4.1 & 4.

Overview: The Fundamental Units of Life

All organisms are made of cells

The cell is the simplest collection of
matter
that can be alive
All cells are related by their descent
from earlier cells
Though cells can differ substantially
from one another, they share
common features
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Concept 4.1: Biologists use microscopes and the

tools of biochemistry to study cells

Most cells are between 1 and 100 m in

diameter, too small to be seen by the
unaided eye

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Microscopy

Scientists use microscopes to visualize

cells too small to see with the naked
eye
In a light microscope (LM), visible
light is passed through a specimen and
then through glass lenses
Lenses refract (bend) the light, so that
the image is magnified

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 Three important parameters of

microscopy
Magnification, the ratio of an objects
image size to its real size
Resolution, the measure of the clarity of
the image, or the minimum distance
between two distinguishable points
Contrast, visible differences in parts of
the sample

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10 m
Human height

Length of some
nerve and
0.1 m muscle cells
Chicken egg
1 cm

100 m
10 m
1 m

Frog egg
Human egg
Most plant and
animal cells
Nucleus
Most bacteria
Mitochondrion

100 nm Smallest bacteria

Viruses
10 nm
1 nm
0.1 nm

Ribosomes
Proteins
Lipids
Small molecules
Atoms

EM

1 mm

LM

1m

Unaided eye

Figure 4.2

Superresolution
microscopy

 Two basic types of electron

microscopes (EMs) are used to study
subcellular structures
Scanning electron microscopes
(SEMs) focus a beam of electrons onto
the surface of a specimen, providing
images that look three-dimensional
Transmission electron microscopes
(TEMs) focus a beam of electrons
through a specimen
TEM is used mainly to study the internal
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Figure 4.3

50 m

Light Microscopy (LM)

Brightfield
(stained specimen)

Phase-contrast

Differential-interference
contrast (Nomarski)

10 m

50 m

Brightfield
(unstained specimen)

Fluorescence

Confocal

Electron Microscopy (EM)

Longitudinal sectionCross section

of cilium
of cilium
Cilia

Scanning electron
microscopy (SEM)

2 m

2 m
Transmission electron
microscopy (TEM)

Concept 4.2: Eukaryotic cells have internal

membranes that compartmentalize their
functions
The basic structural and functional unit
of every organism is one of two types of
cells: prokaryotic or eukaryotic
Organisms of the domains Bacteria and
Archaea consist of prokaryotic cells
Protists, fungi, animals, and plants all
consist of eukaryotic cells

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Comparing Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells

Basic features of all cells

Plasma membrane
Semifluid substance called cytosol
Chromosomes (carry genes)
Ribosomes (make proteins)

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 Prokaryotic cells are characterized

by having
No nucleus
DNA in an unbound region called the
nucleoid
No membrane-bound organelles
Cytoplasm bound by the plasma
membrane

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Figure 4.4

Fimbriae

Bacterial
chromosome

a) A typical rod-shaped
bacterium

Nucleoid
Ribosomes
Plasma membrane
Cell wall
Capsule
0.5 m
Flagella (b) A thin section through
the bacterium Bacillus
coagulans (TEM)

Figure 4.4a

Nucleoid

Ribosomes
Plasma membrane
Cell wall
Capsule
0.5 m
(b) A thin section through
the bacterium Bacillus
coagulans (TEM)

 Eukaryotic cells are characterized by

having
DNA in a nucleus that is bounded by a
membranous nuclear envelope
Membrane-bound organelles
Cytoplasm in the region between the
plasma membrane and nucleus

Eukaryotic cells are generally much

larger than prokaryotic cells
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 The plasma membrane is a selective

barrier that allows sufficient passage of
oxygen, nutrients, and waste to service
the volume of every cell
The general structure of a biological
membrane is a double layer of
phospholipids

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Figure 4.5

Outside of cell

Inside
of cell

(a) TEM of a plasma

membrane

0.1 m

Carbohydrate side chains

Hydrophilic
region

Hydrophobic
region
Hydrophilic
region

Phospholipid

Proteins

(b) Structure of the plasma membrane

 Metabolic requirements set upper limits

on the size of cells
The ratio of surface area to volume of a
cell is critical
As the surface area increases by a factor
of n2, the volume increases by a factor
of n3
Small cells have a greater surface area
relative
to volume
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Figure 4.6

Surface area increases while

total volume remains constant

5
1
1
Total surface area
[sum of the surface areas
(height width) of all box
sides number of boxes]

150

750

Total volume
[height width length
number of boxes]

125

125

1.2

Surface-to-volume
ratio
[surface area volume]

Figure 4.7a

ENDOPLASMIC RETICULUM (ER)

Smooth ER
Flagellum Rough ER

Nuclear
envelope
Nucleolus NUCLEUS
Chromatin

Centrosome
Plasma
membrane

CYTOSKELETON:
Microfilaments
Intermediate
filaments
Ribosomes

Microtubules
Microvilli

Golgi apparatus

Peroxisome
Mitochondrion

Lysosome

Figure 4.7b

Nuclear envelope
Nucleolus
Chromatin

Rough endoplasmic
reticulum
Smooth endoplasmic
reticulum

NUCLEUS
Ribosomes
Golgi
apparatus

Mitochondrion
Peroxisome
Plasma membrane
Cell wall
Wall of adjacent cell

Central vacuole
Microfilaments
Intermediate CYTOSKELETON
filaments
Microtubules

Chloroplast
Plasmodesmata