Botany · Ch 6 — Cell: The Unit of Life
Plant Cell and Animal Cell
Plant Cell and Animal Cell
Having established that eukaryotic cells are internally complex, the chapter now compares two very familiar eukaryotic cell types side by side: the animal cell and the plant cell. Even though both cell types share the majority of their internal organelles, the eukaryotic cell as a whole shows real structural variation from one organism to the next, and plant and animal cells in particular differ in a handf …
Cytoplasm
Cytoplasm is the main working arena of the cell - the semi-fluid, gelatinous substance, usually clear and colourless and roughly 80% water, that fills the entire volume of the cell. It is sometimes described simply as 'the non-nuclear part of protoplasm', meaning everything inside the cell except the nucleus itself. Functionally, the cytoplasm acts as a kind of molecular soup: it is where all of the cell's organelles sit suspended, held loosely together within the boundary of the lipid-bilayer plasma membrane, and it also holds dissolved nutrients along with the various salts and acids needed to process waste products. It is, notably, a very good conductor of electricity, and it gives both physical support and protection to the organelles floating within it. A characteristic cytoplasmic activity is cytoplasmic streaming, the continual, directed movement of cytoplasm that helps circulate materials around the interior of the cell. Many of a cell's core metabolic …