Vacuole

Not to be confused with vesicle (biology and chemistry).
Cell biology
Animal cell diagram
Components of a typical animal cell:
  1. Nucleolus
  2. Nucleus
  3. Ribosome (dots as part of 5)
  4. Vesicle
  5. Rough endoplasmic reticulum
  6. Golgi apparatus (or, Golgi body)
  7. Cytoskeleton
  8. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
  9. Mitochondrion
  10. Vacuole
  11. Cytosol (fluid that contains organelles; with which, comprises cytoplasm)
  12. Lysosome
  13. Centrosome
  14. Cell membrane
Plant cell structure
Animal cell structure

A vacuole (/ˈvækjuːoʊl/) is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells.[1][2] Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic molecules including enzymes in solution, though in certain cases they may contain solids which have been engulfed. Vacuoles are formed by the fusion of multiple membrane vesicles and are effectively just larger forms of these.[3] The organelle has no basic shape or size; its structure varies according to the requirements of the cell.

  1. ^ Venes D (2001). Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Twentieth ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company. p. 2287. ISBN 0-9762548-3-2.
  2. ^ Schulz-Vogt HN (2006). "Vacuoles". Inclusions in Prokaryotes. Microbiology Monographs. Vol. 1. pp. 295–298. doi:10.1007/3-540-33774-1_10. ISBN 978-3-540-26205-3.
  3. ^ Brooker RJ, Widmaier EP, Graham LE, Stiling PD (2007). Biology (First ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 79. ISBN 978-0-07-326807-1.