Bibliography

This is the bibliography for the information written in this website.

Biggs, Alton, Whitney Crispen Hagins, and William G. Holliday. Biology. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, The, 2006. 187-98.

Florida State University, comp. "Plant Cell Structure." Molecular Expressions. Ed. Michael W. Davidson. 14 May 2005. 11 Nov. 2008 .

Schroeck, Kathleen. "Structures and Organelles." Personal interview. 5 Nov. 2008.

Shirley, Laura. "The Plasma Membrane." Personal interview. 7 Nov. 2008.

Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. "Cytoplasm." Wikipedia. 16 November 2008, Nov. 2008. 12 Nov. 2008 .

(all picture credits go to Florida State University, comp. "Plant Cell Structure." Molecular Expressions. Ed. Michael W. Davidson. 14 May 2005. 11 Nov. 2008, unless said so otherwise.)

Cell Wall & Cytoskeleton

The cell wall is made up of carbohydrates called cellulose which give the organelle its flexibility. The cell wall protects the plant cell and gives it support. It allows the plant to reach certain heights and to stand tall.

Responsible for all movement and organization of organelles within the cell is the Cytoskeleton. It is both a muscle and a skeleton. It is made up of Microfilament, thread-like fibers that carryout cellular motion, Microtubules, and Intermediate Filaments, which give strength to the cytoskeleton.

(picture credit goes to sparknotes.com)

Plasma Membrane

One of the main jobs of the plasma membrane is to keep Homeostasis. This is the process that keeps the balance inside of the cell. It works by its Selective Permeability, working like a filter, letting good things (like H2O, oxygen, and glucose) inside the cell, and bad things (like H20, waste, and CO2) out. Its structure is built by a phospholipid bilayer. First of all, a phospholipid is a molecule made up of glycerol, or phosphate, and 2 fatty acid chains. The head is is hydrophilic, meaning it is attracted to water, and the tain is hydrophobic, hates water. A phospholipid bilayer are 2 layers of phospholipids arranged tail to tail, so that the hydrophobic fatty acid chains never have to be exposed to H2O. The plasma membrane is not only made of the Phospholipid Bilayer, but of other things too. It includes proteins, carbohydrates and cholesterol. The proteins main purpose is to control what leaves and enters the cell. The Cholesterol, hydrophobic, is located between the tails of the phospholipids and it prevents the tails from sticking together. The carbohydrates are attached tot he proteins that stick out of the plasma membrane. They warn the cell of incoming bad things like disease cells, and also help to fight it off. The structure of the plasma membrane is many times described as a fluid mosaic. The phospholipids and proteins are able to move within the membrane, using constant motion. The different substances that move around make a pattern which resembles a mosaic (from where it got its name).

Chloroplast

Chloroplast organelles capture light from the sun and convert it into energy, by using the process of photosynthesis. It is only found in plant cells, and some algae. Inside the membrane, there are many little disk shaped objects called Thylakoids These thylakoids trap the sunlight by a pigment called chlorophyll (which gives the leaves of trees the color green). The main purpose of the chloroplast is to convert the light it recieves from the sun, into energy that the cell can use.

Mitochondria

The Mitochondria is many times referred to as the "powerhouse" of the cell. These energy generators convert the particles with fuel, mostly carbohydrates, into energy that the cell will use. The Mitochondria has several parts. An Outer Membrane, an Inner Membrane, the Cristae and a Matrix. The outer membrane works as a selective permeable, filtering out sugars that are too big. The inner membrane has the same purpose as the outer membrane, but its even more selective of which sugars can go. The Cristae is formed by the inner membrane, between the OM and the IM. It is filled with proteins and it helps cellular respiration, meaning that it brings oxygen to the organelle, which needs it in order to work properly. Many other organelles have the Matrix. The mitochondrial matrix is found inside of the inner membrane, it is made up of soluble enzymes that transform different organic molecules whithin the organelle.

Vacuole

The Vacuole is a sac where the cell places all its water, food, waste, enzymes and other substances that were important or will be important in the future. The vacuoles of a plant cell are always larger than an animal vacuole because the water that fills it keeps the cell stay rigid and not move. The plant also takes its water from the vacuole in which it was stored. The vacuole's complete purpose in the cell is to store things for later use.

Golgi Apparatus

After the Endoplasmic Reticulum, the proteins are transported to the Golgi Apparatus. This organelle packages and sorts the proteins into vesicles. These vesicles then are released into the cytoplasm and pass through the membrane. The vesicle then frees the protein within into the outside. So kind of like how one has to package up presents when they are to be given because otherwise one could risk the present getting ruined, the Golgi wraps the proteins so that while in the outside of the cell, they come to no harm.