Introduction to Cell Biology Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering cell discovery history, modern cell theory, cell composition, scale, prokaryotic vs. eukaryotic distinctions, and vital protoplasmic functions.

Robert Hooke

English scientist who first discovered and named the cell in 1665 after observing dead cell walls of cork under a microscope, publishing his findings in Micrographia.

Micrographia

The publication by Robert Hooke detailing his microscopic descriptions, including the discovery of dead plant cell walls in cork.

Anton van Leeuwenhoek

The first person to observe a live cell in 1674, describing the algae Spirogyra and potentially observing bacteria.

Free-cell formation

An early, incorrect concept proposed by Theodor Schwann stating that cells form spontaneously, similar to the formation of crystals.

Protoplasm

The smallest living mass that can live separately and is able to divide to give a copy of itself.

Angstrom ($\text{\AA}$)

A biological unit of measurement equal to $10^{-10}\,\text{m}$.

Relative sizes of cells and components

Biological measurement scale showing small molecules ($1\,\text{nm}$), viruses ($10\text{--}100\,\text{nm}$), bacteria ($1\,\mu\text{m}$), and animal/plant cells ($10\text{--}100\,\mu\text{m}$).

4 Elements making up $96\%$ of living matter

Oxygen ($65\%$), Carbon ($18\%$), Hydrogen ($10\%$), and Nitrogen ($3\%$).

Monomer

A single, repeated building block used in the construction of biological macromolecules.

Total cell volume of E. coli

$$2 \times 10^{-12}\,\text{cm}^3$$

Total cell volume of a mammalian cell

$$4 \times 10^{-9}\,\text{cm}^3$$

Prokaryotic cell

A cell possessing genetic material in the form of a single filament of DNA without a nucleus, as found in bacteria and blue-green algae.

Eukaryotic cell

A cell possessing genetic material carried on chromosomes within a nucleus that is separated from the cytoplasm by a nuclear membrane.

Prokaryotic Cell vs Eukaryotic Cell Diagram

Structural comparison showing a prokaryote with nucleoid, capsule, and cell wall versus a eukaryote with membrane-bound nucleus and organelles.

Endosymbiosis hypothesis

The theory that eukaryotic organelles like mitochondria evolved from engulfed aerobic bacteria inside ancestral prokaryotes following membrane infolding.

Metabolism

The chemical processes of a cell by which nutrition is effected, comprising catabolism and anabolism.

Catabolism

The decomposition of complex chemical substances into simpler organic substances, usually accompanied by a release of energy.

Anabolism

The synthesis of complex organic compounds from simpler organic compounds, requiring energy in the form of $\text{ATP}$.

Irritability

The capacity or ability of a cell to respond to a stimulus, serving as an expression of life itself.

Contractility

The property of cells to change their shape and length to achieve locomotion.

Conductivity

The property of some cells to transmit a wave of excitation from one site to another.

Absorption

The capacity of a cell to get in substances from the environment.

Cellular respiration

The process by which oxygen interacts with nutrient material to produce energy stored in $\text{ATP}$ molecules, producing waste, $\text{CO}_2$, and water.

Fermentation

The process by which glucose material breaks down in the absence of oxygen.

Secretion

The process by which a cell delivers useful material externally.

Excretion

The elimination of waste products from the cell.

Cellular growth

The process of increasing the size of cells as a result of increasing the amount of protoplasm.