Cells as a basis of life: Textbook - Key terms

• What is a cell wall


  The structural rigid outermost cell layer found in plants and certain algae, bacteria, and fungi but absent from animal cells.
• What is chloroplast?

  An organelle within cells of plants and green algae that contains chlorophyll and is the site of photosynthesis.
• What is cytoplasm?

  The watery solution with a cell, including dissolved substances, enzymes, and cell.
• What is eukaryote?

  An organism whose bodies are made up of eukaryotic cells, such as plants, animals, protists and fungi.
• What is a light microscope?

  An optical instrument with lenses that refract visible light to magnify images of specimens.
• What is magnification?

  The amount of degree of visual enlargement of an observed object.
• What is a mitochondrion?

  An organelle found in eukaryotic cells that serves as the site of cellular respiration.
• What is the nucleus?

  The organelle of a eukaryotic cell that contains the genetic material in the form of chromosomes, made of chromatin.
• What is an organelle?

  A sub-cellular structure with one or more specific jobs to perform in the cell.
• What is phospholipid?

  A lipid (fat) composed of glycerol joined to two fatty acids and a phosphate group. Phospholipids form bilayers that function as biological membranes.
• What is a plasma membrane?

  The membrane at the boundary of every cell that acts as a selective barrier, regulating the cells chemical composition.
• What is a prokaryote?

  A unicellular organism consisting of a single prokaryotic cell. Prokaryotes lack membrane-bound organelles and a nucleus.
• What is resolution?

  A microscope's ability to distinguish detail.
• What was membrane-bound mean? And what does it refer to?

  Membrane-bound means enclosed or surrounded by a membrane. It refers to structures or components that are contained within a membrane.
• What is a a ribosome?

  Is an organelle that assembles amino acids to create proteins.
• What is a lysosome?

  An an organelles that uses chemicals to break down food and worn out cell parts.
• What is the nucleus?

  It is the control center of the cell, which contians DNA.
• What is the mitochondria?

  It is an organelles which produces the energy a cell needs to carry out its functions.
• What is the endoplasmic reticulum?

  Organelle that has passage ways that carry proteins and other materials from one part of the cell to another.
• What is the golgi appartus?

  Is an organelle which recieves proteins and materials from the ER (endoplasmic reticulum), packages them and distributes them.