Biology Cells - Plant Flashcards
(18 cards)
Cell membrane
The plasma membrane, or the cell membrane, provides protection for a cell. It also provides a fixed environment inside the cell, and that membrane has several different functions. One is to transport nutrients into the cell and also to transport toxic substances out of the cell.
Cell wall
The cell wall surrounds the plasma membrane of plant cells and provides tensile strength and protection against mechanical and osmotic stress. It also allows cells to develop turgor pressure, which is the pressure of the cell contents against the cell wall.
Central vacuole
Filling this space is an organelle called a central vacuole which is full of water. Bounded by a single membrane, this organelle functions as a combination of reservoir, waste dump, storage region and even as a means of keeping the cell in shape.
Chloroplast
In particular, organelles called chloroplasts allow plants to capture the energy of the Sun in energy-rich molecules; cell walls allow plants to have rigid structures as varied as wood trunks and supple leaves; and vacuoles allow plant cells to change size.
Cytoplasm
The cytoplasm is the gel-like fluid inside the cell. It is the medium for chemical reaction. It provides a platform upon which other organelles can operate within the cell. All of the functions for cell expansion, growth and replication are carried out in the cytoplasm of a cell.
Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a structure that helps cells maintain their shape and internal organisation, and it also provides mechanical support that enables cells to carry out essential functions like division and movement.
Golgi apparatus
A Golgi body, also known as a Golgi apparatus, is a cell organelle that helps process and package proteins and lipid molecules, especially proteins destined to be exported from the cell.
Golgi vesicles
Golgi vesicles are often, referred to as the “traffic police” of the cell. They play a key role in sorting many of the cell’s proteins and membrane constituents, and in directing them to their proper destinations.
Intermediate filaments
In contrast to actin filaments and microtubules, the intermediate filaments are not directly involved in cell movements. Instead, they appear to play basically a structural role by providing mechanical strength to cells and tissues.
Microfilaments
Microfilament functions include cytokinesis, amoeboid movement, cell motility, changes in cell shape, endocytosis and exocytosis, cell contractility, and mechanical stability.
Microtubules
Microtubules, together with microfilaments and intermediate filaments, form the cell cytoskeleton. The microtubule network is recognised for its role in regulating cell growth and movement as well as key signalling events, which modulate fundamental cellular processes.
Mitochondria
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles (mitochondrion, singular) that generate most of the chemical energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in a small molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
Nucleus
The nucleus controls and regulates the activities of the cell (e.g., growth and metabolism) and carries the genes, structures that contain the hereditary information.
Peroxisome
Peroxisomes are organelles that sequester diverse oxidative reactions and play important roles in metabolism, reactive oxygen species detoxification, and signalling. Oxidative pathways housed in peroxisomes include fatty acid β-oxidation, which contributes to embryogenesis, seedling growth, and stomatal opening.
Plasmodesmata
To enable intercellular communication, plants have evolved cytoplasmic bridges, called plasmodesmata, which span cell walls, linking the fluid cytoplasm between adjacent cells.
Ribosome
A ribosome is a cellular particle made of RNA and protein that serves as the site for protein synthesis in the cell. The ribosome reads the sequence of the messenger RNA (mRNA) and, using the genetic code, translates the sequence of RNA bases into a sequence of amino acids.
Rough endoplasmic reticulum
The endoplasmic reticulum can either be smooth or rough, and in general its function is to produce proteins for the rest of the cell to function. The rough endoplasmic reticulum has on it ribosomes, which are small, round organelles whose function it is to make those proteins.
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
Smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER), meshwork of fine dislike tubular membrane vesicles, part of a continuous membrane organelle within the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells, that is involved in the synthesis and storage of lipids, including cholesterol and phospholipids, which are used in the production of new cellular
