Biology CELL - THE UNIT OF LIFE

Cell Envelope

Cell envelope is made up of two main components-
1. Cell Wall
2. Cell Membrane

#CELL WALL

(1) Discovery : It was first discovered by Robert Hooke in 1665.
Cell wall is the outer most, rigid, protective, non living and supportive layer found in all the plant cells, bacteria, cyanobacteria and some protists. It is not found in animal cells.

(2) Chemical composition : Mainly cell wall consists of two parts, matrix and cellulosic fibres (microfibriles). Matrix consists of hemicellulose, pectin, glycoproteins, lipids and water. A cellulose molecule is long unbranched chain of glucose molecules. There are about 6,000 glucose units in each chain. In most of the plants cell wall is made up of cellulose a polymer made-up of unbranched chain of glucose molecule linked by glycosidic bond. About 100 molecules of cellulose form a micelle, about 20 micelle form a microfibril and approx 200 microfibril form a fibril. The cell wall of bacteria and the inner layer of blue green algae is made-up of mucopeptide and not of cellulose. The mucopeptide is a polymer of two amino sugars namely N-acetyl glucosamine (NAG) and N-acetyl muramic acid (NAM) held alternately in  �1,4- linkage. In higher fungi, the cell wall is made up of chitin, polymer of glucosamine.
Pectin is a mixture of polymerised and methylated galacturans, galacturonic acid and neutral sugars. Hemicellulose is a mixture of polymerised xylans, mannans, glucomannans, galactans, xyloglucans and arabinogalactans. Glycoproteins are known to influence metabolic activities of the wall. A glycoprotein called extensin or expansin takes part in loosening and expansion of cell was through incorporation of cellulose molecules to cellulose microfibrils.
Plant cell wall may have lignin for strength (e.g., woody tissue), silica for stiffness and protection (e.g., epidermal cells of grasses, Equisetum), cutin for preventing loss of water (e.g., epidermal cells), wax as component of cuticle and surface bloom as water repellent (floating leaves) and checking transpiration, suberin for impermeability (e.g., cork cells, endodermal cells), etc.

(3) Structure : Cell wall consists of middle lamella, primary wall, secondary wall, tertiary wall.
(i) Middle lamella : Middle lamella is the outermost region which functions as a cementing layer between two cells. It is absent on the outer free surface. It ruptures to create intercellular spaces. Middle lamella is formed of calcium and magnecium pectate. Fruit softening is due to gelatinisation of pectic compounds of middle lamella. Pectin is used as commercial jellying agent. Which is present outside the primary wall.
(ii) Primary wall : A young plant cell forms a single layer of wall material. This layer is known as the primary cell wall. The primary wall is thin, elastic and capable of expansion in a growing cell. It grows by intussusception. Meristematic and parenchymatous cells have primary cell wall only. The cells of leaves and fruits too have only primary wall.
(iii) Secondary wall : In mature cell, more layers of wall material are added internal to the primary wall. These are called the secondary cell wall. Growth by addition of new wall material on the primary wall is called accretion. The secondary wall is thick and rigid. It usually consists of three layers, which are often named It is found in collenchyma and sclerenchyma cells, xylem vesseles.
(iv) Tertiary wall : Sometimes tertiary wall is laid down on secondary wall, e.g., tracheids of gymnosperms. It is composed of cellulose and xylan, another ploysaccharides.

(4) Origin : A cell wall is organised at telophase stage of cell division. The plane and place of cell wall is determined by the microtubules. Fragments of ER and vesicles of golgi body alligned at the equator, called as phragmoplast, later which forms the cell plate. The synthesis of cellulose takes place by the help of enzyme cellulose synthase present in the plasma membrane.
The cell plate forms the cell wall. A cell posses three phases of growth namely cell formation, cell elongation and cell maturation. The formation of new cells occurs by mitotic activity. The cell elongation is initiated by an increase in cell turgor. It is brought about by special proteins called expansion. They are of two types expansion and expansion. As a result, lacunae or gaps appear in between the cellulose micelle.

