WHAT IS BIOLOGY?

• BIOLOGICAL
ORGANIZATION
• CELLS
 Biology
The scientific study of
life
Ongoing inquiry about
the nature of life
Provides knowledge
about all living things
and the principles and
laws that govern life
 SCOPE OF BIOLOGY
 Enormous/ immense/ vast
• life forms range from the simplest
organisms to the most complex
organisms wherein this only shows
and is one of the reasons why others
say that life is very diverse
CELL – THE BUILDING
BLOCKS OF LIFE
Which is an animal cell, plant cell and bacterial cell?
Which is unicellular and multicellular?
Which is the eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell?
• Atoms – the smallest unit of matter that form molecules
• Molecules – make up cell organelles and structures
• Cell – basic unit of structure and function of all living things
• Tissue – group of cells of the same kind
• Organ – structure composed of one or more types of tissues working together to perform a specific
function.
• Organ system – a group of organs that work together to perform certain functions.
• Organism – Individual living things that may be made up of one or more organ systems.
• Population –are groups of the same species living in the same place.
• Community – group of populations that live in the same place.
• Ecosystem – group of different communities together with non –living things (abiotic factors) interacting
with each other.
• Biosphere – place where life exists, including water, land and air.
CHARACTERISTICS
OF LIFE
 1.LIVING THINGS ARE MADE UP OF CELLS
(COMPLEX ORGANIZATION)

Example:

Many microorganisms such as bacteria are unicellular;

Plants and animals are multicellular
• Atoms – the smallest unit of matter that form molecules
• Molecules – make up cell organelles and structures
• Cell – basic unit of structure and function of all living things
• Tissue – group of cells of the same kind
• Organ – structure composed of one or more types of tissues working together to perform a specific
function.
• Organ system – a group of organs that work together to perform certain functions.
• Organism – Individual living things that may be made up of one or more organ systems.
• Population –are groups of the same species living in the same place.
• Community – group of populations that live in the same place.
• Ecosystem – group of different communities together with non –living things (abiotic factors) interacting
with each other.
• Biosphere – place where life exists, including water, land and air.
WHAT ARE CELLS?
Cells – basic structural
and functional unit
of life
- where different
cellular processes
take place

Organisms consisting of only one

cell are unicellular (bacteria)

Organisms consisting of more

than one cell ‘are multicellular
(dogs, trees, humans)
 ***LIVING THINGS ARE BASED ON
A UNIVERSAL GENETIC CODE

Example:
Flies produce flies, dogs produce dogs, seeds from maple
trees produce maple trees
• Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) – molecule
responsible for inheritance
• Nucleic acid containing the sugar
deoxyribose

• Gene – unit of inherited information

in DNA
- found along the length of DNA
 2.LIVING THINGS OBTAIN AND USE
MATERIAL AND ENERGY
Example:
Plants obtain their energy from the sun; Animals obtain their
energy from the food they eat
 OBTAINING AND USING ENERGY
All organisms require energy to
build the substances that make up
their cells.
Metabolism: the total sum of all
chemical reactions in the body. Catabolism
 Anabolism: process in a living
thing that involves putting together
or synthesizing, complex substances
Anabolism
from simpler ones
 Catabolism: process in a living Catabolism
thing that involves the breakdown
of complex substances into simpler
ones
 3.LIVING THINGS REPRODUCE
Example:
Maple trees reproduce sexually; Hydra reproduce asexually
through budding
 2 TYPES OF REPRODUCTION

Sexual reproduction: Asexual reproduction:

• requires two cells from different • a single organism can reproduce
individuals unite to produce the first without the aid of another.
cell of a NEW organism.
 4.LIVING THINGS RESPOND TO
ENVIRONMENT
Example :
Leaves and stems of plants grow towards light.
RESPONDING TO THEIR
ENVIRONMENT

• Stimulus - anything in the

environment that causes an
organism to react.
• Irritability – the ability of living
things to respond to stimuli.
(Plant leaves, stems & roots)
• Homeostasis
 5.LIVING THINGS GROW AND
DEVELOP
Example:
Flies begin life as eggs, then become maggots, then become
adult flies.
 6.LIVING THINGS MAINTAIN A STABLE
INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT
Example:
Despite changes in the temperature of the environment, a
person maintains a constant body temperature.

