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Biology vocabulary · Cells and Levels of Organization

Cell wall

Meaning in biology, with examples

/ˈsel ˌwɔːl/nounCore term

In biology, cell wall means: A strong, rigid layer outside the cell membrane that supports and protects the cell. Plants, fungi and most bacteria have cell walls, but animal cells do not.

In Turkish: hücre duvarı, hücre çeperi

How it is used

The material differs between groups: cellulose in plants, chitin in fungi and peptidoglycan in bacteria. The cell wall stops plant cells from bursting in water and keeps them firm (turgid). Penicillin works by blocking bacterial cell wall synthesis.

Example sentences

  1. The cell wall gives plant cells their regular, box-like shape under the microscope.

  2. Gram-positive bacteria have a thick peptidoglycan cell wall.

Common collocations

  • plant cell wall
  • bacterial cell wall
  • cellulose cell wall
  • cell wall synthesis
  • cell membraneThe thin, flexible layer that surrounds every cell and controls what enters and leaves it. It is built mainly from a double layer of phospholipids with proteins set into it.
  • cellThe smallest unit of life that can survive on its own. Every living thing is made of one or more cells, and each cell is surrounded by a membrane.
  • osmosisThe movement of water across a selectively permeable membrane from a dilute solution into a more concentrated one, until the concentrations become more equal.
  • bacteriaSingle-celled microorganisms without a nucleus that live almost everywhere, from soil and water to the human gut. Most are harmless or useful; some cause disease.
  • chloroplastAn organelle in plant and algal cells where photosynthesis takes place. It contains the green pigment chlorophyll and has its own DNA.

More terms: Cells and Levels of Organization

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