#There are two possibilities for the deposition of new wall material.
(i) By intussuception : As the cell wall stretches in one or more directions, new cell wall material secreted by protoplasm gets embedded within the original wall.
(ii) By apposition : In this method new cell wall material secreted by protoplasm is deposited by definite thin plates one after the other.

Function of cell wall

Function of cell wall : The cell wall serves many functions �
(i) It maintain shape of the cells.
(ii) It protect the cells from mechanical injury.
(iii) It wards off the attacks of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans).
(iv) It provides mechanical support against gravity. It is due to the rigid cell walls that the aerial parts of the plants are able to keep erect and expose their leaves to sunlight.
(v) The cell wall prevents undue expansion of the cell when water enters by osmosis to compensate for the lack of contractile vacuole. This prevents bursting of cells.
(vi) It allows the materials to pass in and out of the cell.
(vii) Though permeable, the cell wall plays some regulatory role on the passage of materials into and out of the cell.
(viii) Many enzymic activities associated with metabolism are known to occur in the cell wall.
(ix) Cutin and suberin deposits check loss of water form the cell surface by evaporation.
(x) The cell wall helps in the maintenance of balance of intracellular osmotic pressure with that of its surroundings.
(xi) Pores in the cell walls permit plasmodesmata to link up all the protoplasts into a system called symplast (symplasm).
(xii) The walls of xylem vessels, tracheids and sieve tubes allow movement of materials.
(xiii) The wall in some cases has a role in defence and offence by means of spines.
(xiv) Growth of the cell wall enables the cells to enlarge in size.
(xv) Cell wall and intercellular spaces constitute a nonliving component of plant body known as apoplasm.

PLASMA MEMBRANE

Every living cell is externally covered by a thin transparent electron microscopic, elastic regenerative and selective permeable membrane called plasma membrane. It is quasi fluid in nature. According to Singer and Nicolson it is �protein iceberg in a sea of lipid�. A cell wall lies external to plasmalemma in plant cells, many monerans, some protists and fungal cells. Membranes also occur inside the cells. They are collectively called biomembranes. The term cell membrane was given by C. Nageli and C. Cramer (1855) for outer membrane covering of the portoplast. It was replaced by the term plasmalemma or plasma membrane by Plowe (1931).

# Chemical composition : Proteins lipoprotein (Lipid +Protein) are the major component forming 60% of the plasma membrane. Proteins provide mechanical strength and responsible for transportation of different substances. Proteins also act as enzyme. Lipids account may 28%-79% depending upon the type of cell and organism involved (in humans, myelin 79%). Because of the presence of lipids, membranes are always continuous, unbroken structures and are deformable and their over all shape can change. The lipids of plasma membrane are of three types namely phospholipids, glycolipids and sterols. A glycolipid may be cerebroside or ganglioside. The sterol found in the membrane may be cholesterol (Animals), phytosterol (Plants) or ergosterol (Microorganisms). A lipid molecule is distinguishable into a head of glycerol and two tails of fatty acids.
Carbohydrates form 2%�10%. Oligosaccharides are the main carbohydrates present in plasma membrane. The carbohydrates of plasma membrane are covalently linked to both lipid and protein components. The common sugars found in the plasma membrane are D � glucose, D � mannose, D � glactose, N � acetyl glucosamine, N � acetyl galoactosamine (Both are amino sugars) and sialic acid. Generally the terminal sugar of oligosaccharides is sialic acids (Also known as N � acetylneuraminic acid NANA) which gives them a negative charge.

# Ultra structure : Under electron microscope the plasma membrane appears three layered, i.e. trilaminar or tripertite. One optically light layer is of lipid and on both sides two optically dense protein layers are present.
Generally the plasma membrane is 75 � thick (75 � 100�), light layer is 35 � while dark layers are in thickness.



