THE NATURE OF

CELL
H. F. I. ROTAIRO
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Robert Hooke (1665)

• Observed mass of tinny cavities from thin
slices of cork with his self-made microscope
• He named it as “cells” since the structure
resembles the small rooms in a monastery
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1674)

• Made pioneering discoveries concerning
protozoa, red blood cells, capillary systems
and the life cycles of insects
• He also perfected the construction of the
compound microscope
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Robert Brown (1831)

• Observed plant cells with a
distinct central part
(nucleus)
• Described the streaming
movement of the cytoplasm
(Brownian movement)
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Dujardin (1835)
• Observed that cells
were not empty but
filled with thick, jelly-
like fluids
(protoplasm)
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Matthias Schleiden (1838)

• Concluded that plants are composed of cells
• Formulated the Plant Cell Theory
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Theodore Schwann (1839)

• Concluded that animals are composed of
cells
• Formulated the Animal Cell Theory
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Rudolf Virchow (1858)

• Concluded that all cells must come only from
pre-existing cells
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Max Knoll and Ernst

Ruska (1932)
• Built the first
transmission electron
microscope
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• James Watson and Francis Crick (1953)

• Discovered the structure of DNA that ushered in
the era of molecular biology
 CELL THEORY

• All organisms are made up of cells

• Cell is the basic unit of life
• Cells comes from pre-existing cells
 CELL SIZE AND SHAPE

• Mycoplasma is the smallest cell having a size of 0.0001 mm and

the nerve cells in a giraffe’s neck having a size of 3.0 m in
length is the largest cell.
• In human, cell sizes also differ, from small red blood cells that
measure 0.00076 mm to liver cells that may be 10 times larger
• The common unit of measure in the study of cell is micrometer
(µm)
= 1 x 10-6 meter or 1/1,000,000 meter
 CELL SIZE AND SHAPE

• The shape of the cell is related to its functions;

• Long for contractions (muscle cells)
• With protoplasmic processes for conduction of
impulses (nerve cell)
• Concave disc for distribution of oxygen (blood cell)
 CELL SIZE AND SHAPE

• Factors affecting variations in cell shapes:

• Elasticity or rigidity of the membrane
• Surface tension
• Viscosity of the cytoplasm
• Pressure exerted by neighboring cells
• Functional adaptation
The Cell Cellulae (Small room)

The Organism’s Basic Unit of Structure and Function

Types
of cells
Prokaryotic Eukaryotic

Micro-organisms All other forms

of life
SIMILARITIES
 CELL MEMBRANE

• Both eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells

bear a lipid bi-layer, which is an
arrangement of phospholipids and
proteins that acts as a selective
barrier between the internal and
external environment of the cell.
 GENETIC MATERIAL

• Eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells both use

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as the basis for
their genetic information.
• This genetic material is needed to regulate
and inform cell function through the creation
of RNA by transcription, followed by the
generation of proteins through translation.
 RIBOSOMES

• Ribosomes facilitate RNA

translation and the creation
of protein, which is essential
to the functioning of both
eukaryotic and prokaryotic
cells.
 CYTOPLASM

• The cytoplasm is the medium in which the biochemical reactions of

the cell take place, of which the primary component is cytosol.
• In eukaryotic cells, the cytoplasm comprises everything between
the plasma membrane and the nuclear envelope, including the
organelles; the material within the nucleus is termed the
nucleoplasm.
• In prokaryotes the cytoplasm encompasses everything within the
plasma membrane, including the cytoskeleton and genetic
material.
DIFFERENCES
 Eukaryotic cells are ordinarily larger
CELL SIZE
(10 –100um) than prokaryotic cells (1 –
10um).

