Cells: The Basic Units of Life Flashcards
(20 cards)
Smallest biological unit capable of carrying out all the fundamental activities of Life. The basic unit of structure and function of any living thing.
Cell
The thin, flexible layer that surrounds a cell and which controls all that enters and leaves the cell.
Cell Membrane
In plant and bacterial cells, the most non-living layer cellulose that surrounds the entire cell, including the cell membrane.
Cell Wall
In animal cells, a structure outside the nucleus that organizes the spindle fibers during cell reproduction.
Centriole
Another name for the Centriole.
Centrosome
The green pigment found in the chloroplast of plant cells essential for photosynthsis.
Chlorophyll
The chlorophyll-containing organelles found in the cytoplasm of plant and algae cells.
Chloroplasts
The coils of DNA and protein that condense to form chromosomes. It can be thought of as chromosomes with no distinct shape.
Chromatin
Distinct wormlike cell structures formed from chromatin during cell reproduction.
Chromosomes
Large sacs found in the cells of certain protozoans that remove the water that has accumulated inside the cell by pumping it into the outside of the cell.
Contractile Vacuoles
Hairlike structures found on the outside of certain cells. The protozoans called the ciliates use this to propel themselves through the water in which they live.
Cilia
That part of a cell’s protoplasm that live outside of its nucleus.
Cytoplasm
A large and very complex biochemical that stores the information needed to construct proteins and that carries the genetic information about an organism.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA)
The abbreviation for Deoxyribonucleic Acid.
DNA
The intricate system of tubes leading from the nuclear membrane into the cytoplasm that is involved in transporting proteins.
Endoplasmic Reticulum
A special class of proteins that control the rates of biochemical reactions.
Enzyme
A long, whip-like cell structure used to propel sperm cells as well as the cells of protozoans known as flagellates.
Flagellum
The sacs where food particles are digested that are found in the cytoplasm of protozoan cells.
Food Vacuoles
The basic unit of heredity, made up of a specific region on a DNA molecule. Also a specific region of a DNA molecule that holds the code for one specific protein.
Gene
A subcellular organelle involved in packaging proteins for export from the cell.
Golgi Apparatus
