Chapter 4 Vocab Words Flashcards
A protective layer external to the plasma membrane in plant cells, bacteria, fungi, and some protists; protects the cell and helps maintain its shape.
Cell Wall
The theory that all living things are composed of cells and that all cells come from other cells.
Cell Theory
The chemical activities of cells.
Cellular Metabolism
A membrane-enclosed sac occupying most of the interior of a mature plant cell, having diverse roles in reproduction, growth, and development.
Central Vacuole
A structure in an animal cell composed of cylinders of microtubule triplets arranged in a 9 and 0 pattern. An animals usually has a centrosome with a pair of centrioles involved in cell division.
Centriole
An organelle found in plants and photosynthetic protists that absorbs sunlight and uses it to drive the synthesis of organic molecules ( sugars ) from carbon dioxide and water.
Chloroplast
The complex of DNA and proteins that constitutes eukaryotic chromosomes; often used to refer to the diffuse, very extended from taken by chromosomes when a cell is not dividing.
Chromatin
A threadlike, gene-carrying structure found in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell and most visible during mitosis and meiosis; also, the main gene-carrying structure of a prokaryotic cell. Chromosomes consist of chromatin, a combination of DNA and protein.
Chromosome
An infolding of the inner membrane of a mitochondrion in which is embedded the electron transport chain and the enzyme catalyzing the synthesis of ATP.
Crista
Everything inside a cell between the plasma membrane and the nucleus; consists of a semifluid medium and organelles.
Cytoplasm
A network of protein fibers in the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell; includes microfilaments, intermediate filaments, and microtubules.
Cytoskeleton
An instrument that focuses an electron beam through, or onto the surface of, a specimen. An electron microscope achieves a hundredfold greater resolution than a light microscope.
Electron Microscope (EM)
A network of membranes inside and around a eukaryotic cell, related either through direct physical contact or by transfer of membranous vesicles.
Endomembrane System
An extensive membranous network in a eukaryotic cell, continuous with the outer nuclear membrane and composed of ribosome-studded (rough) and ribosome-free (smooth) regions.
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
A process by which the mitochondria and chloroplasts of eukaryotic cells probably evolved from symbiotic associations between small prokaryotic cells living inside larger cells.
Endosymbiosis
