On this page, you can find cell images I made to decorate my website. To the right is a simple schematic drawing of an animal or human cell, representing the most important organelles: Bottom left is the nucleus enclosed by the nuclear envelope with four nuclear pores drawn. Bottom right is the endoplasmic reticulum, top right is he Golgi apparatus, top left one mitochondrion. Between those, there are a few vesicles. And of course, the whole cell is enclosed by a cell membrane
Slightly bigger another animal or human cell. This time the nucleus with nuclear envelope is center top, the rough endoplasmic reticulum is left and right, a mitochondrion is bottom left and the Golgi is on the right, with vesicles above and below. This image also contains the tethers of the smooth ER, right above the mitochondrion.
Another animal or human cell. The nucleus is center right, surrounded by nuclear envelope and rough ER. Smooth ER is bottom right, Golgi is top left. This time, there are two mitochondria, next to each other, bottom left. Note also how the ER is continuous with the nuclear envelope.
And yet another human or animal cell, this time with three mitochondria and a smaller nucleus. One can see the smooth ER forming a loop, a typical process. The tethers of the smooth ER can be quite straight with well-determined angles - here they look like 90 degrees, but in reality, the junctions are always three-ways and angles are 120 degrees.
Last human or animal cell for now, this time larger nucleus and two mitochondria. Of course, mitochondria numbers in nature are quite a bit larger - typically hundreds in a human cell. Mitochondria provide energy to the cell by releasing ATP, which is produced by respiration, or the breacking down of organic substances with oxygen to carbon diozide and water.
Finally, something new: This is a plant cell. Unlike animal and human cells, it is enclosed by a cell wall, right on top of the cell membrane. There are also some additional organelles inside: Here we see a chloroplast in the top left corner and a vacuole top right. The chloroplast absorbs sunlight and uses this energy for photosynthesis, which is the reverse process of respiration.
This is a fungus cell. Like a plant cell, it has a cell wall, but unlike plant cells, it has no chloroplasts. I think it also has no vacuole in general, but I am not sure. Without chloroplasts, fungi can not use sunlight the way plants do.
This is mitosis or regular cell division, here of an animal or human cell. Organelles with a double membrane, such as mitochondria or chloroplasts, multiply independently by division and form a population that is split when the cell divides, such as the four mitochondria form which each daughter cell will get two.. Other organelles, such as the nuclear envelope and the ER are broken down into vesicles and reassembled after the cell has divided. The nucleus is organized into chromosomes and pulled apart, but these details are beyond the drawings. Eventually, the cell membrane necks off and leaves two cells.