Page 50 - Medicinal Plants_PharmD general
P. 50
it doesn’t possess major roles except being a physical medium for holding
and housing most of the cell organelles . The nucleus appears to be
suspended within the cell by the cytoplasm, in which there may be large
vacuoles with their own characteristic contents crystals, aleurone
grains,..etc. Other cytoplasmic organelles are: mitochondria, endoplasmic
reticulum, ribosomes, plastids, chloroplasts, chromoplasts, leucoplasts,
Ggolgi bodies.
The structure of these organelles is not resolvable, because of their
small size. Electron microscopy (1930s) shows a number of the subcellular
organelles to have a highly organized fine structure suited to the many and
varied biochemical processes which they perform. The various
components of a plant cell are described briefly below in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Metabolic plant cell
-50-
