BRAINCAKEVacuoles
A vacuole is a sac in the cytoplasm surrounded by a single membrane and filled with fluid. Vacuoles are found in many eukaryotic cells, but they differ greatly in size and function.
Vacuoles in animal cells
Animal cells have no large central vacuole. Instead they may contain several small, often temporary, vacuoles and vesicles, for example:
• Food vacuoles (phagocytic vacuoles): formed when a cell engulfs material by phagocytosis. A white blood cell surrounds a bacterium with its membrane, trapping it in a vacuole. Lysosomes then fuse with the vacuole and digest its contents.
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Key terms in this lesson
- phagocytosis
- The bulk uptake of solid material into a cell by engulfing it within a vesicle formed from the cell surface membrane.
- tonoplast
- The single membrane surrounding the permanent vacuole of a plant cell, which controls movement of substances between the cytoplasm and the vacuole.
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