Harmony Lowe

Wiki Assignment Wk 2

Microbody

Characteristics:

A microbody is a type of organelle that is found in both plant and animal cells. The organelles in the microbody family include peroxisomes, glyoxysomes, glycosomes, and hydrogenosomes. In vertebrates, microbodies are especially prevalent in the liver and kidney organs. They are a type of vesicle that is sphere shaped. They range from 0.2-1.5 micrometers in length.They are surrounded by a single phospholipid bilayer membrane and they contain a matrix of intracellular material including enzymes and other proteins, but they have not been recorded to have any genetic material that would allow them to self replicate. 

Function:

They contain enzymes that are apart of the preparation/ intermediate stages that create biochemical reactions within a cell. Different types of microbodies have different types of functions. Specifically peroxisome is a microbody that helps to breakdown and detoxify unhealthy substances which are found inside.   Glyoxysomes are specialized peroxisomes found in plants and mold, which help to convert stored lipids into carbohydrates so that they can be used for plant growth.

Unique Characteristics:

Microbodies are described as organelles being found in most Eurkaryotic plant cells. they also have a limiting membrane, which is approximately 6.5 nm thick and surrounds a matrix that can appear amorphous, granular, fibrillar, or paracrystalline. A fun fact: In plants, micro-bodies were first isolated from castor bean seedlings by Breidenbach and Beevers in 1967 and from spinach leaves by Tolbert et al in 1968.

References:

https://byjus.com/biology/microbodies/- image

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/microbodies