Abstract
A cell is the fundamental unit of life since no living organism can survive without it. Also, the cell is both a structural and a functional unit of a living system. On the basis of complexity and organization of DiseNA, cells can be classified into two types—prokaryotic cell and eukaryotic cell. Prokaryotes are unicellular organism that lack distinct nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. The average size of prokaryotes is 2.0–2.6 μm. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus enclosed within a nuclear envelope and different membrane-bound organelles. In a cell cytoplasm, a semisolid matrix substance is enclosed by cell wall and cell membrane. The major cell organelles are mitochondria, Golgi apparatus, endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome, lysosome, etc. In eukaryotes, the nucleus is a specialized double membrane-bound protoplasmic entity that houses all of the genetic information needed to control cellular metabolism and pass on to future generations. The cytoskeleton is the structural framework of eukaryotic cells that keeps the cell and its appendages in shape. Genetic information flows from ‘DNA to mRNA to protein’ within cell.
Graphical Abstract
Description of the graphic: Pioneering scientists—Robert Hooke, Matthias Schleiden, Theodor Schwann, and Rudolph Virchow (from left to right) (1) discovered cell. A typical prokaryotic cell (2) and a typical eukaryotic cell with cell organelles (3) includes Biomembrane structure (3A) Nucleus (3B) Mitochondria (3C) Cytoskeletal structure (3D) Golgi Apparatus (3E) Centriole (3F) Chloroplast (3G) and Ribosome (3H)
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Alberts B, Bray D, Hopkin K, Johnson AD, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P (2013) Essential cell biology, 4th edn. Garland Publishing
Lodish H, Berk A, Kaiser CA, Krieger M, Bretscher A, Ploegh H, Martin KC, Yaffe M, Amon A (2021) Molecular cell biology, 9th edn. Macmillan Learning
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Mukherjee, A., Ghosh, P.R. (2023). Cellular and Molecular Physiology. In: Das, P.K., Sejian, V., Mukherjee, J., Banerjee, D. (eds) Textbook of Veterinary Physiology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-9410-4_2
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