CELL Eukaryotes are often multicellular

ARRANGEMENT whereas prokaryotes are unicellular.
There are however some exceptions
–unicellular eukaryotes include
amoebas, paramecium, yeast.
 TRUE MEMBRANE-BOUND NUCLEUS

• Eukaryotic cells have a true nucleus bound by a double

membrane. It contains the DNA-related functions of the large cell in
a smaller enclosure to ensure close proximity of materials and
increased efficiency for cellular communication and functions.
• In contrast, the smaller prokaryotic cells have no nucleus. The
materials are already fairly close to each other and there is only a
"nucleoid" which is the central open region of the cell where the
DNA is located.
 DNA STRUCTURE

• Eukaryotic DNA is linear and complexed with packaging

proteins called "histones," before organization into a number of
chromosomes
• Prokaryotic DNA is circular and is neither associated with
histones nor organized into chromosomes. A prokaryotic cell is
simpler and requires far fewer genes to function than the
eukaryotic cell. Therefore, it contains only one circular DNA
molecule and various smaller DNA circlets (plasmids).
 MEMBRANE-BOUND ORGANELLES

• Eukaryotic cells contain many membrane-enclosed, large,

complex organelles in the cytoplasm whereas prokaryotic
cells do not contain these membrane-bound organelles.
• Only eukaryotes possess a membrane-bound nucleus and
membrane-bound organelles such as the mitochondria,
golgi apparatus, lysosomes, peroxisomes and ER.
 RIBOSOME SIZE

• Both eukaryotic and prokaryotic

cells contain many ribosomes;
however the ribosomes of the
eukaryotic cells are larger than
prokaryotic ribosomes i.e. 80S
compared to 70S.
 CYTOSKELETON

• This is a multicomponent
system in eukaryotes
composed of microtubules,
actin filaments and
intermediate filaments.
 SEXUAL REPRODUCTION

• Most eukaryotes undergo sexual reproduction whilst prokaryotes

reproduce asexually. Sexual reproduction in eukaryotes results in
offspring with genetic material which is a mixture of the parents’
genome and during this process, genetic variation is generated
via sexual recombination.
• On the other hand, a prokaryote will reproduce clones of itself via
binary fission and relies more on horizontal genetic transfer for
variation.
 CELL DIVISION

• Eukaryotic cells undergo mitosis then cytokinesis.

• This involves numerous stages - the nuclear membrane
disintegrates then the chromosomes are sorted and
separated to ensure that each daughter cell receives two
sets (a diploid number) of chromosomes. Following this,
the cytoplasm divides to form two genetically identical
daughter cells i.e. cytokinesis.
 Cytokinesis in animal cell:

• Cytokinesis, division of the

cytoplasm, typically follows
mitosis.
• In animals, the first sign of
cytokinesis (cleavage)
is the appearance of a
cleavage furrow in the cell
surface near the old
metaphase plate.
• Cytokinesis in plants, which have cell
walls, involves a completely different
mechanism.
• During telophase, vesicles
from the Golgi coalesce at
the metaphase plate,
forming a cell plate.
– The plate enlarges until its
membranes fuse with the
plasma membrane at the
perimeter, with the contents
of the vesicles forming new
wall material in between.
 CELL DIVISION

• In contrast, prokaryotes undergo a simpler process of

binary fission. This is faster than mitosis and involves
DNA (nucleoid) replication, chromosomal segregation,
and ultimately cell separation into two daughter cells
genetically identical to the parent cell. Unlike mitosis,
this process does not involve the nuclear envelope
and centromere and spindle formation.
Binary Fission in Bacteria
• Cell division
involves inward
growth of the plasma
membrane, dividing
the parent cell into
two daughter cells,
each with a
complete genome.
B- Eukaryotic Cell
 B- Eukaryotic Cell
Eu: True
Karyon: Nucleus

Animal Cell Plant Cell

What are the functions of cell organelles ?

Compare between Animal and Plant cell?
• NEXT PPT
 Prokaryotes
– “Prokaryote” means “before a nucleus”
– No internal membrane - bound organelles –
just one little bag of cytoplasm
– No nucleus
– Usually single-celled (may form simple
colonies)
– May or may not require oxygen for survival.
– Earliest types of cells on Earth
– Cell type of all bacteria and Archaea
Much tougher than eukaryotes
Can survive almost anywhere –
and do!
Have much greater genetic
diversity than eukaryotes
Have a cell wall surrounding
the cell membrane (different
chemistry from plant cell wall)
 Types of Prokaryotes

Prokaryotes

Bacteria Archaea
- Exist in most - Exist in extreme environments
environments (hot and salty)

They are differing in some other structural, biochemical

and physiological characteristics
Fig. 7.4 The prokaryotic cell is much simpler in structure, lacking a nucleus and the other
membrane-enclosed organelles of the eukaryotic cell.