*Homeostasis – an organism’s ability to

maintain constant or stable conditions
that are necessary for life
 7. LIVING THINGS MOVE

Example:
Microorganisms also move through their locomotory structures such as cilia,
flagella and pseudopods
 8.LIVING THINGS EVOLVE
(EVOLUTION)
Example:
Plants that live in the desert survive because they have
become adapted to the conditions of the desert.

*Adaptation
* Natural Selection
 *LIVING THINGS ARE DYNAMIC*

• Interact with the environment

CELLULAR STRUCTURE
AND FUNCTIONS OF LIFE
WHAT ARE CELLS?
Cells – basic structural
and functional unit
of life
- where different
cellular processes
take place

Organisms consisting of only one

cell are unicellular (bacteria)

Organisms consisting of more

than one cell are multicellular
(dogs, trees, humans)
 PROKARYOTES:
• Bacteria - pathogenic and non-pathogenic
prokaryotes found in soil and water,
photoautotrophic prokaryotes
 PROKARYOTES
• Archaea- the extremophiles – living in harsh
environments
ex. Hotsprings, and salt lakes
 PROKARYOTE CELLS ARE
SMALLER AND SIMPLER

• Commonly known as bacteria

• 10-100 microns in size
• Single-celled(unicellular) or
• Filamentous (strings of single
cells)
 PROKARYOTE CELL PARTS

• capsule: slimy outer

coating
• cell wall: tougher middle
layer
• cell membrane: delicate
inner skin
 Prokaryote cell parts
• cytoplasm: inner liquid filling
• DNA in one big loop
• pili: for sticking to things
• flagella: for swimming
• ribosomes: for building proteins
 PROKARYOTE FEEDING
• Photosynthetic: energy from sunlight

• Disease-causing: feed on living things

• Decomposers: feed on dead things

 EUKARYOTES
• Can be classified into Kingdom Fungi,
Plantae, or Animalia, Protists
 EUKARYOTES ARE BIGGER AND
MORE COMPLICATED
• Have organelles
• Have chromosomes
• can be multicellular
• include animal and plant
cells
 PROKARYOTIC CELLS EUKARYOTIC CELLS

Number of Cells Unicellular Unicellular, multicellular

Size Smaller (< 5 micrometers) Bigger (greater than 10 micrometers)

Nucleus No true nucleus Presence of a true nucleus

Chromosomes Circular Linear

Cytoplasm Contains ribosomes, thylakoids Contains compartmentalized organelles

& innumerable enzymes

Organelles No membrane bound organelle Have a membrane bound organelle

Examples All organisms in Kingdom All the other Kingdoms (Protists, Fungi,
Monera like bacteria Plants & Animals) except Kingdom
Monera
 ORGANELLES ARE
MEMBRANE-BOUND CELL
PARTS
• Mini “organs” that have
unique structures and
functions
• Located in cytoplasm
 Cell Structures
• Nucleus
• a membrane-bound sac
evolved to store the cell’s
chromosomes
(DNA)
• has pores: holes
 THE NUCLEUS
• Command center of the cell
• Nuclear membrane has pores to allow substances
passage
• Chromatin genetic material inside nucleoplasm

38
• Nucleolus
• inside nucleus
• location of ribosome
factory
• Nucleolus - site of
ribosome formation
• Ribosomes
• build proteins from
amino acids in cytoplasm
• may be free-floating, or
may be attached to ER
• made of RNA
 RIBOSOMES
 Distributed throughout cytoplasm;
 are the sites of protein synthesis
 Attached to Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum
 No membrane covering

41
• Cytoplasm
- A gel-like substance enclosed
within the cell membrane and
the organelles
• Nuclear envelope
Aka: nuclear membrane
nucleolemma
karyotheca
-a double lipid bilayer which
surrounds the genetic material
and nucleolus in eukaryotic cells
-consists of porous membranes
• Endoplasmic reticulum
• may be smooth: builds lipids and
carbohydrates
• Smooth: for fat transport, sex
hormone synthesis and aids in the
manufacture of carbohydrate and
lipids