Molecular structure and different models

1. Unit Membrane Model : By Robertson 1959.
- According to this model all the cellular and organeller membranes are structurally & functionally similar (difference in chemically & size).
- Both of the above models are rejected because they fails to explain the selective permeability of plasma membrane.
- The detailed structure of the membrane was studied only after the advent of the electron microscope in the 1950s. Meanwhile, chemical studies on the cell membrane, especially in human red blood cells (RBCs), enabled the scientists to deduce the possible structure of plasma membrane.

Fluid mosaic model

Fluid mosaic model : By Singer & Nicolson (1972).
- This is latest & most widely accepted model for the structure of plasmalemma.
- According to fluid mosaic model proteins are arranged in phospholipid layer as mosaic pattern.
- Thus membrane is termed as "protein iceberg in a sea of phospholipid" or "Gulab Jamun (protein) in a concenterated solution (phospholipid) of sugar".

(1) Phospholipids:
- Phospholipid is the main component of cell membrane because il forms continuous structural frame of cell membrane. Main type of phospholipids are phosphatidyl serine, phosphatidyl choline (Lecithin), P-ethanol amine (cephalin).
- The studies showed that the cell membrane is composed of lipids that are arranged in a bilayer. Also, the lipids are arranged within the membrane with the polar head towards the outer sides and the hydrophobic tails towards the inner part. This ensures that the nonpolar tail of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons is protected from the aqueous environment. The lipid cornponent of the membrane mainly consists of phosphoglycerides (phospholipids).
- Phospholipid layer provides fluidity to plasma membrane because phospholipids are rich in unsaturated fatty acid which are liquid in nature.
- The Quasifluid nature of lipid enable lateral movement of protein with in the overall bilayer. This ability to move within the membrane is measured as its, fluidity.
- The fluid nature of the membrane is also important in various function like cell growth, formation of intercellular junction, endocytosis, cell division etc.
- Cholesterol is also present in plasma membrane. Cholesterol are more rigid than phospholipid. So it helps in stability of membrane structure.
- Cholesterol is absent in membrane of prokaryote. Thus Hopanoids (Pentacyclic sterol) provides stability to prokaryotic cell membrane.

(2) Proteins :
- Two types of protein are present in plasma membrane. (On the basis of ease of extraction)

(a) Integral or intrinsic protein
- These protein are tightly binds with phospholipid. Thus, they can not easily removed from membrane.
# Integral proteins are of 2 types :
(i) Partially buried
(ii) Totally buried
- Some integral proteins which are totally buried through the complete thickness of membrane. These type of protein are called as tunnel (channel) protein which provide a passage for movernent of watermsoluble material across the membrane.

(b) Peripheral or extrinsic protein
- These are superficially arranged on outer side and can be seperate easily. These protiens have enzymatic activity.
- Spectrin are helical type of extrinsic protein founds on cylosolic face (towards cytoplasm) of membrane and attached to the instrinsic protien. Spectrins are also part of cytoskeleton.
- Oligosaccharides of the glycolipids & glycoproteins on the outer surface of plasma membranes are involved in cell to cell recognition mechanism. Best example of cell recognition is fertilisation, (where sperm & recognize to each other) and blood - Antigens.
- Plasma membrane have approximate 30 types of enzyme in which ATPase (ATP hydrolysing) is more important. ATPase enzyme helps in active transport of materials.
- Plasma membrane is an asymmetrical structure because carbohydrate is presents on outer surface and spectrin protein is present only on inner surface of plasma membrane.

Sandwitch or Trilamellar model

By Davson & Danielli (1935)
According to this model, the plasma-membrane is made up of three layers in which a bimolecular layer of is sandwitched between two single layers of proteins.
According to this model each protein layer is 20A thick and bilayer of phospholipid is 35A thick. Thus total thickness is 75A (PLLP- structure, 75-100A average).
- Phospholipid molecule called as amphipathic molecule clue to presence of two type of parts (hyclrophil!ic head and hydrophobic tail).
- Hydrophilic head of the phospholipid binds with protein layer by hydrogen and ionic bonds .
- Hydrophobic tail of phospholipid are attached lo each other by vanderwal force.

 
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