organelle

(noun)

a specialized structure found inside cells that carries out a specific life process (e.g., ribosomes, vacuoles)

Related Terms

Examples of organelle in the following topics:

  • Ribosomes

    • Ribosomes are tiny spherical organelles that make proteins by joining amino acids together.
    • This protein-synthesizing organelle is the only organelle found in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, asserting the fact that the ribosome is a trait that evolved early on, most likely present in the common ancestor of eukaryotes and prokaryotes.

  • Common Bacterial Traits

    • Bacteria do not tend to have membrane-bound organelles in their cytoplasm and thus contain few large intracellular structures.
    • They consequently lack a true nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts, and the other organelles present in eukaryotic cells, such as the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum.

  • Magnetosomes

    • Magnetosomes are intracellular organelles in magnetotactic bacteria that allow them to sense and align themselves along a magnetic field.
    • Magnetosomes are intracellular organelles found in magnetotactic bacteria that allow them to sense and align themselves along a magnetic field (magnetotaxis).

  • The Energetics of Chemolithotrophy

    • An example of this is chemolithotrophic bacteria in deep sea worms or plastids, which are organelles within plant cells that may have evolved from photolithotrophic cyanobacteria-like organisms.
    • An example of this is chemolithotrophic bacteria in deep sea worms or plastids, which are organelles within plant cells that may have evolved from photolithotrophic cyanobacteria-like organisms .

  • Phenotypic Analysis

    • Bacteria: lack membrane-bound organelles and can function and reproduce as individual cells, but often aggregate in multicellular colonies.
    • Eukaryotes: Unlike bacteria and archaea, eukaryotes contain organelles such as the cell nucleus, the Golgi apparatus, and mitochondria in their cells.
    • Like bacteria, plant cells have cell walls and contain organelles such as chloroplasts in addition to the organelles in other eukaryotes.

  • Genome Reduction

    • Genomes fluctuate in size regularly; however, genome size reduction is most significant in bacteria.The most evolutionary significant cases of genome reduction may be the eukaryotic organelles that are derived from bacteria: the mitochondrion and plastid.
    • These organelles are descended from endosymbionts, which can only survive within the host cell and which the host cell likewise needs for survival.

  • Bacterial Chromosomes in the Nucleoid

    • Many eukaryotes (such as plants and animals) carry genophores in organelles such as mitochondria and chloroplasts.
    • These organelles are very similar to true prokaryotes.

  • Microbes and the Origin of Life on Earth

    • And both organelles use their DNA to produce many proteins and enzymes required for their function.
    • The two organelles also reproduce like bacteria, replicating their own DNA and directing their own division.

  • The Cell Wall of Bacteria

    • Ribosomes are their only type of organelle.

  • Centrosome

    • The centrosome is an organelle that is the main microtubule organizing center of the animal cell and a regulator of cell-cycle progression.
    • In cell biology, the centrosome is an organelle that serves as the main microtubule organizing center (MTOC) of the animal cell as well as a regulator of cell-cycle progression.