• may be rough: stores proteins

made by attached ribosomes
• Rough: for protein synthesis
• Golgi Complex
• Functions:
• Collects, packages, and
distributes cellular
compounds
• Storage warehouses of the
cell
• Site for carbohydrate
synthesis
• Lysosomes
• sacs filled with digestive
enzymes
• digest worn out cell parts
• digest food absorbed by cell
• Centrioles
• pair of bundled tubes
• organize cell division

CENTROSOME
-also called the
“microtubule organizing center”
• mitochondrion
• makes the cell’s energy
• the more energy the cell needs,
the more mitochondria it has
• “power house of the cell”
 CYTOSKELETON

• made of microtubules
• found throughout cytoplasm
• gives shape to cell & moves
organelles around inside.
• PEROXISOMES
-An organelle responsible for protecting the cell
from its own production of hydrogen peroxide.
*defense mechanism
• Cell membrane
• delicate lipid and
protein skin around
cytoplasm
• found in all cells
 CELL MEMBRANE

a biological membrane that separates

the interior of all cells from the outside
environment

selectively permeable and controls the

movement of substances in and out of cells.
 CELL MEMBRANE
Functions
- regulate material moving into and out of the
cell, and from one part of the cell to another
- separate the inside of the cell from the
outside; various organelles within the cell and cells from
one another
- provide a large surface area on which specific
chemical reactions can occur
- a site for receptors containing specific cell
identification markers that differentiate one cell type
from another
 COMPONENTS
• A. Membrane Lipids
• Phospholipids
• Cholesterol
• Glycolipids

• B. Membrane Proteins
• Functions: Ion channels; carriers;
receptors; enzymes; linkers;
cell identity markers
• Integral Proteins
• Peripheral Proteins

• C. Carbohydrates
 STRUCTURES FOUND IN PLANT
CELLS
• Cell wall
• very strong
• made of cellulose
• protects cell from
rupturing
• glued to the adjacent
cell
• Vacuole
• huge water-
filled sac
• keeps cell
pressurized
• stores starch
• Chloroplasts
• filled with chlorophyll
• turn solar energy into
food energy
How are plant and animal cells different?
Bases Eukaryotes Prokaryotes
Animal Cell Plant Cell Bacteria
Cell wall Absent Present (formed of cellulose) Present made of peptidoglycan

Shape Round( irregular shape) Rectangular ( fixed; rigid shape) varied

Vacuole One or more small vacuoles One,large central vacuole Absent

Centrioles Present in all animal cells Only present in lower plant forms ( ex. Absent
Chlamydomonas)

Chloroplast Absent Plant cells have chloroplast to make their own Absent
food
Cytoplasm Present Present Present
Ribosomes Present Present Present (small amount)
Mitochondria Present Present Absent
Plastids Absent Present Absent
Endoplasmic reticulum Present Present Absent

Peroxisomes Present Present Absent

Golgi apparatus Present Present Absent
Cell membrane Present Present Absent
Microtubules/microfilaments Present Present Rarely have microtubules

Flagella Present in some cells: complex ( ex. Present in some cells (ex. Sperm of bryophytes Present: simple
Mammalian sperm cells) and pteridophytes, cycads and ginkgo)

Lysosomes present –occur in cytoplasm Lysosomes usually not evident Absent

Nucleus Present Present Nucleoid (no membrane envelope)

Chromosomes Multiple consisting of DNA and much proteins Multiple consisting of DNA and much proteins DNA is in a single circular ring

Cilia Present Most plant cells do not contain cilia Present

Glyoxysome Common None Absent

Peroxisome Often Often Absent

 HOW DO ANIMAL CELLS
MOVE?
• Some can crawl with pseudopods
• Some can swim with a flagellum
• Some can swim very fast with cilia
 PSEUDOPODS
• means “fake feet”
• extensions of cell membrane
• example: ameoba
 FLAGELLUM/FLAGELLA

• large whiplike tail

• pushes or pulls cell through
water
• can be single, or a pair
 CILIA
• fine, hairlike extensions
• attached to cell membrane
• beat in unison