the size of the dot on top of this "i".
 They are located in the ovaries and are female sex cells.
 They have a large amount of cytoplasm containing yolk droplets made of protein and fat.
 The nucleus contains genetic information.
 The function of this cell is reproduction.

Q.) The following figure show a cheek cell from the lining of a person's mouth.

The following figure shows a gamete from the same person

a.) Describe and explain why the two cells differ in appearance. (4)
Cheek cell has no tail while sperm cell has a tail which helps it in swimming or movement of
sperm to reach the ovum. Cheek cell has more cytoplasm while sperm cell has lesser cytoplasm,
as it absorbs nutrition from seminal fluid. Shape of cheek cell is almost round while sperm cell is
elongated. Sperm head has acrosome which helps its penetration into the ovum. Nucleus in sperm
cell is at front since only nucleus enters ovum while cheek cell has nucleus near to its centre.
b.) (i) State two ways in which the nucleus of the gamete differs from the nucleus of the cheek cell.
Sperm nucleus has haploid chromosome number while cheek cell has diploid number. Sperm cell
has only one sex chromosome, i.e. either X or Y while cheek cell has two, i.e. XX or XY. Shape or
size of the nucleus in sperm cell also differs from cheek cell. Due to half the number of
chromosomes the amount of DNA or number of genes in the sperm nucleus is also half than
cheek cell. Cheek cells are produced by mitosis, while sperm cells are produced by meiosis.
(ii) Explain why it is important for the two nuclei to be different.

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Both nuclei are different, as the sperm fuses with ovum during fertilisation to produce a diploid
cell or zygote. It restores the diploid number of chromosomes from which the body cells of the
developing foetus are made with same diploid number due to mitosis.
c.) Name the chemical found in the nucleus that controls the production of protein.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Levels of Organisation
Tissue
A group of cells having the same structure and function e.g muscular tissue, nervous tissue, epithelial
tissue, xylem and phloem tissue, epidermal tissue etc.
Organ
When different tissues combine to form an organ e.g arm, legs, ear, kidneys, heart etc. in plants leaf
roots, stem, fruit, seed etc.
Organ System
When different organs combine to form an organ system, e.g digestive, reproductive, respiratory,
circulatory systems.
Organism
When different organ systems combine to form, organisms or multicellular organism e.g humans,
birds, plants or bacteria and algae which are unicellular.

Q.) Explain with examples, the relationship between cells, tissues and organs. (4)
Ans.) Cells are the basic unit of life, while tissues are made up of cells. In different tissues, cells
have some common, aswell as some specific functions. Some of the tissues include blood, muscle,
nervous, epithelial, connective, xylem, phloem, epidermis tissues. Organs are made up of tissues which
are working or combining together. Some examples of organs include muscles, heart, leaf, stem,
flower, roots, etc. Neurons are cells of nervous tissue. Red blood cells and white blood cells are found
in blood tissue.

Identifying Levels of Organisation


Our syllabus states that we should be able to identify the
levels of organisation in diagrams, images and references of
familiar material. A typical exam style question will look like
this ->

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Sizes of Specimens
Magnification is the ability of a microscope to increase the image size of an object. The formula for
magnification is:

Or

 Notation of I and A is µ (micrometre)


 Whenever calculating the size of an image always convert the units to micrometres.
 1mm = 1000µ
 Notation of magnification is 'x'.
For example

In this diagram the spider is measured 40mm (example value) in width. Measure with a scale and draw
a line along the width of the diagram.
Next the question will state that the real spider was only 8mm in width. Thus the magnification of
the diagram will be calculated like this

Using Magnification to Draw Biological Diagrams


Using magnification we may be able to draw biological diagrams.
firstly, we need to look under some cells or the specimen given and prepare a slide for it in order to
put it under the microscope.
Then we draw a rough diagram of our observation. We should
darken the borders and highlight the important features. By no
means do we need to shade or colour it, this would lead to the
deduction of marks. The diagrams should be labelled with clear
arrows pointing towards specific labels in the diagram. An
animal cell drawing may look like this <-
A Plant cell may look like this
These cells are trickier to draw because sometimes the cell
membrane is almost invisible, thus we ignore it and write the cell
wall as a label instead, if not written marks will be deducted.
These kind of questions are likely to come in ATP Paper 6.

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