Cell Biology/Glossary
(Redirected from Cytoplasm)
- Alpha Helix
- DNA forms a specific formation called a alpha helix.
- Amino Acid
- The basic subunit of proteins.
- Atom
- One unit of a given element.
- Bacteria
- Carbohydrate
- Carbon
- One of the common elements found in organic matter and living things.
- Cell Wall
- found in prokaryotic plants and it provides structural support and protection.
- Chloroplasts
- convert light/food into usable energy. (ATP production)
- Cholesterol
- Found in cell membranes, affects the rigidity of the membrane. Also a basic compound used to form man hormones.
- Chromatin
- Chromosome
- A group of genes/DNA that are contiguous, a functional unit. Humans have 23 pairs chromosomes.
- Cilia
- Hair-like structures.
- Cisternae
- The flatten sacs of the Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum.
- Crossover
- Genetics term for chromosomes literally crossing over DNA from one chromosome to another.
- Cyanophytes
- One type of prokaryote (cell without a nucleus).
- Cytoplasm
- the protoplasm outside the nucleus
- Cytoskeleton
- Microtubules, actin and intermediate filaments. This produces the support structure/shape of cells. Of course plant cells have a much more rigid shape due to the cell wall.
- Cytosol
- The 'fluid' portion of the cell, it is made up of water and many free proteins and other elements - all except the organelles.
- DNA
- Deoxyribonucleic Acid, made up of 4 nucleotides: Adenine, Guanine, Thymine, and Cytosine (A,G,T,C).
- Element
- Element is one atom of a particular substance found on the periodic table. (Things such as Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, etc.)
- Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
- Important for protein synthesis. It is a transport network for molecules destined for specific modifications and locations. There are two types: Rough ER - has ribosomes, and tends to be more in 'sheets'. Smooth ER - Does not have ribosomes and tends to be more of a tubular network.
- Eukaryote
- A Cell with a nucleus.
- Flagella
- Gene
- A section of DNA molecule that produces a functional RNA molecule
- Genetic Material
- Globular Protein
- Glycolipids
- Glycoprotiens
- Golgi Apparatus
- important for glycosylation, secretion.
- Histones
- Hydrogen
- A common element in organic and living organisms.
- Hydrophilic
- 'likes water' (hydro = water; philic = like). Meaning that a hydrophilic molecule or portion would be attracted to water. Much like the opposite poles of a magnet pulling each other together.
- Hydrophobic
- 'fears water' (hydro = water; phobic = fear). Meaning that a hydrophobic molecule or portion would be repulsed/push-away a water molecule. This would be like trying to put together the same pole of two magnets. Examples: oils, fatty acids (i.e. the 'tails' of phospholipids), cholesterol.
- Lipid
- Lysosomes
- Digestive sacks - the main point of digestion, these are only found in animal cells.
- Meiosis
- is a type of cell division. See section on meiosis. This occurs for formation of egg/sperm cells, which in the end have 1/2 the normal number of chromosomes, only 1 copy of each chromosome.
- Micrometer
- A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-6 meters.
- Microtubules
- made from tubulin, and make up centrioles,cilia, etc.
- Millimeter
- A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-3 meters.
- Mitochondria
- convert foods into usable energy. (ATP production) A mitochondrion does this through aerobic respiration. They have 2 membranes, the inner membranes shapes differ between different types of cells, but they form projections called cristae. The mitochondrion is about the size of a bacteria, and it carries its own genetic material and ribosomes.
- Mitosis
- The cell division, that is found in most non-reproductive cells.
- Nanometer
- A unit of measure in the metric system. 10^-9 meters.
- Nitrogen
- A common element in organic and living organisms.
- Nucleic Acid
- Basic Building block for DNA.
- Nucleolus
- Or densely packed portion of the Nucleus.
- Nucleus
- (only in eukaryotes) - where genetic material (DNA) is located, RNA is transcribed.
- Organelles
- (which also have membranes) in 'higher' eukaryote organisms:
- Osmosis
- The diffusion of water through a semi-permeable membrane down the water potential gradient (from areas of high water potential to areas of low water potential)
- Oxygen
- A common element in organic and living organisms.
- Peptidoglycan
- This is the main component of prokaryotic cell walls, it is made from a large protein polymer and sugar.
- Peroxisomes
- Use oxygen to carry out catabolic reactions, in both plant and animals.
- Phospholipid
- See the section of the course on Cell Membranes and specifically phospholipids.
- Phosphorus
- A common element in organic and living organisms.
- Plasma membrane
- The surface around the cell made up of phospholipids, proteins, cholesterol, etc.. See the section on the Cell Membrane
- Plasmid
- Plastids
- Prokaryote
- Cells without a nucleus.
- Protein
- Protoplasm
- the living material in the cell
- Pseudopod
- literally means 'false foot'
- RNA
- Ribonucleic Acid
- RNApolymerase
- Recombination
- Ribosomes
- half are on the endoplasmic reticulum, the other half are 'free' in the cytosol, which is where the RNA goes for translation into proteins.
- Sulphur
- A common element in organic and living organisms.
- tRNA
- Transfer RNA, a 3D structure. It works with the ribosome and mRNA to form proteins (called translation). It has an 'anti-codon' which will match codons of the mRNA, and also has a amino-acid. The tRNA is a key to the having the amino acid match a specific codon on the mRNA, See the Codon Table to see how these are matched in general. There are differences in how the matches take place in mitochondria and bacteria.
- Vacuole
- Vesicle