Chapter 5: “The Fundamental Unit of Life”

1. All the living organisms are made up of fundamental unit of life called” cell”.
2. The cell is a Latin word for “a little room”.
3. The scientist Robert Hooke saw a little room in the cork (the bark of a tree)
resembled the structure of a honeycomb. The use of the word “Cell” to describe
these units is used till this day in Biology as” Cell Biology”.
4. The Compound Microscope consist eye piece,objective lens and condenser to
observe a cell after putting a drop of Safranin (for plant cell) and methylene blue (for
animal cell). ( Please refer to Fig. 5.1: Compound Microscope NCERT Book Page-57)
5. The scientist Leeuwenhoek saw free living cells in the pond water for the first time. (
father of microbiology)
6. The scientist Robert Brown discovered the nucleus in the cell.
7. The cell theory states that all the plants and animals are composed of cells, it was
proposed by Schleiden and Schwann.
8. The cell theory was further expanded by Virchow by suggesting that “all cells arise
from the pre-existing cells”.
9. The cells differ in size, shape, structure (Please refer to Fig. 5.2/5.3: Onion
peel/Various cells in Human body, NCERT Book Page-57/58):
Types of cells: Onion cells, Smooth muscle cell, Blood cells, Bone cell, Fat cell,
Nerve cell, Ovum, Sperm etc. Each kind of cell performs specific function.

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 10. A single cell may constitute a whole organism as in Amoeba, Chlamydomonas,
Paramecium and Bacteria; these are called as unicellular organisms. Whereas in
multi-cellular organisms (Human beings) division of labor is seen.
11. The feature in almost every cell is same: Plasma membrane, nucleus and
cytoplasm.
12. Plasma membrane: It is the outermost covering of the cell.
- It is called as selective permeable membrane (because it prevents
movement of some materials).
- It helps in diffusion and osmosis
- Diffusion: movement of substance from high concentration to low
concentration.
Eg; exchange of carbon dioxide or oxygen with external environment.

osmosis: it is the passage of water from the region of high water concentration to a region
of low water concentration through a selective permeable membrane.

a) The cell gains water, if the medium surrounding the cell has a higher water
concentration (Hypotonic solution) than the cell.

b) The cell maintains the same water concentration as the cell (Isotonic solution),
water crosses the cell membrane in both directions.

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 c) The cell loses water, if the medium has lower water concentration (Hypertonic
solution) than the cell.

Note - The cell drinking is endosmosis;

- omission of water is called ex-osmosis.

13. The cell engulfs food is called endocytosis and ejects solid is called exocytosis.
Amoeba acquires food through endocytosis and excretion of solid is called
exocytosis.
14. The cell wall is a rigid outer covering composed of cellulose. It provides structural
strength to plant cells. When a living cell loses water, there is shrinkage of contents
of a cell away from the cell wall. This phenomenon is called as plasmolysis. The cell
walls permit the cells of plants, fungi and bacteria to withstand very dilute
(Hypotonic) external media without bursting.
15. The Nucleus: It is a dark colored, spherical or oval, dot-like structure near the center
of a cell called Nucleus. The nucleus plays a central role in cellular activities/
reproduction. The chromatin material gets organized into chromosomes. The
chromosomes contain information for inheritance of features from parents to next
generations in the form of DNA( Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid ) and protein molecules. The
functional segments of DNA are called genes.
16. In some organisms like Bacteria nucleus is not covered by nuclear membrane. Hence
it is called as prokaryote. (Pro= primitive; karyote = karyon = nucleus.) The organisms
with cells having a nuclear membrane are called eukaryotes.
17. Differences between prokaryotes and eukaryotes( Please refer to Fig. 5.4:
Prokaryotic cell NCERT Book Page-62)

Prokaryotes Eukaryotes

Size: generally small (1-10 µm) Size: generally large. (5-500 µm)

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 Nuclear region: Not well defined Nuclear region: Well defined and
and not surrounded by a nuclear surrounded by a nuclear membrane
membrane & known as nucleoids.

Chromosome: Single Chromosome: More than one

chromosome

Membrane-bound cell organelles Membrane-bound cell organelles

absent present

Eg- bacteria, blue green algae Eg fungi, plant cell and animal cell.

18. Cell organelles: Every cell has fluid matrix (other than nucleus) is called cytoplasm.
The nucleus and cytoplasm is together called as protoplasm. The protoplasm term
was coined by Purkinje. It has important cell organelles: Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER),
Golgi apparatus, Lysosomes, Mitochondria, Plastids, and vacuoles.
19. Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER): It is a large network of membrane –bound tubules and
vesicles.

- There are two types of Endoplasmic Reticulum

- Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (RER) (It looks rough because Ribosomes are
attached to its surface. They are the sites of protein synthesis).
- Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (SER) (It looks smooth because Ribosomes
are not attached to its surface. They are the sites of fat molecules synthesis).

1. SER ; help in the functioning of enzymes and hormones to carryout

biochemical activities.
2. SER detoxifies many poisons and drugs from the cell.
2. ER serves as channel for the transport of material between various regions of
the cytoplasm and the nucleus.
3. Proteins and fat molecules produced by ER helps in membrane biogenesis.
20. Golgi apparatus: It was first described by a scientist Camillo Golgi. It is a system of
membrane bound vesicles called cisterns. It functions include the storage,

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 modification and package of cell products. The complex sugars are made from simple
sugars in the Golgi apparatus. It is also involved in the formation of lysosomes.
21. Lysosomes: They contain membrane-bound sacs with powerful digestive enzymes
(enzymes are made by RER) to digest the worn-out cell organelles. When the cell
gets damaged, lysosomes may burst and the enzymes digest their own cell, hence
called as “Suicidal bags of a cell”. It is a waste disposal system of the cell.
22. Mitochondria: It is covered by a double membrane. Outer membrane is very porous
and the inner membrane is deeply folded. These folds create a large surface area for
ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) molecule synthesis. ATP is the energy currency of a
cell; hence the Mitochondria are called as Power House of a Cell. Mitochondria have
their own DNA and Ribosomes; therefore they can make their own proteins.
23. Plastids: They are present only in plant cells. They are two types.
1. Chromoplasts (Colored Plastids: Chloroplasts – Green pigmented and
useful in Photosynthesis and also contains various other pigments like
yellow or orange)
2. Leucoplasts (White or colorless plastids; stores materials such as oils,
proteins, fats etc. ) Plastids are also covered by a double membrane.
The matrix is called Stroma, seat for enzymatic actions. Plastids have
their own DNA and Ribosomes; therefore they can make their own
proteins.
24. Vacuoles: Storage sacs for solid or liquid contents. They are small in size in animals
while plants have large, may occupy 50-90 % of the cell volume. Helps to provide
turgidity and rigidity to the cell. Many substances like amino acids, sugars, organic
acids and proteins are stored in vacuoles. In Amoeba food vacuole is specialized to
play an important role.
Differences between Plant cell and Animal Cell
(Please refer to Fig. 5.5 Animal cell & 5.6: Plant cell NCERT Book Page-63&64)

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ANIMAL CELL PLANT CELL

Cell wall absent Cell wall present

Plasma membrane is the Cell wall is the outer layer which

outer layer which provides gives rigidity and turgidity to the
turgidity to the cell cell

Vacuoles are small in size Vacuoles are big in size

Plastids are absent Plastids are present

Nucleus lies in the centre. Nucleus lies on one side

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