Organelle Analogies in Eukaryotic Cells

The assignment content describes the differences between organelles in eukaryotic cells and prokaryotic cells using an analogy of a factory. The organelles are compared to pieces of furniture in an office, highlighting their specific functions. Chloroplasts are explained as solar panels, capturing light energy to drive electron transfer, similar to photocells in solar panels. The content also discusses the possibility of animals making their own food through photosynthesis, mentioning the exception of a species of sea slug that has found a way to steal chloroplasts and produce sugar.

Solution
Part 1: Your text describes the difference between the organelles in a eukaryotic cell
and the more simple structure of a prokaryotic cell as an analogy between the chief
executive officer's (CEO's) corner office and a cubicle. Organelles are like appliances or
pieces of furniture that perform specific functions. Choose 1 organelle, and use an
analogy to explain its function. For example, explain how a chloroplast is like a solar
panel, or how a mitochondrion is like a furnace. Try to think of original analogies for
other organelles or cell structures such as golgi, lysosome, cell wall, cell membrane,
endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, nucleus, and so on. Include how your analogy may
be less than perfect. Compare your analogy with those of your classmates’.
The summary of differences with respect to analogy for a factory have been shown in Table-
1. The organelles are to be considered as the pieces of furniture of an office.
Table-1: Summary of comparisons
Organelle Eukaryotic Cell Prokaryotic Cell Factory part
Nucleus Present Absent Room where blue
prints are kept
Lysosomes and peroxisomes Present Absent Security, recycling
and waste removal
Endoplasmic reticulum Present Absent Accessory
production makes
decorations
Mitochondria Present Absent Power plant
Golgi apparatus Present Absent Shipping
department
Chloroplasts Present (in plants) Absent; chlorophyll
scattered
in the cytoplasm
Production
department
Chloroplast can be considered to be as a solar panel due to peculiar property of electron
transport. The mechanism of electron transport can be compared to an electric cell driving a
current through a set of electric motors. However, in living system, the electrons are carried
between one site and another not by conducting wires, but by diffusible molecules that can
pick up electrons at one location and deliver them to another. For mitochondria, the first of
these electron carriers is NAD+, which takes up two electrons to become NADH via an
electron-transport chain. In contrast, the chloroplast are similar to those of the mitochondrion,
the chloroplast membrane contains some crucial components not found in the mitochondrial
1

membrane (Alberts et al., 2002). Chloroplasts are the photosystems, where light energy is
captured by the green pigment chlorophyll and harnessed to drive the transfer of electrons,
much as man-made photocells in solar panels absorb light energy and use it to drive an
electric current. The electron-motive force so generated drives the electron transfer in the
direction opposite to that in mitochondria: electrons are taken from water to produce O2, and
they are donated to CO2 to synthesize carbohydrate. Thus, the chloroplast generates O2 and
carbohydrate, whereas the mitochondrion consumes them and liberates the energy.
Part 2: You will read that only plants, algae, and some bacteria are photosynthetic.
There is an exception to this, though. One species of sea slug has found a way to steal
chloroplasts, store them in cells lining its digestive tract, and live on the sugar that is
produced (Milius, 2010). What benefit would there be for animal cells (including those
of humans) to make their own food? Could cell, tissue, or genetic engineering allow
humans to use chloroplasts this way? Describe 1 or 2 factors that would need to be
considered for chloroplasts to function in an animal or a human.
Humans need to develop, chase, and assemble nourishment, however many living things are
not all that obliged. As a rule, animals can't photosynthesis, yet all standards have special
cases. So it would be hard for an animal to make their own sustenance since they can't
experience photosynthesis. All people can simply make their own nourishment purchase
developing or chase their own particular sustenance. Two variables that would be considered
for chloroplasts to work in animal/human that would be the cells vitality to generate ATP. We
creatures get our ATP from the catabolic handling of sugars and fats. However, there are
certain deviations for instance the latest potential deviant is the pea aphid, a foe to farmers
and a friend to geneticists. The aphids are among the very few animals that can make these
pigments for themselves, using genes that they stole from fungi. Green aphids (with lots of
carotenoids) produced more ATP than white aphids (with almost none), and orange aphids
(with intermediate levels) made more ATP in sunlight than in darkness. The evidences
suggest that the photosynthesis process might be possible but needs to be proved in animals
probably by genetic engineering.
2

References
Alberts, B, Johnson, A & Lewis, J (2002) Molecular biology of the cell. 4th edition. New
York: Garland Science; Chapter 14, Energy Conversion: Mitochondria and
Chloroplasts. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21063/
Ed, Y (18-Sep-2012) Will we ever… photosynthesise like plants? Retrieved from
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2012/09/18/will-we-ever-photosynthesise-
like-plants/
3