Cell Biology Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes on cell structures, microscopes, and cellular organelles.

Electron microscope

An instrument that focuses a beam of electrons through a specimen or onto its surface.

Scanning electron microscope

A microscope that shows the detailed architecture of cell surfaces.

Transmission electron microscope

A microscope that shows detailed internal structure.

Plasma membrane

A phospholipid bilayer with embedded proteins.

Cytosol

A thick, jellylike fluid filling the interior of all cells in which cellular components are suspended.

Chromosomes

Structures that carry genes made of DNA; cells usually have one or more of these.

Ribosomes

Tiny structures that make proteins according to instructions from DNA.

Cytoplasm

The interior of both types of cells.

Nucleoid

The region where DNA is located.

Flagella

Long projections that propel a cell through its liquid environment.

Organelle

A membrane-enclosed structure that performs specific cellular functions.

Nucleus

Contains cell's DNA, controls cell's activities by directing protein synthesis with mRNA.

Chromatin

A complex of proteins and DNA present when a cell is not dividing.

Nuclear envelope

A double membrane enclosing the nucleus.

Nucleolus

A structure where ribosomal RNA is synthesized according to instructions in the DNA.

Endomembrane system

Includes many of the membranes in eukaryotic cells.