Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell - Plant Cell Structure

Vocabulary flashcards detailing key plant cell organelles, structures, and organisms from Chapter 6: A Tour of the Cell.

Central vacuole

Prominent organelle in older plant cells; functions include storage, breakdown of waste products, and hydrolysis of macromolecules; enlargement of the vacuole is a major mechanism of plant growth.

Cell wall

Outer layer that maintains cell's shape and protects cell from mechanical damage; made of cellulose, other polysaccharides, and protein.

Plasmodesmata

Cytoplasmic channels through cell walls that connect the cytoplasms of adjacent cells.

Chloroplast

Photosynthetic organelle; converts energy of sunlight to chemical energy stored in sugar molecules.

Ribosomes

Complexes that make proteins; free in cytosol or bound to rough ER or nuclear envelope.

Golgi apparatus

Organelle active in modification, sorting, and secretion of cell products.

Nuclear envelope

Double membrane enclosing the nucleus; perforated by pores; continuous with ER.

Chromatin

Material consisting of DNA and proteins; visible in dividing cells as individual chromosomes.

Spirodela oligorrhiza

A floating plant commonly known as duckweed.

Chlamydomonas

A unicellular green alga possessing flagella, a nucleus, nucleolus, vacuole, chloroplast, and cell wall.