MODULE 4
Cell Chemistry & Physiology
I. Inorganic Substances
• Compound that do not contain carbon
– except CO2, CO, CO3 2-, CN- (Carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbonate, cyanide)
• Substances taken into the cell from the outside
• With ionic bond
A. WATER
• most important inorganic compound
• solvent that dissolves ions and molecules entering and leaving the cell
• raw material needed for photosynthesis
• provides pressure needed for the maintenance of cell form
• absorbs heat
• Colloid suspension mediumpp
B. GASES
• CO2 – raw material for Photosynthesis
• O2 – raw material for Cellular respiration
C. MINERAL SALTS
• compound formed when an acid is neutralized by a base
• very small amounts in cells but very essential for the growth of plants
• raw material with CO2 and water used to synthesize many complex organic materials in the cell
• maintains Osmotic pressure and Acid-base balance
II. Organic Substances
• Carbon containing compounds synthesized by the living cell from inorganic raw materials
• with covalent bond
A. CARBOHYDRATES
• carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms with general formula (CH20)n
• main source of cellular energy
• make up the main part of the cell wall (cellulose)
• one of the three principal types of food; the principal carbohydrate foods being sugars and starches
• Monosaccharides
– aka simple sugars
– may have 3 carbons (trioses), 4 carbons (tetroses), 5 carbons (pentoses), 6 carbons (hexoses) and 7
carbons (heptuloses)
– most important are the hexoses and the most common in plants are glucose and fructose
• Disaccharides
– aka double sugars since they are formed when two molecules of hexoses combine with the loss of 1
molecule of water
– sucrose: most abundant in plants, aka table sugar
– maltose: occurs in a free state only to a limited extent, but may readily obtained by the hydrolysis
of starch
• Polysaccharides
– formed by the union of many simple sugar molecules with loss of 1 water molecule for each
pair of simple sugar molecules united
– starch and cellulose (two most abundant in plant)
• Cellulose – major structural material in the cell wall
• Starch – reserved water-insoluble food that is stored in many cells
B. LIPIDS
• storage form of energy
• composed of fatty acids and glycerol
• Fat and fat-like substance in the cytoplasm and in some cells
– suberin and cutin – protect leaves and stem against water loss
– waxes – may also be found as stored food in some seeds
C. PROTEINS
• complex N-containing compounds of high MW
• composed of amino acids
• basic building block of protoplasm which account for its great activity
– enzymes – composed primarily of proteins together with other substances
• hormones – chemical messengers present in very small amounts that bring about important changes
in growth and development
Examples:
– Auxin, Cytokinin, Giberellic acid, Abscisic acid and ethylene
• pigments – colored substances associated with the gene and protein synthesis
Types:
• Water-soluble pigments – found in the vacuoles like anthocyanin and anthoxanthin
• Lipid-soluble pigments – found in the plastids like chlorophyll, carotenes and xanthophylls
Other pigments:
• Phytochrome – involved in flowering of plants
• Riboflavin – impt. in the bending response of plants to light
• Cytochromes – found in the cytoplasm and concerned with certain steps in respiration and
photosynthesis
D. NUCLEIC ACIDS
• made up of nucleotides
• complex substances associated with the gene and with protein synthesis
Kinds:
• DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid) – usually double stranded and considered as the genetic material
• RNA (RiboNucleic Acid) – always single-stranded and needed in the synthesis of protein
Physiological Processes Occurring in Plant Cells
1. Absorbing the material such as water, mineral, salts and gases from the environment while
simultaneously losing materials to it by means of some processes like imbibition, osmosis and
plasmolysis.
Osmosis
• the spontaneous net movement of solvent molecules through a partially permeable membrane into a
region of higher solute concentration, in the direction that tends to equalize the solute concentrations
on the two sides.
Plasmolysis
• the process in which cells lose water in a hypertonic solution.
• reverse process, cytolysis, can occur if the cell is in a hypotonic solution resulting in a lower external
osmotic pressure and a net flow of water into the cell.
MODULE 5
THE CELL CYCLE
• cells → tissues → organs of the plant body
– The region of the plant body which initiate the formation of tissues consist of cells that are actively
dividing.
• CELL CYCLE - life of an actively dividing cell described in terms of a cycle, which is the time from
the beginning of one division to the beginning of the next
• Howard and Pele – discovered and named the four parts of cell cycle (G1-S-G2-M)
– first 3 phases of the cycle are referred to as interphase
– preparation period for division, and M refers to mitosis
MITOSIS
• type of nuclear division
– normally when a cell divides, the nucleus divides first, followed by the division of the cytoplasm
or cytokinesis.
• when a nuclear division is not followed by cytoplasmic division, a binucleated cell results
• repeated nuclear division without their corresponding cytoplasmic division results in a
multinucleated cell, a condition known as syncytium.
INTERPHASE
– the stage of preparation
• G1 phase or pre-DNA phase or First Gap Phase
– is a period of intense biochemical activity in which the cell is actively growing
– cell accumulates and synthesizes proteins and specific enzymes needed for DNA synthesis
– organelles are increasing in size and number.
• S phase or DNA Synthesis Phase
– phase is crucial to cell division
– DNA molecule is duplicated by a process called replication
– other chromosomal components such as proteins are also synthesized in this phase
• G2 Phase or Pre-Mitosis Phase or Second Gap Phase
– cells are involved in the metabolically preparing for mitosis
– protein synthesis increases and the final preparations for cell division take place
PHASE MAIN EVENTS VACIA FABA
G1 Cells of metabolically active organelles begin to increase in number 4.9hr
S Replication of DNA 7.5
G2 Synthesis of proteins final preparations for cell division 4.9
M Mitosis 2.0
Total 19.3hr
MITOSIS (M-phase)
• PROPHASE
– stage of chromosome formation characterized by:
• Gradual disintegration of the nucleoli and nuclear membrane in the cytoplasm
• Gradual appearance of the spindle fiber
• Gradual transformation of the chromatin in the interphase nucleus into chromosomes by coiling
– chromosomes formed at this stage each have one centromere and two chromatids
METAPHASE
– stage of chromosome ALIGNMENT
• arrangement of the chromosomes or at first the centromere at the equatorial region of the cell
– Spindle fibers, composed of microtubules, stretch from each end, or pole, of the cell to the
kinetochore of each chromatid.
ANAPHASE
– stage of chromosome MIGRATION
• splitting of the centromere, transforming the chromatids to sister chromosome
• migration of sister chromosomes to opposite poles
TELOPHASE
– Stage of nuclear reconstitution and cytoplasmic division
• Clumping of the chromosomes at the poles and its gradual transformation into thread-like
chromatin
• Gradual reconstitution of the nucleoli and nuclear membrane
• Gradual disintegration of the spindle fibers
– Stage of nuclear reconstitution and cytoplasmic division
• Division of the cytoplasm initiated by the formation of the cell plate at the center of
the cell and eventually extending outwardly dividing the cell into two