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Encyclopedia > Protoplasm

In biology, protoplasm is the living substance inside the cell. At the simplest level, it is divisible into cytoplasm and nucleoplasm. It is also sometimes termed bioplasm, (Beale: meaning the essential substance of living matter within a cell) and is distinct from non-living cell components lumped under "ergastic substances". Ergastic substances can occur in the protoplasm. In many plant cells most of the volume of the cell is not occupied by protoplasm, but by "tonoplast": a large water filled vacuole enclosed by a membrane. Look up substance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Drawing of the structure of cork as it appeared under the microscope to Robert Hooke from Micrographia which is the origin of the word cell being used to describe the smallest unit of a living organism Cells in culture, stained for keratin (red) and DNA (green) The cell is the... It has been suggested that Cytoplast be merged into this article or section. ... Similar to the cytoplasm of a cell, the nucleus contains nucleoplasm or nuclear sap. ... Ergastic substances are non-protoplasm materials found in cells. ... Plant cell structure Plant cells are quite different from the cells of the other eukaryotic kingdoms organisms. ... Vacuoles are large membrane-bound compartments within some eukaryotic cells where they serve a variety of different functions: capturing food materials or unwanted structural debris surrounding the cell, sequestering materials that might be toxic to the cell, maintaining fluid balance (called turgor) within the cell, exporting unwanted substances from the... Schematic of typical animal cell, showing subcellular components. ... A biological membrane or biomembrane is an enclosing or separating tissue which acts as a barrier within or around a cell. ...


The idea that protoplasm is divisible into a ground substance called "cytoplasm" and a structural body called the Cell nucleus, reflects most of the more primitive knowledge of cell structure that preceded the development of powerful microscope of organic and inorganic substances, mysteriously directed by the nucleus and controlled by the cell membrane. Today, it is known that the cytoplasm is structurally very complex, and that protoplasm is living because of the complexity of the "cytoplasmic organelles" and their careful separation and orchestration of multiple chemical processes. HeLa cells stained for DNA with the Blue Hoechst dye. ... Robert Hookes microscope (1665) - an engineered device used to study living systems. ... Organic has several meanings and related topics. ... An inorganic compound is a chemical compound that is not an organic compound. ... Look up cell membrane in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...


Protoplasm exists in three forms: in the solid state, the liquid state and sometimes in a combined solid and liquid state. For other uses, see Solid (disambiguation). ... A liquid will assume the shape of its container. ... In general, a colloid or colloidal dispersion is a substance with components of one or two phases, a type of mixture intermediate between a homogeneous mixture (also called a solution) and a heterogeneous mixture with properties also intermediate between the two. ...


Whether the protoplasm is in either of the three forms depends upon the physiological state of the cell. Physiology (in Greek physis = nature and logos = word) is the study of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of living organisms. ...


History of the term

The concept of protoplasm was perceived as the essence of life ("vita force"), being something nearly sacred, induplicable by man as it can evolve into quite a number of other living creatures.


Charles Darwin and his 19th century contemporaries viewed "protoplasm" as the holistic content of a cell; in other words, cells were composed of a mysterious "proto-plasm," a substance that had the ability of self replication. For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... Self-replication is the process by which a thing may act, and thereby make a copy of itself. ...


This simplified view of cell biology circumvented the problem of the origin of life and protogenesis that Darwin and others struggled with, and was a part of the reason for the 30 years delay for Darwin's publication.. However, that problem was later introduced in the 1950s when the complex molecular structure of DNA was discovered with following research into the complex biochemistry of living things, that elucidated the mechanisms for self-replicating biological nano-machinery. This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The structure of part of a DNA double helix Deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, is a nucleic acid molecule that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms. ...


See also


  Results from FactBites:
 
Protoplasm - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (341 words)
The idea that protoplasm is divisible into a ground substance called "cytoplasm" and a structural body called the Cell nucleus, reflects the more primitive knowledge of cell structure that preceded the development of powerful microscope of organic and inorganic substances, mysteriously directed by the nucleus and controlled by the cell membrane.
Today, it is known that the cytoplasm is structurally very complex, and that protoplasm is living because of the complexity of the "cytoplasmic organelles" and their careful separation and orchestration of multiple chemical processes.
Whether the protoplasm is in either of the three forms depends upon the physiological state of the cell.
  More results at FactBites »

 

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